The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Yongkang Princess Mansion.

Yongkang received the new grain rewarded by the emperor, but she seemed indifferent, because for her, this time there was a bumper grain harvest in Liaodong, and what she wanted most was to see her husband return. When she learned that the Zhang brothers were responsible for escorting the grain to the capital, she felt very angry.

She originally wanted to find Zhang Zhou to argue with him, but she also knew that she couldn't meet Zhang Zhou.

All she could think of was to find someone to help her talk to her royal brother. She then thought of a special person, Empress Zhang's old mother, Jin.

The Jin family has always had dealings with Yongkang.

After Jin arrived, Yongkang invited her to a table and even prepared some gold and silver jewelry for her, appearing very generous.

When Jin saw this, she couldn't stop laughing.

"Madam, you are a noble lady, but you don't know how hard we work. Take my husband for example. He is still fighting in Liaodong and has no chance to return to Beijing. I have mentioned it to His Majesty several times, but His Majesty has remained indifferent. Now I can only beg you to help mention it to the Empress. If you can... let the husband come back, I will definitely give him another generous gift."

Yongkang is not only capable but also very well-behaved and sensible.

He would never show a bad face in front of Jin.

Jin smiled and said, "You are so polite, Princess. How can I deserve this? I am afraid that my words will not be effective."

"How could that be?" Yongkang said, "Aren't the two of your family back? You must help with this little favor. I also hope that the prince consort can spend more time with your two sons in the future. They are all members of the royal family, so it's best not to be too formal."

Jin smiled and said, "Then I will go and talk to them for you?"

"Thank you, old lady." Yongkang said, "His Majesty just gave me some food. I don't know how to cook it, so I asked someone to find out how to cook it, and then asked the kitchen to prepare it. I was afraid that it would not suit your taste, so I prepared some other things. How about we eat together?"

"I am sorry to bother you, how can I have the nerve to...eat your meal?" Of course Jin was not polite.

Eating and taking at the same time has always been her style.

Yongkang also prescribed the right medicine, and said with a smile: "It is an honor for our family that you can come to our house. Inviting you to have a meal is a way for the younger generation to show respect to you. Shall we have dinner?"

"well."

Jin was eating corn and sweet potatoes, and she had an indescribable feeling while eating, and her face looked somewhat embarrassed.

Obviously, for someone of her age, she prefers to eat delicacies from land and sea, and is not used to eating coarse grains.

"If the old lady thinks it's good, I'll give you more."

"No, no, we have some at home."

"Really? That makes sense. His Majesty has even given a reward to me, the emperor's younger sister, so how could he miss out on the old lady's share? Old lady, you must help me."

……

……

Yongkang sent Jin away with a sly smile on his face.

The maid next to him asked, "Your Highness, why should we send things to the Zhang family? They may not help us, and even if they do, they can't help us."

"Humph." Yongkang said, "What do you know? Now people will think I'm desperate. Isn't it reasonable to ask the Zhang family for help? In the past, the Zhang family's words were the most effective, but now every peddler knows who has more effective words than the Zhang family. But will that person listen to me?"

"But you can't win his support by doing this." said the old woman.

Yongkang said, "I can't help it. As a wife, I plan for my husband. Even if my brother knows, he won't blame me. Who said I did this just to show off? Isn't it good to ask the queen to help? They both went to Liaodong, but the two brothers of the Zhang family came back, but my son-in-law couldn't. It's ironic. It's a good thing that I didn't demolish the ancestral hall of his Zhang family."

The old woman originally thought that Yongkang was really desperate and was trying every possible means to cure his illness.

Hearing this, she seemed to understand instantly.

This little ancestor is planning to do something bad.

The old woman said, "I'm afraid that the Lady of the Duke of Changguo will not do anything after accepting the gift."

Yongkang said, "She can get away with accepting gifts from others but not doing anything, but not me. I am directly connected to my brother and the Empress Dowager. Why does she dare to evade me? I just want to see who is the Zhang in the officialdom of this capital."

……

……

Cooler weather.

Every household in the capital ate the grain sent from Liaodong, which was also the grain bestowed by the emperor.

But opinions on this vary from family to family... Because the emperor asked them to write their impressions after eating the food, many people almost wanted to destroy the grain. Also, because the emperor had previously punished several censors, a chilling effect was created, and many people were also waiting to see how others would deal with this matter.

After nightfall that day, Zhang Zhou was in the theater, and Yang Peng came to him in person to discuss something.

