Eunuch Xing Long stood on the verandah of the dormitory and waited, the lantern illuminated the eaves corridor, countless snowflakes flew in the slight light, the night wind was very cold, Eunuch Xing shivered, his shoulders shrugged up, the little attendant next to him hurriedly put the hand stove on the stove, Eunuch Xing waved his hand, and saw Zhang Yuan coming in with Liu Gaoya, so he greeted the stairs and laughed sharply: "Haha, Zhang Gongzi Zhang Jieyuan, distinguished guest, is this going to Beijing to catch the exam?" ”

Zhang Yuan stopped walking, then took three steps and two steps forward to support Eunuch Xing's right elbow, and said apologetically: "I disturbed my father-in-law's rest, this snow is not small, and my father-in-law hurried into the house." He looked sideways at Xing Long, the wrinkles on the old eunuch's face were deeper than last year, and his waist was bowed lower than last year, it is said that eunuchs age faster without male and female love, is this really the case?

Eunuch Xing asked Zhang Yuan to walk up to the corridor with a slight hug, and said with a smile: "It's cold, my feet are hot, and I am about to go to bed, when I hear that Zhang Gongzi is coming, no one else can see it, Zhang Gongzi is here in the middle of the night." ”

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "My father-in-law carries love, and he is very fortunate in his later life." ”

-- The eunuch has an inferiority complex in his bones, and he is very willing to associate with a famous official gentry, that is, Wei Zhongxian is as cruel as Wei Zhongxian, and at first he also wanted to have a good relationship with the Donglin Party, and in the second year of the Apocalypse, [***] Xing was promoted to the imperial history of Zuodu, Wei Zhongxian specially asked his nephew Fu Yingxing to bring a gift to congratulate, who is the most particular about right and wrong, black and white? It is this [***] star, of course Fu Yingxing ate the closed door, Wei Zhongxian and the eunuch party are cruel to political opponents, but the Donglin party people eliminate dissidents and do not know how to be flexible is a major reason for the deterioration of the party dispute, Zhang Yuan will certainly not be as rigid as [***] star, he can make friends as much as possible, he is not afraid that the other party will have a stain, and the interaction with people is to see the advantages of the other party, not to hold on to the shortcomings of the other party.

-- And for the eunuch Xing Long, Zhang Yuan's reputation has far exceeded that of ordinary official gentry, Siyuan Lianjie, the head of the Han Society, this time when he entered Beijing to participate in the examination, if he was a young upstart in high school, his future was limitless, and Zhang Yuan had helped him a lot, and what was even more rare was that Zhang Yuan did not have any intention of taking credit, and his demeanor had always been modest, neither as humble and flattering as some seekers, nor as deliberately lofty as some arrogant people, this was an equal attitude towards friends, and Eunuch Xing cared most about Zhang Yuan's attitude. Determined that Zhang Yuan is a person worthy of intercourse, of course, this also depends on the person, if a pawn of a peddler wants to treat Eunuch Xing as an equal friend, will Eunuch Xing pay attention, and decisively regard it as contempt-

In the small hall of the dormitory, the two braziers exude heat, the four big lanterns are shining brightly, the four walls of the small hall are painted with gold and dyed, the chalk carving, the rosewood circle chair, the Xiangnan coffee table, extremely gorgeous, the guest and the host sit down, Xing Long asked: "Is Zhang Gongzi drinking tea or a cup of wine?" ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Father-in-law is casual, just have a cup of tea when you are born later." ”

Very good, the steaming fragrant tea was served, Xing Long asked the waiters to step back, and asked Zhang Yuan about the marriage and the township test, and then laughed in a low voice: "Xiao Zhong's letter last time Zhang Gongzi saw it, and he was depressed." ”

Zhang Yuan said with certainty: "The Zhong Gong Guild has a high eyebrow. ”

Xing Long nodded: "Xiao Zhong is not yet forty years old, come to say Fang Chang, it is okay to serve the emperor's eldest grandson for long-term planning, half of the miscellaneous family has stepped into the coffin, no matter what the country's capital is fighting, just want a good end." ”

Zhang Yuan saw that Xing Long was a little listless, and expected that the old eunuch was sleepy, so he went straight to the point and said: "Gonggong Xing is not yet sixty years old, and the holy family Fang Long, who came to ask for his father-in-law this time-", when he said about the arrest of the Nanjing Jesuit Wang Fengsu and the dinner in the garden, he submitted Gu Qiyuan's post again.

