marquis of jingan

Chapter 1429: None of them is not a good person

Chapter 1429: None of them is a good person

"Uncle."

In the Zhao family's study, Mr. Shen called out tentatively, but Mr. Zhao slowly lowered his head to drink tea and ignored him.

Shen Yi coughed and spoke again, this time with a slightly louder voice: "Uncle Master."

"I can hear you."

Mr. Zhao put down the tea in his cup and said with a smile, "I'm not deaf."

When Shen Yi entered Jiankang in the sixth year of Hongde, Zhao Changping was still a young official in his forties or fifties. Now it is the twenty-ninth year of Hongde. More than 20 years have passed, and this Prime Minister Zhao is already in his seventies.

In the court, everyone said that Prime Minister Zhao was already old, and most of the time, he could not be heard clearly.

However, his mental state is still very good. Judging from his spirit, he looks like a man in his sixties, not seventy at all.

But after all, he is old. At his age, even among prime ministers, he is considered very old.

His political career has come to its final stage.

Master Shen poured him a cup of tea and said with a smile: "Master, you are still in good spirits. It seems that you can still be in charge of the center for a few more years."

“Not deaf though.”

Mr. Zhao sighed: "But my hearing is definitely not as good as before."

As he spoke, he looked up at Shen Yi and said with a smile: "But I am not completely deaf. When I was working in the court, I couldn't hear what I liked to hear, and I pretended not to hear what I didn't like to hear."

"Ziheng probably doesn't know that after learning to pretend to be deaf, the job of the Prime Minister has become much easier."

Master Shen smiled dumbly: "When you are the head of a family, you often have to turn a blind eye. Uncle Shi has understood the essence of this."

Mr. Zhao lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then shook his head and sighed, "After all, I am now old, and my energy is often insufficient. I wanted to retire a few years ago, but His Majesty has always refused. I don't know if I, an old man, will ever be able to return to my hometown alive."

He looked at Shen Yi and said, "Your Majesty has always listened to Ziheng's words. When Ziheng comes back this time, why don't you say a few good words for Master Uncle and ask His Majesty to let Master Uncle return home."

As the saying goes, fallen leaves return to their roots. The older you get, the deeper you understand this saying.

In his early years, Mr. Zhao might have been half joking when he said this, but now, it is indeed the truth.

Shen Yi shook his head and said, "Master, I am a local official. I am not in the court, nor in the Secretariat. It is not easy for me to speak about the matter of the Prime Minister."

"but…"

Shen Yi smiled and said, "After Senior Brother Zhang finishes his term as Minister of Revenue, he may have the opportunity to be promoted to the position of Zhongshu. Then, Senior Uncle can return to his hometown."

“There are not many people in my hometown anymore.”

Mr. Zhao sighed, "The Zhao family has been declining since my generation. I am the only son in the family and don't have any close relatives. After I retire and return to my hometown, I will settle down in Jiangdu."

"To keep your father-in-law company."

Shen Yi thought for a moment and said, "I have a house in Jiangdu. If you really want to go to Jiangdu, you can stay in my house."

"Know, know."

Mr. Zhao smiled and said, "When we were at war ten years ago, you asked Xu Fu to take out a portion of the money from Liulichang to build a big house in Jiangdu."

"This matter has been brought up by countless people over the past decade or so, and has been discussed over and over again countless times. When some young people bring it up, they are filled with righteous indignation, saying that you, Shen Ziheng, drank the blood of soldiers during the war."

Mr. Shen lowered his head to drink tea and said slowly: "I have not missed a cent of the money given to all the soldiers of the Huai'an Army. Because of this matter, I have some conflicts with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War. I don't let them get involved, and I don't let the local government intervene. They can't get their hands on the money, so they naturally hate me."

"As for those young people..."

Mr. Shen smiled calmly: "I have a stake in Liulichang. I haven't taken much dividends in these years. If I take some money out of it, no one can say anything to me."

"If they want to curse, let them curse."

Mr. Zhao smiled and said, "Didn't you do this back then just to give those people some excuse to scold you?"

Shen Yi smiled and said nothing.

This kind of matter involves the emperor in a roundabout way and is somewhat sensitive, so it is not easy to admit it directly.

"Ziheng will come back this time."

Mr. Zhao said softly, "I'm afraid there are some important things to do?"

"Ah."

Shen Yi said, "There will be a court meeting tomorrow, and my nephew will go to court."

"I have prepared everything in the north, but the relocation of the capital has been delayed again and again."

"Your Majesty is also anxious, so he asked me to come back and report this matter."

"Ugh."

Mr. Zhao sighed: "This matter is very difficult to handle."

"Even though the North has been settled for ten years, there are still very few northerners present at every court meeting."

