weaving

Chapter 990

The troops from Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi towns have all left and returned to their respective towns, while the three chief soldiers have been staying in the capital. Although Wang Pu and Li Fuming have already thanked the emperor, they still have to wait for Zhang Cheng to return together. Xuanda, so he lived in the mansion and never returned home.

In fact, Emperor Chongzhen did not issue a ban on Zhang Cheng, but although Zhang Cheng was named Yongningbo, his attitude towards Zhang Cheng was slightly indifferent.

Zhang Cheng was naturally aware of this, so he stayed in the capital and was not in a hurry to return to Xuanfu. Even if the second wife Yang Liying had given birth to a daughter for him, he couldn't take care of it for the time being.

In addition to observing how Emperor Chongzhen would treat him in Beijing, Zhang Cheng also wanted to make a show for Emperor Chongzhen, just like his daily life of singing and dancing, with intertwined cups and plates, drunken life, and the day before yesterday outside the Meridian Gate. contrived.

Of course, there is another meaning for him to stay in Beijing, which is to take the opportunity to make friends with some dignitaries in Beijing, just like Chen Jiugao who visited the door several times to invite him, but before the attitude of Emperor Chongzhen was clear, Zhang Cheng didn't want to go out and make a fuss That's all.

In the past few years, he has made too many meritorious deeds, and he is quite suspected of being the master of the war. If it weren't for the fact that Ming was still in the midst of a war, and the country was in the midst of employing people, he might have been dismissed by Emperor Chongzhen from his position as a soldier by now. Things, stay at home and take care of yourself.

Although the Yongningbo Mansion was a flop of the original "General Zhaoyong's Mansion", after Emperor Chongzhen decided to make Zhang Cheng his uncle, he immediately expanded it, and its area was actually larger than the original three-entry courtyard. More than double.

Although the area of ​​Zhang Cheng's Earl's Mansion has doubled, it is still a three-entry courtyard. After all, it is approaching severe winter and it is not suitable to start construction. According to the plan, the ground will be broken after the spring of next year to renovate and expand the Yongning Earl's Mansion.

The Earl's Mansion of Yongning is located in the Qingming Square outside Dong'an Gate. After the expansion, it not only occupies a very large area, but also faces the street on three sides. It is very convenient to enter and exit, which shows how much Emperor Chongzhen loved Zhang Cheng.

Although the front door of the Earl's Mansion was always closed and would only be opened occasionally when someone came to visit the house or when the eunuch came to pass orders, but the side door and the back door were frequently entered and exited every day.

Although most of the Xuanfu army and horses drove back to Xuan Town, there were more than a thousand seriously injured soldiers who were not suitable for a long journey and were left in the capital by Zhang Cheng to recuperate. In order to protect their safety, and more importantly, to protect Zhang Cheng's safety, All the soldiers of the Tiger Guard Battalion stayed inside and outside the capital.

In Earl Yongning's Mansion, there are more than a hundred elite soldiers from the Tiger Guards camp living there. They buy and buy through the side door, and the back door is mainly used by the servants of the mansion.

Of course, the front, side, and back doors of the Earl's Mansion were guarded by soldiers from the Tiger Guards. Even in the streets and alleys outside each gate, there were soldiers from the Tiger Guards in plain clothes patrolling constantly.

However, Chen Jiugao, Wang Pu, Li Fuming, Fu Yingchong and others had the most frequent contacts with Zhang Cheng. They came to find Zhang Cheng for banquets almost every other day, especially Chen Jiugao and Fu Yingchong. A friend came to see Zhang Cheng.

Uncle Yongning, Zhang Cheng, is a new generation of nobles in the military circles of the Ming Dynasty. You must know that he is an earl who was awarded the title entirely by military merits, and he is not comparable to those relatives who were awarded titles because their daughters married into the royal family.

Don't say that all the military officials inside and outside the capital are proud of making friends with Zhang Cheng, even those civil servants and senior officials in Beijing no longer dare to look at Zhang Cheng out of the corner of their eyes at this moment.

Although some of them still considered themselves noble, they were just complaining to each other in private. In face, they dared not disrespect Zhang Cheng, Bo Yongning!
On this day, Chen Jiugao introduced to Zhang Cheng the commander of Jinyiwei and the governor, Luo Yangxing, Li Ruolian, the commander of Jinyiwei, Yang Xueguang, the governor of Nanzhen Fusi, and Wu Bangfu, the governor of Beizhen Fusi.

In the past few days, Chen Jiugao and Fu Yingchong have shown great performance, but most of the people they made friends with in the capital were dudes of honorable background, warriors in the capital camp, and officials in the Jinyiwei.

Just like the day before yesterday, Fu Yingchong recommended to Zhang Cheng several chief and deputy commanders of the Wucheng Military Division, while Yu Shangyou introduced two patrol censors to Zhang Cheng, as well as Zhang Xin, the right deputy capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. , Li Qing and other officials in the engineering left to work.

