Zhang Zhou also wanted to establish contact with Wang Shouren before.
However, even though he was the top pick and had a relationship with Nian, he was still not in the same circle. Even Zhang Zhou was deeply involved in the previous head-turning battle, but what others remember more is Wang Yue's desperate move.
At that time, Zhang Zhou did not have much capital to recruit a "second-generation official" who was already rich in resources in the civil service circle. If Wang Shouren wanted to get along in the civil service circle, wouldn't they be able to get along better than him because of his father's connections?
But now Zhang Zhou feels that he has capital.
After the Battle of Ningyuan, the blooming cannons were enough to change the future war trend between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars. From Wang Shouren's point of view, it is impossible not to realize this. Then, if you, Wang Shouren, still want to have military ambitions in the future, don't you want to follow? study? Even become the founder of the highest military academy in the Ming Dynasty, or even become a lecturer?
Now the emperor gave Zhang Zhou the authority to transfer people.
As for whether Wang Shouren will cooperate after he comes, that is another matter. Zhang Zhou is not demanding yet.
…
…
Then Zhang Zhou followed Zhu Youtang to Kunning Palace and met Queen Zhang and Zhang Heling.
"Queen, look who I've invited here?"
Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Bingkuan's ability is unparalleled by anyone in the Ming Dynasty. Even I admire him."
Empress Zhang changed her hostile expression before. She would not even face Zhang Zhou with a cold and distant look. Instead, she smiled and said with an approachable look: "Bingkuan is here? Sit down."
It was as if the husband and wife were one, and their attitudes towards Zhang Zhou were also in sync.
Zhang Heling came over, moved the chair out specifically for Zhang Zhou, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, please sit down."
"Marquis Shouning, why are you so embarrassed?" Zhang Zhou smiled.
Is Zhang Heling so "well-behaved"? The last time he met with Zhang Heling in the Jiaofang Division, Zhang Heling was obsessed with showing off to Zhang Zhou, and also wanted to use his status as an honored veteran to win over Zhang Zhou. How could his mentality change just by changing his face?
Zhang Zhou thought to himself, are you sure you are not fooling me?
Zhu Youtang said: "Bingkuan, you're welcome, you deserve it! If anyone else in the Ming Dynasty can cultivate Heling, it has to be Qian! Look at what Yanling was like before. Since he received your guidance, now You can all be on your own.”
"Yes," Zhang Heling said helpfully, "So I hope Mr. Zhang can give me some more encouragement so that I can achieve success in the army."
The general meaning is that I am asking for something, so I give him a good look.
Zhang Zhou didn't have much respect for Zhang Heling's attitude. He was basically just perfunctory.
After Zhang Zhou and the emperor and his wife sat down, Zhang Heling came to the side and sat down, smiling at Zhang Zhou.
Empress Zhang asked: "Bingkuan, how is the prince's recent studies? Your Majesty has always said that you are giving lessons to the prince, which has made the prince's progress obvious. I, a woman in the palace, don't understand that. Does he really have a good side?"
"Yes Bingkuan, please talk to the queen." Zhu Youtang was very proud.
The most capable person in the Ming Dynasty not only served as his advisor, but also became his son's teacher.
With my discerning eye, I was able to pick Zhang Zhou out of the vast crowd...
An emperor will not be complacent about his superior abilities, but he will be proud of his accuracy in employing people.
Zhang Zhou said: "I only played a supporting role in the prince's studies. It still depends on the concerted efforts of the lecturers in the East Palace. The prince has indeed made progress in his recent study of the Four Books and Five Classics, but there is still a lot of room for improvement."
"Then it all depends on you." Empress Zhang smiled, glanced at her husband, then glared at Zhang Heling with annoyance, and then looked back at Zhang Zhou with a gentle smile.
Zhang Zhouguang knew from the look on this woman's back and forth that she was a character who was not easy to mess with.
Could it be that Queen Zhang, in addition to knowing how to control her husband as others said, also has her own insights in governing the country?
Zhang Zhou then gave up the idea.
The reason is that Empress Zhang did not get better during the Hongzhi, Zhengde, and Jiajing dynasties. During the Zhengde period, she failed to persuade her son. During the Jiajing period, she could have relied on Yang Tinghe to control her adopted son Zhu Houcong tightly, but she was also unable to do so. At this point, it took three years for an inexperienced feudal prince to complete the purge. He even refused to recognize her as his mother by relying on great rituals and ran back to recognize his ancestors.
If she had some political ambitions, why would she be like this?
Zhang Zhou smiled and cupped his hands and said, "I will definitely live up to the queen's expectations."
Empress Zhang looked at her husband again and said, "Your Majesty, should I reward Bingkuan heavily?"
