Holding Zhu Shenzui's gift, the two children were so happy that they couldn't even see it. One was playing with the nine-ring ring, and the other was shaking the rattle.
If Zhu Xiuer hadn't said to eat first and play later, the two children might not even want to eat today's meal.
Putting away the toys for the time being, the two children followed Zhu Xiuer to the Kang to have dinner. Perhaps because of Zhu Shenzui's arrival, the two children had a particularly good appetite today and ate two points more than usual.
Zhu Shenzui and his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin were at another table. Traditional rules prohibited women and children from serving, not even family members.
They drank wine and chatted while eating. At the same time, Zhu Shenzui asked about the two children. When he came, he heard the boss reading in the room. He was reciting the Three-Character Sutra, which sounded quite impressive.
Zhou Anmin said with a smile that Zhou Chong's Three-Character Classic was almost memorized, and next he had to learn the Thousand-Character Classic. He also specially hired a teacher for Zhou Chong, an old master from the city. He had sent him to Shu Xiu last month. These days, Zhou Chong officially attends a private school.
As for Zhou Bin, who is still young, he will first let Zhou Chong take him at home to learn the Hundred Family Surnames and the Three-Character Classic, and then send him to a private school in two years. The old master said that the two children are very smart, especially the eldest Zhou Chong, who is very talented in reading. Maybe the future of the Zhou family will lie with Zhou Chong.
If you can become a famous scholar, after studying for seven or eight years, let your child take the Tongsheng test first. If you pass the Tongsheng test, you can then take the scholar test. If you pass the scholar test, you can take the imperial examination.
If the Zhou family produces a Jinshi, then the Zhou family will be completely transformed. At this point, Zhou Anmin's eyes were shining with anticipation.
Everything is low-grade, but reading is good, let alone feudal society, even in later generations.
It is the wish of all parents to take the 985 and 211 exams. It is even easier to find a good job after graduating from a prestigious university, and it is much better than others to take the civil service exam.
Looking at Zhou Chong and Zhou Bin, who were eating steamed buns while eating noodles, and looking at the nine-ring chain and rattles not far away from time to time, Zhu Shenzui couldn't help but sigh.
Times were different, but his parents' thoughts were the same. He didn't know whether his nephew could become a topic writer in a small town and get a title on the gold list.
But the good days of the Ming Dynasty are numbered, and Zhu Shenzui knows this very well. Calculating the days, if Zhou Chong can really pass the imperial examination smoothly, then he might as well not take the imperial examination, because the risk of becoming an official at that time is too great, so he might as well find another way.
However, it is too early to say this. Besides, it is not a bad thing to hope that your children will become successful. It is always good for children to study more. If it were not for the fact that Zhu Shenzui was from the clan, he would have thought about taking the imperial examination. Unfortunately, The thing is that this road is feasible for ordinary people, but it is not feasible at all for Zhu Shenzui.
Zhu Xiuer and the children ate very efficiently, and after simply finishing their meal, they took the two children away.
The two children did not refuse. They were now focused on the gift that their uncle Zhu Shenzui had just given. He took the child to the back room, leaving Zhu Shenzui and Zhou Anmin outside. They drank wine slowly and talked.
"Have you been to Zhao Cun?" Zhou Anmin asked in a low voice as he picked up the flask and refilled Zhu Shenzui's glass.
Zhu Shenzui nodded. He and Zhou Anmin, the salt smugglers in Wangjia Village, knew that Zhou Anmin was the one who smuggled salt, and Zhou Anmin also helped a lot.
There is something unknown to outsiders. Zhou Anmin is not only the Yi Cheng here, but also a member of the Jinyiwei system. However, the identity of the latter is very secret. Except for Zhu Shenzui and his sister Zhu Xiuer, even his two children are hidden.
The Jinyiwei is a special department of the Ming Dynasty. This department was initially just the emperor's pro-military honor guard. Later, Lao Zhu granted the Jinyiwei the right to privately monitor hundreds of officials, and this department gradually transformed from an honor guard into a spy organization.
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Jinyiwei has always existed. Although most of the time due to the emperor's reuse of eunuchs and the establishment of the East Factory and the West Factory, the power of the Jinyiwei has been weakened a lot. However, judging from the existence time and scale of the Jinyiwei, this institution still remains It is the largest spy agency now.
Jinyiwei has many specific powers, among which gathering information and supervising officials are two of them. To do this, eyes and ears are necessary.
In the Ming Dynasty, when the Jin Yiwei was at its most powerful, it could be said to be all-pervasive. An inconspicuous old servant in the Baiguan family who had worked for more than ten years might be the identity of the Jin Yiwei. He had worked hard and concealed his name for decades, quietly... Monitor the target, secretly record every move of the target, and report to the superior at any time.
The surveillance capabilities of Jin Yiwei are so great that the secret service agencies of later generations may not be as good as them. We cannot but say how powerful and terrifying this agency is.
