Huaiyang Tower is one of the best restaurants in Nanjing. There are seven or eight chefs in the back kitchen. Today, the owner closed down for treating guests. These chefs naturally showed their strengths and quickly prepared a table of authentic Huaiyang dishes for the owner.

Chinese catering culture is profound and profound. Huaiyang cuisine appeared in the Western Han Dynasty, developed in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and formed in the Ming Dynasty. It is one of the eighth generation of Chinese cuisines. Huaiyang cuisine in the Ming Dynasty is almost the same as later generations. Except for the lack of unseen ingredients such as chili peppers, other famous dishes have appeared.

This table of dishes gathers the essence of Huaiyang cuisine, including stewed crab noodles, lion heads, soft-cup long fish, Huai'an tea stew, large-boiled dried shreds, three sets of duck, crystal meat, etc. Yue Qijie saw the dishes on it and smiled and said, "I'm hungry, eat first, and then talk about it later!"

When Ma Cheng heard this old greedy man say this, he didn't dare to object. He just wanted to have a meal with this old guy. But Ma Cheng's mind was not on eating, and this meal was really depressed.

After Yue Qijie killed two lion heads, half a plate of dried shredded and half a duck, he sighed with satisfaction: "Hey, I am 65 years old this year, and my biggest hobby is this! Huaiyang cuisine has a fresh and peaceful taste, moderate salty, sweet and light, and is worthy of being the first of the eight major cuisines!"

Ma Cheng was accompanying him. When the old guy expressed his feelings, he quickly said, "It's good if my uncle likes to eat. This is our own property. I can come here in the future!"

"It's not good. You, Huaiyang Building, also have to make money. My husband's salary is thin and he can't afford it!"

When Ma Cheng heard Yue Qijie crying poor, he cursed in his heart: You old guy is still crying poor in front of me? Although your Yue family is not a big landlord in Guiyang, there are still thousands of acres of land in his family. In addition to these, he also distributes dividends in Ma's private salt business. Isn't it money?

"Don't worry, uncle, I'll take care of myself in the future. They are all family members, so what's the matter with or without money!"

Yue Qijie nodded when he heard Ma Cheng say this: "Since that's the case, I thanked my nephew first! By the way, what are you going to ask me about?"

Seeing that the old guy finally remembered his own affairs, Ma Cheng quickly asked, "Uncle, my nephew wants to understand the current situation, why did my father leave my nephew on the shelf?"

When Yue Qijie heard Ma Cheng say this, he smiled and did not answer, but asked back: "What do you think, nephew?"

When Ma Cheng heard Yue Qijie's question, he said angrily: "What else can I think? My father is afraid that my nephew will deal with him like he did to the emperor, but his nephew is his son. His son is so cautious, which makes my nephew feel so heartbroken!"

After hearing Ma Cheng's words, Yue Qijie laughed: "Haha, Zhonghe, your father passed the Jinshi at the age of 29. He has been the head of the Ministry of Revenue and has served as a county magistrate, Taoist, prefect, assistant censor, governor of the Xuanfu, and governor, and now the chief minister. After more than 30 years of ups and downs in the officialdom, can you still beware of such a boy like you?"

"On the other hand, you have developed well in the past two years. You trained troops to fight the Beilu, and the battle between Nandu City exceeded 400,000 yuan. I didn't believe it after hearing it in Hangzhou Prison. Although you have outstanding military achievements, why do you develop so fast? Do you think it depends on yourself?"

Ma Cheng heard Yue Qijie say this and the boss was unhappy. Does it rely on who he doesn’t rely on? Why are these old guys not optimistic about him?

"My uncle, my nephew started recruiting soldiers from outside Xuzhou City and ate them with soldiers every day

Living together, from the first year of Shaowu to the present, hundreds of battles are victorious and victorious in battles! Isn’t this the credit of my nephew?”

"Boy, you're right. You're really good at fighting, but don't forget that in just two years from the 17th year of Chongzhen to the first year of Hongguang, you can lead an invincible team? Who do you think you are? Did you really think you are Yue Fei after hearing the rumors in the world? Even if you are Yue Fei, do you know how many years it took Yue Fei to train an invincible Yue Family Army? It took fourteen years from the beginning of Yue Fei's enlistment in the first year of Jingkang to the great victory in Zhuxian Town in the tenth year of Shaoxing. On the other hand, you think you can be successful in just two years with the help of no one?"

What Yue Qijie said makes sense. If Ma Shiying had not fully supported Ma Cheng, he would never have grown into a force in just a few years. Ma Cheng's new army has good combat effectiveness, but a large number of middle and low-level officers were the personal guards of Ma Shiying and the Gu family, the commander of Guiyang.

In order to support Ma Cheng, Ma Shiying not only handed over his 500 Guizhou soldiers to him, but also wrote a letter to transfer 800 soldiers from Guiyang. Most of these soldiers were personal soldiers of the Ma family and Gu family. They fought with ethnic minorities all year round in Guizhou and Yunnan, and their combat effectiveness was no less than that of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty.

In addition to these, in order to help Ma Cheng form an army as soon as possible, Ma Shiying basically mobilized the whole country to help Ma Cheng build this new army. If you need a steel workshop, you can transfer all tens of thousands of blacksmiths from Lishui County to you! If you need gunpowder, no problem, you can use the gunpowder workshop of the Military Weapon Bureau at will! The Minister of Works is not good, and there is no problem. Just replace your Ma Cheng's teacher Song Yingxing as yourselves! The soldiers' military pay is insufficient, so they will directly open the Ministry of Revenue Bank's bank treasury to open the supply of the new army!

