Zhu Yuanzhang is desperately digging up the memories of the last years of the Ming Dynasty in his memory bank, he has been floating in the sky for hundreds of years, from the death of Hongwu in the 31st year, until the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of New China. There are many ambiguities in the middle of such a large memory. I remember the major events very clearly, for example, in the early morning of March 19 in the 17th year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide and the Ming Dynasty fell. For example, on February 12, 1912, Puyi abdicated and the Qing Dynasty fell. But there are small things that he needs a certain amount of time to remember.

What he was thinking about now was what would be the final outcome of the eunuchs? This is related to the future of the shirt family, and it will also be related to his judgment, he will only choose the path that has the greatest interests and is most helpful to his success.

The fragments in his memory were slowly spliced together by him, in August of the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627), that is, in August this year, the carpenter emperor died of illness, and his younger brother Zhu Youzhen, the king of letters, ascended the throne, which was the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen hated Wei Zhongxian very much, and in September, Chongzhen would drive Wei Zhongxian's backstage Hakka out of the palace; In October, he launched the impeachment of Wei Zhongxian; In November, Wei Zhongxian was relieved of his post and sent Fengyang to guard the ancestral mausoleum...... The eunuch party headed by Wei Zhongxian will be fully played.

In this way, the prestige of the shirt family can still last for half a year, and when Emperor Chongzhen attacked the eunuch party half a year later, the shirt family will inevitably be ruined.

After thinking about it clearly, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head, first showed a grateful look at Ma Qianjiu, to show his gratitude for his maintenance, and then hugged his fist at the shirt and said: "Zhu Ba He De how can he be, it is the blessing of Zhu Ba to be favored by the old man in this life, but people are not grass and trees, practice is ruthless, I have been a cattle herder in the Ma family for several years, and I was promoted by the second young master and the horse steward, I can't wait to repay the great kindness of the Ma family, I really don't want to go to other places, and please ask the old man Haihan." ”

As soon as these words came out, Ma Qianjiu was immediately overjoyed, and the second young master was full of disappointment.

Shirt Da coughed dryly and said, "That's it, since you say so, I don't want to be strong, it's right to be loyal to the master's family." ”

The second young master said unhappily: "I don't know how to lift, it makes the shirt boss unhappy, you useless killer." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the second young master lightly and remained silent.

"Okay, let's keep drinking and stop talking." Shirt Da picked up the wine glass, but in the next time, no one drank happily, after a few glasses, Shirt Da got up and said goodbye, the second young master's face also darkened, and he didn't say a word of greeting, and turned around and went downstairs directly.

Ma Qianjiu went to the counter to settle the bill, and the second young master had already gone far. A large group of families in green clothes and small hats hugged him, swaggering on the streets of Baishui* County, and there were a few poor girls who couldn't avoid the side of the aisle, and he pulled and touched their little hands twice, so frightened that the girls were pale and had tears in their eyes, so big that this is the street after all, and the second young master can't do too much, so these girls can retreat completely.

Ma Qianjiu and Zhu Yuanzhang followed from a distance, and couldn't help but shake their heads at the same time.

Zhu Yuanzhang gently pulled Ma Qianjiu's sleeve and said in a low voice: "Ma Steward, my brother is very grateful to you today, but in the next day, I may not have a good time, I hope you can do a little favor." ”

"What's the matter? Just say it! "Ma Qianjiu is not in a good mood now, and it is not pleasing to look at the second young master left and right, but it is very comfortable to look at Zhu Ba. He made a great contribution to the Ma family today, and then rejected the invitation of the shirt family, showing that he is both capable and loyal to the Ma family, and he has not misjudged anyone.

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low voice: "You have also seen the attitude of the second young master today, after I go back, he may deal with me, I am afraid that it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the Ma family, and I hope that the Ma steward will say a few good words to the eldest young master and take the side courtyard to the eldest young master." ”

"Huh?" Ma Qianjiu's heart sank slightly, and said, "That's right...... I may not be able to say that, but ...... With the surname of the second young master, you will indeed not have a good time in the future, you can rest assured, after you talked to me last time, I have already sent someone to Xi'an Mansion to ask the eldest young master to come back to preside over the overall situation, I believe he will come back soon. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said no more.

When everyone returned to the Ma family compound, it was almost evening, red fire clouds hung in the sky, and the field stalks were covered with shadows.

The gate of the Ma family's compound was full of people, there were many long-term and short-term workers who came back from the fields, a large group of families in green clothes and small hats, and even a group of maids who usually only stayed in the inner courtyard...... These people are all waiting for the outcome of the Yamen case.

Seeing the second young master coming back, the family and the maids shouted in surprise: "The second young master is fine, he is back!" ”

"Go and inform the lord, the lady, and the third lady......"

The family and the maids rushed up, surrounded the second young master in the middle, and went towards the inner courtyard.

Then Ma Qianjiu and Zhu Yuanzhang walked back side by side, and a group of housekeepers in the front yard hurriedly greeted them, surrounded Ma Qianjiu, and said gossipingly: "Steward Ma, it's good for you to come back, please come into the house quickly......"

