Before the Ming Dynasty, there were phenomena of foreign relatives interfering in politics in all dynasties, especially in the Han and Tang dynasties. It was particularly serious. There were always foreign relatives who snatched power. The most successful one was naturally Wu Zhao and Wu Zetian, who became the first female emperor in history. After Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, established a strict system to prevent foreign relatives from interfering in politics, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the previous dynasty, such as the royal family was not allowed to marry into nobles, and the son-in-law was not allowed to enter the court to become an official, etc.

However, at the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was very happy to marry the powerful. His daughters were all married to the powerful ministers, and his sons also married women from the powerful ministers' families. There was no way. The Ming Dynasty was just established, and in order to stabilize the country, Lao Zhu had to adopt the method of marriage. However, after he settled down, Lao Zhu changed his face and demoted the nobles and powerful ministers who followed him to defeat the country back then, and killed only a few of them who escaped by luck.

After that, the Zhu family disdained to marry the powerful again. Whether the emperor married or the princess married, they chose civilians without backgrounds, and explicitly prohibited relatives from entering the court to participate in politics, so Jiajing was no exception. Empress Wu was born as a civilian. Her father was Wu Deyou. She was a teacher in a private school and was a scholar with a fame and fame. She could barely be considered an intellectual.

At the beginning, although Jiajing didn't like Empress Wu, he was still good at the Wu family and appointed his father-in-law Wu Deyou as Xinpingbo. In the past two years, Empress Wu has become well-behaved and sensible. Not only has she respected the Empress Dowager, but she also lived in harmony with other concubines in the harem. When Jiajing was happy, he appointed his brother-in-law Wu Hao as the hereditary Jinyiwei hundred households, and his brother-in-law Wu Kunzeyin as the Imperial College. In addition, Jiajing also gave the Wu family a large mansion, located in Xiaoyongfang.

At this moment, in the living room of Wu Mansion in Xiaoyongfang, the father-in-law Wu Deyou was receiving a guest, which was Zhang Cong, the doctor of the Ministry of Personnel's Wenxuan Department.

Wu Deyou was about in his early forties, with fair skin and a bookish look on his face. At this moment, he was admiring a calligraphy and painting with love. After a long time, he raised his head and said, "Mr. Zhang, this "Fuchun Mountain Residence" is indeed the original work of Tang Ziwei."

Tang Ziwei was Tang Bohu. He said that since he followed Xu Jin to Southeast Asia a few years ago, he served as the "cultural envoy" of the Ming Dynasty in the countries of Southeast Asia, he was enthusiastically sought after by the locals and became more and more famous. His calligraphy and painting value has also increased. It may be a bit exaggerated to say that a word is worth a thousand gold, but a word is worth ten taels of silver. As for the "Fuchun Mountain Residence" in Wu Deyou's hand, the market price has been priced at 300 taels of silver.

Zhang Cong said happily: "This "Fuchun Mountain Residence" was found by the official when he was in Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province. He spent 100 taels of silver. He was not sure that it was a genuine work of Tang Zi. He heard that the father-in-law was proficient in appreciating antiques, calligraphy and paintings, so he came to ask for advice. Haha, it would be a genuine work, but he finally didn't look at it."

Wu Deyou stroked his beard with a slight pride and smiled: "Mr. Zhang is too proud. I just understand a little bit of fur. However, I dare to guarantee this calligraphy and painting, which is undoubtedly the original work of Wu Ziwei. Now it is sold on the market, it is estimated to be worth 300 taels, or even more. Congratulations to Mr. Zhang, you have made several times more profitable, and you are envious of others!"

A trace of invisible disdain flashed in Zhang Feng's eyes and said to himself that although this person is a father-in-law, he is only a poor scholar after all. He only has yellow and white things in his eyes, and he is a good calligraphy and painting in vain.

"I was just a whim when I bought this "Fuchun Mountain Residence Picture" and was not very interested in collecting antique calligraphy and paintings. Why not just borrow flowers to offer this "Fuchun Mountain Residence Picture" to the father-in-law?" Zhang Cong said with a smile.

Wu Deyou was happy. In fact, when Zhang Cong came to visit the door with calligraphy and paintings, he had already guessed the other party's thoughts. However, at this moment, the other party said that he would give him this painting, and he could not help but be very happy, but he deliberately refused: "A gentleman does not take away what others like, why are you so embarrassed? Lord Zhang has a kind heart." After that, he rolled up the calligraphy and paintings and pretended to push them back to Zhang Cong.

"I don't collect calligraphy and paintings. It's a waste to keep this "Fuchun Mountain Residence" in my hand. Don't refuse, please accept it!" Zhang Cong pushed the calligraphy and paintings again to Wu Deyou.

"This... I'll thank Lord Zhang. If Brother Bingyong is interested, I will take you to the storeroom for a visit, and then have dinner before leaving?" Wu Deyou said enthusiastically.

Zhang Cong stroked his beard and said, "I really want to ask for it!"

The two looked at each other and laughed. At this moment, the group walked in from outside the door. It was Wu Hao and several of his servants.

Wu Hao had a dark face, walked around the screen and headed to the backyard. He seemed to have never seen his son Wu Deyou or Zhang Cong.

Wu Deyou couldn't hold back his face, and suddenly stood up and shouted loudly: "Stop, the evil son is so rude!"

Wu Hao was startled and then found that his own son and Zhang Cong were sitting in the living room. He hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "I have met my father and Lord Zhang."

