Chapter 2: The Wind Rises from Zhongshan Mountain Chapter 1 Great News
"Mr. Zhao has been acting really abnormal these past two days."
Hearing that Zhao Jin had just come upstairs and had already angered Old Man Gao again, Shopkeeper Fang could not help but shake his head and smiled bitterly, "He usually says more in a year than he does in a day recently."
Zhao Hao's heart moved when he heard this. In his memory, Zhao Jin was a very silent elder . How come he suddenly became a different person after he had been away for three days?
Thinking of this, he patted Shopkeeper Fang on the shoulder and said, "Please bear with me. My brother is a miserable man."
"Young master, you are overthinking it. Mr. Zhao has good intentions too. We won't have any thoughts about him." Shopkeeper Fang quickly expressed his opinion.
"I'll call you away and stop causing trouble for you." However, as the boss, Zhao Hao still had to help the people below him solve their problems, so he shouted upstairs, "Brother, come down and do something with me."
Zhao Jin responded, walked down quickly, and said loudly: "Brother, what do you need? Just tell me."
"Let's go out and talk." Zhao Hao's eardrums were itchy from the vibration, so he quickly waved his hand and took Zhao Jin out of the restaurant.
"I see the walls on the first floor have been painted," Zhao Hao said with a smile, "Brother, please show your skills and give me some calligraphy to decorate the walls and the couplets on the restaurant..."
"I don't think it's a big deal. No problem!" Zhao Jin patted his chest, strode to the back and said, "I'll write it for you right away. Write as much as you want!"
Looking at Zhao Jin's hurried look, Zhao Hao became more and more certain of his guess.
…
In Zhao Shouzheng's room, Zhao Hao lit a stick of incense, then ground the ink himself and waited on Zhao Jin to write.
"Let me write a couplet first..." Zhao Jin picked up the pen, thought for a moment, and then began to write on the paper with great vigor and vitality.
"The reputation spreads over three thousand miles in the northern frontier, and the flavor surpasses the twelve towers in the south of the Yangtze River..." After Zhao Jin finished writing, Zhao Hao read it softly and couldn't help laughing: "Brother, this couplet is too heroic, isn't it?"
"Why not? My dear brother, your 'Tastes Very Fresh' deserves these two sentences!" Zhao Jin looked around with satisfaction and said proudly, "I dare to write it, but you, a young man, don't dare to write it?"
"Since my brother said so, I have to put it up." Zhao Hao accepted the couplet with a smile, and pretended to examine it carefully and said, "My brother's handwriting is completely different from the one when he wrote the plaque that day."
"What do you mean?" Zhao Jin put down his brush and picked up the Maofeng that Qiaoqiao had just brought in.
"That day, the writing was vigorous and solemn, and the three words were as tall as mountains." Zhao Hao shook his head and commented: "Today, the writing is vigorous and lively, and the joy is about to overflow from the paper..."
"Oh?" Zhao Jin looked at Zhao Hao in surprise. After a while, he said with emotion, "High mountains and flowing water, Boya and Ziqi, my dear brother is truly my soulmate."
Zhao Hao thought, I just guessed what you were thinking. But he looked surprised and said, "Could it be that my brother is really having a happy event?"
"Uh..." Zhao Jin shook his head, holding the teacup and struggling for a while, then he sighed and said, "It's hard to say now. Things haven't reached that point yet. Who knows what will happen?"
"What's the matter? I'm confused." Zhao Hao smiled bitterly and said, "Stop keeping me in suspense."
"Alas, I had planned not to tell anyone about this." Zhao Jin looked at Zhao Hao and motioned him to close the door. In fact, he also had to find someone to talk to, otherwise he would get sick.
Zhao Hao followed his instructions and closed the door, then turned around and said with a smile: "Brother, tell me, what's the matter? Why are you so mysterious?"
"How do I start this?" Zhao Jin rubbed his hands, thought for a moment, and then whispered, "Two days ago, the day you went to the countryside, I was helping out in the store. At this time, a neighbor called me and said that a guest was visiting my old house, so I hurried over the bridge to take a look. Guess who it was..."
"I really can't guess." Zhao Hao is still good at supporting the main role.
