In mid-spring of the third year of Taichang, when Zheng Haizhu left Beijing, even her subordinate Hong Chengchou thought she was going to Daning again to keep an eye on Dai Guozong's descendants for the imperial court to replenish their army.
In fact, Zheng Haizhu met up with the Dongchang fans sent by Tian Ergen in the southwest of Beijing, entered the border of Henan, passed Zhangde, Weihui, and Huaiqing, until they crossed the Yellow River in Meng County and entered the country of King Fu Zhu Changxun.
Henan Prefecture, stationed in a carriage and horse shop where merchants gathered outside Luoyang City.
After Wei Zhongxian got the news, he came over quickly.
"Madam, as you expected, King Fu refused to pay even 200,000 taels."
"Did Huang Bingshi reply to you personally? How is his mood?"
"He is not a young boy. He scolded King Fu for his lack of virtue in front of me. He just kept asking our family to come back to Beijing and help King Fu get married. But the interesting thing is that he married his family, ah, no.
, and brought Prince Fu’s in-laws to me to pour out their sorrows.”
Zheng Haizhu said: "Oh? He is the father-in-law of King Fu's eldest son, King Dechang?"
"Yes, I have checked secretly. This Huang Qirui has a good personal relationship with Huang Bingshi. King Dechang's reputation is a little better than his father's, which is also related to this Huang Qirui. The prince's mansion and Huang's mansion often make soup.
A good deed to help the poor. This time Huang Qirui came with Huang Bingshi and gave three thousand taels of silver and asked me to buy wine for the brothers."
The corners of Zheng Haizhu's mouth curled up: "These two Huang Gongs not only don't bully others by pretending to be powerful, but they also rarely act like people who are stupid after studying. How many businesses do they have inside and outside Luoyang City?"
Wei Zhongxian was squatting in Henan Mansion, originally using the name of selecting a beauty to investigate the true status of Prince Fu's family. His relatives and the civil and military officials of the palace were also within the scope of the secret investigation.
He answered Mrs. Zheng's question fluently: "Huang Bingshi is self-righteous and has no nepotism to make money. He only has two concubines at home to serve him. His legitimate sons and concubines stay in his hometown, under the care of his wife, and they study and pass the Jinshi. As for Huang Qirui, he does have relatives here.
There are shops in the city selling brocades and paper from Shu, which do not overlap with the property of King Fu and the property of his guards and minions."
"Sichuan? He is from Sichuan?"
Wei Zhongxian nodded.
Zheng Haizhu played with the lid of the tea cup, thoughtfully.
Although the emperor Zhu Changluo had given her the power to get one million silver from Prince Fu regardless of means, like Linxuan gave her a yue, but how to use power is an art.
Zheng Haizhu asked the theater troupe to create public opinion in the capital, asked Wei Zhongxian to bring Fang Yun, the enemy of Prince Fu and his son, to Luoyang, and used the method favored by scholars to smooth the hair of Prince Palace Chief Shi, all of which prepared him a hand.
Now, after listening to Wei Zhongxian's report, Zheng Haizhu realized that Huang Qirui could also make a fuss about this line.
Maybe, while overthrowing King Fu, this sect can no longer occupy the Jianghuai salt supply, and the salt exchange and consumption of Hedong salt and Sichuan salt can get back on track.
"Old Wei, you go back to the city first, stay put, and continue to look at the beautiful women slowly. You only choose two every day. Anyway, we didn't go to disturb the state government, and we didn't spend the money in the government. We, the government officials, are happy.
Let’s go to the theater. If King Fu can’t hold it back anymore and starts buying women from the common people, just do it..."
Wei Zhongxian listened to all Mrs. Zheng's instructions and said with a smile: "Madam, don't worry, when Old Wei used to make a living in the market, his voice was louder than when the imperial court used a three-eyed blunderbuss to explode."
Zheng Haizhu sighed: "Old Wei, I always do things with courtesy first and then attack with force. When I was in Shandong, I also gave Duke Yan Sheng's Mansion a chance first. Who knew they had no good intentions and insisted on forcing me to break up. This time Prince Fu did the same.
