Li Dongyang came out of the Ganqing Palace and returned to the Pavilion.

He was listless in his work all day long, and he was still recalling what Zhu Youzhang said to him.

Liu Jian noticed his abnormality and did not come to disturb him. Xie Qian was at night that day and was not in the cabinet during the day.

Until the sunset and was about to leave, Xu Pucai came back from the outside in vain.

"Binzhi, what are you doing? Could it be that the military and political affairs that Your Majesty mentioned to you earlier made you embarrassed?" Xu Pu, as the chief assistant, Li Dongyang's direct boss, seemed to care about his subordinates, talked to Li Dongyang alone.

Li Dongyang originally wanted to hide something, but at this moment he just sighed and said, "Your Majesty did not talk about military affairs with me, but only mentioned the marriage with the Zhang family of the foreign relative."

Xu Pu's face suddenly became clear and nodded, as if all this was within his expectations.

"If you don't want to, just tell Your Majesty clearly. I believe Your Majesty will not force marriage. Everyone in the world knows the origin and cultivation of the foreign relatives."

Xu Pu means that if you don’t want to marry a daughter, just insist on expressing it, and the emperor will not do anything to you.

Why be as depressed as you are now?

Despite his hesitation, Li Dongyang still told Xu Pu about the emperor's words.

When Xu Pu learned what Zhu Youzhe expressed, even he couldn't help but frown.

Li Dongyang said: "According to Your Majesty's intention, if I agree to this marriage, I will rely more on the cabinet department in the future, and even call out more than one person outside the court. Since Xuande, it has been rare for the monarch and ministers to have such an opportunity to increase communication. Alas!"

"If I don't agree, it will be inevitable that the Zhang family will rise in the court. If he has made military achievements in the northwest, it will be not easy to suppress him in the future."

Li Dongyang can see the situation clearly.

Zhang Yanling had done so many things in the court and had already won the trust of the emperor. In addition, Zhang Yanling and the emperor had the convenience of summoning the right person at any time, which was beyond the same as civil officials.

Now that Zhang Yanling has achieved martial arts in addition to civil affairs, the emperor has made it clear that he will promote Zhang Yanling to marquis.

As the Marquis of Zhang Yanling, he also served as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and even had the possibility of furthering in the civil service system in the future. If civil servants want to restrain Zhang Yanling, they must have "special means".

Marriage.

It seems to be inevitable.

It's just a matter of who is going to marry.

Xu Pu's face was also a little solemn. The two sat down and did not communicate for a long time.

After a while, Liu Jian came in from outside and saw the two sitting there without saying a word. He seemed curious and said, "Do you should leave the palace earlier? Avoid delaying the time? Yu Qiao is coming soon."

Xu Pu then stood up and said, "Binzhi, you don't have to worry too much about this. You can't solve the matter in the court alone. You should be clear about everything."

Meaningless consolation.

To Li Dongyang, this seemed to be more like Xu Pu's persuasion to him to compromise. It seemed that Xu Pu supported the emperor's opinion and wanted him to marry his daughter, but he was embarrassed to say it out of affection.

...

...

After the emperor proposed the intention to marry, he did not mention any related matters two days later.

It seems that he has to wait for Zhang Yanling to return to the capital before making a decision. It may be that the emperor is waiting for Li Dongyang's final reply.

Li Dongyang also chose to remain silent and did not comment on this matter.

However, at this time, the court had a lot of rumor about Li Dongyang and Zhang Yanling's marriage. Even the people in the capital began to know about this and the public began to discuss it.

Li Dongyang suddenly became the center of public opinion, so he was naturally untiring. If his colleagues wanted to ask him for his opinions, he would not respond. In recent days, he has avoided meetings and conversations with others, intending to avoid public opinion.

But at this moment.

More news about Zhang Yanling's military achievements in the northwest reached the capital.

Liu Daxia, the governor of Xuanfu, sent the first batch of people who agreed to make military achievements, and had arrived at Aries. After counting and inspecting the bodies and heads of the Tatars, he believed that there was no problem. Liu Daxia personally reported this matter to confirm the credibility of Zhang Yanling's military achievements.

The Ministry of War sent by the court and the Jinyiwei, they have not reached the Aries' mouth, nor to the mouth of Huyu. They have not made a final conclusion yet.

Now it seems that it is even more difficult to reverse Zhang Yanling's military achievements.

The one who is most proud these days is Zhang Heling.

For several days, the emperor would summon Zhang Heling during the morning court and ask Zhang Heling to attend the court discussion. He occasionally asked his opinions. His act of being troll in the court was very similar to his younger brother, but he had not much ability and did not give any good suggestions. The emperor probably just asked Zhang Heling to be his younger brother's substitute, probably heard him sing in the court and sang against him, and did not intend to really let Zhang Heling do something practical.

This morning, we discussed the court.

Minister of War Ma Wensheng reported the war report from the northwest again, saying that Zhang Yanling had led his troops to the Beetle Pass, and at this time, the Tatars around Beetle Pass had basically escaped.

