Zhang Ning and his group of eight people, leading a dozen short horses, carefully crossed the river on the main bridge. This bridge was really crude. The flow of river water under the bridge was much smaller than last time in my memory.
This time it was summer and the water was rising. On the opposite bank was the main village of Fengxia Mountain. From a distance, there was no change. The lush trees were still full of green in autumn and winter.
There were several people washing things by the river, and another was scraping fish scales. When people saw people coming on the bridge, they straightened up and looked there. Everything seemed very peaceful.
There was an archway at the entrance of the village, and some people were standing there waiting. As they got closer, they recognized monk Yao, Yao Erlang and others. The person with several guards behind him was the armed leader Wei Bin. In addition, there were
In the past, Zhang Ning arranged for Fan Laosi, Ma Dapeng and others to work in the Ordnance Bureau. Once they arrived here, Zhang Ning found that there were many acquaintances who came here after staying here for a few months.
Zhang Ning handed the reins of the horse to the person behind him, took a few steps forward and bowed, "Why do you have the nerve to ask your uncle to greet you outside the village in person?"
Monk Yao clasped his fists and said, "I heard people came back to report that Ping An and Mr. Zheng were visiting our village, so I waited here with everyone." After that, he saluted Zheng Qia and others behind him. Everyone came up and exchanged greetings.
After that, Zhang Ning and other acquaintances greeted each other one by one, and Monk Yao invited everyone to come to Zhuangzi to talk.
"My mother also came to Fengxia Village?" Zhang Ning asked.
Monk Yao said: "Mrs. Yao has just arrived a few days ago. Now the main altar is not very safe, so everyone came to my place to stay temporarily." After all, we are a family, and Fengxia Mountain is remote. It is indeed better for Yao Ji to come here.
Where to go. Monk Yao continued, "In addition, there are more than ten altar masters here. I heard that the altar master Hou from Changde Mansion was arrested. People in the east near Changde Mansion are very worried."
Zhang Ning was already aware of these situations, so he nodded, then turned to Fan Laosi behind him and asked: "I have been away from Fengxia Mountain for a few months, have you continued to make firearms?"
Fan Laosi looked surprised. He didn't expect that there were so many important people present. Zhang Ning talked specifically to him and said hurriedly: "The iron mine we have here is a small mine. We used to make some farm tools, weapons and arrow clusters, which are more than enough, but how many
A few months ago, I made several cannons and more than a hundred muskets, which cost nearly ten thousand kilograms of iron. The iron beasts used to suppress the river god by the river melted. Later, after defeating the bandits, there was not enough iron, so the Ordnance Bureau stopped working on it.
Wei Baihu wanted to charge and train his men, but there was not enough gunpowder. Nitrate and charcoal were fine. We collected human and animal manure and boiled some nitrate out. It is indeed difficult to get a large amount of sulfur. There are no sulfur mines nearby.
In the past, I had to find ways to go out and buy it, but recently the wind has become tighter and there is a shortage of sulfur."
Hearing Fan Laosi call "Wei Bin" Wei Baihu, Zhang Ning understood that the things he had created had not been completely disbanded. Wei Bin himself was an elder in the village and was in charge of armed training. He was the arm of Master Yao.
Fan Laosi is somewhat flattering. The so-called "Hundred Households" were temporarily granted by Zhang Ning. Perhaps people think that the big and small are officials.
Walking north along the main road of the village, you soon saw a large group of buildings in the middle, which was the temple dedicated to the gods, as well as the residence of Monk Yao, the warehouses in the village, etc., which belonged to Fengxia Village
center.
Monk Yao said that the altar masters from various places were discussing matters in the temple. Zhang Ning did not know the altar masters of Xindao Pixie Cult, and had nothing to say for the time being, so he said: "I will go to see my mother first. I don't know who she is."
Where to settle?”
"I will take you to the courtyard behind the temple," said Monk Yao. After that, he ordered Yao Erlang to settle down and rest the others first, but Chunmei said, "I will also go to see the leader with Mr. Ping An."
