Summary of the previous chapter: Ma Xiaoquan, on behalf of the Ma family, cooperated deeply with the Hua family. After more than a year of traveling abroad, a total of more than two years and almost three years, the two families finally established the prototype of a business empire...
Huayue came to Beijing for the first time. Huayue was very excited about the prosperity of the capital of the Ming Dynasty.n,
Ma Xiaoquan smiled and gave Bei Mingxue two banknotes, and told her to take Hua Yue and Hua Qingqing around Beijing. Bei Mingxue nodded, and the three girls left happily.
Ma Xiaoquan did not go home immediately, but first went to Bauhinia City to pay his respects to Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao.
Zhu Youxiao is still obsessed with carpentry and is still the carpenter emperor who ignores government affairs.
Ma Xiaoquan stood at the door of Yangxin Hall and waited until Zhu Youxiao finished his carpentry work before going in to see the emperor.
Zhu Youxiao was very happy to see Ma Xiaoquan and immediately ordered his servants to hold a banquet in honor of him.
From Zhu Youxiao's point of view, Ma Xiaoquan's absence for more than two years was entirely for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and to assist him. Strangely enough, since Ma Xiaoquan left, the war in Liaodong seemed to have calmed down.
Is there any big military situation? This made Zhu Youxiao very happy.
In fact, the "Ma Xiaoquan" who left Beijing was his substitute, while the real Ma Xiaoquan went to work on his own business.
Zhu Youxiao didn't know about this, and Wei Zhongxian deliberately concealed it, which led to Zhu Youxiao always liking Ma Xiaoquan in his heart, even though Wei Zhongxian repeatedly slandered him when Ma Xiaoquan was away, and even mobilized Tian Ergen and others to come
Impeached him, but Zhu Youxiao remained unmoved.
The reason for this is that Ma Xiaoquan arranged for a few close men before leaving. Every once in a while, he would send secret messages back from Ningyuan to report to Zhu You that he was safe. On the other hand, it was also because of Li Qinghan.
This "Vulcan"
The relationship between "Empress and Empress" led Zhu Youxiao to always think that Ma Xiaoquan was a loyal minister.
Zhu Youxiao liked such a loyal minister very much. Although Ma Xiaoquan was away from Beijing for a long time, when he came back, Zhu Youxiao immediately issued an order and announced that Ma Xiaoquan would be promoted to half a rank.
Ma Xiaoquan was originally the second-rank deacon of Jinyiweizheng, but now he has been promoted by half a level, which is equivalent to the first-rank deacon. In other words, Ma Xiaoquan's official position can basically compete with that of the chief minister of the cabinet.
Ma Xiaoquan was also very happy. Although Zhu Youxiao was not very literate and obsessed with carpentry, he was affectionate and kind. It was a pity that such a person died prematurely.
That night, Zhu Youxiao left Ma Xiaoquan to spend the night in Yangxin Hall, and the monarch and his ministers had a good talk all night long.
The next morning, Ma Xiaoquan and Zhu Youxiao went to court together and met Wei Zhongxian halfway. Ma Xiaoquan patted Wei Zhongxian on the shoulder proudly and said, "Eunuch Wei, I haven't seen you for a while. How are you?"
Wei Zhongxian felt depressed in his heart, but he still had to smile to save his face: "Deacon, you are well."
Zhu Youxiao glanced at Wei Zhongxian and said, "Zhongxian, Ma Aiqing is a Congyi now. You two need to cooperate well on many things. Do you understand?"
Wei Zhongxian was stunned and said in surprise: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, Ma Xiaoquan... when did he..."
Zhu Youxiao said disapprovingly: "Oh, Ma Aiqing and Zhen Che talked all night last night. During the days when Ma Aiqing was not in the capital, he kept reporting to me on the situation. Well, Zhongxian, haven't you noticed that in Liaodong in the past two years?
side
Isn’t the war not too tight?"
Wei Zhongxian's heart was full of hatred, but his face said respectfully: "Yes, it's all thanks to the emperor's wisdom."
"Well, okay, okay, you can go down."
Wei Zhongxian glanced at Ma Xiaoquan and stepped back respectfully.
...
When Ma Xiaoquan returned to the capital, he naturally had to say hello to all the officials. Since he was now promoted to half a rank, he was almost the same as the chief minister. In addition, he was a "real person", so the officials in the court were polite to him.
add.
Ma Xiaoquan secretly sighed in his heart. Although his official position was from the first rank, he could tell that few of the officials who greeted him were sincere.
After the morning meeting, Ma Xiaoquan was about to go home when Liu Yijing suddenly stepped forward and grabbed him.
"Master Liu?" Ma Xiaoquan looked at Liu Yijing, "Is something wrong?"
Liu Yijing smiled awkwardly and said, "Sir, deacon, can you take a step to speak?"
Ma Xiaoquan hummed and followed Liu Yijing to a secluded corner.
"Master Liu, if you have anything to say, please tell me."
Liu Yijing sighed and said: "Master Deacon, Xiangxiang..."
Ma Xiaoquan waved his hand: "Well, I know everything about Liu Xiangxiang."
"Master Deacon, I...hey"
Ma Xiaoquan smiled and said: "Master Liu, you married Xiangxiang to Tian Ergeng's nephew. I think... you have something to hide, right?"
Liu Yijing smiled bitterly and said nothing.
