At midnight, the hustle and bustle on the pier outside Yangzhou City disappeared. Ren Minyu led a group of officials, Wang Zhaoyi and others to see Chang Yu off. They came quietly and left quietly. They stayed in Yangzhou City for a day and talked about something. Big Business borrowed a huge sum of money and poached several loyal and courageous talents.
I waved my sleeves and it was time to leave. There were a lot of things going on in the capital, and the man in the palace was also in a hurry.
In ancient times, boating in shallow water relied on poles or paddles in deep water. Canals that were neither deep nor shallow could use all three. But even so, its speed was far slower than that of a horse traveling on land.
There were not many boats sailing on the water in the night breeze. Shi Kefa had already fallen asleep on Chang Yu's big boat. The Chen family brothers and several relatives were chatting and laughing with Lian Xin at the stern of the boat. Li Muchian was sitting cross-legged on the bow of the boat with his eyes closed and meditating.
Although it has entered autumn, the weather is still hot and hot. Even though the river breeze is cool, the cabin still seems stuffy. Chang Yu walked out of the cabin to take a breath and sat down next to Li Muxian: "It is late at night, and the Taoist Master has not returned to the cabin to rest."
"The cabin was so stuffy." Li Muxian opened his eyes, glanced at the stern of the ship and sighed, "That little angel is a troublemaker."
"How do you say that?" Chang Yu frowned. As expected, Li Muchian said something that made him very disgusted: "Beauty is a curse. Sooner or later, the Chen brothers will be at odds with each other and even fall out because of their lotus." And other theories about the guilt of beautiful women...
Chang Yu wanted to refute fiercely, but thinking that the patriarchal thoughts of men in this era were extremely deep-rooted, it was useless to say so and would only make the atmosphere very awkward, so he changed the topic: "Taoist Master Fang practices every morning to absorb the essence of heaven and earth. You have been in high spirits all day, but why do you look like your steps are unsteady and your whole expression is depressed today? Is it because you didn't practice this morning or because someone else has sucked your essence away?"
Ahem, cough, cough, Li Muchian coughed a few times to hide his embarrassment: "Maybe he has been too busy running around recently."
Before Chang Yu had time to answer, he saw Gao Jie coming out of the cabin: "Is there a girl named 'Lao' in Qingyue Tower?" Chang Yu burst into tears as he held them back, and Li Muchian covered them with his hands. Face, "Ahem, cough, cough, General Gao, don't entertain the poor Taoist. The poor Taoist is a Taoist who never goes to the fireworks alley."
Really? Gao Jie sat down and said with a half-smile: "Today I was in Qingyue Tower and heard the girl inside say that there was a Taoist priest who could pinch her very hard, but in the end he tricked the girl into eating, drinking and sleeping. But I don’t know who did it.”
"They must be people pretending to be from our Taoist sect," Li Muxian grunted, "I have to resign first," and turned around to enter the warehouse.
Chang Yu punched Gao Jie: "Your mouth is more poisonous than that of Wuzhong. Could it be that you are really looking at him today?" Gao Jie chuckled: "I heard that Wuzhong said that Taoist master Fang Fang is good at this mouth, so he said it I lied to him, but it seems that is really the case..."
The two of them gossiped about Li Muxian on the bow of the boat and laughed quietly for a long time. Unknowingly, the boat had traveled for more than ten miles. The banks of the river on both sides were pitch black. It was unclear whether it was grass or crops. Chang Yu lay on the deck and looked at the night sky. The sky was a little overcast and there were not many stars. He pushed Gao Jie next to him with his foot and said, "I have something to discuss with you."
"Do you want food?" Gao Jie smiled faintly, but Chang Yu was slightly surprised. He turned over and sat up and looked at him: "How did you guess that?"
Gao Jie smiled: "It's not hard to guess what you are thinking. The topic you have mentioned most recently is the lack of food and grass. Now that there is no war, the only thing that can make you frown is food."
Chang Yu sighed: "Then you..."
"Whether it's borrowing or asking for it, you can take all of my warehouse and return it whenever you want, but you must leave enough food for my more than ten thousand mouths." Gao Jie's simple words moved Chang Yu: "Brother, you... …”
"Having you call me 'big brother' is worth everything." Gao Jie patted Chang Yu on the shoulder: "Apart from your identity, although you are young, you are very righteous. In terms of character, you are loyal to the emperor, protect the country, and consider the people in everything. This is beyond the reach of many people. You are in a high position but you don’t have any official airs. You are not hypocritical and pedantic like those civil servants, and you don’t have the coldness of eunuchs. So even if you are not the governor of Dongchang, I, Gao Jie, can compete with you. Becoming sworn sworn friends is a matter of great honor. You and I are brothers. Now that you need help, it is a major matter for the country and the people. I will do my best, brother."
Chang Yu never thought that a rough guy like Gao Jie could say such heartfelt words, which made him really emotional. To be honest, when he first traveled through time, Gao Jie wrote down all the dark things in his little notebook. List.
However, fate played a trick on people, and this rebellious warlord from the late Ming Dynasty actually...
"Brother is righteous." Chang Yu patted his chest and promised: "Don't worry, I will never borrow this food in vain. Whether this food is borrowed in my personal name or the name of the court, I will definitely calculate the interest for you clearly. Brother, although I I like to default on my debts, but I will never default on you, and I will never let you cheat on me."
