Chapter 025 Upright
If there are blocked chapters, it is because of suspected banned words, mainly... Hehe, everyone understands, please save one, thank you.
"You have become a joke in the official circles of the capital..." Zhang Wenda said helplessly.
Li Maohui was also sitting next to him. The two of them had a good relationship: "Smelly boy, tell me the truth, have you done Wei Zhongxian any favors?"
Chen Cao didn't dare to say this: "I misunderstood, not really."
"No?" Li Maohui is an old man in the officialdom: "His Majesty will leave you alone before the end of the court, and even go to the Yangxin Hall to ask you something? If you say that Wei Zhongxian's castrated dog didn't help you, I will resign immediately. He left as an official. Do you know that nowadays the gelding is becoming more and more snobbish? Your Majesty is young and leaves most of the matters to the gelding. Emperor Taizu's iron-clad old man seems to be of no use. It would be better for you, an upright gentleman and that gelding. Dogs keep their distance, but you take the initiative to fawn over?"
Chen Cao finally understood. The meal before leaving Beijing became the Hongmen Banquet again. If he didn't explain clearly today, he might not be able to leave the house: "Future father-in-law, you..."
Zhang Wenda then smiled and said: "Ke Cang, the name has changed..."
"Uncle Zhang, stop making fun of him." Chen Cao became serious: "Now that the Liao Dynasty has been ruined, Yuan Yingtai retreated to Liaoyang. My nephew thought that if he could not hold it for ten days, within this month, all the princes in the court would definitely receive it. With the news of the fall of Liaoyang, it is still unknown whether Yuan Jinglue will be able to cross Shanhaiguan alive."
"Nonsense..." Li Maohui immediately said angrily: "How dare you, a young boy, to comment on Liao affairs?"
"Hey Ke Cang, Liang Ce once killed the leader of the slave chief in Liaodong, and has seen the methods of establishing slaves, but you can't judge rashly." Zhang Wenda interrupted Li Maohui, and then looked at Chen Cao: "Why is Liang Ce like this? Think?"
Chen Cao said: "Yuan Jinglue's management is impeccable, but he does not know the military. Let him manage the military, but it is a major failure of the court. Once General Li dies, Jiannu will no longer have any worries. He will attack Shenyang. Once Shenyang is lost, If Liaoyang is not protected, the defense line built by Lord Xiong will be empty, and now only small strongholds such as forts are left behind Liaoyang. Liaodong is even more dangerous."
Zhang Wenda was stunned by what Chen Cao said. Chen Cao said again: "Uncle Zhang, Chen Cao guarantees with his personality that Liaoyang will be lost, so he asked Wei Zhongxian to help him and became the right guard of Nanjing." Commander, in the future, let my nephew go to Liaodong. My nephew will be sure to repel the Jiannu and even recover their so-called capital city, 'Shengjing'."
hiss...
Zhang Wenda and Li Maohui took a breath together. No wonder Chen Cao wanted to bribe Wei Zhongxian to become a commander despite his big joke.
"In our Ming Dynasty, being a civil servant was naturally the most promising. Haven't you seen that there are many civil servants such as governors and managers who constrain military generals? If you only become a military general, the most you will do in the future is the general soldier." Zhang Wendayu said to himself. .
Since the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, they have been extremely stingy with titles, and they cannot grant titles to relatives. Zhang Wenda's words make it clear that Chen Cao has his own plans, and he is not someone who wants to be the commander-in-chief.
"My nephew naturally knows the key points. Therefore, uncle Zhang and his future father-in-law, please rest assured. My nephew will go to train the army after returning to Nanjing. He will try to complete the training within three years. At that time, he will have to ask uncle Zhang to help him in front of His Majesty. Say something nice and let me go to Liaodong to fight."
Zhang Wenda snorted and ignored Chen Cao. Then he picked up the wine glass and drank. Chen Cao turned to Li Maohui and knelt down: "Son-in-law Chen Cao, I would like to pay my respects to my father-in-law..."
"You..." Li Maohui didn't stop him. Thinking about his previous words and looking at Chen Cao's performance during the duel in front of the palace, he agreed to such a marriage: "I heard that in your Chen family, you are the only one with a little girl. Sister, let’s do this, how about you ask your Uncle Zhang to be the matchmaker?”
Zhang Wenda smiled and said: "No need to ask, I agree, tomorrow will be a good day."
