Zhang Zhou met Ning Tong this time and found that this woman was much more "honest".
Probably because she was beaten too much in a patriarchal society, she realized that it is not easy to break out of this patriarchal society. If she wants to gain independence that other women do not have, she needs to rely on someone with a strong background. ...This person is obviously Zhang Zhou who can bring her fame and fortune.
Just relying on Zhang Zhou's identity as a female disciple, he was able to enter and exit the palace freely, and even suppressed the big guys from the Taiyuan Hospital.
This feeling of supreme power... also began to make Ning Tong understand the rules of the game, and began to play according to the rules of the male-dominated society.
That night.
Zhang Zhou was listening to a play in the theater.
There are no women at home, and it would be boring to go back. He might as well pass the time in the theater, and he still has guests to meet.
Standing beside her was Xiao Jang Jin, who was thousands of miles away from home, holding a wine flask. When Zhang Zhou finished drinking a glass of wine, she would refill it respectfully. As for her "aunt" Zhang Lushui, she was singing on the stage below. The song was played, and there was only Zhang Zhou as a "guest" that day, so it was considered an internal performance.
"Master Zhang."
The first person who came to see Zhang Zhou was Yang Peng, who had just resigned from the post of admiral of Dongchang.
Yang Peng was still a little disappointed. No matter how high his status in the Royal Horse Prison was, he still couldn't compare with the "Dongchang Changgong", but he knew that because he did not have the status of a ceremonial eunuch, it would be impossible for him to always supervise Dongchang. realistic.
"The younger one has already gone to see Eunuch Ning."
The "Eunuch Ning" Yang Peng refers to is Ning Jin, the eunuch in charge of the Royal Horse Guards. This man is extremely powerful in the palace and was once Yang Peng's "elite". But now Yang Peng wants to replace Ning Jin, so Yang Peng still He doesn't seem very confident. Who knows if Ning Jin will secretly send someone to kill him?
Zhang Zhou pointed to the seat next to him, and Yang Peng sat down.
Xiao Jangjin came over and poured a glass of wine for Yang Peng.
"Eunuch Yang, you will be the helmsman of the Royal Horse Prison from now on. It will be inconvenient for us to meet again." Zhang Zhou said.
Yang Peng lowered his head and did not respond.
As the Minister of War, Zhang Zhou was responsible for controlling the military affairs of the Ming Dynasty among the civil servants, while Yang Peng later served as the eunuch in charge of the Royal Horse Supervisor and was the person in power among the Zhongguan.
If the two were to be forcibly linked together, it would be tantamount to internal and external collusion that civil servants criticized.
Zhang Zhou said: "If you have any concerns, just tell me."
Yang Peng tentatively said: "I heard that Eunuch Zhang Yong will return to Beijing soon, but I didn't know that he..."
Now that Yang Peng has become the head of the imperial eunuch for the first time, the first thing to consider is to eliminate potential competitors. In Yang Peng's view, it is not enough for Ning Jin, a eunuch who only relies on qualifications and experience, as well as the emperor's trust. He was more concerned about the guarding eunuch Zhang Yong who had become extremely popular on the Jiubian battlefield in the past few years.
Zhang Zhou said: "His qualifications are still a little short of. It depends on how your Majesty appoints him. It's hard to say."
"Yes, yes." Yang Peng said, "Master Zhang, if you have any orders from now on, just send someone to inform me. I will do my best."
Zhang Zhou shook his head with a smile and said: "Eunuch Yang, you are now an indispensable person in the Royal Horse Supervisor. I don't dare to transfer you casually. You just took over recently. I guess many people still don't obey you, and you don't have the heart to listen to my orders." For business..."
Just as he was talking, Zhang Lushui started singing again downstairs.
The song was melodious, and Zhang Zhou sounded pretty good. Then he smiled and said to Yang Peng, "If nothing happens, please do it, Eunuch Yang."
Yang Peng stood up, bowed respectfully and then left.
…
…
Yang Peng left, and the person who had been eavesdropping next door came over. It was Ning Jin who had just resigned from the post of eunuch of the Imperial Horse Guard, but was assigned another errand.
Ning Jin's status in the palace is extraordinary. He has won the emperor's trust since Chenghua. He can be regarded as an unstoppable torrent in the palace all the way. It's just because he had no interaction with Zhang Zhou before... After all, he is a royal horse The prison is responsible for the palace guards, as well as the dispatch of the capital camp and other places. Unlike the ceremonial supervisor, he does not have frequent interactions with civil servants on the job.
"Cai Guogong."
Ning Jin also looked very respectful in front of Zhang Zhou.
This can be regarded as the process by which Zhu Youtang made Zhang Zhou thoroughly familiar with the court system.
