After the emperor went on a tour, a hidden wave of storm of scrambling the case with his relatives Zhang brothers appeared in the capital.

Leadered by Empress Dowager Zhang, the eunuch Gao Feng, the Sili Supervisor, was in the middle and threaded the needle. Yang Tinghe was involved with some ministers in the court, and even Zhang Mao was forced to participate, as if this trend was unstoppable.

However, Zhu Houzhao, who always convicted the Zhang brothers, had to get the emperor nodded nodding anyway. However, the brewing storm and waves have made Xie Qian, who was driving the boat, feel swaying.

After Zhu Houzhao left, Xie Qian originally thought that he could easily control the situation in the capital, but not long after, he found that many things in the capital were not under his control. Even those who had followed his advice now began to slander, and some people did a lot of things that caught him off guard in inconspicuous places, which made him extremely passive.

Xie Qian's place to handle affairs was still in his courtyard on East Chang'an Street. He didn't like to go to Wenyuan Pavilion because it was inconvenient to contact the outside palace if there was anything. In his opinion, the cabinet was just a place for routine travel every day. He could complete the bills in his courtyard, which was more like the power center of the Ming Dynasty.

On that day, Yang Yiqing came to Xie Qian to talk about the transfer of silver to Jiangnan, and also the return of the Ministry of Revenue officials who supervised the emperor's use of silver.

Xie Qian had a lot of emotion at this time, and pulled Yang Yiqing to talk a lot, as if he was making a big blow.

Yang Yiqing understood that the court now formed a third force outside Zhang Yuan and Xie Qian. Yang Yiqing was not sure who this force involved, but only knew that even the Ministry of Revenue had someone involved. Instead, he, the Minister of the Household Department, chose to be neutral, that is, to continue to obey Xie Qian's orders and follow Xie Qian's lead.

Xie Qian took out a memorial and placed it in front of Yang Yiqing: "This is a memorial sent by Zhihou from Jiangnan, saying that the families of the soldiers who followed the army should be moved to Xincheng as soon as possible. This is the second time he has submitted such a memorial. The last time His Majesty rejected his request."

As the Minister of Revenue, Yang Yiqing was not qualified to read the minister's memorial, but since Xie Qian showed it to him, he did not refuse and took it to see it directly.

After reading it, Yang Yiqing put down his memorial: "How can the soldiers go out to war, how can they bring their families? Is it against the principle of doing this?"

Yang Yiqing did not make a decision on the matter because he couldn't figure out Xie Qian's attitude and felt that Xie Qian did not act too disgusted, as if the matter could be discussed.

Xie Qian said: "Zhihou means that he wants the new city to be like a garrison, and his family will go there so that the soldiers can follow him to fight without distraction. What else can he do? Are he afraid that he will become king in that newly built city?"

Perhaps it was a private occasion, or it was possible that Xie Qian had a lot of trust in Yang Yiqing and did not shy away from him when speaking, and said whatever he thought of.

Yang Yiqing nodded: "If the soldiers need to stay in Jiangnan for a long time, they can indeed consider moving their families there, but this matter must be approved by His Majesty, right?"

Xie Qian thought about it and nodded: "Your Majesty must be the master of the major affairs in the court. I am just signing up for power. However, now that Your Majesty is on the southern tour, it takes too long to contact and get your Majesty's reply... Humph, some people in the court want to act outrage and bypass His Majesty to make some decisions."

This statement obviously means something, and Yang Yiqing asked: "Is what the Master said about pardoning Zhang's relatives?"

Xie Qian spoke directly, and Yang Yiqing didn't avoid it. Both of them made it clear, showing that they had no reservations about each other.

Xie Qian said helplessly: "Everyone knows how unreliable it is for the Zhang brothers to do things in the past few years... The Queen Mother had entrusted me to ask me to help the two brothers plead for love, but I was sternly rejected. I didn't know about the restart of the case this time. When I came to the cabinet, I realized that someone was already initiating and promoting this matter."

Yang Yiqing thought about it and immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. He thought to himself: "No, Master Xie did not discuss it with the cabinet, but instead told me that he suspected that this matter was my secretly doing, or that someone in the cabinet was behind the scenes... How should I defend myself?"

