Zhao Hao stood in the shade, looking up to the north at the familiar big red city gate tower.

I love Beijing**...Oh no, in the Ming Dynasty this was called Chengtianmen.

There is no vast square in front of Chengtian Gate. Instead, it is formed by Dong'an Gate, Xi'an Gate and a long Thousand-Step Corridor, forming the shape of a big sword, and the handle of the sword is Chengtian Gate.

Outside the walls on both sides of the Great Sword were the civil and military offices of the Ming Dynasty. The East and West Gongsheng Gates were the side doors for civil and military officials to enter and exit the palace.

This huge mass of land cuts Chang'an Avenue into two sections, east and west. Every time people want to go from East Chang'an Avenue to West Chang'an Avenue, they have to go several miles south and follow Dongjiangmi Lane from outside Daming Gate to go west.

It’s really inconvenient.

Building the imperial palace in the center of the city is really selfish.

Zhao Hao made a few inappropriate complaints inwardly before returning his gaze to the two lists in his hands.

The one on the left has as many as eighty-eight people, which is the list of current shareholders of Xishan Company.

The one on the right has only thirty-three people, and is the list of ministers who will vote in today's court meeting.

Although there are almost no duplicate names on the two lists.

But anyone who knows a little about the family background of the powerful and wealthy in Beijing can see the close connection between the two.

In fact, fifteen voting officials directly or indirectly hold shares in Xishan Company.

This number is already scary.

But it still doesn't make people feel at ease.

Because no one can guarantee that as long as someone holds shares in Xishan Company, they will definitely stand on the side of him and his son.

After all, most of them were people mentioned by Lord Xu.

Moreover, not all officials of the Ming Dynasty would forget their principles for the sake of profit...right?

Alas, I can only leave it to fate...

Zhao Hao looked up at the blue sky and couldn't help but think of the scene of flying in a hot air balloon that day.

This city of Beijing is so suffocating.

It is indeed time to say goodbye...

~~

The Princess's Mansion, Liulang Pavilion... was what Zhao Shouzheng could not forget. It was the pavilion where the windows had been removed and one could see mandarin ducks.

The eldest princess was playing Landlord with Ji Sizheng and Liu Shanggong while waiting for the result of the court meeting.

But how dare Eunuch Ji and Concubine Liu compete with the eldest princess for the landlord?

So no matter whether the cards are good or bad, the princess will be the landlord every time, which is a great test of the card skills of the two farmers.

I can neither beat His Highness, nor lose too badly, so as not to affect His Highness's interest.

Here, Eunuch Ji just used a bomb to occupy the cards, looked at the small straight from three to seven in his hand, and then silently threw out the only five.

"Single five."

"Shan Liu, wow, can this be possible?" The eldest princess couldn't help but smile.

Liu Shang Gong looked at her three pairs, silently opened a seven, and said with a happy smile: "Oh, I got it right too!"

"Haha, Old Ji plays another eight." The eldest princess looked at Eunuch Chicken with gloating eyes.

"Hey, we really have it." Eunuch Ji took the three eights apart and threw out one.

The pavilion was filled with laughter and joy, and the enjoyable game of cards diluted the eldest princess's anxious mood.

~~

Xu Fan's face turned green as he stood at the entrance of the East Pavilion, staring intently at every member of the "Xu Qun" who came out of the hall.

Dong Chuanze also stood beside him, calling out to his fellow 'group members' who passed by one by one.

Wang Ting and the others were unhappy, but seeing that the young minister was about to explode, they had to answer patiently.

"There are twenty of you in total. But the total number of red and white sticks is only sixteen!"

Then I heard the young elder gritting his teeth and saying, "That means at least four ungrateful people cheated on me!"

In fact, among the nine red sticks and seven white sticks, there must be people other than them who cast their votes. But Xu Fan was too busy to investigate further and could only think of the best.

Naturally, no one took the initiative to admit it.

Xu Fan was furious and said, "If you have the guts to play tricks on me, don't you have the courage to stand up?!"

"Young Lord, I dare not speak for others, but the Censorate should not be cuckolded." Wang Ting had no choice but to say this and walked away with a stern face.

