On the second day of February in the second year of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Jianguo in the Ming Dynasty, in the Zhang family courtyard at the foot of Lushi Mountain in the north of Tongcheng County, there seemed to be some happy event, and dozens of banquet tables were set up.
Cold dishes, big dishes, and snacks were served one after another, filling the dozens of large tables under the dozen or so banquet tents set up in the Zhang family courtyard. In order to host today's banquet, the Tongcheng Zhang family really spent a lot of money. They invited the best master chefs from Tongcheng County and bought dozens of baskets of chicken, duck and fish. The maids, servants, and even the female relatives of some tenant households from the Zhang family in Tongcheng were called in to help, killing chickens and ducks, washing vegetables and carving fish, and they were very busy.
Those invited to the feast, apart from relatives and friends of the Zhang family in Tongcheng, were some heroes who had come down from the nearby Dabie Mountains.
To be honest, these two groups of people really can’t get along!
What is the origin of the Zhang family in Tongcheng? They are the descendants of Zhang Chun, the great upright official of the Ming Dynasty. They have been officials for generations. Zhang Ying's grandfather Zhang Shiwei was a prefect, and his uncle Zhang Bing was a civil servant in Shandong. He also became a loyal martyr of the Ming Dynasty and died in Shandong. The massacre of Jinan in the twelfth year of Chongzhen. Zhang Ying's father, Zhang Bingyi, was not as promising as his brother, but he was still a general judge. When he arrived at Zhang Ying's place, he became a Jinshi again and became the emperor of Kangxi in the south study room. .
Such a famous family, a family of poetry and rituals, usually came and went from the famous families in Tongcheng - Tongcheng was a place where the literary style was at its peak during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the famous Tongcheng School was born here. The people of this group are best at writing ancient prose, so there are many people who have passed the imperial examination. Naturally, there are more and more prominent families in the imperial examination in Tongcheng area!
And these prominent families in Tongcheng intermarried with each other... Although the members of these families were not necessarily the same in the officialdom and politics, in the troubled times of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they even belonged to different camps. Lord, but in private, everyone is related!
Such a group of people in Tongcheng, and even in the entire Anqing Prefecture, are aloof and superior beings. How could they sit together with a group of bandits from the Dabie Mountains to have a drink and talk?
But under the guidance of Zhang Ying, a member of the Zhang family in Tongcheng who "abandoned his official position and returned to Beijing", such a thing was successfully accomplished.
I don’t know what Zhang Ying and Zhang Dunfu said to the heads of the families in Tongcheng?
At this moment, Zhang Yingzheng was dealing with the situation, throwing punches here and drinking wine there. His bold appearance did not look like a literary scholar from the Hanlin Academy or the South Study Room, but more like a heroic man who wandered around the world. .
And his attire today is also quite distinctive. He wears a black stand-up collared gown, with a belt wider than his hand tied around his waist. There is also a fan inserted into the belt, which looks like a token. The sleeves of the gown were rolled up, revealing the white lining, which made him look particularly smart.
The old man who came down from the Dabie Mountains also looked extraordinary. He was obviously a bandit, but he was full of official style. Every gesture and gesture was full of grandeur... He was really not inferior to the other families in Tongcheng. of leading figures.
But how did such a person get to the Dabie Mountains? Why haven't you all heard of such a powerful figure in the Dabie Mountains?
In addition, the accents of Mr. Zu and the bandits under him are all authentic Liao accents...
Just when the lords and lords of various families in Tongcheng felt that the situation was a bit strange, Zhang San, the housekeeper of the Zhang family, led two servants and hurriedly broke into the courtyard where the banquet was being held with a basket of fish.
This is a basket of Anhui fish that has just been scaled and slaughtered, but has not yet been disemboweled and gutted. Some of them are still alive and struggling to their death. They look a bit bloody!
What does it mean?
People from every family in Tongcheng were dumbfounded, and when Zhang San, the housekeeper of the Zhang family, opened his mouth, they were frightened.
"Master, something strange happened. The fish just fished out of the Lianzhang River... actually has a silk book in its belly!"
ah!
Books in the belly of a fish?
The jaws of everyone in Tongcheng were almost dropped... What does Zhang Ying want to do? Does he want to learn from Chen Sheng and Wu Guang?
