weaving

Chapter 1029 "Certificate of Voting"

Zhang Cheng just smiled, and didn't comment on Ji Xuanzhu's acceptance of Yurui as a concubine, and left and right to talk about him, temporarily diverting the topic.

The two of them came to the old lady's Jiaoxiang Bieyuan. First, they said good morning to the two old ladies. Because Zhang Cheng has a special liking for "dumplings", so today everyone will eat dumplings and pork head meat with him. .

In fact, according to the customs of this era, most of the pasta is eaten on the day of "February [-]", such as "eating dragon's beard", "eating dragon's ear", "eating dragon's horn", "eating longan" and "eating dragon's eye". There are various food customs such as "taking beads", "eating dragon scales", "eating gentian", "eating dragon beans", and "eating dragon head".

The "eating dragon's beard" here is to eat noodles; "eating longan" is to eat wonton; "eating dragon pearls" is to eat wonton noodles; "eating dragon scales" is to eat spring pancakes; "Shilongdou" is fried beans that are eaten in most parts of the north.

As a proverb popular in the Gyeonggi area says, "Dragon raises its head, on February [-], eat Doudou, and people will have a good harvest without getting sick!"

Both "Shilong'er" and "Shilongjiao" are dumplings that we often eat, but they are made in different ways. Among them, "Shilonger" refers to boiled dumplings; "Shilongjiao" refers to fried dumplings. dumpling.

This is because at this time in the late Ming Dynasty, the term "dumpling" has not yet become popular, and people often refer to dumplings as "jiaozi" or "jiaoer".

The main reason is that its shape is like a horn. In ancient times, people often ate fried or steamed dumplings, especially after the fried dumplings were cooked, their shape was more like animal horns, so they were often called Jiaozi.

Pasta such as bianshi, glutinous rice balls, steamed buns, noodles, pot helmets, gnocchi, etc., are all named after their shapes. From Song to Yuan, "jiaozi" was mostly cooked in the form of frying and roasting. Its texture is also like horns, so it has this name.

Legend has it that on the day of "Dragon Head Festival", eating dumplings is also called "biting dragon ears". Whether it is vegetarian or meat stuffing, it means a lot of money.

The most important thing is the "eating dragon head", but the most important point here has even been passed down to this day. Even today, eating pig head meat on February [-] is still out of date.

But in that turbulent and chaotic world, even though Xuanfu North Road was considered a peaceful and peaceful place, pork head meat was still a very luxurious food, so naturally it was rarely bought and eaten.

However, on February [-], when the dragon raises its head, everyone will buy a little no matter how much it is, mainly just to make him auspicious!
…………

Not far from the bank of the Baihe River in the southeastern outskirts of Chi Castle, there is a large piece of fertile land reclaimed the year before last, surrounded by countless military households and civilians.

However, although thousands of people have gathered, they are still in good order, and they don't appear to be crowded or chaotic. From time to time, a sturdy man with a strong body can be seen in the crowd, wearing a red cloth mask, patrolling in the middle.

They are the soldiers of the Weiyuan Camp of the Courageous Army. They are here to maintain order and protect the safety of Yongningbo's family. If you observe carefully, you will find many round and broad women. Although they are wearing ordinary clothes, they look very different. .

They are all healthy women of the Detachment of Women, and now they are mixed among the crowd to protect the safety of the female family members of Uncle Yongning's family. After all, such a big ceremony, people from all over the world come to watch it, and accidents are most likely to happen in the midst of chaos.

Looking at the crowd on the inner third floor and the outer third floor, there is a large space, in the middle is a field waiting to be plowed, and there is a wooden platform that is not very high in the north.

Dozens of people in the audience were all dressed in very gorgeous clothes. There were three sets of plow rakes in front of them, and several old people from local military households were harnessing their cattle.

Soon, the three sets of plows were perfectly combined with the strong oxen. Amid the sound of drums, Yongningbo Zhang Cheng took the lead to leave the field, stood in front of the plows in the middle, and He reached out and stabilized the plow rake.

Yongningbo Zhang Cheng walked slowly with the plow in front, and Kaiping Guard Commander Jin Xinpeng followed behind in a red official uniform, constantly sowing new seeds in the plowed fields.

Before they knew it, they had already plowed three times back and forth, and as the master of ceremonies sang the order, Yongningbo also stopped, and walked slowly back to the wooden platform accompanied by Jin Xinpeng.

All the officials and generals of the Kaiping Guards Division also got up and came to the field one after another. They also helped the plow and the other sowed the seeds. They worked back and forth in this small field.

Almost at the same time, Mrs. Yongning Bo's wife Ji Xuanzhu also brought the female family members of the officials and generals, and under the protection of the healthy women of the Women's Army, distributed big white steamed buns to the surrounding soldiers and civilians.