"Wang Fengsu's affairs have also been heard by miscellaneous families." Xing Long glanced at Gu Qiyuan's post and said with a smile: "Zhang Gongzi wants to see the miscellaneous family, why should he take care of the post of sacrificial wine - Zhang Gongzi is really broad-ranging, even the red-haired and green-eyed Westerners also make friends, Shen Shilang is too stubborn, those two muskets are Zhang Gongzi's, and Zhang Gongzi is returned, and Jiao Zhuangyuan came forward to intercede, and he actually shirked it." He shook his head repeatedly.

Zhang Yuan said: "Shen Shilang wants to make a big deal about it, and he thought that Nanjing City was under the rule of his father-in-law, and it was better to have more than one thing, and he wanted to falsely accuse the Catholics of rebellion with two muskets, which is really unreasonable, although there were ministers who were dissatisfied with Catholicism in the court, but there were also many officials who were good friends with Matteo Ricci of Taixi——"

Xing Long nodded and interjected: "Back then, Ye Xianggao, Feng Qi, and Li Dai all supported Matteo Ricci. Afraid that Zhang Yuan didn't know who Feng Qi and Li Dai were, he added: "Feng Qi was the secretary of the Ministry of Rites at the time, and Li Dai was the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, which was more than ten or twenty years ago." ”

"It's good to remember the surname of the father-in-law." Zhang Yuan praised it, and said: "But in this way, there will be disputes, Shen Shilang may be able to use this lesson plan to make a name for himself, but his father-in-law has no benefit, and if he doesn't handle it properly, he is afraid that there will be trouble, because this Nanjing City is under the rule of his father-in-law." ”

Xing Long nodded again and again, and sneered: "Isn't Li Laoshangshu paralyzed, Shen Yu wants to seek the position of Shangshu of the Southern Capital Rite Department, so he has nothing to do there, and he is alarmist-since those two guns were entrusted by Zhang Gongzi to Wang Fengsu, then what other charges are there to arrest Wang Fengsu and expel the missionaries, there are missionaries in the Beijing Division, and the Beijing Division has not been expelled, what reason does the Southern Capital have to arrest and expel them--release them immediately." Then he called Liu Gaoya in, and told him to go to the soldiers and horses overnight, and remember to bring back the two muskets as well.

Liu Gaoya took the order and hurried away, if you want to wait for Liu Gaoya to come back for at least half an hour, Eunuch Xing is already yawning, Zhang Yuan said: "Then the father-in-law should rest early, and he will wait in the outer office." ”

Xing Long said: "How can there be such a hospitality gift. insisted on talking to Zhang Yuan, and before a moment later, he sat there and took a nap.

Zhang Yuan hurriedly asked Xiao Nei to help the old eunuch to rest, otherwise it would not be good to feel the cold.

Xing Long also felt that he couldn't stay sleepy, and yawned and said: "I'm old, this spirit is poor, Zhang Gongzi, come tomorrow, Mingyu Miscellaneous family invites you to drink." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Thank you father-in-law, there are many friends who went to Beijing to catch the exam, it is not good to leave them, and my father-in-law has a good idea of the late life." ”

Xing Long said: "Say it tomorrow, say it tomorrow." ”

Zhang Yuan went out to the door of the instrument, waited in the small hall, waited for about half an hour, heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from south to north, stopped in front of the gate of the inner garrison mansion, Zhang Yuan walked out of the second gate, Liu Gaoya had already strode in, hugged his fists and said: "Zhang Gongzi, those two Westerners have been brought out of the Terracotta Division, and they are afraid that Gonggong Xing and Zhang Xie Yuanjiu will wait for a long time, so they will hurry back to report first." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Liu Baihu has worked hard, and Father-in-law Xing can't stand the sleepiness, so he fell asleep first." ”

After waiting for a while, several soldiers came with Wang Fengsu and Xie Jiulu, Wang Fengsu saw Zhang Yuan, and was surprised and delighted, in the Terracotta Division, Liu Gaoya did not say that Zhang Jieyuan wanted to rescue them, only said that Dongchang wanted to intervene in this teaching case, so Wang Fengsu and the two muskets involved in the case were brought out from the Terracotta Division.

