In the palace, inside Zhu Jinghong's bedroom.
At this moment, he was taking a bath, and Yinglian was waiting next to him.
From the initial avoidance of suspicion, now he simply let himself go and let Yinglian live near the palace, without having to go to the dining room to cover up.
The suppression of Japanese invaders has ended, and some people are busy with the finishing work. Zhu Jinghong is now free and practicing martial arts every day.
It's not to compete, but to keep fit and live longer.
At this moment, Zhu Jinghong was lying in the pool with his eyes closed, letting Yinglian wipe him.
He felt comfortable, but he was so exhausted that Yinglian was sweating, but she still had to work hard without complaint.
"I said Yinglian, if you are tired, just sit on me, I won't mind..."
Zhu Jinghong suddenly spoke, which startled Yinglian, and then she replied: "How dare you, slave!"
"How dare you do this? I'm afraid I've tired you out!"
With that said, regardless of whether Yinglian wanted to or not, Zhu Jinghong directly pulled her into his arms.
With the warm fragrance of nephrite in his arms, Zhu Jinghong only felt that life was beautiful. The only shortcoming was... there was only Yinglian beside him.
The rules of the royal family are strict, and maids are not allowed to serve before the opening of the palace. His behavior now has broken the rules.
It's just that Zhu Jinghong felt that he had made a great contribution this time, and the emperor's father should give him face, so he took Yinglian with him.
Otherwise, Zhu Jinghong would feel that his life was bleak if he hung out with a bunch of eunuchs every day.
After taking a bath at noon, Zhu Jinghong got dressed and then took Yinglian to have lunch together.
At this time, Deng An reminded: "Thirteenth Master, Xue Pan of the Xue family has arrived for half an hour. Do you want to see him?"
This matter was ordered yesterday. Zhu Jinghong was having so much fun practicing martial arts in the morning that he forgot about it.
But at this moment, he was not in a hurry to express his position, but asked casually: "How much money did he give you?"
These words frightened Deng An so much that he immediately knelt down and admitted: "Reporting to the Thirteenth Master, it's Xue Pan who insists on giving it, and I can't do it without accepting it... Just these fifty taels of silver notes!"
Of course Zhu Jinghong had guessed about Deng An collecting money.
Even if he didn't guess, someone would make insinuations and tell Zhu Jinghong about it.
Just because the eunuch was also involved, Deng An personally followed the eunuch's position, and there were more than a dozen people watching below.
Seeing Deng An take out the banknote, Zhu Jinghong glanced at him and said, "Since it was given to me, you can just accept it!"
"It's just that you can't keep this kind of benefit to yourself. Look at the brothers around you. None of them is living a hard life. Being happy alone is not as good as being happy with others!"
The meaning of this was to ask Deng An to distribute the money to other eunuchs. Zhu Jinghong was indeed generous to others.
Deng An immediately said: "This slave has this idea!"
Zhu Jinghong smiled and said to his left and right: "You haven't thanked Deng An yet!"
"Thank you so much, Eunuch Deng!"
The thanks from everyone made Deng An extremely heartbroken, but made Yinglian who was watching laugh out loud.
"Go and ask Xue Pan to come in!"
Immediately, an official turned around to deliver the message, and even after getting the money, he ran away a little faster.
After a while, Xue Pan was brought into the palace and knelt in front of Zhu Jinghong under the guidance of the officials.
"Get up and talk!" Zhu Jinghong said calmly.
"Thank you Thirteenth Master!"
Although he stood up, Xue Pan still bent his waist and lowered his head, keeping his identity straight.
Based on Zhu Jinghong's attitude at this moment, Xue Pan can roughly judge that today should not be a bad thing.
"Did your family buy the artillery for the Beijing Camp from Westerners this time?"
"Back to Thirteenth Master, that's exactly what it is!"
"Is the emperor's messenger in your family specialized in doing this?" Zhu Jinghong was a little confused.
"The villain's family has some business dealings with Westerners and sells them some tea, porcelain and silk!"
After organizing his words, Xue Pan continued: "The purchase of artillery is an urgent delivery from the Supervisor of Ceremonies, a temporary errand!"