What was mentioned was that after the Zhang brothers returned to Beijing, they interfered with the daily dispatch of the Beijing camp without holding any official position.

"After the Duke of Ying lost power, the circle of nobles in the capital was in chaos. It just so happened that the Marquis of Shouning and the Earl of Jianchang came back, and the army was saying that these two uncles would be in charge of the Beijing camp... But how could I not know that all this was done by Your Majesty to pave the way for you to take charge of the Beijing camp?"

"But they themselves have no idea. They believed what others said and really went to the Beijing camp to cause trouble. It's almost the time for the new year's purchases, and their purpose is to get money."

Yang Peng looked embarrassed.

When talking about the previous major cases in the court, how can we miss the two brothers of the Zhang family?

Even Zhang Mao was convicted and fined more than 100,000 taels of silver, and was asked to repay the money in installments. However, the emperor did not make any clear statement regarding the Zhang brothers.

It seemed that the Zhang brothers were so honest in cases involving corruption in the military, as if they had never embezzled money.

Zhang Zhou said, "Even His Majesty has not given any orders, what else can I do?"

Yang Peng asked tentatively: "What the two uncles of the emperor are doing now is a bit too much. Many civil and military officials in the capital are troubled by it. At this critical juncture, they even openly demand bribes."

"Really?" Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Then does Your Majesty know about this matter?"

“It has not been reported yet.”

Yang Peng seemed to be somewhat evasive. Obviously, a man like him would be extremely cruel to ordinary ministers, but he would be cautious in dealing with relatives like the Zhang brothers who were protected by the emperor.

He would not take the initiative to bring bad luck upon himself. What if the emperor just didn't want to punish his two brothers-in-law?

You know, before Zhang Zhou, the people Zhu Youtang protected the most were his two brothers from the Zhang family.

Zhang Zhou said, "If you don't report it, His Majesty may know about it. If you report it, His Majesty may not pursue it. Eunuch Yang is worried about this, right?"

"Uh……"

Yang Peng looked embarrassed.

It is not a good idea to report it, nor is it a good idea not to report it. The only thing he is afraid of is that he will not be able to figure out the emperor's intentions, and in the end he will be the one to take the blame.

Zhang Zhou said, "Your Majesty wants clean government. Eunuch Yang, do you think His Majesty wants those two uncles to take charge of the Beijing camp, or does he not want them to?"

"Is there any need to ask? I've said it before, the prince's uncle... is just making a fuss." Yang Peng said.

"Then there is nothing to avoid. We might as well report it and see how His Majesty reacts." Zhang Zhou said, "Well, if it is inconvenient for you, I will report it. Just tell me the details."

"Is there anything you don't know? I'll list it for you right away... Thank you for your help, sir. You really understand us runners. This involves relatives and members of the royal family, and it's the most difficult. Sir, it's a good thing that you are in this court."

……

……

Zhang Zhou will not really take it lightly just because Yang Peng compliments him.

Of course he knew that Yang Peng was just pretending to be nice to him in many things. Yang Peng was a fence-sitter, and he would go wherever the wind blows. In the past, he flattered Li Guang, and later he flattered Zhang Zhou. If the Zhang brothers were in power now, Yang Peng would not hesitate to flatter the two Zhang brothers.

And Zhang Zhou actually wrote a memorial himself about the two brothers of the Zhang family being involved in the commissioning of the Beijing Camp, and he submitted it in his capacity as the Minister of War and had someone send it to the Ministry of Public Security.

Inside the palace.

When Empress Zhang met her mother, Jin, Jin would run to the palace whenever she had nothing to do. She was no different from the two brothers of the Zhang family before, except that the two brothers of the Zhang family went to the palace less frequently, but this had no effect on Jin.

Jin often stayed in the palace for ten days or half a month, saying that she wanted to accompany her daughter, but in fact, most of the time she was just taking the opportunity to make money in the palace. Even some eunuchs in the palace had to give her gifts in exchange for Empress Zhang's protection.

"Mother, how can you just agree to someone else's advice? Besides, Yongkang is a very smart girl. She can go to His Majesty and ask for his favor herself. Why should she let you be the lobbyist?"

When Empress Zhang learned that Jin actually wanted to bring Cui Yuan back to the capital, she felt that her mother seemed to be being used.

Jin said, "They just came to me to ask for something. Besides, the gift has been given and I have accepted it. Is it so difficult to say it? You are the queen, and you are the mother of the country after all."

