Chapter 723: Gentle as Jade, Sorrowful and Entangled

There are more than 7,800 miles from Beijing to Guangzhou, and if it is calculated as 120 miles per day, it is not surprising that it will take two months on this road, but Zhang Qian has walked for more than four months on this road. It's not that he deliberately delayed, but he was ordered to go to Nanjing once first, and when he passed by Xiaoling, he had to pay homage to the tomb. Later, because of the letter sent by Zhang Yue, Suo Ji brought a lot of people according to the map. Since there were more and more people along the way, he naturally walked slower and slower, and then went to Huguang and delayed for a while, so it was the end of August when he arrived in Guangzhou.

He originally took the land route, but later because there were grain ships and too many people, he changed official ships in Huguang. At this moment, he got off the boat from the board, and when he saw Zhang Yue personally bringing someone to greet him, he was naturally full of smiles. Since he was an old man in the palace, this trip was half a mission, and Li Long, the commander of the envoy, and Yu Liang, the envoy of the inspection, were also present. Seeing Zhang Qian's easy-going demeanor, without the slightest hint of the yin and yang weirdness of those eunuchs in the past, many officials below were relieved, and when Zhang Qian invited Li Long Yuliang and Zhang Yue to speak on the other side, they were even more discussed.

"After all, the imperial eunuch who was trusted by the emperor and the former emperor is different from those who pretend to be good."

"That's, look at Grandpa Zhang's demeanor, that demeanor...... Tsk, in the end, it is the style of the nobles in Beijing, it is different in the bones, where is it like Qin Huaijin of the disgusting dead man! ”

"I heard that Grandpa Zhang was the most low-key and easy-going person in the palace at the beginning, and he was not keen on fame and fortune, with such an idle person sitting in the Shibo Mansion, our life can be much better."

Zhang Qian on the other side didn't know that he had won the favor of so many people when he first arrived. It's just that he didn't come here for praise, and when he arrived in another quiet box, he immediately put away his smiling face and had a businesslike expression on his face. Zhang Yue knew that Zhang Qian's hidden needle was hidden in the middle, Yu Liang was a Shaoqing of Taifu Temple in the end, and he could understand a little bit or two, but poor Li Long was the first time to understand the teaching, and he almost behaved at a loss under Zhang Qian's understatement hint, and he never came back to his senses after returning to the table.

On the night of his arrival, Zhang Qian went to see Qin Huaijin, who was under house arrest.

Quasi-Guangzhou City Shipping Division sailed to the sea for trade.

Quasi-city shipping divisions, return ships, arbitrarily dock at the three major city shipping divisions.

Each merchant is still subject to the previous 30 tax 1, and after five years, 15 tax 1.

Half of those who enter Hong Kong with elephant ivory, ambergris and other items are bought by the government at a reasonable price, and half are at their own convenience. After valuation, spices such as pepper are drawn to draw two, dyed wood such as sumac wood is five out of ten, and gems are drawn to one.

At the end of the year, the port was officially opened on the first day of November.

In addition to many government decrees, as soon as the newcomer Zhang Qian arrived, the news of Qin Huai's suicide in fear of crime came from the City Division. Immediately afterwards, those officials who were impeached according to the inspection envoy Yu Liang were actually sent back to Beijing by Jinyi Wei for interrogation. For a while, the entire city of Guangzhou was solemn, and there was no strange sound, and the people who thought Zhang Qian was good at speaking were stunned.

Zhang Yue and Zhang Qian can be regarded as old acquaintances, they have cooperated in the past, and they have been taken care of by him, but this time he saw the vigorous and resolute wrist of this trusted eunuch in the Yongle period, and he couldn't help but admire it a little. It wasn't until Qin Huaijin's family cried and cried and packed up and moved out, and Zhang Qian lived in the Shibo Mansion before he came to visit.

Although the Hongwu Dynasty had a strict ban on eunuchs, even high-grade eunuchs were not allowed to raise concubines and adopt adopted sons, these rules were gradually relaxed in the Yongle Dynasty. Zheng He, the eunuch of the internal official, has an adopted son Zheng Enming, and Liu Yongcheng, the eunuch of the imperial horse eunuch, has a wife and a concubine, that is, the eunuchs Wang Jin, Jin Ying, Fan Hong, etc., who are now Zhu Zhanji's cronies, also have adopted sons outside the palace. Zhang Qian was not exempt from vulgarity, and this time he went south to Guangdong with his adopted son Zhang Yong and two young eunuchs from the inner court, one of whom was Cao Jixiang, an acquaintance whom Zhang Yue had met several times.