A soldier presented a long strip-shaped wooden box to Zhang Yuan, the wooden box was quite heavy, Zhang Yuan opened it and looked, two flintlock pistols were lying quietly in the wooden box, this flintlock pistol was about four feet long, walnut butt, steel barrel glowing under the lamp, the caliber of the barrel was stuffed into the thumb, and then look carefully, this is not the kind of revolver-type flintlock pistol, but a percussion-type flintlock pistol, Zhang Yuan has relatively poor knowledge of firearms, only knows that although the revolver-type flintlock pistol is more advanced than the arquebus, it is expensive to build, and it seems to be prone to failure, The percussive flintlock pistol, on the other hand, is much easier to use.

Zhang Yuan was very happy in his heart, he dreamed of this kind of impact flintlock pistol, and now he finally got it, he wanted to bring these two flintlock pistols to the capital, and asked the people of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry to manufacture them according to the style, so that the firearms combat effectiveness of the Ming army will be greatly improved, of course, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry are not his mirror workshop in Shanyin, saying that imitation is imitation, he Zhang Yuan must have some difficulties and twists and turns to get the right to speak, but with a gun in hand, that is half the success.

Liu Gaoya had already understood the facts of the case, and asked his subordinates to quickly draw up a case file, which was about the testimony that Zhang Yuan asked Wang Fengsu to bring back two muskets from the West.

It was already three drum times, and when Zhang Yuan wanted to take Wang Fengsu and the others away, he thanked Liu Gaoya and said goodbye, but Liu Gaoya said: "Zhang Xie Yuan is loyal to the monarch and patriotic, and he is very respectful of his humble position." ”

Zhang Yuan's eyes froze, and he said in his heart: "This sycophant is strange, I saved two missionaries, what does it have to do with being loyal to the monarch and patriotism?" ”

Liu Gaoya whispered: "In March, the humble post went to Shanyin. With that, he smiled and stepped back.

Zhang Yuan instantly understood that one of the duties of the East Factory was to monitor local officials at all levels, gentry and celebrities, as well as various influential social leagues and gangs, and in March, the Han Society's social assembly in Longshan, Shanyin was quite popular, and Nanjing's factories and guards sent people to monitor it, Xing Long didn't say a word about it, and the old eunuch was deep in the city, and Liu Gaoya's tone now should have the intention of currying favor with him-

But being watched, this feeling is very bad, Zhang Yuan arched his hand and said: "Thank you again Liu Baihu for your kind words, Liu Baihu will be useful to Zhang Yuan in the future, even if he is instructed." ”

Liu Gaoya regretted it a little after saying that to Zhang Yuan, this is against the factory rules, but after hearing Zhang Yuan's answer, he was relieved, this Zhang Xie Yuan was really a smart person who knew a little bit, and said with a smile: "How dare you be humble, Zhang Xie Yuan has something to do, even if he tells him to be humble." ”

Zhang Yuan remembered something and said with a smile: "There is really a place to ask Liu Baihu in the next, Wang Wei of the old courtyard, he wants to get rid of his nationality in the next, I don't know the way, and I ask Liu Baihu to guide me." ”

Liu Gaoya bowed down and said: "I am willing to serve Zhang Jieyuan, Lehu is removed from his nationality and returned to the head of the ancestral hall under the Ministry of Rites, and he will accompany Zhang Jieyuan to the Ministry of Rites, how about it?" ”

Zhang Yuan said: "I need Liu Baihu's help, I said that I have refuted the face of Shen Shilang of the Ministry of Rites today, I am afraid that he will make it difficult for me." ”

Liu Gaoya said: "It is Gonggong Xing's intention to release the prisoners in the teaching case, how dare Shen Shilang complain, when is Gongzi Zhang going to go to the Ancestral Department of the Sect?" ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Then tomorrow on the first day of the morning, I will first thank Gonggong Xing, and then ask Liu Baihu to accompany me to the Teaching Workshop Division." ”

(To be continued)