The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

When Li Song shed tears, there was a strong look in her eyes, as if she was unwilling to accept her current situation, as if she had hatred towards someone.

Zhang Zhou would also wonder, is this hatred directed towards her husband’s family or her own family?

Or to me?
Zhang Zhou said: "Princess Yongkang used my connections to take you away. Do you know who I am?"

"You must be Lord Zhang." Li Song said, "Lord Zhang, who is feared by everyone in the court."

"So do you want to go back to your parents' home?" Zhang Zhou asked.

"I don't want to." Li Song replied straightforwardly, "I am a convicted woman. Even if I return to my parents' home, people will point fingers at me and even think I am a burden to the family. I will also be considered unclean because I have been in prison before, and I will be condemned by thousands of people."

Zhang Zhou nodded and said, "You have thought it through very clearly. If you don't go back, do you want to go to the place where you were exiled and suffer the hardships of wandering around?"

Li Song kowtowed to Zhang Zhou again and said, "I hope you can take me in. I am willing to work like a cow or a horse for you. I know some of my husband's crimes and can investigate the case for the court."

When Zhang Zhou heard this, he became curious again.

This woman...

It cannot be said that he has a vicious heart, but at least he is different from most people.

Unlike that weak woman, she still knows how to demonstrate her own value, or in other words, she knows what others expect of her.

Firstly, her beauty could not bring him a future, and might even become the source of his wandering.

Secondly, she could help the court investigate cases... Although Zhang Zhou didn't quite believe that this woman could have any evidence, given her intelligence, it was obvious that she was not the kind of lamb to be slaughtered at will. Zhang Zhou saw a twisted and enterprising attitude in this woman.

"Yes." Zhang Zhou nodded. "If you want to stay, it's up to you. I'll arrange a place for you to live."

After saying this, Zhang Zhou stood up. After all, not many people lived in this old house usually, and he didn't plan to spend the night here.

Of course, this woman can't stay here. Some things can't be left in one's own yard.

……

……

Zhang Zhou had no intention of sending him back.

Or it could be said that it was respecting Li Song's choice.

And there was one thing Zhang Zhou didn't understand, which was why this woman didn't want to go back to her parents' home.

After he left the mansion, Wang Shi accompanied him to the theater, and Wang Shi answered Zhang Zhou's questions.

"This girl turned down her arranged marriage for the sake of an arranged marriage, and then lived in the Li family for four years. It is said that she had some grudges with her family members, and she never went back to visit them during those four years." Wang Shidao.

Zhang Zhou laughed and said, "Then her family still cares about her so much that they are trying every possible means to redeem her?"

Wang Shi said: "I haven't heard of it."

Zhang Zhou was stunned.

Then he seemed to understand something.

"So, the one who wanted to take her away was Princess Yongkang, not her family. Is that what you mean?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Wang Shi said in embarrassment: "I don't know much about this. If you hadn't mentioned this girl today, I wouldn't have thought she was any different from an ordinary criminal woman. But from what you said, if this girl can really help investigate the case, maybe she has some influence in her husband's family."

In order to arrange a marriage, a woman's family would send her to a family she didn't want to go to as a wife, not as a concubine or to give birth to children.

After being convicted, she did not think about returning to her parents' home, but instead wanted to use what she knew to bring her husband's family into an irreparable situation, and even use this as a springboard to stay with Zhang Zhou...

Zhang Zhou thought.

As expected, Princess Yongkang is not an ordinary person, and her best friend is not a good person either. It sounds like this woman wants revenge.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Interesting."

Wang Shi said: "Sir, where should the convicted woman be placed now?"

Zhang Zhou pointed to a Jinyiwei standing beside him and said, "He will tell you where to send the person."

"Yes, yes." Wang Shi bowed.

Zhang Zhou nodded, signaling Wang Shi to go back first, while he went to the theater by himself.

……

……

A few days later.

Zhang Zhou seemed to have forgotten about this incident, and his attention was completely focused on the war in the northwest, as a number of battle reports were sent back from the northwest.

The five armies sent out by Tang Yin had been wandering on the grassland. The reason why they were wandering was that the Tatars relied on mobility to avoid frontal combat. Even the two relatively weak armies of Ma Zhongxi and Zhu Fu among the five armies had not encountered any serious attack from the main Tatar forces.