So. Old Wei, tell me, how come these kings, grandsons, nobles, and nobles are not like you and me, and have room to display so much benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom, trust, and a Bodhisattva heart?"
Wei Zhongxian was busy expressing his emotions on his face, but he felt funny in his heart.
Come on, grandma, if you are still kind, righteous, courteous, wise and trustworthy, and if you still have the heart of a Bodhisattva, I think there is more bad water in your belly than me.
…
Luoyang City, Spring Deep.
Huang Bingshi has been worried ever since he replied to Wei Zhongxian that King Fu was unwilling to pay 200,000 taels.
In the first few days, Huang Qirui comforted him, saying that the father-in-law named Wei accepted the gift very simply and would not turn into a monster with just a touch of his face.
Huang Bingshi said, however, no matter what the situation in the court is now, Eunuch Wei is not a soft persimmon, and he still has to persuade Prince Fu.
He also told Huang Qishi: "King Dechang loves the princess and respects your father-in-law even more. You must tell him. If King Fu announces that he will go to the palace to pick a girl as a concubine, he will never go there because he is sick. This is not your old Huang.
My father and daughter are too small-minded to allow new people to enter the county prince's palace."
Huang Qirui nodded: "I understand, I understand."
On this day, Huang Bingshi finished his breakfast and went to the palace for duty.
As soon as the sedan turned around the corner of the street, I heard waves of scoldings with a Beijing accent coming from the direction of the palace.
When Huang Bingshi got off the sedan, he saw crowds of spectators gathering around him, including ordinary people, as well as city scholars and wealthy businessmen.
The palace guards were a little timid and did not dare to drive away. It turned out that there were many Dongchang fans with round hats, brown clothes and ocher belts inside and outside the crowd. Instead of shouting at the people, they actually encouraged them.
Push your way to the front to listen.
Outside the "Wanghua Gate" at the south gate of Prince Fu's Mansion, between two majestic stone lions, Wei Zhongxian is enjoying the highlight of his life.
"Dear Luoyang elders, don't miss it if you pass by. Let's talk about the greatest sage king in the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty. Well, the sage king lives behind our family. This mansion cost the imperial court 400,000 taels of silver.
What is the number of 400,000 taels in the book? Let me tell you that for the construction of three major halls in the Forbidden City, the emperor only asked the Ministry of Household Affairs for a sum of 100,000 taels."
There was a moment of exclamation in the crowd. What the commoners thought was, no matter which house or temple was built, this amount of tens of thousands of taels of silver was enough to feed hundreds of ordinary families in Luoyang City for ten or twenty years.
.
The scholars who were wearing kerchiefs, already had a good reputation, and considered an official career as their goal in life, thought for a moment, and began to whisper to each other. The late emperor nodded to repair the palace. Today, he sent a eunuch with a gun to carry a gun, which means "transgression". The imperial court
Is this going to be the King of Fortune?
Wei Zhongxian is like a famous actor in an opera. After he sings his voice, he first lets the audience digest it and lifts the mood.
Then, he straightened his back even more: "To get back to the subject, the wise king behind us lives in a house more expensive than the three palaces, so he is naturally different from other princes. Hey, this is what I want to ask, our Ming Dynasty, don't you?
What are these princes doing? I would like to teach you. The prince of Lu Fan digs coal, exchanges it for silver and gives some to the court. The prince of Dai Fan, he has no coal to exchange for silver, what should he do?
Hey, he is the one who came out. The young men of Daizong are all outside the customs guarding the country for the people of the Ming Dynasty. There is also King Xin, the fifth son of Long Live Lord. Like the prince, he studied under Sun Gong, the veteran of the three dynasties.
What have you done? Oh, he is so good, he is so good, he is still in his prime, and he can already confront the two armies of Fanbang and Maozi from the west outside the fortress, and kill the opponent's fierce generals!"
"Okay! As a relative of the Ming Dynasty, no matter old or young, you should contribute money and efforts to our Ming Dynasty!"
