Don't cause trouble when you go out, but don't be afraid of trouble if you do. This is what Zhu Tingfang told her when she came out yesterday. Zhu Ying was perfunctory with her brother on the surface, but she still remembered these words in her heart. So at first she was just
She casually stabbed the pretentious magistrate, but when he started to get angry and sneered at him, she was not polite.
Compared with her family background, who would she be afraid of?
However, Miss Zhu didn't expect that even though she had already established her authority, someone would come up to chat with her even though she was not afraid of death. That was all, but the purpose of the chat was actually to...recommend herself to be her caretaker?
She frowned, then looked sideways, and saw that he was a man dressed as a pilgrim. He wore short clothes and cloth belts and shoes. He had a strong build and big hands. At first glance, he seemed to have some strength.
.
Before she could speak, Zhu Hong took a step forward expressionlessly and said in a deep voice: "There is no shortage of nursing homes in Duke Zhao's mansion."
Even though he was sternly rejected by Zhu Hong, the man who spoke was still not discouraged. He seemed not to notice the eyes that were looking at him furtively around him. He cupped his hands and said, "I know that Duke Zhao has outstanding achievements, and there are naturally many masters in the mansion.
But this time the eldest son, General Mingwei, is in charge of Cangzhou City, and he is beyond the reach of the other two counties under the jurisdiction of Cangzhou."
"Now those profiteers and evil gentry who are running rampant and illegal have been severely punished, but the people on the ground in Cangzhou are still uneasy. I would like to ask the eldest lady to report to General Mingwei on my behalf and give everyone a chance to make up for their mistakes."
The eldest brother sentenced a lot of beheadings and exiles in one breath, which was probably more people than Cangzhou had killed in the previous year. In addition, there were many people who had been pampered and pampered for decades and were called masters by the people.
After being punished with the cane, the people were already applauding and applauding. But this guy in front of him said that the people's hearts were uneasy, and even said that he would give everyone a chance to make amends...
In addition, I just said that I am willing to surrender... what does this mean?
Zhu Ying had doubts in her heart, and her eyes when looking at the other person became more careful and vigilant. The eldest lady was indeed impulsive and willful, but she was not a fool, so she just hesitated for a moment and said lightly: "Since you are
As a native of Cangzhou, you have come to recommend yourself, so you can be my guide instead of Guantao."
"Thank you, Miss!" The middle-aged man was immediately overjoyed. When he heard Zhu Ying ask him his name again, he quickly cupped his hands and said, "This little man, Cao Wu, is also familiar with Maliu Mountain. The most beautiful place here is the moon.
Angle Lake…”
As a result, a group of scholars and pilgrims stared dumbfounded at the guy of unknown origin who recommended himself. He diligently accompanied the unpredictable eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhao, and explained the scenery of Maliu Mountain diligently. Never mind.
I was a scholar who used to be conceited about my talents, but now I feel like I want to scold my mother.
The young prefect who was showing off his talents was kicked down the mountain mercilessly by this young lady - of course, people are really stupid to think that such a powerful young lady came from some academy - however, a
The seemingly vulgar mud-legged man appeared out of nowhere and was left as a guide.
Is this world turned upside down?
Zhu Ying doesn't care about other people's thoughts. Her coming to Maliu Mountain today is purely Zhang Shou's request. Zhang Shou asked her to help her go to Wanghai Temple to find out the details of the Zanghai monks, and by the way, step on various places on Maliu Mountain.
Let's see if we can get any clues.
And thinking that Ah Liu was with Zhang Shou, she asked a young monk to be her guide and went out directly.
Along the way, Cao Wu kept talking, and she listened absentmindedly - of course, she admitted that the scenery of Maliu Mountain was very good, but her mood had just been ruined by such a nasty person, and she was thinking about Zhang Shou again.
Naturally, she was not as excited as she was at the beginning. If it weren't for the little monk Guantao on the side who often made her amused by his clumsy words, she would have been in a worse mood.
Seeing that Wanghai Temple was not far away, Zhu Ying suddenly asked in a waning tone: "It must have taken a lot of effort to build Wanghai Temple on the mountain, right? With more than a hundred monks gathered here, how many people would it take to support them?"
?”
Cao Wu's eyes flickered, and then he said with a smile: "Although this Wanghai Temple has not been granted the title of Emperor Taizu - Emperor Taizu said that no one will grant the title of Taoist temple to Taoist temple, lest people in the world escape into Buddhist temples and Taoist temples if something happens to them.
Avoiding responsibility - but it is also one of the famous temples nearby, and the most important thing is that the abbot of Wanghai Temple, Master De'an, is fair and compassionate."
