After listening to various reports from the trading company line and the intelligence line, and reading many monthly reports from his nephew Zheng Shoukuan on Chongming military affairs and Jiangnan industry, Zheng Haizhuping withdrew his men and began to sort out the many notes written on the way to Mongolia. Summarize the key points and prepare for the performance in front of Zhu Changluo tomorrow.
Near the end of the Shen period, Lao Qin brought in a young man.
Zheng Haizhu raised his head and recognized it for a moment, then smiled: "Zong Xi!"
This eleven or twelve-year-old boy is none other than Huang Zunsu's eldest son Huang Zongxi.
Huang Zongxi was very close to Zheng Haizhu five or six years ago because his mother became the principal of Zheng's Academy. Later, after practicing eight-part essays, he often spent time in the academy and firearms factory. Therefore, even though it had been many years, when Huang Zongxi met Zheng Haizhu today, he still felt as if he were seeing his biological aunt, with no sense of unfamiliarity. He even called her "Aunt Zheng" just like he did in Songjiang.
Zheng Haizhu asked a few questions about the situation of the Huang family, and learned that Huang Zunsu and his wife Yao, one took their eldest son to the north, and after serving as an official, he apprenticed for his son in the circle of civil servants in the capital, while the other stayed in Songjiang with his younger son, working diligently He managed Zheng's Academy and enrolled another fifty or sixty children in the spring. Even Suzhou Prefecture and Hangzhou Prefecture, which were higher than Songjiang Prefecture, had well-off craftsmen's families who sent their children to school.
"Your mother is so amazing." Zheng Haizhu praised sincerely.
Huang Zongxi also smiled proudly, and then he remembered his business: "My father sent me to invite my aunt. He held a banquet at Heting Tower to welcome my aunt."
Zheng Haizhu also had many questions to ask Huang Zunsu about the Tianjin switch, so he immediately got up and went out with Huang Zongxi.
As he walked, he asked casually: "Hetinglou, which restaurant in the capital is this? What kind of cuisine does it serve?"
A trace of weird disdain flashed across Huang Zongxi's face, and he said in a quiet voice: "I heard from the waiter that it was not called this name originally. After the emperor came to Datong, people from the Donglin clan often held elegant gatherings there, so the owner changed the name to "Heting, Heting, is the name of Zhao Gong, the current minister of Taichang Temple."
"Zhao Gong?" Zheng Haizhu sat down in Huang Zongxigu's carriage and said, "Oh, it's Donglin Grandmaster Zhao Nanxing, Zhao Gong, right? Well, I thought that restaurant cooked Qiantang cuisine, so it was called Heting. , because there is a crane-releasing pavilion on the lonely mountain beside the West Lake in Hangzhou."
Huang Zongxi felt a little relieved when he saw that Aunt Zheng's tone was relaxed and showed no sign of respect.
Although his father Huang Zunsu is an out-and-out Donglin sect, Huang Zongxi really doesn't have a good impression of Zhao Nanxing and Hetinglou.
When Gein first arrived in the capital a few months ago, he accompanied his father to an elegant gathering of Donglin sect civil servants. During the meeting, some people laughed at Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua's Western learning as a miraculous skill. He cultivated his moral integrity and helped his family, but he went to work as a follower for a businesswoman to spread Western learning.
On the spot, Huang Zongxi's youthful spirit rose. With the fierceness of a calf, he choked the other person a few words, but Zhao Nanxing, who was in charge, spoke up and told Huang Zunsu not to despise the method of raising his son and the way of running the family, lest his nephew would not understand the etiquette of respecting elders and younger ones.
At this moment, Huang Zongxi, who had suppressed a lot of anger after coming to Beijing with his father, wanted to complain to Aunt Zheng. The ministers of Donglin kept saying that "the cabinet cannot be a one-spoken hall." Grandmasters will place any kind of honor and humiliation on right and wrong.
But when the young man thought about it again, wasn't it the same as the so-called gentlemen who criticized his mother behind his back when he criticized him behind his back?
