The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Zhang Zhou is going to take a concubine.

The new house always needs to be prepared and decorated to be more festive, and there is no plan to invite anyone for drinks, but it cannot be too shabby. On the morning of the wedding day, Zhu Feng shamelessly came to give Zhang Zhou a "gift".

"Zhijie, is it necessary?" Zhang Zhou glanced at Zhu Feng.

Zhu Feng looked a little embarrassed and said, "Brother Zhang doesn't need it, but my wife probably needs it too, so just think of it as a dowry."

Zhang Zhou smiled.

It would be a rare and bizarre story if the ex-husband's brother sent a dowry to his ex-wife who had already divorced him.

However, thinking about Zhu Feng's usual behavior, he decided not to bother with him. It might not be a big deal to Zhang Zhou, but this could be regarded as a parting gift from Zhu Feng to Ning Tong.

Zhu Feng sat down and said, "Is there a wedding banquet today? I want to have a few drinks."

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said, "I haven't prepared any of that. If you want to drink, you can do so anytime, but not at this wedding. You and I have known each other for such a long time, there are many things we shouldn't keep secret. If you have anything to say, it's not too late to say it now."

"I don't have anything to say." Zhu Feng sighed, "Some things are still troublesome. Brother Zhang may not know that now that person... is here again. She came into the city yesterday, and I didn't want to disturb you, but her matter is probably related to you."

Zhang Zhou knew that Zhu Feng was talking about the current wife of Marquis Anbian, who was also Chen Rui's daughter.

This girl came to Binhai City with the only purpose of inheriting the title of Earl of Pingjiang for her brother. After all, Chen Rui died on his way back to Beijing after the defeat. However, he was better off than Liu Jing as he was not a criminal. However, it was not easy for his descendants to inherit the title.

Generally speaking, after a person with a title dies, his descendants can inherit the title in about a year. However, if something happens to the person, it is common for the heirs to not inherit the title for several years, or even for the heirs to be discontinued altogether.

Zhang Zhou said, "What do you mean by telling me this? To ask me to help her?"

Zhu Feng thought about it, shook his head and said, "I don't know what to do about this matter. There is still affection between Tong'er and I, but I have no friendship with her at all."

Zhang Zhou frowned.

You said you have feelings for the concubine I'm going to take in. What does that mean? You're not shy about it, are you?

Thinking of Zhu Feng's "straightforward" words, Zhang Zhou picked up the tea and said, "Have some tea to sober up. I don't know what you are talking about. Are you hungover from last night?"

"Oh... I've been drinking too much recently. Don't you have any work to do?" Zhu Feng smiled shyly.

Zhang Zhou said, "His Majesty is here now and may come to you at any time. You are still not shy about it. If something really happens, don't ask me to help you. I will look into your wife's matter later. No one says that the title of Pingjiang Earl cannot be inherited, but no one says that it can be inherited either. There is a lot of room for maneuver in this matter."

Zhu Feng asked: "Will helping her bring you trouble?"

Zhang Zhou thought about it and decided that it was actually nothing.

Although Chen Rui died in a rather cowardly manner and was often ridiculed during his lifetime, he was at least considered a capable man. Most of the meritorious officials had never been to the battlefield, but they laughed at Chen Rui's performance on the battlefield.

At least Chen Rui showed decent military proficiency when fighting against the Tatars other than the Huoshai tribe. It can only be said that Huoshai is Chen Rui's nemesis.

……

……

Zhang Zhou did not do anything else that day, and even Zhu Youtang did not summon him.

It was not until nightfall that Zhang Zhou arrived at the bridal chamber. The lights and decorations were considered festive, but there were not many people there. Only the servants in the yard were busy working. Ning Tong, as Zhang Zhou had mentioned before, changed into red clothes and came out to greet Zhang Zhou in person.

Because it was a concubine, there were not so many complicated etiquette.

After Zhang Zhou and Ning Tong entered the bridal chamber, there was tea on the table.

Ning Tong personally poured tea for Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou said, "Why is there no wine?"

Ning Tong said, "If the master wants to drink, I will have someone prepare it right away."

"That's not necessary." Zhang Zhou said, "It doesn't matter whether there is tea or not, but this tea should not be poured for me, or... hehe."

As a concubine, Ning Tong was required to pour tea for Jiang Pingyu when she entered the Zhang family, but now since she only wanted to stay in the outer house, she was exempted from these tasks.

