The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Zhang Zhou, Zhu Feng and his entourage led a team of nearly 3000 people out of the capital and headed toward the Santun Camp where Jizhou Town was stationed.

Jizhou in the Ming Dynasty was subordinate to Shuntian Prefecture and was an administrative region. Jizhou Town was referred to as Ji Town and was located to the east in Yongping Prefecture. However, Shuntian Prefecture and Yongping Prefecture are connected and both belong to Beizhili. There are still certain commonalities in administration.

The group walked along the official road, and the army would be stationed along the way. They marched about seventy miles a day. For a team mainly composed of infantry, this speed was not slow.

But when they entered Yongping Mansion in the afternoon, Zhang Zhou had already ordered his troops to camp. The main soldiers camped on the spot, while the main officers such as Zhang Zhou and Zhu Feng had tiles covering their heads and the official post station. Knowing that big bosses like Zhang Zhou and Zhu Feng were coming, they had already made arrangements for the reception, including guest rooms and services.

Zhang Zhou entered the guest room early. He came out with his female family members, namely Wang Mingshan.

Others thought he was going to fight, but in fact, his main purpose was to mine. Since he was doing things like climbing mountains and wading to explore the terrain, there was no need to make himself so tired. Wang Mingshan was not only the female dependents around him, but also a female guard. She was dressed in brocade to protect thousands of people. The household's clothing is convenient for traveling anywhere.

This time, in addition to Wang Mingshan, Wang Mingshan's father Wang Shi and fourth uncle Wang Xin also came with them as members of the Qianhu and Baihu Jinyiwei. However, they did not stay in the post house with them, but camped on the spot with the military officers to rest.

"It's so hot and it's finally dark. Shouldn't we walk more?"

Zhang Zhou was still writing and drawing here. Perhaps because the door was open, Zhu Feng entered Zhang Zhou's room uninvited and in a hurry.

Zhang Zhou raised his head and looked at him with a frown, and said, "Zhijie, why are you so rash?"

"I see... the door is open." Zhu Feng looked guilty and walked out of the door.

Zhang Zhou said: "I opened the door to get some air. It's quite hot today, but less than a few miles ahead is Yongping Mansion. For us, it's a dragon's pool and a tiger's den. It's best to tidy up today before entering Yongping tomorrow. The boundary of the mansion.”

Zhu Feng looked puzzled and said: "Dragon Pond and Tiger Lair? That's not the case, right? This is all under the emperor's feet."

Zhang Zhou put down his pen, and Wang Mingshan took what Zhang Zhou had written, sorted it and put it aside, and then went to the door to inspect, leaving only Zhang Zhou and Zhu Feng in the room.

"Zhijie, I can tell you not to travel alone after entering the Yongping Mansion. We are trying to grab food from the tiger's mouth this time. The interest entanglements involved are far more complicated than you think. Don't look at what's going on here. Shuntian Mansion is only separated by a wall, but strictly speaking this place belongs to the territory that Emperor Shan Gao has no control over, so be careful."

Zhang Zhou was kind enough to remind him.

Zhu Feng said with some annoyance: "I know that opening the mine may take away local interests, but that is because Brother Zhang has the ability to find the veins. Besides, Brother Zhang's opening of the mine was ordered by His Majesty, and you are still the Minister of the Ministry of War and Duke Cai. , who dares to go against you?"

Zhang Zhou wanted to say that these days, even his own father has to step aside for the sake of profit. The so-called respect and fear are nonsense and are far less real than gold, silver and jewelry.

"Marquis Anbian." Liu Gui was shaking his head at the door, "Little Marquis, your family members are here. They said they would give you something. They are outside. Do you want to see them?"

"Uh..." Zhu Feng hesitated.

Zhang Zhou knew that this boy was "escaping from marriage". In order not to marry Chen Rui's daughter, Zhu Feng resisted all kinds of pressure and persuaded Zhang Zhou to leave early. Then he didn't even say hello to his family, and seemed to follow him when he ran away. The army goes to war.

Now the family sent someone to come, nominally to bring a bag and deliver something, but more like to beat him up.

"Go." Zhang Zhou said, "Don't let your family miss you. Get married early after you return to Beijing, so that you won't be thought of as immature again."

"Oh."

Zhu Feng went down in disgrace to see the people sent by Duke Cheng.

……

……

What Zhu Feng saw was Zhu Daqi, who was an old acquaintance. However, because Zhu Daqi was hired by the Duke of Chengguo, Zhu Feng only regarded Zhu Daqi as the family's tightrope for him. This time he was the retinue of a family. Did not bring.