Huang Zongxi then suppressed the idea of talking, picked up another topic, and asked Zheng Haizhu about his experiences outside the Great Wall with great interest.
After doing this for two sticks of incense, we arrived at the Heting Tower.
Entering the private room on the second floor, when Huang Zunsu saluted Zheng Haizhu, he said to Huang Zongxi: "Keep the door open and let some air flow. There will be no chill this month."
Huang Zongxi complied.
Zheng Haizhu smiled lightly and agreed that "the capital is warmer than the land of Beilu", but in his heart, he felt a little uncomfortable just like Huang Zongxi's expression that he had just observed.
Taboos such as sexual intercourse between men and women are bad habits that cannot be eradicated immediately in this era. Zheng Haizhu does not mind succumbing to them occasionally, but after knowing the origin of Hetinglou today, she
I felt that Huang Zunsu had other reasons for hosting the banquet here.
There was a vague intention to discuss matters under Dong Lin's nose, so as to avoid any rift between Dong Lin's fellow disciples.
So, after sitting down, Zheng Haizhu looked at Huang Zongxi who was serving wine and dishes, and said to Huang Zunsu: "I talked a lot with Zongxi on the way about the customs of Mongolia, the overt and covert struggles of various tribes, and this confrontation with Zhenglan Banner. , let him relay it to you later. Huang Gong, tell us about the Tianjin switch. I guess the fact that the Ministry of Industry is a little slow in allocating money is not the biggest obstacle."
The wine glass that Huang Zunsu had picked up was put back on the table.
He knew the woman opposite him well and had always not adhered to the social etiquette that scribes were accustomed to. However, Huang Zunsu was startled by being so straight to the point and directly asking for money.
"You just returned to Beijing today and someone told you?" Huang Zunsu asked.
His tone was calm, still with the gentleness of an acquaintance.
Zheng Haizhu said: "It doesn't make any difference whether it's today or tomorrow. It doesn't make any difference if others come to mention it. It's my own guess. The key is whether you, Donglin, will talk to the cabinet ministers of other factions once you gain power. Just like an official, trying to influence the situation of the court and manipulate the Holy Inquisition?"
With a "clang" sound, Huang Zongxi's chopsticks fell on the table.
The young boy really didn't expect that Aunt Zheng, who always smiled and had a cheerful face, would say such serious words in an instant.
Huang Zunsu glanced at his son. Instead of being angry at his impoliteness, he was more hesitant to ask his son to avoid him immediately.
"What are you avoiding?" Zheng Haizhu said softly, "Zong Xi is no longer a baby. He will soon be at the age where he will be writing policy papers in the examination room. It doesn't hurt to listen to the debates about national affairs."
Then he turned to Huang Zongxi and said: "When I was trapped in the hands of the Japanese, it was your mother who gave me the bamboo carving that guided your father to save my life. In my eyes, your father is not only a colleague, but also a brother. Therefore, even in this Heting Tower, when I talk, I will not hide it."
Huang Zongxi didn't dare to answer, but he felt comfortable.
At his age, he hates being treated like a child. For this reason alone, Aunt Zheng made people want to get closer to her more than those old masters.
"Okay," Huang Zunsu looked at Zheng Haizhu, sighed softly, and said slowly, "Then I will tell you directly, the difficulty of the Tianjin Switch is real, and it is not just about requesting funds from the Ministry of Industry."
…
"No matter how shady the Ministry of Industry is, how shabby is Yang Zongxian of the Metropolitan Procuratorate?"
In the afternoon of the next day, in the Xinuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, when Emperor Zhu Changluo mentioned the Tianjin switch, his expression and tone were much worse than Huang Zunsu in the restaurant last night.
The reason why civil servants, Zhao Nanxing and Yang Lian, headed by the Donglin faction of the Ministry of Rites and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, opposed the Tianjin switch was relayed by Emperor Zhu Changluo was similar to the version relayed by Huang Zunsu, who was also a member of the Donglin faction.