Zhu Youtang's trust in Zhongguan also began to be compromised, and Zhu Youtang needed Zhang Zhou to understand and understand the operation of the entire palace system and inject vitality into it.
After Zhang Zhou invited Ning Jin to sit down, although Ning Jin was respectful, he was not as condescending as Yang Peng. Apparently Ning Jin had seen too many powerful officials and did not feel that it was necessary to succumb to Zhang Zhou in order to gain status. promotion.
"When will Eunuch Ning leave?" Zhang Zhouyi waved, and the little wine boy Chang Jin came over to pour wine again.
She looked confused and didn't think it was a big burden. She was even listening to Zhang Lushui's music with her ears pricked up, hoping to learn those tunes as soon as possible.
Xiao Janggeum is also a serious and studious female student.
Ning Jin said: "I went to pay homage to the Holy Master early the next day, and then set off to the west, all the way to Datong."
After Ning Jin resigned from the post of Royal Horse Supervisor and Eunuch, he seemed to be without an official position, but in fact he was appointed as the "Xuanda Guarding Eunuch" to assist Wang Shouren in guarding Xuanda's frontline military affairs.
There are precedents for the imperial eunuchs to dispatch eunuchs to guard the northwest. Just like Wang Zhi, who was in power for a while, he also followed this path. Many eunuchs seem to be prosperous, but because it is difficult to obtain military honors, they also need to pay attention to military affairs. Gain experience and improvement.
Ning Jin belongs to the "scientific class" route. In the past, he was more involved in "politics" and had no chance of actual experience in military affairs.
This time it seems that he was replaced by Yang Peng, but he got the opportunity to obtain military honors. If he can help Wang Shouren obtain military honors on the front line of Xuanda University, then when he returns to the capital, his status will be much higher than it is now. stable……
The relationship between him and Zhang Zhou was not hostile, but even "mutual use".
Zhang Zhou needs Ning Jin's prestige among the eunuchs to help him stabilize people's hearts and pave the way for Yang Peng to take over the imperial horse eunuch, while Ning Jin himself needs Zhang Zhou's prestige to help him obtain military glory.
You know, not everyone is qualified to hang out with Wang Shouren. Now Wang Shouren is Zhang Zhou's "talker" in the towns of Jiubian. Everyone feels that if they hang around with Wang Shouren, the credit will go to him. .
"Your Majesty has recently been worried about Huo Shi's failure to enter the grassland. Huo Si has sent back six letters in the past half month, asking the Ming Dynasty to send troops to coordinate. According to the contents of the last two letters asking for help, he seems to have fallen into a trap. The little Tartar prince is under siege.”
Zhang Zhou said with a smile.
Ning Jin said: "Dong Cai Guogong's intention is to use the troops from the northwest to help the fire sieve?"
Zhang Zhou asked, "What do you think, Eunuch Ning?"
"I..." Ning Jin said very cautiously, "I don't dare to discuss such a big matter casually."
Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "It always depends on the situation. For us, the best result is a dog biting a dog. The destruction of Huo Si by the little Tartar prince is the general trend. His tribe has long lost its previous vigor. , if we all count on Ming’s artillery and firecrackers to assist in the battle, then why use his fire sieve? Ming went to fight himself, why use him?”
Ning Jin said: "Then you just sit back and ignore it?"
Zhang Zhou smiled and shook his head and said: "This depends on the decision-making of the Trilateral Qin General System and Xuanda Xinbo and others. There will be some consequences for the foreign military orders. Everything depends on the situation."
Ning Jin felt strange.
He was thinking, weren't all the strategies in the past two years planned and implemented by you?
Or is it because Fire Sieve's rank is not enough, so you left this important decision of rushing to Fire Siege's aid to the generals in the northwest town?
Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "This is a farewell party for you, Eunuch Ning. When you come back, you and I will have a drink and chat here again."
"Thank you, Mr. Cai Guo, for your advice." Ning Jin didn't feel like she got any effective advice from Zhang Zhou.
But there is one thing...
It seems that Zhang Zhou already has the ability to control these eunuchs, and he seems to be very natural in dealing with them.
He originally wanted to evaluate Yang Peng in front of Zhang Zhou, but now that he and Yang Peng have become a direct competitor... maybe Zhang Zhou, the "superior", just wants to see him fight with Yang Peng?
Yang Peng deliberately let him hear what Yang Peng said, and then encouraged him later and asked him to go to Datong and do things well...
This is the typical method of those who wield power.
…
…
Ning Jin leaves.
The third person who came to visit was still a eunuch, Chen Kuan, the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony.
Chen Kuan is considered an old man in the palace and has a high status among the ceremonial supervisors. If the emperor hadn't suddenly re-appointed Li Rong, he, Chen Kuan, would have been the chief eunuch Bingbi and could supervise the Dongchang... Chen Kuan is now slightly more prominent. Desperate.
