manynovel Chapter 267 Do you want to be a pure minister?
Chapter 267 Do you want to be a pure minister?
"Brother Huai'an, you also know that I have no family background and no official rank. I am just a small scholar. The infighting in the court has nothing to do with me. I just want to pass the imperial examination. If I am lucky enough to pass the imperial examination in the future, I will also aim to assist the monarch and benefit the people."
"You want to be a loyal minister?" Tong Huaian was very surprised. In fact, based on his understanding of Jiang Youzhen, such a smart person should have clung to someone else's power early on and chosen a benevolent monarch to assist him.
I didn't expect Jiang Youzhen to have no plans. Could it be that he was concerned about his identity and didn't want to tell me?
"It's too early to say this now. I'm just a small scholar now. Brother Huai'an thinks too highly of me."
Jiang Youzhen shook his head. Why was he talking about this now? These people always made her feel that she was very capable and that she was already a minister of the imperial court. But in fact, she was not even a small shrimp.
"Why do you have to belittle yourself, young man? With your ability, it is normal for the superior to take a fancy to you. No matter what you think of the Fourth Prince, since he has personally invited you, if you don't go, it would be a disgrace to him. Why don't I accompany you and meet the Fourth Prince first?"
Tong Huaian's plan now is to trick the person away first. When he meets the kind-hearted and resourceful Fourth Prince, Jiang Youzhen might change his mind.
Just like before, he tricked Jiang Youzhen into studying and taking the imperial examination. At that time, Jiang Youzhen said categorically that he would not pursue a career in officialdom, but now he has passed the examination and become a scholar, hasn’t he?
So how can a person's ideas remain unchanged? It's just that the time has not come yet! He believed that with the Fourth Prince's ability, he would definitely be able to convince Jiang Youzhen in the end.
Jiang Youzhen frowned. Although he was reluctant to go, it would be bad to offend the other person.
"when?"
Tong Huai'an immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "The Fourth Prince is in the city, why don't we set off early tomorrow morning?"
Jiang Youzhen nodded, "Then I'll trouble you, Brother Huai'an."
"Why should we be so polite? Isn't this alienating? Then it's settled."
"By the way, I want to ask if the Fourth Prince got what he wished for last year?" Jiang Youzhen suddenly asked.
Tong Huai'an's face froze immediately, and after a moment he said, "Why? Didn't the Second Prince tell you?"
Jiang Youzhen noticed Tong Huaian's face suddenly turned cold and felt puzzled. "Since the last incident, I haven't seen the Second Prince for a long time. How could he tell me?"
However, judging from Tong Huaian's expression, it is estimated that the Fourth Prince's pursuit of military pay may not be satisfactory.
Tong Huaian's expression eased, but he still sighed slightly, "Your reminder was indeed correct. From the beginning, the Second Prince had no sincerity. Although the Fourth Prince recovered a part of the military pay, he also paid a price. But fortunately, it was not in vain, even if the Fourth Prince is not very satisfied."
It has to be said that this time the Fourth Prince suffered a severe setback at the hands of the Second Prince.
Although a portion of the military pay was recovered, a number of capable men were also lost. This matter involved a wide range of people, and the Second Prince took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters and divert the trouble to others, not only striking at the Crown Prince's followers, but also losing two of the Fourth Prince's right-hand men and several pawns planted in the court.
And it was the Fourth Prince who had to give the order himself. This torment and the helplessness of having to give up made the Fourth Prince very ill, and it took him more than two months to recover.
The barefoot are not afraid of the ones wearing shoes. The Second Prince seized the Fourth Prince's weakness and stabbed him hard. This time, people really realized how cruel and cunning the Second Prince was.
Kill three birds with one stone! It's really terrifying! But he was able to get away with it in front of the emperor. Although Hu Daoqing was dead, the iron ore case caught a lot of corruption, but it didn't hurt the foundation. The emperor was very satisfied and naturally couldn't punish him.
He was also rewarded with a lot of things, including a mansion of a second-rank official in the north city who had just been confiscated and exiled, which was converted into the second prince's residence.
How great an honor is this? Except for the Eastern Palace, the residences of other princes were not built with the emperor's special permission. They were all renovated with funds from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the emperor rarely asked about them. The value of this kind of reward is not in the residence, but in the emperor's intention.
As a result, the situation in the court changed. Since the second prince became proud last year, he actually had more supporters around him.
Earlier rumors said that the emperor disliked the second prince. Although it is not known why the emperor suddenly changed his mind, it is undeniable that the second prince did gain some status in the court because of this incident.
"You have to sacrifice in order to gain something!" Jiang Youzhen suddenly wondered if the second prince in the original book was really that powerful? But she liked to skip around when reading the book, so she really didn't understand.
Tong Huaian shook his head, "Let's not talk about this anymore."
As he spoke, he took a look around the inn and frowned slightly.
"It's noisy here. I have a house in the county. Why don't you come with me to stay in the house today? You can stay there whenever you come to the county in the future."
"Thank you for your kindness, Brother Huai'an. Actually, there is no need to go through so much trouble. Master Jiang and Senior Brother Wen are both staying at the inn. I am not a rich man, so why can't I stay there? With the Master and Senior Brother here, they can take care of me."
Jiang Youzhen refused without a second thought. It wasn't her own house, so how could she possibly live there? Besides, it was just for one night, so why would she be so hypocritical?
There was a flash of disappointment in Tong Huaian's eyes. He found that since the iron mine case last year, Jiang Youzhen had become much more distant from him and was only polite on the surface.
"That's fine! It just so happens that I know Master Jiang well. After Wen Ruyu finishes her exam, we can have dinner together in the evening. I haven't seen Master Jiang for a long time."
Tong Huaian left after saying this, leaving Jiang Youzhen thoughtful. It is not a good idea to get involved in party disputes too early.
Jiang Youzhen was not very clear about the struggles in the court, and only knew some current affairs. He just found out from the court reports, analyzed and pondered, and had his own opinions in his mind.
The prince and the queen were from prominent families, but it was clear that the power of the queen's family had been weakened over the years. The emperor was reluctant to grant fiefs to the princes, and the second prince would be 20 years old next year, but he had not yet married.
The prince has been performing his duties ineffectively in the past two years and has been reprimanded by the emperor from time to time, who has not even bothered with his dignity on several occasions.
It is estimated that people in the court and the public are speculating that the crown prince is not favored by the emperor. The reason why the crown prince has not been deposed is because of the influence of his in-laws.
The other three princes all have their own strengths and abilities. Judging from the family backgrounds of the third and fourth princes, they seem to have a better chance of becoming the emperor. As for the second prince, there is no need to talk about him!
Therefore, the followers of the Third and Fourth Princes were rampant in the court and had the highest voice. Especially the Fourth Prince, who was not only strategic, but also kind and prudent in his work, and won the emperor's favor.
However, the second prince accomplished two major things last year, and the emperor seemed to have loosened up a bit, and his attitude towards the second prince changed a lot.
However, according to the overall situation, choosing the fourth prince seemed more promising. But Jiang Youzhen always felt that the emperor had ulterior motives and was using the fourth prince as a living target.