On the return trip, Wang Daokun gave Wang Fulin a suggestion for his itinerary, that is, let him go south from Xiangyang to Jiangling via the official road, and then set off from this capital county of Jingzhou, take a boat to Wuhu via the Yangtze River, and then go back from the official road. However, in addition to the literal more convenient meaning, Wang Daokun also instructed Wang Fulin that since he had come, he could visit Zhang Juzheng's father, Mrs. Zhang, in the name of his juniors.

Wang Fulin has no interest in the treacherous political arena at the turn of Longwan and then in the early years of Wanli, if possible, he can't wait to be a high arch or Zhang Juzheng, this kind of big bull don't run into anyone. However, Wang Daokun now belongs to Zhang Juzheng's faction, and such a suggestion is purely kind, so he can only reluctantly agree. It's just that he made up his mind on the way, and he just went back to Zhang's house to post a post.

Zhang Juzheng's father, Zhang Wenming, has no good evaluation in Jingzhou, and one of Zhang Juzheng's later crimes is to plot to seize the Liao Wangfu as a private residence, which of course is where Mrs. Zhang lives.

It is said that Mrs. Zhang has always been domineering in Jingzhou City, and her reputation is not good, so although she was buried after her death, she was liquidated as soon as Zhang Juzheng died, and the tombs of the Zhang family were forcibly moved out of Taihui Mountain.

Jingzhou is a famous ancient city, I think the palace of Chu was built here, and it was also an important town in the south during the Qin and Han dynasties, and people who have seen the Romance of the Three Kingdoms will not ignore the battles around Jingzhou. In the Tang Dynasty, it was also one of the most important ways for Shu to go east. However, in the late Northern Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, Jingzhou City was destroyed twice, and its vitality was greatly damaged. Although it shows that the city was rebuilt at the beginning. Later, the king of Liao moved here. Compared with the unrivaled status of Jingzhou City in the south, Jingzhou City has plummeted now.

But in the past few years, with the entry of Zhang Juzheng, a native of Jiangling, Jiangling City has become lively again. Not only are there an endless stream of gifts and envoys from Beijing, but also rich merchants in the city, and wealthy merchants in Jingchu. Taxi people who have the heart to climb up...... All in all, the Zhang family mansion is often a constant source of visitors. Wang Fulin only asked the Zhang family about the people, and the kind person who pointed the way said a detailed explanation, and finally looked at his appearance and kindly reminded him.

"This little official, the head of the Zhang family is not so easy to enter. In the early years, those who had no fame were able to enter occasionally, but now that Mrs. Zhang is old and impatient, she is impatient at every turn, so she sets the rules and the wealthy businessmen from all over the world come to see her. The steward of his house received him; When the court officials come to see him, he will only take a moment to meet for a moment above the third grade; As for ordinary readers. At least there must be more than one person's fame, and the reputation is not small, the old lady will take a look. ”

After thanking the kind passer-by, Wang Fulin couldn't see joy or anger on his face, but his heart was happy. Mrs. Zhang is lazy and doesn't want to see guests, but it saves him trouble! Flattering the old man is not difficult for him, Mrs. Xu, Mrs. Fang, plus Mrs. Ye, he gets along well, and those old people in Songmingshan see him and they all like him very much, but first of all, it has to be a reasonable ancient road warm-hearted person, and it is better if Mrs. Zhang is not seen.

When he found the gate of Zhang's house, he compared the Liao Wangfu that he had just passed by on the road, and secretly thought that the current Zhang Mansion was slightly inferior to the Liao Wangfu.

It is said that Zhang Juzheng's grandfather was once the guard of the Liao Palace, and was later drunk to death by the Liao King, no wonder Zhang Juzheng later made the Liao Palace's palace so miserable, and robbed other people's palaces for his father and mother to live in!

At this time, when he was about to touch Shen, he saw that the Zhang family's gatekeeper received the worship posts from the hands of one visitor after another, and ignored a few perfunctory words, Wang Fulin took a look at the gap and stepped forward, and handed Wang Daokun's name thorn, as well as his own worship post, and the other was Wang Daokun's gift from the charge d'affaires. Sure enough, the name of the governor of Huguang was almost invincible along the way before him, but at this time, the concierge of the Zhang family was in his hand, and he just took a second look.