The wedding between Chen Cao and Li Xiang was held on the evening of the next day. Zhang Wenda accepted Chen Cao as his adopted son. They were all senior officials in the capital. There were many people who came. To Chen Cao's surprise, Wu Chun came with a congratulatory gift from Wei Zhongxian. Although most of the civil servants present saw Chen Cao's joke, now that Wei Zhongxian's power had not expanded, they all stepped forward to get close to him.
On the night of the wedding, Chen Cao did not overdo it. Although Li Xiang was over eighteen, Chen Cao really loved her and thought that it would be difficult to get things done at his father-in-law's house, so he made up his mind to take care of Li Xiang after returning to Nanjing.
The morning before Chen Cao left Beijing, he went to see Luo Sigong. He met with him secretly for nearly an hour before leaving, and then went to Tieling Township Jun's Mansion.
"What are you doing here?" It's not that Li Waner doesn't want to see Chen Cao, but she knows that Chen Cao is getting married in the capital. Although Chen Cao has said it before, she is still reluctant in her heart. The man in front of her is perfect, but... This kind of person makes myself love and hate him at the same time.
The tepid words made Chen Cao not feel embarrassed at all: "Shenyang fell, and most of the Li family were captured by Jian Nu. If Jian Nu is surrendered, you will definitely be implicated."
"Ah?" Li Waner was so frightened that her face turned pale.
Chen Cao made up these words. Although they have not received the news now, Chen Cao from later generations knows clearly that the Li family surrendered after being captured, and they also worked for the establishment of slaves.
"If you stay in the capital, I'm afraid you will be implicated," he said, staring at Li Waner affectionately and saying, "I like you and will definitely marry you, but I can't leave you alone in the capital. You just don't want to think about it. You also have to consider your mother and a large group of people in the house."
"What should I do?" Li Waner shed tears and hugged Chen Cao.
Chen Cao stroked her bun and said: "Send a letter to ask for permission to go to Nanjing to pray for Taizu's mausoleum. As long as you submit a letter, someone will help you. When the time comes, I will arrange for someone to wait for you in Tianjin and take you to Nanjing." ,trust me."
Chen Cao had one important thing to do before leaving Beijing. He rushed to the Shuntian Mansion Yamen with his men dressed in brocade uniforms. When the gatekeeper saw the brocade guards coming, he was so frightened that he rolled up to the horse and said flatteringly: "No...no...I wonder why you are here on business?"
"Is your Bi Fu Cheng in the Yazhong?" Xu Kaixian asked.
"I'm...I'm..." The Yamen servant nodded repeatedly. Jinyiwei's reputation in the capital was not false: "Young man, I'll go and report it to your lord."
Bi Maokang thought he was an upright official, and his brother was also a senior official in the ministry. Although he was not very responsive to Wei Zhongxian's attempts to win over him, he was not afraid of the imperial guards. Bi Maokang, dressed in official uniform, walked out of the yamen, looked at Chen Cao on the horse, frowned and said, "I don't know this." Sir, why do you come to see me? If I commit a crime, it will have to be dealt with by the Division of Three Laws."
Chen Cao quickly dismounted. He knew that Bi Maokang had misunderstood, so he stepped forward and said with a smile: "Master Bi, don't panic. I am Chen Cao. I have come to ask Master Bi for advice on some personal matters. It is about firearms. Please give me your advice." .”
When Bi Maokang heard that he was asking about firearms, he immediately became interested. Everyone knew that this Shuntian Prime Minister had some special hobbies: "Well, please come and talk to me."
After sitting down in the duty room, Chen Cao said: "Master Bi, Chen entered the topic directly. Chen Cao was appreciated by His Majesty and allowed to establish a firearms factory under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing. However, there is a lack of a director. I don't know Bi." Are you interested, sir?"
If he were an ordinary official, Chen Cao would definitely be treated as a fool when he said these words. The Prime Minister of Shuntian Prefecture is a fourth-rank foreign official in the capital, and a chief official has a rank of eighth rank. Comparing the two sides, only a fool would become a chief, but Everyone knows that the officials of Shuntian Prefecture and Yingtian Prefecture are the most difficult to become. They are all powerful people, and no one dares to offend them. Although the official position is big, the power is small, and the officials of Shuntian Prefecture in the past dynasties have not done anything good.
Bi Maokang was born as a Jinshi, but he has not been satisfied with being an official in Shuntian Prefecture in recent years. In addition, Wei Zhongxian began to show his prominence in the officialdom, and this arrogant person became even more unsatisfied with his official career. However, his biggest hobby in life is Studying firearms, he has innate wisdom in weapon manufacturing, just like the founders of Western inventions and manufacturing, so Chen Cao came to give it a try before leaving to see Bi Maokang's reaction. Even if he can't do it now, based on the knowledge of later generations, This guy will also be squeezed out and go to Nanjing to retire.
