Thirty years ago, during the battle to destroy the Jin Dynasty, Zhang Rou invaded Kaifeng, took away the "Jin Shilu" and the Secret Mansion Books, and protected many famous Confucian scholars in the city from returning to the north.
Almost all of these people have now become Kublai Khan's important ministers.
Not to mention Wang E, Hao Jing, Zhao Fu, who are famous all over the world, just to name a few are Gao Kui, the Minister of Household Affairs and a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, Zhao Siwen, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Zhao Zhi, the provincial minister, and Yang Shu, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy...
Half of the officials in the Central Plains have received Zhang Rou's favor.
At that time, he was willing to risk serious crimes to preserve the cultural heritage of the North, but now, this move has also achieved his reputation.
Therefore, even though his daughter was married to Li Xia, and even though his son defected to Li Xia, Kublai Khan could not touch Zhang Rou as long as he did not openly rebel.
That's what I originally thought.
Originally, Zhang Rou felt that it was inappropriate for Kublai Khan to hold him accountable now that he had retired from office, and that was the end of it.
But Yang Dayuan's death made him feel shocked.
The Great Khan of Mongolia and the Emperor of the Central Plains actually began to use this method of assassination... On the surface, he would not attack his hero, but secretly?
The previous trust between the monarch and his subjects suddenly became weak.
If Li Xia contacts him, Kublai Khan will force the children of the Zhang family to express their position... This will make Zhang Rou very uneasy.
He was not one of those loyal ministers in the south, nor did he revere Kublai Khan as much as the younger generation. During the Genghis Khan period, he was one of the leaders of the Mongolian Han army. He felt in his bones that "without the support of me and other Central Plains princes, Tuo Lei and the others would not be able to do anything".
Do you want to win the position of Great Khan?"
He is a local tycoon, and what he values all his life is supporting his troops with self-respect and relying on his strength to protect himself.
When trust becomes weak, some people's first reaction is to gain trust. The first reaction of local powerful people is to strengthen their strength and preserve their retreat.
Even if it makes trust even weaker.
Prepare for the worst, what will you do if Kublai Khan takes action against the Zhang family?
Zhang Rou's family members are all in Baozhou, and it is impossible to abandon them. The Zhang family is not just a dozen people. The "Zhang family" always refers to the nearly 100,000 soldiers and civilians of Baozhou on Shuntian Road.
How about defending Baozhou City?
Then Li Xia must ensure at least two things, one is to have spare strength to send troops to Hebei, and the other is to be able to relieve Baozhou before the city is breached.
These are the two most basic prerequisites for the Zhang family to rebel, otherwise joining Li Xia would be tantamount to annihilation of the clan.
It has nothing to do with what Zhang Rou thinks, nor does it have anything to do with righteousness, vision, or interests. Li Xia can't meet these two conditions, so there's no need to discuss anything.
Therefore, Zhang Rou has been paying attention to whether Li Xia can get through Henan.
It wasn't until Hao Tianyi returned to Taiyuan that he suddenly became enlightened.
"This son-in-law has some tricks up his sleeve. If he doesn't go to Henan, he can go to Shanxi."
Shanxi and Shuntian Road are separated only by Taihangxing.
Li Xia was planning to make arrangements for Taiyuan, but Zhang Rou's uneasiness was urging him not to wait and to take the initiative to contact Taiyuan.
First, secretly arrange a "channel" through which manpower and material resources can flow, and the situation will gradually become very different.
Tonight, Zhang Rou was not actually asking Zhang Honglue for his opinion.
What a father wants to do does not require his son's consent.
In fact, he had already sent someone to Taiyuan. He asked because he was testing Zhang Honglue's attitude.
It must be said that Kublai Khan's suppression of Shihou had already made the Zhang family and his son suspicious.
…
"Since Wulang lost Bozhou, business contacts with the Song Dynasty have been cut off. Recently, the family has been running out of money. No, my second sister is getting married at the end of the year, and my father can't even raise a decent dowry."
