After this day, the entire Jinling City was immersed in chaos to welcome the imperial envoy.
After Jia Yucun got off the sedan, he waited for a while and saw the entourage from the official boat filing out. The imperial envoy's guard of honor had been put out. Then Tian Ye's sedan was carried directly to the shore from the official boat.
Then there was a complex set of etiquette. Jia Yucun brought all the civil and military personnel in Jinling City to salute Tian Ye.
After the ceremony was over, Tian Ye ordered his troops to enter the city without stopping.
Jia Yucun led the way, blowing gongs along the way to clear the way, and led the team directly to Zhanyuan, a famous garden in Jinling specially set aside by Jia Yucun to receive imperial envoys.
This garden is one of the four major gardens in the south of the Yangtze River, alongside the Lingering Garden in Suzhou, the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Jichang Garden in Wuxi.
The layout of Zhanyuan is elegant and exquisite, with magnificent ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, steep rockeries, the famous Taihu Stone from the Northern Song Dynasty, quiet and elegant pavilions and pavilions, and strange peaks.
It was also the first time for Tian Ye to see such an exquisite garden. Under the leadership of Jia Yucun, he walked around the garden with great interest, and finally returned to the main hall for dinner. Jia Yucun saw that the imperial envoy had already made arrangements.
Say goodbye to Tian Ye.
Tian Ye didn't try to persuade him to stay, so he let him go back.
Jia Yucun left Tian Ye's residence and looked back at the mansion with a sneer on his face.
Although this Tian Ye is an imperial minister, it is just because he is on the way south of the Yangtze River. If this time is handled well, he will still be prosperous and wealthy. If he has a little selfishness, he must join his book.
When Tian Ye saw Jia Yucun leaving, a boy next to him said, "Go and quietly invite the uncle of the Zhen family to me."
The boy nodded understandingly and then disappeared in a flash.
After Tian Ye had lunch and read in the study for a while, someone came to report that the eldest son of the Zhen family, Zhen Zhenxian, was already waiting for the imperial envoy outside.
Tian Ye heard this and quickly ordered someone to invite him in.
After a while, an elegant middle-aged man entered the study.
When Tian Ye saw it, he quickly stood up to greet him. The man also quickly handed over his hands. Both parties saluted each other, and then the guests and hosts took their seats.
When Tian Ye saw both parties sitting down, he complained, "What happened to you this time? You made such a big noise."
The middle-aged man was Zhen Zhenxian, the head of the Zhen family. After listening to Tian Ye's question, he sighed and said, "I was wrong this time. I didn't expect that Jia Ke would be so cruel. I didn't expect this Jia Ke to be so cruel."
I thought that I am an old relative of the Jia family, so if I embarrass him this time, he will let go of me in Jiangnan, and we can continue to live a prosperous and prosperous life in the future. Who would have thought that I just played the gong and he would come over to play the drum."
Tian Ye did not accept his explanation, "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Since you don't want to tell me, I won't ask."
Zhen Zhenxian had nothing to say at this time, and the study suddenly fell into a deserted state.
In the end, Zhen Zhenxian couldn't stand the atmosphere any more, so he could only say to Tian Ye, "Master Tian, our Zhen family is in trouble this time. Please mediate for us in the court."
Tian Ye looked at him helplessly. He didn't expect that he would still have such fantasies at this time, "Don't make up your mind about me. If you have the ability, hurry up and clear things up in Beijing."
Zhen Zhenxian thought for a while, and then said: "Since Mr. Tian has no plan, please ask Mr. Tian to give you some time so that I can think of a solution."
Tian Ye thought for a while and then said to him: "I can give you up to twenty days. If you exceed this time, I will have no choice but to do business."
After Zhen Zhenxian heard this, he immediately stood up and thanked Tian Ye: "Thank you, Lord Tian, for taking care of me. In the future, our Zhen family will definitely remember Lord Tian's kindness."
After Zhen Zhenxian finished speaking, he took out a stack of banknotes from his arms and handed them to Tian Ye with both hands.
Tian Ye looked at the stack of banknotes in front of him, which amounted to at least a hundred thousand taels. Although he loved money very much, he did not dare to accept this money.
In the past, Tian Ye had a close relationship with the Zhen family, and was considered a pillar of the Zhen family in the court. Tian Ye also benefited a lot from the Zhen family, earning tens of thousands in income every year.
But this time Tian Ye had already foreseen that the Zhen family was at the end of its rope. The Zhen family was really lard-loving. Just when Jia Ke wanted to establish his power, they gave Jia Ke an embarrassment. This was not to make Jia Ke have any problems.
Any reason to take action?
Zhen Zhenxian's brows furrowed even more when he saw this situation. It seemed that their family was going to have a hard time this time.
Zhen Zhenxian thought for a while and decided to find a way to leave a way out for his family. Even if his family was in trouble in the end, it would be able to help.
"Sir, I have a niece who is as beautiful as a flower. She is not married yet. I want to send her to you to serve you. What do you think?"
After hearing this, Tian Ye understood what he meant, but at this time, Tian Ye didn't want to stick to anything anymore. Being able to give him some grace was considered a previous friendship. If he accepted a woman from his family again, he would give up.
Jia Ke knows, that's a big deal.