Bi Maokang pondered for a moment and then said, "I wonder where Mr. Chen's firearms factory will go in the future?"
Chen Cao knew what he meant, so he said: "I am the commander of the Nanjing Right Guards. I will go to Liaodong with the muskets from the firearms factory in the future. As long as I don't die, this factory will not collapse and there will be more prospects in the future."
Bi Maokang looked at Chen Cao's appearance carefully, then cupped his hands and said: "As the saying goes, a good harp can be found, but a close friend is hard to find. A thousand-mile horse must be found by a talented person. Mr. Chen, please take care of him in the future."
Chen Cao's heart was beating wildly, as if he had won a lottery jackpot. He immediately stood up and bowed to Bi Maokang and saluted: "Chen has the help of Lord Bi. If he is rich and glorious in the future, Lord Bi will be the same as Chen."
"Mr. Chen, you're too polite, you're too polite..." Bi Maokang said, "I will submit my resignation soon and ask to be transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of Industry. Please forgive me, Mr. Chen, for your time."
"You're welcome, Master Bi. If you arrive in Nanjing at any time, let me know. I will arrange for a guard to pick you up at Longjiang Ferry. Don't worry."
Bi Maokang held up his hand and said, "Mr. Chen came to look for me like this. Is this what Mr. Xu was referring to?"
Chen Cao frowned and said, "I wonder which Mr. Xu?"
"Mr. Xu Guangqi, a former Hanlin Academy scholar and Zhanshi Mansion's Young Master, is my teacher. He is the only one who knows how I master firearms." Bi Maokang said with cupped hands.
Chen Cao was shocked, yes, why didn't he think of these talented people with extraordinary skills in the late Ming Dynasty? He only thought of firearms expert Bi Maokang, but forgot about Xu Guangqi, and by the way, there was also Song Yingxing: " But it was not Master Xu who guided me. I heard Zhang Shangshu say it when I came to the capital. By the way, Master Bi, do you know that there is a person named Song Yingxing?"
"Song Yingxing?" Bi Maokang asked in surprise: "What does Mr. Chen want from him?"
Do you really know him?
Chen Cao raised his hand and said, "To be honest, I heard that this person also has research on firearms. I want to find him to work with you."
Bi Maokang said: "But you might as well tell Mr. Chen that Song Yingxing is my student. He has failed the exam many times. Now he has returned to Jiangxi. I heard that he went to support his old mother."
Chen Cao nodded, a little worried in his heart.
After settling things here and getting better with Bi Maokang, Chen Cao left with his people and took the documents from the Nanjing Right Guard Commander issued by the Ministry of War and the Fifth Army Governor's Office. When passing by Tianjin, he told Xu Kaixian to lead his people to wait for Li Waner here, and he Returned to Nanjing by boat from the canal with a small flag force.
Except for the official ships, the remaining civilian ships on the canal are under the direct jurisdiction of the Caobang in Shandong. The livelihood of the people on the canal is under the management of the Caobang. The governor of canal transportation and the chief patrol officer have all the management of the canal. You have to go through Caobang. There are not enough human resources these days and there are only so many officials. The unwillingness of the officials to go to the countryside has led to an increase in temporary workers.
There have been horse thieves in all dynasties in Shandong, and they were even more serious in the late Ming Dynasty. The governor of Shandong could not control these things, and the general army did not do anything. Therefore, in terms of water transportation, it was entirely dependent on the canal gang to protect the ships.
Chen Cao's ship is a two-story ship belonging to the Ministry of Industry. The upper layer bears the banner of the Ministry of Industry. The lower layer contains things brought back to Nanjing from the capital. The upper layer is occupied by people. At this moment, Chen Cao is on the boat with Li Xiang. Looking at the scenery on both sides of the canal.
"Now that I'm gone, I don't know when I'll come back to the capital. Daddy lives alone, hey..." Li Xiang sighed.
"The old man is not short of money." After Chen Cao married Li Xiang, he even changed his title: "Besides, with me as the son-in-law of Jinyiwei, no one in the capital dares to find trouble with him, and his Taipu Temple is not important. In the yamen, no one will target him."
"Husband, do you love me?" Li Xiang's sudden words confused Chen Cao.
"What do you say?" Chen Cao turned around and looked at Li Xiang affectionately: "Why do you suddenly ask this, if I don't love you, will I marry you?"