But as the five armies advanced, more information about the battle was transmitted back, which also brought about some changes in the overall situation.

The reason is that Ma Yi and Zhu Feng's troops arrived at Guanshan one after another. This was once the location of the Tatar Khan's court. For the Ming Dynasty, this place was already the heartland of the Mongolian grasslands. It was very difficult to attack here in the past, but now even if the two troops arrived at the vicinity of Guanshan, there was no trace of the main force of the Tatars.

After hearing the news, Zhu Youtang hurriedly summoned Zhang Zhou into the palace.

Although it was not the first time that the Ming Dynasty sent troops to Guanshan, this time it seemed more like a patrol. The Ming Dynasty's troops could march to Guanshan in a mighty manner without any hindrance, and Ma Yi and Zhu Feng both completed some simple activities to worship heaven and earth.

There is a sense of "Fenglangjuxu" in it.

Zhu Youtang also seemed very excited. He asked Zhang Zhou to enter the palace, as if he wanted to brag in front of Zhang Zhou.

Look……

My troops marched to Guanshan in such a swagger that the Tatars dared not even fart. Now it will remain to be seen how the Ming cavalry will flatten the grassland.

"Your Majesty, it seems that the troops from various routes have traveled hundreds or even thousands of miles northward. Considering that there is no response from the various routes, they are a bit isolated and deep in the territory." Zhang Zhou said.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Aren't we using the cannons you made? As far as I know, there are only a few thousand soldiers on this route, while the main force of the Tatars is several hundred thousand. Even so... they can come and go so freely, which is a great boost to the morale of the army."

Zhang Zhou saw that the emperor was in high spirits, so he didn't feel comfortable saying anything discouraging.

Probably the emperor and his subjects of the Ming Dynasty all had the same idea.

The war was fought to completely pacify the grassland, but what was the purpose of pacifying the grassland?
Is it to allow the people to live and work in peace, or to allow the soldiers in the northwest to retire and return to their fields?

There was no specific goal at all. As for leveling the grassland, it was more like a slogan. What should be done after leveling the grassland? How to govern the grassland in the future? Even how to level the grassland... these were not included in the detailed plans of the monarch and his ministers.

Perhaps Zhu Youtang’s biggest plan is to continue using Zhang Zhou to accomplish all of this. As for how to do it specifically, Zhu Youtang himself doesn’t really care.

Generally speaking, it's for face.

The emperor did it for his face, the ministers did it for their face, and the soldiers were more pragmatic. They did it for military merit, so that their families could live a good life and have enough food to eat... Leveling the grassland might not be a good thing for ordinary soldiers.

The court no longer needs to spend so much money to support them. They will no longer be soldiers in the future, but will need to work more on farming or even migrate to other places to survive.

But will the soldiers on the front line think about these things specifically?

"Bingkuan, I have read the book you gave to Xiurong. It is very well written. Many things look strange, especially those square and round things." Zhu Youtang said with a smile.

Zhang Zhou said: "This is geometry. I want to expand the princess's imagination. After all, you also said that the princess should not be exposed to too much content of the Four Books and Five Classics. It would be better for her to learn some arithmetic or geometry so that she can have more thoughts on designing and completing the production."

"What?" Zhu Youtang asked curiously.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Your Majesty, before casting cannons and other objects, you need to draw a blueprint first, which is done using this knowledge. The caliber of a cannon, the size of the mold, and the amount of iron required all need to be calculated."

"Oh, that's quite interesting." Zhu Youtang obviously didn't understand, so he could only respond casually.

Zhang Zhou said: "As for the Four Books and Five Classics, the teaching plan I compiled is more about word choice and sentence structure, and it is also to help the princess understand some documents."

Zhu Youtang sighed, "Bingkuan, what you teach is not simple. I am afraid Xiurong is still young and cannot understand it."

"Everything depends on human effort." Zhang Zhou said, "Before this, I have compiled some basic arithmetic knowledge, and there are female officials who can teach the princess."

"Yes, don't you usually recruit female teachers? I also heard that there are female teachers in the capital. They are responsible for teaching girls in the folk to read and write, and even learn some things... Although I don't understand it very well, I know that they can do a lot for the court." Zhu Youtang said with a little emotion.

Zhu Youtang was informed about Zhang Zhou's plan to open a girls' school.