"I am an old man who is about to die. How can I afford such a beautiful family? Don't mention this matter again."
Zhen Zhenxian was really anxious now. He knelt down in front of Tian Ye and said, "Sir, for the sake of our previous friendship, please leave a way for our family to survive."
Tian Ye sat on top and looked at Zhen Zhenxian who was kneeling on the ground. He was silent for a long time and finally said: "Now that we know today, why bother then."
After Tian Ye said this, he picked up the teacup, shook it in front of Zhen Zhenxian, and then placed it on the table again.
The housekeeper who had been standing next to Tian Ye saw Tian Ye's actions and hurriedly shouted next to him: "See you off."
Zhen Zhenxian watched Tian Ye serving tea to the guests, and could only get up helplessly and leave.
After Zhen Zhenxian left, Tian Ye called the butler next to him and told him: "From now on, don't take away anything from the Zhen family. If anyone from the Zhen family comes to see you again, don't notify me again."
The butler nodded, and then asked: "Sir, if we have been delayed for such a long time, the people in Beijing will not blame you if they find out, right?"
Tian Ye was silent for a moment, and then said: "I was born in a poor family and had no hope of winning the imperial examination. It was the Zhen family who supported me, so I won the imperial examination one after another, and then became a Jinshi. This time I can repay their kindness.
, and I have a good relationship with Prime Minister Jia in Beijing. As long as he knows the cause and effect, he will not blame me."
The housekeeper felt a little relieved now. You must know that during this period, the housekeeper followed Tian Ye from the capital to Jiangnan. He was used to being flattered and received a lot of benefits along the way. Now he is worried about their master.
This time he lost his future because of the Zhen family, and he was afraid of losing such a good life.
When Zhen Zhenxian arrived at his door, I noticed something was wrong. When he came out of his door just now, there was a lot of traffic near his family, but now it has become deserted.
Not to mention, there were still many strong men patrolling the streets. Seeing the blatant behavior of these people, Zhen Zhenxian already understood in his heart that something was really wrong with his family this time.
It turned out that these people who were blatantly spying on the Zhen family were sent by Jia Yucun. This Jia Yucun was not a good official. When he was in Jinling City, he had colluded with the Zhen family and took advantage of them.
But one thing was that Jia Yucun was loyal to Jia Ke. Ever since he received Jia Ke's letter, Jia Yucun became interested and immediately cut off all contact with the Zhen family.
This time when the imperial envoy came, he became even more unscrupulous and immediately sent out people to drive away all the vendors near the Zhen family. He was afraid that the Zhen family would fish in troubled waters and escape quietly.
Zhen Zhenxian returned to the Zhen family courtyard and came to the main hall. There were already more than a dozen old people waiting for him. These are the elders of the Zhen family's various clans. They are now discussing how to overcome this difficulty.
.
As soon as these people saw Zhen Zhenxian back, they gathered around him and couldn't wait to ask.
"How's it going? Mr. Tian has promised to mediate for us."
"Have you given away the money? What is your reply from the imperial envoy?"
Zhen Zhenxian shook these people away with a gloomy face, and then went directly to the center of the lobby and sat down.
These people also noticed that Zhen Zhenxian's expression was not good, and knew that this time might not go well, so they quietly walked around one by one, waiting for Zhen Zhenxian to introduce the situation.
Zhen Zhenxian sat in the middle and took a breath, and then said: "I'm afraid Mr. Tian can't help this time. He didn't even accept the money I gave. Let's find another way quickly."
At this moment, the people below were in chaos. Tian Ye was one of their family's biggest supporters. After all, Tian Ye was the Minister of Military and Aircraft, and his words were very important in the court. Now even he couldn't help.
Who else can speak for their family?
One of the old men, who was nearly sixty years old, suddenly stood up as soon as he slapped the table, then pointed at Zhen Zhenxian and cursed: "You are the treacherous son who brought trouble to the family, when you wanted to do this, I was totally against it.
I don’t understand, how could you come up with this idea? Don’t you know that your arms can’t twist your thighs?”
Zhen Zhenxian's face is very ugly now, but he can't refute a word.
At this time, an older man stood next to him and said to the sixty-year-old man: "Sit back, fourth, the sky hasn't fallen yet."
When the sixty-year-old man heard this, he had no choice but to sit on the chair again, but he stared at Zhen Zhenxian and wanted to eat him.
When Zhen Zhenxian saw someone helping him out, he quickly said to the old man gratefully: "Thank you, uncle. This time it was not my idea alone. Everyone was there at the time, but there was no objection in the end?"
The eldest old man nodded and said: "This time the disaster is not small, we may not be able to bear it. You should go to the inner house to talk to your mother, and then write a letter to Beijing to beg our concubine.
My dear, if that doesn’t work, I can only give up my face and seek help from the old lady of Rongguo Mansion.”
Zhen Zhenxian nodded and said nothing more. This was also the last resort.
After hearing these words, the 60-year-old man, Fourth Master, thought for a while and said, "Should we make some preparations, just in case."
When Zhen Zhenxian heard what he said, he could only explain to him: "Fourth uncle, I'm afraid it's not possible. Have you noticed that there are at least two to three hundred people under surveillance around our house, and they are sent to other places?