"Tell us what happened today?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was surrounded by a group of long-term and short-term workers in the courtyard, and Baishui Wang Er walked up and punched Zhu Yuanzhang in the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Brother, are you okay?" Did you hit the board in your ass? ”

"It's fine!" Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly.

"Brother Zhu, how did this lawsuit get done today?"

"Brother Zhu, tell me quickly, how did you solve it in the end?"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand and said with a smile: "Don't worry, everyone, it's inconvenient for me to talk about this matter today, you wait a few days, and there will be news from the front yard and the inner yard." ”

"Brother Zhu, you are not righteous, you are the manager of our partial courtyard, if you don't say this, let's go to the front yard and the inner courtyard to inquire, what is the matter?" A long-term worker laughed.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said nothing, today's incident involves him too much, if he tells this story by himself, he will inevitably be suspected of being a trickster, he will not make such a low-level mistake, this kind of thing, let the families in the front yard and the inner courtyard spread it, it is far better than telling it himself.

The matter was not as expected by Zhu Yuanzhang, and a few days later, all the details of this matter spread from the front yard and inner courtyard of the Ma family, and at the same time spread on both sides of Xigu Village and the shirt family......

The villagers of Xigu Village, the family of the shirt family, the family of the front yard of the Ma family, and the family of the inner courtyard of the Ma family each told the people around them what happened that day from their point of view, and later Ma Qianjiu spread the story of what happened during the Sangu Xiang banquet.

These stories are a bit fragmentary, because everyone sees it differently, and what no one knows is comprehensive, and the dialogue between Zhu Ba and Shirt Da in the hall of the shirt family is related to the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party, and Ma Qianjiu does not dare to tell too much, and the result is that this story is even more cloudy.

However, no matter how complex the story is, it is difficult for those who have a heart, especially those who have read a book. After listening to all these fragmentary stories, someone finally gathered and sorted them into a complete story in their minds, and only then did they know what role Zhu Ba played in this matter.

"Zhu Ba is so powerful......"

"It's really amazing......"

"It's like turning your hands into clouds and turning your hands into rain!"

"Powerful is secondary, the key is that people are loyal, and those who are loyal to the master's family are more worthy of respect......"

"Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith, loyalty is the first ......"

Rumors like this began to spread in Xigu Village, Xijia Village, and Majia Compound, and then radiated to Shili and Eight Townships, spreading more and more widely. The long-term and short-term workers of the Ma family finally knew, why didn't Zhu Ba tell them this story in person, if he told it himself, it would definitely be a naked show.

After a few days of preaching, the news became more and more divine, and when it came to the future, it began to go out of shape again.

Baishui* County ordered Chen Guanyu to start his resignation and return to his hometown, so this year's Spring Fu chase was also suspended, originally he had to "sit in the hall and compare food" every day, and arrested the villagers who couldn't hand in the Spring Fu and spanked them with boards, but he didn't do it again in the past two days.

The poor people of Baishui* County breathed a sigh of relief, and those who had a heart insisted that this incident was the credit of Zhu Ba. Some people say that it was Zhu Baba who petitioned for the people, and this year's spring endowment was slowed down.

The poor people don't know if this is true or not, anyway, they only know that after the case that day, Chen Guanyu really no longer sits in the court to compare food, so the fake becomes true, and Zhu Ba's reputation is like Zhongtian for a while.

This legend came together, and Zhu Ba's image was even higher.

A few days later, the old lady Ma, who never cared about things in the inner courtyard of the Ma family, but just quietly retired for the elderly, actually asked the steward of the inner courtyard to seal twenty taels of silver to give to Zhu Yuanzhang to commend him for his meritorious service as a "savior". Two days later, Miss Ma San sent the maid Zixincai to bring him a few sets of new clothes and shoes, and it seemed that she was also thanking him for saving her second brother in a sense.

Although the second young master was confused and useless, there were still a few people in the Ma family who understood.

After this incident, the maids who were strictly ordered by the third lady not to come to the side courtyard to find Zhu Ba touched the heart of spring again, and found all kinds of excuses to wander around the side courtyard, someone sent Zhu Ba a pair of socks today, helped him knit a handkerchief tomorrow, and someone wanted to help him wash his clothes the day after tomorrow...... This kind of alternative enthusiasm made Zhu Ba cry and laugh, so he had to hide in the field all day long.

Chengcheng Zhang also seemed to be frightened by the power of the Shan family, and did not take any more action for a long time, and life began to calm again......

At noon at the end of February, the sun was shining brightly, and the sun was shining directly above the earth, and the shadows were shrunk to a tiny mass at the feet. Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the edge of the field stalk and talked with Bai Shui Wang Er about his experience in boxing.

The two chatted casually, and suddenly saw a big black carriage on the loess road in front of the Ma family's compound from a distance, this carriage was not ostentatious, there was no gorgeous decoration, just like a black box. But the driver who drove the car was very good at his hands, and when he shook the whip slightly, he made a "snap" whip sound, which was obviously a practitioner. There were also fifteen strong men guarding the car, all of whom were riding handsome horses and armed with waist knives, showing a fierce look.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but say: "It seems that a powerful person is coming!" ”

Bai Shui Wang Er nodded and said in a low voice, "The most powerful person in the Ma family is back!" This is the carriage of the eldest young master Ma Zhixiong......"