"This house is a bit small." Huang commented on the new house.
Zhang Gen said: "Jinzhou is a rough place, so if you rent a house all of a sudden, it's great to find a house like this."
"Alas." Huang sighed.
It’s not that I think the house is too bad, but I’m worried about my husband’s future.
She was born into a prominent family in Fujian, her father was a deputy prime minister, and she grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth. She had been married to Zhang Gen for many years, and her husband had finally been promoted to the transfer envoy between Zhejiang and Zhejiang, but now he was assigned to a small place like this.
Zhang Gen went straight to the study room, put away the books he had brought, and didn't care about anything else.
It took two or three days to finally clean up the house.
Mr. Huang wanted to invite Ju Ming to his home, but Zhang Gen said he was not in a hurry. He had plenty of time now and was too busy all day long, so he might as well go around more first.
Zhang Gen began to hang out with his wife and daughter, getting familiar with the streets inside and outside the city, and inquiring about more people's feelings.
After basically understanding the situation, I sent an invitation to Ju Ming.
Ju Ming came to the house with only Bai Sheng and brought a pound of black tea as a gift.
Mrs. Huang accompanied her husband to greet him warmly, and she fell in love with him at first sight. This young man was handsome and extraordinary, and he was definitely the best among his peers.
After some pleasantries, Zhang Gen said: "Let's go sit in the pavilion first."
"As the guest does, the host does as he pleases." Zhu Ming handed over his hand.
The servant brought preserved fruits, stove and charcoal, and Zhang Gen planned to order tea to entertain the guests.
Mrs. Huang took the opportunity to go into the house to get some tea, and went to talk to her daughter who was hiding in the gallery and peeking in: "What do Qiniang think?"
Zhang Jinping took another peek and said with a smile: "Taller than some of my brothers-in-law."
"As long as you agree, find an opportunity to ask." Huang immediately understood what her daughter was thinking.
In the pavilion.
Zhang Gen asked: "Are there any bandits locally?"
Ju Ming replied: "Jinzhou is mountainous, so there must be bandits. Especially in Shiquan County, which leads to Ziwu Valley to the north, there are bandits who rob business travelers. Zhang Tuanlian plans to suppress the bandits?"
"I have no time to spare, so I want to find something to do after all," Zhang Gen said. "I am now the deputy training envoy. I don't have many other responsibilities except to suppress thieves."
Ju Ming said: "There are not many thieves, they are in small groups, and they are all in the mountains."
"Then we have no choice but to give up." Zhang Gen gave up immediately.
Ju Ming probed: "I read in the Di newspaper that Zhang Tuanlian was demoted for discussing matters?"
"well!"
Zhang Gen couldn't help but sigh: "The roads in the southeast are frequently disturbed by Hua Shi Gang, and everyone knows this. But few people know that the two roads in Huainan are also disturbed by Hua Shi Gang."
Ju Ming immediately understood: "The flowers and stones from various routes in the southeast are mostly transported from Huainan to the capital."
Zhang Gen shook his head: "It's not just that. The traitorous party gradually controlled the officials of the two roads in Huainan for the purpose of transporting Hua Shi Gang. They then forced the prefectures and counties in Huainan to recruit men to escort the private goods, which led to complete chaos in taxation and corvee in Huainan."
"So that's it." Zhu Ming had a new understanding of Hua Shigang's harm.
Zhang Gen continued: "Last year, Yangzhou Hu Cao joined the army of Hu Qi and recruited men without authorization to transport more than 1,200 shi of steel rice from Qizhou, which caused a long delay in the delivery of grain from the two Zhejiang provinces. It seemed like a coincidence, but it was actually intentional. Except for Qizhou
In addition to state-produced rice, there are also many private rice from grain dealers."
Ju Ming said: "In other words, the Yangzhou government recruited people to transport grain northward for free for private merchants. It also deliberately delayed grain transportation from Zhejiang and Zhejiang, and took advantage of droughts in the north to artificially raise the price of rice in the capital, allowing those grain merchants to make more money?"
"Not bad." Zhang Gen said.
Zhu Ming couldn't help but sigh: "It's so audacious. Officials involved in the case are not only required to be dismissed by law, but also have their birth certificates destroyed."
