Chapter 86: Goodwill, Night Attack
Jiang Qingzhi returned home and went to take a shower exhausted. Fu Cheng grabbed Sun Chonglou who was about to go to the kitchen and asked, "How is it?"
Sun Chonglou said: "The young master drove Huang Sande away, and those people are afraid, and they dare not attack the west."
"I asked you how the training was?"
"I don't know!" Sun Chonglou didn't know much about battle formations. Seeing Fu Cheng's anger, he said, "But I heard someone betting that the young master would make a fool of himself in today's military training. Most people bet that the young master would make a fool of himself."
"What happened next?" Fucheng asked anxiously.
Sun Chonglou hurried to the kitchen to get food and said, "I don't know, but when they dispersed, I saw that most people looked pale."
Fu Cheng let go and Sun Chonglou ran to the kitchen. He laughed and scolded, "Little bastard, all you know is eating!" The wrinkles on his face were squeezed together with laughter.
"This family is becoming more and more prosperous."
Knock knock knock!
Someone knocked on the door. The servant opened the door and came to report soon, "Butler, it's the head of the Lu family who is here."
Lu Wei?
Fu Cheng was startled and hurried to meet him.
"Where's Long Wilbur?"
Lu Wei looked around the yard without any hesitation.
"My uncle is bathing."
Jiang Qingzhi is still weak. He has been standing almost the entire day and now feels sore all over.
He lay drowsy in the bathtub. After an unknown amount of time, he began to feel an itch in his chest, as if something was stirring.
He opened his eyes.
A maid was leaning down.
Snapped!
Amid screams, Sun Chonglou rushed over after hearing the news, kicked the door open, and saw a maid lying on the side with her face covered, and his young master standing in the bathtub, glaring at him.
"Master!"
Sun Chonglou was holding a leg of lamb in his hand. He subconsciously came in and stood in front of Jiang Qingzhi, pointing the leg of lamb at the maid. This was the sword technique taught by Fucheng Sect.
The fairy guides the way!
"Take it down and question it."
He couldn't take a bath, so Jiang Qingzhi put on his clothes. When he learned that Lu Wei was visiting, he smiled and said, "This man is very smart."
When Jiang Qingzhi saw the fine horse that Lu Wei had sent, he smiled and said, "I heard that Lord Lu loves horses and never wants to give them up. Why is he like this today..."
"A good horse is given to a hero. Those people are not worthy of my good horse." Lu Wei's words made Jiang Qingzhi feel happy.
Jiang Qingzhi touched the horse's neck. He was thinking about getting a good horse, but a good horse was harder to find than a good car in later generations. Especially when the Ming Dynasty and the outside world cut off trade, good horses became a rare commodity.
"Ask the kitchen to prepare some snacks." Jiang Qingzhi ordered. Seeing that Lu Wei did not refuse, he knew that this person came prepared.
The host and the guest then had a friendly conversation. Lu Wei never mentioned the friendship between the two families, but only talked about some interesting things in the circle of powerful people in Beijing.
Don’t underestimate these gossips. If you think about them carefully, you can discover a lot from them.
"...Some people say that the Crown Prince has been in office for too long, and that he is more hopeless than waiting for his family to inherit the title..."
This is a useful piece of information, indicating that the powerful circles in the capital are not optimistic about the prince's future.
Emperor Jiajing lived a long life. If history had continued as it was, even if the crown prince was fine, a secret fight would have been inevitable between father and son.
After all, being a crown prince for decades is really tormenting.
Afterwards, the table was set and Lu Wei tried to show his goodwill by raising his glass frequently.
After getting tipsy, he asked, "Remember that Wilbur is fifteen?"
Jiang Qingzhi nodded, thinking that his brother was still a budding flower, but he had to worry about the destiny of the Ming Dynasty. If it happened in the future, I wonder how many people would be surprised.
"He is a young man, so enviable." Lu Wei said with a smile: "I wonder if Lord Changwei has any plans for marriage? After all, such a big mansion should be managed by someone."
Lu Wei looked at Jiang Qingzhi seemingly casually, thinking that there was nothing wrong with Shan'er's appearance, but there was one thing that bothered him: his daughter was the same age as Jiang Qingzhi.
It is customary for men to be older than women.
Women mature earlier, and men like beauty. If they are the same age, when you are in your thirties or forties, the man is in his prime, but the woman has become a haggard woman. The relationship between husband and wife will take a sharp turn for the worse.
After all, quite a number of men are the kind of people who get bored easily.
Lu Wei secretly criticized his fellow men.
