On the border of Xuzhou, an army was passing by Xuzhou City. It did not enter the city, but just circled the city and continued southward.
This army has strict military discipline and neat formation. You can tell that it is an elite army at a glance.
Under normal circumstances, when an army passes by, the local government will strictly guard against it and treat the imperial officers and soldiers as thieves. The local officials would rather be impeached than let the army into the city. Naturally, the people will also avoid the army.
Far away.
However, this time, the people of Xuzhou were uncharacteristic of themselves and went out of the city one after another to stop and watch.
Because they know that the army in front of them will never disturb the people. Because this is the Imperial Forest Army that defeated hundreds of thousands of captives!
"Have you seen it? This army looks elite at first glance. No wonder it can defeat the invincible Jianlu!"
"I heard that the leader of the army is Uncle Zhongwu. I wonder if I have the chance to see what kind of person he is?"
"That must be someone like Changshan Zhao Zilong, otherwise it would be impossible for him to conquer the north and south and make great achievements!"
"Old Liu Tou, I heard that your nephew is under the command of Uncle Zhongwu. Have you seen him?"
"I'm looking for it right now. I didn't expect that the man who used to work as a water worker is now a small flag in the army. It is said that my brother-in-law and his family are enjoying the blessings in the capital. They can also go to the bank to get money every month, and people who come to talk about marriage are also queuing up.
Got it!"
"Really? This is really unpredictable. I didn't expect your nephew to be so promising!"
"..."
Amid the discussion, many people were looking for acquaintances in the military.
When the Yongwei Battalion was transferred north and returned to Beijing, many new soldiers were recruited from the water works along the canal.
At that time, I only joined the army because there was a disaster along the canal and I couldn't survive.
Unexpectedly, the martial artist, who had always been despised by others, thought he was going to be cannon fodder, but the result was shocking. Not only did his salary improve a lot, he was given a house in the capital, and his military pay was paid in full and on time, he was even able to defeat the Jianlu and established a
All military exploits were fulfilled.
When the news spread, the Cao workers' relatives and friends, as well as the neighbors they had known before, were very envious.
Now that I heard that the Beijing camp was passing through Xuzhou on its way south, many people came here specially to watch and experience it.
Seeing such a lively scene, Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu, who were riding horses, couldn't help but feel very emotional.
Although both of them have strict military discipline and have not harmed the people like other bandits, they still bear the name of bandits after all. If they don't do something, other bandits will do it, and it will naturally affect them.
Therefore, they had never experienced such a scene of being welcomed by the people in the past.
"This clearly shows what the people's aspirations are!" Li Dingguo said with emotion after looking at it for a while.
Zhou Yuji, who was walking in the middle, turned to look at him when he heard what he said, and immediately nodded with emotion: "That's why we must put down the chaos as soon as possible and bring peace to the people of the world!"
At this time, because he had been with Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu for a long time, he was familiar with each other, felt the difference between Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu, and no longer disliked them, and naturally he no longer spoke harshly.
Liu Wenxiu heard them talking and was about to speak when suddenly, a fast horse galloped towards him. Not far from Zhou Yuji's horse's head, he got off his horse and reported to Zhou Yuji: "The imperial envoy from the capital and his party have arrived at Xuzhou Pier.
Join us and go to Fengyang Mansion together!"
When Zhou Yuji heard this, he immediately asked: "Who is the imperial envoy?"
He could understand that he was going to Fengyang Mansion with the army. There was chaos in the south, and the imperial envoy and his party would definitely not be safe in the face of large-scale bandits. It would be safest to follow them.
While asking this question, he said to the two people on the left and right: "Let's go and greet him together!"
After leaving the capital, the imperial envoy represents the imperial power. Even if he is not directly subordinate to the superior, he still has to visit him.
"He is the Deputy Envoy of the Government Affairs Department. He went to Fengyang Mansion to announce the decree, and together with the Government Affairs Envoy, he assisted Governor Fengyang in reorganizing the place!"
Zhou Yuji didn't know much about the emperor's new political affairs department, nor did he care about it. It was just about fighting. Therefore, he didn't feel much after hearing it, and he just went to greet it.
A group of people quickly rushed to the Xuzhou Canal Wharf on horseback.
By the time they arrived, the imperial envoy and his party had already disembarked from the ship and were packing their things to set off.
Far away, Zhou Yuji saw an official wearing a scarlet robe, and suddenly asked a little strangely: "Why are you so short?"
Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu were also surprised when they heard this. Men of this height are really rare.
However, Zhou Yuji dared to say this, but they did not dare.
According to the official system of the Ming Dynasty, the officials who can wear scarlet robes are all senior officials of the fourth rank or above, who are serious officials in the court. It is definitely not wise to criticize such high-ranking officials in the court.
After getting closer, Zhou Yuji was surprised again, but this time, he did not dare to speak recklessly, but whispered to Li Dingguo beside him: "Why are you looking at such a girl!"
