The autumn sun is shining high at noon, and the scenery of Shisha Lake is bright. The autumn water is clear and the waves are rippling. There are officials, gentry and women's family members riding boats on the lake. The scene seems to be no different from that in spring. But if you look closely, you can see that the leaves of the weeping willows on the shore are slightly withered and curled. I have lost the green and stretch of spring and summer; listen carefully, the chirping of cicadas one after another already seems weak and feeble, and one more night of autumn rain, these autumn cicadas will disappear; take a sniff, and the breath of vigorous growth of all things in the wind has been unique to autumn. The full and mature flavor replaced it; and the most eye-catching thing is: the maple leaves on Long live mountain outside Xuanwu Gate have begun to turn red. Long live mountain is the highest point around the imperial city. From the top of the mountain, the maple is red and then upward, it is extremely high and green. Sky
This is the autumn of the forty-fifth year of Wanli, the eve of the invasion of the Ming Dynasty by the Later Jin Dynasty. The autumn scene is the same as in previous years, and the singing and dancing are still peaceful. Zhang Yuan is driving by the Shisha Sea. The young chamberlain Gao Qiqian is sitting on the side of the carriage with some restraint. , peeking at Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang was thoughtful, but he didn't ask what was the urgent matter for Mr. Zhong's invitation.
After passing the water pavilion of the Fire Temple, there was Eunuch Zhong¡¯s outer residence. Zhang Yuan suddenly asked, ¡°Xiao Gao, has Eunuch Zhong arrived first?¡±
Gao Qiqian looked around and replied: "I didn't see the guest's sedan chair. It probably hasn't arrived yet. Please wait a moment, Mr. Zhang. Eunuch Zhong will leave the palace soon."
Zhang Yuan got off the carriage in front of Eunuch Zhong's outer house and ordered Laifu and Wang Dachui to move in the gifts for Eunuch Zhong. These gifts were all brought back from North Korea. In addition to ginseng, mink skins, jade and gems, Zhong The eunuch was an educated eunuch, so Zhang Yuan also prepared a lot of Korean paper, Jeju fans, Busan bronzes, etc.
After sitting in the foyer for a while, Zhong Benhua and Ke Yinyue hurried over. Zhang Yuan saw that the two of them were in pairs, so they were eating in pairs. He stood up and saluted: "Eunuch Zhong, Aunty Guest. Zhang Yuan is polite."
Eunuch Zhong and Ke Yinyue quickly returned the gift. Ke Yinyue said: "Eunuch Zhong will discuss business with Mr. Zhang first, and the young lady will talk to Mr. Zhang later." After that, his eyes turned on Zhang Yuan's face and he walked out of the hall.
Eunuch Zhong asked all the maids in the hall to go out and said: "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Fang Ge and the others don't want you to serve as the official of the East Palace. Today, a memorial was submitted. The whole story is like this. Yesterday morning, I knew that Mr. Zhang had returned. Beijing. I just wanted to see Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang was a foreign minister and could not enter the palace for no reason, so the Zajia family asked Mr. Qiantui to say that the summer was over and he could come out of the cabinet again to listen to lectures. Mr. Qiantui ordered Zhan Shifu to choose a day to hold the lecture and Mr. Zhang went on an envoy North Korea, but the position of Donggong Lecturer is still retained. This time the lecture is re-opened, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Sun, and Mr. Ma are all listed as the Donggong Daily Lecturer. However, two memorials were sent to the Secretary of Ceremony early this morning. One is from Henan Province. Han Jun, the imperial censor, impeached Mr. Zhang for his treacherous and treasonous activities in Korea, which not only harmed the prestige of the Ming Dynasty. He was also a sinner of ethics. Secondly, Shen Gue, the minister of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, recommended Wen Tiren, the chief seal officer of the Hanlin Academy in Nanjing, to be the official of the East Palace and the Fangge. Lao Zai later wrote that Wen Tiren was a man of noble character and rich in knowledge."
At this point, Eunuch Zhong shut up and looked at Zhang Yuan with a frown to see how Zhang Yuan would react. The memorial of Han Jun, the censor of Henan Province, was extremely sharp. Many Donglin officials in this year's Beijing Prosecution were impeached by Han Jun. He was demoted. At this time, the sword and pen turned towards Zhang Yuan, and he was aggressive. However, Shen Que recommended Wen Tiren in a timely manner, singing and singing. It was obvious that he wanted to exclude Zhang Yuan from being a lecturer in the East Palace. Fang Congzhe voted to clearly support Wen Tiren as a lecturer. Zhang Yuan is in a bad situation. If Zhang Yuan cannot keep his position as an official in the East Palace, it will also be a heavy blow to Eunuch Zhong, so Eunuch Zhong is more anxious than Zhang Yuan.
