The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

The selection ended successfully.

Zhang Zhou did not announce the result on the spot, but immediately left the yard and went home.

The people who stayed behind didn't know their respective future fates. The four of them returned to the courtyard outside the city together. They were very worried, especially the other three who almost said nothing except Huang Zhao.

"My lord has said, you can all stay here first." Aunt Lin called the four of them over and announced the result on the spot.

The four of them didn't cheer for joy, but they all seemed to be relieved at the same time.

Being able to stay means that you don't have to endure hardship.

As for Mrs. Huang Zhao, the fact that she has her maid Chuntao behind her means that she is carrying the fate of two people. If we count further, she also bears the burden of clearing away the shame of the Zhao family. Will the Zhao family be able to live in peace in the future? It all depends on her if she has the chance to return to civilian life.

"I'll take you to see the weaving workshop tomorrow, and Mingxin..."

"Auntie, I'm here."

Mingxin is that young girl who wants to be a female worker. The reason why she can still stay here and pass the previous selection is all because Huang Zhao helped her behind the scenes.

Perhaps in Huang Zhao's view, if you want to succeed, you need someone to help you.

And a girl like Mingxin, who seems to have little scheming and little ability, is the easiest to be controlled by her.

As for the deep love between sisters... they just support each other a little in times of crisis, but they are not that deep in love. They don't care too much when they are in trouble.

"What you said today makes my lord very satisfied. My lord thinks that you are most suitable to be the female head of the workshop in the future, and you will work hard in the future." Aunt Lin is still very satisfied with Mingxin.

Mingxin was also a little confused.

Am I just saying that I want to be a weaver so that I can be appreciated by that big shot?

The glances from the side were filled with jealousy, and one of them muttered in a low voice: "It's just that I am looking good because of my youth."

When Huang Zhao heard this, she just glanced sideways at the two women next to her. She was used to the intrigues in the yard. At this time, she couldn't care about anything else. She didn't feel jealous in her heart, but she just thought that maybe this Mingxin More suitable for doing simple and mechanically repetitive things.

Perhaps because of this, Cai Guogong chose her.

……

……

It's quiet at night.

Zhang Zhou hadn't rested yet. After returning home, the heater had already been installed. It had been installed in the palace, so naturally he would also enjoy this convenience at home.

Perhaps the heater was a little too hot, so Zhang Zhou had to open the window for ventilation.

"Master, isn't it cold?"

After Jiang Pingyu put on an extra piece of clothing, she dared to walk to the window and come to Zhang Zhou, but she helped Zhang Zhou tidy up his clothes a little.

Zhang Zhou said: "This way you can cool down and your mind can be clearer and you can think of something. Go to sleep first."

Jiang Pingyu looked back and asked, "Then..."

"Let Yi'er and Mingshan go back as well, and have someone bring me a cup of tea. Maybe I'll have to stay up late and read at night," Zhang Zhou said.

Jiang Pingyu said: "Master is running around like this every day. When he comes back, he still has to take care of family and country affairs. Can't he give himself more rest? His health is important!"

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "It's different from before. I used to study, but now I want to stabilize the country. Now there's still a war in the northwest. Even though I'm in the capital, there are many things that need to be arranged by me. If another two years pass, I may still have to do it." I personally go into battle and lead the troops, and many things are beyond my control."

"master……"

Liu Gui's loud shout came from the front yard: "Eunuch Yang is here!"

"Which Eunuch Yang?" Jiang Pingyu was also a little curious.

Usually it was Eunuch Xiao or Eunuch Li, but now it was Eunuch Yang.

"It's Yang Peng. I've seen him once in the old house the day before yesterday. This late night visit is probably related to His Majesty's instructions. The war situation in the northwest is tense, and I can't slack off. Madam, you go and rest first. , if you are not in a hurry to sleep, you can wait for me to come back. Oh, what time of the year it is! You'd better rest early."

"Ah."

Jiang Pingyu quickly brought over the heavy clothes and helped Zhang Zhou tidy up his clothes.

……

……

When Zhang Zhou arrived at the front yard, Yang Peng was already waiting respectfully there.

"Sir, someone is here to say thank you." Yang Peng said with a smile.

"What are you talking about? You are saying thank you but not thanking you. If you are here in a private capacity, you should know that this is against the rules. Please respect yourself, Eunuch Yang." Zhang Zhou said.

Yang Peng still said with a smile: "I came here on the order of the emperor. Your Majesty has an edict, saying that it is about the affairs of the capital camp in the future. Everything must be obeyed by you, sir. If you tell me, someone will definitely follow it. The first thing is to spend the winter. Purchase and other matters, you see..."

"hehe."

Zhang Zhou couldn't help but smile.