The court meeting is for the third-rank officials in Beijing to discuss matters. Currently, there are almost no northerners participating at this level. If there is any, there is only one.

Minister of Works Zhou Yuanlang.

Zhou Yuanlang had been the Minister of Taichang Temple ten years ago. During these ten years, he had been working diligently in the court. Although his official career was not smooth and he was only promoted two levels to the first rank in ten years, his starting point was too high and he is now among the nine ministers.

As for the newly-appointed juren and jinshi in the north in the past ten years, it will probably take another ten years before they can make their mark in the court.

Shen Yi looked at Zhao Changping and asked, "Master, do you have any ideas?"

"I am already a deaf prime minister."

He shook his head: "I can talk, but I can't lead many people."

"and…"

He looked at Shen Yi and said, "I am neutral about moving the capital. Moving it to the north is too much trouble. First, it will cost a lot of money and manpower. Second,..."

"The northern border is undecided."

Shen Yi rubbed his eyebrows and said nothing.

If the imperial court did not move the capital, then Shen Yi would be the de facto "King of Yan".

There will be no conflict between him and Emperor Hongde's generation. The Shen family can guard the north and ensure the safety of the northern border, but hidden dangers will definitely be buried. When it comes to Shen Yuan and the next emperor, this conflict may break out.

You don’t even have to wait until the next generation.

If only one of Mr. Shen and Emperor Hong De is gone, the conflict may not be suppressed.

"Since Master Uncle said so, I won't say much. Everything..."

"We'll talk about it at the court meeting tomorrow."

Zhao Changping nodded silently. He patted Shen Yi on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Ziheng. No matter what Uncle Master feels, he will still stand by you."

Master Shen stood up, bowed his head to express his gratitude, and then said with a smile: "Brother Song has done a very good job in Northern Zhili. After completing his term as governor, he will be able to return to the court to take over from Master."

"he?"

Zhao Changping shook his head: "He can't take over my job."

"The only one who can truly take over my job is Yi An."

"almost."

Shen Yi smiled and said, "It's just a matter of time. In my opinion, Brother Song has a great chance of becoming a prime minister in the future."

"Even if he became prime minister..."

Mr. Zhao paused and said, "It's also because of your uncle's face, not his own ability, but Yi An is different."

"Your Senior Brother Yi An has risen to the position of Minister of Revenue step by step. It can be said that he has been down-to-earth and climbed up step by step."

"Senior brother..."

Mr. Shen was silent for a while, then nodded silently: "It is indeed admirable."

…………

The next day, outside Deqing Palace.

Mr. Shen, who never liked to get up early, got up very early and went to the court meeting.

When Shen Yi arrived, most of the civil and military officials had already arrived. Master Shen, dressed in a purple dragon robe, stood out among the crowd.

No matter what rank the officials were, when they saw Shen Yi coming towards them, they would bow their heads respectfully, or cup their hands, or bow.

Either he calls himself Marquis, or he calls himself Grand Protector.

However, the officials of the Ministry of War were relatively special. When they saw Shen Yi, they all called him "Minister".

Among the civil and military officials, there was a middle-aged man with a beard who was relatively special. After seeing Shen Yi, he hesitated for a long time, but still lowered his hands and bowed his head deeply: "Greetings, Si Zheng."

Hearing this title, Shen Yi was stunned, looked suddenly at the middle-aged official, and then recognized him.

"Lin Sheng?"

"Yes."

Lin Sheng lowered his head and sighed, "The Chief Justice still recognizes my humble position."

Mr. Shen patted the shoulder of the old subordinate of the Imperial Report Department and said with a smile: "You have made it big. You have become a fifth-rank official in Beijing."

"The position that Si Zheng arranged for me back then was a fifth-rank official."

Lin Sheng bowed his head and said, "In ten years, I have only managed to climb into the imperial court, and I am still a fifth-rank official..."

“It’s already very difficult.”

Mr. Shen patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "If I had no luck, I would probably be at your level now."

Lin Sheng lowered his head and said, "Si Zheng is a man of extraordinary talent. He is incomparable to a mediocre person like me."

Mr. Shen smiled.

"Okay, let's talk about this later. If you say a few more words to me, it might be noticed by others and affect your work."

"Let's get together in a few days and talk about it."

Lin Sheng nodded his head and stepped back.

Master Shen searched among the crowd and finally found Zhang Jian's voice. He stepped forward, stood beside Minister Zhang, and said with a smile: "Didn't Senior Brother write to me saying that many people in the court said bad things about me? How come I see today that everyone outside Deqing Palace is a good person?"

"In front of you, unless I don't want to be an official anymore, otherwise..."

Minister Zhang turned around, looked at Shen Yi, and laughed.

"Who dares to say bad things about you?"

(End of this chapter)