The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 342 "Strong and strong"

"Grandmother is anxious to let me marry a wife, saying that as an Anbian Marquis, if there is no heir, the title will belong to someone else sooner or later, and we should prepare for the future as soon as possible."

Zhu Feng looked depressed.

To him, marrying a wife is equivalent to being roasted on the fire.

Zhang Zhoudao: "If I were your grandmother, I might persuade you the same way. Zhijie, you really don't even have... any idea about women?"

Zhu Feng stared wide-eyed, looking very confused.

"Forget it." Zhang Zhoudao, "No one can force you. I think Mrs. Cheng Guotai means that she not only wants to stay behind for you, the title of Marquis of Anbian, but also wants you to stay behind for Duke Cheng's mansion. Does your elder brother have no son?"

"Then... Then let my eldest brother go, don't look for me?" Zhu Feng looked confident.

"Hehe." Zhang Zhou almost snorted.

Zhu Feng immediately drooped his head and said, "But I'm also thinking, if I can marry someone with children..."

Zhang Zhouxin said, you are really like today's little prince or future little emperor, you really can find a different way in some things.

"Don't talk about the weird thoughts in your heart in front of me." Zhang Zhou raised his hand and interrupted Zhu Feng, "I will tell you what you asked me to tell you. I can't guarantee whether it will be successful. As for your father's return After the capital, whether I am eligible to return to Nanjing is not within my scope of consideration, and I also told your grandmother that my ability is limited and I can't help much."

"Ah?" Zhu Feng was dumbfounded again.

"Go back and tell your grandmother that she will understand what I mean. It's late, so I won't send you off soon." Zhang Zhou was also unceremonious when he issued the order to evict the guest.

……

……

Zhang Zhou entered the inner courtyard.

Go away when you are happy, and come out when you are disappointed.

When he came out, he was still muttering: "Except for a pregnant woman, this is inconvenient for everyone, why is it like this? Who are you going to reason with? You even boasted to someone that this winter is just about to bloom. It's a good time, when it's convenient, it's convenient to be together, it seems that I should really live in another house, so that my own time can also be diverted."

"master!"

Liu Gui stood at the gate of the outer courtyard with a cautious look on his face.

Zhang Zhou frowned: "Aren't you in the Nancheng house? Why are you here?"

After Zhang Zhou moved to the mansion in Shichahai in the north of the city, all the women in the house also moved to the new house one after another, and he only left Liu Gui and others to guard the yard there.

"It was the former General Ma of Xuanfu who came to the capital to pay a visit to the mansion. The younger one can only come here and report to you." Liu Gui bowed his head and bowed.

"Ah."

Zhang Zhou nodded.

"If you have time, let him come to see you." Zhang Zhou ordered someone to prepare a towel for him to wipe his hands, and at the same time asked Liu Gui to inform Ma Yi to come and see him.

……

……

In his study, Zhang Zhou saw Ma Yi who came here in a hurry.

"The last general, Ma, pays homage to Mr. Zhang." Ma Yi was not polite either, she knelt down and kowtowed to Zhang Zhou as if she were visiting the emperor.

He did not hide at all that he was Zhang Zhou's trilogy.

Zhang Zhouduan sat behind the desk and said in a calm tone, "Get up and talk."

"The last general takes orders."

Ma Yi stood up and stood there respectfully.

Zhang Zhou reached out his hand to signal, and asked Liu Gui to move a chair to Ma Yi, and Ma Yi sat down awkwardly.

Zhang Zhou asked, "Have you been to the Governor's Mansion?"

"I have been there before." Ma Yi said, "The Ministry of War has also ordered Mao, saying that there is a possibility that he will be sent to Lingnan to serve, and the general will be willing to obey all orders."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "You are already Ping Lubo, a nobleman of the Ming Dynasty, where to go is just at His Majesty's disposal, so don't think about it."

"Yes Yes."

Ma Yi is very clear about the origin of his own good fortune.

And he also understands that the coupons have not been officially granted, and there is even no talk about whether to grant coupons.

The reason is that there are too many people who have been awarded titles in Ming Dynasty recently, and they are Marquis of Anbian, Uncle Xinjian, Uncle Pingrui, and Duke of Lai. The intention of the court is that there are merits that can be rewarded, but the coupons are suppressed. Coming down means that it is fine to be a noble of the generation, and the next generation will be given such vain positions as Jinyiwei Commander, Qianshi, and Qianhu.

This is also for the sake of the cost of the Daming treasury.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Actually, you, I also hope that you will continue to stay in the northwest, but it doesn't mean that soldiers can only be useful in the northwest. You should also give up some opportunities to make contributions to others. And now the court is criticizing you. Not too loud."

