With a long shout, eight bearers wearing blue shirts with the word "Zhang Mansion" printed on them skillfully stopped the blue woolen sedan in the sedan hall of Zhang University's residence. An old man
The Chang Sui had been waiting respectfully for a long time. As soon as the sedan stopped, he immediately stretched out his hand to lift the curtain of the sedan door and shouted respectfully: "Master."
Zhang Juzheng, who had a fair face and a beautiful beard reaching to his chest, slowly got out of the sedan chair and glanced casually. All the servants and servants around him were respectful and no one made any unnecessary noise.
This is a common thing in Zhang Juzheng's mansion: as soon as he comes back, the huge Zhang Juzheng's mansion will become silent. After all, whether in officialdom or at home, Zhang Juzheng is famous for his unsmiling nature, sometimes even for half a month.
There is not a trace of smile on his face. Therefore, everyone in the Zhang family, from his son to the handyman, is very afraid of him.
Zhang Juzheng's academic residence is located in Dashi Yongfang, northeast of Xuanwumen. From Chengtianmen of the Imperial City, turn right and walk to the opposite side of Longxiangwei Yamen. It is hard to say that it is only a stone's throw away from the Imperial City, but it is not far.
, speaking of which, his mansion is only diagonally across the street from Zhang Siwei's, so it is obviously an excellent location in the capital.
Of course, there is some origin for such a good residence: in February of the first year of Longqing, when Zhang Juzheng was forty-two years old, he was promoted from a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy to a left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and a bachelor of Wuyingdian. Within a few months,
, he was suddenly promoted from a fifth-grade noble civil servant to a second-grade important minister. When he became the leader of the imperial court, his elevation was equivalent to riding a rocket. Therefore, the original residence suddenly seemed too shabby. So Zhang Juzheng asked someone to find this place.
New residence.
This was originally the residence of a minister of the Ministry of Industry. The minister was originally from Suzhou and was good at gardening. He made the residence look like a Jiangnan garden. It was just because it was located in Beijing that it lacked some water color, which was a bit regretful.
.This compound covers an area of about ten acres. As usual, it is divided into two courtyards, the front and rear. The backyard is the residence of the family members, and the front yard is a place for banquets and gatherings with friends. Separating the front and rear courtyards is a courtyard of about four acres.
Gardens, pavilions and pavilions are all available. In this capital city where every inch of land is precious, it is truly a scenic spot at home.
When Zhang Juzheng was looking for a house, it happened that the minister was about to return to his hometown in Suzhou. So the two parties hit it off. The old minister was happy to have an owner for the famous garden, and he was also happy to curry favor with the newly promoted senior minister, so he only asked Zhang Juzheng for 20,000 taels of silver.
According to the price in the capital at that time, not to mention 100,000 taels of silver, but 80,000 taels of silver could definitely be sold in a blink of an eye. At such a low price, Zhang Juzheng was quite worried about attracting gossip, so he insisted on raising the price. Unexpectedly, he
The minister was determined to do this favor, so he half-heartedly made the deal happen. After Zhang Juzheng bought the yard, he slightly repaired and tidied it up according to his own hobbies, and then moved here to live there. Unexpectedly, two years had passed.
Year.
There is also a courtyard between the sedan hall and the front yard. Although it is almost Qingming Festival, if it were in the south of the Yangtze River, it should already be a scene of tender green willows and early yellow cauliflower. But Beijing has become colder and colder in recent years. Today, the branches
The green leaves have just begun, and the old locust tree in the middle of the courtyard is only slightly filtering out the spring breeze. On the contrary, a spring plum blossom in the corner of the courtyard is blooming luxuriantly, and a faint fragrance fills the courtyard.
However, after the restoration of Gao Gong, the situation in the capital changed drastically, and there were more and more troubles in the cabinet. Therefore, Zhang Juzheng was not in the mood to enjoy this scenery at the moment. He had a sullen face, lowered his head, walked through the courtyard, and walked straight to the backyard. Under the service of the maid, I took off my official uniform and official hat, changed into ordinary clothes worn at home, and put a bright sun scarf on my head. Then I sat down in the living room in the backyard, and together with my wife, I accepted the worship ceremony one by one. Greetings from my four sons, Sixiu, Maoxiu and Jianxiu.