Mao Kai also patted his chest and said, "Three votes from the Ministry of Justice are no problem."

"All three votes from the Ministry of War are red." Huo Ji also swore.

Lei Li also guaranteed: "The two people in the Ministry of Industry are definitely not cheating!"

"Two votes from the Ministry of Revenue will be no problem!" Mason vowed, and then followed the main force.

Seeing the ministers turning their heads without even turning back, the young elder roared, "Are you bullying me because I don't know how to count?!"

"Young Lord, calm down. Those who were cuckolded are all from the Ministry of Personnel. Is that okay?" Yang Tianguan, who was passing by, looked at Xu Fan sympathetically and said.

"Minister, we only have three votes in total," Wang Bengu reminded hurriedly.

"Hey, Old Wang, you are just too serious. Let's go and have some noodles." Yang Bo patted Xu Fan on the shoulder and said, "It's noon now, how about we have a meal together?"

"No need!" Xu Fan slapped Yang Bo's hand away. He knew that his father had stepped down, and that this bunch of old people had exaggerated what happened today.

He now only wants to eat people, not noodles.

~~

Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Feng Bao reported the results of today's court meeting to Emperor Longqing.

When Longqing learned that seventeen votes supported not punishing Zhao Shouzheng and only nine votes supported severe punishment, he dropped the book in his hand in shock.

"What's going on? Why is Elder Xu's reputation even worse than that of a newly crowned top scholar?"

"Well..." As a shareholder of Xishan Company and vice chairman of the board of supervisors, it is Eunuch Feng's duty to cover for the company.

"From what I have seen, first of all, this matter has been overblown in the eyes of the civil and military officials." Feng Bao said, turning the court minutes to the part where the nobles spoke:

"It's just like what Taining Hou said, 'Isn't it just a fight? Why raise the tone so high?'"

"And Ningyang Hou said, 'That's right, I think the young cabinet minister is not doing well. The number one scholar didn't do anything to him. Is it necessary for him to act like a woman and ask the emperor to judge justice?' He also said, 'Are you a man? If so, practice hard, and challenge the number one scholar to a fight and fight back.'"

"Okay, stop reading. These people are just looking for chaos in the world." Long Qing said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "Xu Ge Lao's students and former subordinates, as well as those imperial censors, are they just going to let these warriors mess around?"

"They wanted to punish him. Tingwei Dong even held a trial in court, but he was retorted by Zhao Zhuangyuan on the spot. Zhao Zhuangyuan said, I beat Xu Fan not because of personal grudge, but out of public indignation." Feng Bao turned the transcript to the part where Zhao Shouzheng made his speech.

"This evildoer is so shameless, no wonder, no wonder..." Longqing sighed in his heart, it is no wonder that this shameless, smooth-tongued, rich and beautiful evildoer would seduce his sister.

The emperor listened attentively to the karma's long speech.

When Feng Bao read out, "If we must kill one person, the Shizhou people who died in vain and the tens of thousands of refugees will definitely choose you, the young cabinet minister!" Longqing showed a look of sudden realization.

"It turns out that the people of the world have suffered from the young Lord for a long time. Then I really did not make a wrong move!"

"Long live the wise emperor!" Feng Bao praised, "I dare to speculate that the officials have been angry at Xu for a long time but dared not speak out. They use this method to express their contempt for *****."

"Hmph, they still have some conscience. Otherwise, when Master Gao comes back, I will replace them all one by one!" Long Qing felt that the huge stone pressing on his heart had completely disappeared.

"It's ridiculous that I was so hesitant before, fearing that the prime minister's retirement would be opposed by all officials and cause chaos in the court. It turns out that I was worrying too much."

"Lord Xu may have had a good reputation originally, but he couldn't stand being ruined by the young Lord." Feng Bao said softly.

"Oh, what a sin. It seems like it's better for the prime minister to retire, otherwise his fame will be ruined by his son." A relieved smile appeared on Emperor Longqing's face.

In this case, this result couldn't be better. But why am I so unhappy?

Hum Hum frowned, and then he remembered that he was unhappy with that karma.

No, this won't work! If I don't drive that karma away, I won't be able to sleep peacefully...

ps. First update, please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes~~~