It seems that Zhang Yanling wants to regain his head and move back.

"Your families, I think if Jianchang finished the errand I sent and I would like to summon him back to the capital earlier, do you think this should be done?" The emperor, as always, showed his seemingly unintentional nature and asked him about his "Your families".

Ma Wensheng did not wait for Xu Pu and others to make any statement, and took the initiative to express his opinion: "The old minister believes that Jianchang Bo should consolidate the military affairs in the northwest. Not only does the front line of Xuanda need to be rectified, but also the three-sided line need to be rebuilt customs. In the past few years, Ma's political affairs have many disadvantages, so Jianchang Bo can also be rectified again..."

Isn’t your Zhang Yanling very capable?

Then don't come back in the northwest first.

In terms of military and political aspects, we know that you still have some ability. Since you have gone to the northwest, we don’t want to see you for the time being, the bad things in the northwest...

It's yours!

Zhu Youting was surprised by Ma Wensheng's "support" to Zhang Yanling. It seemed that he had not reacted for a while. This was just a reaction from the civil officials who did not want to see Zhang Yanling.

"Gemaster Xu, what do you think?" Zhu Youzang looked at Xu Pu.

Xu Pu looked at Ma Wensheng first, and he naturally understood Ma Wensheng's intention, but he still did not want his relatives to gain more military power.

Even if Zhang Yanling returns to the capital, it is really annoying. The court is even more open-minded than Zhang Heling, which makes them feel even more embarrassed. They often have to debate...

But in his opinion, Xu Pu's opinion, the principles of the Ming Dynasty should not be chaotic.

"Your Majesty, after the Tatars realized the resolute use of the imperial court and took the initiative to withdraw their troops, they should also end the military affairs of the northwest. The most urgent task is to ensure the stability of the autumn grains in the northwest military farms. If Jianchang Bo is not summoned now, they can wait until the autumn grains are put into the warehouse before they are recruited."

Xu Pu showed off his "vision of vision" as the chief assistant.

I don’t want to discuss with the emperor about Zhang Yanling’s contributions, and even the Tatars’ withdrawal of troops, I don’t think it was caused by Zhang Yanling’s contributions.

Now we only talk about the stability of the northwest.

Zhu Youzhang shook his head and said, "I don't think that Jianchang Bo should stay in the northwest for a long time, nor do I think that the matters of the three sides should be handed over to him. After all, I think that if he can complete the entrusted responsibilities, he is worthy of the court's trust in him. As for the matters of the three sides, it should be handed over to the new three sides general system, and Ma Zheng and others... should not be handed over to him."

The emperor said this, which made many ministers present puzzled.

What does the emperor mean?

Could it be that the emperor was also afraid that Zhang Yanling would be in power and would not lose his military position?

Zhang Heling ran out and said, "Your Majesty, let my second brother come back and send a more mature and steady old minister to guard the border in the northwest. The bitter and cold land in the northwest is really not suitable for my second brother's temperament."

As a brother, he seems to be very aware of his brother's difficulties.

Put your heart in mind.

Zhang Heling never wanted to go to the northwest, because the northwest came from outsiders. It was a deserted place where birds could not shit. How could he stay in the colorful world of the capital?

"The matter of merit has not yet been concluded. Let's let the matter of recall be released for the time being." Zhu Youzhang did not continue to discuss it.

This matter seemed to be mentioned, but it came to an abrupt end, just like the previous mention of giving Zhang Yanling a marriage.

The court talks are about to disperse.

The emperor also intends to look at Li Dongyang, as if waiting for Li Dongyang to make a statement.

But Li Dongyang still did not make any statement.

...

...

The court meeting ended.

All the ministers returned to the yamen.

On the way out of the palace, there were groups of three or five, and they were also talking about Zhang Yanling's merits.

Many people feel resentful.

There are fewer people who doubt it now, but they just think that Zhang Yanling has "lost luck". As for the bets before, Liu Zhang and Yuan Shouzhi, who falsely claimed their military achievements, are now obviously isolated by civil officials.

Regardless of your motives, at least we can't get too close to you now, so as not to be implicated.

That night.

Li Dongyang came out of the palace and returned to his home.

I learned that Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, had been waiting in his mansion for a long time.

Xu Qiong seemed to be the representative of the emperor and came to hire Li Dongyang.

Although Li Dongyang refused, he still met with Xu Qiong. The two of them had been discussing in Lijiazhengtang for more than an hour.

"Binzhi, although you look down on Yanling, he is always a junior and his future is still expected. If no one advises or guidance and leads him on the right path, the Ming Dynasty may be in chaos. Don't you want to give him some ideas?" Xu Qiong said earnestly.

This means.

On behalf of the emperor, I ask you to take Zhang Yanling on the right path.

After all, Zhang Yanling was young and had high plasticity. He didn't want him to go astray, nor did he want to let the Ming Dynasty fall into turmoil, so he took action now.
To be continued...