"Haha, queen, you don't need to worry about this. I will naturally give him a generous gift." Zhu Youtang thought, do you still need to remind me?
Empress Zhang smiled and said: "The imperial court gave it to me. It was His Majesty's wish. I also wanted to reward him. This represents the wishes of the Zhang family. Even my mother told me before that I would go around Bingkuan more in the future, but he didn't." His bad thoughts are all for the royal family and the Ming Dynasty. I also want him to take care of He Ling and Yan Ling..."
This sounds fine.
But Zhang Zhou still felt that there seemed to be a deep meaning in his words.
It wasn't that Empress Zhang deliberately revealed it, but she accidentally "let it slip."
It lies in the words "He has no bad intentions".
Zhang Zhou thought for a while, I saved your daughter, predicted the disaster in Qingning Palace, and did so many things for the court. What could have made you think I had bad intentions in the first place? It must be a matter of marrying a concubine to the emperor.
You have seen that in the six months since I have been with the emperor, I have never instigated the emperor to have a concubine, and I have even helped you and your wife take care of themselves and prepare for pregnancy, so you will resolve your previous prejudice against me... or rather You also knew you couldn't fight me now, so you made peace with me?
Zhu Youtang said: "Queen, if you want to reward me, I won't stop you, but your Zhang family is not big, so you'd better listen to me on how to reward you more."
In fact, the emperor didn't want the Zhang family to do the rewards.
First of all, the name issue is very illegal. Why does your Zhang family reward meritorious officials on behalf of the royal family? Even if it's a matter of helping, they are mainly helping me, not deliberately helping the Zhang family. You just have to thank me.
However, Zhang Zhou knew that the more critical factor that the emperor cared about was that the emperor felt that even if the queen was a reward, it would only be with the money in his pocket.
It's like your Zhang family can make money or wealth now, but in the end you won't take the money out of my pocket?
Will my two brothers-in-law make their own wealth?
They were being polite if they didn't empty my wallet completely. The meager wealth I had in the past two years was almost completely plundered by these two brothers!
"Pass the meal, I'm having a drink with Bingkuan today, Heling, why don't you go back first?" Zhu Youtang seemed to have no intention of keeping his brother-in-law in the palace for dinner.
Zhang Heling said: "Your Majesty, I am also hungry."
Very direct.
Zhu Youtang frowned and said: "How many mouthfuls of food are you missing at home? But that's fine, let's stay together! When I'm talking to Bingkuan, don't interrupt!"
"Yes, yes. I don't have time to follow suit, so how can I interrupt?"
…
…
A very tasteless lunch.
The main reason was that Zhang Heling was there, so he was not allowed to interrupt, but he talked the most nonsense at the dinner table.
Zhu Youtang was still a little unhappy, because he had no intention of inviting anyone other than Zhang Zhou, otherwise he would even have left Zhu Feng, but now Zhang Heling was there to disturb the situation.
After lunch, Zhu Youtang asked Zhang Zhou to follow him on the pretext of going back to Qianqing Palace.
Zhang Zhou found that he looked more and more like the emperor's personal attendant...a eunuch! ? ?
"Bingkuan, as I said before, I asked you to take care of Heling to deal with the queen. You don't have to take it seriously." Zhu Youtang was afraid that Zhang Zhou would mind cultivating the Zhang brothers, so he gave special instructions.
Zhang Zhou smiled.
It seems that even if a man reaches the level of an emperor, he still does one thing with his wife in front of her and behind her back.
Zhang Zhou said: "If Shouning Hou studies hard, I won't mind giving him all my money to teach him."
"It's good that he... didn't cause any trouble for me. Maybe you're wondering why I supported him and protected him when I knew he was a shame, right?" Zhu Youtang asked with emotion.
Zhang Zhou smiled and shook his head: "Your Majesty has too few relatives around him. As long as Shouning Marquis and Jianchang Bo have not done anything too outrageous, I think your Majesty will treat them leniently."
"Yes, that's what I thought before, but in recent years, the two brothers have become more and more outrageous. More and more people are trying to impeach them, but the Queen still protects them..."
Zhang Zhou can feel it from here.
Because of Zhang Zhou's appearance, the emperor already had a rift with the Zhang family.
Empress Zhang should have been very aware of this at first. After all, the emperor no longer only regarded the Zhang family as his relatives. Instead, he had Zhang Zhou, a powerful figure with a civil servant background and the blessing of a half-immortal status, to make suggestions... Empress Zhang was in crisis. After realizing this, he started to criticize Zhang Zhou in various ways.