As for a woman who is three years older than a man and brings him wealth, forget it. If Lu Wei dares to mention this, Emperor Jiajing will slap him and send him to Hainan to raise turtles.
What does Lu Wei want to do?
Jiang Qingzhi pretended to drink and thought about it in his mind.
I was fifteen years old, still so fucking young!
Marrying a girl of fourteen or fifteen years old, full of arrogance... Jiang Qingzhi couldn't accept it.
"Mr. Lu, you are not an outsider." Since Jiang Qingzhi wanted to win over Mrs. Lu, he did not hide it, "I don't want to get married too early."
"Men should get married when they are old enough, and women should get married when they are old enough. Why?" Seeing that he did not seem to be evasive, Lu Wei couldn't help but feel curious.
"I once heard an old Chinese doctor say that at the age of 15, a boy is still growing. At the age of 15, a girl has reached menstruation, but her body has not yet grown. If she gets married and has children, both mother and child will be in danger."
Thinking of those women who gave birth to babies at the age of thirteen or fourteen, Jiang Qingzhi couldn't help but disagree with some of the rules of this era.
But he also knew that whenever troubled times came, nine out of ten people were killed. When a new dynasty was established, facing the devastation, the first thing it did was to encourage childbirth.
There are wastelands everywhere, and as long as you give birth to a child, you will have land to plant.
Population was a strategic resource in the early days of the dynasty. In this era where life expectancy is far lower than in later generations, you asked the rulers to patiently wait for the boys and girls to grow up before getting married...
The aliens won't wait for you!
Therefore, after being passed down from generation to generation, it has become a social consensus to start talking about marriage at the age of 14 or 15.
As night fell, Lu Wei said goodbye drunkenly.
When he returned home, he called his daughter over, looked at it carefully, and then sighed.
"Dad, what's going on?" Lu Shan'er felt her whole body go numb when he looked at her.
Lu Wei sighed, "Go!"
Could he still say: My daughter! That bastard Jiang Qingzhi is not planning to get married in the next few years, and dad is afraid that you will waste your time and become an old maid who can't get married.
But Jiang Qingzhi did not have this concern. A man, especially one with his outstanding talent who was like a firefly in the dark night, in this era, let alone at the age of fifteen, even at the age of fifty-one, he would still be the hot commodity that countless women would fight over.
In the darkness of night, the cigarette butts in the courtyard flash from time to time, and the cool smell of medicine makes people feel refreshed.
"Gui Xiang said that she had some relationship with a certain female official in the palace, and it was that female official who arranged for her to come to the Jiang family."
Guixiang was the maid who had 'raided' Jiang Qingzhi earlier.
"Purpose?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
"Guixiang said that the female official hasn't asked anyone to contact her recently, let alone ask for any information." Fucheng glanced at Jiang Qingzhi, "She said she wanted to find a way out." "It's a fait accompli. Become a concubine?" Jiang Qingzhi smiled bitterly. He didn't expect that he would become the fat pork in the eyes of the maids.
"The lady-in-waiting never contacted her?"
"They said that they contacted him once last time. The person said that they thought that the Earl was a flash in the pan and would eventually become... a playboy in the capital. Unexpectedly, the Earl soared to the sky. Now the person in the palace doesn't know how to get along with the Earl."
"In other words, the person behind you was caught off guard and didn't know whether to show goodwill or what?"
"Yes."
"Is it credible?"
Fu Cheng felt that his professional ability was beyond doubt. "I will do it myself. If Guixiang can still lie, I will go back to the palace to serve you."
Don't dampen the enthusiasm of your subordinates... Jiang Qingzhi nodded, "I'm not questioning you, it's just that this matter is of great importance."
"Yes."
Jiang Qingzhi held a cigarette between his fingers, and his voice sounded somewhat relaxed in the night, "Your Majesty is quite lenient to me, but the more so, the more I cannot get involved in the affairs of the palace. People! Don't push your luck, otherwise, sooner or later, disaster will come."
Fu Cheng said, "My Lord, what you said makes me very happy. I have been in the palace for many years and have seen many new nobles who are very proud of themselves. But it won't be long before these people become obscure and silent. Only those who are steady and cautious and don't show off can maintain their wealth and honor."
"Wealth?" Jiang Qingzhi smiled. "I don't care. Lao Fu, you can trust me. If I want to be rich, I don't need to come to the capital. In Suzhou Prefecture, I can become rich in two or three years. In five years, I can become the richest man in the world."
There are so many business methods in later generations that would make the businessmen of today dumbfounded if they were applied to today.
