It stands to reason that they all belong to the same noble family, and their ages are also very different. It is really unreasonable for Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong to press Li Zongcheng who came to visit like this. But actually, there is a reason for this.
Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong suspected that Li Zongcheng's father Li Yangong's purpose of going north this time was just one of them. Another reason was that there had always been some... not to say a big contradiction between the nobles of the Jingnan family and the founding family, at least. The water in the well does not interfere with the water in the river, and there is very little movement between the two parties. What is great is that they are just acquaintances.
Even among the Xu family, who are both descendants of Xu Da, the relationship between Wei Guogong's line in Nanjing and Ding Guogong's line in Beijing is quite cold.
Finally, there is a key problem that Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong look down on Li Tingzhu, who was lucky enough to get the title of Marquis of Linhuai - that is, Li Zongcheng's grandfather.
The story goes like this: Li Tingzhu is a descendant of Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong. It stands to reason that his ancestor is the Duke of the state. However, in the Jiajing Dynasty, the title was only extended to a marquis. And even this Linhuai Marquis would not have had his turn originally. At the beginning of the 11th year of Jiajing, his cousin Li Xing was granted the title of Marquis of Linhuai. Unexpectedly, this Marquis was greedy for enjoyment, and his happiness led to sorrow. He died two years later, leaving no heirs. The title fell to Li Tingzhu's father, Li Yi. superior.
Li Yi also passed away two years after he ascended the throne. Li Tingzhu, who was 21 years old, inherited the title of Marquis of Linhuai. Three years later, at the age of 24, he was appointed General Pingman and sent to Zhenhuguang. At the age of 34, he became the admiral of Cao Jiang. He led the navy to fight against Japanese pirates, served as governor of water transportation in Huai'an, and later served as the commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Chinese Army.
In the Ming Dynasty, which emphasized blood relations, Li Tingzhu, the Marquis of Linhuai, was often not welcomed by top nobles because his father's title was "picked up." Although Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong are still young, their family backgrounds are obviously top-notch nobles. In addition, one of them is the eldest grandson of Chengguo Gong and the other is the eldest son of British Gong. Of course, they also take a look at the current line of Linhuai Marquis. It's not attractive, not to mention that their families are all Dukes, while the Li family is just a Marquis.
Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, both the Duke and the Marquis are high-ranking big shots, but in fact there are three, six or nine levels of big shots. In the eyes of Duke Cheng and Duke Ying, the Marquis of Linhuai is really not even a high ranking figure. What kind of extravagant figure is there?
To put it bluntly, a theoretical seventh-grade civil official like Ying Tian Xunyi Yushi is more important than Nanjing's honorary minister Linhuai Marquis, who deserves the attention of the two princes.
Therefore, at this moment, with Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong so aggressive, Li Zongcheng, who is young but very self-aware, can only explain in a low voice: "Two elder brothers, my father's coming to the capital indeed has nothing to do with these things in the capital. He actually..."
When Li Zongcheng said this, he sighed and said that he had no choice but to tell the matter directly - anyway, their two families were only concerned about the affairs of the capital, and they should not be interested in matters in Nanjing.
Then he continued: "Actually, it was because I saw the imperial newspaper a few days ago that the cabinet and the Metropolitan Procuratorate were preparing to conduct a detailed investigation on the matter of Wei Guogong, so I gave up my plan to go to Guanzhong and came north to Beijing."
"Huh?" Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong looked at each other again. Zhu Yingzhen asked, "Wei Guogong? What's the matter with him?"
This sentence is very revealing. He actually doesn't even know what happened to Wei Guogong. It seems that he really just keeps his eyes on the capital. As for the outside world... he can't care about it anyway, just let them go.
Li Zongcheng had no choice but to talk about the affairs of Wei Guogong Xu Pengju's family, and then emphasized: "In fact, the families of all the distinguished ministers in Nanjing are from well-connected families. It's just that Wei Guogong's family has always been in Nanjing." He is the head of the honorable ministers, and the honorable ministers of each family will not meddle in others' affairs easily."
At this time, Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong understood. Zhang Yuangong said: "So the purpose of your father's coming here is to observe the trends of the imperial court and see if the imperial court really wants to use Wei Guogong's sword to decide your future." What is the Huaihou family’s attitude towards this matter?”
Li Zongcheng smiled apologetically and nodded.
"Wait a minute." Zhu Yingzhen waved his hand, stared at Li Zongcheng and said: "Brother Zongcheng, I don't think this matter is that simple? Does the imperial court want to touch Wei Guogong? How does this matter relate to your Linhuai Marquis Mansion? , I think it’s not very big, right? After all, we consider the most serious matter. This matter has been investigated by the court and must be investigated thoroughly, but so what? It’s great that Xu Pengju’s title is deprived, but Wei Guogong It is impossible for a line to be cut off because of this incident. The imperial court will definitely continue to find one of his sons to inherit the title - does your Linhuai Marquis Mansion have anything to do with it? Does the imperial court still have to ask when verifying the case? Does the Marquis of Linhuai know about this?"
Li Zongcheng glanced at Zhu Yingzhen in surprise and thought: This guy's reaction is not slow, but how can I explain it?
But before he could explain, Zhu Yingzhen saw that he was silent and already guessed the answer. He smiled and said: "I think the Marquis of Linhuai or your father probably thought this: such a big scandal happened in the Duke of Wei's family. , although it is impossible to remove him from the title, Xu Pengju himself will definitely be punished. He is a garrison minister in Nanjing who holds many positions and is one of the three giants in Nanjing. If he is severely punished by the court, he will have to lose several positions. No one dared to think too much about these positions originally being placed in Duke Wei's family, but when Wei Guogong himself got into trouble, it was different... In the eyes of your Linhuai Marquis Mansion, these positions are all fragrant. Right? Ah, my dear brother Zongcheng?”
Li Zongcheng felt a little annoyed now. You can guess what he said in his heart, just keep it in your heart. Do you have to slap me in the face if you say it directly?
So he refused to reply.
But Zhang Yuangong over there happened to think of another thing along Zhu Yingzhen's train of thought, and suddenly said: "Brother Yingzhen is really aware of the subtleties. When you said that, I suddenly remembered that just now, Brother Zongcheng, you said you didn't get it. Gao Shidu’s invitation letter for an outing, I hope we can help... I think, Zongcheng Xiandi, you are not just here to see the prince’s companion, right?"
He narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Li Zongcheng and said, "I heard that the cause of the trouble in Wei Guogong's family was the former Langshan Commander-in-Chief named Liu, and this Commander-in-Chief seemed to have had some friendship with Gao Shidu. And now , I heard that the imperial court has intended to let him come out again... There may not be any shadow of the Gao family here. As for which 'Gao' it is, it should go without saying. So, Zongcheng Xiandi, you are in a hurry as soon as you arrive in the capital. Knowing Gao Shidu, if Brother Ying Zhen and I still can't figure it out, wouldn't it mean that we were born in the Duke's Mansion in vain?"
