Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 281 Loudong Zhang Pu
Taicang Prefecture of Suzhou Prefecture is also called Loudong because it is located east of Loushui River. This place is bordered by the river and the sea, with Wumen in the east and Yunjian in the south. Since ancient times, it has been the gateway from Suzhou to the north.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan, the ruler of Wu, allied with Gongsun Yuan of Liaodong and wanted to send sailors northward, so he built a warehouse to store grain and named it Dongcang.

A thousand years later, the Yuan Dynasty used Liuhekou as the starting port for shipping grain by sea, and set up warehouses here, which was called Taicang. In the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He still set out from here when he sailed to the West, so it was named "Six Countries Wharf".

Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Suzhou had become the leading industrial and commercial city in the country and even the world. As its gateway, Taicang was naturally also extremely wealthy, hence the saying "Splendid Jiangnan, Golden Taicang".

During the Ming Dynasty, Taicang had countless famous figures, including the prime minister like Wang Xijue in the political arena, the leader like Wang Shizhen in the literary world, and the master of music like Wei Liangfu in the art world. It can be said that there were many talented people in Taicang.

Zhang Pu grew up in such a place, but he was not born into a family of scholars. His family became wealthy only after Zhang Pu’s grandfather’s generation, and only then did his children have the opportunity to go to school.

However, Zhang Pu's father did not achieve fame and was only an Imperial student in the end. It was his uncle's branch of the Zhang family that became prosperous.

Zhang Pu's uncle was named Zhang Fuzhi, who was a Jinshi in the 14th year of Wanli and eventually became the Minister of Works in Nanjing. Zhang Pu's former residence in Taicang in later generations was actually his uncle's house, and Zhang Pu himself never lived there.

Although Zhang Fuzhi was well-read in the books of sages, he had no idea what filial piety and brotherly love were. He was very unkind to his younger brother, not only taking away the best land under his name, but also taking away his grave.

What's worse, his trusted slaves Chen Peng and Guo Kun also bullied Zhang Pu's family in every way. Zhang's father couldn't swallow this but could do nothing about it, and finally died of depression.

Zhang Pu had ten brothers, but the adults dared not speak out. Zhang Pu, who was fifteen years old at the time, bit his finger in anger and wrote eight words in blood on the wall: "If you don't avenge me, you are not a son of man!"

Chen Peng and Guo Kun soon heard about this. The two slaves looked at each other and laughed, and said sarcastically: "What can a tapujuer do?"

The so-called "Ta Pu Ju Er" can be translated as "raised by a maid". Zhang Pu's biological mother, Jin, was originally his father's maid, and only became a concubine because she gave birth to a son for her master.

As a result, Zhang Pu heard this and cried bitterly. From then on, he studied hard day and night, hoping to make a name for himself one day.

Zhang Pu's way of reading was different from others. He copied a book by hand and burned it every time he read it. He repeated this six or seven times, which was called "Seven copies and seven burns". So he hung a wooden sign in front of his residence with the words "Qi Lu Zhai" written on it.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Lin Hai prepared gifts, selected clothes and headgear, and rode to Qiluzhai early in the morning.

Qiluzhai is not located in Taicang City, but in the western suburbs outside the city.

Zhang Pu was the eighth among ten brothers, but he was the eldest son of his biological mother, Jin. After his father died, the brothers separated and Zhang Pu moved out with his mother. He later relied on Jin's hard work to pay for his studies, so Zhang Pu was very filial to his mother throughout his life.

Lin Hai was not familiar with Zhang Pu's life at first, but the latter was now a famous figure in Taicang Prefecture, so it was easy to find out about his previous experiences.

After listening to the stories about Zhang Pu that Ruan Mei and Liu Mazi had collected from the streets, Lin Hai imagined that Qiluzhai was a shabby little house, but when he got there and took a look, he found that it was not the case. Qiluzhai was indeed not big, but it was definitely not shabby. It could be seen that the house had been renovated and expanded in recent years, and a stable was built outside, where several horses were tied and taken care of by a special groom.

Zhang Pu was personally waiting at the door. Although his clothes were not luxurious, they were definitely not shabby. He looked like he was at least from a middle-class family, and a middle-class family in the "Splendid Jiangnan and Golden Taicang".

"It seems like this guy has escaped poverty and become well-off. It's true that fame and fortune are inseparable..." Lin Hai thought to himself as he got off his horse.

At this time, Zhang Pu had already walked up to him, bowed to Lin Hai and said solemnly: "This must be General Lin from Fujian. I am Zhang Pu, and I am honored to meet you."

"Brother Ximing, I am just a warrior, how can I deserve the respect of a great scholar like you?" Seeing this, Lin Hai hurriedly responded with a salute, "I am a rough man, I hope Brother Ximing will forgive me for any impoliteness."

Zhang Pu said, "General Lin, I am ashamed of what you said. You were the first to destroy the ancestral temple of the traitor, and your article on denouncing Wei was praised by the whole world. How dare I be disrespectful to you, General?"

"Brother Ximing, you and I are both comrades who oppose the eunuch party, and we should treat each other as friends. My name is Tongbo, and my nickname is Dengwan. You can call me Tongbo or Dengwan, but please don't call me general anymore..."

Lin Hai then said, "Brother Ximing, I have also heard about you and Brother Nanguo's efforts to drive out the eunuch party's lackeys. I admire you so much that I have come a long way to visit you and wish you both a happy new year."

Nan Guo was the nickname of Zhang Pu's sworn brother Zhang Cai. The two Zhangs from Loudong lived, one in the west of Taicang city, and the other in the south of Taicang city. They gave themselves nicknames with "Xi" and "Nan" respectively, which shows that these two people were not blood brothers but were better than blood brothers.

In fact, the two Zhangs had been studying together in Qiluzhai for the past five years. It can be said that Jiao was always with Meng and Meng was always with Jiao. So Lin Hai wrote visiting cards to both Zhangs, but Ruan Mei only needed to send them to Zhang Pu's Qiluzhai.

Zhang Pu was secretly delighted after hearing what Lin Hai said. It turned out that the news of expelling Gu had already spread to Fujian. He had been wondering why Lin Hai knew his name, but now he finally figured it out.

"Then I will respectfully obey your order and address you by your elegant name." Zhang Pu said as he made a gesture of invitation, "Brother Deng Wan, please come in. You have come at an unfortunate time. My brother Zhang Cai passed the imperial examination last year and went to Beijing to take the imperial examination after the visit."

"Oh? It turns out that Brother Nan Guo passed the autumn examination. Congratulations!" Lin Hai was not disappointed when he heard that Zhang Cai was not there. On the contrary, he thought it was better this way.

After all, he only knew Zhang Cai's name and knew nothing about his personality. In this way, he could be more direct when talking to Zhang Pu.

Lin Hai had heard something about what Zhang Pu had done in history. Combined with what he had learned from Ruan Mei and Liu Mazi, he was certain that this was definitely an ambitious man who was unwilling to be left out.

When dealing with such people, there is no need to play tricks. Just talk directly about the exchange of interests, just like when Mr. Wen came to find Mr. Lin.

When they arrived at the Qiluzhai, Zhang Pu ordered his servants to serve tea. Lin Hai presented the Changbai Mountain ginseng prepared for the second Zhang's parents. After taking a few sips of tea, he said, "Brother Ximing, I have a few words to say in private. Can we find a quiet place to talk?"

(End of this chapter)