Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 261: When friends come, there is good wine. When jackals come,
October 7th.

When Xia Zhibai and his party were still heading south.

There was a new beggar in the city of Yuhang.

He was wearing tattered hemp cloth, his cheeks were dirty, and he was holding a wooden stick in his hand. He stared at the surroundings helplessly, and he followed the flow of people into the city. This little beggar was obviously unfamiliar with Yuhang, and he kept walking around the streets aimlessly like a headless fly.

I don’t know how long I’ve been gone.

You could even hear his stomach growling.

The beggar still did not give up and continued walking in the city, as if looking for something.

at last.

After passing through a bluestone street, he saw two large stone lions. Above the mansion was the Chinese character "Fang". The beggar was delighted and began to search around. After walking around the mansion, he muttered to himself, "I guess I didn't find the wrong one this time, did I?"

"Two big stone lions, Fang Mansion, two big white lanterns in front of the door, seven steps, and..."

"There will be a broom without a stick placed at the door!"

The beggar stretched his neck and even raised his feet to get a complete view of the situation in front of the mansion.

Sure enough, he saw a broken broom in front of the door.

The beggar's face lit up with joy. Without saying anything, he walked forward with the wooden stick in his hand, then inserted the stick into the broom. Then he walked to the door and knocked hard. However, it was not the usual "ding, ding ding", but "ding ding ding ding" all around.

His behavior seemed very rude.

However, the beggar obviously didn't care about these. After knocking on the door, he waved the broom around with interest, and it was obvious that he was very satisfied with the broom he assembled.

Not a moment.

The tightly closed door opened a crack.

An old man in his fifties stuck his head out with a look of dissatisfaction. Seeing that it was a little beggar, he said impatiently, "Go away, beggar, where did you come from? Don't stop by our house. Why are you knocking on the door from a distance? Do you know whose door you are knocking on?"

"My master is a scholar named Fang."

"If your parents punish you, how can you, a little beggar, eat?"

"roll roll roll!"

The beggar curled his lips and said disdainfully: "What's wrong with Mr. Fang? I'm from the north. I've packed up your broken broom, why don't you give me a bowl of rice to reward me?"

"A broken broom. Wait, where did you come from?" The butler was stunned for a moment, then looked suddenly at the beggar in front of him.

The beggar smiled and said, "North, Yingtian Prefecture!"

The housekeeper closed his eyes slightly and said, "Yingtian Prefecture is very big. What are you, a little beggar, doing coming all the way here?"

The beggar said, "Of course I came to fix my broom with you."

The housekeeper showed a hint of displeasure, stretched out his hand to grab the broom, quietly glanced at the wooden stick, and then said: "Go away, go away, you wild beggar, you come to our house to eat for free, if you don't leave, be careful that I will be rude to you."

The beggar was stunned.

He stood there woodenly, feeling a little bit at a loss as to what to do.

He raised his head suspiciously and looked at the "Fang Mansion" above. He was very sure that he was not in the wrong place.

And the other party recognized me, so why did he chase me away?

Just when Lu Cang was puzzled, the housekeeper seemed to hear someone speak behind him, and said impatiently: "Our parents are kind and are willing to reward you with a meal. You wait at the door first."

Done.

The butler closed the door.

Only Lu Cang was left standing alone at the door.

Lu Cang's miserable appearance naturally caught the eyes of passers-by around him and caused laughter from everyone around.

Not a moment.

The door opened again.

But the housekeeper did not stick his head out again. He just threw a black steamed bread through the crack of the door, and then said, "This is what my family has left over. You little beggar, take it and go away. Don't come here again. It's really unlucky."

"It's so unlucky to be begged so early in the morning!"

Lu Cang was stunned for a moment in embarrassment, then seemed to understand something. He grabbed the black steamed bread on the ground, then glanced around and quickly disappeared with it.

after one day.

Lu Cang's figure appeared again.

The only difference from the beginning was that he had successfully blended into the group of beggars in Yuhang.

With the help of these beggars' convenient information channels, Lu Cang quickly found out some basic conditions in Yuhang.

at the same time.

Xia Zhibai finally arrived in Yuhang.

We traveled day and night, even if we were riding in a horse-drawn carriage.

His complexion still didn't look very good.

Nearing the Yuhang city gate, Xia Zhibai straightened his clothes. He couldn't let himself look too haggard. Although the long journey was indeed very exhausting, his trip represented the majesty of the court after all, so he couldn't appear too pale.

of course.

Stop deliberately.

This may be giving Zhejiang Provincial Government officials time to react.

So that they may come eagerly to greet you.

Jiang Li sat on his horse, holding an embroidered spring sword, but his eyes fell on Xia Zhibai from time to time. He had observed Xia Zhibai a lot along the way, but Xia Zhibai was very careful and rarely showed up in public. He also rarely talked to other people. The only few times he talked, he was alone with Tang He.

But he also discovered one thing.

The follower who came with Xia Zhibai disappeared.

When he discovered this, Jiang Lin was slightly surprised. As an experienced Jinyiwei, he considered himself to be very insightful, but it was not easy for that follower to leave so quietly without attracting other people's attention.

Although he admitted it.

This has to do with Xia Zhibai's reclusive lifestyle and the fact that he seldom moves around.