Zhang Gen smiled bitterly: "As the transfer envoy to Huainan, I naturally couldn't sit idly by and ignore the situation, so together with the deputy transfer envoy Li Zhi, we jointly impeached Hu Cao, a member of the army in Yangzhou. The result was that Li Zhi and I acted inappropriately
', each of them will be demoted one level and sent to a salary officer."
This is outrageous. The first and second-in-commands of Huainan Road jointly impeached Yangzhou Hucao Canjun. When the evidence of the crime was solid, Hucao Canjun was innocent, but the first and second-in-commands of Huainan Road were punished.
Zhu Ming asked: "Is Cai Jing raising the price to sell grain?"
Mr. Huang brought the tea group, and it was top-grade tea. One group of tea was worth dozens of guan.
Zhang Gen began to order tea: "It's not Cai Jing, it's just a member of Cai Jing's party. After the incident was exposed, Cai Jing was too lazy to come forward. It was Cai You who made slanderous remarks to the officials."
Zhu Ming continued to inquire: "Last time I saw Xu Wei, a doctor in the Di Bao Cang Department, who was chased and his family background was destroyed. What happened?"
"He's just a scapegoat," Zhang Gen explained. "Xu Huang was ordered to take charge of the Southeast Jiu Road mines and money-minting affairs. He was corrupt, perverted the law, and exploited excessively, which has already made people angry. How could he afford so much money by himself? Things were so troublesome.
It was too big, and Cai Jing couldn't protect him, so he pushed him out alone to bear all the charges for Cai's party."
Di Bao could only read the surface. Zhu Ming couldn't figure out the inside story, so he asked Zhang Gen to figure it out.
He also asked many questions about Huainan, only to learn that the two roads in Huainan suffered as much damage from the Hua Shi Gang as the southeastern roads.
Most of the Hua Shi Gang had to go to Huainan to Beijing, and a large number of civilians were recruited along the way, which made Huainan full of thieves.
Even Huaixi's criminal envoy Li Chuanzheng was suspended from his post and held accountable for not reporting truthful information about the thieves and being incapable of destroying the thieves.
It's strange that he can destroy them. If the Hua Shi Gang doesn't stop, the Huainan thieves will not stop. This man is just unlucky.
There are many similarly unlucky people, such as Wu Min.
Huaixi captured some thieves and escorted them to Beijing. Wu Min thought that only the chief culprits should be punished. The rest of the thieves were coerced, mainly under the influence of Hua Shigang. Because of this sentence, he was dismissed from his post and sent to Shangqiu to promote Taoism.
.
The officials in the court did not dare to talk about the Huainan bandits and Hua Shigang anymore.
"Please have some tea!" Zhang Gen pushed the tea cup over.
Ju Ming did not observe the color of the soup, but took a sip of the aroma and began to taste the tea: "It's fragrant but not greasy, it's a good product."
Mr. Huang sat next to him and interjected: "I have heard about the black tea brought by Zhu Taishou, but I have never tasted it. Does Zhu Taishou also grow tea at home?"
"I planted some," Ju Ming said.
Huang added: "Your father is still in Yangzhou and has not returned to Beijing?"
Ju Ming smiled and said: "He thinks Tokyo is not good, but he is more comfortable living in the countryside."
"You are worthy of being an eminent scholar." Huang praised him.
Zhu Ming said: "When it comes to scholars, Uncle Ming, the ancestor of Zhang Tuanlian, is the real Taoist scholar. I heard about the method of smelting copper with gall alum, so I asked people about its origin and learned that it was Uncle Ming who presented it to the court. He used cloth clothes. His body will benefit the world, and he will leave his name in history."
These words touched upon Zhang Gen's pride, and he said humbly: "My ancestor also came across this method by chance when he was studying. After many verifications and improvements, he had the courage to smelt copper into the world."
Huang laughed and said: "Speaking of miscellaneous studies, the prefect improved movable type printing and ink, which is similar to smelting copper with gall alum. It is also a good method in the world. When I was a child, I visited Mengxi Gong (Shen Kuo)'s house and met Mengxi Gong. I want to improve movable type and spread it to the world, but I can't get it."
"Old Madam, have you met Mr. Mengxi?" Zhu Ming became interested.
