On July 10, the rainy Shandong area finally cleared up, and the turbid Yellow River water roared eastward. Due to the surge of the Yellow River water, a large amount of sediment was brought into the canal from Liaocheng to Jining in Shandong Province, causing the river to become blocked. Beijing-Hangzhou The Grand Canal is a transportation link that connects the north and the south. There are countless grain-carrying ships that come and go every day, so the local government dare not neglect it and organize the canal workers to dredge the river day and night. As of today, the canal has basically been opened. Already.

At this time, a large-scale building ship was traveling on the Dezhou section of the canal. Because it was going northward against the current and the headwind, it was traveling very slowly. The sails had been lowered, and the ship was rowed entirely by dozens of oars on both sides. Move forward.

This forecastle boat was the boat that the Fei family took to go north to the capital. At this moment, on the second floor of the forecastle boat, the three girls of the Fei family were leaning on the railings and watching the scenery on both sides of the canal. A group of maids stood beside it, chattering. Chatting on the ground, laughter like silver bells came and went.

"It's finally sunny. If it rains for a few more days, people will feel moldy." Fei Xiaoyu happily turned around in a circle, her pink skirt fluttering like a butterfly.

Fei Ruyi was wearing a light green coat with folded lapel and collar, leaning demurely on the railing of the boat. The sunlight fell on her pretty face that was both angry and happy. Her pink skin exuded the luster of mutton-fat jade, and she was quiet and graceful. painting.

This place is already very close to the capital. In a few days, she will be able to see the man she has cared about day and night for the past two years. Fei Ruyi's mood is filled with joy and nervousness. She holds her cheek in her left hand and looks at the distant mountains in trance. Her heart has already flown hundreds of miles away. Outside the capital.

Fei Jixiang was obviously in a good mood, holding a drawing board and casually sketching the scenery on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In fact, after learning that the marriage with the Wei family had been shelved, Fei Jixiang felt inexplicably relaxed and continued to live a carefree life as a boudoir girl. In those days, she never worried about her marriage. She believed that her parents would eventually choose a good husband for her, and then she would only need to put on her wedding dress and sit in the sedan chair.

"No, turn the helm quickly!"

Suddenly, a loud shout came from the bow of the ship, and then the hull of the building tilted suddenly and turned sharply to the right side. The girls leaning on the railing were caught off guard and couldn't help but exclaimed in unison. Fei Xiaoyu couldn't stand steadily and subconsciously Fei Ruyi grabbed the maid next to him to watch the chess game, and both of them fell down on the board of the boat at the same time. Fei Ruyi was lucky enough to grab the railing to avoid falling down in embarrassment, but Fei Jixiang, who was holding the drawing board, was even worse than Fei Xiaoyu. , the drawing board fell into the river, and I also fell on my butt.

"This is unreasonable, how can we sail the boat!" Fei Xiaoyu, the little pepper, said angrily when she got up.

"Fourth sister, are you okay?" Fei Ruyi helped Fei Jixiang next to her and asked with concern.

Fei Jixiang stamped his feet in annoyance and said: "My drawing board is so annoying!"

Fei Ruyi said warmly: "As long as everything is fine, I'll wait until I get to the capital to find a craftsman to make another drawing board."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a big ship with three masts in front of him filling up its sails and sailing down the river like lightning. The ships on the river were crying to get out of the way, and some small ships were even caught by the huge waves raised by the big ship. The throw was erratic and looked quite scary.

"Damn it, who is so arrogant? Stop the boat and apologize to me!" Fei Xiaoyu pointed at the oncoming three-masted ship and shouted angrily.

However, the big ship didn't look down on her at all. A guard wearing a flying fish suit even cast a look of disdain on the ship.

"Girl, we can't afford to mess with that boat!" the maid watching the chess game next to her reminded her.

Fei Xiaoyu said unconvinced: "My father is a cabinet bachelor, why can't I offend him?"

Guanqi said weakly: "What's on board is the dragon flag of the Emperor Xuanhuang. He's either an imperial envoy or the royal family."

Only then did Fei Xiaoyu notice the large bow ship passing by, with a yellow dragon flag fluttering arrogantly in the wind, and said angrily: "Oh... forget it, I have a lot of them, so I won't care about them!"

All the maids covered their mouths and giggled, laughing at the three girls who bullied the weak and feared the strong. They were not heroes!

The person next to Fei Ruyi tilted his head and said hesitantly: "Girl, I seemed to have seen Mr. Xu just now, on the bow boat!"

Fei Xiaoyu's eyes widened and she said: "What Mr. Xu? You mean Xu Jin, how is that possible? I think your little hooves are just like your girl's. You are crazy to want to get rid of your surname!"