Seeing that Yang Yiqing was silent, Xie Qian couldn't help but ask: "Ying Ning, what do you think?"

Yang Yiqing shook his head: "This matter should not be investigated. There are actually many rumors outside about Zhang's relatives. There are news that His Majesty has long wanted to use the two uncles..."

At this time, Yang Yiqing told Xie Qian about the rumors among the people, but did not express his opinion on the specific issues, and upholded the neutral attitude he had always maintained.

Although Yang Yiqing had no relationship with Empress Dowager Zhang, he did not want to offend Xie Qian easily before he showed his attitude and would go his own way.

Xie Qian had no intention of reluctance and said, "I thought about it in detail. At that time, Your Majesty and Zhihou were determined to thoroughly investigate the case of the Zhang brothers. I did not support it. But now if the two brothers were asked to return to the court, it would be a mess of the rules and regulations of the country, and I would not agree... But this matter may have been exposed to Your Majesty. As long as Your Majesty nods, the power and status of the Zhang brothers will be restored."

Yang Yiqing said: "It depends on your Majesty's attitude."

Xie Qian sighed a little: "Doesn't people need to pay a price to do something wrong? If they are just because they are the younger brothers of the empress dowager, they will be pardoned by the court and cannot punish the criminals before and prevent the future, and the imperial court's law will become a joke. Unfortunately, although I have a clear conscience in this matter, the empress dowager's side... is still difficult to explain!"

After Xie Qian mentioned it, Yang Yiqing finally understood Xie Qian's intention and thought to himself: "Gei Xie was very close to Empress Dowager Zhang in the past and often helped the Zhang family in the court. The Empress Dowager also gave Xie Ge Lao a lot of support. If Xie Ge Lao turned against him and prevented the Zhang brothers from returning to the court, he would inevitably have a grudge with the Empress Dowager. Therefore, the purpose of Xie Ge Lao said these words to me was to ask my Majesty to stop the Zhang brothers from returning to the court."

Yang Yiqing said: "In the following, Zhang's relatives are indeed not qualified to return to the court to take charge of the army. They have done too much to corrupt and abuse the law. His Majesty just thought about the face of the empress dowager and did not investigate the case. Otherwise... both brothers were guilty of death."

Xie Qian was very satisfied with Yang Yiqing's answer and nodded in praise: "If you have any ideas, please tell Your Majesty, I will support you. Ying Ning, in fact, whether the court will be stable in the future depends on your performance."

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...

Yang Yiqing was not stupid, so he left the courtyard and recalled in detail the details of his meeting with Xie Qian. He immediately realized that he had been used by Xie Qian.

But he didn't think it was a bad thing. At least Xie Qian trusted him very much now. As for whether this matter would be punished by the Queen Mother, it was not within his consideration, because Yang Yiqing always acted according to the rules and did not need to consider whether he would cater to the preferences of the Queen Mother or the foreign relatives.

According to Xie Qian's order, Yang Yiqing wrote a memorial, not to ask the court to continue to hold the Zhang brothers accountable, but to propose a case that has been identified. Is it necessary to rediscuss it? Based on the current peace in the capital, Yang Yiqing tactfully requested the emperor to make a clear punishment, which probably means that the Zhang brothers cannot be reversed.

The memorial was soon reached Xie Qian. Xie Qian drafted a ticket and agreed to Yang Yiqing's request. He quickly sent the memorial to the Silijian and came to Gao Feng.

Although the content of the memorial is obscure and difficult to understand, Gao Feng saw that he was advising the emperor. When he contacted the situation where he was helping the Zhang brothers overturn the case, he immediately realized that Yang Yiqing was targeting this matter.

Gao Feng took the memorial to meet Empress Dowager Zhang. According to Empress Dowager Zhang's previous instructions, if there is any major event in the court, she must first ask her opinions. Although she is not the emperor, she is the emperor's mother. The empress dowager has always been a special existence in the court, and the empress dowager even has the power to decide the emperor to abolish it, not to mention that many empress dowagers in history have ruled behind the curtain and controlled the court.