"That's not what I meant." Li Xiang looked at the water with a somewhat lonely expression: "I heard that you have been to the Tieling Township Lord's Mansion several times. Are you interested in that Township Lord? Also, I don't care about your concubines, but others I have a royal decree, how can I become a concubine if I marry you?"
I see...
Chen Cao breathed a huge sigh of relief, and then told Li Xiang what happened to Li Waner and what happened: "I am responsible for General Li's death, so I can't harm Waner. She will be an equal wife in the future, and you have to let her go. "
At this point, Chen Cao quickly changed the subject and said, "By the way, Xiang'er, do you know a person named Bai Yu in the official circles of the capital?"
"Bai Yu?" Li Xiang thought for a moment: "I know, he is the Minister of Justice. Why, do you have a grudge against him?" Seeing Chen Cao's serious look, Li Xiang said, "I heard that his daughter married Duke Baoguo. Son, His Majesty decreed that his daughter should be granted imperial status."
That's right, it's true.
Chen Cao smiled and said: "There are some things that are not big questions, so I will just ask."
"Sir..." Zhang Fengnian, the flag officer, reported: "The canal ahead is blocked. I heard that the soldiers patrolling the Yamen are arresting the thieves, and they are letting everyone on the boat disembark for inspection one by one."
"During the Wuzong Dynasty, Liu Liu and Liu Qi rebelled, and the thieves who formed the territory of Shandong were rampant. Although they were suppressed by the imperial court, groups of thieves were always present in the territory of Shandong," Li Xiang said like a Bai Xiaosheng. Chen Cao said: "Not only was there a severe drought in Shaanxi last year, but even Shandong was devastated. These thieves who came from poor people naturally started to rob again."
"You will be my military advisor from now on." Chen Cao looked at Li Xiang and said.
"ah?"
In addition to officers and soldiers, the inspectors also included many gangsters in plainclothes. All of them carried waist knives and asked people on the boat to disembark for inspection. Those who took bribes, those who touched people's concubines' buttocks, and those who grabbed other people's breasts during the chaos. Yes, Chen Cao frowned and looked at these people, then turned to look at his wife Li Xiang, and became angry.
"People on the boat, come down for inspection." A big man leading the Cao Gang pointed at Chen Cao and said.
"Presumptuous..." Zhang Fengnian pointed to the big flag on the ship and said, "Didn't you see the words "Ministry of Industry" written on it? The ship in front was not allowed to pass."
"Hahaha..." The big man laughed twice at the top of his lungs, and then cursed: "You idiot, a ship belonging to the Ministry of Industry is so publicized, even if the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Industry are on board today, you still have to get off the ship. Accept inspection. Listen carefully, if you don't get off the ship, you will be punished for harboring thieves. Someone is coming..."
As soon as the big man shouted, the surrounding Cao gang members gathered around him. At first glance, there were twenty or thirty people, each holding a waist knife, and they looked extremely hateful.
"Xian'er, who is the governor of water transportation now?"
Li Xiang thought for a while: "Yang Yipeng..."
"How is this person's official reputation?" Chen Cao asked again.
Li Xiang said: "Very good..."
"I have my own plan. You stay on the boat, and I will go down to meet these people for a while." Chen Cao said, leaving two people to guard him, and he took Zhang Fengnian and the two captains off the boat.
The big man saw that the group of people who came down were all wearing brocade robes and official boots. They were indeed officials. With a three-dimensional attitude towards officials, he rudely handed over to Chen Cao: "This official, I'm sorry for being rude, but please call everyone on board to get off, I want to inspect the ship."
"Brother, they are Jin Yiwei." A young man next to the big man whispered in his ear.
Although Zhang Fengnian and the others were not wearing Feiyu uniforms, they were holding the symbol Xiuchun Dao, a knife that only Jin Yiwei could hold. The big man was shocked, but seeing Chen Cao, a tall and powerful man, looked a little murderous. , with a bit of respect: "My lord, I don't know where you are going on this trip? What is your official status? I might as well report it to the General Military Yamen."
"Even if Yang Yipeng, the governor of water transportation, comes, he still has to be polite when meeting my family. You people, don't let yourselves be wronged." Zhang Fengnian said coldly.
"Who is it?" A general flag officer came with a group of soldiers, looked him up and down, and then looked at the big man. The big man looked at Chen Cao with a smile on his face: "I am asking you a question, you Who is he? Whose name is he and his place of origin? Please report him immediately."
Zhang Fengnian immediately showed the badge of Jinyiwei to the chief flag officer. When the chief flag saw the badge, he was so frightened that he quickly handed over to Chen Cao: "It turns out to be Lord Zhenfu. Please calm down, calm down..."