"It's okay, as long as Tian Ergeng's nephew treats Liu Xiangxiang well, that's enough." Ma Xiaoquan patted Liu Yijing on the shoulder, turned and left.
"Deacon?" Liu Yijing called Ma Xiaoquan. Ma Xiaoquan turned his head and Liu Yijing asked, "Deacon, are we still friends?"
Ma Xiaoquan nodded: "As long as Mr. Liu's stance is firm, I think we will still be friends."
Liu Yijing nodded heavily and hummed.
...
After leaving Bauhinia City, Ma Xiaoquan hurried to the Ma family compound. Halfway there, he met Tian Ergen.
Tian Ergeng already knew that Ma Xiaoquan had been promoted to the first rank. As the saying goes, the first rank kills people. What's more, Ma Xiaoquan is also a royal guard and has real power.
Tian Ergen stepped forward and handed over to Ma Xiaoquan sourly: "Haha, Brother Ma, congratulations, you have been promoted again."
Ma Xiaoquan could hear Tian Ergen's sourness, but he stretched out his hand to avoid hitting the smiling man. Ma Xiaoquan responded politely: "Brother Tian, what are you talking about? No matter what, we are still colleagues of Jin Yiwei, haha...Brother Tian
It's the conductor
Yes, I still have to ask Brother Tian for advice on some things, haha..."
Tian Ergen laughed: "Okay, I have something else to do. Brother Ma, let's see you tomorrow."
Ma Xiaoquan smiled slightly and watched Tian Ergeng leave.
At this moment, Hua Yue suddenly appeared in front of Ma Xiaoquan.
Ma Xiaoquan was surprised and said: "Yue'er, did you go home with Bei Mingxue yesterday?"
Hua Yue said embarrassedly: "I didn't dare to go back. You're not here. I'm a little afraid to face Li Qinghan."
"Hey, what about Bei Mingxue and Hua Qingqing?"
Hua Yue said: "We are all staying in the inn temporarily. You went to the palace yesterday and didn't come back, so we didn't go..."
Ma Xiaoquan sighed: "Let's go back together. Well, what did you buy yesterday?"
Hua Yue said with some embarrassment: "Girl Beiming bought more, so I bought two sets of clothes..."
Ma Xiaoquan curled his lips: "Hmph, that girl Bei Mingxue must have spent all the money I gave her, right?"
Hua Yue nodded gently.
"Hey, I just knew we should leave. Let's call Bei Mingxue and Hua Qingqing and go back together."
...
After meeting Bei Mingxue and Hua Qingqing, Ma Xiaoquan realized what it meant to be scary. Although he had prepared himself in advance and knew that Bei Mingxue was spending money lavishly, he didn't expect it to be so exaggerated.
Ma Xiaoquan gave Bei Mingxue 300 taels of silver yesterday. According to normal calculations, a family of three can only live on 20 taels of silver a month. Ma Xiaoquan gave 300 taels, which is enough for a family of 150 people.
It’s been one month.
Bei Mingxue's fighting ability is not bad. She has a powerful sword, and not only does she have nothing left, but she also owes more than twenty taels.
Ma Xiaoquan sighed. Originally, he wanted to scold Bei Mingxue, but he found that she did not buy it for him. This entire cart of new year's goods included almost everyone in the Ma family.
In view of this, Ma Xiaoquan could only endure a stomachache.
Several people arrived at the gate of Ma's courtyard. Bei Mingxue jumped out of the carriage and happily knocked on the door.
The door opened, and a young servant stuck his head out. He saw that it was Bei Mingxue. The servant asked: "Excuse me, girl, are you here to worship the God of Fire?"
Bei Mingxue was stunned for a moment: "Empress of the God of Fire? Oh, you said Sister Qinghan, oh my, Ma Xiaoquan, Sister Qinghan is really the God of Fire."
Ma Xiaoquan jumped out of the carriage with a smile, walked to the door, and said with a smile: "Xiao Liang, I haven't seen you in more than two years. Have you grown taller?"
The servant was shocked when he saw Ma Xiaoquan and quickly knelt on the ground: "My lord, my lord, are you back?"
Ma Xiaoquan helped the servant up, patted him on the shoulder, and ordered: "Go, call some people, come over and move the New Year's goods on the carriage to the main hall."
"Yes, yes"
Ma Xiaoquan turned his head, walked towards the carriage, opened the curtain, and welcomed Hua Yue and Hua Qingqing out.
Hua Yue raised her head, looked at the Ma Family Courtyard, and praised: "Not to mention, the houses in Beijing are really beautiful."
Hua Qingqing curled her lips and said sourly: "Huh, that's not as good as home."
Ma Xiaoquan smiled and said: "Okay, let's go in first."
Several people entered the courtyard, but after taking a few steps, a little boy suddenly ran out, jumping up and down and seeming to be unsteady on his feet.
Even so, the little boy still ran forward hard, shouting "Ride and fight... ride and fight..."
Immediately afterwards, two maids ran out, saying as they ran: "Young Master, slow down, slow down..."
The little boy ran in front of Ma Xiaoquan and suddenly stopped.
Ma Xiaoquan also noticed the little boy, knelt down and looked at him.
The little boy bit his fingers and kept looking at Ma Xiaoquan with his big watery eyes.
Hua Yue also squatted down, looked at the little boy's appearance, and said, "Ma Xiaoquan, why do I think this little kid looks a bit like you?"
Ma Xiaoquan scratched his head: "Like? How is that possible?"