The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

"Boom boom boom!"

Three consecutive cannon shots were fired, and the target stone pavilion a few miles away was reduced to pieces in the huge flames.

On the observation deck, Zhu Youtang was holding binoculars in his hands, witnessing the test of the new cannon with Zhang Zhou and a group of generals and entourage present. After obtaining satisfactory results, Zhu Youtang reluctantly put down the binoculars.

“Where’s Bingkuan?”

Zhu Youtang glanced to the side and found that Zhang Zhou was not there. He suddenly felt like he had lost someone to talk to.

Yang Peng, who was following nearby, smiled and pointed at Zhang Zhou, who was directing the troops to continue adding shells under the observation deck, meaning that he was there.

Zhu Youtang said: "I don't know how long it will take to train this group of gunners. If everything goes well, they can be invincible on the battlefield."

Yang Peng said: "I heard that this batch of artillery is very heavy, but it can be indestructible. If it is used on the battlefield, the Tatars will definitely be terrified and may even surrender without a fight."

"hehe."

Zhu Youtang smiled.

"Go and tell Bingkuan to come up first. I want to have some tea with him." Zhu Youtang said, "He has been too busy these past two days. It's time for him to take a break. The war in the northwest is still going on, and he is needed for many things. He must get enough rest."

"Yes."

Yang Peng hurried down to pass on the message.

……

……

Zhu Youtang had a simple lunch outside the city to entertain the officers and soldiers who participated in the artillery drill that day.

Afterwards, Zhu Youtang returned to the city first, but did not return to the palace first. Instead, he went to Princess Yongkang's mansion first. It was also at the invitation of Princess Yongkang that he visited his sister's house during his trip out of the city.

Yongkang knew that the emperor was coming, so he dressed in his best to greet him at the door.

After bringing Zhu Youtang to the palace, Princess Yongkang hurriedly ordered preparations for a banquet.

"I won't eat here with you." Zhu Youtang said, "I had dinner with Bingkuan and other soldiers before when I left the city. I just came to take a look and leave."

Yongkang said with some displeasure: "My royal brother said he would come, why don't you give me a chance to show off? We are all family, or do you think the food in my house is not tasty?"

Zhu Youtang rolled his eyes at his sister and said, "You have such a bad temper. Think about Deqing. Would he be as ignorant as you? I can come to your house only for Maoren's sake. He is fighting for the country in Liaodong, and you are staying behind. You should be more considerate of him and not show up in public casually."

Yongkang smiled and said, "When did the imperial sister go out to attract bees and butterflies? Or is someone talking nonsense?"

"It's not very formal." Zhu Youtang sat in the pavilion, looking at the furnishings in the yard and said, "Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've been here. Everything here is still the same as before."

"Yes, it hasn't been repaired for many years." Yongkang said.

Zhu Youtang said: "After Maoren has made merit and received the reward, he can repair it after he comes back. Don't disturb the Royal Grandmother casually recently. The Royal Grandmother is pure and dedicated to worshiping Buddha, but there are always people who don't know how to behave and insist on doing things that disturb others."

"Yes, I will obey your orders."

Yongkang agreed verbally, but thought in his heart, if I hadn't gone to find the Empress Dowager, you might not have come.

Who makes me your sister? I am a member of the royal family like you. I can see whoever I want.

Yongkang said: "My dear brother, you have arrived. I will treat you well. Even if there is no banquet, you should go around. I have also prepared some singers for you to enjoy."

"No need." Zhu Youtang said, "I am on my way back to the palace. I stopped by to take a look and sit for a while before leaving. This way, no matter who comes next time, no one will gossip about it."

Yongkang was stunned.

Only then did she understand why her royal brother wanted to come to her house today.

This is because they are afraid that if Zhang Zhou comes here often, people will gossip about him.

After all, Yongkang's husband Cui Yuan was leading troops in Liaodong. If Zhang Zhou visited her often, people would gossip about him. But if the emperor also came, the situation would be different.

Yongkang felt somewhat angry when he thought of this.

What she couldn't stand the most was that her brother treated her worse than the ministers outside.

"Royal brother, since you are here, I have something to tell you, but I don't know whether I should tell you or not." Yongkang said.

Zhu Youtang said, "You've mentioned it all, and you still don't want to talk about it? Is this your temper?"

Yongkang said, "Brother, you don't think that I want to say something bad about someone, do you?"

"Hehe." Zhu Youtang sounded like he was laughing, but also like he was warning.

You dare! If you dare to mention Bingkuan in front of me, I will show you how I will deal with you later.

