Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 5 Relatives in the North?
This place is called Wangjia Village.

Wangjia Village has a long history. As early as the Hongwu period, the imperial court had military settlements here. A group of military households settled here, and gradually the current Wangjia Village was formed.

Most of the villagers in Wangjia Village are still military households, but the current Ming Dynasty is different from the previous one. After more than 200 years, the military household system is no longer the same as before. In the Qianhu Suo, the military households are subject to more restrictions. In remote places like Wangjia Village, the military households are almost the same as ordinary civilian households.

The entire village is not small. Wangjia Village has a population of more than one li. One li is equal to ten jia. According to the household registration system of the Ming Dynasty, there are about one hundred and ten households in one li. If each household has three to four people, there are about four hundred people.

There are over 500 people in the whole village of Wangjia Village, most of them are old and young, and the rest are young and strong, plus a few craftsmen living in the village.

Outsiders don't know much about Wangjia Village. First, the villagers here have a special household registration, most of them are still military households, but due to historical reasons, the Qianhu Office doesn't care much. In addition, Wangjia Village is located in a remote area, in the valley between Pingyang Prefecture and Xiangling. It is far from the official road and the road is difficult to walk on, so not many people know about it.

Speaking of Wangjia Village, it has a deep connection with Zhu Shenzui, because Zhu Shenzui's mother's surname is Wang.

The current village chief of Wangjia Village, Wang Rong, is also a centurion here. In terms of relatives, he is Zhu Shenzhui's uncle.

From the outside, Wangjia Village looks like an ordinary village. There are many such villages in Shanxi. But what outsiders don't know is that Wangjia Village is far from being as simple as it seems.

After entering the village, people Zhu Shencui knew greeted him along the way, and Zhu Shencui responded enthusiastically.

After walking for a while into the village, there was an ordinary courtyard in front of us. This was Wang Rong's house.

Wang Rong was busy in the yard. In his forties, he looked like an ordinary farmer, with a strong build and a dark face. He was bending over and tidying up the firewood piled in the corner.

"uncle!"

Hearing the voice, Wang Rong turned around and saw that it was Zhu Shenzhui. He smiled and said, "I thought you would be here in the next few days. Is the journey easy?"

"Thank you for your concern, uncle. I have been safe all the way here."

"Let's go! You must be tired. Come in and drink some water and rest your feet. Today, the two of us will have a good drink." Wang Rong threw the firewood in his hand onto the pile, clapped his hands and called Zhu Shenzhui into the house.

At this time, Wang Rong's wife came out of the house and was very happy to see Zhu Shenzhui. Zhu Shenzhui called him aunt, and his aunt smiled and nodded repeatedly. Seeing that Zhu Shenzhui looked dusty, she hurried to get water to wipe Zhu Shenzhui's face.

After entering the house, the two just sat down, and the aunt came over with a basin of water. Zhu Shenzhui stood up to thank him and wiped his face. The aunt helped to clean up, and was about to say something to Zhu Shenzhui, but Wang Rong on the side winked at her, and the aunt immediately understood that the uncle and nephew had something important to talk about, so she immediately took the basin of water and went out.

"Where is Jin Wu? Why can't I see him?" After taking a sip of water, Zhu Shenzhu looked around and asked.

"You don't know him yet? This kid has never been idle. He went into the mountains with a few kids from the village early in the morning." Wang Rong said with a smile. Zhu Shenzui's cousin Wang Jinwu is Wang Rong's only son. He is two years younger than Zhu Shenzui and is only seventeen this year.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shenzhui also laughed. He was naturally very familiar with this cousin of his. He had been practicing martial arts since he was a child and was tall and strong. He was a restless person. It was almost early winter, and this kid was still running to the mountains with his friends.

After chatting for a while, Wang Rong looked outside. He lowered his voice deliberately, but still asked in a loud voice: "The matter you mentioned last time has been arranged. Are you planning to come here this time...?"

Zhu Shenzhui nodded and pointed to the sky, saying, "It snowed the day before yesterday. I calculated the time and thought we should hurry up and make another trip these few days. After this trip is done, we can have a good rest this year."