Only then did Zhang Ning remember the introduction and said, "This is Protector Chunmei." After hearing this, Monk Yao hurriedly bowed and said, "It turns out it's Master Protector, I'm disrespectful." Chunmei smiled and said, "You're welcome, Yao
The altar leader is from the leader’s family, so I don’t dare to trust him.”
Zhang Ning then temporarily separated from Zheng Qia and others, and followed Monk Yao into the corridor on the side of the temple and came to a small courtyard inside. Zhang Ning also lived here last time, and it is probably the best residence in Fengxia Village.
.
Monk Yao entered the courtyard and asked someone to come in to report. Then he said that he would not go in to disturb Mrs. Yao and asked Zhang Ning to come over to meet. Under the eaves on all sides of the courtyard, there were many guards wearing homespun Tsing Yi and carrying short soldiers standing under the eaves.
They were equipped with crossbows and looked very well guarded.
Outside the upper room on the north side, there were two women in white dresses and silk hats, carrying long swords. They were walking around casually. When they saw Zhang Ning coming, one of them said, "The leader asked you to come in and talk." The other one said lightly.
She gently opened the wooden door, waited for Zhang Ning and Chunmei to walk in, and then closed the door.
As soon as she entered, she saw Yao Ji sitting on a cushioned wicker chair, with one foot raised and placed on a round stool. Next to her, her attendant Xiaoyue was kneeling there and rubbing her feet. She
When he saw someone coming in, he calmly took his feet back and put them into the shoes underneath.
Zhang Ning stepped forward and knelt down and said, "Greetings to Mother." Chunmei knelt down and said, "I'm going to see the leader."
Yao Ji gently raised her long sleeves: "Get up, there is a stool next to you." Then she glanced at Zhang Ning's face: "I heard that the Zhang family in Nanjing was arrested by the government?"
Zhang Ning replied expressionlessly: "Later he was executed by Ling Chi."
Yao Ji's expression changed slightly, and then she said: "Last month, several of your men returned to the main forum, and I found out that they were arrested. I didn't ask anyone to tell Zhang Xiaomei. This time, you can tell it yourself."
Zhang Ning nodded: "Don't worry, mother, I will handle the matter myself."
Yao Ji acted neither salty nor cool, and she might still not let go of Zhang Ning's secret report to the court. The great disaster that the anti-evil sect is facing now is also a direct result of that secret report. She then said softly: "Shimen County, Changde Prefecture
The Hou Altar Master was arrested by the officers and soldiers. Now people are in panic. More than a dozen altar masters from different altars are here. The Hou Altar Master was reported and implicated by the local officials in Yongle.
He is very trustworthy, knows a lot of things, and the position of the general forum is also very clear, so I quickly led people to leave the general forum. Now...I heard that Zheng Qia is also here? He hasn't come to see me yet, so he should be
Come here for Emperor Jianwen to deal with the matter of exorcising the evil cult."
She didn't show any anxiety, but it was because of her relatively reserved personality. Zhang Ning could tell that she was annoyed.
Tens of thousands of people in the anti-evil sect are on the run. The only way to survive is to run away and hide anonymously. It is impossible to absorb the nourishment of the believers and live like before. It is estimated that many people will be found out if they cannot hide. In addition, Yao Ji and others
The key personnel can only be rearranged by Emperor Jianwen's people; as Zheng Qia reminded, the matter of Prince Wenkui's poisoning has not been settled last time. Queen Ma and Wenkui have been with Jianwen for a long time. Once Yao Ji and Zhang Ning
After leaving a cult, the situation is not very optimistic.
As for Zhang Ning's previous mention of raising an army, Yao Ji didn't think too much about it. At present, even the army didn't come. Just a county official destroyed a branch, posing a great threat to the anti-evil sect, and the rebellion was out of the question.
thing.
