My father is Jiajing

Chapter 474 Certificate of Surrender

After learning about the conflict between Zhao Wenhua and Yan Shifan, a plan slowly formed in Zhu Zaigui's mind.

If we were to say who among Zhu Zaigui's subordinates has the most "non-stick" attribute, it would definitely be Li Chunfang.

Now Li Chunfang is floating between Zhu Zaigui and Emperor Jiajing, and rarely comes to Prince Yu's Mansion, so many people have gradually "forgotten" him, thinking that Li Chunfang is not one of Zhu Zaigui's die-hard fans.

But in fact, Li Chunfang had never left the small group of Prince Yu's Mansion. He was just more cautious, not as flamboyant as Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, nor as clear-cut as Hai Rui.

Therefore, in recent years, many people have ignored Li Chunfang's image in the small team of Prince Yu's Mansion.

After Zhu Zaigui sent Huang Jin away, his fingers unconsciously tapped rhythmically on the table, and his mind was constantly thinking and planning.

After a while, Zhu Zaigui suddenly shouted, "Meng Chong!"

Meng Chong heard Zhu Zaigui's call and immediately came in from outside, "What's wrong, Your Majesty? What do you want?"

Zhu Zaigui said, "Find someone to make an appointment with Li Chunfang. I want to meet him secretly outside."

Meng Chong nodded his head and said yes, then went to make arrangements.

At this time, Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but stretch himself, walked to the perfect courtyard, and in a very good mood, performed a few fitness exercises from the "Xiantian Gong" to relax his body and mind.

After a while, the people in the capital quietly got used to Zhu Zaigui's reopening of the government, and they all focused their attention on nominating the next Minister of Personnel.

The previously popular Wang Zhi case seemed to have disappeared and no one paid attention to it anymore.

However, it is at times like this that the calm undercurrent becomes more turbulent. If one is not careful, a big fish or a terrifying whirlpool that can sweep people under the water may be hidden under the muddy water.

In a private room of a busy teahouse in the Beijing Special District.

Li Chunfang and Zhao Wenhua, two people who had nothing to do with each other, sat in the same box. Li Chunfang poured a cup of tea for Zhao Wenhua, "Grand Minister, please have some tea."

Da Sikong is an elegant title for the Minister of Works. Li Chunfang calling Zhao Wenhua that made Zhao Wenhua feel very good.

Zhao Wenhua took the tea poured by Li Chunfang with a smile and said, "Thank you, Shao Zong Bo. Please come in too."

Shao Zongbo is an elegant title for the Vice Minister of Rites, which is an elegant title relative to the Da Zongbo, the Minister of Rites.

Li Chunfang also laughed and said, "Same here, same here."

After the two of them exchanged greetings and drank a cup of tea together, it seemed as if the relationship between them was gradually becoming closer.

Li Chunfang said: "I heard that the Grand Marshal has been troubled recently. I wonder if you can tell me about it? I will see if I can help the Grand Marshal to solve his doubts."

When Zhao Wenhua was invited out by Li Chunfang for tea alone, he knew it was not just a casual chat.

But Zhao Wenhua certainly wouldn't tell anyone anything just because they asked him. Otherwise, wouldn't all his years as an official be in vain?

Zhao Wenhua said, "What are you talking about, Young Master? How could I have any worries? I've been doing very well lately."

Li Chunfang smiled and said, "As far as I know, Lord Yan seems to be planning to promote his old relative, Shangshu Ouyang, to be the Minister of Personnel, and the young Lord is planning to promote Yan Maoqing to be the Minister of Punishment. But I think that with the talent of the Grand Marshal, it would not be too much to just transfer him to the Minister of Personnel. Moreover, the Grand Marshal is in his prime, and he is many times better than the old Shangshu Ouyang."

"Also, as the prince grows older, His Majesty is also interested in cultivating a younger generation of officials as replacements. Among the former, there are me, Gao Suqing, Zhang Taiyue, Zhao Zhenji, Hai Rui, etc., all of whom have been promoted one after another. I don't need to say much about these people. The Grand Marshal should be able to see the trend, right?"

"Your Majesty is now trying to pave the way for Prince Yu, but if the Grand Marshal fails to seize the opportunity and fails to let Your Majesty have his own way, and still has to serve in the Ministry of Works, then when we young people rise up, the Grand Marshal might have to go to Nanjing to grow flowers and retire."

Li Chunfang spoke very directly, which made Zhao Wenhua feel a little inexplicably irritated.