Empress Zhang shook her head and said, "It's not like before. Mother, you know that Concubine Xian may have given birth to a child again, but there has been no news in the past few days. But it will probably not be long before the news spreads to the court and the public."

"Are you sure it's a son?" asked Jin.

Empress Zhang continued to shake her head and said helplessly, "If I knew, I wouldn't have to be so nervous, but the terrible thing is that His Majesty has never mentioned her in front of me recently. I think His Majesty is on guard against me."

Jin consoled him, "Emperors all want to have many children. Didn't your father take concubines when he was alive? Your father even had two sons. If an emperor can't have three wives and four concubines, then what's the point of being an emperor? You should be more open-minded."

"How can a mother talk to her daughter like that? Whose side are you on?" Empress Zhang said with a stern face.

Jin smiled and said, "Isn't this just a reminder to you? If you really don't want to help your sister-in-law, just pretend you haven't heard me say this. And isn't your brother going to be promoted to a noble title? Have you mentioned this to His Majesty?"

Empress Zhang sighed, "I have tried not to mention anything about our Zhang family recently, as it may easily anger the emperor. Your daughter is not having a good time in the palace right now. If you still want to do something for me, please don't get involved."

Jin said, "It is said that if a woman wants to consolidate her favor, she must have some tricks. Take your father for example. He wanted to take in more concubines, especially after he became the father-in-law of the emperor. Wasn't it because I helped him give birth to a son and I helped him take in your aunt that he gave up? There are some things that mother didn't teach you because she was afraid that you would suffer. But now that it has come to this, you should be more open-minded."

Empress Zhang said with a dark face: "Do you want me to help him find a concubine?"

Jin smiled bitterly and said, "Girl, I know what you are thinking. You are unwilling to give in, but the cat will steal fish. If he takes in more than one child, your life will be difficult. This man is ruthless, even your father is like this... Not to mention that he is the emperor!"

At this time, Jin was like a little woman in the market, persuading her daughter to accept the reality that the emperor was taking a concubine.

She even had to help her husband to take concubines to ensure that these concubines could be under her control so that she could continue to favor the six palaces.

"Mother, was it that girl Yongkang who asked you to say all this?" Empress Zhang said angrily.

"She didn't mention it." Jin said, "This is my advice to you as a person who has experienced it, and it's actually for your own good. It's really not good to have few children. If the emperor had more sons, you would still be the legitimate mother, and they would have to respect you. If you say that the children of Concubine Xian are not close to you, it's because Concubine Xian didn't rise to power because of you. If the person you find gives birth to a son or daughter for His Majesty, they will definitely worship you like an ancestor."

Empress Zhang said angrily, "I just can't accept this. Everything was fine before, why has it changed so much now?"

Jin said, "Your Majesty is not very old. Men will become like this when they reach a certain age. I gave birth to two sons for your father, but he complained every day that I didn't have enough children. Fortunately, he became weak after becoming the father-in-law of the emperor. Otherwise... I don't know how many women in the mansion would be waiting for me to take care of him."

……

……

That afternoon, Zhu Youtang went to Kunning Palace and had dinner with Empress Zhang.

At this time, Jin had already left the palace early.

Empress Zhang also directly mentioned to her husband about helping Cui Yuan return to Beijing. At least in Empress Zhang's view, this matter was still feasible. It didn't seem to be a bad thing to make Yongkang one's ally, and Cui Yuan seemed to be able to really help her two younger brothers.

Some things were also analyzed by Jin with her.

When Zhu Youtang heard Empress Zhang's request, he didn't seem to take it too seriously. He just asked coldly, "Why did you suddenly think of helping the one from Yongkang's family? Did she come to the palace to find you?"

Empress Zhang was reluctant to say it at first, but she was afraid that if she concealed something, her husband would think she was dishonest.

She also wanted to establish herself as a good wife. She said, "I just feel sorry for her. She is begging for help everywhere. Maybe Heling and Yanling's return to Beijing touched her heart. I heard that they haven't been reunited for a long time."

"This matter..." Zhu Youtang paused, "No."

Empress Zhang said: "This isn't to help Heling and Yanling, is it also a problem?"

Zhu Youtang put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "Maoren is in Liaodong, and he has a mission to fight, and Heling and Yanling..."

Empress Zhang was very unhappy and said directly, "It seems that Heling and Yanling didn't even have the opportunity to make merit on the battlefield, so you transferred them back to the capital? Now you only trust your brother-in-law, and don't even trust your brother-in-law? Even so, you still say you will help them obtain the title? Who are you trying to fool?" (End of this chapter)