The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Yang Peng took Wang Shi with him to visit Zhang Zhou's house because he knew that Zhang Zhou was not at his home in the north of the city that day, but at the "old house" in the east of the city, or to be more precise, in the "laboratory" across the street from the old house. It was the best time for him to visit him.

He led his men to the gate, and the Jinyiwei guarding the gate recognized him.

But before he could go in, he heard a muffled "bang" from inside, followed by a puff of smoke rising into the sky. Yang Peng looked around for a long while and seemed to have forgotten that he had to go in.

Wang Shi asked, "Eunuch Yang, should we ask someone to go in and pass the message?"

"Yes." Yang Peng said, "How can I come to Mr. Zhang's house without informing him first? Please go in and let him know."

After a while, someone came out. It was none other than Wang Shi's daughter, Wang Mingshan. At this time, Wang Mingshan was wearing the uniform of a Jinyiwei captain, holding a sword in her hand. She then saluted with her fists and said, "Please come in."

Yang Peng said with a smile: "A son of a general. No, it's a daughter of a general."

Wang Shi didn't know what to say.

Now he is in the Jinyiwei, serving as the pacification commissioner of the Northern Pacification Division. Although he has little experience and follows the rules everywhere, he is actually unfamiliar with the affairs of the Jinyiwei, just like a puppet boss. But who can blame him for having a "strong background"?

He was about to be promoted to the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and all this came from his daughter entering the Zhang Mansion.

……

……

yard.

Zhang Zhou was wearing a thick leather jacket, as if he was wearing a shell. He stood there looking at Yang Peng who came in, and then took off his goggles.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Yang Peng asked politely but awkwardly.

Zhang Zhou sighed, "I just ran an experiment and there was a small problem, but it's nothing."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhou asked the people beside him to help him take the leather jacket that looked like an apron. Then someone came to fetch some water, and Yang Peng eagerly went over to take it.

Zhang Zhou said, "Don't bother Eunuch Yang. I'm covered in chemicals and I'll have to clean them up later. Eunuch Yang is not used to this kind of situation. Let's find a simple place to talk. Let's go to the pavilion."

As they talked, the two of them arrived at the pavilion.

"What are chemical reagents?" Yang Peng followed and was about to sit down, but he couldn't help asking.

Zhang Zhou said: "Generally speaking, it is something that is highly corrosive, or something that will react when put together. It is not good for people's skin and eyes. Even the gas may be toxic if inhaled."

"Ah?" Yang Peng was shocked after hearing this.

He originally thought that Zhang Zhou was researching something advanced, but when he heard this, he wondered in his heart, how could this be the same as researching poison?
Wang Shi, who was standing next to him, asked, "Are you refining the elixir?"

Zhang Zhou laughed and said, "Mr. Wang, you are joking. I am not refining the elixir, but some things are similar to refining the elixir. In fact, alchemists occasionally study these things. Just like gunpowder and other things, they were all developed in this way."

Yang Peng said: "No wonder you can research the mighty divine cannon and the powerful divine gunpowder. Do you like to make elixirs? That's right. For an outsider like you, researching anything is not surprising."

Zhang Zhou pointed to a seat nearby and said, "Please take a seat, Mr. Wang."

Wang Shi looked at his daughter standing behind Zhang Zhou. Although they were father and daughter, the Wang family's style was different from other families. He had seldom educated Wang Mingshan, so that the father and daughter looked very distant when standing together.

He said, "No need, I will just stand here."

Wang Mingshan didn't think anything of it. She didn't even think there was anything wrong with standing face to face with her father. To her, all worldly desires were a burden. Wherever she followed Zhang Zhou, as long as he was doing something, she could empty her mind and let her mind wander. That was more comfortable and relaxed.

……

……

Zhang Zhou and Yang Peng sat across the table from each other, and Yang Peng immediately explained his purpose.

"The court meeting will be held in two days. Your Majesty has already informed us in advance that Wang Ao, the scholar, will join the cabinet as a senior minister, ranking fourth. Also, Minister Lin of the Ministry of Rites will be transferred to the Ministry of Personnel..."

"Oh, I have heard about this as well. Does Eunuch Yang think there is something wrong?"

"Don't dare."

Yang Peng said hurriedly, "I just feel that the capital is too peaceful."

Zhang Zhou asked, "A calm sea means peace and tranquility, isn't that good?"

Yang Peng said, "In fact, there are undercurrents. As far as we know, many people are eyeing a position, which is the general commander of the military affairs in Yansui, Gansu and other places, that is, the three border military affairs. Now, General Wang is going to be transferred back to Beijing. Let's not talk about where he will be in charge for now. Just say that the three border military affairs are not something that ordinary people can handle."