Just when these Tongcheng scholars were too frightened to speak, Mr. Zu suddenly spoke: "Is there a silk book in the fish's belly? This is the Book of Heaven... Are there any words on it?"
"Yes, yes..."
Mr. Zu said again: "Show it to me!"
"Here you go."
A ball of silk cloth still stained with blood was handed to Mr. Zu by Zhang San. Mr. Zu didn't mind it being dirty, but he didn't unfold it immediately. Instead, he took a look at Zhang Ying first and said, "Mr. Zhang, I just took a look. .”
"Look," Zhang Ying said with a smile, "If there are any words on it, read it to everyone."
"Okay!" The old man responded and gently unfolded the silk cloth. There were really words on the silk cloth, white words and black words!
The old man coughed and said: "When the Holy Duke comes out, great Confucianism will flourish!"
The smile on Zhang Ying's face suddenly froze, and she blurted out: "Why did the Holy Duke come out and Confucianism flourish?"
Yes, what we originally planned was "the fields will be equalized and the Ming Dynasty will fall"!
The old man replied with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, the emergence of the Holy Duke and the rise of Confucianism must mean that Kong Shenggong will become the emperor, and the Confucianism will flourish as a result!"
Will Kong Shenggong be the emperor?
So what does Kangxi think?
Just when Zhang Ying was worried about Emperor Kangxi's work problems, another loud noise came from outside the courtyard. Then I heard many people shouting outside: "A stone fell from the sky... A meteorite fell from the sky! There are still words on the stone!"
Still matching!
Everyone present in Tongcheng understood, and dozens or hundreds of eyes turned to Zhang Ying.
Zhang Ying already knew something was wrong. The words in the book in the fish belly were different from what was originally arranged... Can the words on the strange stone remain unchanged that day?
But at this time, he knew something was wrong and it was over, because his wrist was already held by Mr. Zu.
This old man was none other than the great ancestor who coerced Zu Yonglie and Zu Chenglie to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing.
After Zhu Heji became the Queen of the Ming Dynasty, the old man rewarded him with the title of a loyal and righteous uncle based on his merits, and also gave him the position of deputy commander of the Jinyi Guards.
I thought that this would be it for the rest of my life, but I didn’t expect that not long after I had been idle, the opportunity to become a marquis came... My ancestors only married after he became an earl, and the beautiful lady of the house who lived in the house had just become pregnant. , the old man must earn more wealth for his unborn children!
Thinking of this, the old man clasped Zhang Ying's wrist with his right hand and said with a murderous look on his face: "Mr. Zhang please!"
Zhang Ying, a weak scholar, also knew that he could not resist this old devil head-on, so he could only respond calmly: "Please..."
"Everyone is invited!" Zu yelled.
The "mountain thieves" who had already eaten and drank enough and were waiting to do their work responded to the "order" together, and then followed the old man Zu and Zhang Ying out of the Zhang family's mansion with a group of Tongcheng scholars and walked to the entrance of the village.
When they arrived at the entrance of the village, they discovered that a large pit suddenly appeared on the side of the road. There was a black stone in the center of the pit. A group of villagers surrounded the stone. Gao Shiqi, who came to Tongcheng with Zhang Ying, was dressed as a passerby. The merchant was standing in front of the black stone in a daze.
As soon as Zhang Ying saw this scene, he knew that the words on the black stone were wrong, but he couldn't help but ask: "What are the words on the stone?"
Gao Shiqi subconsciously replied: "There is a hole in the world..."
Zu Da immediately shouted: "Did you hear that? There is a hole in three-thirds of the world... This is Kong Shenggong who wants to be the emperor and enjoy three-thirds of the world!"
The "bandits" around them immediately started shouting: "Kong Shenggong will be the emperor, and Kong Shenggong will have one-third of the world!"
Before Zu Da's performance was over, he pointed at Zhang Ying again and said loudly: "Mr. Zhang is one of the five great men under the command of the Confucian Shenggong. If the Shenggong has the destiny, he should enjoy one-third of the world. We might as well use Mr. Zhang." Raise an army...and win over one of the founding heroes!"
"Rise up the troops! Rise up the troops! Rise up the troops..."
The people below immediately cheered, and the shouts were very neat, as if they had been rehearsed. Only Zhang Ying and Gao Shiqi stood there stupidly, at a loss.
