Zhu Hao's meeting with Su Xigui was postponed to the next day.
Tang Yin went to see off Wang Shouren and specifically called Zhu Hao. Zhu Hao didn't want to go, but was told that Wang Shouren had specifically asked Tang Yin to take him with him.
Ten Mile Pavilion.
During the farewell, Wang Shouren and Tang Yin finished saying goodbye, and then called Zhu Hao to him, patted Zhu Hao on the shoulder, with a look of approval on his face: "Young talents, if you win consecutively in the college examination, provincial examination and national examination, your position will be the best."
As a member of the imperial class, you must worry about the world first and enjoy it later. Bohu, if you and I have a chance to meet again in the future, remember to take Zhu Hao with you, remember this!"
He expressed high hopes for Zhu Hao in words.
Finally, Wang Shouren was sent to the farewell carriage.
Watching the carriage under the tight protection of the governor's guards go away, Zhu Hao turned his head to look at Tang Yin, who was staring blankly into the distance, and asked: "Why did Wang Zhongcheng suddenly say that he wants you to take me with him to see him in the future?"
Tang Yindao: "He said that he had carefully read your essays for the imperial examination in the past two days, and even went to the Confucian Studies Office to ask for another exam essay of yours. He thought that you are outstanding in learning and will achieve limitless achievements in the future... Do you think you can do it?"
How easy is it to be appreciated by a famous scholar in the world?"
"Ah! Is that so? Should I feel honored?" Zhu Hao did not expect that Wang Shouren would care about such a childish imperial examination essay.
Those are all the result of exam-oriented education. I wrote it specifically for Kuang Yangming to read, specifically to pass the government examination. What does that article mean to others?
"Be worried when the world is worried first, and be happy when the world is happy later. Remember his words, I originally thought you were his disciple and grandson, but now it seems... there is a master hidden behind you, and I don't know who it is. I hope
I’ll pay you a visit if I have the chance, otherwise I’ll never be at peace.”
Later, Tang Yin talked about the origin of Zhu Hao's knowledge.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Aren't you my husband?"
Tang Yin shook his head, finally pulled his gaze back from the horizon, and sighed: "I don't dare to take it, I don't dare to take it! I didn't even say this in front of Wang Bo'an. People who can teach you must have extremely high knowledge and are not as mediocre as me.
If you have any academic matters you can discuss with me in the future, we will work together in the palace, so you don’t need to be too respectful to me."
He said it as if he wanted to cut ties with Zhu Hao.
Zhu Hao smiled.
To others, being able to worship a famous teacher like Tang Yin is considered a blessing gained through eight lifetimes of training, but for Zhu Hao, this is not the case.
It is rare that Tang Yin has self-awareness, which saves him a lot of troubles, but when asked by outsiders, does he really want to be honest and say that he is "self-taught without a teacher"?
Will someone jump out and shamelessly say that he is his husband?
It seems unlikely at the moment, but if he continues to take part in the imperial examination in the future, there will always be teachers... The red tape in the officialdom will fall on him step by step.
…
…
Tang Yin returned to the city to report to King Xing, while Zhu Hao went to the ferry to keep his appointment.
When Zhu Hao met Su Xigui, he first talked about Ouyang Fei and wanted to find out what Su Xigui's purpose was in introducing Ouyang Fei to Anlu.
Su Xigui said: "The daughter of a wealthy family in Nanjing, a woman that even Duke Cheng coveted, actually signed a selling contract and became yours... Tsk, tsk, things are unpredictable, and I am amazed by the ability of Mr. Zhu."
"Mr. Su, my little boss does not intend to embarrass Miss Ouyang..."
Shopkeeper Ma quickly put in good words for Zhu Hao.
Su Xigui stretched out his hand to interrupt Shopkeeper Ma and said with a smile: "Don't say more, I understand the situation. The Ouyang family owes a huge foreign debt. I ask myself that I can't help. Besides, my relationship with her ancestors is not very deep. How good is her business?"
To what extent, I won’t care.”
