The matter seemed to be resolved smoothly, but it made Xie Qian even more sad. The direction of the matter had exceeded his expectations, and court affairs seemed to be no longer under his control.

The emperor's willfulness and the appearance of Chen Xi made him feel that the future was difficult. At this time, the discouragement and loss in his heart were indescribable, and his desire to retreat came stronger than ever.

However, things did not worsen further, and even Xie Qian felt a little lucky. After meeting Chen Xi yesterday and officially announced the breakup between the two sides, he did not have the chance to talk to Chen Xi again.

"This kid Zhihou is completely disobedient. In the future, he will only follow his own ideas and will not be influenced by others. Alas!"

Xie moved back to his house and took leave, saying that he could not leave.

But this time it wasn't just pretending to be sick, but it was really sick.

Two days ago, I stood in front of Fengtian Gate for one day, and last night the north wind was blowing at the door of the leopard room for another night. The man in his sixties was really unable to withstand the body. He fell ill after entering the wind and cold, so he took sick leave. In this way, he could still keep his ears quiet and let Shen Xi go for trouble.

Xie Qian originally thought that Chen Xi would go to the Ministry of Personnel to perform his duties as a Tianguan official, and then took the opportunity to cause trouble. What he couldn't understand was that Chen Xi was still resting like him and seemed to be in a hurry to "seize power".

Xie Qian, who stayed in the mansion, was still concerned about how Qian Ning investigated and dealt with the "rebellion case", but the case was so thunderous and there was no news for several days. It seemed that Qian Ning had left Beijing and had nowhere to inquire about the progress of the case.

"... Master Xie, you are at home to recuperate. Things are going well in the court. Eunuch Zhang's return to the court finally made the government affairs that have been accumulated over time smoothly, and everything is on track."

On this day, Liang Chu came to Xie Qian's house to visit his illness, stood in front of the sickbed, and explained the current situation of the court to Xie Qian.

"Ahem."

Xie Qian covered his mouth and coughed twice, looked at Liang Chu with his eyes and asked, "Is the situation in the cabinet okay?"

Liang Chu nodded and said, "After Chong Sui entered the cabinet, he planned to handle the tickets easily. Master Xie was not here for the past few days. We worked closely together and all the affairs were managed in an orderly manner. Eunuch Zhang basically planned to make redemptions according to the tickets given by the cabinet, and there was no mistake. The only thing is the six ministries, and the work was delayed, especially the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War... It may be related to the fact that no one presided over the board..."

Xie Qian was coughing again, but he was seriously thinking about what Liang Chu said.

At present, anyone can see the conflict between Chen Xi and Xie Qian. Some people inevitably think that it was Xie Qian's obstacle that forced Chen Xi to continue to rest at home. At this time, someone in the court had begun to speak for Chen Xi, accusing Xie Qian of being jealous of being jealous of being capable.

Xie Qian said, "Whether Zhihou returns to the court, what does it have to do with me? That's his business... He has met the saint before and is healthy, so why should he delay and deliberately fail to perform his duties?"

"Maybe there are many obstacles!"

Liang Chu's evaluation was very direct, "Zhihou's pressure to return to the North Korea is very great. He had to avoid being affected by public opinion! Now His Majesty has been stranded in the Leopard Room and never returned. Many things must be solved by Mr. Xie."

Xie Qian curled his lips: "At this time I remembered that I am here? When will I be in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War?"

Liang Chu was embarrassed and thought to himself: "How can I make Mr. Xie realize that his recognition is most helpful for Zhihou's return to the North Korea? Could it be that he will continue to be indefinitely? Or Zhihou is unique and has a separate faction in the North Korea to fight against the civil service group?"

Liang Chu said: "I am just expressing some simple opinions. Since Master Xie is unwilling to come forward, then just do whatever you want!"

Zhu Houzhao arranged for Chen Xi to serve as two ministers, but was opposed by many people in the court. Even those who supported him dared not say it clearly. As Chen Xi came out of the mountain, he must win the support of the imperial court.

This kind of public opinion orientation is actually the most secure to be dominated by Xie Qian, the leader of the civil service group. Zhu Houzhao's decree alone is useless.

But now Xie Qian has a deep prejudice against Chen Xi and obviously will not give this convenience. Chen Xi did not refuse the appointment in front of the emperor, which made him either bite the bullet and perform his duties as the Minister of Personnel, or continue to drag on as he is now.

Liang Chudao said: "Zhihou has not been idle recently. I heard that he was responsible for receiving envoys from the foreign countries. He has been dispatching people from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple to do things. Although he is stranded in the mansion, he has not slacked off in court affairs. The Ministry of War is now operating normally."

"This is normal!"