Although Yan Song promised him that after recommending Ouyang Bijin, he would give him the position of Minister of Justice vacated by Ouyang Bijin, Yan Shifan, this ungrateful man, was only interested in his own interests and actually wanted to give the position of Minister of Justice to Yan Maoqing, who was currently only the Vice Minister of Justice.

With such behavior, Zhao Wenhua must be extremely unhappy.

However, Zhao Wenhua did not dare to do anything about the double act of Yan's father and son. After all, apart from Yan Song, he had no other way out.

Xu Jie would certainly not accept him, and with Yan Shifan's vengeful nature, he would certainly not continue to be kind to him. What's more important is that Zhao Wenhua didn't know how he had offended Yan Shifan, and this was what made Zhao Wenhua most depressed.

Zhao Wenhua chuckled and said, "Young Master, you are too kind. With my humble talent, I am already very satisfied to be favored by Your Majesty as the Minister of Works. As for how the court will use me in the future, I will just obey your orders."

Li Chunfang cursed inwardly, thinking that he would not cry until he saw the coffin. If Zhu Zaigui had not sent him to win over Zhao Wenhua, Li Chunfang would never have gotten involved in such muddy water.

But on the surface, Li Chunfang still laughed and said, "It's a good thing that the Grand Marshal can think this way. After the dust settles on this court, if the Grand Marshal can still be at ease and watch Yan Maoqing and his ilk rise to the top, I will also admire him."

"But I am also worried about the future of the Grand Marshal. Now the young minister is pushing Yan Maoqing to the position, which obviously offended the Grand Marshal somewhere. Meanwhile, Minister Yan is getting older and older, while Minister Xu is receiving more favors. With this increase and decrease in the future, I really don't know how the Grand Marshal will cope with it."

Since Li Chunfang had said so much, it was natural that he would poke Zhao Wenhua in the lungs without any mercy.

Zhao Wenhua felt extremely annoyed and embarrassed when Li Chunfang poked at him in the face, but he also knew that what the other party said was true.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Yan Song no longer seemed to be favored by Emperor Jiajing. Instead, Xu Jie was increasingly being entrusted with important tasks by Emperor Jiajing and was doing the work that originally belonged to Yan Song.

Therefore, senior members of the Yan Party like Zhao Wenhua were actually quite panicked and anxious.

But because he is Yan Song's godson, others can jump off the boat and change their heads, but he cannot, so Zhao Wenhua's current mood can be imagined.

Zhao Wenhua sighed and said, "Then what should I do?" When Li Chunfang heard what Zhao Wenhua said, she laughed in her heart and finally softened.

Li Chunfang addressed Zhao Wenhua in a different way and said, "Brother Yuanzhi, don't be discouraged. Although the young cabinet minister doesn't value your talent, it doesn't mean that others don't value your talent."

"Prince Yu has been the regent for several years, and his achievements are obvious to all. First, he established the Beijing Special District, and then the Ming Federal Reserve. These achievements are worthy of being written about even if we look at the achievements of all dynasties."

"So, considering Prince Yu's character and broad-mindedness, if Brother Yuan Zhi can show his passion for serving the public, I think the prince will also see Brother Yuan Zhi's ability and talent, and may entrust Brother Yuan Zhi with important tasks in the future."

When Zhao Wenhua heard Li Chunfang's words, his eyes lit up.

Originally, Zhao Wenhua thought that Li Chunfang was Xu Jie's lobbyist, who came to trick him into stabbing Yan Song and Yan Shifan father and son. He didn't expect that Li Chunfang actually came on behalf of Prince Yu.

Now the situation is different.

If it was Xu Jie, even if he was persuaded by Li Chunfang to be Xu Jie's dog, people might not necessarily think highly of him, and the biggest probability was that they would use him and then abandon him.

But if Prince Yu is optimistic about him, the situation will be different.

First of all, Prince Yu is the monarch, and there is no so-called dispute between Yan and Xu among him. To put it more bluntly, Prince Yu may even condone different political opinions among his subordinates, and will never listen to one side or one person.

As a former core member of the Yan Party, if he could now defect to Prince Yu, it would not be considered a moral betrayal for the Yan Party.

As for Xu Jie, he was also an open member of the "Prince Yu Party". Who could seize this opportunity to pull him down and attack him?

So this result is simply too good for Zhao Wenhua.

Moreover, the current government affairs are so clear and transparent, Prince Yu has been the regent for many years, and the Beijing Special District and the Ming Federal Reserve are Prince Yu's own piece of land.

Prince Yu relied on these places to communicate with court officials, and no one dared to say that Prince Yu was a private minister. So at this moment, Zhao Wenhua thought that if he could also become a member of the "Prince Yu Party", wouldn't he have a guarantee for the future?