Although he didn't know the temperament of this eldest lady before, he was first shocked into silence by Zhu Tingfang's behavior in Cangzhou City, and seeing that Zhu Ying had just used the prefect as an official, he did not dare to challenge her and Wanghai Temple at this time.
.
Seeing Zhu Ying's brows raised as if she didn't believe it, he quickly explained further: "The reason why Wanghai Temple is so prosperous is not because everyone in the area really believes in Buddhism. It's because every gathering on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month,
It's right in front of Wanghai Temple. Although it's just trading fish and salt, Master De'an will be a witness, so the transaction is fair and everyone is happy."
Zhu Ying's face brightened slightly at this moment, but she asked with a half-smile: "Oh, how dare you believe that these days a monk can still do justice part-time? Speaking of which, there are more than a dozen stick monks in the lower courtyard of Zanghai where the little monk Guantao lives at the foot of the mountain.
, what about Wanghai Temple? It is said that they fought off pirates in the early years of Taizu, but now they don’t eat fast and chant Buddha all day long, forgetting their ability to start a business, right?"
This topic went around and around, and finally it fell to this dangerous topic. Cao Wu couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart. However, even if he wanted to hide it, this powerful young lady could find out from other places that he also
Don't just prevaricate casually.
So, he could only bite the bullet and said: "Most of the monks in Wanghai Temple are profound in Buddhism. Of course, those who are talented among them will also practice martial arts since childhood."
"Oh, it turns out I have been practicing martial arts since I was a child." Zhu Ying chuckled and then asked nonchalantly, "What about Zanghai Lower Courtyard?"
Seeing Cao Wu's eyes twinkling, she said lazily: "Don't tell me that it was just because you happened to hear me revealing my identity that you came up and offered yourself. I don't believe there is such a coincidence in the world. Since all the way
I have been following you until now, and if you now claim that you didn’t know that I came from Zanghai Lower Courtyard, will I believe it?”
Cao Wu glanced at the bewildered little monk Guantao beside him, and thought that if another monk were to act as a guide today, he would be much more fooled. He didn't know how the fat monk, who was usually very shrewd and powerful, could be so careless.
How could such a little one come out?
He calculated it in his mind, and finally said with an apologetic smile: "The abbot of the lower courtyard was originally an orphan who grew up in the temple, but when he grew up, he did not want to stay in the temple, so he went to sea for many years. Later, he probably had to withdraw because he was older.
He cultivated his character and adopted many orphans, and then he opened the lower courtyard. He was a man of justice and fair to his tenants, and a small part of the reputation of Wanghai Temple depends on him."
When Guan Tao heard someone praising his host, he quickly shouted: "Yes, my master is so good! When neighbors from all over the country are in trouble, they all come to him. Before, there was an evil young man from Hejian Prefecture who was tyrannical. He directly
I was beaten away by Master and his men..."
Zhu Ying listened with a smile, and suddenly reached out and touched Guan Tao's shaved little head, and then signaled Zhu Hong and Zhu Yi to take the others to play. Seeing that the two guards were very worried, they turned around and left Gu Tao three times.
But she refused to go further, so she clapped her hands gently. After such a conversation, she finally understood.
"I have long heard that Cangzhou is good at martial arts, but when I arrived, I found that it was not the case. But now it seems that you are hiding well, some are hiding in Buddhist temples, and some are hidden. But, if
You have nothing to do with any of the previous incidents, so you don’t have to worry about my elder brother going to liquidate you, and you won’t say “make up for your mistakes.”
Seeing that Cao Wu lowered his head and said nothing, she said with a half-smile, "As for what you just said about people's uneasiness, are you also saying that those of you who use force to break the law are uneasy?"
Cao Wu only knew that Zhu Ying's brother and her future husband were obviously powerful figures in their own right. In addition, he had just seen how strong she was against the prefect, so he subconsciously took a liking to this young lady.
Very high. He didn't dare and wouldn't be upset if his origin and purpose were revealed at this time. He just laughed twice.
"The eldest lady is serious. The court's laws are there, and chivalrous people use martial arts to break the ban. However, villains like these would never dare to challenge the common people. Before the eldest prince Qianglong passed through the border, the Cangzhou martial arts community from top to bottom avoided his edge. Later, although some people followed Xian Yunhe
Noisy, but those are just people who have learned martial arts from various schools, not even registered disciples. But..."
He paused for a moment, and then whispered: "But the same goes for the idle men recruited by Changlu County Magistrate Xu Cheng to attack the palace. Although there are no core disciples of each family, there are also many people who learned from each family.
Those who have passed the art. We didn't understand this turmoil before, so we didn't dare to act rashly for fear of getting burned. We thought it wouldn't be too late to wait until the imperial envoy came before we could go and serve. Who knows..."
This time, Zhu Ying suddenly became happy: "So, my eldest brother cleaned up the situation too quickly and robbed you of the opportunity to make up for your mistakes?"