Zhu Youtang also sent people to investigate in detail and found that these women, who usually only got married and had children and had no social status, could indeed engage in many industries under the guidance of Zhang Zhou Women's School.

These women learned knowledge, but did not seem to have any ambitions. After all, they could not use what they learned to take the imperial examinations, nor could they become officials. None of them would want to do anything to harm the court.

In Zhu Youtang's view, this was a good deed.

"Then you can find someone to come and teach Xiurong. When she grows up a little, she will learn from you." Zhu Youtang seemed relieved at this time.

Since Zhang Zhou has made great achievements in developing girls' education, there is no need to worry that Zhang Zhou will teach his daughter bad things.

……

……

Zhang Zhou came out of the palace and heard someone calling him from a distance behind him.

Wait and see clearly.

But it was Yongkang who chased out.

Obviously, Yongkang did not come from the Qianqing Palace. She went to the palace to pay her respects to Empress Dowager Zhou and deliberately waited for him to leave the palace before coming to find him.

"Princess, it seems that His Majesty doesn't want you to disturb the Empress Dowager too much. You don't seem to be obeying his orders." Zhang Zhou reminded with a smile.

Yongkang walked quickly to Zhang Zhou. He was not wearing much in the summer, and his clothes looked even more messy. However, beads of sweat still shone on his forehead. He said, "Master Zhang, are you making sarcastic remarks? Do you want to interfere in the affairs of the royal family?"

Zhang Zhou just smiled.

Yongkang said, "What happened to the matter I mentioned to you earlier? People at home are urging us to do it."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "I have inquired about it. The Song family has not made any arrangements for the future of this girl. In other words, they have not tried to bring their own female relatives back."

"Of course they didn't come to find you, they came to find me." Yong Kang said.

Zhang Zhou said, "Really? Princess, please be more serious when speaking and don't speak without thinking."

After hearing this, Yongkang felt angry again.

I was thinking, this man never seems to care about other people's face when he speaks!

Or does he just not care about my face?
Yongkang wrinkled his nose and said, "Master Zhang, you must have seen that girl and thought she was pretty good, so you wanted to take her for yourself, right? Even if you really want her, shouldn't you respect her opinion? As a court official, you shouldn't force others to do things that are difficult."

Zhang Zhou thought, you are really right.

I did this in accordance with the victim's opinion. Although she might have lied to me, it now seems that some things are true.

The thing is that this woman doesn't seem like a kind-hearted lady, but more like a strong woman who is eager for revenge.

In the past there was the Cai Huang family, and now there is the Li Song family.

But Cai Huang... to Zhang Zhou, she was not worth mentioning at all, but this woman was unusual, because she was younger, the power behind her might be greater, and there were more places where she could be used.

The fact that a woman could make a straightforward man like Yongkang never forget her and even ask him for her again and again shows that this woman is quite charming.

Zhang Zhou said: "Then I will go back and ask her. If she wants to go back, let her go. Or, let her go meet you, the Princess?"

"you……"

The people of Yongkang were a little puzzled.

After hearing what Zhang Zhou said, she began to feel a little confused.

Does Zhang Zhou agree to release the person or not?
Since you agree, why don’t you send the person here directly?

If it is not easy, then why is it said that this woman can be allowed to see her?

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "I've been busy with official duties recently. If you have something to do, Princess, you might as well wait until the dog days are over. Although it's not as hot as the previous days, it's still not suitable to talk in the sun. What do you think?"

"When will you send someone to see me?" Yongkang asked anxiously.

"Wait for two days." Zhang Zhou said, "Wait for arrangements. She is still assisting in the investigation now. When the case is almost done and she has nothing else to do, let her visit your house."

"It's a deal, Master Zhang. Your words are golden. You wouldn't just fool a little girl like me, right? I'll go back and wait for good news."

Waiting for good news again.

Zhang Zhou smiled, got into the carriage and left.

……

……

Zhang Zhou left in a carriage while Yong Kang stood in the sun. It was already very hot, but she didn't seem to mind getting even hotter.

"Your Highness, you should wipe the sweat off your face." The old woman behind him came over and said.

Yongkang said: "I don't know if he noticed something. I just asked him for someone, but he made so much effort... That girl, she really has a miserable life." (End of this chapter)