Chapter 895
Attention
Zhu Qiyu's trust in Pan Yun had reached a level that Yu Qian could not even imagine. Upon hearing that as long as he supported Pan Yun, Yu Qian could achieve the task of surveying and registering the land, he immediately became excited and asked Pan Yun to perform divination: "Calculate who is suitable to go to Fujian to persuade Deng Maoqi to surrender."
Pan Yun: ...
She looked at Yu Qian: "What do you think, Lord Yu?"
Yu Qian didn't dare let Pan Yun do fortune-telling to select people, what if she picked a good-for-nothing?
After thinking it over carefully, he said, "Yang Shan, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, and Xue Shao, the Imperial Censor, are suitable. Why don't you, Grand Preceptor, calculate whether these two are suitable?"
Pan Jun raised the corner of her mouth slightly and said, "Okay, let me calculate it."
The result was naturally appropriate.
After returning with the army, Xue Shao went directly to the Ministry of Personnel to apply for a job.
When the Ministry of Personnel saw him, they appointed him without hesitation. They didn't even stay overnight; they immediately sent him back to the Censorate as an imperial censor.
The late emperor personally led the expedition, and many officials died in the court. This was a time when talent was urgently needed.
Xue Shao had previously served as an imperial censor, had not committed any fundamental errors, and had even gone to Datong to rescue the late emperor and fought against the Oirat Mongols alongside the Ming army and people. Any one of these qualities alone would have made him worthy of being employed, let alone the many that he possessed.
With Yu Qian's ascension to the throne and the stimulation of national crisis, the court was united in its hatred of the enemy and the atmosphere was clear. After taking office, Xue Shao handled three cases in a row and made meritorious contributions, and was promoted by half a rank.
Promotion was easy at that time because there were still many vacant positions, and one could be promoted as long as they made contributions.
Yang Shandu has already been appointed Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial. If they go to Fujian again and return alive, and successfully recruit the emperor, they will be granted not only the position of Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, but also a noble title.
Xue Shao was the same.
Pan Yun was very free in the palace, and immediately went out to see Xue Shao and the others off.
Yes, it's them.
Pan Yun put Miao Zhen and the other two into the negotiating team so that they could gain experience.
Pan Jun calmly tidied Miao Zhen's hair that had been blown across her face by the wind, and said gently, "Go, the world is vast, feel it with your heart, and find your own path."
Miao Zhen looked back at her junior uncle with deep eyes, took a step back, and together with Miao and Tao Yanbai, bowed to her before turning and walking into the group.
Xue Shao nodded to her from afar, then turned and left.
Pan Yun stood with her hands behind her back on a high place, watching them leave.
Once they were out of sight, An Chen, the Imperial Guard responsible for protecting her, limped forward and said, "Grand Preceptor, we should return to the palace."
Pan Yun glanced at his legs and asked, "Did your commander send you here to protect me, or to heal you?"
An Chen looked at her somewhat awkwardly.
Pan Yun waved her hand, not necessarily wanting to hear his answer, and turned to return to the palace.
As she passed the Imperial College, she paused slightly but still didn't go in to look for someone.
Since she became the Imperial Advisor, Pan Hong never came to the palace to see her again, and she never inquired about the situation of her father and brothers.
Several times when the emperor mentioned it, Pan Yun would interrupt him to say that she was already a nun.
The court officials seemed to have noticed Pan Yun's attitude. In addition, she rarely appeared and only met with the emperor each time. Most of those who wanted to curry favor with her gave up and stopped flocking to the Pan family.
Only a very small number of people persevered and persisted in befriending Pan Hong.
For example, Xu Cheng.
All the civil and military officials in the court, except for those accompanying the emperor, were being promoted, but Xu Cheng was the exception.
Because he believed he could observe celestial phenomena and foresee disasters, he was the first to propose moving the capital south when news of the late emperor's capture arrived. With most ministers agreeing, he became even more impulsive, jumping around and proclaiming the necessity of moving the capital south.