"Since it's Wang Buyuan's nephew, I'll be honest with you. The old lady is not very happy these days, and he can't meet guests, and the second old man is like a crane like a wild crane, and he is not at home at this time, and the third master has always cared about this. However, the old lady is in good spirits these days, but she wants to talk to a few young men, if the petty officials are willing, I will report on your behalf. ”

Wang Fulin didn't expect that the porter didn't care about the thorn on the one hand, but on the other hand, he specially asked if he wanted to visit Zhang Juzheng's mother, Mrs. Zhao. But everyone mentioned it, and he couldn't say that I was just here to deal with it, so he could only nod and agree. According to his thoughts, even if Mrs. Zhao really likes young people, it should be limited to grandchildren, and he, a foreign man, may not be interested in seeing him. But who would have thought that after a while, the porter who went in to report turned around and said to him with a smile: "Good luck for the little official, the old lady is free, you can come with me!" ”

For this so-called good luck, Wang Fulin really didn't know what to say, so he had to bite the bullet and enter. When he entered the gate, the porter handed him over to a steward. And the steward was polite, and when he took him in, he explained the population of the family a little. It turned out that Zhang Juzheng was the eldest son in the family, the second brother Ju Yi and the third brother Ju Jing, both inherited the tried-and-tested aura of Mrs. Zhang in the field, so they didn't enter the office. As for Zhang Juzheng's wife and children, they are all following in office now, and none of the Zhang family members who stayed in Jiangling City are officials.

Wang Fulin listened to it in his ears and remembered it in his heart. When they arrived at a weeping flower gate, it was supposed to separate the inner and outer places, and there was a servant woman in her forties waiting there. The steward had given him to the servant, and immediately withdrew with his hand. As soon as you enter this door, you will be greeted by maids and servants, and this man is very eye-catching when he walks in it, and from time to time you can hear the laughter of eating. For this experience of being watched, he couldn't help but think of the experience of being watched by those gossip girls at the Xu family on Doosan Street, but it was a very famous relationship in Huizhou, which was very different from the scene at this moment.

It seems that the rules of the Zhang family are more loose, and they can relax for a while.

"Old lady, Wang Gongzi is here."

After an announcement from the door, the maid who led the way smiled and opened the curtain to invite him in. As soon as Wang Fulin stepped through the door, he saw an old woman in her sixties and seventies sitting on the Arhat bed in the center. Squint and peel the oranges yourself. Movement is heard. She glanced up at him. Then he smiled and said: "It is rare for Da Lang's sons and nephews of the same year to visit, and I heard that you are only fifteen or sixteen, and it is not easy to go out of Huizhou from such a long distance." Come, sit down and let me have a good look. ”

Wang Fulin knew that this was Mrs. Zhao, but he was still a little hesitant when he heard the second half of the words. Waiting for a girl to purse her lips and smile and come up to please, he stepped forward with a sense of wood. Only then did I realize that the so-called sitting over actually meant sitting next to Mrs. Zhao! This kind of hospitality without a sense of distance, he is the first time to experience, at this moment suddenly feel extremely uncomfortable, but Mrs. Zhao also put the peeled orange petals into his hand, let him taste it, he really can't refuse, so he had to laugh, taste a few petals, but found that it is as sweet as honey. Plenty of moisture and good taste.

"I'm old. I like to eat sweet. Old Madam Zhao looked at Wang Fulin as she spoke, and then asked, "Have you entered the school?" ”

Wang Fulin thought about it, but still decided to reply in a decent manner: "Back to the old lady, the student entered the school last year." ”

"That's a real deal. I think that my eldest man was five years old, entered school at the age of twelve, and was able to pass the examination at the age of thirteen, but at that time, the governor of Huguang Gu felt that Dalang was too young to be lifted in the middle school, so he had to press it, so he was only promoted three years later. When Mrs. Zhao talked about Zhang Juzheng, her face was full of radiance, "Later, he was awarded the Jinshi at the age of seventeen, and now he has entered the cabinet, I really never dreamed that the Zhang family would be able to produce a genius like Dalang." ”