It means that I don’t want to know what Ouyang Fei went through in Anlu and what kind of situation she ended up in. I have to bear the responsibility myself.
"Master Zhu, let's talk about business... I heard that you had a share of the credit for this great victory in Anlu's suppression of the bandits, but I don't know where your credit came from... Can you tell me the truth?"
Su Xigui looked at Zhu Hao with eyes full of expectation, with little stars of money flashing in his eyes.
That affectionate look...
Zhu Hao felt a chill and hurriedly said: "It's just to help the prince's palace make plans."
"Ah!? It's so simple as just making plans? It's strange to say that the Jiangxi bandits caused great riots in western Zhejiang, western Fujian, and northern Guangdong. How come they were wiped out so easily when they arrived in Anlu, Huguang? It's puzzling.
ah!"
Su Xigui glanced at Shopkeeper Ma as he spoke, as if he wanted to get an answer from his former subordinate.
However, Shopkeeper Ma was not involved from the beginning and did not know what happened behind the scenes, so he was naturally unable to answer Su Xigui's questions.
Su Xigui added: "I will stay in Anlu for ten days and a half. If Mr. Zhu has something to do with his family, just come to him... and introduce any good business to him. I also want to go to the state government office to meet the new magistrate, so I won't
What a bother."
Zhu Hao didn't expect Su Xigui to be so easy to talk to.
It may also be that Su Xigui really didn't know what role Zhu Hao played in this war, otherwise with his character, it would be impossible not to mention the new gunpowder.
A secret recipe for sun-dried salt allowed Huang Zan to rise to the imperial court and become Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. If he could get some powerful gunpowder and use it to fight the Tatars in the northwest... wouldn't he want to become Minister of the Ministry of War?
…
…
Zhu Hao returned to the palace.
Tang Yin had already met Prince Xing and stayed in the west courtyard dormitory to wait for him. He wanted to know whether Zhu Hao had sold the gunpowder formula to the generous Su Xigui.
Zhu Haodao: "Mr. Tang, you don't trust me so much? Even if I really sell it to him, do you think Su Dongmai will use the formula to do things that harm the Ming Dynasty? He will only help his brother-in-law to seek official positions in the court.
Do your part and dedicate the formula to His Majesty... Besides, I said I wouldn’t give it to anyone, and that means I really won’t.”
"No, no, I never doubted you."
When Tang Yin said this, he felt guilty.
Zhu Hao was speechless for a while, why would you come to ask me this question without you?
Tang Yin said: "I heard from the official in the palace that Yuan Changshi was secretly discussing with others to see if it was necessary to send you to Nanjing Imperial College to study for a year or two, and then come back when you take the college entrance examination...
…This matter is still under discussion and cannot be finalized, but you must be mentally prepared.”
Zhu Hao nodded.
It seems that Yuan Zonggao really wants to launch a counterattack.
First, it was aimed at Tang Yin, but later it was discovered that Zhu Hao and Tang Yinmeng were not separated from each other, and they simply did not implement any strategy of differentiation and disintegration. Sending him away and cutting off Tang Yin's arm might be the best strategy.
"It's rare that he recommended you to Prince Xing to teach the prince, but secretly arranged for you to go to Nanjing... It seems that your boy's time in the palace will not last long."
Tang Yin's words were obviously provocative, and he was saying in disguise, people are targeting you like this, should you take action?
It's your turn to perform!
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Isn't this the matter that hasn't been settled yet? I have a very good relationship with the prince, but I'm afraid he won't want me to leave the palace. Besides, even if I go to Nanjing to study... it won't have much impact on me.
On the other hand, Mr. Tang, if I leave, will it be difficult for you to live in the palace in the future?"
"What's the impact?"
Tang Yin didn't want to admit it.
Zhu Hao shook his head and sighed: "I am young and have no future in the palace in a short period of time. In fact, I want to go out and travel. If I hadn't missed Mr. Tang in Nanchang last year, maybe our family would have gone to Jiangnan. Now we are in Nanjing. , why should I be involved in so many things with the palace when I am studying peacefully in Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places?