However, this cannot be entirely blamed on Zhang Ning's nonsense. Even if Wu Yong's secret report had not been forged, what happened now would have happened sooner or later, and it might only be delayed for a while. After Wu Yong and Zhan Zhuli died, Jin Yiwei
They should have come down to conduct a secret investigation, and found the bodies of Wu Yong and others... Otherwise, the Zhang family would not have been arrested so quickly.
Zhang Ning didn't know how to explain it for a moment, so he asked: "Mother's foot is injured?"
"It doesn't matter." Yao Ji said softly, "The road here on Fengxia Mountain is very bumpy, and the carriage can't get in. The people below made a sedan to carry me, but I didn't want to sit on it, so I walked some distance. I haven't walked for a long time.
After a long journey, I got a few blisters on my feet, and I asked Xiaoyue to help me rub them to activate the blood circulation, and it should be fine in a few days."
After hearing this, Zhang Ning moved closer to the stool, bent down and gently lifted her calves on his knees, and stretched out his hands to rub her feet. Yao Ji did not resist, but her face turned slightly red, and her eyes turned elsewhere. Yao Ji did not resist.
Ji's legs are very slender and well-proportioned. Although she is wearing trousers under the long skirt, it cannot completely cover up her graceful lines.
"Mr. Ping'an is really filial. The leader will definitely enjoy blessings in the future." Chunmei said at the side.
Yao Ji straightened her back, with a solemn look on her face, but there was a blush on her beautiful face. After hearing Chunmei's words, she pulled her legs back and said sternly: "Don't pretend to be filial, such a big person is naturally
You should be prudent and avoid causing trouble. Did you write that admonition to the King of Han? There was an internal fight in the Zhu Di family, why did you take the risk of meddling in it?"
Zhang Ning said: "The King of Han was invincible when he went south. The local civil and military forces were fighting... They were watching the fire from across the bank and did not bother to resist. The north and south of the Yangtze River fell into the hands of the King of Han in a blink of an eye. This was enough for Emperor Xuande to drink. When they fought, the main force of the imperial court
If you don't take care of us, we will have a chance."
"Opportunity? What are your plans?" Yao Ji frowned, the blush on her face gradually fading.
Seeing her expression, Zhang Ning sighed: "In this world, it is true that the vassal king who holds military power has a better chance of raising an army. However, I think the King of Han still cannot succeed, and the resources at hand are wasted... Let's raise an army."
It’s as hard as climbing to heaven, but is there any other choice now?”
Yao Ji didn't answer.
Zhang Ning added: "The imperial court has classified us as anti-thieves and rebels, and has arrested people and obtained many useful clues. When they are free, they will definitely encircle and suppress us all at any cost. Failure to raise the army is a serious crime of treason.
It makes no difference whether you sit back and wait for death and rebel against the traitor. What should we be afraid of?" He glanced at Chunmei and knew that this guardian was a confidant cultivated by Yao Ji, so he continued, "If mother doesn't support me in taking this path,
, we disbanded the Anti-evil Cult and went to Emperor Father, I’m afraid it’s not a good path..."
Yao Ji's face turned a little pale when she heard that she was going to Jianwen's side. She had experienced cruel struggles in the palace, and of course she understood the consequences of losing power and offending others. The enemy had a hundred conspiracies and tricks to force her to survive rather than die.
The point where you can't.
Jianwen is no longer the emperor, but Yao Ji now has only one idea of survival based on the experience and means of court struggle: since there is a prince, it is the biggest trump card in his hand, and he must do everything possible to protect his prince; if there is a chance, he will
Let him be the heir, huddle up and defend when there is no chance, and when the time comes, entrust him out to ensure safety, and he will have someone to rely on for the rest of his life.
This set of struggle experience is also suitable for his current status. In the current situation of Emperor Jianwen, it doesn't matter whether Zhang Ning is the heir or not, the benefits are not big anyway; the key is to protect his son from being plotted, and then he can inherit part of the property and establish a new family.
.
"You can't go to Emperor Jianwen." Yao Ji said coldly.