Chapter 1217 Teacher-Student Friendship!

June, 13th day, 3:30 pm

Although it was already evening, the sky in Yijing was only slightly dark in early summer. A carriage, escorted by several guards, drove into Fuxing Road, the most famous street in Yijing.

Fuxing Road is located in the central area of ​​Yijing. It has been the core area of ​​Yijing since the city was founded. There are many high-end restaurants and shops on the street. Therefore, after the Fengwu Army invaded Yijing, many military and political leaders of the Fengwu Army, including Cui Shao, chose to live on this street...

As Ye Mingsheng led the Fengwu Army to unify the world and moved the capital of the Great Zhou from Luoan to Yijing, Yijing became the new political and economic center of the Great Zhou. The location of Fuxing Road also rose, becoming the best street in Yijing and even the entire Great Zhou.

The change in the status of Yijing ZZ has also led to more and more high-ranking officials gathering in Yijing, so their housing has become a problem.

So according to the latest plan of Yijing Prefecture, the businesses on Fuxing Road will be gradually moved to Houde Road, and the original shops on Fuxing Road will be gradually taken over by the Ministry of Rites and transformed into residences, which will then be uniformly allocated by the Ministry of Rites. You will live here when you take office in Yijing, and return the house to the Ministry of Rites when you leave office!

After entering Fuxing Road, the carriage escorted by guards arrived in front of a large mansion. As the carriage stopped, a tall and handsome middle-aged man walked out of the carriage!
This person was none other than Zhu Xiaowen, the current Minister of Dali Temple of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the house in front of him was none other than the famous Cui Mansion of Yijing. Seeing the closed door of the Cui Mansion, which used to be bustling with people and bustling with people, Zhu Xiaowen felt a little uncomfortable, and immediately walked over and knocked on the door.

As Zhu Xiaowen knocked on the door, the sound of the classroom came from inside the door.
"Please go back, my master said he doesn't want any visitors!"

Zhu Xiaowen said without hesitation:
"I'm Zhu Xiaowen, here to see the teacher! Please inform him for me!"

When Zhu Xiaowen's name was heard, the sound of the classroom was heard again from inside the door.

"Please wait a moment, Lord Zhu. I will go and report right away..."

About half an incense stick of time later, the door of Cui Mansion slowly opened, and Cui Ze, the housekeeper of Cui Mansion, bowed to Zhu Xiaowen and said:
"Master Zhu! The master asked you to go to the study!"

Zhu Xiaowen nodded slightly and followed Cui Ze to Cui Shao's study. Walking in Cui's mansion and seeing all the servants wearing white clothes, Zhu Xiaowen was stunned at first, and then he remembered that Gongsun Qiaoqing committed suicide. He couldn't help but sigh for this poor woman.

Because Cui Shao had already given the order, Cui Ze did not report it and directly brought Zhu Xiaowen into Cui Shao's study. When Zhu Xiaowen opened the door, he saw his old mentor.

Seeing the teacher who used to be so wise and calm, now sitting on the chair looking old and lonely, Zhu Xiaowen couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat. He bowed and said sincerely:
"Teacher! Please take care of yourself!"

Cui Shao forced a smile upon hearing this and said:
"Don't worry, Xiaowen! I have experienced many ups and downs in my life. This little thing won't break my old bones!"

When Zhu Xiaowen heard Cui Shao call himself "old bone", he felt very sad. As Cui Shao's student, he had been growing up under Cui Shao's wings all these years. Cui Shao devoted all his efforts to him and cultivated him carefully, so that Zhu Xiaowen, who was just in his early thirties at that time, became the assistant censor of the Liaoyang Censorate.

Even though Zhu Xiaowen was dismissed by Ye Mingsheng due to some cases, Cui Shao did not give up on him and helped him to make a comeback. Therefore, Zhu Xiaowen was very grateful to Cui Shao for his kindness.

Moreover, because Zhu Xiaowen's father died of illness when he was a teenager, Zhu Xiaowen had already regarded Cui Shao, the teacher who took good care of him, as his father in his heart...

Some time ago was the 30th anniversary of Zhu Xiaowen's father's death. Zhu Xiaowen had not returned home to pay homage to his father for several years, so this time he took a leave to return to his hometown to pay homage to his father.

As soon as he returned to Yijingjing, he heard about the changes in the Cui family, so he hurried over to meet Cui Shao and see how his teacher was doing.

Cui Shao obviously didn't want to talk about his family affairs when facing his student, so he changed the subject and asked;

"Xiao Wen, is everything okay at home?"

