The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 57: The Bustling Secretariat
All the people in the capital knew about Ma Xun, the emperor's brother-in-law, was that he was found and brought back by the emperor and the empress at the beginning of the year. As expected of the empress's brother, he was a master in medicine and cured the empress and the prince's illnesses.

It is said that he also saved the seriously ill General Chang Yuchun, and rushed thousands of miles overnight to capture Qingyang.

As for many officials or those who aspire to a career in politics, what they knew was that the emperor's brother-in-law was brought to the capital at the beginning of the year and lived in the palace for a long time. However, not long after he set up a residence outside the palace, he went on a military expedition for more than half a year.

What the king's uncle is busy with now is naturally the marriage.

This uncle of the emperor seemed to be close to those people in Huaixi, but he was about to marry the daughter of Liu Bowen from Zhejiang. He was a country boy who knew nothing, but he led the army to fight and held a high position.

He was not a proper Huaixi person, and he had no conflicts with the people from eastern Zhejiang. The emperor and empress seemed happy to see that this uncle of the emperor had some relationship with both major court forces, but they would not be too close to each other.

As for what was happening in the court, Lieutenant General Feng Sheng returned to the capital without authorization. The emperor was furious and urgently sent General Xu Da to Qingyang.

Another thing was that the Left Prime Minister Li Shanchang claimed to be ill, and the emperor urgently sent imperial physicians to treat him. The Left Prime Minister again submitted a petition to retire.

There were also disturbances at the end of the second year of Hongwu, but it did not affect the peaceful lives of some people. The north was basically conquered, and there were no enemies around, so people could produce and farm with peace of mind.

Ma Xun has indeed been busy recently, but he is not busy thinking about becoming an official, but busy doing research.

"This distillation won't work. It's still not pure enough. It needs to be sterilized." Ma Xun looked at the wine in his hand with some disappointment. "I want medical alcohol, why is it white wine?"

Although the main components of wine are alcohol and ethanol, there are still certain differences between them.

Ma Xun didn't care that the experiment failed again. He was now slowly setting up a stall and could do things that interested him.

The good news is that you don't have to worry about food and clothing, and even if the tools you need are not the most suitable, you can still find ways to replace them.

Wangcai ran over and barked twice.

Ma Xun immediately laughed and said, "It's raining today, so I won't go out."

"Uncle!" Chang Mao came running over like the wind and said, "Uncle, we have to go!"

Ma Xun pointed outside and said, "It's raining today, why go out? Let's wait until the weather clears up."

Chang Mao immediately said, "That won't work. My mother has said that. It's almost the Little New Year, and everyone will be busy then. My uncle also has to go to court and observe etiquette, so I can only see my aunt after the Lantern Festival."

Ma Xun calculated carefully, it was about 20 days, "What kind of ceremony is this? It's the second day of the New Year, isn't it?"

"Uncle, you haven't gotten married yet, have you?" Chang Mao complained. "If I hadn't been so shameless, how could you have visited my aunt every now and then?"

It makes sense when you think about it this way. It's just a drizzle anyway, so there's no need to hold an oil-paper umbrella. You can just wear a straw raincoat.

If Wangcai wants to go out, he will follow him. This is also a scene in the capital.

If you see a young man in fancy clothes riding a horse and leading a donkey, he must be Ma Guojiu. If you see a young man with hair not big enough to tie a crown, but instead of riding a donkey, he leads it, he is still Ma Guojiu.

Seeing Ma Xun and Chang Mao coming, the guards of Liu Mansion were used to it and naturally took the rope to prepare fine feed for Wangcai.

When Liu Lian saw Ma Xun, he said, "My Lord, it looks like the New Year is coming soon."

Ma Xun also understood, and said, "I also have some things to do. I came here today mainly because Chang Mao doesn't understand the book very well. Big brother is quite knowledgeable about the classics, so explain it to him."

Chang Mao was dumbfounded. I came here to learn the art of war. It doesn’t matter if you don’t teach me. Who wants to listen to books and lectures?
Liu Lian had no choice but to say, "Uncle, please don't embarrass Chang Mao. He won't listen to my storytelling, and I can't leave you alone with my sister."

Liu Shuning, who came over with tea, also blushed because her future husband was indeed a little too 'rash'.