In front of cabinet ministers and officials from Hanyuan, Chen Kuan could still maintain a high status, enough to gain respect from others, but in front of Zhang Zhou, he seemed to lack confidence.
After the ceremony, Chen Kuan took his seat.
Another glass of wine and another conversation.
"This is a handwritten edict. Please take a look at it, Eunuch Chen." Zhang Zhou said, handing a copy of the emperor's edict to Chen Kuan.
Chen Kuan was more alert. He first took a look at Xiao Jang Jin who was standing next to him. He was still curious about how Zhang Zhou would find a little girl to stand by when he was entertaining guests, but he thought that as long as he didn't talk nonsense, That little girl probably doesn't know much.
But when he saw the content of the edict in front of him, he still took a breath: "...Order Chen Kuan, the Eunuch of the Bureau of Ceremonies. Together with Zhang Zhou, the Minister of the Ministry of War, we will select the best and strongest sergeants from the three major battalions and the various supervisory and bureau guards to replenish the regiment. If the number of the battalion is insufficient, the old and weak members of the regiment and camp will be withdrawn and put aside..."
Chen Kuan asked: "What is your Majesty's intention?"
This thing is equivalent to a new and old replacement of the three major battalions.
Many people in the capital camp of the Ming Dynasty are old and dim, and many of them are living on empty wages. The training and combat capabilities of the capital camp are also greatly reduced. Under this premise, if the emperor wants to "conquer personally" in the future, it will be as easy as counting on such a group of crooked melons and jujubes. The results of the soldiers in the Beijing camp are conceivable.
Without generals and soldiers who can take advantage of them, no matter how good the weapons are, they are useless.
Zhang Zhou said: "It is imperative to lay off the military households in the Ming Dynasty's capital camp. After so many years, if we cannot forge ahead with determination, it may be difficult to realize His Majesty's five-year plan to bring peace to Mongolia."
Chen Kuan thought to himself, the grassland will be leveled in five years? If these words come from other people's mouth, it is just to fool the king and earn some political capital. You, Zhang Bingkuan, want to make drastic reforms.
Don’t you know that reform will touch the interests of many people and will suffer backlash?
"Eunuch Chen, my plan is this. If the soldiers in the Beijing camp are not qualified for daily training and combat, and can only perform the tasks of some servants, then it is better to let them return to the work of craftsmen and replace the work of the regular soldiers. The vacant seats will be filled by soldiers from other places. It is not necessarily necessary to recruit from the surrounding areas of the capital. It is not a bad idea to dispatch elite troops from all over the northwest."
Some of the plans that Zhang Zhou wanted to implement were very similar to the "Four Outer Families" that Zhu Houzhao later implemented, that is, the border troops entered the guard.
During the Zhengde period, due to the Liu Liu Liu Qi uprising in the Central Plains, the combat capabilities of the Beijing camp were greatly tested. Zhu Houzhao followed the opinions of Qian Ning and others and transferred troops and horses from the border towns to garrison the capital. From then on, rules were formed. In the following decades, This can be regarded as making the capital's garrison level much higher.
If we only guard the so-called "elites" in the Beijing camp without making any changes, and want to use the Beijing camp as the main force to mobilize troops and generals in a few years, Zhang Zhou feels that Pingcai can only be limited to fantasy. .
Chen Kuandao: "Cai Guogong, there is no precedent for this."
"Is there a precedent?" Zhang Zhou said with a smile, "Actually, I also want to recruit military households around the capital, but this is inconsistent with the national policy of founding the Ming Dynasty. Since the capital camp has not been able to reach full strength in the past few years, the training of soldiers has also failed. If the purpose of defending the capital cannot be achieved, why not deploy troops and generals from the elites of the northwest? This is His Majesty's wish. Eunuch Chen's task is to assist the Ministry of War in carrying out elimination and innovation. As for the details, the Ministry of War can be responsible for it."
Chen Kuan frowned and said, "If this is the case, I'm afraid Cai Guogong will encounter considerable resistance in the future."
"Haha." Zhang Zhou said with a smile, "I'm a hard-working person, so I like to encounter challenges. I feel uncomfortable if I don't find something to do for myself."
After reading the decree, Chen Kuan wanted to push it back, but Zhang Zhou signaled for him to keep it.
"Eunuch Chen, if you want to cooperate fully in the future, please give me some face." Zhang Zhou was still laughing.
Chen Kuan was a little worried, and all he could think of was to go back and discuss it with Xiao Jing.