Ning Tong said nothing, as if she knew that she still had to listen to Zhang Zhou on the way to enter the house. However, she didn't want to be a woman in a cage, and she didn't seem to want to end her current lifestyle of living alone. The only solution was to marry into the family, but not to cross the border.

The general meaning is that I am your temporary guest. You can come whenever you want. When you are not here, I can also do what I want freely.

After drinking the tea, Zhang Zhou put down the cup.

Ning Tong looked at the red candle beside her, a little dazed. She probably didn't expect to come to Zhang Zhou in this way.

"It's getting late, master, you should go to bed." Ning Tong said.

Zhang Zhou looked at the sky. It was actually just getting dark. So the saying "it was late" was just an excuse.

But he still smiled and stood up.

There were red candles in front of him, and the whole room was filled with the festive red color. Although he was taking in a concubine, Zhang Zhou did not have the temperament of a spoiled young master who had everything handed to him, nor did he deliberately make things difficult for Ning Tong.

For him, some things still need to be done personally.

……

……

The next morning, before dawn, Zhang Zhou had already left Ning Tong's residence.

Ning Tong's personality seemed to have changed greatly. She was not so stubborn and strong anymore. She could also show her gentle side. She even wanted to help Zhang Zhou put on his boots, but Zhang Zhou gestured for her to get his hat.

After Zhang Zhou came out, he went straight towards the palace.

About half an hour before midnight, he, the Minister of War, received the latest war report from the northwest, and learned that the troops sent by Wang Qiong to Ningxia were blocked by the Tatars, and the thousands of troops in Yansui had to withdraw temporarily. The first expedition was not successful, which meant that they could only rely on the reinforcements from Ningxia to drive the Tatars away. Originally, the two armies were in trouble, and now there was only one left, and it seemed that they could only watch the Tatars continue to act recklessly in Ningxia.

"Hello, sir."

Mou Bin and Wei Bin greeted them at the gate of the palace.

When Zhang Zhou entered, it started to drizzle. The spring rain was still relatively cool, so the daybreak would come later.

Zhang Zhou entered the palace and waited in the small hall outside for a long time before Zhu Youtang came out.

Seeing Zhu Youtang's cheerful look, Zhang Zhou knew that he probably didn't sleep very well yesterday. After all, the virtuous concubine had just arrived. Zhang Zhou wanted to give him some advice, but after thinking about it, he gave up. After all, it was not easy for a king like Zhu Youtang, who lacked love in his life, to enjoy some warmth of family affection.

"Bingkuan, sit down." Zhu Youtang gestured with his hand.

Zhang Zhou waited until Zhu Youtang sat down before he sat down.

Zhu Youtang said, "Ningxia's battle reports have actually been coming here for the past two days. Yansui's troops were blocked and were said to have been beaten back by the Tatars' artillery. I don't understand, have the Tatars mastered the secret of the Shenwei Cannon and cast enough artillery?"

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said, "I have also read the battle report, and I did not expect that. The artillery in the hands of the Tatars is mostly the basic artillery of the past, with a range of only one or two hundred steps, and it is heavy and easy to explode. But because the Tatars have artillery, our border soldiers will be afraid to attack and cannot move forward."

This was to remind Zhu Youtang that it was not because of how powerful the Tatars' artillery was, but because of the nature of the Ming border troops.

In the past, the Ming army often retreated to its own territory against the Tatars' bows, crossbows and cavalry. Later, with the improvement of artillery and muskets, the weapons on the battlefield formed a strong suppression, and the Ming army dared to attack. Even so, there were still cases where Zhu Hui and others were afraid to move forward.

Now the Tatars have kept up with the times and replaced their weapons with homemade cannons. Even though their power is far less than that of the Ming Dynasty's Shenwei cannons, they still make the Ming Dynasty's border troops fear the enemy.

Zhu Youtang asked: "Are the Ming soldiers so cowardly?"

Seeing Zhu Youtang's angry look, Zhang Zhou actually found it difficult to explain to him.

When it comes to war, it all depends on why you are fighting. The soldiers of the Ming border army are professional soldiers, but their salaries are very poor. Not to mention ordinary soldiers, even generals can easily not support themselves, and there is no way for them to commit corruption and abuse of power.

It is said that military merit can be exchanged for some living security, but due to the backwardness of the Ming Dynasty's security system, their military merit can easily not be realized.

Even after Zhang Zhou became the Minister of War, the situation improved greatly. The soldiers' fear of war had been greatly reduced, and even the military support had been improved. However, Zhang Zhou was too heavily controlled by traditional civil officials. Just in terms of the allocation of funds from the Ministry of Revenue, Zhang Zhou was completely suppressed, resulting in Zhang Zhou often having to raise funds on his own for battlefield expenses.