"Don't dare, I don't mean that, Xiaomin, I definitely don't dare to say that!"
Cao Wu quickly defended himself, but was quickly interrupted by Zhu Ying: "If this is all, then just put your heart back in your stomach. You didn't get involved at first, but later you didn't dare to get involved. When you want to,
It's too late to get involved... As long as the eldest brother doesn't want to pursue it, it's none of your business. However, I'm curious. Xian Yunhe and the others almost rebelled after they lost their jobs. What about you? What do you do for a living?"
Cao Wu simply felt that this eldest lady was giving him a hammer, a stick, and a peace-of-mind pill, but the questions that followed were equally difficult to deal with. He forced a decent smile.
, try to make your words softer.
"It's just a small job to protect the caravan. We make money and earn a living based on our martial arts. We are by no means brave and fierce, competitive, let alone a chivalrous person who uses force to break the law..." Seeing that Zhu Ying was obviously in disbelief.
Looking at him with disbelief, he had to avoid the important thing and said, "We just opened a few escort agencies to protect the safety of the caravan's people and goods."
"It turns out it's an escort agency that protects people's goods." Zhu Ying nodded with satisfaction, "It's pretty much what I thought."
Maritime trade has been booming in recent years, and many people in the court dislike the cost of dredging the canal. However, the reason why they cannot allocate more share of the south-to-north grain transportation to sea transportation, in the final analysis, there is only one thing: the people who rely on this canal to feed themselves
There is no place to put it.
Just like Zhang Shou's new spinning machine, the extra people need to solve the problem of livelihood and rice bowl.
Recalling some of Zhang Shou's words when he often told her stories, and recalling some of the words that the emperor once said, Zhu Ying thought about it in her heart, and then suddenly her heart moved, and she deliberately said casually: "Since Cangzhou has a martial arts style,
We are so prosperous, but we can only look after people's homes and nursing homes. This is a bit overkill, so why don't you think of finding a way out in the army?"
Cao Wu thought that Zhu Ying was acting on behalf of his father and brother, recruiting them on behalf of the Duke of Zhao. He had just recommended himself and suddenly complained secretly. But before he could recruit a few senior martial arts veterans from Cangzhou to join the army, they failed and even ended up miserable.
For example, Zhu Ying said two things that he didn't expect.
"Study in literature and martial arts and sell them to the emperor's family. Scholars can take the exam to be a scholar and a civil servant. Why don't you take the martial arts exam? The imperial court's martial arts exam is also opened every three years. There are also martial arts scholars and civil servants. It's better to be a civil servant.
It is better for people to look after their homes and homes.”
Although he felt that Zhu Ying's formulation was a bit naive, Cao Wu couldn't help but reveal the biggest difficulty - there is no doubt that the core disciples of Cangzhou Wumen are even educated.
As for worrying about not studying enough to pass the literary test. However, for many years, the martial arts has just been a show. There are one or twenty Wu Jinshi every three years, how can the two or three hundred Wen Jinshi be comparable?
Finally, he called Qu Dao: "There are too many monks in the imperial court's martial arts department. How many people can squeeze in?"
"You are going to call on your disciples to listen to my elder brother's assignments. As long as you achieve a little merit, this martial arts with too many monks and too little food may change." Reciting the original words that the emperor had inadvertently mentioned to her before, Zhu Ying said
Without hesitation, he said, "Well, I rarely come out to take a breath, so I don't need you as a guide! You can go see my elder brother and say that I recommended you!"
Although Cao Wu still had questions, under the forceful eviction of the eldest lady, he still had to bow and leave with a smile on his face. As soon as he left, Zhu Hong and Zhu Yi hurried back with the little monk in hand. But still
Before they could ask, Zhu Ying stretched out and said, "Okay, there's no need to go to Wanghai Temple. I'm not interested in worshiping Buddha." The task assigned by Zhang Shou has almost been completed!
In fact, the most important reason why she came to Maliu Mountain today was because of another rumor she heard in the market before...
She clenched her fists and said with a smile on her face: "Little monk Guantao, go to Wanghai Temple and find a guy who has been through those tunnels before to be my guide. You have come here. I must go down into the tunnel today."
Go see it!”
Zhu Hong and Zhu Yi's expressions suddenly changed, but before they could stop them, Guan Tao had already rushed to deliver the order. The two looked at each other and felt a headache at the same time. Did Zhu Ying know that these tunnels were not meant for people to walk upright at all?
?Moreover, what should I do if I get lost in a tunnel that has been abandoned for many years? How should they explain it?
Without any time to think about it, Zhu Hong turned around and left. He found Zhang Shou, but he didn't believe that Zhu Ying would burrow into the ground in front of her fiancé!