ps: If I want to hear more of your voices and receive more of your suggestions, search the WeChat official account "qdread" now and follow it to give more support to "Regent Ming"!
………
Yangzhou, directly under Southern Zhili, is the center of the Lianghuai salt industry and the north-south goods trade. Here, it has a population of one million, a prosperous economy, abundant products, prosperous culture, and picturesque scenery! Here, there are giants all the time.
Jia and talented people gathered together, and countless famous people from ancient to modern times stayed here.
After Emperor Deqing ascended the throne, he came here several times for "visits", which made the city more famous and the economy further prospered. Today, it has become one of the most famous cities south of the Yangtze River.
Someone once said that as long as gold remains golden and silver remains silver, Yangzhou will always be Yangzhou and its prosperity will never decline.
The occasional story of a talented man? The spending of money by a wealthy businessman? The love legend of a beautiful woman? The comings and goings of famous people? These will definitely be sensational news for other cities, but they happen every day in Yangzhou, and they will not faze the people of Yangzhou at all.
If it feels fresh, we may discuss it a few words after dinner, but we will forget it after a few days.
However, in recent days, another major event has happened in Yangzhou. Even for the well-informed people of Yangzhou, this event is definitely sensational and has far-reaching influence. Even today, it is still
There are still many people talking about it.
This incident is when the Zhao family, a wealthy family in Yangzhou, suddenly announced to the outside world that the former number one scholar in the imperial examination, one of the most popular powerful ministers in the temple today, and the most trusted minister of Emperor Deqing, has become the official minister of the household department and also serves as the minister of household affairs.
Zhao Junchen, the director of the West Factory and the general manager of the internal transportation warehouse, turned out to be a descendant of the Zhao family! And not long ago, Zhao Junchen had already recognized his marriage to the Zhao family!
In addition, the Zhao family also released news that because Zhao Junchen recognized his ancestor and returned to the clan, when Emperor Deqing visited Yangzhou on his southern tour soon, he would personally visit the Zhao family's house as a guest and give the Zhao family a huge reward.
Grace will not only select many young people from the Zhao family to enter the Imperial Academy, but also select one of the suitable-age women from the Zhao family to enter the palace and be canonized as a noble!
All these news are like an earthquake to Yangzhou!
It can be said that the distribution of power and interests in several provinces south of the Yangtze River has been completely changed as a result. As a result, the people of Yangzhou are naturally very concerned.
In fact, not long after the news came out from the Zhao family, officials at all levels in Nanzhili visited the Zhao family. During the visit, they were all respectful and did not dare to act like parents. This is also confirmed.
to find out the authenticity of the news coming out of the Zhao family.
The Zhao family was originally one of the largest families in Yangzhou. Not only did it have a large number of members, it also owned thousands of fertile fields and dozens of lacquer and jade workshops and shops. It also had deep friendships with successive local officials. In Yangzhou, few people dared to interact with them.
Now that we have a big backer like Zhao Junchen and the grace of Emperor Deqing, from now on, let alone Yangzhou, no one will dare to provoke him in the entire Jiangnan area, right?
Therefore, all members of the Zhao family have been beaming with joy, elated and high-spirited these days.
However, not many people know that. At this time, the atmosphere inside the Zhao family is full of tension!
…
The Zhao family is a large family with many internal branches. There are more than 20 direct men under the age of 30 in the family, and there are also 11 or 12 unmarried direct women of the same age. If all of them are taken into account,
If the number of married men and women of the right age is added together, the number will probably double.
However, the favor given by Emperor Deqing to the Zhao family was limited. Among them, there were only six or seven places in the Imperial Palace, and only one place in the palace. As a result, with many monks and few people, competition within the Zhao family was naturally fierce.
.All branch families have their own small calculations. Under the overt and covert fights, the originally close relationship with each other suddenly turned into enemies. They tripped each other up, said bad things, and even beat people directly. Now, within the Zhao family, there has been
It has become a common thing.
It can be said that these days have not only been the most majestic and prosperous period for the Zhao family, but also the most loose and internal conflict period within the Zhao family. If not for everyone knowing that the Zhao family must have a bright future and many benefits in the future, I am afraid that it would be already here now.
Some people have separated and become independent.
Among them, the most troublesome thing is undoubtedly to select one from all the unmarried women of the Zhao family to enter the palace and become a noble.
Entering the palace and becoming a noble! Serving the emperor! What an honor is this? Once a woman from your own family is selected, wouldn't you become a relative of the emperor? This kind of grace is much more attractive than entering the Imperial College.
It's a pity that there is only one quota! And there are eleven or two unmarried women of the right age in the Zhao family! What's more, Zhao Junchen had instructions that in order to select the most suitable candidates for the palace, all those who were related to the Zhao family
All the unmarried women of the right age who have died are within the selection range. As a result, the number has reached more than thirty!
To choose one person among more than 30 women, this is more than just a lot of monks and a small amount of food. It is simply like thousands of troops competing for a single-plank bridge!
However, although the probability is extremely small, the temptation is too great, and no one will give up easily.
