After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 729 Mascot

Speaking of this, Ma's expression suddenly became serious.

She lowered her voice and said, "I'll tell you later."

As they were talking, Aunt Cui brought the Qiu family in. Seeing this, Haitang shut up and watched her grandmother Ma lecture the four new members of the Qiu family, change their names, assign tasks to each of them, and then order Ma Changnian's wife to arrange clean new clothes and accommodation for the four people before sending them away. Aunt Cui would take care of the rest.

The newcomer still needed to be taught, so Ma temporarily assigned Aunt Ma to her daughter-in-law Hu, and took her granddaughter Haitang back to the upper room of the main courtyard. After a while, Aunt Cui came with Cuiguo to kowtow. Ma asked her to take Cuiguo to find the place first, and prepare for dinner, while she took her granddaughter to talk in the inner room.

Ma told Haitang: "Your aunt sent me a letter, asking me to come over to discuss something. I thought it was Yijun's marriage again, but it turned out to be something else..."

Yesterday, the Duke of Zhenguo called Zhou Shigong from the third branch of the Zhou family over and chatted with him for half a day. After Zhou Shigong returned home, he rarely went to the main courtyard and talked with his wife Zhou Ma for half the night.

The Duke of Zhenguo received a letter from General Zhou Si in Beijing. The latter heard a rumor in Beijing that the emperor might appoint one or two members of the Zhou family, most of whom were family members in their prime and had official positions, but were not direct descendants, and were not particularly prestigious and capable. The emperor planned to assign people to idle positions in the Ministry of War. He had no other intentions, but just wanted to show the outside world that he was going to use the Zhou family and that he valued and trusted the Zhou family.

But in fact, the Zhou family members who were transferred to the capital could not hold any real power. The fact that one of the Zhou family members, General Zhou, could serve in the imperial guards was the limit of what the emperor could tolerate. He still disliked the Zhou family in his heart, but the reality forced him to clear all obstacles for his heir and try to win the support of powerful allies with strong military power for his heir.

The Zhou family had long been targeted by the Sun family. The powerful officials in the capital were influenced by the Sun faction and habitually looked down on the Zhou family and were wary of the Zhou family. If the emperor did not transfer a few more Zhou family members to Beijing to serve as high-ranking officials, he would not be able to prove that he and the Zhou family had made peace and that the Zhou family was already a staunch supporter of him and the new emperor. The emperor was also worried that the officials were blind and looked down on the Zhou family, so he also ignored the eighth prince supported by the Zhou family, adding variables to the succession of the new emperor.

If the emperor wanted to use the Zhou family to protect the new emperor, he had to give them enough protection and benefits to convince them to work for him. Transferring the Zhou family to Beijing to serve as high-ranking officials was his way of showing his "sincerity" to the Zhou family. Although this "sincerity" was too weak, the emperor gave it, so the Zhou family had to accept it and climb up the ladder to become the emperor's true ally.

Perhaps the emperor also wanted to hold the person hostage, so that the Zhou family, with its roots in Chang'an and influence in the northwest, would not take the succession dispute in the capital seriously, and would sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, waiting for all parties to fight and lose, and then reap the benefits under the banner of Queen Mother Zhou. But even so, the Duke of Zhenguo and the entire Zhou family still had to endure the anger for the time being.

Last time, the Zhou family violated their ancestral teachings and participated in the fight for the throne. Because they encountered a narrow-minded and ungrateful Emperor Deguang, they suffered for more than 30 years. Although they relied on self-reliance to hold on to the overall situation, they did not want to suffer such a crime again. Even if it means taking the risk of seeking the credit of following the dragon again, the Zhou family wants to get rid of the current predicament. Whether it is a powerless idle position or a promotion in name only, the Zhou family accepts it. As long as the entire family can return to the power center of the country and continue to sit in the northwest in peace and stability in the future, they will not care about the gains and losses of this moment.