"It turned out to be my old friend, Brother Xu Nian, the newly appointed Left Counselor of Fujian Provincial Government, who came to see me incognito." Zhao Jin's voice trembled with excitement. "He also brought a message from another classmate, Brother Wang Nian, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."
"What message?" Although he had almost guessed the result, Zhao Hao still felt nervous.
"Brother Wang Nian told me that the Ministry of Personnel was ordered to draw up a list of ministers who were convicted for their words in the previous dynasty, and my name was on the list..." Zhao Jin clutched Zhao Hao's shoulders tightly with both hands, crying uncontrollably.
"Ah? Really?" Zhao Hao was sincerely happy for Zhao Jin. He patted his elder brother on the shoulder and said excitedly, "That's great. Brother, the clouds have finally cleared and the sun is shining!"
"Hey, didn't I tell you? The Ministry of Personnel has only reported it. Before the official decree comes down, nothing can be known." Zhao Jin took a few deep breaths, forced himself to calm down, and laughed at himself: "I thought you were already as calm as a withered well, but I didn't expect that a random message would make me so confused these days. Oh, it's really embarrassing..."
"Brother, you are very patient!" Zhao Hao knew that Zhao Jin's comeback was a foregone conclusion and there would be no changes. He smiled and said, "If it were someone else, they would have gone crazy with joy."
"Hehe..." Zhao Jin felt better, and then he remembered that Zhao Hao's grandfather was still in the sea of suffering, so he whispered: "My classmate also told me that there is another change in the Beijing inspection. Hu Yingjia, the official in the Ministry of Personnel, impeached Yang Bo, the official in the Ministry of Personnel, for 'shielding his fellow townsman and neglecting public office for personal gain' during the Beijing inspection. As a result, Yang Bo's backer Gao Gong jumped out and directly drafted an imperial decree to depose Hu Yingjia as a commoner."
"Oh?" Zhao Hao looked curious when he heard this. Although he was well aware of the court disputes in the first year of Longqing, Zhao Jin's retelling still made him feel as if he was there. He wanted to move a stool, grab some melon seeds, and listen to his elder brother's gossip.
"The results of it?"
"As a result, the censors were not happy. Ouyang Yijing, the military official, impeached Gao Gong for being treacherous and evil, just like Yan Song, and would definitely become a great pest in the country in the future." Perhaps it was due to the hardships of the past few years, or perhaps it was because he and Zhao Hao and his son shared the same hatred for the enemy, Zhao Jin obviously lacked respect . He only heard him gloating and said: "Ouyang Yijing said that Hu Yingjia was eliminating harm for the country. If the court insists on dismissing Hu, then please dismiss yourself as well."
"This hand won't scare Gao Huzi, right?" Zhao Hao curled his lips, appropriately showing his hatred for Gao Gong, and said, "I heard from my grandfather that Gao Xinzheng is full of banditry and never observes official etiquette. No matter how high or low the official is, he will tear his face off if he disagrees with him..."
"Gao Gong was naturally not afraid of a mere secretary. But on that day, several secretaries and censors submitted petitions, unanimously requesting the pardon of Hu Yingjia and severe punishment of the mastermind who attempted to suppress speech..." Zhao Jin was afraid that Zhao Hao didn't understand, so he explained: "The so-called mastermind is Gao Gong."
"So that's how it is." Zhao Hao showed a look of realization, but laughed in his heart, not only do I know this, I also know that behind the censors Hu Yingjia and Ouyang Yijing stands Lord Xu.
This impeachment war that took place after the imperial examination was essentially a power struggle between the first chancellor and the second chancellor.
"According to the rules of this dynasty, when a minister is impeached, he must submit his resignation immediately. Although His Majesty will definitely try to retain him, the initiative is now in the hands of Lord Xu." Then Zhao Jin continued, "So Lord Xu compromised and sentenced Hu Yingjia to exile. Although Gao Gong fought hard, he still failed to preserve his prestige in the end. Now his weak nature has been clearly exposed to the eyes of all the officials in the court. I think his future life will be difficult."
As he spoke, Zhao Jin smiled at Zhao Hao and said, "Maybe in the future, my uncle will be able to rise again!"