In fact, these are arranged secretly by Zhang Cheng. Even though the Wucheng soldiers and horses are just some small officials of the sixth and seventh ranks, they are equivalent to gathering the functions of the public security, fire protection, urban management, market supervision and other departments in one body. The Zhengliupin Yamen.

Don't look at them because of their low official positions, many things and little money, the capital where high-ranking officials are everywhere is basically a fringe yamen with scapegoats, and above them, there are eight patrolling censors, Jinyiwei, Dongchang pinned down.

However, the Wucheng Bingma Division is in charge of public security, robbery, household registration, disaster relief, gatekeeping, ruler surveying, taxation and other miscellaneous matters in the capital.

Moreover, there is another very special thing about the Bingma Division of the Five Cities. It was supposed to be a military commander, but because the civil servants in Beijing wanted to control the power of law and order in the capital, they forcibly turned them into a situation where they selected Juren and Scholars. .

In order to be able to establish his own strength in the Military Division, Zhang Chengcai specifically asked Yu Shangyou to introduce him to the two patrolling censors, as well as Zhang Xin, the right deputy capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

He would hint to Chen Jiugao and Fu Yingchong who he wanted to make friends with, and Yu Shangyou seemed to have become Zhang Cheng's spokesperson in the capital, so there was no need to hint to him, he could just order directly.

In today's banquet, Luo Yangxing, Li Ruolian and other Jinyiwei officials all respected Zhang Cheng very much. Although they had many disputes and conflicts internally because of their interests, they still gave people a very harmonious impression .

Everyone respected Zhang Cheng, and during the banquet, Chen Jiugao was like a lotus flower. He started talking about Zhang Cheng when he first met Zhang Cheng when he helped suppress Henan Province.

Although Luo Yangxing was born as a high-ranking official of Jinyiwei for generations, he was quite powerful in Beijing, and he even gained the trust of Emperor Chongzhen, but he had never had any real experience of fighting on the battlefield.

In Chen Jiugao's vivid narration, like everyone else, he was completely immersed in it, and there was more admiration in his eyes when he looked at Zhang Cheng.

In fact, Chen Jiugao told them the story of the Liaodong War with them a few days ago. Although everyone praised him full of praise, they still had some doubts in their hearts.

But today at the Earl's Mansion in Yongning, with Zhang Cheng beside him, he made an understatement of confirmation from time to time, which immediately dispelled some doubts in their hearts.

However, Zhang Cheng didn't want to have such a deep friendship with Luo Yangxing and others during this banquet. The principle he believed in was that nothing should be rushed, otherwise it would be counterproductive.

This time, by living in Beijing, it is enough to establish contact with these people. As for friendship, it depends on one's own strength.

With his current qualifications, the status of the Earl of Yongning has been handed over to his subordinates, and he is officially the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town. Under such circumstances, Zhang Cheng has undoubtedly become one of the few truly powerful figures in Daming.

With this kind of capital in hand, Zhang Cheng is not to say that he was unscrupulous in Ming Dynasty, at least he is an existence that cannot be underestimated in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty. There are not many people in Daming who can stop it.

The atmosphere of the banquet was very harmonious, although Zhang Cheng was an earl, but in front of Luo Yangxing, Li Ruolian and others, he didn't have the airs of an earl, eating and drinking safely like a brother.

This made Luo Yangxing and the others feel extremely comfortable, and their affection for Zhang Cheng suddenly increased. When everyone was drinking, they naturally boasted to each other. Everyone looked very good-looking, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

Just when the wine was hot, Chen Jiugao suddenly whispered to Zhang Cheng: "Uncle, Zuo Dudu is the father of the emperor's most beloved imperial concubine. It is convenient to invite Uncle to come to the mansion in three days."

Zhang Cheng was not very familiar with these foreign relatives in Beijing. After all, in the Ming Dynasty, the presence of the imperial relatives was too low. In the eyes of Zhang Cheng, who only looked at strength and use value, they were almost transparent.

Seeing that Zhang Cheng didn't understand for a while, Chen Jiugao had to remind him: "In Ningyuan before, didn't my brother tell you about the noble families in Beijing, most of them raised singers, and all of them were both excellent in sex and art, and they were as beautiful as flowers. It's like clouds coming out of Xiu, and the sound of warblers beeping..."

As he spoke, he couldn't help gesturing next to Zhang Cheng and continued: "That waist and figure are rare for the outside world..."

At this point, Zhang Cheng just remembered that at Wu Sangui's mansion in Ningyuan City, Zhang Ruoqi mentioned that the relatives of nobles in Beijing kept many singers and kept entertaining them every day.

At that time, Chen Jiugao said that he had seen the performance of Tian Hongyu, the father of the imperial concubine, at the home of Tian Hongyu, who raised the singer. His vivid description really aroused the interest of Zhang Cheng and Wu Sangui, and made Zhang Cheng think that Wu Sangui was waiting here. The big beauty Chen Yuanyuan met on the occasion.

Now hearing what Chen Jiugao said, he replied casually: "There should be nothing else."