Now Zhang Mao is not in the capital, and Yang Peng, as the admiral eunuch, is about to take over the military power of the capital camp.

When Yang Peng received the emperor's order, the first thing he thought of was how to curry favor with Zhang Zhou.

As for the oil and water that Zhang Mao could extract in the past, Yang Peng naturally wanted to send it to Zhang Zhou intact... Zhang Mao had been so harsh in the past, and the emperor knew it well and didn't do anything to him. Now if it was Zhang Zhou who The emperor will not care about the person in charge.

In this way, Yang Peng could borrow flowers to offer to Buddha, and even make some money for himself.

"Haven't all the procurement matters been arranged?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Yang Peng said: "But those are all... how should I put it? They are all old people from the past, and what should be replaced should be replaced! In addition, I heard that Hou Ning still wants to intervene in this matter. Recently, Hou Ning has also been inquiring about related matters. He seems to have mentioned it to the Queen, and he wants to take over the supply of the Beijing camp to himself in the future."

Zhang Zhou asked: "Will your Majesty agree?"

"This...it's hard to say." Yang Peng said, "But even if Hou Ning takes over, he can only take a small part of the business at most. At present, Shanxi merchants and Hui merchants are also competing for business related to Beijing's supply. , are all trying to find ways to have a relationship, and some even find someone..."

Yang Peng had just taken office and the wind had just begun to blow, and someone was already following the smell and smelling the direction of the wind.

Those officials in Beijing were always well-informed. When they knew that Yang Peng was appointed as the eunuch of the Royal Horse, they directly took over the Beijing camp and immediately started giving gifts to Yang Peng.

Zhang Zhou said: "You know, I have never been keen on receiving gifts or anything like that."

Yang Peng smiled and said: "But your Majesty will still give you the gift. Tomorrow morning, someone will bring another batch. That is your Majesty's reward for you. Your Majesty also said that someone must personally You can’t come, so as to show the difference between superiority and inferiority.”

"Eunuch Yang, don't say that, we are all in a cooperative relationship."

"Yes, yes, but the holy will cannot be violated."

Zhang Zhou nodded and said: "If it's the merchants, it's up to you, Eunuch Yang, to take care of it. The soldiers in the Beijing camp also want to have a good winter, and they don't want to live a hard life. If this year is no different from the past, what do you think they will do? ?”

"I understand. It's easy to let them remember how kind you are, sir. Just a little favor will do... someone will understand."

Yang Peng looked mature and solemn, as if he understood the meaning very well.

That is to let the soldiers get a little sweetness and make them realize that it is much better to follow Zhang Zhou than to follow Zhang Mao.

Zhang Zhou said: "Eunuch Yang, you may still not understand. His Majesty asked me to assist the Beijing camp as Minister of War, not as Cai Guogong. In the future, this garrison minister may still belong to the British Duke, and he is only temporarily out. It’s just a long trip.”

"Huh?" Yang Peng was a little confused.

The emperor had already put so much effort into ruining Zhang Mao's reputation, transferring him to the northwest to lead the army, and even waiting for his defeat to watch his show...

Just like this, just let Zhang Mao go through the motions and come back to continue to be his admiral and honorary minister in the capital?

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem to make sense.

Zhang Zhou said: "Do you also want to be like some people and watch me fight with the British public?"

Yang Peng seemed to understand something, and he said: "Your Majesty and Sir have thought carefully, and someone is not as good as the worst. Someone is so understanding that everything must be done step by step, is this what you mean?"

"Don't take it casually," Zhang Zhou said.

"I understand, I understand, someone only needs to do the things at hand. As for who will take charge of the affairs of the capital in the future, His Majesty will arrange it, and someone will follow it. Someone only knows how to deal with the affairs of the capital in the future. Just come and ask for advice and learn from me, sir."

Yang Peng seems to know some rules.

If you don’t understand, don’t participate blindly.

No matter how the emperor plans to deal with Zhang Mao in the future, whether he will continue to treat Zhang Mao favorably or gradually replace him, that is a matter for the decision-makers.

Yang Peng seemed to be a decision-maker, but in fact he was just an executive. All he had to do was obey the orders of the emperor and Zhang Zhou.

……

……

northwest.

Zhang Mao led his troops from Pianguan Pass and headed all the way to Yansui.

It was too much for his body.

After traveling for many days, he had to stop and rest. After setting up camp at night, when he was washing his feet, he saw blisters on the soles of his feet and cried out in sorrow.

"Father!"

At this time Zhang Rui came in from outside the tent.

"It's not polite to come in without announcing it?" Zhang Mao glared at his son.

Zhang Rui said anxiously: "Father, I just learned that His Majesty issued an order to Yansui and asked Wang Zhongcheng, the commander-in-chief of the three sides, to lead his troops to attack, but we seem to be... falling behind."