"The bastard is clearly pointing at the mulberry and scolding the locust... What is Ming Zhengdian's punishment? Does he mean to ask the emperor to kill the two younger brothers of the Ai family?"

Empress Dowager Zhang is not capable, but she never gives in to family affairs. This time she involves two younger brothers, and the future of the Zhang family is all about the Zhang brothers, so she will care more.

Even if she had some conflict with her son, she would still help her two younger brothers make a comeback. Empress Dowager Zhang is the kind of person who helps her relatives and ignores them.

Gao Feng saw that he was stumbling and quickly explained: "Maybe Shangshu Yang has something else to do."

Empress Dowager Zhang said: "Eunuch Gao, you don't have to explain to the Ai family. The Ai family knows that you are loyal. Since someone mentioned below that the two younger brothers of the Ai family were wronged, you should ask someone to thoroughly investigate the case and give them a clear innocence. In this way, the two younger brothers of the Ai family will return to the court to help His Majesty do things earlier..."

Although Empress Dowager Zhang was unreasonable, she was well-organized in her work. She knew that to make the Zhang brothers make a comeback, she had to start with the pending case.

If it is proved that the Zhang brothers did not commit a crime, then they can be legitimately lifted the current ban, and returning to the court is a natural thing.

Empress Dowager Zhang was not in a hurry to let her two younger brothers restore their titles. The most urgent task was to close the case shelved in another way. As for dealing with the Shen family, she put it behind.

Gao Feng said: "Empress Dowager, if the Empress Dowager is not allowed to do so, it will be difficult to reopen the trial."

Empress Dowager Zhang asked with a stern face: "Why can't it be possible? Your Majesty is not in the capital, so don't you deal with everything? This is also the Imperial decree of the Ai family. When you look back, the Imperial decree will be given to you. You just send the people from the Sansi to investigate the case."

...

...

In order to overturn the case of the two younger brothers, Empress Dowager Zhang asked Gao Feng, Yang Tinghe and others to arrange for the three judicial departments to retrieve the case of the Zhang brothers.

Since the case has not been closed, the former presiding officer Shen Xi and Emperor Zhu Houzhao are not in the capital. Now that Empress Dowager Zhang has controlled the Silijian and many ministers in the court, she naturally will not miss this good opportunity to overturn the case for her younger brother. In her opinion, as long as the case is successful, even if she has an explanation to the people of the world, her younger brother's crime can be lifted, and even if her son is the emperor, she cannot object to anything.

As for the truth, it doesn't matter. Since Empress Dowager Zhang has the power to change the final result, she must intervene.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao had no idea that his mother, Empress Dowager Zhang, was leading a political storm in the capital and was still enjoying a very exciting life of "stolen sunshine".

It is not something that ordinary people can do to find a woman under Shen Yier's nose.

There are also things to eat, drink and have fun. Zhu Houzhao is not in a hurry to take a boat. He has to get off the boat every time he arrives. He could walk for twenty or thirty miles every day. Half a month has passed. Now he just takes a few days to walk a place. When he gets ashore, he finds the elegant place to live. Then he uses the excuse to go out for a trip, and then finds another place to enjoy the filial piety of local officials and generals.

Chen Yi'er was helpless and had no idea what Zhu Houzhao was doing outside. The only thing she was sure of was that Zhu Houzhao would go back to her place to rest in the evening.

"Your Majesty, you are about to arrive in Xuzhou. Xuzhou is a famous city and has always been a place that military strategists must fight for. This time, local officials and generals in Xuzhou have prepared a lot of filial piety and will be sent after the sage arrives."

Zhang Yuan spared no effort to show his "ability" in front of Zhu Houzhao. The place where he had an advantage over Jiang Bin was that he could directly contact local governments and garrisons, and made it clear that officials and generals would respect the emperor.

After all, Jiang Bin and Xu Tai were just slandering ministers around the emperor. They were not powerful enough, and they did not have titles. Local officials lacked attention to military generals, but were flattered to Zhang Yuan. After all, with Liu Jin's example, everyone knows how powerful the eunuch in charge of the seal of the Sili Supervisor is.

Zhu Houzhao was on the boat, listening to Zhang Yuan's report, and gnawed with a fresh pear, and asked freely: "Where will you spend tonight?"