The civil officials simply looked down on the military generals and were unwilling to deliver the benefits given to them or to guarantee their survival.

Under this premise, who would be willing to risk their life on the battlefield?

Zhu Youtang said: "Bingkuan, do you think we should send another force to fight in the northwest, just like I sent Zhu Hui or Zhang Mao before. Although it may be too late to transfer troops from the capital, if we don't make preparations, I am afraid that the situation in the northwest will become more and more embarrassing."

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, don't worry. Xinjianbo has already reported to the emperor and dispatched 3,000 elite troops from the court to Ningxia on light cavalry."

"I have also seen it, but I don't understand why this passerby was sent out so late and did not go to Yansui..."

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly.

In this battle, he did not think that Wang Shouren did a great job. Instead, he felt that Wang Shouren was slacking in military affairs and even missed the opportunity to fight. It was only because Wang Shouren was promoted by Zhang Zhou and had achieved good results before, and was considered Zhu Youtang's "direct descendant", that Zhu Youtang did not attack Wang Shouren immediately.

Zhang Zhou said: "The Tatars are very mobile. Few of the Ming troops can compete with them in speed, and even fewer can fight them in a chase. The only ones who can do this now are actually... there are such people under the command of the Earl of Xinjian."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "I seem to remember that the Ministry of War transferred Ma Yi as the general to Huamachi because they valued the marching speed of his cavalry."

"Yes." Zhang Zhou said, "If such a group of troops can quietly kill the Tatars, then even if the Tatars gather superior troops, they will have no advantage over our Ming cavalry. And if such a group of troops is equipped with enough muskets, they can break up the Tatars' formation and pave the way for the rest of the less mobile central army to advance."

Zhu Youtang sighed, "I understand. If we continue to rely on artillery, it will only be more effective if we hold our ground. The Tatars are unwilling to engage in direct combat with us now."

"Yes, Your Majesty. The Tatars are unwilling to engage in a battle with us. The only way now is for us to catch up with their speed and compete with them. This way, they will not be able to escape. Under this premise, they will think of fighting to the death in a battle, and then the advantage of artillery can be reflected." Zhang Zhou said.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Now that you've said that, I'm actually looking forward to it."

Zhang Zhou said: "However, I am also responsible for the changes in the situation in the northwest."

Zhu Youtang quickly waved his hands and said, "You are the Minister of War, nominally responsible for everything, but how can you be blamed for those trivial matters? This time, I didn't expect that even Wang Qiong's elite troops couldn't kill them. Maybe I was too optimistic before."

Originally, Zhu Youtang might have thought that as long as the Ming army attacked, the Tatars would flee.

This time he realized that not all the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were elite. When faced with a stalemate on the battlefield, the military qualities they displayed were still as unbearable as before.

Zhang Zhou said: "Although the Tatars have been invading the border for a long time, Ningxia is well prepared. Now it is the spring famine season, and the Tatars can't plunder much. So far, there has been no news of people being robbed, but some livestock and property have been lost."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "You should tell them in advance that the Tatars are coming from Huamachi. If the Ningxia locals cannot respond and gather the people into the city, then they really deserve to die."

Zhang Zhou said: "The military order sent to Xuanfu will arrive in the next two days. I believe the troops from Xuanfu will also enter the grassland in the next two days."

"Well." Zhu Youtang said, "It's a pity that I'm not in the northwest, otherwise I would like to lead the troops myself. Alas! I may have to leave for Beijing in the next few days! Speaking of which, the results of the imperial examination are about to be announced!"

Zhang Zhou nodded.

After all, he was not the chief examiner of the imperial examination, and the successful candidates of this session had little to do with him.

Zhu Youtang said: "After we go back, the court meetings will resume. Bingkuan, don't stay here. Come back with me."

"I accept the decree."

Originally, Zhang Zhou stayed in Binhai City to supervise the construction of railways and to take charge of military affairs in Liaodong.

Because of the sudden invasion of the Tatars, Zhu Youtang often lost his confidence. Only when Zhang Zhou was around could Zhu Youtang have confidence.

Even if Zhang Zhou still wanted to stay and continue to develop this emerging port city, he had to agree to return to Beijing with Zhu Youtang.

Because Zhang Zhou also knew that if he lingered in Binhai City and did not return, and the northwest was at war, others would attack him as the Minister of War, which would bring internal troubles to the court. (End of this chapter)