Yongkang said, "Actually, this is my sister's personal matter. I recently heard that a major case has occurred in the capital, involving many officials. They are corrupt and pervert the law, which is really infuriating. But not all of them are ambitious people."

Zhu Youtang said with an unhappy look on his face: "You are a princess, and you are actually concerned about this? This matter has nothing to do with you. And don't mention it in front of me, especially when it comes to the case."

Yongkang said hurriedly, "I am not pleading for anyone, it's just because one of the girls is the daughter of Cui's in-laws who married into the family. Aren't I thinking about the Cui family? After all, they are related. Now that the husband's family has been convicted, the family wants to take their daughter back. Through the Cui family, they found me and wanted to help plead for them."

"No." Zhu Youtang refused decisively.

Yongkang said, "Brother, she is just a woman. What does it have to do with her if her husband's family commits a crime? Now that she has been convicted, I heard that she will be exiled. Her family is worried. Now it is useless to use all kinds of connections."

Zhu Youtang raised his hand to interrupt Yongkang and said, "Yongkang, you are not young anymore, you should understand some principles. Do you think I will bother with these trivial matters? I don't care who you want to help, but I will not make concessions for you regarding the laws of the court."

Yongkang lowered his head, looking very unhappy.

Zhu Youtang probably also felt that although his sister had a bad temper, she was at least nice to him.

"For this kind of thing, you can ask Bingkuan later. If he is willing to help you, then he will." Zhu Youtang said, "The families of the officials who have been convicted are all with him. I don't have the energy to care about these things."

"Brother Emperor, aren't you asking my sister to ask for help from the Duke of Cai?" Yong Kang seemed very unhappy.

His brother is obviously the emperor and he is the only one who has the final say in the world, but he refuses to help and asks his sister to ask a minister for help?
The key point is that minister... he has a bad look on his face and seems difficult to communicate with. Every time he wants to make her, the eldest princess, lose face. It seems that the man doesn't even give face to the royal princess.

She could accept Yongkang asking his brother for help himself.

But every time she went to ask Zhang Zhou for help, she felt uncomfortable.

Zhu Youtang stood up, seemingly no longer interested in chatting with his sister, and said coldly: "Everything in the world is nothing more than law and human feelings. From the perspective of law, there is nothing I can do for you. But from the perspective of human feelings, Bingkuan can be sold to you, and I don't have to sell it to you."

"Ok?"

Yongkang thought about it, why did this sound so awkward?
As an elder brother, you are unwilling to do me a favor, but you let your friend do me a favor?

How do you mean this?
But Yongkang is also a smart person. She vaguely found some clues from Zhu Youtang's words.

The general meaning is that it is useless for your brother to do you a favor. On the contrary, Bingkuan, doing you a favor is equivalent to doing Cui Maoren a favor, and you will have to repay him in the future...

Yongkang was thinking, how considerate are you to your minister and friend? You even let your sister and brother-in-law repay favors to others, but you are unwilling to sell favors to us?

…………

Zhu Youtang returned to the palace.

He was very determined when he left, and was not at all tempted by Yongkang's attempt to keep him.

Shortly after Zhu Youtang left, Zhang Zhou's carriage stopped in front of Princess Yongkang's mansion.

Although Yongkang was not very happy about it, he still took the initiative to come out to greet them, and even walked into the yard with Zhang Zhou.

"His Majesty has returned to the palace first." Yongkang said helplessly in response to Zhang Zhou's inquiry.

When Zhang Zhou heard this, he stopped and turned to leave.

Yongkang asked, "What are you doing?"

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "I had an appointment with you to visit your house on the way back to the palace, but the imperial carriage was moving too fast and I had some unfinished business, so I came a little late. It seems that I didn't meet you at the right time."

"you……"

Yongkang seemed to understand everything at this point.

In fact, her royal brother was unwilling to come to her house, but he made an appointment to come with Zhang Zhou just to show outsiders that there would be nothing wrong with Zhang Zhou coming to her place.

As a result, because Zhang Zhou arrived a little late, his royal brother didn't even stay for a while and just left.

In other words... the emperor was visiting and still had to rely on Zhang Zhou's face.

"Wait a minute." Yong Kang said, "Master Zhang, since you are here, don't you want to let me treat you well? If you leave like this, it will be a waste of your majesty's painstaking efforts."

"Haha? What is your majesty's intention?" Zhang Zhou asked with a smile.

Yong Kang rolled his eyes at Zhang Zhou fiercely, but he stretched out his hand to grab Zhang Zhou's arm, and said as if he was throwing a tantrum: "If you dare to leave like this, do you believe that this princess will yell at you right away?"