As a result, the new emperor remembered no one but him.
Then, after his victory in the border defense battle and his return to avenge his defeat, the new emperor promoted many people, including the group that had followed him and clamored for the southward relocation, but he was the only one left out.
Not only did they overlook him, but they also showed a sense of disgust every time he was mentioned.
With winter approaching, it was time to reinforce and inspect water conservancy projects. Yu Qian was objective in his personnel decisions, and twice proposed appointing him, but both times the new emperor rejected the proposal.
All because he initially proposed moving south.
Xu Cheng felt a bitter taste on his tongue. He was truly wronged. At that time, the imperial star was dim, and it seemed that the whole country was in danger of collapsing. If they did not hurry to move south to preserve the strength of the court, were they really going to wait in the capital to be wiped out by the Northern Hu?
Who would have thought that Yu Qian would step forward and earnestly persuade the Prince of Cheng to defend the country? The situation on the border did not worsen. Although the emperor was captured, which was an omen of a dim imperial star, the country did not fall into chaos. The emperor was killed in front of the army, which directly aroused the anger of the soldiers. In a fit of rage, they recovered the country.
Yu Qian was able to quickly reorganize the military affairs, defeat the Oirat army in succession, and truly crush Esen.
Xu Cheng's foresight suddenly turned into cowardice and fear of war, especially since the ministers discovered that he had sent his wife and children back to their hometown long before the incident, which clearly indicated that he had discovered the signs early.
In this way, he not only became a clown, but also a disloyal and unjust person who concealed the celestial signs.
His position has been repeatedly demoted, and now he's just sitting on the sidelines in the central government.
Xu Cheng knew that the emperor was forcing him to resign. After all, he had not committed any major mistakes, and the new emperor could not dismiss him directly to avoid criticism.
But he worked so hard to pass the imperial examination and obtain the official position through his own abilities, so why should he just resign?
Xu Cheng was unwilling to accept this!
They all said that the relationship between Pan Yun and her father Pan Hong was over. She had been appointed as the Imperial Preceptor for half a month, but she still refused to see her family. It was no use trying to please Pan Hong. Pan Hong was also hard to please; he was too upright, and all the gifts he sent were returned.
But Xu Cheng didn't believe it.
Hmph, how could those people understand Taoists as well as he does?
He was half a Taoist practitioner.
What kind of monks are detached from worldly affairs?
They are Taoist priests, not Buddhist monks.
Taoists must engage with the world in order to cultivate the Tao.
Once you enter the world, you can't avoid the seven emotions and six desires. Family ties are the most difficult to sever. Even gods can't escape the mundane, let alone mortals.
Pan Yun risked his life to expose his identity and spent so long in prison to seek justice for Pan Hong. How could he just disown his father like that?
So everyone else gave up, but Xu Cheng refused to give up.
Pan Hong was hard to please, so he stopped giving gifts and treated him with courtesy. He shamelessly went to Pan Hong's house every day to freeload a meal and played a couple of games of Go with him. Gradually, the two were able to have a good chat.
Xu Cheng then demonstrated his talents in various aspects.
His daughter practiced Taoism, so he performed divination for Pan Hong, including hexagrams and celestial phenomena. When he found that Pan Hong wasn't very interested, he started talking about celestial phenomena, then about weather, then about geography, and finally about flood control.
Pan Hong was extremely distressed.
Yu Qian, who cared about him, was the first to notice his troubles.
Like Xu Cheng, Yu Qian did not feel that Pan Yun had severed family ties. As Pan Yun's influence on the emperor grew, his attention to Pan Hong and his two sons became increasingly close.
Every day after leaving the yamen, he would pass by the Honglu Temple and exchange nods with Pan Hong.
Today I saw him with his brows furrowed and his face full of distress.
Yu Qian couldn't help but stop and wait for him to approach before asking, "Lord Pan, is something troubling you?" (End of Chapter)