It really conformed to the tradition of "the emperor's empress gave the meal, and Fuxi's family plowed it personally". People really flocked to the steamed buns presented by Mrs. Yongningbo, and they all pushed forward to squeeze in, wanting to be here in the "Dragon City". In the days of "raise your head", get a little bit of Mrs. Yongning's happiness.

Bian Yongqing, the eunuch who was supervising the army on the wooden platform, looked at everything in front of him, and felt mixed feelings in his heart. Through observations in the past few days when he first arrived in Xuanfu, the soldiers under Zhang Cheng's command were indeed different from those of Biezhen's soldiers. Much braver and more powerful.

But for Yongningbo himself, he is always in the fog and can't see clearly!
In Bian Yongqing's eyes, Zhang Cheng was indeed as arrogant and domineering as the rumors said, and he acted arbitrarily and arbitrarily, and he couldn't strictly abide by the rules and regulations of the court, and there were many acts of arrogance.

But through these few days of contact and observation, he found that he has no dissatisfaction with the current emperor, and he has not committed any acts of disloyalty. On the contrary, whenever he mentions the emperor, his expression is extremely solemn.

He turned his head and looked at Zhang Ruoqi, the servant of the military department beside him, and saw that his brows were deeply furrowed, as if he was thinking about something in his heart, but he couldn't figure it out for a while.

Bian Yongqing naturally also saw that Zhang Ruoqi and Yongningbo were very similar, but he didn't think too much about it. After all, he knew that the two had cooperated quite a bit during the Liaodong War, so it's not wrong to be closer to each other than others.

In his opinion, as long as court officials like Zhang Ruoqi don't collude with the local generals to harm the court, it's fine, and it's not necessarily a bad thing to get closer.

After all, although Zhang Cheng is already an Earl, he still needs the support of the Ministry of War for the affairs of the Yongyi Army. Therefore, Zhang Cheng now attaches great importance to Zhang Ruoqi and has frequent contacts, so he doesn't take it too seriously.

But what Bian Yongqing didn't know was that Zhang Ruoqi, the servant of the Ministry of War, had already made up his mind at this moment, and he would follow Yongning Bo wholeheartedly from now on, no matter what the outcome was.

Because, he has no way out!

Before coming to the Xuanfu this time to preach the rewards of the Ministry of War, I actually didn't have a clear decision in my heart about how I would handle my relationship with Zhang Cheng.

He still had a speculative mentality, first he hugged Yongningbo's thigh, and when he gained a firm foothold in the capital, if he gained the emperor's trust in the future and was promoted to the post of minister, he kicked Zhang Cheng away, even He also secretly thought about using the power in his hand to control Zhang Cheng.

However, this trip to the Xuanfu made him realize the iron-clad fact that he had no way out, but Zhang Cheng's way out was firmly established here, which was what the local people in Xuanfu believed in. Towards.

Although Zhang Ruoqi is a bit greedy, he is greedy for both money and official position, but he is not a fool.

Just imagine, it is completely impossible to stand out from the thousands of Jinshi over the years and become the doctor of the most popular department of the Ministry of War without some real knowledge.

However, in today's officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, it is not necessarily possible to stand out if you have real talents and knowledge. It depends more on your eyesight. Doing well in human relationships is far better than real talents and real learning.

If he hadn't had some eyesight to see what was coming, and was able to do things for his master sincerely, how could he have climbed to the important position of military doctor and won the appreciation of Chen Xinjia?

Just like now, he really saw the strength of Yongning Bo, not only the tens of thousands of brave soldiers who dared to fight in Liaodong, but more importantly, Yongning Bo has already managed Xuanfu North Road and East Road as his own. territory.

To put it too far, today's Xuanfu North Road and East Road have almost become "a country within a country". Although this place is not as prosperous as the capital, it is more prosperous than the capital. Therefore, he independently supported tens of thousands of soldiers of the Yongyi Army.

This is the foundation for Yongningbo Zhang Cheng to settle down in Daming, and it is also the basis for Yongningbo to be proud of the officialdom of Daming and dare to be domineering, and it is also the way for Yongningbo to retreat when he encounters setbacks in the future.

Looking back at myself, I was really like a frog in a well before, how short-sighted?

Previously, Zhang Ruoqi simply believed that the reason why Zhang Cheng was able to advance smoothly all the way was nothing more than clinging to the two big trees of Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia.

But this trip to the Xuanfu made him see it very transparently. Zhang Cheng's success today is entirely due to personal factors, but he doesn't know what method he used to manage the soldiers and civilians under him so obediently, and at the same time Bianbian despicably made it so prosperous?

Although he couldn't see the truth, it didn't prevent him from making a correct judgment in time. At this moment, Zhang Ruoqi, the Minister of War, had already made an important decision in his heart.

Near noon, the Yongning Bo's plowing ceremony came to an end. All the people present, no matter the high-ranking officials, the generals of the brave army, or the local guards, officials of the guards, and the common people of the military households, were extremely excited. .