"you……"

Zhang Zhou didn't expect Yongkang to take direct action.

But thinking that Yongkang's personality was really unusual, and that she was an outlier among the princesses of the Ming Dynasty, she smiled bitterly and said, "Then come in and sit down?"

"please."

Yongkang seemed to have succeeded, so he let go of his hand and pointed to the courtyard and said, "You can't sit where my brother just sat, but it's a good thing for you to pay homage to the royal family."

Zhang Zhou smiled.

You see the emperor almost every day, and I've never heard of praying for dragon energy. Is your yard better at accumulating dragon energy than others?
……

……

Inside the pavilion.

After Zhang Zhou sat down, Yongkang personally poured tea for him, brought him fruits, etc., and even took a knife and insisted on peeling the fruits for him.

Zhang Zhou picked up a washed peach and said, "Fresh fruit in season is also good."

Then he started eating.

Yongkang put the knife down, and just as the maid beside her was about to use the knife to peel the skin for her, she raised her hand to block her.

"You are quite easy-going. You look like an ordinary person in the market, without those airs of officials." Yongkang said.

Zhang Zhou said: "If you have to be tense all the time in the court, it will be too tiring."

Yongkang smiled and said, "In that case, I admire you. Your personality is somewhat similar to that of the prince consort. He doesn't care about small matters at home, but I always criticize him. It seems that you two are of the same mind."

"Really?" Zhang Zhou said, "No matter who you are, you shouldn't be tense in front of your family, right? If you do that, then we are no longer family, but just friends in the world of fame and fortune."

Yongkang laughed and said, "Who are you? Why are you flattering yourself?"

Zhang Zhou shrugged and said, "Princess, I apologize for the misunderstanding."

"Nothing, come here often and we'll get to know each other better, right?" Yongkang said, pouring tea for Zhang Zhou, "Try this year's new tea."

"Is it coming down?" Zhang Zhou said, "I can't taste the goodness of tea, as long as it can quench my thirst."

"Huh, you are really not as good as Maoren in this respect." Yongkang seemed to be intentionally comparing Zhang Zhou and Cui Yuan.

Zhang Zhou said, "Princess, if you have anything to say, just tell me. You're pouring tea and handing me fruit, and even standing at the door like that... You're definitely not just asking me to come in and sit down, right?"

Yongkang smiled and said, "Nothing can be hidden from you, Zhang Banxian. This is the case. The Cui family has a young lady from a relative's house who married into the Li family. Now the Li family has been convicted and has been exiled to you. My brother told me earlier that he wanted the person to speak directly to you, and my brother agreed. Just release the person."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhou placed the peach pit on the stone table.

He asked, "Your Majesty has agreed?"

"Of course it is." Yongkang said, "Would I lie to you?"

Zhang Zhou thought, you really are good at avoiding the important issues.

If your brother agreed, he could just say something to someone and take the person away. Why would he use it to look for me? Or even use some rogue means?
What do you mean by “I want people to tell you directly”? This is clearly a trap they are using to trick me into falling into?

You overestimate yourself too much.

Zhang Zhou wiped his hands and said, "Then you should go and ask His Majesty. I am not responsible for detaining prisoners here. Besides, His Majesty didn't send anyone to notify me, so I can't help you ask."

"Hey, you don't even obey His Majesty's orders?" Yong Kang said.

Zhang Zhou said, "How about I go back and see Eunuch Yang and ask him to ask His Majesty for instructions again?"

When Yongkang heard this, he immediately wilted.

I originally wanted to use my brother's power to scare Zhang Zhou and get the person out directly, but now it seems that it is useless and I can only rely on begging.

This way, I can only lose face.

Yongkang said: "You are really not a straightforward person."

Zhang Zhou smiled, meaning, "Why should I be a happy person? You, a princess, are not happy either."

Yongkang sighed, "It's actually like this. I have some friendship with that person. What can I say when he comes to me for help? He also knows that I have a friendship with you. As long as you give him to me and let me do you a favor, I will consider it as a favor I owe you, and I will definitely repay it in the future."

Zhang Zhou said, "There is no other way. After marriage, especially when children are born, they will not live with their parents. The interests are shared. If the husband's family is convicted, they will have to accept a life of displacement. Princess, you should know this better than me."

"So I want to ask you for help." Yongkang said.

Zhang Zhou laughed and said, "So it wasn't His Majesty who asked me to do this, but you begged His Majesty. His Majesty refused to help you, so you came to beg me? Alas! It seems that Princess, you are not honest either." (End of this chapter)