Although Ma Yi was awarded the title because of his military exploits, the Ministry of Punishment checked the content of Ma Zhongxi's impeachment before and found that everything was true.

This is very embarrassing.

Zhang Zhou used a person who had to make meritorious deeds to pay off his crimes to complete a surprise attack on Weininghai, but afterwards, even if you were guilty, it is impossible to arrange you in a key position in the Northwest.

Otherwise, everyone would think that even though they made mistakes, as long as they curry favor with Zhang Zhou and get some credit later, their sins can be taken away in one wave.

Ma Yi must be punished, so as to show the attitude of Da Ming's meritorious deeds and punishments, in fact, it can be regarded as an explanation to Ma Zhongxi.

After all, Ma Zhongxi was still the governor of the Xuanfu, and because of his relationship with Ma Yi, the two would not deal with it.

"Where do you want to go?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Ma Yi hurriedly said: "The last general dare not make mistakes."

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "It's not that I want to ask you, it's the opportunity His Majesty gave you to choose, either go to Jinghai in the southeast, or guard the border in the southwest."

Ma Yi said: "The final general hopes to go to the southeast."

You can tell at a glance that you have thought about it. If you want to be sent to other places as an errand, of course you must go to a relatively affluent place, instead of guarding the mountain lumps in the southwest border. In Daming, many mountain lumps are not even accessible by road, let alone walking. Shu Dao is such a difficult move.

"Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, or Guangdong?" Zhang Zhou asked with a smile.

"If it's Guangdong, it's the best."

In order to suppress the sea and prevent local tribes and other rebellions in Guangdong, the Ming Dynasty had a relatively complete and abundant deployment of defensive troops. In Guangdong and Guangxi, governors were often set up. As the commander-in-chief there, the places where the mountains are high and the emperor is far away are naturally richer.

The former Marquis of Anyuan, Liu Jing, was imprisoned for corruption and other crimes during his tenure in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "I'm pretty good at choosing, but there are no vacancies in Guangdong. If you want to go to the southeast, let you go to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to practice first. In addition, I mentioned to His Majesty that some ships should be built there, close to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It will also be relatively convenient when transporting materials such as wood and iron.”

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yi seemed to understand that Zhang Zhou had already paved the way for him.

In other words, he can only follow Zhang Zhou's preset path. If he chooses the southwest, he may be "cast into the cold palace" by Zhang Zhou directly.

"In the end, I will definitely do my best." Although Ma Yi didn't know why Zhang Zhou wanted to build a ship in such a good manner, but seeing Zhang Zhou being so cautious, of course he still had to be sensible.

"Okay." Zhang Zhou said, "Go back and tidy up. If it's inconvenient to take away family members or something, just stay in the capital."

Ma Yi said: "Mr. Zhang is very thoughtful. He is going to travel a long distance. There is a pair of children in his family who are still young, so it is not convenient for him to travel far... Finally, he wants to send the two of them to Zhang Gong's mansion. Since he can receive Zhang Gong's guidance, In the future, let them serve the nobles in Zhang Gong's mansion, in order to repay Zhang Gong's kindness."

"Son and daughter?" Zhang Zhou smiled.

Could this be the Ma Ang brothers and sisters?

Ma Yi said: "Yes, the dog is now seven years old, which is about the same age as the son of Zhang Gong's family. He can serve the son of Zhang Gong's son like a dog. As for the little girl... she is six years old now, and she can serve as a maid for the daughter of Zhang Gong's family."

"Hey, as the Ping Rubo of Ming Dynasty, I dare not accept that you send your children to my house like this."

While Zhang Zhou was talking, he was also thinking, did your son learn the habit of sending his younger sister away from you?

But thinking about it again, the honorable ministers of the Ming Dynasty did not seem to have strong bones during the Hongzhi period, and they really liked to engage in such under-the-table transactions in exchange for political resources.

But in fact, the civil servants are not much better. Think about the list of bribes to Li Guang... There is one Chinese military minister in the court, and who really dares to boast that he is strong?

"It's their good fortune that they are in Zhang Gong's mansion." Ma Yi insisted on this.

Zhang Zhou nodded with a smile and said, "Okay then, I will ask His Majesty for instructions to see if His Majesty agrees to this. After you arrive in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, you must do your best, and don't let Your Majesty down."

Ma Yi said excitedly: "The final general will bow down and die."

Hearing Zhang Zhou Zhou's words, how could it be exactly the same as Liu Jin's statement in front of him?
Now that Grand Duke Liu is still drinking the northwest wind with his head turned.