And right here, the master of ceremonies announced the successful conclusion of the plowing ceremony, and prayed to heaven for good weather and a good harvest. The gong and drum team that had been waiting for a long time in the distance also heard bursts of festive drum music.

The dragon dance team and the stilt team also became active in an instant. They followed the rhythm of the drums and led the crowd away with cheerful steps.

Yongningbo Zhang Cheng looked at Bian Yongqing, the supervisor beside him, and said: "In three days, this uncle will go to Zhencheng to take over the post of chief soldier. Chicheng may not come again for a long time, and there are many things that need to be explained. You can’t always be by Eunuch Bian’s side and listen to his teachings.”

The corner of Bian Yongqing's mouth moved slightly, and he forced out a smile, and said: "Uncle Yongning's military affairs are the real business, our family is not a child, we need someone to accompany us every day."

Zhang Cheng also smiled, and then said: "The hot springs on the Chicheng Mountain in the east of the castle are really good, and the Ruiyun Temple is also beautiful, with overlapping mountains. Bian Gong can go there for two days. If you go to the town, you will be fine." Such a great place."

Bian Yongqing also just smiled and did not comment, and said on his mouth: "The emperor ordered our family to supervise the Yongyi Army. We should be loyal and diligent in the king's affairs, and solve problems for Uncle Yongning. How can we go to the mountains alone to hide and relax. "

Zhang Cheng also had a grateful expression on his face, and said, "It's really like adding wings to a tiger with the Bian Gong prison."

But he suddenly changed the subject, and continued: "Bian Gong also knows that although the slaves and bandits were defeated in the first battle of Liaodong, our brave army suffered heavy losses. This time it was because we were in a hurry to recruit bravery, so we used armor weapons, guns and gunpowder. All kinds of ordnance, such as horses and carriages, need to be supplemented.

All kinds of ordnance are not only laborious to raise, but also time-consuming to manufacture. The most difficult part is the heavy cost of money and food. Even iron materials are in short supply.

In order to enable the army to move out as soon as possible, and go to Henan Province to assist and suppress Cao's bandit army, so as to relieve the danger of the seal, I also ask Mr. Bian to help our brave army transfer some money, grain and iron materials. "

After hearing the words, Bian Yongqing raised his white, fat and smooth hands to caress his bare chin, narrowed his small eyes as if he was thinking about something, and then said after a while: "The difficulty of money and food is not limited to Xuanfu. , the current state affairs are difficult, and the court's expenditure on money and food is also extremely high, there are constant famines and wars everywhere, and money and food are needed everywhere, it is really difficult."

He went on to say: "However, iron materials are not difficult. Our family should try our best to mobilize for the brave army. We can only do our best for this money and food, and we can't guarantee it."

Zhang Cheng also knew that what he said was true, but even if he could only help transport some iron materials, it could relieve his urgent needs, and he couldn't avoid some words of gratitude at the moment.

Afterwards, they each boarded the carriage and returned to the Red Castle Guild Hall...

…………

Zhang Ruoqi, the right servant of the Ministry of War, originally planned to return to Beijing yesterday, but Zhang Cheng insisted on staying with him for an extra day, so after the plowing ceremony today, several people returned to Chicheng Guild Hall together, because Zhang Ruoqi had to hurry, they just had a light drink A few glasses of practicing wine.

Before noon, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng personally sent Zhang Ruoqi, the right servant of the Ministry of War, out of the Dading Gate in the south. Before getting into the car, Zhang Ruoqi held Zhang Cheng's hand tightly and made a sudden request to him.

"My lord, if Qi has an unfeeling request, I hope my lord will forgive me!"

Hearing Zhang Ruoqi's words, Uncle Yongning couldn't help being taken aback, and he replied with a smile: "What is Zhang Shilang talking about, but if there is anything, just say it."

Zhang Ruoqi said with a solemn expression: "My lord, you also know that Ruoqi's former residence in Jiaozhou, Shandong, there is still an old mother at home, she is very old, and she originally wanted to send his wife back to take care of her, and even took the child at her lap, So that they can enjoy the joy of playing with their grandchildren.

But now the war is raging and horses are in turmoil, Shandong is not very peaceful, Ruoqi wants to bring his old mother to live in Xuanfu, wonder if Yongningbo will agree? "

Looking at Zhang Ruoqi's sincere expression, Yongningbo didn't seem to be pretending, and thought to himself, "Is this a 'Certificate of Honor'?"

But he said, "Why not?"

Zhang Cheng then said very enthusiastically: "Niu Sheng, there is a big car shop outside the west gate of the capital, which supports a group of brave bodyguards and guards. You can just go and find him after you take the Benbo token. Follow-up matters, He will make arrangements for you."

(End of this chapter)