Zhao Wenhua said excitedly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for not abandoning me. If there is any use for me, I will do my best to help you."

Li Chunfang looked at Zhao Wenhua who was so excited, and listened to Zhao Wenhua's direct and explicit words of loyalty, and laughed: "The prince has always trusted people when he employed them, and did not employ people if he was suspicious. But Brother Yuanzhi has been by the side of the young cabinet elder for a long time, and the young cabinet elder has never dealt with the prince, and he often thinks about how to encourage Prince Huojing to compete with the prince for the throne."

"So, if you want the prince to trust Brother Yuan Zhi, Brother Yuan Zhi should also show some expression. Otherwise, how can the prince believe that Brother Yuan Zhi is loyal to the country?"

Zhao Wenhua understood it immediately. This was a token of his allegiance, otherwise Zhu Zaigui would definitely not recognize him.

Zhao Wenhua said seriously, "Don't worry, Zishi. I have been with Yan Shifan for a long time, and I have long been fed up with him using the power of Lord Yan to do those illegal things that angered the heavens and the people. But because of the relationship between me and Lord Yan, I couldn't let Lord Yan be sad, so I turned a blind eye and let Yan Shifan indulge himself."

"Now Yan Shifan has disregarded the foundation of the country and even attempted to instigate King Jing to compete with the prince for the throne. This is intolerable! We are well-read in the books of sages, loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and serving the emperor, father and court is our duty as human beings. So now that we can no longer persuade Yan Shifan to turn back, I can only make a choice between loyalty and filial piety, and defend the foundation of our Ming country to the death!"

Li Chunfang couldn't help but become serious after listening to Zhao Wenhua's righteous words.

Li Chunfang said: "Brother Yuanzhi is so wise and righteous, it is a blessing for the country! But there is one thing that Brother Yuanzhi said is wrong. The prince is the king and the emperor is the father. Since Brother Yuanzhi has the heart to serve the court and the country, how can he choose between loyalty and filial piety? What Brother Yuanzhi does should be an act of loyalty and filial piety, nothing else."

After hearing what Li Chunfang said, Zhao Wenhua nodded in agreement, "Zi Shi's teachings show that I failed to distinguish between loyalty and filial piety."

Li Chunfang laughed and poured another cup of tea for Zhao Wenhua. "Brother Yuanzhi, you are too kind. As long as you can tell who is the object of loyalty and filial piety, then things in the present and the future will naturally be clear. Come, have another cup!"

Li Chunfang accompanied Zhao Wenhua for another drink. After these two drinks, their relationship became more harmonious, as if they had really become friends on the same boat.

After finishing this matter, Li Chunfang and Zhao Wenhua left quietly one after another.

After leaving, Zhao Wenhua was extremely excited, because this conversation with Li Chunfang did make him see a glimmer of hope and a bright future that he had never seen before.

He had originally thought about joining Prince Yu's camp, but as a core member of the Yan Party, and with whom he had never had any contact, he had no way to express his loyalty directly to Prince Yu.

And there was another problem. The fat one-eyed Yan Shifan was determined to support Prince Jing and was making things difficult for Prince Yu. When Zhao Wenhua saw this situation, he was puzzled but could do nothing about it.

We can only follow Yan Shifan and the others till the end.

As a result, even after he has been with them for so many years, Yan Shifan still doesn't trust him and even scolds him in private. This is simply not taking him seriously.

You have to know that Zhao Wenhua is still the Minister of Works and one of the seven important officials of the court. How could he be humiliated and ordered around like this?

Zhao Wenhua also needs to save face, okay?

Now that there is a brighter future ahead, Zhao Wenhua will definitely not hesitate any more.

As for the relationship between him and Yan Song as father and son, it was also based on the mutual warmth they showed when they were both on the bench in the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College.

Although Yan Song later made rapid progress, rising directly from the position of Chief Academician of the Imperial College to the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet, he also gave Zhao Wenhua a huge reward for having him as his godfather.

But any favor will eventually run out, especially at this critical juncture. Yan Song is old and it seems that he will not be able to stay in the position of Prime Minister for much longer. Moreover, Yan Shifan has an inexplicable hostility towards him.

How could this allow Zhao Wenhua to continue to serve the Yan father and son as loyally as before?
Zhao Wenhua must be a wise bird choosing the right tree to roost in. Otherwise, if the Yan father and son really capsize one day, wouldn’t he also be trapped under the boat and never be able to be reborn?
So, now that I have the olive branch extended by Prince Yu, why not submit this letter of surrender? It's better than having no future at all!

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(End of this chapter)