At this time, sitting opposite each other, seeing that only Zhang Yong was accompanying him, Zhang Yue couldn't help but quip: "In the past, I only thought that Father-in-law Zhang's behavior was like a spring breeze, but who knew that now that Father-in-law Zhang is here, my reputation as a killer will be handed over immediately." ”

"Lord Zhang, isn't this a cold me? Seeing that I arrived in Guangzhou, the sky was shaken, in fact, the previous big turmoil was not set off by you alone, and you had to pull the capital and the company. You said you didn't kill anyone, who killed Qin Huaijin's adopted son Qin Yi? ”

Since Zhang Qian said it, Zhang Yue could only play haha and confuse this topic - it is true that a good bird chooses a tree to perch, but even relatives can be betrayed, and it is naturally a great disaster for this kind of person to keep, even if this person gives him five thousand taels of gold, he does not dare and does not want to keep people - as for Qin Huai's suicide in fear of sin, that is the ending he expects. Zhu Zhanji, the new monarch, ascended the throne, although he started killing in Shandong, but he did not want the whole world to be in prison. And he deceived Li Long and Yu Liang with a false confession, and he didn't want the truth to be known to them.

The two looked at each other and smiled, Zhang Qian's demeanor relaxed a lot, and he nodded at Zhang Yong. Zhang Yong, who was about the same age as Zhang Yue, looked like a big child, looking at his father's eyes, he hurriedly went to the high table on the side, held a Yunnan agate carved lacquer square plate with both hands, and the top was covered with vermilion silk, and walked quickly to Zhang Yue to present it.

Seeing that Zhang Yue seemed to be a little confused, Zhang Qian smiled and said, "Rest assured to accept it." ”

Zhang Qian said this before, and Zhang Yue took it with both hands. Only then did he see that there were two silver seals in it, he was stunned for a moment, and then immediately stood up: "Gonggong Zhang, this is a gift from the emperor?" ”

"After the emperor ascended the throne, he cast a seal in platinum and gave it to many of his ministers. Among the civil officials, there are the cabinet Sanyang and your father-in-law, as well as the two Shangshu of Jianyi Xia Yuanji, the military attache is only the British Duke, the middle officials are Wang Jin, Fan Hong, Huang Run, Jin Ying, and the other are Zheng Gonggong and me. Before I left Beijing, the emperor said that he wanted to give you a silver record, but now you are still a political envoy, and if you give it with great fanfare, it will be very unfavorable to you, so you will quietly cast it. One of them, whose text is 'warm as jade', is a private chapter for you to enjoy. The other side is 'rope and sorrow', you must also know that after Emperor Renzong ascended the throne, he gave the three ministers of the cabinet this chapter and ordered them to seal the matter, and now the emperor is giving you this right. Stamped with this seal and handed over to the local brocade guard, the chapter can not enter the cabinet and go directly to the front of the palace, do you understand? ”

Zhang Yue took a closer look and saw that the private seal was just the size of an ordinary person's book seal, and the other side was a square seal two inches square and half an inch thick, knowing that it was cast separately. Holding the heavy seals of these two parties in a complicated mood, he smiled bitterly at Zhang Qian: "For such a big thing, Grandpa Zhang didn't show his mouth at all before. Fortunately, there are only you and me and Ling Gongzi now, otherwise if others see me taking it so casually, I'm afraid that if I don't say a word, I will have to be charged with a big disrespect. ”

Zhang Qian smiled when he heard this: "The emperor specially asked me to say that this is a private gift, so the set of bowing outside is exempted." Sincere fear of bowing to the mountain and shouting long live is not necessarily loyal. Besides, there are many loyal ministers and righteous ministers, and he is not uncommon. I hid this thing carefully on the road, others thought it was some kind of gold medal arrow, but now it is not appropriate for you to take it back like this. Zhang Yong, go get a rosewood box, and my heart hurts a little, go and take a pill from the first door of the cabinet next to the bedside in my room! ”

After sending away his adopted son, Zhang Qian put away the relaxed look just now, but took out a seal from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Yue solemnly, and took the initiative to explain without waiting for him to ask: "There is no need for any hypocrisy between you and me." This is what my apprentice in the palace asked me to bring to you. Although he is not as proud as before, but because he went to Nanjing last year to report the news, the emperor still trusts him, and continues to use him to supervise the East Factory, and the position of the celebrant and the young eunuch Zuo is at least sitting firmly. He grew up under my watch, not to mention the rest, but at least he is still smart, and he may be able to improve in the future. I know you're not one of those stubborn civil servants, and he's not giving anything of value, so I brought it. ”

Seeing that this was also a silver medal, Zhang Yue couldn't help but feel extremely strange. The emperor gave the silver medal to show his closeness and trust, but Lu Feng sent this thing to further encircle himself as an "ally". Zhang Qian said such a big deal, which is nothing more than a hint that it is very beneficial for him to maintain a certain popularity in the palace, and he really does not reject this line. It's just that there are so many eunuchs in the palace, and it is really not easy for Zhang Qian to bring out such a powerful apprentice, but Lu Feng's kid's temperament is different from Zhang Qian's, so he has to guard against it.