But later Empress Zhang discovered that she, Zhang Zhou, could do too many things and was irreplaceable in the emperor's heart.
That's why I took the route of warm friendship.
"So Bingkuan, you punish them for me, punish them well, you're welcome!" Zhu Youtang's attitude was very firm, "I can safely leave the prince to your charge, why can't I even let my two brothers-in-law do it? So you don’t have to carry any baggage in your heart.”
Zhang Zhou thought.
Your son nominally worships me as his teacher, but the Zhang brothers are at best my temporary students. It is much harder to control these two misbehaving people than it is to control your son.
No matter how smart your son is, he is still a child. When it comes to choosing interests or pursuing hobbies, I can keep track of them.
How do you know the veins of the Zhang brothers?
Gather with titles? Or by grace? Or a woman who takes money?
Unless I really have the ability to bring down a bolt of lightning from the sky and hit them, I guess they will know how to obey.
…
…
Zhang Zhou did not stay in the Qianqing Palace for too long.
Then we went to Wenhua Hall.
The afternoon is a "special session" reserved for Zhang Zhou's teaching, which means that all the other lecturers in the East Palace can leave, leaving only Zhang Zhou to teach alone. It is not just an afternoon, but about an hour, and then Zhang Zhou can leave. In the palace, Zhu Houzhao can go to have dinner with his parents and sisters and share family happiness.
"...Master Zhang, you are finally here."
When Zhang Zhou arrived at the Wenhua Hall, he saw Liu Jin waiting at the door. After seeing Zhang Zhou, he came over with a nervous look on his face.
Zhang Zhou said: "What's going on?"
Liu Jin said with a bitter face: "The prince said that he asked Marquis Anbian to get him a powerful long-range cannon. The prince wants to see for himself whether this cannon has that power."
"Isn't this nonsense?" Zhang Zhou frowned.
Liu Jin said helplessly: "Only you can tell the prince this. Even Marquis Anbian doesn't know how to say it."
…
…
Zhang Zhou entered the palace and found Zhu Houzhao eating.
Zhu Feng, with a bitter look on his face and a pen in hand, was standing there drawing something on the paper. After learning about Zhang Zhou's arrival, Zhu Feng couldn't help but raise his head and look at him for help.
Zhang Zhou frowned.
Why are you, Zhu Zhijie, so useless? You are already a marquis, do you need some dignity in front of the prince?
You should just throw it away... Of course it can't be so extreme. At least you should show your magnanimity and tell the naughty kid what he can and can't do!
"Prince, what are you doing?" Zhang Zhou came in and asked immediately without even a courtesy.
Zhu Houzhao said: "I asked him to draw the scene of the war in Ningyuan. If he can bring the artillery, I will let him go! How about Zhang, who wants to help his friends? You come!"
Zhang Zhouzhou grabbed Zhu Houzhao's chopsticks and threw them on the ground.
"ah?"
Then everyone present, including Zhu Feng and the eunuchs of the East Palace, were stunned.
How can a minister treat the prince like this?
Zhang Zhou said: "Prince, I can bring you artillery, but can you tell me where to shoot?"
"You...you...I can fight wherever I want!" Zhu Houzhao was so angry that he was trembling all over.
Zhang Zhou pointed in the direction of Fengtian Palace and said, "I don't think I should choose a direction. Just go there. What do you think? I'll blow up the Forbidden City to pieces, and I'll take the opportunity to rebuild it."
"Zhang Bingkuan, I'm giving you face and calling you sir, don't touch your nose and face, and don't talk to me in such a weird tone!" Zhu Houzhao was in front of Zhu Feng, not wanting to be in front of Zhang Zhou at all, because he knew that if If he doesn't show some momentum today, not even Zhu Feng will be afraid of him in the future.
He finally caught a soft persimmon, but he couldn't let the soft persimmon pinch him because he was weak today.
"I just want to see the artillery. What's wrong? You are bragging so much. It seems to me that you are all bragging. Otherwise, why don't you dare to show it to others?"
Liu Jin hurriedly reconciled: "Your Highness, the mighty long-range cannon is too powerful. I'm afraid it can't be demonstrated here."
"Where can I demonstrate it?" Zhu Houzhao asked.
Liu Jin rolled his eyes and said as if he was singing a double act with a naughty child: "I heard that Master Zhang is going to open a military school soon, called Yanwu Hall, which will teach people how to use the mighty long-range cannon and the mighty sky gunpowder. If If you can go there and learn something..."
"Well." Zhu Houzhao seemed to be inspired and glared at Zhang Zhou, "What about Zhang Bingkuan, do you want to intercede on behalf of your friend? If you take me to Yanwu Hall, I promise not to embarrass this guy in the future! "
This thing?