Fei Ruyi's pretty face flew up with two intoxicating clouds of red clouds, and said angrily: "Fifth sister, believe it or not, I will tear off that annoying little mouth of yours!"

"Oh, Third Sister, please spare me this time, geez!"

…

At this moment, Xu Jin, deputy imperial envoy, was standing on the bow deck of the ship. His blue official robes were blown by the wind, and the heron on his chest seemed to be fluttering its wings.

In the Ming Dynasty, all civil servants' official uniforms were embroidered with birds, while the official uniforms of military attachés were embroidered with wild beasts, collectively known as "dressed beasts." Xu Jin's official position was compiled from the sixth rank Hanlin, so the official uniforms were embroidered with a heron.

.

At this time, the old Jinshi Zhang Cong, who was standing next to Xu Jin, was also wearing a blue official robe with egrets embroidered on his chest. He was appointed by the Ministry of Personnel as the head of the Nanjing Criminal Department, and he was required to report to the Nanjing Criminal Department within one month.

So I took the imperial envoy's ship to go to my post.

Although Zhang Cong was taken out of the capital to take up a post, Zhang Cong's face was full of joy at this time, without any sign of decadence. He held his head high in the river breeze, looking like an old man going crazy as a teenager.

It’s no wonder that Zhang Cong took the joint examination eight times in a row and won the gold medal at the age of five. He has been unknown to outsiders. In the eyes of outsiders, even if he wins the Jinshi at this age, it will be difficult to make any achievements. However, Zhang Cong not long ago

The "Dali Shu" shocked the entire court, and soon became famous, which shocked the courtiers into two factions. Although Yang Tinghe was finally sent to Nanjing to sit on the bench, Zhang Cong didn't care at all, because he

He understood that he had successfully attracted Emperor Jiajing's attention.

In this country, Emperor Jiajing is the supreme ruler. Regardless of Yang Tinghe's current power, he is only a minister after all, and he is still an old minister. He will not be in power for a long time, and the emperor will slowly grow up.

, the wings will gradually become fuller. What Zhang Cong has to do now is to hibernate and wait quietly for the moment to take off.

There is no doubt that Zhang Cong is a speculator who is good at seizing opportunities, and has successfully seized the turning point of fate. In his official career, he will eventually prosper.

In fact, Zhang Cong has now begun to take off. Although he was sent to Nanjing to sit on the bench, his position is that of director of the Ministry of Punishment, a serious sixth-grade official, and Xu Jin's sixth-grade Hanlin repairman.

Zhuan is a higher grade, and is currently the highest awarded position among the new scholars.

Of course, Zhang Cong didn't dare to pretend to be a Shangguan in front of Xu Jin, and he couldn't afford it. Not to mention that Xu Jin was currently a third-level imperial envoy, and his position as a Hanlin editor was higher than that of the head of the Criminal Department.

There are many prospects. What's more, Xu Jin is deeply trusted by Emperor Jiajing, while Zhang Cong only attracted Emperor Jiajing's attention at best.

Xu Jin and Zhang Cong chatted for a while at the bow of the ship. A young eunuch came out of the cabin, walked to the side of the two of them and said, "Master Xu, Master Xiao, please come inside to discuss something."

This young eunuch is Huang Jin, Zhu Houcong's accompanying eunuch, and one of the deputy imperial envoys this time. He was specially appointed by Zhu Houcong to act as the emperor's eyes and ears. This is the tradition of the Ming Dynasty. For example, when the emperor sends troops on an expedition, the emperor

An internal officer must be arranged to oversee the army to prevent the general who leads the army from dominating the army.

Although this system plays a certain role in supervision and checks and balances, it also has a great negative impact. After all, eunuchs are novices at leading troops in battles. If they point fingers at the generals, or even use the name of the emperor to pretend to be powerful and give blind orders, I think

It is difficult not to suffer defeat.

Of course, the mission of Xu Jin and Xiao Huai this time was to provide disaster relief, not to lead troops to fight. Huang Jin was also very self-aware and did not dare to take advantage of Xu Jin. As someone close to the emperor, he was more capable than anyone else.

It is clear to what extent the emperor trusts Xu Jin.

"Thank you, Eunuch Huang!" Xu Jin nodded politely, turned around and walked into the cabin.

Xu Jin entered the cabin. Xiao Huai, the deputy censor of the capital, was looking at the map. When he saw Xu Jin, he waved and said in a friendly manner: "Ziqian, come here quickly. Let's discuss the schedule for disaster relief."
Chapter completed!