Chapter 241 Marry a chicken and follow the chicken; a righteous man will have many supporters
"Zhang Gu wanted to show his goodwill to Yan Song's party by offending Chang Wei Bo."
Recently, Xu Jie has been spending most of his time in the Hanlin Academy. It is unknown what he is working on and he rarely shows up in public.
Zhou Xia said, "Minister, do you mean that Zhang Gu wants to join the Yan Party?"
Xu Jie put down the document and said in a gentle voice, "Isn't the Ministry of Rites short of a minister?"
Zhou Xia was startled. "Zhang Gu is the right assistant minister...it's not his turn, right?"
There is also a Left Vice Minister Chen He in the Ministry of Rites!
"Many things are up to human efforts." Xu Jie smiled gently.
Zhou Xia did not notice the sarcasm in Xu Jie's eyes, and left later. After going out, he unknowingly walked to the stone tablet.
Zhou Xia silently recited the wise words of the ancients in his heart, and his heart gradually calmed down.
"...That Lord Wei is indeed a tyrant. He openly beat up the Minister of Rites."
"He is arrogant because of his favor. He is still a lucky minister. He will definitely not have a good ending from now on!"
The two officials ridiculed Jiang Qingzhi all the way, and just as they were about to bypass the stone tablet, they were blocked by someone.
"Zhou Shidu?"
Zhou Xia said coldly: "You don't know the details of many things, so don't criticize others behind their backs."
"Are you talking about Chang Wei Bo? That man was originally a favored minister..."
"Who else would dare to beat an important official?"
Zhou Xia said: "Chang Wei Bo defeated two generals of the Altan tribe and suppressed the White Lotus Sect in Xuanfu. May I ask if such merits can be conferred a title?"
The two were stunned and wanted to refute, but they found that Jiang Qingzhi's contribution was more than enough to be awarded the title of Earl.
"What is a lucky minister? A minister who got lucky. Is Changwei Bo's achievement a fluke?" Zhou Xia didn't know what was wrong with him. The injustice in his chest became stronger and stronger. "Zhang Gu provoked Changwei Bo. Does it mean that Changwei Bo has to turn his right cheek after being slapped on the left cheek?"
"Is Zhou Shidu going to speak for Chang Wei Bo?" someone sneered.
The Hanlin Academy was the base camp of the literati and officials, and Jiang Qingzhi was their sworn enemy.
Do you, Zhou Xia, dare to nod?
The two officials sneered.
Several officials nearby were also laughing.
Then, the smile froze.
Zhou Xia nodded slowly, "Yes!"
He turned and left.
am I wrong?
That's right!
There are things a real man does and things he doesn't do.
He became more and more determined as he went on.
In the afternoon, when he went to see Xu Jie again, he was politely refused.
"The Minister has something to do."
The clerk smiled reservedly.
But Zhou Xia smelled something wrong.
"I'll come back later then."
"Later... The Minister will be very busy today." The clerk smiled more reservedly.
Zhou Xia was stunned for a moment, "Got it."
After watching him leave, the clerk went in.
Xu Jie was reading a travelogue. The clerk bowed and said, "Reader Zhou has gone back."
Xu Jie remained silent. After the clerk left, there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.
"Consulting with the envoys of the Altan tribe, this is the matter of the Ministry of Rites. Your Majesty! How much leverage do you want to give Jiang Qingzhi... before you give up?"
Outside the door, the clerk said to his companions, "Minister Xu regarded Zhou Shidu as his disciple, but I didn't expect that he would offend his colleagues for Jiang Qingzhi. What a pity."
"I heard that the Minister is going to the Ministry of Rites?"
"The Ministry of Rites just happened to be short of a minister...it's hard to say."
“This is a huge step.”
"The Minister has been dormant for many years. This is not a one-step promotion. It is clear that he has been accumulating strength for a long time."
"The Ministry of Rites is a great place to show your talents."