"What? Ouch... Ouch..."

Zhang Mao got excited and stood up from the basin.

But he forgot that the blisters on the soles of his feet had been opened by himself and were hurting.

Zhang Mao stood there, not returning to the state god for a long time, and now he was a little confused.

"Father?"

"It's okay, it's okay. Let the father be alone."

Zhang Mao thought for a moment, then finally seemed to have his head figured out, and said: "You mean, in addition to sending us here, His Majesty also asked Yansui to send troops? Where were they sent?"

Zhang Rui said: "Currently I only know the order, but I don't know where to send the troops."

Zhang Mao took a breath and said: "This is not good. If it doesn't happen, it will be like Zhu Dongyang last time. No matter what he does, it will be a mistake. Now His Majesty obviously does not place all his hopes on us. Just report that point. The credit is not enough to erase the mistakes.”

Zhang Rui said: "Father, should we march at night?"

"As a father... alas!"

Zhang Mao wanted to take a few steps, but in addition to the pain in the soles of his feet, he also found that his legs were a little unruly.

In the past few days, he has only been walking and riding horses, which is really hard for his body.

"Father, why don't you take a carriage tomorrow? There are carriages in the army that transport grain and grass. One of them is free so that you... can rest on the road." Zhang Rui seemed to know that his father was not able to support him.

Zhang Mao said: "Isn't the carriage bumpy? Find me some pieces of soft cloth. The softer and thicker the better... Over the past few days, my bones are almost falling apart! This is still a long way from Ningxia."

The saddest thing about Zhang Mao is that after setting off from Pianguan, he still has a long way to go before his destination, Ningxia.

According to the current speed of travel, I am afraid it will take ten days and a half to arrive. If I keep going like this, I will probably end up in the northwest.

"It's strange that Wang Weining was brave all his life, but ended up with an unhappy death. It's really... painful." Zhang Mao lamented.

Zhang Rui said: "Father, I heard that Marquis Weining was smiling when he died."

Zhang Mao glared at his son and said: "That's because he got the title. His pursuit is different from you and me. He has suffered, doesn't he know it? Do you want me to fall into trouble here?"

Zhang Rui quickly took a cloth to wipe his father's feet, but did not dare to say anything more.

……

……

The war in the northwest fell into calm for a while.

There was no new news from the DPRK and the Central Government for several days. Everything seemed to stop at Zhang Mao's success outside the border pass. Even the civil servants of the DPRK and the Central Government couldn't help but praise Zhang Mao.

Get older and get stronger.

He is getting stronger with age, and he is an old man with great ambitions... Or maybe he feels that with Zhang Mao here, the Tatars will be afraid of three points, and they will not dare to violate the situation again.

Of course, these words are just casual remarks. The more purpose of the civil servants is to make people in Zhang Mao's faction feel that the civil servants are on their side, and to make Zhang Mao feel that there is support from the civil servants behind him... in disguise to provoke the war between Wu Xun and Wu Xun. internal discord.

On this day, Zhang Zhou entered the palace in the afternoon. He first went to give Zhu Houzhao a class for an hour. He didn't teach much but just chatted. Then he was invited to Xinuang Pavilion.

"Bingkuan, have you seen that girl from the Cui family? Do you like her?"

Zhu Youtang came up and asked Zhang Zhou about Cui Yuan's sister.

This also tells Zhang Zhou that Cui Yuan is about to arrive in the capital, and her sister Princess Yongkang is urging her to arrange a good job for her husband.

So no matter how picky Zhu Youtang is about his sister, he will test Zhang Zhou's attitude at this time.

"I've seen it before, but..." Zhang Zhou couldn't tell.

A little girl who hasn’t grown up is just an ignorant girl at best. She doesn’t understand anything about marriage, love or feelings. She’s just like a blank piece of paper. Zhang Zhou feels that he shouldn’t be the one who writes about it. People who write and draw.

Zhu Youtang said: "If you have anything to say, just tell me."

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, what should I say? She is not bad, but... not a good match. The age gap is there, and she doesn't understand anything."

"Bingkuan, you are like this. You think too much about others. You don't even think about it. It is an honor for her to join your family, isn't it? The marriage between two families needs to be like this. Otherwise, what if it wasn't for me? My sisters are all married... Ahem, just pretend I didn’t say anything."

Even Zhu Youtang would talk nonsense in front of Zhang Zhou, and then take back half of what he said.

It also shows that Zhu Youtang did not regard Zhang Zhou as an outsider.

"Mao Ren will arrive in Beijing in the next two days. I am temporarily planning to let him work in the capital camp. If he wants to be promoted, he must marry you. If you think it is not worth cultivating, then let this matter go for now. ...It all depends on your choice." (End of chapter)