Although the atmosphere in the Ming Dynasty is now very open, especially in the Jiangnan area, some scholars still wear women's clothes and parade through the market. They are not ashamed, but proud.
This phenomenon had been seen before when Zhou Yuji went to suppress bandits.
However, in the officialdom, this kind of situation has never been encountered. Otherwise, he will definitely be impeached by the Yushi Yanguan.
Nowadays, as the imperial envoy of the imperial court, this deputy political envoy dresses up in such a girly way. It is really rare!
"Commander, please look, there seem to be many women among the entourage!" Li Dingguo reminded him in a low voice when he heard what he said.
When Zhou Yuji heard this, he moved his eyes away from the red-and-scarlet-robed official and looked at the others, and he found quite a few women.
Although these women were all wearing men's clothes, they could tell that they were definitely women.
This time, Zhou Yuji felt even more strange, and at the same time, his impression of this imperial envoy became even worse.
But there was nothing he could do. Even if he was an earl, the Ming Dynasty had the largest civil service, so he had no right to accuse others.
If he, a military general, really said it, those civil servants might attack him in groups. The best reason is that the scribes are romantic, and it is the original sin for the military men to accuse the literati!
Zhou Yuji was also aware of this, so he was going to say hello, and then hide away, so as to stay out of sight!
The sound of horse hooves here also alerted the people on the dock. At the first sight, they could all tell that it was Zhou Yuji who had arrived.
So, when Zhou Yuji arrived at the pier, he also came to greet him.
Zhou Yuji took Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu, immediately dismounted, clasped his hands in fists, and said to the red-robed official in front of him: "The last general Zhou Yuji (Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu) has met the imperial envoy!"
While they were talking, they were naturally staring at the official in front of them. They were so close and suddenly felt a little dumbfounded.
I saw that the official in front of me had a peach-shaped face, and before he said anything, his face turned a little red.
This... what kind of man is this?
This is too girly!
"I'm going to cause more trouble to you generals along the way!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuji and others, who had just recovered, were dumbfounded again.
These words are obviously not a man’s voice!
eunuch?
It doesn’t look like it either!
It can't really be a woman, right?
Hey, it seems that you really don’t have an Adam’s apple!
Is she really a woman? How is it possible? When did high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty have women? Women can become officials...
Suddenly, there were a series of question marks in the minds of Zhou Yuji and others, and they were all confused.
They left the capital and went south before Chen Yuanyuan was appointed official. However, the army did not move quickly and was overtaken by Chen Yuanyuan, who was traveling day and night by boat, so they did not know about the affairs of the capital.
Of course, if it is related to military information, Zhou Yuji will know it quickly if it is delivered quickly.
But the key point is that things related to Chen Yuanyuan are not military intelligence, so naturally no one will report it to Zhou Yuji's headquarters immediately.
Seeing the expressions of the men in front of him, Chen Yuanyuan naturally knew why they reacted like this!
After such contact for a while, she had calmed down a lot, so she regained her composure and explained calmly: "His Majesty has decreed that in the future, a women's department will be established to allow women to take scientific examinations and join the Ming Dynasty Royal Academy of Sciences and the Political Affairs Department as officials.
.Thanks to the great favor of the emperor, your majesty has given me the title of Deputy Zhengtong Envoy with the same background as a Jinshi. I will go to Fengyang Mansion to assist the Zhengtong Envoy and help rectify the place!"
"..." Although Zhou Yuji and others heard Chen Yuanyuan's words, they were still confused and stood there speechless.
In fact, what Chen Yuanyuan said really impacted their outlook on life!
If it weren't for the fact that there was a woman wearing a scarlet robe standing in front of him, and she was also an imperial envoy, and she was escorted by a royal guard, he would have suspected that this was some kind of charlatan!
No, no matter how stupid a charlatan is, he would never make up such a plot to deceive people!
Seeing them like this, for some reason, Chen Yuanyuan puffed up her chest instead. She lost her shyness and said with her head held high, "Your Majesty, you once said, a woman can hold up half the sky! In this world,
There are only men, no women, is that right? Men and women are both good at things. If men are officials, women can also be officials, so why is it strange?"
After what she said, Zhou Yuji came back to his senses. When the female officer in front of him mentioned the emperor's words, he had nothing to say.
Anyway, the princes in the court don't care about this matter. As a martial artist, he naturally doesn't care anymore.
In short, nothing will happen if there are no women on the battlefield!
Just when he thought of this, he suddenly remembered that Marquis Zhongzhen is a woman!
Thinking of this, Zhou Yuji suddenly felt that it seemed to make sense. He was deeply impressed by the fact that women could serve as generals. So what would be so strange about a woman becoming a civil servant?
Anyway, when he thought about it from this perspective, he felt relieved.
Even because of Marquis Zhongzhen, Zhou Yuji also had a good impression of the female official in front of him.
Of course, he absolutely denied it, not because this female officer was beautiful! He also absolutely denied it, because he had never seen a beautiful woman wearing a scarlet robe!