"Thank you, teacher, for taking care of me. Everything is fine at home!" Zhu Xiaowen said seriously:
Both his parents died of illness when he was young. When he was a teenager, he lived with his sister in his uncle's house. His uncle took good care of him, funded his studies and helped him to succeed. Therefore, after becoming an official, Zhu Xiaowen was very filial to his uncle. When Zhu Xiaowen was promoted to the Minister of Dali Temple, he also wanted to bring his uncle to Yijing.

However, the old man was old and reluctant to leave his hometown, so he did not agree to Zhu Xiaowen's request. He just hoped that Zhu Xiaowen could take care of his cousins ​​and let them eat the government food. Zhu Xiaowen knew very well that those cousins ​​were ordinary farmers who could not even recognize all the words, and under normal circumstances it was impossible for them to get close to the government office.

However, because of his uncle's face, Zhu Xiaowen made an exception and included these people in the service under the name of the Censorate.

However, his cousins ​​were very picky. They felt that the earnings of being a police officer were too low, and that catching criminals required hard work, so they wanted Zhu Xiaowen to arrange some jobs for them that paid more money and required less work, and preferably one that would allow them to work in Yijing again...

To be honest, with Zhu Xiaowen's status as the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, this matter was actually no problem at all and could be resolved with just one sentence.

If it were any other time, Zhu Xiaowen would have done it for the sake of his uncle's face. He has been in the officialdom for so many years, and although he still insists on fairness and justice in the general direction, he is not a white lotus that remains untainted by the mud and is pure and innocent!
But Zhu Xiaowen knew that his ZZ opponent was watching him. As long as he did something slightly unruly, the opponent would make a big fuss and attack him.
You have to know that Gu Sansi lost his position as the Minister of Personnel because of this kind of thing, which was used by Zhao Wanxian to make a fuss. So with this precedent in mind, Zhu Xiaowen was in a dilemma!
After learning about Zhu Xiaowen's difficulties, the Cui family stepped in and absorbed several of Zhu Xiaowen's cousins ​​into the Cui family's business, giving them generous treatment and helping Zhu Xiaowen solve this problem.

After hearing Zhu Xiaowen's answer, Cui Shao nodded and spoke with some emotion.

"Your uncle is very lucky. He raised a good child like you, Xiaowen. Now he is enjoying a good life. Moreover, he has children and grandchildren around him and his whole family around him. This is really a great blessing!"

Zhu Xiaowen hesitated for a moment before saying:
"Teacher, don't worry too much, Zibo will get better!"

Cui Shao shook his head upon hearing this, his eyes full of disappointment, but he said nothing. Seeing that Cui Shao seemed unwilling to talk more about this matter, Zhu Xiaowen also changed the subject and said:
"Teacher, Brother Gao Zhenji wrote me a letter..." "What did he tell you?"

When Cui Shao heard Zhu Xiaowen mention Gao Zhenji, he also became interested. Although Gao Zhenji was not his student like Zhu Xiaowen, he had also been cultivated and promoted by him, and he always respected him very much. Therefore, he was also one of his students and old friends!
A few months ago, Gao Zhenji was able to be transferred to Kangyin to be the prefect, and Cui Shao also contributed to this. For this reason, Gao Zhenji specially came to Cui Mansion to thank Cui Shao before going to Kangyin to take up his post.

Although Cui Shao was exhausted by the recent family changes, he was still very concerned about Ye Mingsheng's movements. He knew that Ye Mingsheng had already arrived in Huainan!

Now that Gao Zhenji is writing a letter to Zhu Xiaowen, Cui Shao believes that Ye Mingsheng is very likely involved, which is also the source of his interest in the letter!

Facing Cui Shao's question, Zhu Xiaowen said without hesitation:
"In addition to the part about me, Brother Gao mentioned one thing in his letter. That is, in order to promote reforms, Murong Yuliang is currently fighting with Sun Xiuquan, the local provincial governor of Huainan, and Ma Jingui, the deputy governor. The two sides are fighting fiercely, and both of them are using the Marshal's visit to Huainan as an opportunity!"

“This time, Brother Gao went to Huainan to serve as the governor of Kangyin. He was also shouldering the mission of promoting reforms asked by the Marshal. In the process of promoting reforms in Kangyin, Brother Gao was targeted by Ma Jingui, the former governor of Kangyin, because he touched some of Ma Jingui’s interests in Kangyin…”

"Ma Jingui instigated many people to surround the government office and put pressure on it. Fortunately, the Huainan Coordination Office helped Brother Gao at the critical moment, so that Ma Jingui's conspiracy did not succeed!"

