Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 124 East Factory
Not far south from the Donghua Gate from the Imperial Palace is the location of Dongchang.There is a stone tablet in front of the lobby of the courtyard, on which are the four characters "Liufang Baishi" written by Cheng Zu.

Entering the lobby, you can see a large portrait of Yue Fei. This is to remind Dongchang Tiqi to handle the case in vain, and what's more, it means that everyone should not forget to serve the country with all their loyalty.

After Chongzhen ordered the re-opening of the East Factory, Luo Yangxing, who had been promoted to Zuo Dudu, fully cooperated and asked people to give and give things. In just half a month, the East Factory has begun to take shape.

At this time, in the second hall of Dongchang, Wang Chengen, the freshly-baked imperial envoy governor and eunuch of the Dongchang official school, is giving a lecture to his nephew Wang Shiqin, who is also the new Dongchang in charge of thousands of households.

"The emperor ordered our family to be in charge of the East Factory. This is a great trust in our family and a high hope for our family. Now Jinyiwei is recovering very quickly, and the few major cases handled are quite sacred. Anything fresh When things are first established, they are always united and diligent, but as time goes on, it is inevitable that there will be slack and favoritism.”

Wang Chengen said calmly.

Wang Shiqin stood in front of his uncle respectfully and listened to his teachings.

After taking a sip of tea, Wang Chengen continued: "Although Luo Yangxing is obedient and loyal, the Commander of Jin Yiwei is a foreign official after all. He has lived outside the palace for a long time, so outsiders can't know what kind of thoughts he has. After all, the emperor can't be completely relieved." .”

Wang Shiqin couldn't help but interjected: "Uncle, thanks to you, my nephew has been in the guard for more than a year. According to my nephew, there are few people in Jin Yiwei who are selfish after being under Lord Luo. In fact, uncle doesn't have to think too much! "

Wang Chengen stared, and reprimanded: "What do you know?! In the eyes of our family, except for the emperor's family, everyone is untrustworthy! The person who is with your sweet brother and sister today, will turn around tomorrow if you can't say it." You sold it to others! Our family has been in the palace for decades, and this kind of thing has been seen a lot!"

Wang Shiqin immediately behaved like a good baby, with a respectful look on his face, but he still refused to accept it in his heart.

Wang Chengen knew that he was young, and he had been in the countryside all the time. Although he was educated and learned about etiquette, after all, he had seen too little of the world, so he didn't have a deep understanding of the fickleness of people's hearts.

Many things can only be known after experiencing them personally. My nephew is very clever, and I believe that after beating him a few times, he will understand the painstaking efforts he has made today.

He changed the topic and continued: "Xiao Wu, you have been in the Weizhong for more than a year. Although you can do a few errands well and you are popular in Weizhong, you must know that this is all because of Luo Yanghe and other officials in Weizhong. For the sake of our family, it is due to taking care of you. This time, the emperor appointed you to be the East Factory to punish thousands of households. This is a great kindness! It is also the emperor's intention to support our royal family. If you do well , our royal family can take advantage of the trend, you must act cautiously, and don’t make mistakes. Remember, the emperor is the sky of our royal family! The emperor’s family is our master! As long as it is beneficial to the royal family, You don’t have to be afraid of offending anyone else, understand?!”

Wang Shiqin replied solemnly: "Don't worry, uncle, my nephew is clear in his heart! We are the royal hawks and dogs, and anything that is not good for the emperor will be destroyed!"

Wang Chengen nodded in satisfaction and said, "It's good that you understand! Now that the East Factory is first established, the most important thing is to establish its prestige! The archery target is already set up, and you must do well in this first match! Otherwise, you still have to Go home and farm!"

Wang Shiqin said with a smile: "Uncle, don't underestimate my nephew! Everything has been arranged properly! Just wait for your order!"

After a busy day in the mansion, Zhu Gui, the chief steward of Duke Cheng's mansion, took care of Zhu Chunchen to the courtyard of the third concubine's room, saw the candles in the room extinguished, and carefully ordered the steward of the inner house to find a reason. After leaving the mansion, he drove the carriage to Dongcheng himself.

Zhu Gui's home is naturally in a large courtyard in the Duke's Mansion, with a wife and a pair of children.The daughter is married to the son of the housekeeper of Xiangcheng Bofu. The son is only 16 years old. Now he is learning to manage affairs from Zhu Gui, and he is preparing to take over his class in the future.

Ordinarily, life like this is considered pretty good, but after seeing the dirty and dirty things in many noble mansions, Zhu Gui still kept his mind on it.

After obtaining his wife's consent, he bought a woman named Liu Xu from the refugees who fled to the capital a few years ago.Liu Xu's family lives in Datong, and because of years of drought, the fields have failed to harvest, so she followed her family begging all the way to the capital.On the way, her mother and brother died of illness one after another, and only her father took her to the capital.

Unfortunately, not long after arriving in the capital, her father also contracted a serious illness, and passed away shortly afterwards, and since then, she has no close relatives at this time.

When Zhu Gui came back from the city to work for Zhu Chunchen, he saw catkins crying on a dead body outside the city gate.Zhu Gui, who had planned for a long time, was moved in his heart, so he asked his servants to come forward to inquire. After learning what happened, Zhu Gui also felt sympathetic.So he ordered his servants to buy a coffin, bury Liu Xu's father in a place outside the city, and put Liu Xu in a simple inn outside the city, leaving some money for her board and lodging, and then returned to the mansion .

Zhu Gui informed his wife of his plan, and Zhu Gui's wife always obeyed Zhu Gui's words, so Zhu Gui drove to the outside of the city that day and met Liu Xu.