But thinking about it, Ma Yi felt that she had climbed a high branch, and now that she said this emotionally, she was not surprised.

……

……

Early the next morning.

Zhang Zhou still didn't have to go to court. On that day, he had to complete the special task given by Zhu Youtang, which was to take the emperor's "outside house" to a special place to live temporarily.

Don't look at the humble background of this girl, but because Zhu Youtang himself was not born in a direct descendant, maybe it is because of this girl's humble background and pitiful life experience that Zhu Youtang will feel pity and cherish each other, so that he can build his soul bridge of communication.

Before Zhang Zhou went out.

Here Xiao Jing came to visit again.

"Eunuch Xiao, today... there is no court meeting, right?" Zhang Zhou asked with a smile.

Xiao Jing, as a person who is about to be promoted to the eunuch in charge of ceremonies, is usually busy with official duties. Once there are court meetings and other meetings, he will definitely not be able to get away early in the morning.

Xiao Jing smiled wryly: "Mr. Zhang, aren't you just joking?"

It means that His Majesty didn't return to the palace last night, so what the hell is going on today?

"Hehe. If you have something to say, you won't be going with me..."

"Sir, don't get me wrong, our family will not interfere with what you are doing, and our family has no idea what you want to do, and we will never dare to ask." Xiao Jing is a smart man. The emperor entrusts his wife and son to hand over people To Zhang Zhou, the purpose is to avoid being persecuted by people in the court who know his whereabouts, and he will not succumb to Queen Zhang's intimidation, so he dares to ask casually?

"Xiaozhi just came to inform you that the victory memorial was passed to the capital last night. It was a little later than Lu Zhongcheng's." Xiao Jing said.

Zhang Zhou nodded and said, "This is a good thing."

Xiao Jing said with a bitter face: "It's a good thing, but just like that Lu Zhongcheng, the channel for this performance is a bit unusual. The person who came went directly to the Ministry of War, and even the Secretary of Political Envoy did not leave. It was our family who learned about it." After hearing the news, I went to the Ministry of War overnight to inquire, only to learn that the reported success report was divided into several copies and distributed to different yamen, and the general secretary only got one copy."

"Your Majesty has been notified?" Zhang Zhou asked.

"Not... not yet." Xiao Jing swallowed.

This means that some things are more appropriate for you to say.

Who knows what Wang Xian was thinking?

Zhang Zhoudao: "Since there are so many copies, do you mind giving me one?"

"Okay, okay." Xiao Jing hurriedly took out a copy and presented it to Zhang Zhou. After a quick look, Zhang Zhou knew it was a copy.

"Do you really want to make a fuss in the city? Do you want to assign merit before His Majesty discusses merit? Hehe, I'm too impatient." Zhang Zhou smiled.

Xiao Jing said: "Then our family...return to the palace first?"

Zhang Zhou nodded and said, "Alright, Mr. Xiao please."

He could understand that Xiao Jing didn't dare to go to the theater to face Zhu Youtang now, lest he be called to question by Queen Zhang, and he was afraid of being reprimanded for delaying the delivery of the battle report to Zhu Youtang, so Xiao Jing now deserves this job Very aggrieved.

……

……

The backyard of the theater building is similar to the courtyard of a palace.

Zhu Youtang didn't get up early because he didn't have to go to court early.

Even so, when Zhang Zhou arrived, he had already woken up for a long time and had finished washing.

"Bingkuan is here?" Zhu Youtang walked over with a smile.

Someone on the side has already prepared breakfast, "Let's eat together."

Zhang Zhou bowed his hands to salute, and he held the memorandum in his hand: "No need, Your Majesty, this is just a copy of Wang Xian's memorabilia, and almost all the yamen in the city have been scattered. Soldiers strive for merit."

Even though Zhu Youtang already knew about the victory report, and even got a general idea of ​​the result from Lu Wanna, he was still very excited when he heard this, and took it over to read it carefully.

"It's not even blown up. There are still so many heads and prisoners. It's really... different from before." Zhu Youtang's face was full of relief.

Zhang Zhoudao: "I have seen it, and according to Wang Xian's report, the heads and so on are basically obtained by the Jizhou Department. I have also analyzed Lu Wan's Shang Zou, and the general situation of the battle has also been analyzed. Perhaps Wang Xian's Jizhou cavalry , just to fight for the first victory, and missed the opportunity, so that the result of this battle was much lower than expected."

"Then Wang Xian deserves to die!" Zhu Youtang's expression was of course displeased when he heard this.