After taking the things, Zhu Feng left Zhu Daqi in the army.

There is a sense of running away from home and being caught up by family members, who have no choice but to accept family surveillance.

That night, Zhang Zhou received a letter from Yongping Mansion. Sun Shangqi, the Jinyiwei Qianhu who was in charge of mining security in Yongping Mansion, was also the Jinyiwei Baihu who first made his fortune with him.

"how?"

Zhu Feng and Zhang Zhou were eating at the same table. Seeing Zhang Zhou reading a letter, he couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Zhoudao: "As I said, the local situation is not very good. People often make trouble in the mines, and fights often occur."

"The local government doesn't care?" Zhu Feng frowned.

In Zhu Feng's view, everyone from the prefect of Yongping Prefecture to the county government below should focus on safeguarding Zhang Zhou's interests.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Most of the people who eat the royal grain have the mentality that doing more is worse than doing less. Besides, this mine is nominally mine, and it does not belong to the government or the royal family. In what name does the local government manage it? ? The officials are watching, maybe everyone is afraid of being impeached, saying that it is for my own benefit, and I want to involve the government to maintain it and disturb the place."

Zhu Feng was speechless and said: "Isn't there no way to reason? No, if we bring more people, then we can be reasonable. There are many people anyway."

"There are many people in the mine." Zhang Zhou said, "Have you forgotten that His Majesty previously allocated [-] soldiers and horses specifically for my training and deployment? But these people are always from the army, plus Jingying and Ji There will be certain conflicts between the local soldiers and horses in the state and town, and sometimes the relationship is not easy to coordinate."

The original intention of the Ming Dynasty in establishing Jizhou Town was not only to connect military exchanges between the capital and Liaodong, but also to maintain the stability of the pass from Shanhaiguan to Xuanfu.

There is another purpose, which is to contain the capital camp.

As the saying goes, eggs cannot be put in one basket. In the event of a rebellion in the capital, heavy troops need to be deployed around the capital to assist the capital at any time. Therefore, the troops from the capital that Zhang Zhou can mobilize to mine in Yongping Prefecture will be compared with the local troops in Jizhou Town. Preventing soldiers and horses from forming a conflict of interest, and the two sides are a bit in conflict.

They are not within the same system, and everyone dislikes them. In addition, the soldiers from the Beijing camp transferred by Zhang Zhou can have mines to eat meat, while the local soldiers and horses in Jizhou cannot even drink soup. This contradiction is even greater. .

Faced with a big cake that can leak oil, no one dares to say that he will not be tempted. Even if the cake does not belong to the local officials and local garrison troops, but the power in their hands cannot be exchanged for benefits, they will naturally be unwilling to do so. .

It was because of Zhang Zhou's position that a rough balance was formed.

Zhu Feng asked: "Then should we go to the mine first or Ji Town first?"

Zhang Zhou said: "Of course I will meet with the local military and political people first. I will also meet with the people from Jizhou Town and Yongping Prefecture to explain everything clearly. You should also be prepared before setting off early tomorrow morning."

"Yeah." Zhu Feng didn't even finish the meal, but suddenly seemed to have some motivation. He got up and went back to his room to prepare.

……

……

When the team entered Yongping Mansion, it was not as dangerous as Zhang Zhou said.

Probably anyone who wanted to have an interest entanglement with the mine would not dare to come forward when they saw a large number of officers and soldiers carrying necessary cold weapons, as well as firecrackers and artillery.

The group advanced smoothly towards the Santun Camp. By the ninth day of June, the team had only one day left to travel from the Santun Camp. After being stationed in the field that night, before Zhang Zhou could evaporate the sweat from his body with a cattail leaf fan, here Someone came to his camp to report that the special envoy from Ji Town had arrived.

"Sir, they said they were here to deliver ice and a troupe of actors came to work for the army. I heard that they also sent two carriages of wine and meat."

When Liu Guilai reported the news to Zhang Zhou, he couldn't hide the excitement on his face.

This shows that it is definitely beneficial to follow Zhang Zhou on a long journey, and this does not mean the local filial piety comes.

Zhang Zhou said: "Keep the ice and send the rest back!"

The technology of making ice with saltpeter has been passed down from the Tang and Song Dynasties, but the cost of making ice is still very high for ordinary people, and it is impossible to do these things during the march.

The ice brought by the local government melted when it was sent back. In order to relieve the heat of the soldiers, Zhang Zhou made a special exception and allowed the ice to be kept. As for others, he did not have to accept it.

"Uh...yes!" Although Liu Gui was a little reluctant, he still went back to deliver the message.