“King Lu is wise, King Xin is brave!
The "sitters" arranged in advance by the fans in Dongchang cheered one after another.
Wei Zhongxian continued with a smile: "But the wise king behind us is different. King Lu digs coal and gives money to him, but this wise king only takes the salt from the court and the money from the household department for free.
, and also drove out all the original salt merchants in Hedong and Sichuan. On behalf of the king, they sent people to guard the military fortress outside the fortress. As for this wise king, he sent people to guard various waterways, Si River, Jishui, Yishui, Luoshui and then on.
The various crossings of the Yellow River in the north are tightly guarded. What are they doing? It's just collecting money. The merchant ships passing by are a huge tax. People believe that the king is not afraid of tigers, so he dares to directly fight those thunderous foreign monkey cavalry.
, as for our wise king, the old cow insists on eating young grass, and even the future niece and daughter-in-law will have to compete with the nephew. "
There were bursts of laughter in the crowd.
No matter how dull the listener is, he begins to realize that the tall and mighty man in front of him, whose saliva can fly farther than ordinary storytellers, is openly and honestly arranging a satire on the King of Fortune Zhu Changxun.
All the high officials from the imperial court could laugh at Prince Fu. Why couldn't they, the common people of Luoyang, laugh?
In a joyful and peaceful atmosphere, Wei Zhongxian was about to continue to annihilate the country. Huang Bingshi, with his duty as an official responsible for protecting the land, pushed aside the crowd and came to Wei Zhongxian. After bowing his hands in salute, he discussed with gentle words: "Eunuch, father-in-law."
, this, the prince's dignity is also the dignity of the country, father-in-law, please don't do this. Go back to Prince Fu first, and let me go and persuade you later."
"Respectable?" Wei Zhongxian's voice became louder, "You don't even have to give up your appearance, but you still want face? Huang Changshi, if you don't believe what we say, go through the Emperor's En Palace and take a walk around the inner palace to see if it's right.
Isn't there a little girl of thirteen or fourteen who is already preparing to warm the bed for our wise king?"
Huang Bingshi really didn't expect that Wei Zhongxian would speak so freely today. He couldn't help but feel angry and said sternly: "My father-in-law, in a large court, how can you speak so filthy and disrespect the vassal king?"
Wei Zhongxian was not annoyed, and spoke eloquently as before: "Our family is blessed by the emperor and eats a mouthful of rice rewarded by the Long Live Lord and the Ming Dynasty. Even the prince will not treat anyone who does not take the court rules seriously.
You're welcome. The prince is the foundation of the country, and the prince's selection of his concubine is a major event of the country. According to ancestral rules, when selecting a girl, a girl between the ages of 13 and 16 is not allowed to marry as a wife or concubine, not to be indentured as a servant, or to be sold as a slave.
Even the Wangfu Lefang is not allowed to recruit apprentices. But how did King Fu do it? Our family was still selecting people in Luoyang City, and he went to the Wangfu to carry people. Haha, our family is scolded, and he is the one
Is what the wise king did dirty?"
"You, this..." Huang Bingshi choked for a moment.
"Okay, let's give the court a good scolding and feel better. Let's go back and teach the ladies the rules of the palace."
"Eunuch, please don't go away. Eunuch, please say something else." Some people among the people watching booed.
"Stop talking and let's go."
"My father-in-law, don't be afraid. My father-in-law is from the capital. Prince Fu dare not do anything to you."
"Hey, this young master, what you are saying is not necessarily true. From what we see, this wise king, apart from going out to fight the Tartars, there is nothing in this world that he dares not do."
People burst into laughter again. While laughing, they did not forget to cast disdainful glances at Huang Bingshi.
Especially those who wear square scarves on their heads and look like scribes who have already achieved fame. The look in their eyes seems to say: You are not as sensible and bloody as an eunuch.
Wei Zhongxian had just walked out ten or so steps in a high-spirited manner, when dozens of palace guards with weapons and swords suddenly surrounded him from both sides of Wanghua Gate.