"Yeah, I think so too." Wang Rong agreed: "If you don't come again, I will have to send someone to Pingyang Prefecture to look for you. The weather has been bad in recent years, and winter is coming earlier and earlier. If we wait until the heavy snow comes, this road will be difficult to travel."

"That's exactly the point!" Zhu Shenzhui said, "Uncle, besides this matter, I also have some ideas to discuss with you..." "What ideas?"

"I plan to go north in the early spring of next year."

"North?" Wang Rong was stunned, and his eyes widened instantly: "Are you planning to go to the grassland?"

"Correct!"

"Why go to the grassland for no reason?"

"The border has been much more peaceful in the past two years, and the relationship between the court and Ligdan Khan has also eased. I think this is an opportunity. We can't always stay in Shanxi. After all, the risk of what we do is too great. And once we have a channel with the north, many things will be much more convenient. Don't you think this is also an opportunity? In addition, I have some other ideas, but I haven't thought them through yet. I plan to go over and take a look first, and then decide what to do based on the situation."

Wang Rong frowned and said, "It sounds feasible, but you have to think it through. The Mongolians are not easy to deal with. Even though they seem to be more well-behaved in the past two years, they are born to be dogs and can turn hostile at any time."

"Haha, what's the big deal? You are not the first one to go to the north to do business. There are many people in Shanxi who have had contact with the Mongols. What's wrong, uncle? Are you afraid of the Mongols?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a smile.

"Afraid? I'm not afraid of anything!" Wang Rong spat, with a look of arrogance on his face: "Why should I be afraid of the Mongols? It's not like I haven't seen Mongols before. Before you were born, I followed my father, your grandfather, to the border to chop off the heads of Mongols."

"Let's talk about the past. Back then, my Wang family ancestor followed General Lan deep into Beiting. At that time, the number of Mongolian heads chopped off was even greater. General Lan broke through Beiting and captured the Queen of the Yuan Dynasty. My goodness, the old man drew his gun and went into battle, stabbing the Mongolian woman in the golden tent and making her scream. My Wang family ancestor was not idle at that time either. General Lan always took care of his brothers. When he ate meat, everyone else would drink soup with him. The women of the Mongolian princes and nobles also had a taste of it. What were the mere Mongolians?"

As Wang Rong said these words, he couldn't hide the smugness on his face, as if this was not done by his ancestors at all but by himself.

You should know that this was the most glorious moment for the Wang family at that time. It was a pity that General Lan later ruined the situation and the Wang family was implicated. Fortunately they were not beheaded, but they never recovered.

Otherwise, with all the military achievements of Wang's ancestors, how could they be banished to this remote place and become just a small centurion?
"Uncle, I've heard you tell me this several times. Is it true or false?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a smile.

Wang Rong glared and said, "Of course it's true. How could it be false? My Wang family's ancestor is a brave general under General Lan..."

"So, we have relatives in Mongolia?"

"Relatives? What relatives?" Wang Rong was stunned and didn't understand what relatives Zhu Shenzhu was referring to.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and analyzed, "Think about it, didn't the ancestor of the Wang family have sex with many Mongolian women in Mongolia? Maybe he left behind offspring. Although it has been hundreds of years, there is no guarantee that there will be no descendants. In addition, these women were born of noble families, and the Mongolians have never been particular about these things. Maybe the descendants will still be Mongolian nobles. By the way, I heard that this Lindan Khan is a descendant of the Borjigin family. Isn't the Northern Yuan Dynasty the Borjigin family? Maybe if you really want to talk about it, this Mongolian Khan is still your junior?"

As he spoke, Zhu Shenzui was making gestures with his hands. He made circles with his left hand and moved his right index finger inside the circle a few times, with a filthy smile on his face.

Wang Rong stood there in a daze with his mouth wide open, not being able to react to the meaning of Zhu Shenzhui's words for a moment. When he came to his senses, he suddenly burst into laughter, slapping his thighs hard while laughing, looking extremely happy.

"Yes, yes, yes! You are right, this Lin Danhan might be the descendant of our Wang family. When the time comes, we can talk about our ancestry with him. If we can, wouldn't that make us rich?"

"Hahaha!" Zhu Shenzhui burst into laughter after hearing this.

(End of this chapter)