Xu Xueyan, whose name is Junfu and a native of Jin, Zhejiang, is a fellow villager of Zhu Dadian (Note 1), the former governor of Shandong and the governor of Jiangbei and Huguang in Henan, who has just been dismissed on corruption charges and awaiting trial.

Xu Xueyan's family is wealthy, he donates to students, he is enrolled, he is on the deputy list of the third middle school, and Chongzhen has been the governor of Chu for ten years. He is still righteous and squandering money on weekdays, and he has made good connections. When his father died, he did not fight for property, and the family mansion was given to his younger brother.

Xu Xueyan is the most famous for having two three times: one three times, when he was young, he sued his father for wrongdoing. His father was the commander of the soldiers and horses in Zhongcheng, and he offended the powerful family and was falsely imprisoned. He went to the court three times to complain about grievances, and the relevant departments returned three times. He went to Beijing again to petition, and during the hearing, he bit his arm in court and wrote a bloody letter to complain about his grievances. The matter was finally resolved satisfactorily, and Xu Xueyan also became a famous local son.

The second and third times was that his career was not going well. He took the examination as a student and was on the sub-list (candidate) three times, but he failed three times, which can be described as unlucky. In the end, it was the emperor who showed kindness and asked him to come to the Chu palace as a tribute to make history.

Regarding Xu Xueyan's information, Lu San collected so much. Based on this information, Zhu Zhihan judged that Xu Xueyan was an ambitious royal official. He did not give up the ideal and pursuit of a scholar to govern the country and level the world because of his status as a royal official.

Xu Xueyan was indomitable in wanting to establish an army for Chu to protect the family and the country, which was in the hands of Zhu Zhihan.

I'm not afraid that you have ideas, but I'm afraid that you don't have ideas! Zhu Zhihan thought to himself. Since you have invited me to drink, you must have asked me. Then it's just right, you come to help Shu Mansion raise soldiers!

"Lord Xu, it's feasible to recruit displaced people into the army." Zhu Zhihan pretended to nod and began to fool, as if he was an expert in military training, "My son's experience, military training is nothing more than two things: one is a general, and the other is a soldier." Chu Mansion has soldiers, I don't know if there are generals? ”

"It's... The guards of the Chu Mansion are commanded by the An clan, but this An clan ......"

"So, the An clan and the Shu Mansion guard commander Liu clan are against the party?" Zhu Zhihan prompted.

"Not really!" Xu Xueyan hurriedly shook his head, "The Chu Mansion has been guarding the battle array for three hundred years, and it has long been negligent in killing. Now his descendants of various surnames run a hundred businesses, which are no different from ordinary gentry and ordinary people. ”

"That is to say, there is no general in the Chu Palace!" Zhu Zhihan commented and reminded very sincerely: "The general, the head of the soldiers." If there is no general, there is no leader, how can we train troops? ”

Xu Xueyan hurriedly affirmed: "It's not that there are no generals. Wuchang general Cui Wenrong is the hereditary commander of Hainingwei, Wu Jinshi was born, has been in battle for a long time, and can be a general! ”

"Lord Xu, you can't do it!"

This time, the objection came from Zhu Shengmiao, the eldest grandson of the king of Xuanhua: "The prince hates the officials and the army the most, and he doesn't fight when he takes the money!" Zuo Liangyu showed favor to the prince several times and wanted to help the prince defend the country, but he was blocked by the prince! The Chu Wangfu spent money to recruit soldiers, that is, our own soldiers, can they be handed over to the government to command? Besides, the battalion of soldiers can be transferred away with a single piece of paper, so how can we rely on it at that time? For example, Cui Wenrong was originally at King Gui's place. Then King Gui also rewarded a lot of benefits. But it didn't take long for Cui Wenrong to be transferred to Wuchang. If the imperial court transfers Cui Wenrong away again in the future, then wouldn't my Chu Mansion make wedding clothes for others! ”

"What the eldest grandson said is extremely true! The battalion will not be used! Zhu Zhihan, who harbored evil intentions, hurriedly helped, "It's not good, there are also people from the sect who participated in the impeachment of the palace and colluded with the generals of the imperial court!" ”

"The battalion will not be used, and the guards will not be used. It's hard! Xueyan sighed, revealing his true face helplessly.

