Chang Feng saluted Zhang Heling and his two brothers: "My subordinate Chang Feng has met these two uncles."
Zhang Heling said with a smile: "Ha! Brother Chang, don't be so jealous. You are the benefactor of our Zhang family. If you salute us two brothers, our life span will be shortened!"
Zhang Yanling said from the side: "My sister said it. I am going to Fujian with Brother Chang on a business trip, and I will listen to you all the way."
"If you ask us to go east, we will never go west. If you ask us to poop, we will never fart."
Zhang Heling echoed: "That's right. Even if you say the sun is dark, we all yell that it's fucking darker than ink."
Chang Feng smiled and said, "It's almost a month before we set off. The two uncles are getting ready. It's hot in the south, so prepare some heat-relieving pills and peppermint oil."
Zhang Yanling said: "I picked up two fire guns from the arsenal."
Changfeng's expression changes when he hears the words. He was afraid that these two young men wouldn't know how to do it and would slip up again.
He said: "Don't bring the firecrackers. We are going to worship the gods, not to fight. We won't encounter any danger if we take the canal and exchange for sea ships."
Chang Feng was completely wrong this time.
If a danger can be anticipated, it is not a danger.
Danger will always come unknowingly.
Two young uncles came to visit. The Chang family naturally had to hold a banquet to receive him. Although they are small, they have high status and cannot be ignored.
While eating, Zhang Heling said casually: "The emperor is going to promote my father to an official position again."
After Emperor Hongzhi ascended the throne, Zhang Luan, the abbot of the state, was specially awarded the title of Minister of Honglu Temple.
Chang Feng asked: "Oh? Is the country's abbot going to be promoted again?"
Zhang Yanling said: "I heard from my sister that the emperor wants to promote my father to be a high-ranking official or a commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army."
The commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army, Tongzhi, is the sixth-highest permanent position among military commanders. Second only to the military commanders. .
Chang Feng said "congratulations".
But I muttered in my heart: The emperor is happy anywhere. She just dotes on her relatives too much.
Two young men of 12 or 13 years old became the commanders of the Imperial Guards, leaving nothing to be said. The abbot of the state, who was a prison student, turned out to be the handsome man of the governor's mansion.
You know, Mr. Ma Wensheng was very busy with the matter of abolishing military attachés and offended a lot of people.
However, the emperor put people in the army and still held a high position.
Chang Feng is not a fortune teller, so he would not have thought that this would be the case. In a few years, Zhang Luan will be made a marquis.
Even Queen Zhang's deceased grandfather and great-grandfather would be granted the title of Marquis by Emperor Hongzhi.
No one is perfect, not even emperors.
Emperor Hongzhi was a typical nepotist in his treatment of his relatives. Fortunately, he only favored Queen Zhang and had no concubines. The concubine's relatives are the Zhang family.
Let's have a banquet. The Zhang brothers coaxed Tangtang to play for another half an hour before leaving.
Chang Feng and Liu Xiaoyan went back to the bedroom to sleep.
Ever since he learned that Liu Xiaoyan was pregnant, Chang Feng never hit her again at night. He was as honest as his third grandson on the bed.
He fell asleep.
In a daze, he had a nightmare.
He dreamed that countless people in ragged clothes and covered in blood were chasing him.
The people shouted to him: "Give me back the Poseidon Pearl."
Chang Feng wanted to run, but he had no strength in his legs and could not run fast.
The people pushed him down. Shouting "Give me back the Poseidon Pearl", he tore his body into pieces.
"Ah!" Chang Feng woke up from his nightmare.
Liu Xiaoyan couldn't sleep and was embroidering a child's bellyband. She asked: "Did you have a nightmare?"
Chang Feng shook the cold sweat on his forehead with his hand: "Yes. I had a strange dream."
Liu Xiaoyan poured him a cup of tea, and Chang Feng drank it to calm down his shock.
The next day, Chang Feng went to Jinyiwei to work as usual.
By chance, Wynn came over to hear about Jin Yiwei's case handling last month. It is the rule that the Governor of the East Factory supervises the Jinyiwei.
After finishing the business, Wynn came to Chang Feng for a chat. As we chatted, we talked about going south to worship Mazu.