But the disappearance of a living person, especially one who often moved around under everyone's noses, was noticed by most people except a few people. It is indeed a bit surprising.

This also proves one point. Xia Zhibai actually guessed that this trip south would not be smooth.

So I made arrangements in advance.

He actually knew something about what happened in the Zhejiang Provincial Government. As a member of the Imperial Guard, someone sent him letters every day. He knew much more about the local situation than Xia Zhibai, and much more.

But he wouldn't tell Xia Zhibai.

Because the Jinyiwei only obeys the orders of Your Majesty.

His Majesty did not allow himself to reveal this information to Xia Zhibai.

He won't say it!
Tang He got off the carriage, stretched his muscles, and said with emotion: "People have to admit that they are old. When I was young, I would not feel tired at all even if I rode a horse for several days and nights, let alone riding a carriage. But now, after sitting in a carriage for a few days, I feel uncomfortable all over and my waist and back ache."

"But we're finally in Yuhang."

"Zhejiang!"

Tang He seemed to remember something, and his eyes were full of pride. He smiled and said, "When I came here, I didn't come in a carriage. I came here on horseback, looking very heroic. At that time, Xu Da and I conquered Zhejiang together. I think it was in the 26th year of Zhizheng."

"We will conquer eastern Zhejiang, wipe out Zhang Shicheng, and then annihilate Chen Youliang."

"It's been twenty-two years."

Tang He sighed and his eyes became silent again.

He turned his head, looked at Xia Zhibai, and said meaningfully: "I fought my way into Yuhang back then. If you want to gain a foothold in Yuhang now, I'm afraid you will have to fight for it too."

Xia Zhibai smiled and said, "Duke Xin is overthinking."

"We are all Ming officials, why are there so many open and secret struggles?"

"As long as I am wholeheartedly devoted to the public and the country, what does it matter if I take a few more steps back?"

Tang He laughed out loud, as if he found what Xia Zhibai said somewhat funny, but he just smiled and didn't say anything else. Instead, he returned to the carriage. Xia Zhibai shook his head helplessly, also quite speechless.

He really didn't like to be at odds with people.

But when it comes to matters of principle, we cannot back down.

This resulted in him making enemies every time he did something, but he didn't really care. As the saying goes, old ones don't go, new ones don't come. He was happy to make friends with people, but at least everyone had to be on the same path. Otherwise, if they only made friends for drinking and eating, they would become enemies one day.

Rather than that.

It’s better not to pay.

Hua Lun and several others also jumped off the carriage.

They were very tired after the long journey.

His face looked visibly haggard.

Hua Lun walked over and whispered, "We're going to Yuhang soon. Are you really ready? You've never come into contact with local officials, so you don't know how cunning they are. Officials in the court have some political bottom line and principles, but the locals often don't care."

"To take someone's money is like to harm their parents."

"What you've done will cause too much resentment and dissatisfaction in too many places."

"I hope you won't be scolded when you come later, otherwise it will be embarrassing."

Hua Lun smiled bitterly with helplessness.

He actually didn't want to go on.

The closer he got to the south, the more anxious he became.

I even suffered from insomnia last night.

"It's a good thing to have scolding. It means the people are dissatisfied and resentful. It means I didn't do my job well. Doesn't this further prove that my trip south was correct?" Xia Zhibai smiled faintly and said, "I went south this time to resolve the dissatisfaction of the people and calm their resentment."

Hear the words.

Hua Lun was stunned for a moment.

He also laughed and said, "You really know how to comfort yourself."

"No wonder you're so confident."

"But it's good to be confident. I'm not as frank as you."

"Maybe this is where I can't compare to you."

"I think I am as talented as you, but now in the court, when we talk about the imperial examinations back then, more and more people recognize you as the top scorer. There were some people who complained that you took advantage of the situation, but now there are fewer and fewer complaints."

Xia Zhibai said calmly: "The imperial examination is over."

"I really took advantage of it back then."

"The potatoes I presented were not widely planted at the time. Many people outside speculated that Your Majesty was keeping them for himself and was unwilling to use them to help the world. But in fact, this is not the case. There are restrictions on planting. However, after being cultivated by the court, they should be grown on a large scale now, perhaps..."

Xia Zhibai said with a sly look in his eyes: "It's time to promote it."

Xia Zhibai didn't say much about this and shifted his gaze to a place not far away.

He can feel it.

There was a slight vibration from the ground.

Someone is coming from Zhejiang.

Hua Lun did not say any more about this and also turned his gaze forward.

Xia Zhibai did not give Hua Lun more time to look at it, and ordered: "Hua Lun, inform Lian Zining and the others to take their pens and ink and get to work. I asked you to follow me not to let you travel around, but to do work!"

Hua Lun's face twitched.

He knew that Xia Zhibai would call them over for no good reason.

I just hid it before, but now that I’m in the right place, I won’t hide it anymore.

But at this point, there was no point in saying anything more. Hua Lun nodded and said, "I understand. I'll go inform them right away. However, I'm curious, what exactly do you want us to do?"

Xia Zhibai smiled mysteriously and said, "It depends on what Zhejiang has prepared for me."

"When friends come, there is good wine. When wolves come, there is good wine."

"Then we can only use the longbow!"

(End of this chapter)