Originally, the three tribes were captured in one go, but no matter how they killed or captured [-] to [-] tribesmen, they came back.

As a result, just [-]% of the target was completed.

Although killing and injuring more than 3000 captives is considered a great achievement, but now the emperor and ministers of the Ming Dynasty are not satisfied with this little achievement?
Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Your Majesty, be careful with your words."

If your emperor said that someone should die, then maybe that person should really be ready to die, but in fact Wang Xian also completed the task of ambush.

It is unrealistic to expect to directly annex the three guards of Duoyan with [-] soldiers and horses, even if Lu Wan's [-] soldiers and horses are added, it is not enough.

Therefore, the complete destruction of the three guards of Duoyan is just an idea. Zhang Zhou's original intention was to achieve as many results as possible.

"Then Bingkuan, do you think that Wang Xian's move is tantamount to making me unable to step down, and insists on giving credit to him and his Jizhou Department?" Zhu Youtang asked.

Zhang Zhou said: "It depends on how people in the court decide."

Zhu Youtang was a little annoyed and said: "Then let them toss around, no one will doubt your credit! It may be because of your appearance, military merit is no longer difficult to obtain, spoiling this group of people I thought I could stand up to the sky one by one! But don’t you need to rely on sky gunpowder and artillery, as well as your strategizing to complete it?”

"I want to come, if they continue to make trouble, then I will leave the verdict to you. You are also the most qualified to judge the merits and demerits of this battle."

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Your Majesty, it's better to leave it to the people in the court to decide. At this time, I don't need to go in person. I also want to be a person who watches the fire from the other side."

Zhang Zhou used the word "also", probably saying, Your Majesty, you want to be a shepherd, so do I want to be a hungry wolf?
Shouldn't we, the monarch and the minister, watch how the ministers in the court dance together?
"Yeah." Zhu Youtang also nodded with a smile, "Let's have a meal together. I'm going back to the palace after eating. The rest is up to you."

……

……

After Zhu Youtang had breakfast, he returned to the palace.

Before leaving, he called out his "loved concubine", and handed her over to Zhang Zhou after thousands of exhortations.

Zhu Youtang didn't even find a serving maid or eunuch, except for a serving maid who was already with this girl. The meaning is obvious... For the safety of my beloved concubine, everything It all depends on Bingkuan you to arrange and arrange.

Immediately Zhang Zhou let the girl into the carriage.

Then he went to Ning Tong's mansion with his subordinate Jin Yiwei and others, with Liu Gui as his arrangement and arrangement.

Things didn't even say hello to Sun Shangqi.

Because Sun Shangqi is also a member of Jinyiwei's original system, he is also easily persecuted by power.

Ning Tong's rouge shop.

Early in the morning, the rouge shop had already opened, and what was even more surprising was that there were customers there early in the morning.

Zhang Zhou first let the carriage stop at a place where there were few people on the street, got out of the carriage and went to the entrance of Ning Tong's Rouge Shop. After looking around, he strolled towards the entrance of the Rouge Shop.

"Get out! Men are not allowed to enter!"

Two men who looked like guards were standing not far from the rouge shop with sticks in their hands.

The two can even keep their eyes on each other.

With these two door gods, it is a scenery for passers-by, but for the women who enter the inside to choose rouge and gouache, they seem to be the protectors who protect their privacy.

"Where did you hire them? You're pretty conscientious! Very good, very good, I'll give you an errand later." Zhang Zhou smiled.

The two were about to treat Zhang Zhou as an ordinary person who came to cause trouble, but the people brought by Zhang Zhou directly held them down, gagged them, and pushed them aside.

Since Ning Tong's rouge shop is to be used as a place to protect the imperial concubine and the dragon's heir, the specifications of these two goods are a bit low.

When Zhang Zhou entered the door of the rouge shop, the women inside, together with the little maid behind the counter, were all staring in astonishment.

"It's a good place, suitable for business talks." Zhang Zhou smiled and looked at the wives of those rich families... There are no young ladies, it's all because these days women seldom dare to leave the house before they get married.

"Miss, ma'am..."

The maid hurriedly greeted the inner curtain.

Then Ning Tong came out, her face was painted like a monkey's buttocks, she was probably showing up to explain the usage of rouge powder to customers, maybe she went in and washed it with water before trying other things... I admire Ning Tong for this account , dared to use her own face as an experiment, but because of this, she used a very weird "form" to meet Zhang Zhou again.

When she saw that it was Zhang Zhou, she realized the embarrassment when the two met, and then she turned around and went behind the curtain again.

(End of this chapter)