Zhu Zhihan blinked: "If you say that you are a general, you are as good as a person!" ”

"Who?" Xu Xueyan and Zhu Shengmiao asked at the same time.

"Far away, close in front of you!" Zhu Zhihan laughed and said: "Lord Xu's family of military generals, and the long history of the palace, isn't he a general!" ”

Xu Xueyan was suddenly shocked: "Absolutely not!" Soldiers, the country's major affairs. This official has always been engaged in poetry and books, and the military affairs of the counselor are acceptable, how can he go into battle and fight? Besides, the generals in this army are equipped from top to bottom, layer by layer, and they need a lot. It is not easy for one person to have hundreds of soldiers, let alone one or two thousand! ”

I didn't expect that the heart of this Chu Wangfu was quite big, and it was "one or two thousand"!

Zhu Zhihan scolded in his heart, but said: "What Lord Xu said is reasonable! According to the establishment of the Shufu caravan, a battalion of more than 800 people needs two chief and deputy battalion commanders and two chief and deputy battalion supervisors; eight chief and deputy company commanders, and eight chief and deputy company supervisors; The platoon leaders, squad leaders, team leaders, staff officers, and clerks are countless! ”

Zhu Zhihan repeatedly reminded Xu Xueyan and Zhu Shengmiao, there are no leading talents in your Chu Palace, but I have in the Shu Palace; You have never fought in the Chu Palace, but I have fought in the Shu Palace. If you invite me to dinner today and let the Shu Domain send a general to train your troops, then you might as well speak now, and I can negotiate with you immediately!"

Zhu Zhihan was full of hope, but Xu Xueyan sighed at him: "Hey! In this way, if I want to train strong soldiers in the Chu Palace, it is still a dream! This official expects that your Shu Wangfu will be no different from my Chu Wangfu at the beginning, and there are no soldiers and no generals, how can there be so many soldiers and horses in the blink of an eye? ”

Zhu Zhihan didn't wait for the hopeful ending, and suddenly became a little unhappy: "Who said there is no general?" The prince is an immortal general! The Tao says, one life is two, two is three, and three is everything. Chickens lay eggs, eggs lay chickens, endlessly. With the prince of the world, the caravan will naturally be like a cloud! ”

Zhu Zhihan's analogy was nondescript, but the other two didn't care.

Zhu Shengmiao interjected and said distressedly: "Shu Shizi is fifteen years old, and he is young, how can he know the method of training and using soldiers?" I've also read some military books, but I can't figure out what to do! ”

Looking at Zhu Shengmiao's distressed appearance, Zhu Zhihan looked at Xu Xueyan and laughed.

Zhu Zhihan lost no time in telling a story he heard from the soldiers.

Before the battle of Jiangkou, the guards and the Tusi generals had to divide their troops to suppress the bandits. The battle plan has been adopted, the army has finished marching, and it is time to leave the camp at the first order. At this time, Shizi suddenly called a halt and ordered the army to turn to the mouth of the river. The generals were against changing the plan, but the prince was unmoved. Shizi said, within three hours, the main force of the thieves will open to himself through the river mouth. If the army is divided, it will be defeated. The generals will be suspicious, afraid of the authority of the prince, and only then will they obey the order. As a result, before he walked twenty miles, he received a report from Tangma that the thief was already in sight! The two armies fought against each other, prepared against unprepared, and our army won a great victory, beheading and capturing tens of thousands!

"Prophet without hexagram, isn't that a god?" Zhu Shengmiao's eyes were full of adoration.

Zhu Zhihan bragged in front of outsiders, but he was never modest: "The people of Shu say that the son of the world is a god, but this son may not see it." Sage cloud, there are four levels of people, some people are born to know, some people are learned and know, some people are sleepy and know, and some people are sleepy and do not learn! The son of the world is born to know one of them! Emperor Taizu Gao cleared the sea, and the prince took Emperor Taizu Gao as his teacher, and Taizu's art of war must be well understood. Otherwise, at the age of a county lord, how could he command a large army! ”

At the mention of his cousin, Zhu Shengmiao smiled bitterly and shook his head, it seems that he has suffered a lot on weekdays.