Zhang Juzheng is indeed a genius, he was only in his forties when he entered the cabinet, which seems to be very rare in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Wang Fulin thought so in his heart, and he couldn't help but flatter Mrs. Zhao a few words. This was originally a very ordinary word, but I don't know if Mrs. Zhao rarely sees outsiders on weekdays, or because of some other reason, she was extremely happy, took his hand and asked about the situation at home, asked about his brothers and sisters, and stayed at home for a long time, and then asked with a smile: "You are the first time to come to Jiangling, right?" It's better to stay longer. Da Lang has never returned home since he became an official, and now the house has expanded a lot, and there are empty houses. ”

I really couldn't figure out what was going on at this sight, so Wang Fulin could only say cautiously: "The old lady is kind, and the student understands it." It's just that the student's trip was to Hanyang Mansion to pick up his father and mother who had been absent for many years, and then because of some delays, he went to Xiangyang to meet his uncle, because of his uncle's order to visit the old lady and the old lady in Gangneung, if the stay is too long, I am afraid that the parents at home are worried. ”

Mrs. Zhao was stunned when she heard this, and hurriedly asked Wang Fulin why she had been separated from her parents for many years. Knowing that Wang Daoyun was selling salt in Hankou and that the Wu family had served the sick before, she couldn't help but sigh, and did not show any contempt for the merchant in her speech, but sighed: "Sure enough, every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and it is not easy." That being the case, he had dinner at home and stayed overnight before leaving. Aren't you staying at the guest house outside? Don't look at Da Lang and two brothers, but the grandchildren usually go to school, and no one talks to me. ”

was asked by an old man like this, Wang Fulin really had no choice but to agree. He accompanied such an old man who was old enough to be his grandmother to talk about the world, and when it was time for dinner, someone came over to report to Mrs. Zhao that the young masters had just gotten out of school, and their homework was heavy in the evening, and they would come over to say hello after they were finished, and dinner would not come. Hearing this, Old Madam Zhao's eyes suddenly dimmed.

After dinner, Mrs. Zhao actually took Wang Fulin to visit Mrs. Zhang, and when she came out, she said with sentimentality: "The old lady is a student of the house, and he has been taking the exam for 20 years, until Da Langzhong raised Hanlin, and after the three years of rank, he lost the exam basket and stopped taking the exam." Erlang Sanlang's qualifications were limited, so he took his grandchildren to study hard, saying that it could never be passed on that only Dalang and his sons in the Zhang family could succeed in the field. But when I look at the children who are all thin, I am really distressed and proud. The Zhang family is now prosperous, but what happens in the future depends on the children. ”

Hearing this, Wang Fulin could only be relieved: "The old lady is so hardworking, you Zhang Gongzi will definitely be named on the gold list in the future, and he will definitely be doubly filial to you when the time comes." ”

It's a pity that the Zhang family later came out with a gold list title, but it couldn't withstand the enemy's liquidation.

"I just want them to be good, and I don't care if they can get any fame." Old Madam Zhao shook her head with a smile, then looked at Wang Fulin and said, "You are really similar to your uncle." The last time he came to Gangneung to see the old lady and me, he kept comforting me. He has good articles, good learning, and he also points out the children at home, and everyone praises him. This time, when I heard that his nephew was coming, I wanted to see what kind of person it was, and it was really a family. Wang Gongzi, go back and study hard, and be an arm for my eldest man in the future! ”

No wonder Wang Daokun asked him to come, it turned out that he was sure that someone in the Zhang family would definitely see him. Wang Fulin thought so in his heart, and in the face of Mrs. Zhao's expectant gaze, he couldn't help but feel that his mood was particularly complicated.

Zhang Juzheng's arms are not so good, he treats you well when he uses you, and he immediately discards him when he doesn't use you...... Moreover, how could he have said to this old lady that you would enjoy all the glory and wealth that no one else could match, and then experience the most terrible tragedy of your life?

PS: Zhang Juzheng's mother Zhao has enjoyed the glory and wealth including the queen mother's courtesy and the welcome of hundreds of officials, but she has also experienced the tragedy of the Zhang family after Zhang Juzheng's death, and many Ming people such as Shen Defu have lamented the misery of the old lady, saying that it is a disaster that does not affect the family, and it has never been possible (to be continued......