"At that time, he was the commander of the fourth-grade guard. He was the same age as me, seventeen years old. He became very popular as soon as he came and went."
"..."
Zhang Zhongjian was a man of the world, and he answered quite readily and excitedly. He told Xu Qin many past events like pouring beans through a bamboo tube.
"We have actually been in contact over the years."
"At the beginning of this year, before the Yan army captured Zhenjiang, he came to me to discuss the deployment of defenses at Puzikou of the Yangtze River..."
"It's a pity... Emperor Jianwen didn't dare to reuse him. He suspected that he was in cahoots with his brother-in-law and had poor vision."
"General Xu is a loyal man who can speak out for justice. He is currently the only scholar-official who has not surrendered to Emperor Yongle, which makes us admire him."
"..."
Huang Yanqing chimed in with praise, and Chen Shujian next to him also echoed.
They didn't avoid anything at all. They all believed that Xu Qin and Xu Huizu were of the same mind and had the same understanding.
In fact, when Xu Qin heard this, he couldn't laugh or cry.
Xu Huizu did this to follow the ancestral precepts and abide by the principles of monarch and minister.
Now, he has everything behind him, including his reputation, and he can indeed be regarded as a proud ancestor.
He was hailed by people in the world as a good minister who was loyal to the emperor and served the country, and a hero who would rather die than surrender.
It will be remembered for eternity.
But his personal fate is tragic, and his family will be affected.
No, he was tortured into a cripple, and his eldest son Xu Qin actually died tragically in prison long ago.
It is the soul of a modern person that has penetrated into it.
Without the time-travel of modern Xu Qin, I am afraid that Xu Huizu would have been wiped out long ago.
No matter how hard the eldest sister Xu Miaoyun works, she is still out of reach.
"How could Senior Zhang visit my father so blatantly?"
"Don't you know that there is a shadow of Jin Yiwei surrounding Xu Mansion?"
Xu Qin said it bluntly.
"Of course I know." Zhang Zhongjian said:
"This time we are accompanying Mr. Huang to the palace to accept the post of General Yitong awarded by the imperial court. We return to see our old friends. This is also human nature."
"The three of us were dismissed from our military posts by the imperial court. The imperial court gave the officers appeasement. I went to the Xu Mansion for a public visit. What will happen if the Jinyi Guards find out?"
"It's a pity that Brother Huizu still refuses to meet. I guess he is frustrated and is afraid of causing trouble for me and others."
General Yitong?
Xu Qin knew as soon as he heard that this was a second-grade honorary officer in the Ming Dynasty, with a distinguished status.
No wonder Huang Yanqing came into the courtyard wearing a python robe, a jade belt, and a seven-star sword.
The so-called General Yitong, that is, the three divisions of Yitong, enjoys the treatment of the three divisions (Taiwei, Situ, and Sikong).
This was originally the treatment of casual officials inherited from the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it was also called General Yitong, a second-grade honorary officer.
It sounds majestic.
In fact, this Yitong Sansi is a fictitious and honorable position that cannot be fictitious anymore.
The honorary title is equivalent to a national honorary title in later generations.
"Junior Xu Qin, I would like to pay my respects to my two uncles on behalf of my father."
Xu Qin was obedient. He stood up and took two steps back. He knelt down and kowtowed to Huang Yanqing and Zhang Zhongjian, doing the great courtesy of his nephew.
"My nephew meets Uncle Huang and Uncle Zhang!"
"Oh, dear nephew, please wake up."
"..."
Huang Yanqing and Zhang Zhongjian strode forward, bent down and stretched out their hands, helped Xu Qin up from left to right, and laughed.
"Come on, here's Uncle Chen." Zhang Zhongjian stepped aside to invite Chen Shujian out.
Chen Shujian has a special status. Most people only know his surname as Chen. In fact, he is a descendant of a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River and a descendant of the Southern Dynasty royal family during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Now, in addition to his status as the right rudder of the Cao Gang, he is also the leader of the Jiangnan General Chamber of Commerce, a veritable big businessman.
Here, only the core members know their identities.
"My nephew meets Uncle Chen!"