"Besides, I am in the palace and I am not at the same pace as the prince. It doesn't make much sense whether I stay. So Mr. Tang doesn't have to worry about me. Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. The world is so big. If the palace is really They want me to go to Nanjing Imperial College to study, so I just happened to go there to have a look."
…
…
Xingwangfu study room.
Zhang Zuo was reporting to Zhu Youqi about the arrival of the capital.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty has not visited the court since the beginning of this year. The chief minister of the cabinet, Liang DaSheng, has repeatedly sent memorials, requesting your majesty to come to court early as usual. Either he will be detained or he will not send an order, or he will issue an edict to refute... The construction of the northwest Xuanfu has been completed. I heard that Your Majesty will soon go to the Xuan Mansion to stay... Now the capital is in chaos, and there are also garrison eunuchs from various places who are searching for the people's wealth and anointing to cater to the emperor's wishes..."
In the tenth year of Zhengde, the basic structure of the Ming Dynasty was still stable, but in the eleventh year of Zhengde, the situation suddenly changed.
First, on the first day of the first lunar month, the courtiers came to the palace to pay their respects, but they had to wait a whole day to see the emperor. When they left the palace, it was already night, and the lights were dark. As a result, the ministers trampled people to death when they left the palace. From then on, the emperor did not even attend court in the morning. It will not be held anymore.
The emperor did not care about government affairs. All court affairs were nominally decided by the cabinet, but in fact the power basically fell into the hands of the treacherous people around the emperor.
Zhu Hao was familiar with history and knew that although Zhu Houzhao did not go to court, he could basically read the memorials in person, and he could make decisions especially when it came to major matters. However, when the courtiers saw that the emperor did not go to court but approved the memorials, they could only think that the emperor had given all the power to approve red papers. Being the Supervisor of Ceremonies is tantamount to the resignation of imperial power.
The dissent in the DPRK naturally became louder.
As the seat of the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, Prince Xing's Mansion was naturally concerned about this matter.
"Why is Your Majesty like this? This child... has always been good at court affairs before and has never made any mistakes."
After all, Zhu Houzhao is Zhu Youzhao's junior. Zhu Youzhao never thought of usurping his nephew's throne. He only wanted to assist his nephew in governing the Ming Dynasty. But the current situation is that Zhu Houzhao's behavior is becoming more and more absurd. He used to favor Liu Jin, Qian Ning, and Jiang Bin. , that’s all for Xu Tai and others, now they even put aside the court affairs.
Anyone who is loyal to the royal family of the Ming Dynasty is worried that if this situation continues, the Ming Dynasty will be ruined and chaos will suddenly arise.
Zhang Zuodao: "Last year, the imperial court seemed to have gained a small advantage in the war with the Tatars, but it did not cause any harm to the Tatars. After the spring of this year, looting occurred frequently in the northwest. If your Majesty rashly enters Xuanfu, Now, if something goes wrong, what should we do?"
What he meant was that the emperor liked to go to the border. If there was an accident during the battle with Yingzong Tumubao, then there are two questions about whether the Ming Dynasty could withstand another toss.
Zhu Youqian said: "Then...I will give you a remonstrance right now?"
"Your Majesty, no, absolutely no!"
Zhang Zuo hurriedly dissuaded him, "Now it is clear from the investigation that the new Anlu Governor is the spy who was sent by the Queen Mother to monitor our Prince Xing's Mansion. The Queen Mother is well aware of what happened back then... At this time, Prince Xing's Mansion should keep a low profile and be cautious, and remain unchanged in response to changes." ."
The so-called events of that year are naturally related to the past of Concubine Wan Gui deposing the crown prince Li Xing in the last years of Chenghua. This matter has always been Xiaozong's heartache.
Now that Xiaozong is away, and Zhu Houzhao has not had a son for a long time, the position of Prince Xing's Palace in the Ming Dynasty has become more and more important, and it has gradually become a worry for Empress Dowager Zhang.