"If you speed up, you will be able to arrive in Xuzhou after night today. If Your Majesty feels too hurrying, it's not too late to wait until tomorrow morning." Zhang Yuan said with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand: "Since you said Xuzhou so well, how can I not go and see it earlier? I will speed up my boat today and don't rest until Xuzhou..."

"Okay, I'll do it now." Zhang Yuan took the order and came out.

...

...

Zhang Yuan came out and explained to the person in charge of the boat. Then he greeted Cui Yuan, the son-in-law of the prince. Cui Yuan asked curiously: "This place is only more than twenty miles away from Xuzhou, why do you have to wait until tomorrow to arrive? It won't take long to sail!"

Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "Why is the prince consort so confused? If it is too easy, Your Majesty will know how slowly we have been going along the way. How many miles will Your Majesty know? If Your Majesty is rushing to Jiangnan, will we stop or not along the way?"

Cui Yuan was a little dull and didn't understand what Zhang Yuan meant, but he had one advantage, that is, he could obey his orders.

Cui Yuan and Zhang Yuan have a close relationship. Both of them have gained some convenience and benefits from their cooperation. After a brief discussion, the fleet speeds up slightly, but Zhu Houzhao feels that his boat is rushing towards Xuzhou as quickly as lightning.

In order to have fun at night, Zhu Houzhao went to bed first.

When he woke up, it was not dark, and someone told him that he had arrived at the boundary of Xuzhou.

"Didn't it meant that it was very far away and needed to rush?"

When Zhu Houzhao saw Zhang Yuan, she looked in doubt.

Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "This old slave told the boatman to speed up the boat. Did Prince Cui also ask the officers and soldiers on the shore to speed up the speed? Hurry up and finally arrived before dark. He didn't want to see His Majesty arrive at the ferry after night to increase the risk... It was just right to enter the city at this time."

Zhu Houzhao nodded with satisfaction: "It's not bad, you can check the holy intentions and give you a lot of rewards."

As he said that, Zhu Houzhao came out of the cabin and looked into the distance. He saw the sunset hanging in the western sky, dragging the shadows of trees and ships long. The port area in front was a little deserted. Because Zhu Houzhao arrived by boat, the local government cleaned up the ships in the Xuzhou section of the canal. At this time, groups of officials in the distance were lined up to welcome the throne.

Although Zhu Houzhao was treated with kindness wherever he went, there had never been any situation where officials went out of the city to line up to greet him. This was related to Zhu Houzhao's previous failure to allow extravagance and waste in the area.

Before leaving the capital, Zhu Houzhao did think that he could not disturb the local people's livelihood, but now his mentality has changed. He could clearly enjoy the emperor's outing and tour, so why did he have to be wronged?

Zhu Houzhao had just arrived ashore and was about to meet local officials and generals. The queen also landed on the boat. Chen Yier got off the boat and walked quickly towards this side.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said hello: "Queen, there are officials in front of you to greet me, let's meet together?"

Obviously, Emperor Zhengde was not too polite. As for whether the queen met the local officials, it was not included in his consideration. She only felt that she was showing off her pomp and showing off her power and taking Chen Yier with her would make Chen Yier look at her differently.

Chen Yier's cheeks were bulging: "I agreed that I would not allow the show and I could not spend money indiscriminately. Why don't I obey now? All the things you said before were fart?"

The queen spoke too directly, and many eunuchs and servants around heard it, which made Zhu Houzhao feel a little overwhelmed. She looked around and secretly glad: "Fortunately, she wasn't saying this between the officials and the generals, otherwise... where would I put my face?"

Zhu Houzhao walked over and whispered, "Empress, I promised you, but I didn't regret it. It's not my show now, it was made by the local government, and I didn't spend our money... They are loyal to me and know that I and you are here to greet you. Even if the scene is a little more grand, it's nothing. If you don't like it, let someone tell the local officials in front of you clearly and tell them not to do these face-saving times, what do you think?"

Chen Yi'er thought about it, snorted lightly without answering. Zhu Houzhao gradually understood Chen Yi'er's personality and smiled and said, "Then let's go together."

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To be continued...