Zhang Juzheng has six sons in total. In addition to these four, there are also two, namely Yunxiu, who is five years old, and Jingxiu, who is three years old. After briefly asking about their studies, they had dinner together.
After dinner, Zhang Juzheng returned to the study room in the front yard to have tea. While tasting tea, he asked the book boy to call the housekeeper You Qi as usual. After a while, a middle-aged man in his forties walked into the study room.
The visitor's figure is similar to Zhang Juzheng's, but his face is completely different. He has light eyebrows and small eyes, and a long face like a horse. An inch from the right corner of his mouth, there is a cinnabar mole the size of a pea. There is also a thick cinnabar mole on the mole. Black hair. He wore a light blue dark coat with black edges, a pair of leather gold-lined cloth shoes on his feet, and a square turban on his head. He didn't look like an ordinary housekeeper, but looked like a scribe, but There is an aura of shrewdness all over his body, like a businessman. This person is You Qi.
You Qi and Zhang Juzheng were from the same hometown, and were both from Jiangling County, Jingzhou Prefecture. Zhang Juzheng took a sick leave and returned to his hometown in the 33rd year of Jiajing. Three years later, he returned to Beijing to resume his official duties, so he brought You Qi to Beijing to manage his house. In a flash, ten years have passed. In the fourth year, You Qi and Zhang Juzheng were slightly distant relatives, so they should call Zhang Juzheng cousin. However, You Qi strictly adhered to the identity of master and servant and never regarded himself as a relative. Whenever he saw Zhang Juzheng, he only called him "Master".
You Qi also liked to read poetry and books since he was a child. He originally wanted to take the provincial examination to gain fame, but after he followed Zhang Juzheng, he put that idea on hold. Zhang Juzheng not only liked You Qi's elegant temperament, but also felt that he was smart in doing things. He is the housekeeper. He keeps all the affairs in the house in order, and treats people and things very appropriately. He sometimes helps Zhang Juzheng with some social affairs and never makes mistakes, so he is trusted by Zhang Juzheng.
At this moment, Zhang Juzheng was sitting on a bamboo couch covered with brocade silk cotton cushions. You Qi was standing beside the bamboo couch with his hands hanging down. Zhang Juzheng motioned for You Qi to sit down. You Qi moved a chair and sat in front of the bamboo couch.
Perhaps seeing the tired look on You Qi's face, Zhang Juzheng said: "I'm busy with things in the imperial court these days, and I rarely interfere with family affairs. Thank you for your hard work."
"It's all normal things. It can't be said to be hard work." You Qi replied respectfully: "Sir, you should pay more attention to your health."
Zhang Juzheng raised his head slightly and asked, "What's wrong?"
You Qi said cautiously: "I feel like I have lost some weight in the past two months."
"Maybe." Zhang Juzheng sighed and asked, "Is there anything important happening at home during this time?"
"The old man wrote a letter, saying that he would go to Yidu to pay homage to his ancestors' graves during the Qingming Festival, and explained that the money was insufficient. The old man was busy with work, so I asked my wife for instructions and asked someone to bring two hundred taels of silver to the old man."
When Zhang Juzheng heard the word "Qingming", he exclaimed, and a feeling of homesickness arose spontaneously. He went home for three years after taking a sick break in the 33rd year of Jiajing, and has not returned to Jiangling for sixteen years.
, and I have never seen my parents. Although we often exchange letters, the capital is three thousand miles away from Jiangling, and the mountains and mountains separate it, making it difficult to find family ties. Not to mention serving soup and medicine, I have no time for even major events such as ancestor worship.
Participate. Thinking of this, I felt sad and said, "Isn't two hundred taels of silver too little for such a big event as ancestor worship?"
You Qi hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and replied: "With my status as a master, it is indeed a little less to bring this little silver home, but..."
"Just what?"
You Qi's head lowered: "The family's expenses have been a bit tight these past two months."