Zhu Jinghong then asked: "How can Westerners deliver so many artillery pieces on a temporary basis? Where did the artillery come from? It can't be shipped from their hometown!"
"The artillery was brought from the south of Luzon. It was their own ordnance and was sold by their governor!"
In other words, the Western governor also engaged in the business of reselling arms. It seems that corruption is everywhere.
"Since your family has contacts with foreigners, can you do me a favor?"
"Thirteenth Master, please give your orders!" Xue Pan answered quickly.
Zhu Jinghong put down his chopsticks and said very solemnly: "Find some ways to find some foreign craftsmen, preferably those who can make guns and cannons. If you find them, I will give you a big reward!"
When they heard about the heavy reward, a group of eunuchs around them were shocked.
What can you reward someone with? If you want money, you don’t want power.
"I will give you instructions when I get back, and I will definitely finish it for the Thirteenth Master!"
Zhu Jinghong nodded and warned: "This matter is very important, you have to watch it yourself!"
"this……"
Seeing Xue Pan's doubts, Zhu Jinghong asked Xue Pan: "Why...are you in trouble?"
"No... no difficulty!" Xue Pan said sincerely.
In any case, the Xue family had helped him a lot, so Zhu Jinghong didn't say anything, so he couldn't let people suffer.
"If you have a problem, just say it, don't hide it!"
"Back to Thirteenth Master, I planned to leave for Beijing today. One is to check the accounts, and the other is to prepare for...my sister-in-law's candidacy for the school!"
Not only Aunt Xue thought it would be difficult to fill the vacancy, Xue Pan also had the same view, so he simply didn't mention it.
Zhu Jinghong said with an indifferent expression: "It doesn't matter if the accounts are checked a few days later. As for your sister's candidacy, it's just a trivial matter... I'll just say hello to Gongli Shangyi!"
"You can do things for me with peace of mind, find people and let's go to Beijing together. With my face, are you afraid that you won't be chosen?"
Again, the Xue family saved his life and lost a lot of money and land. Now he just took this opportunity to return the favor.
"Did you hear that?"
"Ah...yes!" Xue Pan was overjoyed.
But then he felt annoyed and cursed himself as a fool. He should have talked about filling the gap just now, so Zhu Jinghong easily helped.
Seeing that Xue Pan didn't speak, Zhu Jinghong was confused. Isn't Xue Pan not enough?
"What? Not enough?"
"That's enough, that's enough, thank you Thirteenth Master, thank you Thirteenth Master!" Xue Pan immediately kowtowed to express his gratitude.
"The things entrusted to you must be completed. You can hold on to the amount of money and I will pay you back later!"
I'll pay you back someday. It's easy to say that. Zhu Jinghong didn't say when he would pay you back. How could Xue Pan dare to come to collect debts?
Anyway, I don’t dare to ask for it if I don’t come, so why not be a favor and go out.
"It is my honor to serve Master Thirteen. I am friends with the Westerners. It doesn't cost much to hire a few craftsmen!"
"Hire someone with good craftsmanship, at least better than those in the war department. You have to be more attentive and don't be afraid of spending money!"
The Bingzhan Bureau is one of the twenty-four yamen of the inner court, and is responsible for making weapons for the guards and the direct army. The level of craftsmen below can be said to be the first-class level in the Ming Dynasty.
It was actually a bit difficult to find someone with better skills than Bing Zhan Bureau, and Xue Pan felt the pressure at this moment.
"Don't worry, Thirteenth Master, I will do my best to handle my errands!"
"Okay, you can go back!" Zhu Jinghong waved his hand.
"Yes Yes!"
After Xue Pan saluted again, he withdrew from the palace.
After he left, Yinglianfang couldn't help but said: "Master Thirteen... you still want to help such a villain?"
Zhu Jinghong sighed with emotion: "Alas... there are so many good people in this world, whether they are evil or good, as long as they can get something done, it is good!"
Seeing Yinglian's confused look, Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but laugh, why did he tell her this?
(End of chapter)