"Thank you, aunt." Chang Mao stood up immediately, his mouth was so sweet, "Aunt, my uncle was looking forward to snow when he went back the day before yesterday. Then I can go and enjoy the snow scenery with you."

Ma Xun rarely speaks without restraint, but his juniors seem to be the same type, including Li Jinglong, Chang Mao, and Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang, who are not easy to criticize directly.

Although there are two big light bulbs, Chang Mao and Liu Lian, it doesn’t matter. Ma Xun is not here just to fall in love.

Ma Xun was not very interested in Liu Bowen's literature and military strategy, but he still had a certain interest in astronomy.

Liu Bowen's light cough brought everyone in the main hall back to their senses. In fact, Liu Lian and Chang Mao were reading a book and dozing off respectively.

Liu Bowen looked at Ma Xun and asked, "Prime Minister Li is retiring and returning home. Did you know about this?"

Ma Xun thought for a moment and said, "I heard that he wanted to retire, but His Majesty did not allow it."

Liu Bowen explained helplessly, "Your Majesty naturally does not allow it, but now the imperial physician has been there several times, and Prime Minister Li must be sick even if he is not sick. Now people over there say that it was you who diagnosed that Prime Minister Li is sick and he needs to return home to recuperate."

Ma Xun was dumbfounded. "How come I made the diagnosis? This was done by the Imperial Hospital. What does it have to do with me?"

Liu Bowen looked at Ma Xun and said, "Prime Minister Li is still begging for his old age. It looks like he should retire and return home before the first month of the year."

Ma Xun said casually, "Then I don't know."

Liu Bowen couldn't help but sigh and said, "You just came to the capital, and you only interact with those few families. Why do you want to get involved in these things?"

Ma Xun didn't hide much, "This matter is not up to me, nor to anyone else. Uncle, I think it's a good thing for Prime Minister Li to retire."

Liu Bowen asked, "Then do you know who His Majesty wants to appoint as Prime Minister?"

Seeing Ma Xun shaking his head, Liu Bowen felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

This is what makes Ma Xun special. No one can deny that the emperor and the empress are very good to him, but he has been wandering outside since he was a child and it seems that he has not been brought back for nearly a year.

However, he never interfered in the court, and except for a few close relatives in Huaixi, he had almost no contact with court officials.

Many people wanted to win him over, because they naturally thought he was just a common country boy. Even though he was now the king's uncle, he was easier to win over and even control.

But in the end, under the protection of the emperor and the empress, this uncle of the emperor had some connections with various interest groups, but they were not close. He could make friends with anyone, but he could also offend anyone.

Even Li Shanchang, the left prime minister and the head of all officials, was now in trouble and could not back down.

You said you were ill, and the emperor sent his uncle to see you. After the uncle diagnosed your illness, Prime Minister Li had no choice but to accept it, even though he was reluctant to give up his power.

Now you say you are not sick, but what did you mean when you wrote in the petition that you were sick and wanted to retire?
Li Shanchang has to retreat now, whether he wants to or not. It all depends on when Your Majesty makes the decision.

"Yang Xian!" Liu Bowen spoke slowly, "If Prime Minister Li retires, Yang Xian will most likely become the Left Prime Minister."

Liu Lian's face lit up, "Father, Yang Zhengshi is on good terms with you."

"What's the use? He has the ability to become prime minister, but he doesn't have the courage." Liu Bowen looked at Ma Xun and said, "This Lord Yang came from Taiyuan in his early years and is capable. If he becomes prime minister, he will definitely fight."

Ma Xun suddenly felt that this was a good idea. Yang Xian was from the north, and the Secretariat would be even more lively then.

With Liu Bowen in eastern Zhejiang, Hu Weiyong in Huaixi, Wang Guangyang who seemed to be unhelpful to the two, and Yang Xian coming from the north, the Secretariat was indeed going to become lively.

But this has nothing to do with Ma Xun. It is impossible for him to enter the Secretariat in a short period of time. He knows that entering the Secretariat is not a good thing.

Becoming a prime minister is the ultimate dream of countless people when they enter official career, but in the Ming Dynasty only the story of the last prime minister in history will be left!

(End of this chapter)