Zhang Yuan listened quietly, with a normal look on his face, and said, "I went to the Ministry of Rites when I returned to Beijing the day before yesterday to give a report on my mission, and handed over the memorial of the mission to Minister He. Hasn't the Ministry of Rites reported it to the emperor yet?"
Eunuch Zhong said: "Eunuch Li, the superintendent of ceremonies, did not mention your memorial."
The current eunuch in charge of Li En is Li En, and he has a good relationship with Wang An. The reason why the East Palace learned about Han Jun and Shen Que's secrets so quickly was because of all the information Li En revealed to Wang An, and Wang An had a good impression of Zhang Yuan. Therefore, Eunuch Zhong was asked to inform Zhang Yuan so that he could prepare a response.
Zhang Yuan pondered for a moment and asked: "How many days does the emperor review the memorial now?"
Eunuch Zhong said: "Long Live Lord Long Ti is not as good as in the past. Memorials are reviewed once every three days now, and they are more important memorials. Generally, the chief ceremonial officer will review the unimportant memorials on his behalf."
Zhang Yuandao: "It must be that the Ministry of Rites deliberately delayed submitting my memorial. I immediately went to see Mr. Wu Ge and asked him to send a person from Zhongshushe to the Ministry of Rites to press for questioning."
Eunuch Zhong said: "Mr. Wu Ge is on duty in the cabinet and will leave the palace in the evening. Let the Za family go see Mr. Wu Ge."
Zhang Yuan bowed and said, "Thank you very much, father-in-law."
Eunuch Zhong said: "The Za family will go now. Mr. Zhang will be waiting for a moment. I have something to ask you."
Eunuch Zhong hurried back to the palace with his godson Xiao Gao. The guest Yinyue came out and blessed Zhang Yuan. He stared at her with his long and narrow charming eyes and whispered softly:?: "Mr. Zhang has lost a lot of weight, and it's really hard to travel around in the summer." There was a lot of affection in his words.
Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "Thank you for your concern, Auntie Guest." He thought to himself: "This old girl Ye He looks eternally youthful, and she looks like a double beauty." He added: "It's just that I'm tired from running around, and I'm the most helpless. What¡¯s more, I¡¯m exhausted as soon as I return to Beijing.¡±
Ke Yinyue consoled him, "Don't worry, Mr. Zhang. As long as I recognize you as an official, no one can exclude you."
Zhang Yuan smiled, thinking that Ke Yinyue was a woman after all. To put it bluntly, Zhu Youxiao was just the eldest grandson of the emperor who had not been canonized. Even the crown prince Zhu Guangluo did not have the right to decide the candidates for the East Palace official. Even Wanli Neither can the emperor. Many people think that the emperor can make arbitrary decisions, and if the emperor wants his ministers to die, they must die. In fact, in the late Ming Dynasty, the imperial power was greatly restricted, and ministers could use ancestral institutions and laws to argue and disobey. The struggle over the foundation of the country in the past dynasties is proof. Emperor Wanli was very persistent. He persisted for twenty years, but his ministers had no choice but to take pride in the imperial staff. After all, Emperor Wanli was also a rational emperor, and he would not go crazy and kill. In the end, he gave in and the war over the country ended in victory for foreign ministers. Therefore, the emperor could not do whatever he wanted.
Ke Yinyue lifted her palace skirt lightly, sat down on the chair next to Zhang Yuan, and asked, "Mr. Zhang, please tell the little lady about my brother Ke Guangxian, where has he gone?"
The day before yesterday, Gao Qiqian came to see Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan asked Gao Qiqian to tell Ke Yinyue that Ke Guang would have to wait for some time before returning to Beijing. Ke Yinyue's true identity was shocking, and Zhang Yuan wanted to keep it secret for Ke Yinyue. secret.
At that moment, Zhang Yuan roughly told the story of how Ke Guang first accompanied him on his mission. Ke Yinyue heard that Ke Guang first shot and killed a Jianzhou cavalry outside Shanguan. She was extremely happy and said with joy: "Great, kill." Well done, kill all those Jianzhou thieves and capture Tong Nuer alive." He then said, "So the Ming Dynasty is about to go to war with Jianzhou?" Danfeng's eyes were clear and looking forward, her long eyebrows flying sideways into her temples were twitching, she looked extremely excited, Ke Yinyue thought that as long as the Ming Dynasty used force against Jianzhou, Nurhaci would be defeated. At least he would be unable to attack Ye He's tribe. Then Ye He could wait for an opportunity to invade Jianzhou and dominate Haixi.
