After lunch, Song Nan woke up from a nap, and was sitting in the backyard chatting with his wives and concubines.

The little grandfather stepped into the flower hall of the Song Mansion in full of energy, and when he saw Song Nan, he smiled and said: "Brother-in-law, congratulations, congratulations, with the momentum of thunder to cleanse the thieves, the emperor personally went out of Beijing to welcome the triumph, this time the credit is not small." ”

Song Nan hurriedly ordered to go to the tea and watch, and said with a smile: "Is the little grandfather also joking?" This kind of thief does a lot of injustice, loses the hearts of the people, like a lost dog, it is not difficult to exterminate, if the little grandfather comes forward, it will be achieved overnight, even faster than my hands and feet. ”

Zhang Lun's heart blossomed, and he said with a smile: "My brother-in-law is getting better and better at talking, the family is not interested in sycophancy, if I lead the regiment to suppress the thieves, I will naturally not be as embarrassed as Xu Yande's idiot, but it will not be as easy as you say." Where's my sister? Why don't you come to see me? ”

Song Nan said: "She will come in a while, your sister is ingenious, she sewed a cloak for you to block the wind, and she will give it to you in a while." ”

Zhang Lun raised his forehead and said in astonishment: "Song Nan, I have obeyed you." ”

Song Nan said: "What's wrong?" ”

Zhang Lun shook his head and said: "My sister-in-law has been in the Guogong Mansion for more than ten years, and I, who is a brother, have never seen her move a stitch and a thread of female redness, this is married to you, and she actually became a female celebrity, no wonder this year's snow is particularly heavy, is this God moved?" ”

Song Nan laughed, and Zhang Lun also laughed.

The two of them gaged and drank a few sips of hot tea, Zhang Lun smiled and said, "Your house must be a market today." ”

Song Nan smiled and said: "That's not it, more than a dozen groups of people came in the morning, I thought that the little grandfather would come in the morning, but who knew that it was too late, so I was told to wait." ”

Zhang Lun squinted his eyes and said, "I don't come with those guys to join in the fun, I know that the threshold of your Song Mansion will be broken in the morning." What are you waiting for me to do? How did you know I was coming today? ”

Song Nan said: "You are my eldest brother, I returned triumphantly, and the face of the Guogong Mansion also has light, how can you not come to thank me?" ”

Zhang Lun snorted and said: "You are really shameless, I want to thank you, you should go to the Guogong Mansion to meet the old man; The old man guessed correctly, he said that you would not visit anyone, and sure enough, you shrank in the house. ”

Song Nan smiled and said, "It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't for the time being." ”

Zhang Lun said: "What's the explanation? ”

Song Nan said: "This time there is more or less credit, the emperor will definitely let you discuss how to give me an official knighthood, I have to keep a low profile at this time, and run around outside, it will be said that it is a fake drill camp, but it will damage the image." ”

Zhang Lun was stunned and said, "You're too careful." ”

Song Nan said: "Prudence has always been one of my strengths, and it is my motto not to get carried away." ”

Zhang Lun smacked his lips and said: "No wonder the old man said that I am not as good as you, now it seems that I am indeed inferior to you, your mind is too deep and unpredictable." ”

Song Nan said: "Little grandfather, this is a loss to me, the little grandfather is straightforward and bright, that is because the little grandfather has a strong family background, like me, from a poor background, and relies on personal struggle, so naturally be careful." ”

Zhang Lun nodded and said: "What you said is reasonable, you are indeed right, the matter of how to reward your official position in the early dynasty is indeed very troublesome, and the inner and outer courts have different opinions." ”

Song Nan smiled and said: "These are all predictable, I Song Nan has been rewarded for his meritorious service, and the inner and outer courts are always not too happy, there is a saying in this world that can describe people's hearts, that is: I am happy when I see that you are not happy, and the thoughts of the inner and outer courts can be roughly summarized in this word." ”

Zhang Lun sneered, nodded at Song Nan and said, "You are really dirty, this sentence is really quite vivid; However, this time, the opinions of the inner and outer courts were not the main thing, and the most important words this time were the honorable relatives and uncles. ”

Song Nan was stunned and said, "You mean the old man and the Duke of Dingguo?" ”

Zhang Lun said: "It's not just them, the twelve marquis of the regimental camp, and the counts of the lords and nobles in the Beijing camp all have the right to speak." ”

Song Nan frowned and said, "Don't sell it, tell me what's going on." ”