The Duke of Zhenguo planned to let Zhou Shigong be the "hostage" and go to the capital to take up a post. Zhou Shigong was originally a graduate of the imperial examination system, with the same title as a Jinshi, and he had also served as a local civil servant. Although he did not have a very good reputation and his stepmother had committed a crime, because it involved the royal family, the Sun family did not want too many people to know that Sun Yongbai was involved in the case. Therefore, the news of Madam Ma's case was blocked by the court and was not widely spread. Only some high-ranking officials in the court knew about it. Zhou Shigong resigned from his post due to mourning and was not guilty. In the past few years, the emperor had no intention of venting his anger on him, and he probably would not object to using him. He was not a descendant of the direct branch of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, but he had a close relationship with the direct branch, and his weight as a hostage was sufficient.

Zhou Shigong went to the capital, and he didn't need to do anything except take up a position in the Ministry of War. He could continue to live the life he had in Chang'an in the capital, go to the government office every day to work, and go home to gather a few guests to chat. As long as he didn't interfere in military affairs and didn't participate in party struggles, he could do whatever he wanted.

Zhou Shigong was quite tempted. Although he had been idle at home for the past few years, he did not want to be reinstated. Although he said something in anger that year, saying that he did not want to continue to be an official and go home to take care of his grandchildren, after being an official for decades, how could he easily adapt to the life of retirement at home? ! Now his half-brother Zhou Shicheng could not be reinstated either. Because he took care of his nephews and Zeng's brothers and sisters, even his wife, who had always been obedient, dared to quarrel with him. The guests who had always supported him in the past also scattered. He always felt that it was because he could not be an official and lacked confidence. In order to regain the dignity of the head of the family and to wash away the shame brought to him by the crime of his stepmother and younger sister, he was willing to come out and be an official. It was also to prove to the family and everyone in the Northwest Frontier Army that he was worthy of his origin as the son of a general, and his father was still a famous hero!
Zhou Shigong was determined to prove himself and had decided to accept the emperor's appointment, but Zhou Ma didn't think so.

She has lived in Chang'an all her life and has hardly ever left her hometown. Now that she is older and her life is settled, her son, daughter-in-law, grandchildren and granddaughters are all by her side. Even her daughter and son-in-law are expected to be transferred back to Chang'an. At this time, how can she bear to leave and follow her husband to live in the unfamiliar capital? !
She no longer needed to curry favor with anyone in Chang'an, nor did she have any need to socialize. She could leave all the interpersonal relationships to her daughter-in-law. But if she followed Zhou Shigong to Beijing, wouldn't she have to start all over again and humble herself to please her husband Shangguan's family in social occasions? ! When she thought of that kind of life, she couldn't help but shake her head desperately.

Madam Zhou invited her sister Ma to come over and complained about her sufferings for a long time. She didn't want to follow her husband to Beijing, but she couldn't let him go alone, otherwise who would take care of his life in the capital? The housekeeper and the maid could only serve him well, but the mistress had to deal with social interactions. If she didn't go, she would have to take a concubine for her husband, and she had to be a noble concubine. Isn't this asking for trouble? !

The best way was to persuade Zhou Shigong to give up the idea. He was not the only one in the Zhou clan who met the requirements, and it would be the same if someone else went. As for Zhou Shigong's desire to prove himself and wash away the black mark that his stepmother and younger sister had put on the third house, Zhou Ma also agreed, but she believed that her son Zhou Jinlin had performed well in the army and would be able to do this sooner or later, so there was no need for his old parents to travel thousands of miles to the capital to be a mascot...

After Ma finished speaking, she could not help but complain to her granddaughter Haitang: "I think your aunt is lazy, so she stopped your great-uncle from doing this. This is an important matter ordered by the Duke of Zhenguo, which is beneficial to the entire Zhou family and the Northwest Frontier Army. It is a serious matter that can be entrusted to your great-uncle to do. It shows that he is respected. Why should he refuse? Your aunt is really confused! Since your great-uncle came to Beijing to take up an idle position and the emperor does not want him to be in power, then why does he still socialize with others?! He goes to the government office to do his work during the day and goes home to live his life behind closed doors at night. What does other people's banquets and parties have to do with him? Who does his family need to curry favor with? It's better to ignore him!"

(End of this chapter)