Liu Xu's appearance is above average, but she is young. She is only 15 years old. Zhu Guiren is middle-aged, and he is very happy, so he tells Liu Xu that he intends to take Liu Xu as his concubine.

For a teenage girl, coming to this unfamiliar place with no relatives, her family members are no longer there, it is a time of grief and fear, coupled with the gratitude to Zhu Gui for his righteous act of burying her father, the moment is also So he agreed shyly.

The next thing will be a matter of course.Zhu Gui bought a small courtyard with two entrances in Dongcheng, and then, with the face of the Duke's mansion, he registered for Liu Xu from Shuntian Mansion, and then went to the market to buy a helpless middle-aged woman to serve her. Liu Xu, since then Liu Xu finally has a shelter and a place to rely on.

All of this was handled by Zhu Gui himself, and no one knew about it.The servant who helped Liu Xu bury his father that day thought it was just a temporary act of kindness from the housekeeper, and didn't think about the follow-up at all.

In the second year, Liu Xu gave birth to a fat son for Zhu Gui, which made Zhu Gui, who was old and had a son, very happy.According to his age, he should be holding a grandson. In his heart, this youngest son always feels like a relative from another generation, and he loves him even more than the current eldest son.

Since then, Zhu Gui has to go to the outer house every now and then, and loves Liu Xu even more. Apart from telling her not to go out, all the food and clothing are bought for her as soon as possible, and the family lives happily.

It was already the same time when Zhu Gui came to the outer house in the east city. On the way, he met the guards of Wucheng soldiers and horses who were patrolling.

After knocking on the door a few times, the woman came and opened the door.My master usually comes here at this hour. Although I don't know what the master is doing, he is definitely not an ordinary person.The master never said, and he never asked.I am a lonely old woman, and the master can give me a meal, which is a great kindness.

Zhu Gui entered the second house, and saw catkins embracing a two-year-old son on the window paper under the reflection of candlelight, and a warm feeling arose spontaneously.

He quickened his pace to the front and back of the door, opened the door and entered, looked at Liu Xu who was breastfeeding in the side room and said with a smile: "The name Fu Geer is not wrong, I am two years old and still eat my mother's milk, I said earlier Hire a nanny, but you won't listen!"

Liu Xu looked at Zhengxiang's son who was eating in her arms, her eyes were full of doting, she interjected: "When my mother was alive, she told me that my children grow strong only by eating their own mother's milk! I have enough milk, good luck!" You can eat it until you are old!"

Zhu Gui took off his robe and put it on the closet, sat down on the bed, and asked with concern: "Miss Pan, is it satisfactory? My lord, I plan to buy another young maid to serve you, who can also accompany you to relieve boredom, Miss Pan Mostly in the front house, it's not a problem for you to stay by yourself!"

Liu Xu sat by the bed with the child in her arms, glanced at Zhu Gui and replied, "I appreciate the master's love for me, and it's okay to buy someone. I think it's better to buy someone who is older, younger than Mrs. Pan." !"

Zhu Gui knew what she was thinking, and was afraid that buying another young maid would make him have other thoughts, so he smiled and didn't say any more.He is very content now, he has cute catkins and a baby boy who is babbling, these two are the most precious treasures in his heart, if anyone dares to touch them, he will really die.

After some gossip, Fu'er fell asleep, and after washing up, the two had a tumultuous time, hugged and fell asleep.

Around midnight, Zhu Gui suddenly felt a coolness on his face in his sleep, it seemed that someone came in from the room, he immediately turned over and sat up.

"Don't make a sound! Scaring the child!" A soft voice came from the darkness, and then the throat tightened, and a sharp knife was pressed there, Zhu Gui didn't dare to move.

"Let's go to the outer room to talk. There are many of us, butler Zhu, don't make mistakes!" the visitor continued softly.

Zhu Gui nodded slowly with a stiff neck, and then withdrew the knife against his throat.Zhu Gui gently moved Liu Xu's arm away from him, then slowly sat up and moved to the side of the bed, searched for the boots halfway in with his feet, got up, and tiptoed to the outer room, Liu Xu and Fu'er still couldn't sleep soundly Awake.

As the candle was lit, two figures appeared a few steps away from Zhu Gui's eyes. One was in his thirties and looked simple and honest, but he held a gleaming short knife in his hand; the other was younger and had a very good appearance. Ordinary, looking him up and down with his arms folded.

The man with the knife put the short knife into the scabbard and inserted it into the boot, walked to a chair and sat down, then solemnly said: "Butler Zhu, please sit down, these two are here on order, and I have something to discuss with you!"

Zhu Gui is also a person who has seen big scenes, and he knows that since he speaks openly, it means that he has seen that he dare not speak up.

He sat side by side with the middle-aged man across the short table, and said calmly: "Since you know the identity of XX, you two better not go too far, otherwise the Duke's Mansion will definitely not let it go! If you two ask for money, Zhu I still have a little savings, how about offering 500 taels of Wenyin to the two of you?"

The middle-aged man smiled and shook his head and said: "We are really short of money, but we have to do business first! To be honest, a certain two belong to the Fusi of Jinyiwei North Town, and they have been assigned to the command of the prince of Dongchang. Looking for you It's about the Duke's Mansion, so I ask Butler Zhu to cooperate as much as possible, otherwise, your concubine and young son... tsk tsk!"

Zhu Gui's heart was shocked when he heard about the Duke's mansion, and he immediately made a decision: Someone wants to harm the Duke, and I, Zhu Gui, will never be a villain against the master!

When he heard the last sentence, Zhu Gui was sweating profusely all over his body, and he slumped on the chair like noodles.

(End of this chapter)