Zhang Yuandao: "When Ke Guang returned to Ye He first, I asked him to bring a letter to give to your two brothers Jin Taiji and Buyanggu. The letter contained my estimate of the combat power of the Ming army in Jianzhou and Liaodong. The Ye He tribe must cooperate with the Liaodong Ming Army to deal with Jianzhou. If there is any idea of ????sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, the clan will be exterminated. The Eight Banners Army of Jianzhou Nurhaci is powerful, and the Liaodong Ming Army will be defeated. If it is not It will be difficult to compete with the whole country¡¯s efforts.¡±
Ke Yinyue was shocked. How could she know the true situation of the Ming Dynasty's military affairs while she was living in the palace? She only thought that the Ming Dynasty was a big country with strong national power. If she was willing to send troops to deal with Jianzhou, Tong Nuer, the enemy who killed her father, would be captured sooner or later. Ye He's tribe She could take the opportunity to annex the land of Jianzhou and rise in Haixi. Now she heard Zhang Yuan say that the Ming army in Liaodong could not defeat the Eight Banners Army in Jianzhou, which naturally shocked her. If the Ming army was defeated, Tong Nuer would have no worries anymore. , Ye He was bound to be destroyed, and he couldn't help but said anxiously: "Then how should we deal with it, Mr. Zhang?"
Zhang Yuandao: "This matter cannot be rushed. Step by step, North Korea's Guanghai Jun, who has close relations with Nurhachi, has abdicated. This is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty."
Ke Yinyue had glanced at Zhang Yuan quite flatteringly before. Now she frowned her black and slender eyebrows and asked again: "Mr. Zhang, do you think Tong Nuer dares to launch troops against the Ming Dynasty?"
Zhang Yuandao said: "There have been frequent natural disasters in the Jianzhou area in the past two years. Nurhachi can only alleviate the crisis in Jianzhou by invading the outside world." After saying this, he shut up and thought that it was ridiculous for him to discuss military and national affairs with an emperor's eldest grandson. Although this wet nurse had a special status, it was better to say less. She stood up immediately and said, "Auntie Ke, I have returned from North Korea and I have prepared a small gift for Auntie Ke. I wonder if Auntie Ke will like it?" He walked to the hall. On the corridor, people brought over gift boxes for guest Yinyue, including ginseng, jade, Korean white gauze cloth, Busan bronze mirror and other items.
Ke Yinyue touched the snow-white Korean muslin and whispered, "I really want to use this white muslin to cut a long skirt." Ye He Jurchen is still white, and Jurchen women like to wear long white skirts with left lapels.
Zhang Yuan had complicated affairs, so he said to the guest Yinyue: "Auntie, I'm going back first. Eunuch Zhong invites Auntie to pay my respects." He cupped his hands and walked down the steps of the corridor.
Ke Yinyue followed and suddenly asked, "Where is Mr. Zhang's bracelet of Buddhist beads?"
When Zhang Yuan was sent as an envoy to North Korea, Ke Yinyue ordered Ke Guang to come first and tell some secrets about Jianzhou Nurhachi, and presented him with a string of fine Dongzhu bracelets.
Zhang Yuan turned around and said, "Why, does the guest want that string of beads?"
Ke Yinyue smiled and said: "That's not true. It was given to Mr. Zhang. I just hope you won't abandon it easily."
Zhang Yuan returned to his apartment in Lige Old Hutong by car. North Korea¡¯s envoy Yu Yan was already waiting in the foyer. Yu Yan received a cold reception from the Ministry of Rites today and felt uneasy, so he came to ask Zhang Yuan for advice. Zhang Yuan made it clear:?Tell him that Ming Dynasty will definitely enthrone Lord Lingyang as the king of Korea. This is also the interest of Ming Dynasty.
In the evening, Gao Qiqian came to send a message saying that Eunuch Zhong had met Mr. Wu Ge. Mr. Wu Ge sent Zuo Guangdou, a member of Zhongshushe, to the Ministry of Rites to supervise Zhang Yuan's return from his mission. If the Ministry of Rites dared to delay it any longer, Let Zhang Yuan and the North Korean envoys submit the memorial to the Secretary of General Affairs and submit it to the cabinet. There is not only one channel for submission.
What Zhang Yuan wants is to have the right to speak and express.
There¡¯s been a lot of trouble lately, so I¡¯m very sorry. (To be continued.)