But he also knew that Xiao Jing could not challenge Zhang Zhou directly on this matter. Even if he was the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, there was no essential difference from the chief minister of the cabinet... Zhang Zhou's rise meant that he had become The backbone of the government, Zhang Zhou had not been defeated in many previous battles, and now it was time for Zhang Zhou to reap power.
…
…
Chen Kuan left.
Zhang Lushui sang for half the night, and her solo concert was almost coming to an end. Then Zhang Zhou sent someone to call her to pour wine for Zhang Zhou.
Under such an "opportunity", Zhang Lushui was extremely charming and wanted to fully seize the opportunity to immerse Zhang Zhou in her "gentle land".
But just when she was launching her offensive, a strange man's slightly obscene voice came from the door: "...How did you get to this damn place? Can't you just change to a better place?"
"Marquis Shouning, please forgive me, my father-in-law has been waiting inside for a long time." It was Liu Gui's voice.
Then the door opened.
Here Zhang Lushui also planned to take the initiative to stick to Zhang Zhou, but when she saw the strange man coming in, she realized that today's plan to cheat could not be carried out.
As soon as Zhang Heling came in, his eyes lit up at first. He looked at Zhang Lushui and couldn't move his eyes away: "I've never seen this lady before. Is she from the Jiaofang Department? Interesting... I am the Marquis of Shouning. This figure... Tsk, tsk, it's winter. It’s just right to warm up the bed.”
Zhang Lushui got a headache when he heard this.
Although she had not been in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, she had heard a lot about the "misdeeds" of Shouning Hou and Jianchang Bo.
As a smart woman, she is very aware of the returns that political investment can bring. If she can climb the big tree of Zhang Zhou, then she will be prosperous in the future and gain a lot of political convenience... But if she is defeated by Zhang Zhou If a brother takes over, it's like being fucked by a pig. Such a person will never think of giving her drooling soup after eating.
Zhang Lushui quickly and respectfully stood aside.
"Sit down." Zhang Zhou said.
Zhang Heling then sat down, and Xiao Changjin came over to pour wine.
Zhang Heling smiled and said: "You can tell, this doesn't seem to be from the Ming Dynasty. I heard that Lao Cai, you have been to North Korea, and the beauties you brought back to North Korea must be them, right?"
Zhang Zhou said: "I have never set foot in North Korea, and I am not an old Cai... Shouning Hou, can we not get close to each other casually? I came to see you for something."
Zhang Heling said: "Why don't you give me face?"
Zhang Zhou took out a list and said: "The new Yanwu Hall will be opened by Shouning Hou."
"What?"
When Zhang Heling heard this, he quickly took the list over, but saw that the people listed above were all a group of children from aristocratic families who were like "little people", and each of them looked so unreliable.
Zhang Zhou said: "From now on, the Yanwu Hall will be divided into the Xunchen Class, the Military General Class, and the Literary Class. As for the first Xunchen Class, Shouning Hou will be the instructor."
Zhang Heling slapped the table and said, "I'm here to learn, not to be a teacher."
"Marquis Shouning, please calm down." Liu Gui, who was standing at the door, said with a smile.
"You kid, I don't like you. Where did you come from? Believe it or not, I..." Zhang Heling wanted to hit others when he saw them laughing in front of him.
Because it would look disrespectful to him.
Zhang Zhou said: "This is my disciple, named Liu Gui. Although he looks like a small person, he has made great contributions on the battlefield. In the first battle of Weininghai, he collaborated with Xin Xin Bo and charged into the battle. In order to bring order to Hanyang City in North Korea, he led The team invaded the royal city of Joseon, and now there are thousands of royal guards!"
"What?" When Zhang Heling heard this, the kid next to you looks like a nobody, but he is... so awesome?
These words caused quite a shock to Zhang Heling.
Zhang Lushui, who was standing next to him, suddenly cast his horrified and surprised gaze on Liu Gui.
Zhang Lushui had never taken Liu Gui seriously before. Even though she knew that the coup in North Korea was related to this group of people, she always felt that Tang Yin should be the first to do so.
Only now did she know that this little man with a playful smile was actually a capable person who led the team into the Joseon Palace, and the position of Jinyiwei Qianhu was not low...
Zhang Lushui's eyes clearly said... I seem to have found a treasure...
Zhang Zhou said: "Marquis Shouning has graduated from the Yanwu Hall. If you don't understand anything about teaching in the future, Liu Gui will teach you, and you will cooperate more in the future. Liu Gui, come here and get acquainted with Marquis Shouning."
"Young Liu Gui, I have met Marquis Shouning." Liu Gui was still smiling.
Zhang Heling said distressedly: "What about the second child? I don't ask for anything else, just one thing. Our Zhang family boss and the second child ask for reciprocity. He also wants to help me!"
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "No problem."
(End of chapter)