As soon as Liu Gui left, Zhu Feng also took off his armor, and then appeared in front of Zhang Zhou's camp wearing cool cloth. He asked curiously: "Don't you say that the local officials in Ji Town are all upright? Why is this?" return……"

Even Zhu Feng didn't quite understand.

Because according to rumors, Governor Liu Yu of Jizhou Town was a capable minister praised by everyone in the traditional civil service, and he was recommended by Ma Wensheng. He should definitely belong to the kind of rotten scholar of the dead admonishment sect.

Zhang Zhou said: "How do I know? Maybe someone under the governor came to give me a gift intentionally and wanted to curry favor with me? I think this matter probably has nothing to do with Governor Liu."

"Yeah." Zhu Feng nodded seriously, "I also think he can't do such a thing."

Zhang Zhou glanced at Zhu Feng. It seemed that this boy had attached great importance to his party. Zhu Feng probably felt in his heart that anyone from the "opposite camp" should follow the same template and be an absolutely loyal minister. , there will definitely be no sycophants.

It's time to teach this kid a lesson. …

……

Large pieces of ice were brought to the military camp. After the ice cubes were divided, they were used to make tea for the soldiers.

The soldiers of the brigade gathered around the ice bucket. After getting the ice cubes, they all looked satisfied. Even Zhu Feng couldn't help but go up and take a look, and then asked Zhu Daqi to bring a piece back for him.

"Sir, please go over and take a look." Liu Gui came over to talk to Zhang Zhou again.

Zhang Zhou said: "What?"

Liu Gui smiled and said: "There is still something in the bucket."

Zhang Zhou expected the same thing. Since Liu Yu wanted to curry favor with him, he just gave him some ice cubes, wine, meat, theater troupes, etc. How could such a light gift show his affection?

To bribe a powerful official in the court, this little thing is not shabby enough.

Zhang Zhou specially called Zhu Feng up again, and together they arrived in front of three wooden barrels, but saw white money exposed under the big wooden barrels. Fortunately, the soldiers were ordered to stay away, probably because they were afraid that the bribery would be spread out. , the soldiers in charge of guarding were also very considerate of Shangguan.

"Silver? It seems to be quite a lot." Zhu Feng said.

Zhang Zhou said: "Oh, who wants to ask me to do something, and actually gives me such a generous gift? No reward for no merit."

Zhu Feng glanced at Zhang Zhou and asked, "I don't even know who gave it to me. Isn't it a bit... I should call the person responsible for giving the gift and ask what's going on."

Liu Gui smiled and said: "Little Marquis, the people have been driven away. They said they were sent by the governor's Yamen."

"Governor's Yamen?" When Zhu Feng heard this, why did he think differently from me?

Zhang Zhou said: "It must be someone from the governor's yamen. He is here to give gifts under the guise of the governor's name. It is possible that he has important matters to entrust to me. Looking at this situation, he has thousands of taels of silver. I am not here to serve others in Jizhou Town. of."

Liu Gui asked: "Shall we send this thing back?"

"No need." Zhang Zhou said, "Pack it up."

Zhu Feng said in surprise: "Brother Zhang, are you going to accept it now?"

Zhang Zhou said angrily: "How much money do I need? If you want to give me 8000 taels, maybe I can be tempted, but this is not enough to squeeze my teeth. Besides, I am in charge of rectifying military affairs. Do I have to rectify my own affairs first?" Own?"

Zhu Feng nodded and said, "That shouldn't be accepted."

Zhang Zhou pointed at the barrel and said to Liu Gui: "Don't pack it away. After taking out the ice, the barrel was stuffed with grass. After entering the Acropolis tomorrow, we will send it back directly to the governor's Yamen. Whoever gave it will return it." Who goes!"

Liu Gui laughed and said: "If the person who gave the gift was not the governor, wouldn't this matter be publicized?"

"Then send him to the back door!" Zhang Zhou said, "Be smart and don't use your brain too much!"

"Yes Yes."

Liu Gui was still looking at Zhu Feng when he answered.

Zhu Feng was also thinking, why does this Jinyiwei Qianhu look at me wrong?Who else is there who doesn’t have enough brains to say?Are there any people who work with Brother Zhang who are so smart?
……

……

In the afternoon of the next day, the group finally arrived at Santun Camp, where Jizhou Town is located.

Governor Liu Yu, Commander-in-Chief Ruan Xing, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang Lu and others went out of the city to greet them. At the same time, there were thousands of soldiers and hundreds of officials and civilians waiting in front of the city gate, even if it wasn't for the loud gongs and drums and the blast of firecrackers. , that is also full of battle.