However, Xu Xueyan didn't smile. He was thoughtful and silent, and after a moment abruptly left his seat and walked to the window, pulling a wooden window open.

The icy river breeze poured in with a sharp whistling sound, lifting the indoor curtains sideways and striking people.

Bang! The wooden window slammed shut again, and the curtain suddenly loosened and went soft.

"How can the flowers and rivers of the Ming Dynasty fall into the hands of thieves?"

Xu Xueyan turned around and yelled viciously at the stunned two: "No matter how difficult it is to train soldiers, you have to practice!" If you can't practice 20,000, you can do 3,000! If you can't practice 3,000, you can practice 500! If the thief is so big, the lower official is the left minister of the Chu Mansion, how can he see the story of the two kings of Fu and Xiang repeating itself in Chu! ”

"Talk, keep talking, don't stop!" Zhu Zhihan, who was full of hope, called out loudly in his heart, "Please! Please ask my Shu Mansion to train for you! ”

Xu Xueyan sat back in front of his seat, and his color was restored. He looked at Zhu Shengmiao, showed a hint of an ambiguous smile, turned around and patted Zhu Zhihan's shoulder, and said gently: "It's just that the matter is big, and it consumes a lot of silver, and the official has to report to the prince that he has learned!" ”

"This old guy is playing with me!" Zhu Zhihan was suddenly furious, and almost immediately brushed his sleeves away, "No wonder people say that these civil officials don't have a good thing!" ”

Without waiting for Zhu Zhihan's anger to be revealed, Xu Xueyan had already changed to another topic: "This official heard that the son's original intention to enter Chu this time was to send silver to the King of Huayang in Lizhou?" ”

Zhu Zhihan responded. He seized the last opportunity to promote Shu Shizi's benevolence and righteousness, hoping to impress the old fox in front of him. But he soon discovered that Xu Xueyan was not interested in Shu Shizi, but was very interested in the relatives of King Huayang.

Zhu Zhihan directly showcased his cards to Xu Xueyan: "Xu Changshi inquired about the details of King Huayang, I don't know what the intention is?" ”

"The county lord, the beloved of the prince and princess. The county lord has arrived in the year of Ji (JI), and the princess and princess originally intended to select one or two young talents from Chu for the county lord to choose his relatives. Huguang Inspector Gao Shizhi gave an excerpt to the prince, saying that it was necessary to take the exam to choose a parent, and the prince had already issued an order. The official thought to himself, this outstanding person in Lizhou, can no one enter the eyes of the county lord? ”

The Ming Dynasty was extremely strict with the selection of the in-laws of the vassal kings. During the Hongwu Yongle Dynasty, the imperial court once arranged all the marriage affairs of the vassal king. After Xuande, due to the innumerable population of the clan, and the scattered clans after the division of the clans, it was difficult for the imperial court to arrange the marriage of the clan, so it had to make each royal palace choose its own and then report to the imperial court.

Since the end of Wanli, the population of the clan has swelled wildly at a geometric multiple, the short and embarrassing financial payment capacity, and the inefficient and turbid officialdom have caused the Zongfan regulations promulgated by the Yongle Dynasty to gradually lose their authority and seriousness. For example, the Jingjiang Wang family in Guangxi was already serious due to the remoteness of the road, and the situation of unauthorized marriage and private marriage was already serious, and it was even more flooded after Chongzhen. The Ministry of Rites has repeatedly issued orders and affirmed that those who marry privately without permission are guilty of the crime; Zong Fan played the chapter again and again, and brought it with Yinlu rice! Zongfan's logic is very clear: your court can't afford to make a fortune, so you still shout a fart!

However, the Chu Domain, as a great domain in the world, and Zhu Huakui, the king of Chu, as a person with a rough background, are obviously not among the prohibited marriages. The method of choosing marriage mentioned by Xu Xueyan is to select the children of good families with innocent families through open competition in the kingdom.