Zhang Lun smiled and said: "Regarding your title reward, this time you are at least a second-class marquis, this is a certainty, you are a third-class candidate, even if you are only promoted to the first level, you are also a second-class marquis, but I want to congratulate you first, Marquis Song!" ”

Song Nan rolled his eyes and said: "This thing is a fart, except for what you value, I had to be knighted and let the county lord marry me, in my opinion, except for more Yulu and hundreds of acres of land, it doesn't have much effect." ”

Zhang Lun took a sip and said, "You know a fart!" Do you know who are the commanders of the 12 regiments and battalions of the four martial arts battalions, the four martial arts battalions of daring, the fruitful, the effective, and the four brave battalions, and the four battalions of standing, stretching, yang, and vibrating? All of them are first-class and second-class Hou Ye, do you understand what they mean? ”

Song Nan frowned and said, "What does the little grandfather mean is that if you want to command a battalion, you must at least be a marquis, right?" ”

Zhang Lun looked at Song Nan with disdain and said: "Even if you are not stupid, you can naturally enter if you are lower, but it is only a position such as deputy commander, a thousand households, you are the commander of the brocade guards, if you join the regimental camp but can't lead a battalion alone, will you be willing?" ”

Song Nan smiled: "How did the little grandfather know that I would definitely want to enter the regimental camp?" ”

Zhang Lun waved his hand and said: "Don't pretend to be garlic with me, the position of the commander of the Jinyi Guard is already the highest peak of your official position in the imperial court, you are not a civil official, let alone a eunuch, and you are not qualified for a higher position; The only thing that can go further is to enter the Beijing camp to take military power. And this time you led the troops to fight a good table, and before you went out to fight, you were also awarded the title of third-class marquis, and you were already qualified to be the commander of the Beijing camp, if the emperor did not reward you with one of the commanders' regimental camps, it would not be a reward, would you be happy? ”

Song Nan smiled: "I don't seem to care about this matter, isn't the old man the governor of the regimental camp?" The little grandfather is also the deputy governor of the regiment and battalion, in this matter, will the old man stop it? ”

Zhang Lun sighed and said: "Look at your smart tightness, why are you sometimes like an elm pimple and don't open your mind; I might as well tell you, it is precisely because of this that things are difficult to handle. Think about it, except for my Admiral's Fenwu Battalion, what will the other 11 Battalion Admirals think? When you enter the Beijing camp, what will they do? Will they offer to make room for you? Did the old man and I strip someone of their official positions for no reason and let you replace them? In fact, the Duke of Dingguo had already made a move, and when you did not return to Beijing, Xu Guangzuo invited the Marquis and Counts of Jingying to a banquet in Liangyuan, saying that they were getting together to drink and listen to the play, but in fact, they were inciting them to boycott you from entering the regimental camp. The old man's relationship in the past two days has been very bad, because of your business, many generals who followed the old man turned to Xu Guangzuo's arms, but the good thing became a bad thing. ”

Song Nan's thick eyebrows were deep, and he got up and paced, this matter would actually evolve into this tricky situation, but he had never expected it before; It's not difficult to understand when you think about it, who wants their status to be shaken, when it is clear that they are qualified to be one of the commanders of the regimental camp, the eleventh marquis except Zhang Lun is naturally in danger, and Dingguo Gong only needs to add fire, so that these guys can join forces to resist themselves.

"What did the emperor say? I think the emperor will summon the old man alone to ask for advice. Song Nan stopped and asked.

"After the morning court, the emperor did summon the old man, and the emperor's intention was naturally to ask you to supervise one of the regimental battalions, but the emperor was also very embarrassed, after all, the commanders of the regimental battalions were not at fault, and there was no reason to change anyone. And in the early dynasty, Xu Guangzuo also vaguely said that rewarding and punishing crimes is naturally justified, but those who have no fault should not be punished, which means to remind the emperor that he cannot arbitrarily deprive people of the right to be the commander of the regiment and battalion. ”

Song Nan was a little speechless, he didn't mind kicking out a marquis to replace him, the commanders of these regiments and battalions have occupied positions for more than ten or twenty years, and they have made no achievements, and they can directly enter the regimental camp to lead the army by virtue of Zuyin's honorable title, Song Nan naturally will not pretend to them. But the problem is that although the nobles are gradually declining, they are the most stubborn force in the Ming Dynasty and the most trusted force of the royal family.

Although this matter is difficult to deal with, Song Nan has no intention of backing down, military power is the core power, although Jinyiwei Yamen is the core institution in the emperor's mind, but compared with the power of the inner and outer courts and the Beijing camp, it is still a little worse, Jinyiwei does not have the slightest right to participate in the decision-making of the government, it is just a dog raised by the emperor.