The leader quickly stepped forward and stopped in front of Wei Zhongxian: "Please, father-in-law, please move to the palace. Your Majesty has something to ask."
Wei Zhongxian chirped: "What if we don't go?"
"Then don't blame me for being rude."
As soon as the captain of the guard stretched out his hand, Huang Bingshi hurriedly stepped forward, used all the strength of a scribe to hold him up, and scolded: "Don't be rude to your father-in-law."
At the same time, dozens of Dongchang fans came from all directions and cheered.
"Canglanglang..."
The white blades were flashing on both sides, showing a tense attitude.
The Luoyang scholars and common people who had been enjoying watching the theater a moment ago suddenly screamed in shock. You pushed me to the side to dodge, and scattered like birds and beasts, for fear of becoming a fish in the pond.
The first few "shills" did not forget to shout while running: "We are going to rebel, we are going to rebel, the palace is attacking and killing the imperial officials."
After hearing these shouts, Huang Bingshi became more and more frightened. He glared at the chief of the palace guard and said, "You idiot, did you hear what the people were shouting? If you don't want to be taken to the capital by the Jin Yiwei in a few days, let the guards do it now."
Let’s go back to the place of duty!”
After all, the captain of the bodyguard had a military position. He knew that unlike Huang Bingshi, a civil servant, he could directly talk to the court, so it was more likely that he, a military man, would be pulled out to take the blame.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Then, where is His Highness..."
"I am going to see His Highness right now."
The murderous look in the captain's eyes faded slightly, he glanced at Wei Zhongxian again, and finally decided to listen to Huang Bingshi.
He raised his hand to signal, and the guards retracted their weapons according to the order.
Wei Zhongxian bowed his hands to Huang Bingshi, smiled meaningfully, and walked away with his fans.
To the west of the palace, half a mile away from the Fuquan Temple, on top of the pagoda, Zheng Haizhu put down his telescope and said to the people around him: "Fortunately, Huang Changshi knows the importance."
Her response was silence.
Zheng Haizhu turned his head and looked at Huang Qirui.
She actually didn't know that in the history of another time and space, more than ten years later, when Li Zicheng's team approached Luoyang, Huang Qirui, as a relative of King Fu Zhu Changxun, urged King Fu to use the wealth in the palace to reward the Ming army and recruit young men.
Zhuang, tried to protect Luoyang. But King Fu refused, and finally the city of Luoyang was defeated. King Fu and more than 200 Luoyang officials and big landowners were beheaded under the city gate by the invading army.
Zheng Haizhu only further judged that after listening to Wei Zhongxian's research and secretly visiting Huang Qirui personally, there was hope that this relative's thoughts could be manipulated.
Otherwise, he would not have appeared in the temple on time today to watch the big show in front of Prince Fu's Mansion with him.
"Huang Gong, Huang Gong..." Zheng Haizhu called softly a few times, and then said in a calm tone, "Long live the meaning of the Lord and the court, have you seen clearly today?"
Huang Qirui always faced the figure of Prince Fu's Mansion and moved slightly.
"Zheng Siqing, if Huang does what you said, what will the history books say about Huang?" Huang Qirui sighed softly and asked.
"I can't write about you," Zheng Haizhu said calmly, "I can only write about King Dechang becoming the second generation of King Fu this year."
When Huang Qirui heard this, the corner of his mouth suddenly curled up, as if he felt that he was thinking too much and it was a bit ridiculous.
Zheng Haizhu stared at him: "Huang Pingping also did business, and I should have figured it out by now. In fact, you are guaranteed to make a profit in this business. However, if you think about it again, don't be in a hurry."
Zheng Haizhu turned to leave, but Huang Qirui gritted his teeth and finally raised his hand to the woman and said: "Huang, the plan has been decided. I will listen to the instructions of the temple minister and the court. Huang just wants to ask for one thing."
"you say."
"Huang Bingshi, he, he is a good official and should assist King Dechang."
Zheng Haizhu said: "He is a good official, and you are also a good person. I understand what you are asking for, and I promise you that Huang Changshi will still be Huang Changshi of Prince Fu's Mansion."