"Oh." Zhang Zhou nodded, "That's right. Could it be that Eunuch Yang has some good candidates that he wants to recommend to me?"

Yang Peng was stunned.

Is Zhang Zhou speaking so directly now? Asking me to recommend someone?
But he immediately realized that it was probably not a nice thing to say, and it might be a sarcasm, probably telling him not to talk nonsense.

Yang Peng said, "I would like to ask you, sir, who is the person you have in mind? Of course, everyone in the court knows that you are not likely to mix your personal opinions in the arrangement of such an important position, especially in front of His Majesty. But how could His Majesty not listen to your opinions on such an important military matter?"

Zhang Zhou nodded and said, "As the Minister of War, if you can't even give advice to Your Majesty on such a small matter, then it's really... wrong. In fact, I have recommended several candidates, I won't say who they are specifically, but it still has to be recommended by the court."

Yang Peng asked: "So, the three-side general system needs to be decided in court?"

"Well." Zhang Zhou said, "Isn't it supposed to be like this?"

Yang Peng asked: "Then will you recommend anyone at the court meeting?"

Zhang Zhou said: "I have already told His Majesty who I want to recommend. As for who will be chosen in the court meeting, it depends on the situation at that time. In fact, this candidate may be a mature and steady person, or someone who can take responsibility. It is unknown. Even I may take this position."

Yang Peng sighed, "It would be good for you to go, sir, but I'm afraid that the court cannot do without you for many things."

"You are too kind, Eunuch Yang." Zhang Zhou said, "I am just an ordinary person, and I am afraid I can't take on so many things beyond my duties. But in fact, where I will be transferred depends on where I am needed. You didn't come here just to tell me this, did you?"

Yang Peng smiled and said, "It doesn't matter who it is, it's that Minister Lu who seems to have started activities in secret." This has come to the key point.

Yang Peng is indeed in the position of the three-side general manager, and he has no suitable recommendations, and he is not even qualified to make any recommendations.

But when it comes to the issue of Lu Wan, Yang Peng is very angry. Secondly, he knows that Lu Wan is now making friends with Chen Kuan, and he, Yang Peng, is the second-ranked eunuch in the Imperial Household Department. He has the ambition to become the seal-holding eunuch, and to become the seal-holding eunuch, he must get rid of Chen Kuan.

The combination of Chen Kuan and Lu Wan was a bit too much for him to bear.

Zhang Zhou said: "Minister Lu... hehe."

Zhang Zhou didn't seem to want to comment on Lu Wan.

"Sir, you may not know." Yang Peng said, "During your trip to the capital, many changes have taken place in the capital. The first is the dispute between the Cabinet and the Supreme Court. On the surface, the Cabinet is at a disadvantage, but the instigator is actually Minister Lu. Now he is going to resign from the Supreme Court, and it seems that he is unwilling to just be the Left Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. That's why he is so radical. I'm afraid he won't give you much face."

This is a reminder to Zhang Zhou.

Don't take lightly the people you once promoted.

Some people don't accept your discipline, so they take advantage of the fact that you don't want to be in charge and take over. Just like Lu Wan, he doesn't take you seriously at all and actually skips over you to plan to become the general manager of the three sides.

Zhang Zhou nodded and said, "That being said, face and such are not important."

Yang Peng said: "But what if he has formed a clique behind him, and even has many followers, and even many people in the court have begun to curry favor with him, and he is even likely to seek to enter the Shangting Office again, and continue to preside over military affairs in the future, and even want to replace you?"

The intention to sow discord is already obvious.

Since Lu Wan doesn't play by the rules and goes to make friends with the eunuchs, causing me, Yang Peng, to suffer, how can I let you have a good life?

Zhang Zhou said: "I understand."

Seeing this, Yang Peng couldn't help but smile and said, "It's good that you know. We have another matter that concerns Liaodong. It is said that the war in Liaodong is not very... prosperous now. In fact, our Ming Dynasty has not suffered any losses. It's just that Minister Tang led his troops deep into the heartland of the Jurchens. Those Koreans... don't seem to have much fighting power. Now I still have some connections in Liaodong, which may be able to help him."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Zhou asked with a smile.

Yang Peng also seemed very polite, and said with a smile: "The Imperial Horse Supervisor had accumulated a lot of connections when he was stationed in various places before, especially in Liaodong, where he actually stored a lot of food and supplies. Many of them were accumulated by local wealthy families, and they wanted to pocket them, but if you need it, we can arrange it for you."