Xie Qian directly came up with his own point of view: "It is actually irrelevant to have one or two ministers in the court. As long as the minister and other officials of the doctor can take the lead, they can handle government affairs step by step!"

Liang Chu couldn't help but smile bitterly and thought to himself: "If you have something in the court, you don't rely on the Minister of State, but you have to rely on the Minister of State and the Doctor. Perhaps such a strange thing will happen only now."

"What's the matter if Mr. Xie and Zhihou don't join the court to manage the government, and if they just stay in a stalemate?"

Liang Chu talked about some affairs in the court with Xie Qian and said goodbye.

Before leaving, Xie Qian explained: "No matter whether he is outstanding or not, he must not mess with the rules of the court. Whoever wants him to serve as the two ministers will be in line with the Ming Dynasty! When he spread the words, he said it was me!"

...

...

Xie Qian could not convince Chen Xi, so he wanted to put pressure on public opinion.

Chen Xi tried his best to rescue the prison censor, but this could not be exchanged for Xie Qian's forgiveness, and he even became even more angry after this incident.

This is the conflict between orthodox civil servants and emerging civil servants.

For others, this problem is like a deadlock. Without Xie Qian's support, Chen Xi would never be able to take over as the Minister of Personnel in an orthodox manner, and the civil servant group would not recognize him.

But as the person involved, Chen Xi was indifferent to this, and this incident did not cause much trouble to him.

It seems that the affairs of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel have been delayed, but in fact, this is not the case.

During the past few days of recuperation at home, he was planning something that involved promoting who would become the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

The two ministers of the Ministry of War, Lu Wan and Wang Chang, were able to handle things well, and basically he didn't need to worry about it.

The Ministry of Personnel was slackened by the former Minister He Jian and the long-term vacancy of the Right Assistant Minister. Just relying on the left Assistant Minister Sun Jiao, it was no longer possible to complete the appointment and removal of officials across the country, examination, promotion, transfer, and Feng Xun. Chen Xi thought about making up for the right Assistant Minister as soon as possible. His idea was to add an official he promoted to this position.

That is, you have to use your own people.

Since he is the Minister of Personnel, if there is no one of his own confidants in the entire yamen, it means that he must be restrained in his actions, and the orders issued cannot be implemented in a timely and efficient manner.

But it is difficult to find a satisfactory candidate.

After thinking about it, there was no suitable partner among the people he knew. After counting, it was Zhang Lun, the Minister of Dali Temple, and Wang Chang, the Right Assistant of the Ministry of War. Although Wang Chang was old-fashioned in his work, he could always do practical things. As for Zhang Lun, his relationship with Chen Xi was not so close.

Because these two people were originally third-rank officials in Beijing, even if they were moved to the left to the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, they could only be considered as being a transfer of the same level, which was within the scope of Chen Xi's ability.

Chen Xi had thought about transferring Hu Lian or Wang Shouren back, but the two were not qualified and were not familiar with the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel, so it was difficult to promote it.

The problem was not solved for a while, and Chen Xi did not linger and began to focus on welcoming the envoys of foreign countries, and the envoys of Folangji who visited him the most concerned.

A year ago, the court was engaged in business with the Florians. The Florians used the silver mined from the Americas to buy silk, tea, porcelain and other things from the Ming Dynasty, providing enough military expenditure for the Ming Dynasty to complete the war against the Tatars. Involving the subsequent ocean-going trade, others could not take over, so Shen Xi could only talk to the Florians.

The large ship of the Flang Jiren transported silver from the Americas, not directly back to Europe, but came to the Ming Dynasty to buy the goods they like, which increased the profit exponentially.

At the same time, the Florence people also brought many things from Europe and the Americas, such as peppers, tobacco leaves and other crops, and gradually became popular in the coastal areas.

This is almost the best time to open the sea ban, but Chen Xi did not intend to immediately mention the opening of the sea with Zhu Houzhao, because his conflicts with Emperor Zhengde and disputes with the civil servant group were there, changing the past rules was equivalent to pushing himself to the opposite of traditional forces, and he could only do it one by one.

Chen Xi would not tell Zhu Houzhao about doing business with Folang Jiren, but Zhang Yuan reported it on his behalf.

"...Your Majesty, the big ship of the Folang Jiren is loaded with white silver, and each ingot is very good. If you do business with the Folang Jiren, you can earn hundreds of thousands to millions of taels every year. Such a large amount of money can do a lot of things..."

Zhang Yuan began to draw cakes for Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was a greedy emperor. He heard that he had a large sum of money and his eyes were straightened.

Zhang Yuan said: "In the past, these silvers were used to fight wars, but now the situation has changed. Nine-side peace is peaceful. We can transport these silvers directly to the Daming Treasury for the expenses of the Ministry of Revenue, and also to build palace walls and houses. Leopard houses can also be expanded. The rest will be left to His Majesty for expenses..."