There was no one else in the pavilion, but Zhang Rou kept her head and tail hidden when she spoke. There were too many hidden meanings behind her words.
If Zhang Wulang lost Bozhou, after Zhang Honglue defeated Xia Gui, the Zhang family could actually regain Bozhou.
The reason why Bozhou is no longer in the hands of the Zhang family is because Zhang Jiulang led his troops to attack the key point and was severely defeated. So Kublai Khan took advantage of the situation and implemented the "relocation strategy" and transferred the fear of the Wuer general Ali Hague to control Bozhou.
Zhang Rou wanted to say that Wu Lang lost Bozhou because he had not mentioned Zhang Jiulang for a long time.
Wulang was just a middle-aged man, and he had always been scolded. But even if he was a middle-aged man, at least he was doing his best for the family by reaching that point.
Ask Zhang Rou which son she is more dissatisfied with? I'm afraid it's hard to say.
As for the second sister's wedding, she needs a dowry, but the eldest sister's dowry has not yet been given.
Zhang Honglue considered it carefully and said slowly: "But I'm afraid that business will be difficult?"
"It's not easy to do." Zhang Rou leaned back lazily and said casually: "Your uncle Siyong sells some pens, inks, paper and inkstones to make a living, but his Yi Shui inkstones can't be sold north. There are several writers in the north.
If you are a calligrapher and painter, how can you support your family? There are a few merchants in Taiyuan who are willing to accept his goods, but there are many difficulties like this. There are tens of thousands of mouths to eat. How can you do it without doing business? "
Zhang Hong slightly nodded and asked more clearly what his father meant, "Who should I send?"
"It was only then that I discovered that all the gentlemen in the shogunate have been recruited by His Majesty to serve the country in the court." Zhang Rou glanced at his son, feeling reassured about him, and then said: "I have no choice but to let your uncle go to Shanxi.
One trip, he already set off the day before yesterday..."
~~
Putting aside concubines, Zhang Rou had four wives in her life. In fact, the ones with the best family backgrounds were the Jing family and the Mao family.
The Jing family is the daughter of Jing'an Min, one of the Nine Dukes of Hebei Province, and the Mao family is the daughter of Mao Pengbo, a famous scholar in Hebei Province.
Mao Pengbo once served as an official in Luzhou. When the Mongolian army invaded, he committed suicide and died for his country. It is worth mentioning that Mao Pengbo had an elder brother, Mao Duanqing, whose daughter was the second wife of Yuan Haowen.
In other words, Zhang Rou and Yuan Haowen can be regarded as brothers-in-law.
Mao Jujie was the son of Mao Pengbo. He called Zhang Rou and Yuan Haowen called him "brother-in-law."
When Hao Jing, Zhao Fu and other Shuntian Zhang family's staff were recruited by Kublai Khan, Mao Jujie was already the most important planner of the Zhang Rou shogunate.
He was very talented and agile, and it was he who built Baozhou City back then.
Mao Pengbo faced the Mongolian army and committed suicide by touching the wall without being humiliated. Yuan Haowen refused to serve in Mongolia. These two people actually affected Mao Jujie's stance.
His allegiance was to the Zhang family. Although he was doing things for Mongolia, he had no other choice as the founding of the Mongolian nation was unstoppable.
But when Li Xia gained momentum, when Zhang Wenjing, Zhang Hongdao, Yang Guo, Yuan Yan, Li Ye and other relatives and friends had defected to Li Xia, Mao Jujie had a tendency.
Zhang Rou could only send him to Taiyuan, and she could trust him.
…
After passing through Jingxing, one of the Eight Routes in Taihang, Mao Jujie rode for two days to Jinghaozui Town in the north of Taiyuan. He rested overnight and set off from the posthouse to Taiyuan on August 15th, the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Separated by the Taihang Mountains, the landscape of Shanxi is very different from that of Hebei. Quyang County is divided into six mountains, one water and three fields, with high mountains, deep valleys, and crisscrossing river valleys.