"Yes." Fu Cheng thought of his family's business. "Our beef business is doing well. Jia Qian sends the account book every once in a while, and I will send it to you later."
"You know, I don't care about this." Jiang Qingzhi patted Fu Cheng's shoulder, "I'm at ease with you doing the job!"
He walked under the big tree and looked up at the moonlight through the gaps between the mottled branches and leaves.
Behind him, Fu Cheng said, "My Lord, you trust me so much, I will do my best to take care of this family for you."
Jiang Qingzhi shook his head, "It's our home."
The cigarette butt flashed for a moment in the night, just like Fucheng’s heart at that moment.
Gradually it gets brighter.
……
Ministry of War.
Chen Bao came with the roster.
The official who received him at the Ministry of War looked at the dandy young man with curiosity. He had a dark complexion, walked with a breeze, and stood straight when he was still.
Is this still the playboy from the old Chen family?
"I have been ordered to send you the list. These people are all the soldiers eliminated from my Tiger Guard Left Guard. Please ask the Ministry of War to make other arrangements."
Chen Bao finished his explanation neatly and turned to leave.
"Hey!"
The officer stopped him.
"What's the matter?" Chen Bao turned around and asked.
The official said, "For so many years, the Ministry of War has never accepted the so-called old, weak, sick and disabled. Even if there are such people in your Tiger Guard Left Guard, you can support them yourself, and you don't owe them the money and food every month. Why send them to the Ministry of War? Is the Ministry of War a poorhouse?"
"Hahahaha!"
All the officials in the duty room laughed.
Recently, there have been some rumors in the palace that the guards have been corrupt for many years, and the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commandery have turned a blind eye to it, which shows that they are all good-for-nothings.
The Ministry of War was very angry about this, but they did not dare to direct their anger at the palace. So they suppressed their anger and waited for an opportunity to deal with Chang Wei Bo and Huben Zuowei.
When Chen Bao came today, he ran into trouble.
A clerk walked out from behind Chen Bao and said, "The Ministry of War is in charge of all the guards. The left guard of the Tiger Guard has old, weak, sick and disabled people, and they were also assigned by the Ministry of War. The people sent by the Ministry of War are not good, so they should be returned to the Ministry of War. Is this wrong?"
The official looked at the clerk coldly. "How dare you, a mere clerk, to make a scene in my Ministry of War?"
The clerk was sent here to assist in the work because of his stubborn temper. He stiffened his neck and said, "Reason is the most important thing in this world. Now the truth is in my Tiger Guard Left Guard. Does the Ministry of War still want to suppress us?"
"What do you mean?"
"The truth lies with you, Tiger Guard Zuowei, bullshit!"
"Who are you scolding?"
"I'm scolding you, so what? If you have the guts, just do it!"
"Fuck you!"
"How dare this little woman curse at me? Fuck you!"
"Let's do it!"
The two sides fought, and Chen Bao was also hit a few times. A hero would not suffer a loss in front of him. He just wanted to go back to the left guard of the Tiger Guard to call for reinforcements, but he saw that the clerk was surrounded and beaten. Thinking of the consequences of going back alone, he couldn't help but groan inwardly, gritted his teeth, and rushed in again...
When Jiang Qingzhi learned that the people he sent to the Ministry of War were beaten, he was silent for a moment.
"Go to the palace and report!" Zhu Xizhong felt that this matter needed to be carefully considered, and said, "It's a good opportunity to teach the Ministry of War a lesson, otherwise the Five Military Command will be aggressive and we will encounter countless troubles in rectifying the various guards."
"Old Zhu, this is not a fight between children. The one who suffered the loss complained to his parents, and then the parents sought justice for him." Jiang Qingzhi said dissatisfiedly.
"That's about the same!" Zhu Xizhong said with a smile.
Seeing Jiang Qingzhi's gloomy face, Zhu Xizhong was surprised, "You... do you still want to go to the Ministry of War to reason? No, listen to your brother, those literati are best at making unreasonable arguments, no matter how reasonable you are, you can't win over them."
"Who said I want to reason with them?"
"Then why are you going to the Ministry of War?" Zhu Xizhong asked with a smile.
Jiang Qingzhi walked out of the lobby.
"Gather fifty men and follow me to the Ministry of War."
Zhu Xizhong chased out and asked, "Qingzhi, why did you bring people to the Ministry of War?"
"Literati like to talk, but we are warriors now. Old Zhu, what should warriors do?"
"Fist... Qingzhi!"
"No one can touch my people and get away safe and sound!" Jiang Qingzhi smiled at him, mounted his horse and left.
This smile was particularly ferocious.
……
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(End of this chapter)