However, as the Ming Dynasty has been founded for more than two hundred years, Jinyiwei has inevitably gradually declined. Especially the current Emperor Wanli, who has not been in court for decades, does not pay as much attention to Jinyiwei as before. Therefore, the current Jin Yiwei is no longer the prosperous Jin Yiwei before, but even though such a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse, the Jin Yiwei brand is still famous.
As a postmaster, Zhou Anmin works as the director of a local guest house, and his guest house is a government-run guest house. The people who live here are either passing officials or their family members.
Because of this job, it has long been customary for Yi Cheng to concurrently hold the position of Jin Yiwei, so Zhou Anmin also took the title of Jin Yiwei while serving as Yi Cheng. Of course, his position is only the lowest rank among Jin Yiwei. There are countless people like him in Jinyiwei, maybe tens of thousands, and they are simply inconspicuous.
But no matter what, Jin Yiwei is Jin Yiwei. With this name, many things are much easier to do than ordinary people.
Moreover, Jin Yiwei is not immune to fireworks. Although some things cannot be done openly, it is common to use Jin Yiwei's name to give himself some convenience in private. It is precisely because of this that when Zhu Shenzui was about to sell private salt, he specifically asked his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin. Zhou Anmin spent some effort to help him open his joints and introduced several close colleagues to his brother-in-law.
In other words, the relationship in Zhaocun is the connection that Zhou Anmin helped build, and this is why the current stable salt road is possible.
In addition, Zhu Shenzui's identity is also a problem. You must know that Zhu Shenzui is a member of the clan, and the clan is not allowed to leave the place of residence at will.
Zhou Anmin also helped a lot in this regard, finding connections for Zhu Shenzui to cover up. If Zhu Shenzui had not only relied on the false identity he obtained privately from the Pingyang government office, how could it have been so easy to prevaricate him? possible?
"Is the journey going well this time?"
"It went smoothly, but I encountered something while passing by Yangtou Mountain..." Zhu Shenzui didn't hide anything from his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin. Besides, in addition to visiting his sister and brother-in-law, his other reason for coming here this time was to ask for Li Hu's identification. Case.
Although Zhu Shenzui believed that Li Hu would not lie to him, no matter what happened to Li Hu's origin and the people under him, Zhu Shenzui was not at ease based on Li Hu's words alone.
Furthermore, Li Hu committed a crime. Zhu Shenzui must figure out how big the crime is and whether there will be any unpredictable consequences in the future at Yangtou Mountain. This was also the main reason why Zhu Shenzui decided to determine how to identify Li Hu. Zhu Shenzui would not be completely relieved until this matter was clarified.
Immediately, Zhu Shenzui told Zhou Anmin about the encounter with Li Hu's group in Yangtou Mountain. As Zhu Shenzui told Zhou Anmin, Zhou Anmin gradually frowned. He looked at his brother-in-law thoughtfully, As a brother-in-law, he knew very well what kind of person his brother-in-law was, and what it meant to say these things today.
In other words, despite his young age, his brother-in-law is really not that simple. In just two years, even with his own help, the people in Wangjiacun may have been able to do this, but ordinary people simply couldn't do it.
Moreover, although Zhu Shenzui did not read much, he had great ideas, especially his brains and courage, and his martial arts were also very good. If Zhu Shenzui was not a member of the clan, with Zhou Anmin's understanding of him, it would not be difficult to stand out in the future. Even if he did not take the imperial examination, even if he joined the army as a general, or if he was introduced to the Jinyi Guards, he could accomplish something. Come.
It's a pity that the status of the clan restricted Zhu Shenzui. With this status, Zhu Shenzui could not use his talents no matter how much he had. He could only smuggle salt and make some money secretly, which was the most he could do. If his guess is correct, Zhu Shenzui is so interested in Li Hu and his group because he is probably looking at Li Hu's temperament and their convenience in Sheep Head Mountain. If he can take Li Hu for his own use, then in the future The safety and certainty of continuing to smuggle salt is even greater.
As for the rest, Zhou Anmin didn't think much about it. After all, Ming Dynasty's control over the clan was too strong. It was fine for Zhu Shenzui to make a small fuss like this, but once he had other thoughts, it was impossible. When Wuzong was Zhengde, Anhua King Zhu Chixiu and Ning King Zhu Chenhao rebelled successively.
The rebellion of these two princes caused a sensation, but both King Anhua and King Ning were suppressed as soon as they turned back.
Among them, Zhu Zhixiu met Yang Yiqing. When he learned that Zhu Zhixiu had rebelled, Yang Yiqing immediately mobilized troops to put down the rebellion. But before he could reach the front line, Zhu Zhixiu's rebellion was put down by Yang Yiqing's old subordinate Qiu Yue.
Not to mention Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, this unlucky man with great ambitions but little talent met Wang Yangming directly. He was pinned to the ground and rubbed to death by Wang Yangming before he had just sent out troops and had not gone far. Even because the defeat was so fast, Emperor Zhengde, who was about to go on a personal expedition after hearing the news, deliberately played a trick of letting go because he was dissatisfied. In the end, the lives of the entire family were in danger.