When the news got out, both direct descendants of the Zhao family and distant relatives who were beyond their reach all sent their unmarried women of the right age to the Zhao family compound, waiting for Zhao Junchen's selection-all of them were already engaged.
They were in a hurry to break off the engagement, and those who already had a sweetheart were beaten up - everyone risked their lives for this chance to reach the sky.
As the saying goes, "three women in one drama," let alone more than thirty competing women coexisting in the same place? Is this more than just a drama? It's simply a disaster!
Zhao Deqing, the head of the Zhao family, has a deep understanding of this!
On this day, Zhao Deqing was discussing with the elders of the clan about the allocation of places in the Imperial College. Suddenly, a servant of the Zhao family came and shouted: "Master, it's bad, there's another fight in the West Courtyard!"
According to Zhao Junchen's instructions, all the unmarried women of the right age who are related to the Zhao family are now gathered in one place, which is the west courtyard of the Zhao family's mansion.
However, after these women gathered together, in order to win the only quota to enter the palace, they became hostile to each other and competed with each other, and conflicts would arise from time to time.
Hearing the servant's cry, Zhao Deqing showed a headache expression and thought to himself: "Why did the fight start again? How many times has this happened?"
While thinking to himself, Zhao Deqing frowned even more, and hurriedly stood up and asked: "Don't worry, tell me slowly, what happened? Who fought with whom? And why did they fight?"
After the servant gasped for a moment, he explained: "It was Miss Zhao Ying'er and Miss Wang Feiyan who were beating Miss Zhang Zhaodi. They bumped into Miss Zhang Zhaodi while walking, and their clothes were wet by the tea that Miss Zhang Zhaodi was carrying. Now they are fanning
Miss Zhang Zhaodi’s mouth was so mouthy that when I came, Miss Zhang Zhaodi’s face was already red and swollen from being slapped by the two of them.”
Hearing what the servant said, Zhao Deqing's headache became even more severe.
Zhao Ying'er, as the servant calls her, is the granddaughter of Zhao Xingzu, the elder of the clan. Her beauty ranks among the top three among the more than thirty women in the West Courtyard, but her temper is a bit fierce. These days, she has been relying on her grandfather's influence in the Zhao family.
His influence was quite domineering and caused a lot of trouble.
The other Wang Feiyan is the daughter of Zhao Deqing's brother-in-law Wang Lan. Her uncle is also a sixth-grade general judge, and he is also spoiled. He usually doesn't deal with Zhao Ying'er, but he never thought that the two of them would join forces now.
Get up and bully another person.
However, Zhao Deqing thought about the Zhang Zhaodi mentioned by the servant, but found that he had no impression, so he asked: "Who is that Zhang Zhaodi? Is he also a relative of my Zhao family?"
The servant nodded and explained: "She was originally the niece of your cousin Mr. Ma. However, her parents died early and did not leave her any wealth, so she defected to Mr. Ma a few years ago and became Ma.
The master's adopted daughter, and although Mr. Ma adopted her, I heard that he never treated her very well. But this time the emperor wanted to choose a noble man, and apart from her, there was no other unmarried woman of the right age in Mr. Ma's family.
I didn’t want to miss the opportunity, so I sent her here anyway.”
After hearing the servant's explanation, Zhao Deqing secretly shook his head and thought, what kind of messy relationship is this? There are really relatives who can't even fight with each other.
However, thinking that this Zhang Zhaodi was not a direct relative of the Zhao family and did not have a strong backer behind him, Zhao Deqing was unwilling to intervene. He just waved his hand and said: "Go tell Zhao Ying'er and Wang Feiyan to restrain themselves! Such aggressive style
Once word spreads, and Master Zhao knows about it in the future, the hope of the two of them entering the palace will be cut off! Also, tell all the girls in the West Courtyard, who is selected to enter the palace this time, it is Master Zhao
It has the final say! It’s useless for them to compete here now! Stop fighting openly and secretly all day long, and restrain yourself!”
The servant nodded and turned around.
However, just after this servant left, and Zhao Deqing was preparing to continue discussing matters with the elders of the clan, he saw another servant hurriedly arrived and reported to Zhao Deqing: "Master, there are two guests outside the door asking to see you.
, one of them is called Su Xiqing and the other is Xiao Wenxuan, they are from the capital and claim to be Zhao Junchen, Mr. Zhao’s aide in the palace!”
"What?! People from the capital?" Zhao Deqing couldn't help being surprised, but this time he didn't dare to neglect, and quickly said to the clan elders around him: "Follow me to greet you outside the house!"
…
ps: Tomorrow is Chongzi’s birthday, but because it is Qingming Festival and I have to go back to my hometown to sweep the tomb, I celebrated in advance tonight. As a result, I got home late, so the update was late. Please forgive me!
In addition, there will be an update tomorrow, but it may be late for the reasons mentioned above.
Well, a five thousand word chapter!
…(My novel "Regent of the Ming Dynasty" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone! Open WeChat now, click the "+" sign on the upper right to "Add a friend" , search the official account "qdread" and follow it, hurry up!) (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!