Xu Qin turned around, knelt down and kowtowed respectfully towards Chen Shujian, and performed the courtesy of son-nephew.
Ancient wealthy people, especially princes and nobles, paid great attention to hierarchical etiquette and were meticulous.
Xu Qin paid his respects according to the formal etiquette of the nobles. He was decent and generous, which impressed everyone present.
"My dear nephew, please rise!" Chen Shujian returned the favor with his right hand.
Next, the servants brought food and wine, and the four of them began to drink from cup to cup.
Huang Yanqing and others saw Xu Qin come to Jingyuan Villa in person, apparently under the instruction of his father Xu Huizu.
Therefore, they regard him as a core member, do not avoid him, and say what needs to be said.
As for Xu Qin, he didn't point it out.
It is not a bad thing to make friends with heroes in the world.
No matter what they do, as a bystander, if you approve it, you will support it. If you don’t approve it, you will not support it or participate in it.
"Uncles and nephews, one thing I still don't understand is that when the King of Yan bypassed Huai'an and went straight into Nanjing, why didn't you send troops to rescue Nanjing?"
There are different opinions on this period of history in history, and no one reason can be concluded.
Many people believed that Mei Yin Mingzhe was protecting his life and did not save Zhu Yunwen until he died.
As a historical researcher, how could Xu Qin give up such a good opportunity?
Of course he hopes to uncover the mystery.
Hearing Xu Qin raised this question, the three of them looked at each other, shaking their heads and smiling bitterly.
Finally, Huang Yanqing opened his mouth to explain.
"My dear nephew, this question was not only raised by you, but also by many people from the Jianwen Party who asked and blamed him afterwards, thinking that General Mei would not save him until he died."
"Actually, it was a misunderstanding. Prince Consort Mei Yin and I were wronged."
Then he began to unravel the mystery in detail.
In the thirty-first year of Hongwu's reign, Emperor Gao died, and his grandson Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne.
He had just ascended the throne, and under the influence of Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, and Fang Xiaoru, the "Three Fools of Jianwen", he blindly promoted the reduction of vassal status.
As the minister of Tuogu, Mei Yin opposed Zhu Yunwen's doing so.
One is that he violated Taizu Emperor Gao's decree that the royal bloodline live in harmony.
Second, it is too urgent and the time is not yet mature.
But Zhu Yunwen was complacent and did not listen to Mei Yin's dissuasion.
Less than half a year after Taizu's death, Emperor Jianwen successively defeated the five kings of Zhou, Qi, Xiang, Dai, and Min.
Among them, Zhu Bai, the king of Xiang, set fire to himself in protest.
Zhu Yunwen was headstrong and used force to cut down the vassal clan without respecting the clan's feelings and directly forced the rebels.
Zhu Di, who was already dissatisfied.
He followed Yao Guangxiao's suggestion and finally resorted to the "Qing Jun Side" trick to raise troops to appease the enemy.
After the Battle of Jingnan began, Zhu Yunwen made frequent attacks, and Geng Bingwen and Li Jinglong were defeated one after another.
Although he relied on Tie Xuan, Sheng Yong, Ping An and others to barely block the Yan army's march south in Jinan, it was still difficult to change the decline of the Jianwen court.
In the fourth year of Jianwen, at the beginning of this year, Zhu Di bypassed Jinan and attacked Lingbi directly, which was unstoppable.
On the one hand, Emperor Jianwen sent Ping'an and He Fu to Lingbi to set up defenses. On the other hand, Emperor Jianwen urgently summoned his consort Mei Yin into the palace and appointed him as the chief military officer of Huai'an to defend against the enemy.
Huai'an is the seat of the Mei family.
Huang Yanqing, Zhang Zhongjian and others are actually the adopted sons of Mei Yin's uncle Mei Sizu, and have followed him since childhood.
Mei Sizu has been stationed in Huai'an since Zhang Shicheng.
Later, Zhang was abandoned and Zhu was appointed hereditary Marquis of Runan.
After Mei Sizu's death, Mei Yin inherited the title of Marquis of Runan and became the young master of Huang Yanqing, Zhang Zhongjian and others.
Emperor Jianwen had no choice but to use Mei Yin because he had no generals available.