Zhou Xia returned to the duty room.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "The Minister is not that kind of person, absolutely not!"
……
Under the urging of the palace, the marriage began to accelerate.
"I don't know what the hurry is for." Chang complained while discussing the dowry with others.
"What's wrong?"
It was a cold day, but Li Huan came in sweating profusely. Chang was startled, "Husband, what are you doing..."
"Today I met Zhang Gu, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. I wanted to say hello, but he sneered and left. I was distracted and the horse ran away. Look, I almost collapsed from exhaustion before I caught up with him."
"Zhang Gu?"
"Let's not talk about him. By the way, have you sorted out the dowry?"
"My dear husband, please take a look." Chang handed the list to Li Huan.
"Father, mother!"
The eldest daughter Li Xuan is here.
"You came just in time." Li Huan said, "The man has no objection, so we can get married next month."
Li Xuan was stunned. "Didn't you say March?"
"Hey! Your sister..." Li Huan waved his hand, "The palace is urging us to get married! We can't have our sister get married first, right?"
"Can……"
The more Li Xuan thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, so she stomped her feet and left.
"Alas! These raised children have turned into enemies." Li Huan sighed, "Forget it, just marry them off and save yourself the trouble!"
"I'm afraid my husband will be reluctant to let me go by then." Chang said with a smile.
Li Xuan came back not long after, leaning against the door, looking somewhat worried, "Dad, they said my brother-in-law beat up an important official in the court! That guy... Zhang Gu, the Minister of Personnel."
Chang was shocked, "Ah! How dare he be so bold? My husband." Li Huan said, "I wanted to tell you about this. But I was afraid that you would worry."
"Will my son-in-law be punished?" Chang asked worriedly.
Li Huan said, "Zhang Gu went to the Western Garden to ask His Majesty for help, but... " He glanced at his eldest daughter, "He was scolded by His Majesty and returned in disgrace."
Li Xuan: “…”
She went back angrily.
Li Tian was standing in the yard, listening attentively to the birds singing in the trees.
"Tian'er, you seem to be leisurely." Li Xuan walked over, and the bird was startled and flew high.
"Oh!" Li Tian turned around with some regret.
"Your future husband severely beat up Zhang Gu, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, today. He is too domineering. I am a little worried about you marrying him... I heard that some men will beat their wives." Li Xuan couldn't help but feel angry when she thought about being forced to change the wedding date, and she almost couldn't help but vent.
Li Tian said lightly, "Is that so?"
"Aren't you worried?"
"Why should I worry?" Li Tian said calmly: "Marry a chicken and follow the chicken; marry a dog and follow the dog; marry a monkey and walk all over the mountain. Since I am destined to marry him, then..."
Li Tian's eyes brightened up, "If he wants to hit someone, I'll hand him the stick."
"What if he wants to kill someone?" Li Xuan became even more angry.
"Then I'll help him pass the knife!"
……
There has been a lot going on in the Bo family recently, and the top priority is to renovate the house and decorate the new house.
Jiang Qingzhi moved to another small courtyard, and the place where he used to have a bedroom became a construction site.
"Wang Shen, the envoy of Altan Khan, will arrive in Beijing tomorrow." Xia Yan sipped his mutton soup, squinting his eyes. "You beat Zhang Gu yesterday, and today Zhang Gu spread the news everywhere in the Ministry of Rites, portraying himself as a brave warrior who had compromised, and you as a domineering and arrogant traitor."
Jiang Qingzhi said: "He says his thing, and I do mine."
"You... If I had your attitude of not caring about anything back then, I wouldn't have ended up in this situation." Xia Yan was a little sad.
He was too arrogant and made countless enemies for himself, even Emperor Jiajing disliked him.
There is nothing wrong with being like this as a person, but if you are like this as the Prime Minister, you will end up being deserted by everyone.
"I often think back to those days recently and feel that all of this is my own fault."