It is precisely because of Ma Shiying's unremitting support that Ma Cheng's new army has formed combat effectiveness in just two years and defeated the arrogant Qing army under the city of Nanjing.

Ma Cheng was speechless by Yue Qijie's words. After a long time, he quibbled: "But he is my father. Isn't it okay for his father to support his son?"

When Ma Cheng said this, he completely forgot about the scandal in the imperial city. In order to escape, Ma Cheng left Ma Shiying without looking back. Is this what your son should do?

After hearing Ma Cheng's words, Yue Qijie laughed a few times, but did not continue asking questions, but instead said: "Zhonghe, do you know who the new inner city admiral is? But do you know who the commander of the Imperial City Guard is?"

The inner city admiral is Zhang Guozhu, who is an old acquaintance of Ma Cheng, but the commander is an unknown Zhang Kunyuan. Ma Cheng had never heard of it before. Now, hearing Yue Qijie say this, Ma Cheng had to shake his head and say that he didn't know.

"This Zhang Kunyuan is Qianhu, Linshanwei, Shaoxing Prefecture. After you occupied Ningbo, this guy was transferred to Nandu by the Ministry of War. He was originally a Qianhu under your brother Ma Xi, and now he is promoted to commander!"

Qianhu was an intermediate officer in the Ming Dynasty, but he was only the lowest-ranking intermediate officer. His official position was only the fifth rank, but the commander was a third-rank senior official, not to mention the commander of the imperial city, which has always been the nobles.

After hearing Yue Qijie's words, Ma Cheng cursed angrily: "What talent does this guy have? Did he follow Ma Xi's path? He leaped from a fifth-grade master to a third-grade master! "

"Zhang Kunyuan didn't have a way to go. Zhang Kunyuan's hometown is from Yin County, Ningbo. He has an uncle.

My uncle, named Zhang Qingfang, was once a minister of the Ministry of War of the Southern Capital, but now he has retired."

Ningbo native? It seems that Ma Shiying is preparing to win over the hearts of those intellectuals from Zhejiang East in Ningbo. How could he use a thousand households as an important position?

"Uncle, but my father wants to win over the hearts of those scholars in eastern Zhejiang?"

"You are right. Yuan Fu does have the intention to gather the literati of Zhejiang East, but the driving force behind it is your elder brother Ma Luan!"

Although Ma Luan is a silly man, he has a very good character and many friends. He is as concerned about Ma Cheng as his elder brother. When Ma Cheng heard Yue Qijie say this, he suddenly caught the key points of the problem, but he was still uncertain. Ma Cheng asked hesitantly: "Uncle, do you say that the elder brother is cultivating his own power?"

"Boy, you have been in the limelight in the past few years. It would be fine if your father was still an ordinary prime minister, but you insisted on giving your father a favor. Your elder brother was not prepared, would you be suppressed by you when your father succeeded in the future? Cao Cao's son Cao Zhi was all above Cao Pi, but what was the result? Your elder brother didn't want to be the second Cao Zhi!"

After hearing Yue Qijie's words, Ma Cheng cursed in his heart: If I hadn't been protecting you from safety, Ma Shiying would have been caught in Nanjing and was stripped of skin. The eldest brother Ma Luan was wandering in Zhejiang to hide his name as a teacher. Ma Xi, the bastard, would have been killed with Ma Shiying. Now you are all safe and have been plotting against me!

In fact, Ma Cheng doesn't understand Ma Luan when he thinks this way. Ma Luan and Ma Cheng have a good relationship, but fathers and sons must beware of it secretly on the power field, let alone brothers. From ancient times to the present, there are many younger brothers in China who kill their brothers in order to seize power. So we can't blame Ma Luan for preparing in advance. He has no intention of harming Ma Cheng, but he must have the ability to protect himself.

"Uncle, now we only occupy two provinces, Nanzhili and Zhejiang, and there are many enemies outside. Why did my father support his brother and suppress his nephew?"

"Zhonghe, you are wrong to think so! The Northern Barbarians lost 400,000 people under the Nandu City, among which there are more than 30,000 real barbarians. You should know that the entire Northern Barbarians only have 200,000 people. With the Han army flag and the Eight Mongolian Banners, there will be no more than 100,000 people who can come out to serve in the army. These 30,000 people have already hurt them! The only one with some strength in the southern courts is Lu. Now the Lu King is destroyed, what is the only one who is left with Tang King Gui is just a native chicken and a dog? In this situation, your father can still let you go out to fight? If you win the battle, will you become the second Li Shimin?"

What Yue Qijie said is the real reason why Ma Shiying suppressed Ma Cheng. Ma Cheng was able to fight, but in Ma Shiying's eyes, it was just the courage of every man. The war will always end one day in the future. It can conquer the world immediately, but it will definitely not be able to govern the world. In the end, it will also require literati and doctors to govern the country.

After Ma Cheng paid food together with Suzhou officials and gentry, he had offended most intellectuals. As long as Ma Shiying was still a little smart, he would never let Ma Cheng make contributions and offend those local gentry who had real power.
Chapter completed!