This guy is testing whether the two feuds can marry! Zhu Zhihan's brain flashed for the first time. However, this condition was too harsh for the Shu Domain. If the examination is elected, it is hoped that thousands of lucky candidates will be selected. Who can guarantee that this unruly county lord will definitely choose any relatives of the King of Zhonghua Yang Besides, after all, the King of Huayang is the son of the disobedience of the Shu Domain, and the choice of their relatives is good or bad for the Shu Domain, which is still undecided!

"What are you guys muttering behind your back?" I don't know when, a little girl stood at the top of the stairs with her hands crossed on her waist with an angry face, which made Zhu Shengmiao and Xu Xueyan stammer.

Zhu Zhihan hurriedly put out a smile: "Where! Xu Changshi asked Ben Gongzi about the talents of the Shu Domain, so that he could choose the county horse for the county lord! ”

The little girl is not so leisurely. She raised her voice and said coldly, "Really? Then who did you recommend to Xu Changshi? ”

"This ......" "Say!" The little girl threw her hands on her hips and took a leap forward.

Zhu Zhihan's eyes rolled, and an idea popped up in his head: "It depends on whether the county lord likes scholars or military generals." In this way, this son is easy to recommend! ”

The little girl was fooled. Her handsome face was slightly high, and she thought about it seriously: "It turns out that I like scholars, the kind of suave and suave." You just said that the world is not peaceful, and I think it's not bad to choose a general. But...... As for the scholars, they must be able to shoot the bow immediately and lead the troops in battle! As for the generals, they must be handsome and handsome, and they can also be exported into poems! ”

This horizon is too high! Zhu Zhi frowned sadly, Xu Xueyan and Zhu Shengmiao held their chins and gloated at Zhu Zhihan's jokes.

"In addition to the son of the world, where can he be civil and martial, where can Shu ......?"

Before Zhu Zhihan finished speaking, the little girl had already stepped forward and grabbed his ear: "If you can't tell it, then you are slandering the county lord behind your back!" I'm going to play my father and seal your bird money bank immediately!" ”

The pain in his ears made Zhu Zhihan think several times faster than usual. In a flash of light, many avatars passed through his head, and finally one was frozen.

"There are ordinary soldiers in the left guard of the Shu Palace, and there is neither a hereditary lord nor a court official position, which is just a good match for the county lord!" Zhu Zhihan was afraid that the people present would dislike him, so he hurriedly said the advantages of this person, "This sergeant is outstanding in appearance and can be literate and martial, so the prince of the world will use it greatly." I heard that I have been promoted to a battalion officer, and I will definitely have a bright future in the future! ”

The little girl was so anxious that she twisted her ears half a circle and said her name! Otherwise, it is a deception to the lord of this county! ”

Xu Xueyan also accepted the schadenfreude and asked seriously: "I don't know where to be an official?" ”

"It's the caravan of Changping Mountain, the name says."

"Oh? Please tell me more about it! Xu Xueyan was more anxious than the little girl this time.

Note 1: In the fifth year of Chongzhen, Kong Youde rebelled in Dengzhou. Zhu Dadian was ordered to be in danger and won a complete victory. In the eighth year of Chongzhen, the thieves occupied Fengyang and destroyed the emperor's mausoleum. Zhu Dadian recovered Fengyang, and then guarded Fengyang for eight years. In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, he was dismissed pending trial because he was impeached for "not being honest". At the end of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Zhejiang Xudu rebelled, and Zhu Dadian, who was in his hometown, recruited people to defend the city and kept the county safe. However, Jinhua Zhixian framed Zhu Dadian for "handing over the thief", and after the operation of the Lin Party, Zhu Dadian was actually confiscated on the charge of "thief" and thief who will not disperse.

After the death of the Ming Dynasty, although Zhu Dadian successively served in the Fu Domain, Tang Domain, and Lu Domain, his main energy was to gather troops to defend his hometown. In 1646, the Qing army finally broke through Jinhua and slaughtered the city for three days. Zhu Dadian was martyred with his family, and the people were killed and wounded, which is known as the "Three Massacres of Jinhua" in history.

The above is the glorious life of a great embezzler.