"Father-in-law Zhang, don't worry, I will take care of this matter."

Zhang Qian rarely asked for any benefits or favors for his apprentices in the past, but now he came to Guangdong to say that he could show his strengths before he was old, and it was better to say that he was a different kind of pension. Before leaving Beijing, the emperor made it clear that the city could not change people for ten years and eight years, and he was familiar with the geography of Western countries, and he was the most trusted here. After all, he is also known as an ancestor in the palace, and there is nothing to worry about doing the last thing for such a only apprentice who can still do it.

"Father, Master Zhang."

With this voice, it was Zhang Yong who came into the door with two boxes. He casually put an empty box on the high table on the side, glanced at Zhang Qian, and then shyly gave another boxwood box to Zhang Qian. Frightened tonight, Zhang Yue naturally raised his vigilance, but Zhang Qian opened the box and took out a pill of medicine, which was really taken with water, and he knew that it was indeed medicine, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but then he saw Zhang Qian take out another small box from the box.

"I was born in Beiping, and later entered the Yanwang Mansion to serve Emperor Taizong, and it has been decades. This is the hometown of Xishan in Beijing that I brought with me before I left Beijing, but it is just a commemoration when I am homesick. ”

He patted the wooden box in his arms lightly, and immediately his face turned correct: "Now that you can control it, you are just worried about the city." The city's boss raised Li Wenchang and looked at Geng Jie, but he couldn't help but ignore current affairs. The City Ship Division was originally under the jurisdiction of the Political Division, and it used to be constrained by the City Ship Eunuchs, so it was not easy for you to get started. Now that it's me, it's much more convenient. I am very familiar with Western geography and people, but I don't know anything about business. In short, I'll deal with it outside, and you're in charge of the charter. ”

"Don't hide it from Father-in-law Zhang, I have taken care of some of the affairs of the city department when I was in Ningbo before, so I can naturally help a little. But I just have some ideas, but it's enough for one person to be in charge of the political secretary. Zhang Yue told the truth frankly, and when he saw Zhang Qian stunned, he said sincerely, "After all, it is inconvenient for me to enter and leave the Shibo Mansion, and now my father has come from Beijing, and when he has nothing to do, how about I ask him to accompany Zhang Gonggong to play chess?" ”

After being stunned for a moment, Zhang Qian laughed: "Father and son soldiers, okay, it's up to you." In short, what the emperor wants is results, and so do I. By the way, the emperor has ordered the ship to be repaired in Liujiagang, and from next year, the coastal guards will be stationed separately to guard the ships to strictly prevent pirates and private people from going to sea without going through the city. The Jinyi guards who came with me this time are going to transport away the things you registered in the register before, and as for the gold you found later, it is just a matter of reporting it in secret folds, and the money will be used to repair the wharf of Huangpu Port in Guangzhou first. As soon as the Ningbo City Ship Division opened to the sea, it became the most prosperous among the three major cities, and Guangzhou did not repair it, how could it attract businessmen? ”

Qianqing Palace East Warm Pavilion.

Zhu Zhanji, who was sitting behind his desk, browsed through the tens of thousands of words in his hand, and finally closed it thoughtfully. This is the Imperial History of the Imperial Prefecture of the Imperial Court of the Imperial Palace, which in addition to the ten articles of government affairs, there are also ten articles of employment, of which the two extremely important ones are the prudent use of young people and the grace of honor.

The so-called prudent use of young people is nothing more than that he promoted a large number of young people from the two batches of Jishi in the sixteenth and nineteenth years of Yongle; The so-called grace and honor allude to the fact that the honorable man is in charge of the Beijing camp, and Zhang Fu discusses national politics. Although these two articles are inconspicuous in many articles, his mother frequently hints that he respects the ministers, which makes him feel a little constrained at every turn.

"Your Majesty, the cabinet forwarded the letter of the political envoys of the various political secretaries and envoys."

Zhu Zhanji, who was originally going to leave it down and not look at it, heard Wang Jin's words, and immediately sat up straight and looked at him again. Sure enough, the eunuch who had won his heart immediately picked out a book from a large stack of folds and presented it with both hands. He hurriedly looked from beginning to end, and saw that the familiar handwriting on it was about agricultural merchants, so he took a closer look.

"Your Majesty, I have already sent the waiter of the Ministry of Rites to Kaifeng for mourning, who will be sent by Lord Chen Liu's side to pick it up?"

Wang Jin suddenly asked about this, but Zhu Zhanji didn't have the heart to think about it, and casually ordered: "You and Fan Hong discuss and decide." This is what I and the queen mother meant, you go everywhere to say hello, so that they don't have to make noise about such a trivial matter. ”