Jinghaozui Town is located in the south of the county and is the thoroughfare for Shanxi merchants to trade north.
Mao Jujie sat astride the horse and let the guards lead the horse slowly while observing the terrain with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
He is over fifty years old but in good spirits.
"Sir, why don't we hurry up and go to Taiyuan City to celebrate the festival tonight?" asked the guard leading the horse.
"Don't be in a hurry, the journey is not far, we will definitely be there by noon."
"Yes Yes."
After a while, Mao Jujie asked: "Bai Mao, you wandered away with me during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Do you have any complaints in your heart?"
"How can you complain? My family has raised this little guy for so many years, but he hasn't done much. It's rare that I can go on an errand with my husband. It's not too late to be happy."
"Let me tell you about what happened to King Qin Li Xia back then."
"Yes. I have been talking about this all these years. First I told it to Wulang, and then I went to Baozhou to talk to the commander, and to all the gentlemen. I can earn some money by telling this story."
The journey was still long, so Mao Jujie was not in a hurry to hear what he had heard, and asked: "Li Xia is now a prince, do you regret not following him back then?"
"I don't regret it." Bai Mao shook his head without hesitation and said: "My master treated me well. I brought my mother to Baozhou to take care of me. I also gave him a mother-in-law. My son can also learn to read like my husband."
, A great kindness, how can a villain have any regrets?"
"But if you had followed Li Xia back then, you might have a future now."
"Hey, others don't know it, but the villain knows it best. That guy is a master who sacrifices his life for a future at the tip of a knife. It is said that a life of nine deaths is easy. The villain only has this little thief skill. If you follow him
, even if he was not buried on the way to Kaifeng, he must have died in Sichuan, Shu or Hanzhong. I don’t know how rotten the body was..."
Bai Mao didn't say this just to please Mao Jujie.
He knew very well how capable he was. When an enemy came charging at him with a knife, he could only run away with his head in his arms. It was really impossible for him to follow Li Xia and become famous.
How can it be compared to being taken care of by the Zhang family but not having to sacrifice your life?
Mao Jujie leaned down and asked in a low voice: "But if in the end, even the Zhang family has no choice but to vote for Li Xia, won't you regret it?"
"The villain is not stupid. The reason why the commander-in-chief sent the villain to follow Mr. Wang was because that day the commander-in-chief asked me about Li Xia. I said, 'The Zhang family is the smartest. It doesn't matter who takes over the world. Only then can we stay in Baozhou safely.
Yell'."
Mao Jujie couldn't help laughing and said with admiration: "Although you come from a humble background, you see things thoroughly."
"The villain is just timid, please be safe."
"So, are you trustworthy?"
"Yes, sir, I will definitely do whatever you tell me."
"..."
Here he was still driving slowly, when he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves behind him. Mao Jujie turned around and saw a group of dozens of cavalrymen. He quickly took the people to the side.
He was not afraid of encountering the Mongolian army.
Zhang Rou is still one of the top princes in the world, and few people in the Central Plains dare to openly embarrass him. Moreover, when Mao Jujie went to Taiyuan this time, no matter how he checked, he was just selling business, and it was impossible to leave any evidence of rebellion.
The cavalry group behind them was getting closer and closer. They did not show their flags, but the soldiers looked like Han soldiers.
Mao Jujie was willing to give way because he was a low-key person and did not want to make things difficult for others when he was away from home. Otherwise, if he showed his identity, he would be afraid that the other party would give way to him.
But today things were a bit coincidental.
A general galloped past Mao Jujie, suddenly pulled the reins, reined in the horse, and called out in surprise.
"Fifth uncle?"
Mao Jujie looked up and was surprised when he saw the person coming.
A smile appeared on his face, but he secretly thought something bad...
(End of chapter)
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