"I trust you!" Gao Jie touched his head: "Brother, I'm a rough guy and I won't do anything like this. You can just make an agreement with your sister-in-law when you get back to Xuzhou. She is good at this."
Chang Yu actually had the idea of borrowing food from Gao Jie for a long time, but he never knew how to open his mouth. After all, Gao Jie had already donated some and borrowed some when he went south. Although he had a lot of reserves, Gao Jie had more than ten thousand troops under his command and had to provide for himself. Two years.
Unexpectedly, Gao Jie was unexpectedly cheerful, which made Chang Yu surprised but also grateful: "You also have military exploits when you go south this time, but they are not enough to guarantee you a title. If you do it forcefully, there will be no gossip, and even you and me Both of you are in trouble, but as long as you have the military merit to take action when we attack Xi'an, I will guarantee your knighthood!"
Gao Jie smiled indifferently: "To be honest, before I, Gao Jie, wanted to pursue you, of course I wanted to get promoted and make a fortune, but it's different now. Whether you believe it or not, I sincerely want to be your brother. As for the matter of whether to be knighted or not, You can just make up your own mind. If you can be knighted, it would be a great thing. If you can't be knighted, I will have no complaints. To be honest, having a brother like you is no different from being knighted."
Tsk tsk tsk... Chang Yu shook his head exaggeratedly: "I can't believe these words came from you. I really wonder if Li Yan taught you to say them." Gao Jie curled his lips: "Li Yan is not so kind to me. He left with Huang Degong." He seems to be unhappy with me."
Chang Yu rolled his eyes: "Why don't you examine why he doesn't like you..."
Moreover, Gao Jie looked disdainful: "Why should I try to please him?"
Chang Yu was startled, but it was true that the most important thing was to be yourself and maintain your own style. If you turned into a submissive and humble gentleman who looked at everyone everywhere, would you still be Gao Jie?
Chang Yu doesn't need such a great hero, nor does he need such a Huang Degong, nor does he need such a Wu Sangui. The reason why these warriors caught his eye is because of their strong personal personalities and styles.
In the past few days when Chang Yu returned to Beijing after pacifying the banditry of Baiwang, the capital city naturally became agitated: As expected, the eunuch of Dongchang did not end the war as soon as he took action. After taking it away, the head of Bai Wang, the leader of the thief, was hung outside Desheng Gate in the north of the city for public display. Since countless people came to watch it every day, the streets were almost empty.
Dongchang has always been a place that is most feared and despised by both the government and the public. However, it is in such a place that a little eunuch who is loved, hated and admired emerges. He is fierce and capable of fighting, and he also knows how to punish people.
Almost all the courtiers and dignitaries in the capital had suffered from his humiliation, wishing that he would burp earlier, but they had to admire this eunuch's ability. No matter who his opponent was on the battlefield, he was guaranteed to win.
If it was said that his achievements in the past against the approaching bandits and the invading Tatars in Gyeonggi were due to the cooperation of the imperial court and the whole country, but this time he went south to really stop everyone's mouths, asking for money but not having any money. Whether there is food or not, he has to rely on himself to get food to the ground, and he is still invincible.
And those cabinet bosses knew better. This eunuch led his soldiers to beg for food to quell the chaos, and even squeezed out part of the incoming military rations to help the people. This move really made some people ashamed. So much so that in the remaining months of Chang Yu's campaign, the voices in the court to impeach him had disappeared. Only some censors who did not know who they were ordered to pick bones from the eggs to impeach him. he.
However, they were directly ignored by the cabinet and the emperor, and no one paid any attention to them.
The court is like this, and the public praise of Chang Yu is even greater. Any gossip related to Chang Yu can spread beyond recognition in an instant and fly all over the world. It is said that during this period, ten out of ten storytellers in the capital are talking about it. There are various rumors and gossips about the little eunuchs, and the content is of course mainly about wars. The Taiyuan War, the Baoding War, the Ningyuan War, the Qingzhou War... The battles involving the little eunuchs have all become a series.
That's fine for the common people, but the attitudes of a group of people have also begun to change, the literati.
This group is the mortal enemy of the eunuchs. They have been their unrelenting enemies since the day there were eunuchs. They are natural enemies that cannot be resolved, and they are also enemies that the emperor does not want to resolve.
When Chang Yu first came to prominence, the literati all scolded him, saying that he was the second Wei Zhongxian! At that time, Chang Yu also adopted some public opinion confrontation and suppression. He was very good at using public opinion to suppress public opinion, and bribed some literati to argue and quarrel with those people from the perspective of Dongchang.
It is said that the most commonly used and most lethal sentence is: The eunuchs of Dongchang fought bloody battles in front of the battle to kill the enemy and defend the country. What are you doing? What have you contributed to the Ming Dynasty?
The confrontation in public opinion, coupled with the crushing on the battlefield, made both the Dongchang and the eunuchs famous. Now, whether it is ordinary literati, the scholars of the Imperial Academy, or the group of public intellectuals in the Fushe, they have no regard for the Dongchang or the eunuchs. For Chang Yu, the firepower was passively or automatically reduced.
Of course, no matter how well a person does, there will always be people pointing fingers and making irresponsible remarks behind his back, just because some people always hold others to the standards of a saint and hold themselves to the standards of a bitch.