What's more, this time Song Nan mobilized the main force to suppress the thieves is the soldiers and horses of the border town, Jiang Bin and Xu Tai have made war exploits, as the main general, if they can't get the rewards they deserve, then Jiang Bin and Xu Tai will definitely not be able to get the corresponding promotion reward, in fact, on the way back to Beijing, Jiang Bin and Xu Tai hinted to Song Nan more than once that they wanted to ask Song Nan for help, and this time they could be transferred back to the capital to serve in the Beijing camp.

Commanding the Jingying was the ultimate dream of the military attaches of the Ming Dynasty, and Song Nan didn't want to disappoint them.

Seeing Song Nan's solemn expression, Zhang Lun said: "Brother-in-law, what the old man means, otherwise this time I will slow down, if the emperor can't give you proper arrangements this time, I will be ashamed in my heart, and a few old guys from the regimental camp will not live for a few years, as long as this credit is still there, I won't be able to enter the regimental camp." ”

Song Nan was extremely disappointed, and after a long time, Zhang Mao asked Zhang Lun to bring this sentence to himself, and asked him not to make trouble, presumably because of this matter, the commander of the regiment and battalion centrifuged and fell to Dingguo Gong, which made Zhang Mao feel a sense of crisis; When the status and interests of the British public are threatened, choosing to sacrifice oneself is the best choice, and this is the strategy of losing the pawn and protecting the car.

Zhang Lun saw the displeasure in Song Nan's eyes, and hurriedly said: "The old man said, otherwise I recommend you to take the post of the governor of the Chinese military first, which is also a second-grade military position, although he is under Xu Guangzuo, he doesn't dare to do anything with you, and this position is just a transition, a little vacancy in the regiment and battalion can be a big deal." ”

Song Nan sneered in his heart, how can the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies be compared with the Beijing Battalion, the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies is divided into the five Governor's Mansions in the front and back, the left and right, and the Governor's Mansion is the commander-in-chief of the soldiers and horses in the name of the capital as the center, but in fact, it has been greatly weakened in the time of Emperor Yongle, and the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies has the right to command the troops but has no right to transfer troops, and the right to transfer troops has fallen into the hands of the Ministry of War.

What's more, even if it is the Governor's Mansion of the Chinese Army, the soldiers and horses of the commander are not the soldiers and horses in the capital, but the soldiers and horses of more than a dozen guards near the left side of Gyeonggi, which do not belong to the category of the Beijing camp; However, what Zhang Mao recommended himself to be the governor of the Chinese military capital was not even the commander; As far as Song Nan knew, the admiral of the Chinese Military Governor's Mansion was Tan You, the new Ningbo, that is, if he was made a marquis, he would have to be a deputy under an earl, which was a big joke in the world. I don't know if Zhang Mao was confused, or if he knew that he wouldn't agree, he deliberately mentioned it casually, and afterwards it can be said that he was unwilling to go to work, not that he didn't do his best.

Song Nan sighed at the snobbery of people, although he didn't plan to borrow the power of the Guogong Mansion for a long time, and he understood the truth that he had to rely on himself a long time ago, but he still felt a little lost at the moment, after all, although he married the little county lord and became the son-in-law of the Guogong Mansion, in Zhang Mao's eyes, he was still an object that could be sacrificed.

"Song Nan, to be honest, I think it's very inappropriate for the old man to mention yì, in fact, I mentioned it to the old man, but it was rejected by the old man. I originally planned to give up the post of commander of the Fenwu Battalion, but anyway, I am the deputy governor of the regiment and battalion, and I lead the Shenji Battalion, so it will be better to give up the Fenwu Battalion to you as the commander. Zhang Lun knew that Song Nan was very unhappy, and said in a low voice.

Song Nan looked at Zhang Lun and said, "Little grandfather, you are very good, I said at the beginning, you are my Song Nan's lifelong friend; I'm sure you really want to help me, but how can I take a position from you, isn't that a joke? I handled this matter myself, and after the little grandfather went back, I greeted the old man for me, thanking him for my heart, but I understood it. ”

Zhang Lun opened his mouth but didn't speak, the curtain in the back hall opened, and the little county lord came out with a cloak embroidered for Zhang Lun, when the brother and sister were talking, Song Nan had quietly withdrawn from the hall, and when the little grandfather left, Uncle Zhong passed Song Nan's words to confess, saying that he was unwell and couldn't come to send.

Zhang Lun naturally knew the unhappiness in Song Nan's heart, and sighed.