Wu Deyou shouted with a dark face: "Bastard, where did you mess around today?"

"I don't have to be on duty today, so I'll go out of the city to relax." Wu Hao said with his head down.

Wu Deyou snorted coldly and scolded: "I'm afraid I'm going to the small town in western Beijing again to mess around. I'm not doing my job all day long, and I'll be angry with you sooner or later for my father."

Zhang Cong hurriedly finished the fight and said, "The father-in-law doesn't have to work hard. As the saying goes, the combination of work and rest is not wrong. It is not wrong for the uncle to go out for a break."

Wu Deyou looked a little slow and waved his hand and said, "Get in, so as not to be upset here."

Wu Hao glanced at Zhang Chang, opened his mouth, looking like he was still willing to say something. Zhang Chang felt moved in his heart and stood up and said, "Mr. The official will say goodbye first. Next time I have the chance to appreciate the treasures collected by the father-in-law."

Wu Deyou waved his hand and said, "Mr. Zhang doesn't have to see you. If you have any evil, just say it in person."

Wu Deyou's words obviously meant to show kindness to Zhang Cong, and of course it was also a manifestation of trust. Why did Wu Deyou trust Zhang Cong so much?

It turned out that Empress Wu dug a pit to provoke the relationship between Jiajing and Xu Jin? Fortunately, Xu Jin chose to be the Duke of the State and then delegated power to retreat to the second line, so he did not fall into this sinister pit. The master who was instructing Empress Wu to dig the pit behind his back was Zhang Cong, but Zhang Cong was still an official in Shandong at that time, so Wu Deyou contacted through the Minister of Personnel Fang Xianfu, and then Wu Deyou instructed Empress Wu.

Therefore, Zhang Cong and the Wu family are now very close, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are grasshoppers on the same rope.

Although Empress Wu was the queen, she was not favored in the palace. In addition, she did not have a son or a half daughter. In the feudal society where mothers are noble by their sons, even ordinary families were at risk of being divorced, let alone in the palace. Empress Wu was worried that her position as a queen would be lost, so she became interested in making friends with foreign ministers. It happened that Zhang Cong was demoted to Shandong as the postmaster, and tried to defeat Xu Jin, and then got up. After thinking about it, he finally fell in love with Empress Wu, who was not successful in the palace.

So, the two families hit it off!

Back to the point, Wu Hao did not avoid suspicion when he saw me, so he told all the stories of meeting Jiajing. Wu Deyou's face suddenly became gloomy after hearing this, and Zhang Cong also frowned.

Wu Hao said angrily: "The emperor favors He Zhier, the sister of Duke Jingguo Xu Jin, so he regards it as a treasure. Once this girl enters the palace, if she gives birth to another son and half of her daughter, she must steal the position of queen."

Wu Deyou's face became even more ugly, and suddenly his eyes turned, "You said that He Zhier fainted and fell off the horse?"

Wu Hao nodded and said, "I didn't see it with my own eyes, but the emperor did hold this woman at that time, and the woman's face was not right, her eyes were dull and distracted. She should be sick, so the emperor stole the boy's car and took her back to the city."

Wu Deyou stroked his palm and said, "Okay, I'll go to the palace to see your sister, so I asked her to inform the empress dowager about this. He Zhier tested the water mine in Taiyi Pool last time and was abusive to the empress dowager. The empress dowager had a very poor impression of her. If this woman was suffering from a serious illness, the empress dowager would never agree to this woman entering the palace to serve the emperor."

Zhang Cong's eyes flashed and he said, "Be the father-in-law, can you listen to me?"

Wu Deyou nodded and said, "Brother Bingyong, but it's okay!"

Zhang Cong stroked his beard and smiled and said, "I thought this should not be done. On the contrary, the queen should take the initiative to propose to take He Zhier as her concubine for the emperor."

"What?" Wu Deyou and Wu Hao blurted out in surprise.

"Help the emperor take He Zhier as his concubine? Zhang Bingyong, are you mentally wrong? Let my sister come forward to take the emperor as his concubine. Isn't this obviously giving in to the position of queen? What's your intention?" Wu Hao stared at Zhang Cong with an unkind expression.

"Rareless!" Wu Deyou scolded his son, but his face was still shocked and unhappy, saying with a little displeasure: "What is the intention of Brother Bingyong? Then He Zhier is Xu Jin's sister. Once she was adopted as a concubine, Xu Jin would cover the sky even more with her hands in the court!"

Zhang Cong smiled mysteriously and said, "The father-in-law and uncle are at ease, so please listen to the talk of me."

Wu Hao snorted coldly and said, "Young Master depends on how you can tell me."

A trace of invisible disdain flashed in Zhang Feng's eyes and said calmly: "As the uncle said, the emperor regarded He Zhier as a treasure. If the queen made a report in front of the empress dowager and said bad things about He Zhier, what would the emperor react?"

Wu Deyou and his son were shocked, looked at each other, and then fell silent!

The emperor favored He Zhier so much. Once the queen said bad things about He Zhier in front of the empress dowager, it would undoubtedly make the emperor dislike him. Then the good image he had created was ruined. It can be said that he killed one thousand enemies and suffered eight hundred of himself.

Wu Deyou said in a deep voice: "Then you can't let the queen come forward to help the emperor take He Zhier as his concubine, right? Isn't this a cheaper woman and Xu Jin?"
Chapter completed!