"The Huang and Shen families are family friends, and Laosheng and Mengxi's wife are also close friends." Huang explained.
Huang Fu, Shen Kuo, and Lu Huiqing were of the same age, and they were all backbones of the reform faction. The three of them could only wear a pair of trousers.
With the help of movable type printing and copper smelting method, Huang and Ju Ming got excited about chatting, and gradually began to inquire about Ju Ming's family situation.
Feeling confident, Mr. Huang found an excuse to leave, saying that he was going to collect food.
Zhang Gen, however, did not ask for family information, but inquired about Ju Ming's political views: "What does the prefect think of the current situation?"
Zhu Ming said without thinking: "Natural disasters occur frequently, foreign troubles are not extinguished, bandits are everywhere, and the soldiers are tired and the people are disturbed. The officials are carrying out construction projects, and they do not give the common people a chance to breathe. The traitors take the opportunity to cause trouble for the government and the public. I heard that they are planning to attack Liao. If If the news is true, the country is in danger."
Zhang Gen was very satisfied and praised: "The prefect is so young, he can see clearly the hidden worries of the world, which is beyond the reach of other people. In time, he will become the prime minister and assistant."
"Alas, the Prime Minister doesn't think about it. He just wants to benefit the country during his term as an official." Zhu Ming sighed with emotion.
Zhang Gen also felt the same way: "Yes, if you serve as an official and benefit one side, what else can you ask for? I have been a transit envoy to Huainan for several years, but I have not benefited the people on one side, but made the livelihood of the people on both sides of Huainan difficult."
"This is not Zhang Tuanlian's fault." Zhu Ming consoled him.
Zhang Gen asked again: "What does the prefect think of King Jia?"
Ju Ming said disdainfully: "Just like his father."
Zhang Gen said: "Since ancient times, I have never heard of a prince taking the imperial examination. It is not a blessing to the country. King Jia also promoted the Imperial City Secretary. The prince was frightened day and night. How can the East Palace deal with itself?"
Ju Ming couldn't help but laugh and said: "It is actually necessary for the prince to be the number one scholar. But it is really against ethics for the prince to be the tutor."
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Gen couldn't laugh or cry.
The first Taifu in China was Zhou Gongdan, who served as the teacher of Emperor Zhou.
Grand Tutor, Imperial Master!
As a prince, King Zhao Kai of Jia was promoted to Taifu and became the mentor of his emperor father...
Zhu Ming really wanted to lift the lid of Song Huizong's Heavenly Spirit and see how the brain circuits were inside. Normal people would never be able to do such a thing.
After saying these words, Zhang Gen already understood Ju Ming's political leanings.
We are one of our own, so we can get married!
Zhang Gen asked again: "What does the prefect think of the new law?"
Ju Ming said: "The Song Dynasty had deep-rooted shortcomings, and it was impossible to change the law. But before the reform, the administration of officials must be rectified, otherwise the implementation of good laws will turn into misrule."
"Of course!" Zhang Gen clapped his hands and praised, these words came to his heart.
Huang's side called for dinner.
Zhu Ming followed Zhang Gen to the dining room and saw a young girl standing gracefully.
Zhang Gen introduced: "This is my little girl Jinping."
"How are you, madam!" Zhu Ming bowed in greeting.
Zhang Jinping bowed, saluted, and said with a smile: "Bless you, sir."
Everyone sat down. Mrs. Huang looked at Zhu Ming and then at her daughter. She felt more and more that they were a perfect match. The talented man and the beautiful woman were a perfect match.
Marriage cannot be mentioned in person. You must either ask someone to act as a matchmaker or write a letter of proposal. It will not hurt your face if you are rejected.
He only cares about those things if he catches his son-in-law.
We continued chatting while eating. Instead of talking about the current situation, we talked about miscellaneous studies.
The Shen family, the Huang family, and the Zhang family all attach great importance to miscellaneous studies. For example, Huang's nephew Huang Bosi is a very famous calligrapher and the inventor of the jigsaw puzzle, and he also loves designing furniture.
Zhang Jinping came from a well-educated family and actually knew how to smelt copper by wet method. He also carefully studied "Mengxi Bi Tan" and even studied "Zhu Shi Suan Jing" by himself.