But compared to the three thousand soldiers and horses Zhang Zhou brought, this was still not enough.

After Zhang Zhou dismounted, he took Zhu Feng and walked to the front to greet the people. A row of people in official uniforms greeted them. The leader was Liu Yu, who became the governor of Jizhou only a year later.

Liu Yu had a look of awe-inspiring righteousness on his face, but he took the initiative to come over and salute Zhang Zhou: "Your Majesty, Liu Yu, has met Zhang Butang."

"I've met Cai Guogong!"

Civil servants would call Zhang Zhou Butang or Shangshu, while military generals would regard Zhang Zhou as a member of the Dudu Mansion, which meant that everyone had different opinions.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Let me introduce you to everyone, this is Marquis Anbian."

"I've seen Marquis Anbian." Liu Yu then remembered that there was Marquis Anbian standing next to him like a follower.

Although Marquis Anbian is also very popular in the court, the problem is that this guy will not bring any political convenience to a governor. Liu Yu is an official who "doesn't let go of eagles when he sees rabbits". In addition, traditional civil servants are not interested in military affairs. Xun has always had a sense of contempt, but he selectively ignored Zhu Feng during the welcome ceremony.

Zhu Feng smiled with a smile on his face, as if he didn't mind at all, and said with a smile: "The general has heard about Liu Zhongcheng's name when he was in the capital. It is an honor for the general to work with Liu Zhongcheng."

"Marquis Anbian, please give me the honor." Liu Yu looked very humble.

Zhang Zhou was thinking about it.

Zhu Zhijie is also a good boy. Does he really respect Liu Yu so much?In front of me, Brother Zhang doesn't treat me as an outsider. In front of Liu Yu, he is worthy of his official position and calls himself a junior general. Do you know that you are very rude?
Zhang Zhou asked deliberately: "I have come all the way and am very tired. I wonder if you have some plans?"

Liu Yu said seriously: "I have prepared a guest house in the city. Zhang Butang can stay here. In addition, there is a banquet prepared by the local officials and gentry for you. Please tell me about it." "

"Yes." Zhang Zhou nodded and said, "Then let me go into the city to rest for a while, and then I will go there with Marquis Anbian."

"Yes."

It was only at this time that Liu Yu began to introduce local officers and generals to Zhang Zhou. Naturally, he was represented by Ruan Xing, another chief military officer who looked upright but was mainly flattering.

……

……

"how?"

After entering the city, Zhang Zhou sat on his horse and deliberately asked Zhu Feng on the side.

Zhu Feng smiled and said: "It's good. I think this Liu Zhongcheng is quite approachable. He is much better than the people I met in the northwest."

Zhang Zhou said: "Is this approachable?"

The implication is, Zhu Zhijie, what kind of people have you met before?Could it be that the governors you knew before, such as Yang Yiqing, hurt you too deeply and caused you to misunderstand the word "approachable"?
"Of course, no one is as easy to talk to as Brother Zhang, but looking at Liu Zhongcheng's appearance, he should be very polite to Brother Zhang. Someone else may not be treated like this." Zhu Feng said.

Zhang Zhou was also wondering, could this kid's words be considered a "blunt"?

If it were anyone else, I really wouldn't be treated like this, but it's not because he respects me, but because he wants to curry favor with me.

"Know the truth, as I said before, don't wander around after entering the city. You must bring more people with you when traveling, and be equipped with firecrackers to be able to respond to emergencies at any time." Zhang Zhou said.

"I understand, why are you so worried, Brother Zhang? This is the most benign place in the capital. How could there be such evil people committing crimes in the city? I will be careful."

Zhu Feng disagreed.

Zhang Zhou said to Liu Gui on the side: "I remember that after Sun Qianhu entered the city, he directly asked him to come to the post house to see me."

"Aren't you going to the residence arranged by Governor Liu?" Zhu Feng asked curiously.

Zhang Zhou said: "I'm just here to explain. I won't stay long. I'll leave in about two or three days. Try to have as few non-official contacts with local people as possible."

"What about today's reception banquet..." Zhu Feng asked.

"You should go anyway, but I'm going to establish my authority, not to talk to them, so you'd better be prepared and bring some people to give the local gentry some color." Zhang Zhou said.

"The locals are so enthusiastic and want to show off their power...Forget it, I will listen to Brother Zhang, but it's best not to cause too many conflicts." Zhu Feng seemed to want to remind Zhang Zhou that others don't want to have a grudge against you. You create conflicts yourself,

The danger at that time may have been self-inflicted. (End of chapter)