Chen Cao said: "If you don't want to be the commander-in-chief, how about I send your commander a driving notice of my imperial guard?"
"Sir, please calm down..." The flag officer immediately knelt down on one knee.
"Can my ship leave?" Chen Cao asked coldly.
"Do as you please, Sir..." the flag officer said respectfully.
"Brother, look at the little lady on the boat..."
The big man looked along his hand and saw Li Xiang watching from the railing of the boat. He smiled lewdly and said, "Beautiful... very beautiful..."
There are still boats passing by on the canal at night, but only a few. Most of them rest at the docks along the coast.
Chen Cao and Li Xiang were eating in the cabin when they heard a muffled sound and felt obvious shaking in the cabin.
"what happened?"
Chen Cao asked, and saw Zhang Fengnian cautiously walking into the cabin, cupping his hands and saying, "Sir, there is a water ghost on board."
"Ah?" Chen Cao was so frightened that he took two steps back.
The water ghost here refers to the bandits who rely on the canal for their meals. Chen Cao was also frightened at first. Fortunately, Li Xiang, who was very knowledgeable, explained it. When he heard that someone was boarding the boat, Chen Cao immediately stood up and said: Bu Ai said: "Copycat, bring me my official uniform."
Just hearing the footsteps of "dong dong dong", a group of wet and masked men in black ran to the door of Chen Cao's cabin on the second floor. At first, a tall man pointed a knife at Chen Cao and said: "Those who know the truth will take the boat." Leave the little lady alone and leave, if not, hey... I'll chop you into pieces and throw them into the canal to feed the fish."
"Brother, it's really Jin Yiwei." A person next to the tall man whispered.
"I know," the big man said with a smile: "We haven't killed many people yet? Just the guards in uniform, just kill them..."
The corner of Chen Cao's mouth rose with a sneer, and he gently pulled out the Xiuchun Dao, blocking Li Xiang at the back. He took a step forward and looked at the big man with his sword: "The Liaodong Tatars and Zhejiang Japanese pirates are worse than you guys." Rampant was also killed by me, but I don't believe you have the courage to fight to the death."
After saying that, he stopped paying attention to the big man, and took the first step to rush towards the big man. The cabin was not very big, and most of the men in black were standing outside the cabin. There were only five or six people inside. When Chen Cao made such a move, then The big man even panicked. If his younger brother hadn't blocked Chen Cao's fatal blow with a knife, maybe the big man would have gone to see the King of Hell.
"If you don't give a toast to a dog, you will be fined with wine." The big man exposed himself and slashed at Chen Cao with his knife. Then the people behind him joined the battle group. The small flag men behind Zhang Fengnian also joined the battle group, and the two sides started an armed fight. .
Different from previous fights, this fight changed instantly as some people fell to the ground and died. Chen Cao chopped down five people one after another, and the Xiuchun knife in his hand was also curled. The two sides temporarily retreated, and there were more than a dozen corpses in the cabin. , only Zhang Fengnian and another captain were left in the small flag department on his side, and there were three people including himself, while there were at least ten more people on the black-clothed man's side.
"Sir, you and your wife should withdraw first, and I will cut off your humble post." Zhang Fengnian stood in front of Chen Cao with a knife.
Chen Cao patted Zhang Fengnian's shoulder, saw his bleeding back, threw away the curling knife in his hand, walked to the cabin, picked up a long knife belonging to a man in black, looked at it, and sneered: "Hey, What he returned to him was the standard long sword in the army. Do you, the Cao Gang, want to rebel?"
The big man in black was also injured. He was shocked when he heard this, and then said in a vicious voice: "No one is allowed to run away."
Chen Cao had a knife in his hand, and he took the lead in killing the big man in black. The big man suffered Chen Cao's mistake and hurriedly dodged back. Several men in black behind him came out with knives...
"Sir, please retreat... It's important to protect my wife..." Zhang Fengnian's face was covered with blood. The only captain under his command had been chopped down, but if you look closely, there were less than ten men in black left at most.
There are only two of them here. Chen Cao has killed at least a dozen people and is already a little exhausted. The injured Yan Ling's long sword is also curled: "The Ming army...will not retreat..."
The big man pointed his sword and looked at Chen Cao fiercely: "This official leather is not bad. You can take it back and sew it into a seat cushion. Kill him..."
"ah..."
Chen Cao roared out and was about to exert his strength when suddenly a long arrow broke through the air and entered through the window, shooting into the body of the man in black who was already approaching.