It's you!
At a young age, I learned to use my own mind.
You boy also know that it is impossible to mention it directly to your father, or to me, for you to go to Yanwu Hall to study.
So why did you deliberately embarrass Zhu Feng and try to open a gap?
It's a pity... You still can't hide your little kid's colorful intestines from others. Your father knows that there is a risk of exploding, so why would he still let you go? Unless your father wants to have no future!
"Prince, do you know the power of the mighty gunpowder?" Zhang Zhou asked.
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "I know, it can blow up the city wall. I won't go there myself, just watch it from a distance. I'll light a cannon. Is that okay?"
Zhang Zhou said: "Prince, do you know that the Shenwei Cannon is at risk of exploding?"
"What? Exploding the chest? What do you mean?" Zhu Houzhao looked confused.
Zhang Zhou sighed: "Exploding the barrel means that after ignition, the shell did not go out, but it exploded on the spot. No one within a foot or two of the surrounding area was dead!"
"..."
Zhu Houzhao was speechless for a moment, "Are you trying to scare me?"
Zhang Zhou said: "Ask Marquis Anbian, is this true?"
"Really?" Zhu Houzhao stared at Zhu Feng.
"Yes." Zhu Feng nodded hastily.
That's called a coward.
Zhang Zhou was too lazy to scold Zhu Feng.
This kid is very active in front of men of his own age. He seems to have strong communication skills, but he is limited to socializing among young people. Once he goes to a big scene, he easily gets stage fright.
To put it bluntly, this is a second-generation dandy. If he had not met Zhang Zhou, he would not have had the opportunity to touch the political arena for half his life. Later, he succeeded his elder brother's Duke of Chengguo, but he also achieved nothing. In the end, Zhu Feng's son Zhu Xizhong was because of his relationship with Lu Together with Bing, he rescued Emperor Jiajing's chariot and made him a great and glorious man for decades.
Historically, Zhu Xizhong was born in the eleventh year of Zhengde, that is, seventeen years later.
Zhang Zhou couldn't even figure out what Zhu Feng would be messing around with for the next ten years or so.
Zhu Houzhao glared at Liu Jin and said, "Then let me learn how to fire cannons?"
Liu Jin said: "Your Highness, I have never fired a cannon, so I don't know what it's like."
Zhu Houzhao pulled Liu Jin forward: "Mr. Zhang, otherwise, you should teach Liu Jin to me first. If I have nothing to do, I can just go and have a look. I will never go into battle in person! Is that okay with the head office?"
Zhang Zhou sneered: "Your Highness, do you think I can decide this kind of thing?"
"You can tell your father." Zhu Houzhao seemed to take it for granted.
Zhang Zhou said: "Old rules, if you have succeeded in your studies recently, then I will let you go in person... to see the power of the divine cannon from a distance. If you can't do it... don't even think about it."
"Again?"
Zhu Houzhao was quite tough at first, challenging Zhang Zhou and playing a double act.
But after hearing Zhang Zhou's conditions, Zhu Houzhao became worried again.
Every time, they used some good things to lure him, so that he had to study hard in exchange for opportunities... He just wanted to ask, Zhang Bingkuan, can you change your tactics?
Zhang Zhou sat there and said coldly: "Prince, do you still remember what I told you before? When you ask a person to do something, you should first think about what he needs."
"You don't need to torment me and enjoy it, right?" Zhu Houzhao was annoyed.
I feel like I was played by Zhang Zhou.
But every time he had to give in.
Zhang Zhou said angrily: "I am a lecturer in the East Palace. You don't know my performance evaluation standards, right? Your Majesty and the Queen asked me about your academic performance before. I was embarrassed to say that you have learned so much recently. Looks like shit..."
"You're swearing!" Zhu Houzhao turned around and taught Zhang Zhou a lesson.
"Humph! Why don't you tell me if you didn't study well? Compared to before you met me, your academic performance has improved a bit, but the problem is that your progress is far behind that of ordinary children from private families! If you can't keep up with them With the progress of your studies, you still have the nerve to ask me to tell His Majesty that you should leave the city?"
"Why are you leaving the city?"
"Nonsense! Can artillery be set off in the city? You should know what kind of battles the prince will have when he goes out of the city! What I need is that your academic progress will satisfy your father. You can choose for yourself, change it or not!"
Zhang Zhou said this.
Zhu Houliang understood.
Zhang Zhou just wanted to use his academic progress in exchange for "performance." Zhang Zhou would only intercede for him and meet his needs only after he had achieved performance.
"Zhang Bingkuan, you are so cruel! Bring me my book, I want to study... wu wu..."
(End of chapter)