"Why did Lord Xia hide this from me?" Jiang Qingzhi smiled. "Lord Xia is the Prime Minister. If he is good at making friends, it won't be long before he has all the power. If so, he won't be far from death."
If Xia Yan was like this, there would be no need to be knocked down for the third time. He would probably be doomed if he was knocked down for the first time.
"You, you!" Xia Yan smiled bitterly, "Most people in the world say that I, Xia Yan, am arrogant, but you can see through my difficulties."
"Your Majesty is in opposition to the ministers. As the Prime Minister, if you are too friendly with the ministers..." Jiang Qingzhi said with a wicked smile, "Your idea is correct, but your method is too harsh."
"I know that my method is too harsh, but it's my nature, there's nothing I can do about it!" Xia Yan said with a smile.
"It is because of your character that you survived." Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile.
"It's fate!" Xia Yan sighed, then remembered something, "Zhang Gu said you were murderous, and he was worried that you might ruin the situation."
"He is just pretending to be so, and he is trying to gain benefits for the Ministry of Rites." Jiang Qingzhi smiled, "It seems that this person is really trying to scam people."
"Touch porcelain?"
Jiang Qingzhi told Xia Yan what had happened before.
The old man got angry when he heard it. "It's obvious that he came here to ask for humiliation, but he didn't expect you to do it. Well done!"
"It's good that you know this." Jiang Qingzhi said calmly, "Not everyone can come here to cheat me."
Minister of Rites?
Jiang Qingzhi thought of the memorial and couldn't help but sneer, "I think he is dreaming!"
"Um...are there any pickled meat left?" Xia Yan asked.
"Yes!" Jiang Qingzhi then instructed the chef to make several hundred kilograms of pickled meat.
"Oh!"
The old man stood up and said, "Let's go."
Not long after, the cook came to report with a bitter face, "Mr. Xia went to the kitchen and asked me to take more than ten pieces of pickled meat away."
What the hell!
Old Xia, you are so rude!
But more than ten pieces of pickled meat weigh several dozen kilograms. How can an old man like you carry them?
Jiang Qingzhi couldn't help laughing as he imagined a little old man staggering along with more than a dozen pieces of pickled meat on his back.
But not long after, Zhu Xizhong arrived.
“Celebrate it, celebrate it!”
"What happened? The sky fell?"
It was spring, but the weather was still cold, and Jiang Qingzhi huddled in his study, warming himself by the charcoal fire.
Zhu Xizhong came in and said with great excitement: "Xia Yan is crazy."
"What?" Jiang Qingzhi's first thought was to catch the cook, and his second thought was that it was impossible.
"Just before, Xia Yan went to the Ministry of Rites and pointed at the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Gu, and scolded him, saying that it would be fine if he wanted to seek the position of Shangshu, but he wanted to step on others to get to the top, which was shameless..."
Zhu Xizhong thought of Xia Yan's prestige when he was the Prime Minister. "Zhang Gu just defended himself when the old man spit on his face. He said, if you have the ability, go and kneel down to Yan Song. Yan Song dares to accept both the good and the bad, so don't bother to scheme against others."
"Qingzhi?" Seeing Jiang Qingzhi's dazed face, Zhu Xizhong waved his hand in front of his eyes.
"Oh, go on." Jiang Qingzhi said softly.
There was inexplicably more emotion in his eyes.
"Xia Yan left, and Zhang Gu has remained in seclusion ever since. The Ministry of Rites is in an uproar, and everyone is speculating about... Qing Zhi."
"what!"
"Why do you always get distracted?"
"nothing."
Jiang Qingzhi suddenly laughed, "Old Zhu, in fact, it is true that the righteous will have many supporters."
Zhu Xizhong asked suspiciously, "Are you not confused?"
The old man was angry that he was hit by Zhang Gu, and Jiang Qingzhi had hit him before, so he couldn't do it again. The old man personally went to the battlefield to seek justice for him.
"I've never been so awake..."
Jiang Qingzhi said softly.
(End of this chapter)