"Then let's make a decision, lest Zuo Dudu stay for a long time!"

Chen Jiugao and Zhang Cheng were already very close friends. When he learned that Zhang Cheng had no other arrangements, he immediately made a decision for him.

And Luo Yangxing, who was on the other side of Zhang Cheng, also heard their conversation clearly at this time, and couldn't help but say: "The singer at Tian Dudu's mansion is indeed a good one, and I am honored to be invited to participate in the banquet. It really makes people linger." It's hard to go back."

He then continued to say: "However, speaking of singers, Jiading Bo's mansion is the most popular."

"The singers in the residence of Marquis Funing and Uncle Xin Cheng are also good..."

As Chen Jiugao spoke, he exchanged meaningful glances with Luo Yangxing, and the two immediately looked at each other and laughed, but in front of Yongningbo Zhang Cheng, they didn't dare to be too unrestrained, and immediately toasted Zhang Cheng with a flattering smile, Tell him the stories of the singers in various noble houses.

…………

On the second day of the banquet between Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng and the Beijing Camp Commander Chen Jiugao, Jin Yiwei Commander Luo Yangxing and others, he was summoned by Chen Xinjia, Minister of the Ministry of War, asking him to go to the Yamen of the Ministry of War immediately.

Zhang Cheng had just dressed up, but when he was about to go out, he bumped into Wang Chengen, the eunuch who came to deliver the order, the eunuch Bingbi, who was in charge of ceremonies, and the admiral of the Yongwei camp.

It turns out that after Wang Chengen returned to Beijing from the Liaodong Supervisory Army, he was appointed as the admiral of the Yongwei Camp eunuch, and his previous post of admiral of the East Factory was replaced by Qi Benzheng, another eunuch of Bingbi, the supervisor of etiquette.

Zhang Cheng hurriedly welcomed him into the mansion to rest for a while, and ordered people to quickly prepare the incense table and offerings. Wang Chengen and Zhang Cheng had a lot of contacts when they were in Liaodong, and they are no strangers.

Moreover, he himself admired Zhang Cheng very much. The two chatted for a while, and the incense table in the lobby had been set up. After Zhang Chengfang came to ask him for instructions, he led the two of them to the lobby.

Wang Chengen came to the incense table with square steps, and sang loudly: "The emperor ordered, Yongningbo accepts the order!"

Zhang Cheng quickly stepped forward, knelt down and kowtowed, and sang: "Chen Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng accepts the order."

Wang Chengen looked at Zhang Cheng with both eyes, imitating the tone of Emperor Chongzhen and said: "Bo Zhang Cheng of Yongning is loyal to the king's affairs, he is serious and courageous, and he is good at comforting soldiers. My Ming Dynasty is more powerful than Liaozuo, so it really comforts my heart!

I deeply feel the toil of Yongning Bo for many years of fighting, and I wanted to stay in Beijing for a while to recuperate, but the country's affairs are difficult, and bandits are raging in Zhongzhou, so Yongning Bo still needs to work hard for the country. "

When Wang Chengen said this, he couldn't help raising his voice and continued: "Special decree, Bo Yongning will leave Beijing today and return to the Xuanfu to take up his post. After the handover of all affairs, he will immediately lead the army to the south to aid Henan Province and wipe out bandits. Guarding the border and keeping the people safe, but if you have special achievements, you will not hesitate to reward them!"

Wang Chengen finally finished reading Emperor Chongzhen's oral order, he lowered his voice and said to Zhang Cheng, "Uncle Yongning, thank you."

Zhang Cheng hurriedly knelt down to accept the order to thank Enbi, and welcomed Wang Chengen to sit in the side room next to him. Zhang Chengfang also quickly prepared tea for the two of them. Knowing that the two of them must have something to say, he quietly withdrew outside wait.

"It's really Zhang Cheng's crime to come to the mansion for your kindness. In fact, the prince only needs to call, and Zhang Cheng will go to the palace to receive the order." Zhang Cheng said very humbly.

But Wang Chengen replied with a smile: "The emperor ordered our family to come to Yongningbo's mansion to pass it on personally. How can we go against teaching Yongningbo and go to the palace for a while?"

He took a sip of the fragrant tea, and said in a slightly mysterious manner: "There is one more thing, so that I can teach Yongning Bo to know."

Before Zhang Cheng could express anything, Wang Chengen said at once: "The emperor also sent a supervising army for Yongning Bo. He estimated that after the Shangyuan Festival, he would leave for Xuanfu from the middle of the capital. Yongning Bo You have to prepare early."

Although Zhang Cheng was slightly surprised by this, he was not surprised. If Emperor Chongzhen didn't send the supervising army to Xuanfu, he would feel uneasy.

But following Wang Chengen's words, he also asked: "I don't know which father-in-law is going to Xuanfu for business, can you tell me?"

"It doesn't matter, anyway, you will find out soon, and our family's secret is not leaked."

He looked at Zhang Cheng and said softly, "It's Bian Yongqing from the Imperial Horse Supervisor!"

(End of this chapter)