Wynn said: "Oh, that's right. You haven't done that before
Served as an imperial envoy to Beijing. There are some things I have to tell you. "
"Whether it is an imperial envoy for handling cases, an imperial envoy for disaster relief, an imperial envoy for patrolling, or an imperial envoy for offering sacrifices, as long as you leave Beijing, local officials along the way will come up to pay filial piety."
"Because no matter what the imperial envoys do when they go out to the capital, they have the responsibility to understand the people's conditions and the governance of the places along the way, and write a report to the emperor."
"The local officials were afraid that the imperial envoys would talk nonsense, so they stuffed their mouths with money."
"You can't take those silver coins. You need to know that taking people is short-handed, and eating people is the shortest."
Chang Feng nodded: "Remember, Grandpa. I have to be an upright official like Ma Wen was promoted to Mabu Tang."
Wynn said: "Yes. You should study with Marvin more often. Besides, you will pass through Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang will definitely ask to see you."
"You can't take their money. But you can't offend them either. The ones you can't offend the most are the gentry."
"In our Ming Dynasty, the emperor and officials did not rule the world at all. Instead, the gentry ruled the world."
Chang Feng was a little strange: "Master, where do you start talking about this?"
Wynn explained: "Think about it. There are 40,000 to 50,000 people in a medium-sized county in the Ming Dynasty. But what about the officials stationed by the imperial court in the county? There are only three people with grades: the county magistrate, the county magistrate, and the chief registrar."
"How can three people manage thirty or forty thousand people? Even if they have one hundred and eighty officials and servants, they can't manage hundreds of times the number of people."
"The imperial decrees were passed down to the county one after another. It was the gentry who actually implemented them."
"Therefore, Wang Shu told the emperor a few days ago that the Ming Dynasty was actually ruled by the gentry."
Chang Feng nodded frequently: "What I said makes sense."
Wynn added: "Among the gentry, the gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the most powerful. Because Jiangsu and Zhejiang are places where literary style flourishes. They have countless children, relatives and friends serving as officials in the court."
"If you can avoid offending them, try not to offend them."
"Although you are favored by the emperor now, you dare not say that you will always be favored and will not memorize words."
"Those gentry from Jiangsu and Zhejiang never kill people without knives, only with pens."
"Sometimes, the pen is sharper and scarier than the knife."
After all, Wynn is an old man. He has served in the palace for decades and has gone through many hardships.
No matter how smart and capable Chang Feng is, he is only a twenty-two-year-old young man. You can benefit a lot from having an in-depth chat with Wynn.
Chang Feng said: "My grandson will keep my grandpa's teachings in mind. After leaving the capital, he will never be domineering and offend others."
After a errand in the evening, Chang Feng returned home. He was stunned.
In the front yard, Miss Ninth was sitting face to face with Liu Xiaoyan chatting.
Chang Feng thought to himself: How did this ninth girl find her way to my home?
Chang Feng asked: "Miss Jiu, why are you here?"
Miss Jiu smiled and said, "Hey, Brother Chang. I'm here to give you some money."
After speaking, she opened a small wooden box at hand. In the wooden box was more than four hundred taels of silver.
Chang Feng said: "I told you, you just need to give Eunuch Li enough to share the profits. I can't accept this money."
Miss Jiu smiled and said, "Whether you accept it or not is up to you. I have to give it away. This is the rule in the business world."
"Since Brother Chang refuses people thousands of miles away, I will just take it."
Although Liu Xiaoyan is not necessarily very smart, she always has the sensitivity of a woman.
She heard the clues in the voice. When Miss Ninth said "rejecting people thousands of miles away", she seemed to be referring to more than just money.
After Miss Ninth left, Liu Xiaoyan said, "We have been married for a year and two months. It seems it's time for you to take a concubine."
"Which official in the imperial court doesn't have several concubines?"
What Liu Xiaoyan said is true. Even Hai Rui, who was as upright as later generations, still had two concubines.
Because there are three kinds of unfilial piety, the greatest is not having offspring. Officials had a legitimate reason for taking concubines: to spread their branches, carry on the family line, and fulfill their filial piety.
Chang Feng was stunned: "Why do you suddenly say this? Oh, I have nothing to do with Miss Jiu."
Liu Xiaoyan smiled and said: "There is no more three hundred taels of silver here, right? I didn't say anything about you and Ninth Girl.
. "