Zhu Houzhao was dancing with eyebrows and said happily: "How could I use so much money? Since it is obtained from the people, it should be used on the people."

"Your Majesty is wise."

The three eunuchs standing behind Zhang Yuan, Gao Feng, Li Xing and Zhang Yong, complimented the emperor in an extremely respectful tone.

After some competition, these three eunuchs who were in charge of the Lijian, Gao Feng was the chief eunuchs who were in charge of the Lijian, and the power of the Dongchang fell on Zhang Yong again. However, this time he was no longer the eunuchs who were in charge of the Imperial Horse Prison, but instead was the eunuch who was in charge of the Lijian, and his reputation was much more glamorous.

As a result, Dai Yi officially withdrew from the historical stage, and the Silijian formed a pattern of four eunuchs with one main and three deputy heads.

Li Xing said: "Your Majesty, those Folang Ji people didn't know where to mine so much silver and bought all our good things... How great would it be if the silver was mined by ourselves!"

"Yes, your Majesty."

Gao Feng also agreed, "If someone can be sent to steal the silver mine, then the Ming Dynasty will no longer be short of silver. In the future, the market can also use silver for circulation, and the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes can be discarded."

Zhang Yuan glared at the two of them, as if he was blaming them for being too talkative.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao seemed to be thinking about this issue seriously, and after a while, he said: "This is a bit reasonable, but Folang Ji people rely on the ocean to make a living. I heard that their ships are very large, so it is hard to say whether we can build similar large ships, let alone fight a naval battle... It won't be possible to rely on the mouths of a few of you. You can ask Mr. Chen to think about whether it is feasible."

Zhang Yuan said: "Your Majesty, Lord Shen has not gone to the office of the Ministry of Personnel to perform his duties recently, and he is still recuperating in the mansion... Can I leave it to others for meeting with Folangji and other envoys in foreign countries?"

"Do you have that ability?"

Zhu Houzhao angrily scolded, "If you don't have the ability, don't talk nonsense. The one who defeats the Folang Ji people is Mr. Chen... Look at the power of the Folang Ji cannon. If it weren't for someone like Mr. Chen who was capable and designed to defeat them, would they be willing to go to our Ming Dynasty to do business? I'm afraid it would be the same as you thought, using the strong ships and cannons to openly rob them!"

"Yes, yes." Zhang Yuan responded quickly.

Zhu Houzhao said again: "We are the Ming Dynasty and we agreed on the transaction process, which cannot be changed easily, so as not to make the Folang Ji people think that our Ming Dynasty is not keeping our word."

Zhang Yuan asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, what is going on in exploring and mining overseas silver mines..."

Zhu Houzhao thought about it again and waved his hand and said, "Go and ask Mr. Chen what he meant first... Let you Zhang Yuan go. If Mr. Chen says it is feasible, then act according to his set principles! Remember, except Mr. Chen, others are not qualified to make their own decisions! If anyone violates this, don't blame me for turning against me!"

...

...

Zhu Houzhao's trust in Chen Xi was almost from the bottom of his heart, and the eunuchs of the Silijian who participated in this meeting could see clearly.

After leaving the leopard room, Li Xing came over and said, "Eunuch Zhang, please tell me first. What else do you have to do with Lord Shen's words? Do Your Majesty trust Lord Shen too much on this issue?"

Zhang Yuan did not answer, but Zhang Yong choked: "Do you know where the country of Folang Ji is?"

Li Xing said: "Why don't you know? It's just the West. The former eunuch of Sanbao went to the West and went south along the coastline, and then westward. It was probably west of Siam, very close to Persia..."

Zhang Yong sneered: "Yelang was arrogant and thought he knew everything, but in fact he was a frog in the well!"

"Hey, just Eunuch Zhang, you can say silly words? Then, Eunuch Zhang knows where the country of Folang Ji is?" Li Xing was very dissatisfied and glared at Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yuan sternly said, "Enough! What are you fighting for here? Even if you know where you are, can you go for a boat?"

Now, the three eunuchs, including Gao Feng, stopped talking, as if they were waiting for Zhang Yuan to instruct.

Zhang Yuan said: "Since you don't know, then follow His Majesty's words, follow Lord Shen's instructions, and he said he would be wherever he was. He said that he could do it, so we would build a big ship... You have never seen the big ship of Folang Jiren. Do you really think that the sea boat that can cross the ocean is comparable to how many boats are?"

Li Xing smiled apologized and said, "Only Eunuch Zhang, you are right. Do you need to find someone to accompany you to Chen Mansion to meet Lord Shen?"
To be continued...