The words were not very thorough.

Zhang Zhou said, "Is it true what I understand? In fact, there are many private treasures outside the accounts of the Liaodong Treasury. If these are strictly investigated, they can also be used by the court?"

Yang Peng said: "That's probably it. The Liaodong army is in urgent need of troops this time. First of all, they are short of military rations and supplies. For example, gunpowder and firearms are currently unavailable. But if we help with the planning and getting some military rations in private, it may be feasible."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Eunuch Yang has a wide network of contacts. He can even get food and grass from Liaodong? It would be difficult to recruit from Jianghuai. I really have to rely on you, Eunuch Yang."

"I dare not." Yang Peng said, "I found these things after I became the governor of the East Factory. Some of the grain in the capital was stored in Jizhou before, but the losses in Jizhou have been quite severe in the past two years. However, there are actually many people in Liaodong who can be used... and they have some relationship with our family. As long as you need them, they can be deployed at any time."

Use Yang Peng's men to go to Liaodong to get food and fodder.

The general meaning is that Yang Peng has channels, just like he did with the wealthy families in Jizhou. Many of these military food supplies were obtained by the previous eunuchs who guarded Liaodong in cooperation with the local wealthy families, and they also required some "connections" to implement them.

Zhang Zhou said: "I have taken note of what Eunuch Yang said. If this matter is feasible, the East Factory should report it to His Majesty."

"Of course." Yang Peng said, "If I can help you, sir, and help the court, I will feel a little comforted. You just returned to Beijing recently, and I'm sure you have a lot of people and things to deal with. I really hope I can help you."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "They are all busy. Isn't Eunuch Yang also worried about the war in Liaodong? If he can help solve the problem of food and supplies shortage, Eunuch Yang will have made a great contribution to this war."

……

……

Yang Peng immediately asked to leave.

Zhang Zhou walked him to the door.

After coming out, Yang Peng was very proud.

Wang Shi said, "Eunuch, you have made great contributions. Not only can you handle the affairs of the Imperial Household Department and the Eastern Depot with ease, but you can also help Duke Cai and the Ministry of War. You can also offer advice on the war in Liaodong... Even Duke Cai relies on you."

Yang Peng glanced at Wang Shi.

He was also thinking that the people of the Wang family were really good at currying favor with others. They would say whatever nice things they wanted to say without feeling embarrassed at all.

Even I got goosebumps when I heard it.

Yang Peng asked, "That Minister Lu, what kind of dealings does Governor Wang have with him?"

"Not familiar." Wang Shi said.

Yang Peng said: "He made friends with many people in the capital, but he did not get close to the Jinyiwei. Even though Governor Wang is the in-law of Duke Cai and his status in the Jinyiwei is at its peak, he deliberately avoided him. It can be seen that he does not want to be completely dependent on Duke Cai in the future."

Wang Shi said: "Could it be that he wants to form his own school?"

"With his ability, he is still far from it." Yang Peng said with a smile, "So he needs someone to help him. He didn't choose our family because our family is close to Duke Cai. Instead of relying on our family, he might as well go and curry favor with Duke Cai directly."

Wang Shi was puzzled and said, "This is not right. He is where he is today thanks to Duke Cai. Why would he choose another place to be?"

Yang Peng said, "It's obvious. If he were a disciple of Duke Cai, he would have two big mountains above him, Wang Shouren and Wang Qiong. How could it be easy for him to make it? Besides, apart from making some achievements in the party struggles in the upper court in the past two years, what other achievements have he made that are worth mentioning? Even if he won the battle in Liaodong, there are many people in the Ming Dynasty who can win battles now."

Wang Shi said: "Then he shouldn't... be so treacherous."

Yang Peng shook his head and said, "We are both officials in the court, but there is no loyalty to each other. He has a big mountain above him and Tang Yin is watching him covetously below. I think he is afraid! Or rather, he is worried about his future. After all, he was the one who offended the civil officials, and in this matter, even Duke Cai did not show up. He thinks he has done a lot, but he gets little in return. How can he balance it? The next step is of course to skip Wang Qiong and Wang Shouren and climb above them."

Wang Shi said: "So, sir, you can't let him do this?"

"Of course." Yang Peng said, "The court is a place where rules are followed. If Lu Wan wants to skip the rules, he has to see first... who he chooses. If he wants to form a partnership with Eunuch Chen, wouldn't that be a disgrace to our family?" (End of this chapter)