At the end of his speech, Zhu Xiaowen paused and quietly looked at Cui Shao's expression. Seeing this, Cui Shao immediately said lightly:
"So Gao Zhenji feels that he can't do anything alone in Huainan! He wants to cooperate with Murong Yuliang?"

Seeing that the teacher had spoken his subtext, Zhu Xiaowen nodded slightly embarrassedly and said:
"Teacher, you know that Brother Gao and I had a very good relationship when we were in Liaoyang. He didn't dare to ask you directly for instructions on this matter, so he wrote to me and asked me to hint at it indirectly!"

"Brother Gao said that as long as you, the teacher, don't give the order, he will never stand with Murong Yuliang!"

Cui Shao shook his head and warned earnestly:

"Gao Zhenji is the governor of Kangyin appointed by the Marshal. Naturally, he should put the task assigned by the Marshal first and think more about the welfare of Kangyin!"

"Just let Gao Zhenji do it boldly. I, Cui Shao, am not that petty!"

"I understand! I will write back to Brother Gao tonight. With your words, Brother Gao will have no more worries!"

Zhu Xiaowen was not surprised by Cui Shao’s answer. He had followed Cui Shao for many years and understood Cui Shao’s temperament. That was why he came to ask Cui Shao for Gao Zhenji’s advice.

Asking for instructions is a critical step. You must know that Murong Yuliang is Cui Shao's biggest political rival, and the two have fought openly and secretly for many times.

As a member of the Cui faction, Gao Zhenji was well aware of the rift between them. So even if there was a need to cooperate with Murong Yuliang to deal with the local faction, he did not dare to cooperate with Murong Yuliang easily. He could only ask Cui Shao for his consent first!

Otherwise, if he rashly joined forces with Murong Yuliang without asking for permission, it would be a very suspicious behavior!
After talking about Gao Zhenji, Murong Yuliang seemed to have thought of something again, and immediately asked Zhu Xiaowen:
"Has the Ministry of Justice made any moves recently?"

Zhu Xiaowen thought for a moment and said:

"There are no problems with the policies of the Ministry of Justice, but Lord Xiao of the Censorate seems to have some ideas recently, and then there is Minister Zhang!"

When Cui Shao heard Zhu Xiaowen mention Minister Zhang, he asked calmly:

"What happened to Zhang Juning?"

Zhu Xiaowen said without hesitation:
"Minister Zhang has been very active in his work recently. I also heard that he seems to want to inquire about your health through the medical school!"

Cui Shao showed a bit of disdain when he heard this. In fact, he knew Zhang Juning's little thoughts without Zhu Xiaowen telling him!
If the fact that Ye Mingsheng was the emperor was known to everyone, then Zhang Juning, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue, wanted to become the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, which could also be seen by those in the court...
In the past, Cui Shao was in good health, so even if Zhang Juning had any thoughts, he had to hide them well and didn't dare let others know!
But now Cui Shao is unable to perform his duties as the Minister of Revenue due to family changes and some health problems. Zhang Juning, the Left Vice Minister, sees an opportunity!

Zhang Juning really wanted to take this opportunity to get promoted, so he also wanted to take advantage of Cui Shao's absence to perform well. However, the only thing that made Zhang Juning feel a pity was that Ye Mingsheng was not in Yijing now, and Ye Mingsheng could not appreciate his hard work!
However, what Zhang Juning didn't know was that in Cui Shao's eyes, he was just an accountant who could do accounting and posed no threat to his position as the Minister of Revenue!

Cui Shao hesitated for a moment and instructed Zhu Xiaowen:

"Don't worry about Zhang Juning, Xiaowen. He's just a clown. I know what's going on!"

"My health has gradually improved. I will be able to make a comeback after a period of recuperation!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhu Xiaowen's eyes suddenly lit up. Not only was Zhang Juning asking about Cui Shao's physical condition, but Zhu Xiaowen was also very concerned about Cui Shao's physical condition!

After all, his teacher Cui Shao is Zhu Xiaowen's biggest supporter in the Yijing court. With Cui Shao by his side, his position as the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple is as stable as a rock. But if Cui Shao is gone, his position as the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple will not be so stable at all!

After all, he, a third-rank Dali Temple minister, is not yet forty years old and is the youngest among the six ministries and nine ministers of the Yijing court. When Ye Mingsheng promoted him, there were many doubts within the court...
(End of this chapter)