The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Chapter 241 Zhou Yanru’s Adventures in the Canal
Li Qingshan was waiting to chat with Song Xiance for a while, so as to find out more about the situation in the Gui tribe, when he saw a follower approaching him. He leaned close to his ear and whispered: "Chief, the military advisor has something urgent to ask you."

Did something urgent happen not long after the meeting ended?

Li Qingshan was confused, so he hugged Song Xiance and said, "I will consider the alliance carefully. Mr. Song will rest here first and let's talk about it when I have time."

Although Song Xiance was curious about what happened, he couldn't ask more questions and could only nod "Okay".

Li Qingshan hurried back to the Juyi Hall and saw Ai Shuangshuang and others being found again.

Before Li Qingshan asked, Wang Linchen said excitedly: "Our people intercepted an official ship on the canal. Does the leader know who is on that official ship?"

"How could I have guessed this? Military advisor, please don't lie."

"This person's name is Zhou Yanru!"

Zhou Yanru?
Li Qingshan and Ai Shuangshuang looked at each other, still looking confused.

Ai Shuangshuang said: "I heard that the leader of the White Lotus Sect who launched a rebellion 20 years ago was named Xu Hongru. Is it possible that Zhou Yanru is also from the White Lotus Sect?"

"What!" Wang Linchen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Zhou Yanru is a real famous Confucian - he was the first scholar in the imperial examination and the number one scholar in the 41st year of Wanli reign. In the second year of Chongzhen, he became the elder of the court. In the third year of Chongzhen, he became the chief minister of the court. auxiliary!

Eight years ago, he was dismissed from office due to party disputes and returned to his hometown. This time he took an official ship to Beijing, which was probably reactivated by the imperial court.

I sent someone to ask Zhou Yanru's servant, and then I learned that the emperor intended to make Zhou Yanru the chief minister again! "

Li Qingshan and others stared blankly after hearing this.

Because these matters of the court and officialdom were too far away from them before, listening to it now felt like listening to a book, and they didn't understand why.

Li Qingshan asked directly: "What exactly do the military advisors think?"

Wang Linchen slapped his left palm with the back of his right hand and said: "Isn't there an opportunity right in front of us to seek the imperial court's recruitment? The chief minister can at least take care of half of the affairs of the Ming Dynasty. As long as we can get Zhou Yanru to agree to recruit us, this will definitely happen. !”

After hearing this, Ai Shuangshuang stood up excitedly, "I'm going! No matter what, we must let some scholar in that week agree to recruit us!"

Li Qingshan pulled Ai Shuangshuang back, "Don't be reckless, listen to what the military advisor has to say!"

Under the gaze of several people, Wang Linchen took out his feather fan, shook it and said: "This matter is actually very simple - I have inquired about it, that Zhou Yanru is greedy for money. We only need to give him some treasures, express our feelings to him, and then send him Just send the gift to the north."

Li Qingshan grew up and the highest official he had ever seen was the magistrate of Dongping. Now he actually intercepted the "prime minister" of the current dynasty. He was extremely excited and felt that it was a great opportunity to be recruited by the imperial court.

So he clasped his fists to Wang Linchen and said, "This matter will be handled by the military advisor!"

"Don't worry, leader, Wang will live up to his trust!"

Wang Linchen received the errand and went to the public treasury of his group to select gifts.

He felt that Zhou Yanru was not only a famous Confucian, but also a member of the Donglin Party and the chief minister of the dynasty. He must not like gold and silver and other common things, so he wanted to select some elegant things from the treasure house.

But he was just a poor scholar before, with limited knowledge. He had been choosing from the treasure house for a long time, but he couldn't tell which ones were both elegant and valuable.

He simply asked people to pack up all the calligraphy and paintings, as well as inkstones, brush washers, pen holders and other items, and collected a full six boxes of "treasures", and then took him to see Zhou Yanru with heartache...

In front of the Anmin Gate of the Grand Canal.

On an official ship, Zhou Yanru carefully lifted the curtain, looked outside, then immediately lowered it and patted his chest.

He is afraid.

He would soon be the chief assistant again, and he didn't want to die on the way to take office.

It was unlucky to say the least. After receiving the imperial edict, he took an official ship and headed north. Along the way, he was busy accepting favors from local officials. He had constant banquets, singing and dancing, and unknowingly sailed into the land of the rebels. Li Qingshan's control area.

It's not that he didn't know about Yanzhou Li Qingshan's flag-raising rebellion, but he didn't expect that Li Qingshan's tribe even controlled the Anmin Gate - he originally planned to go ashore after passing two gates, and then go around to Dongpingzhou City.

Thinking that his life was at stake in the hands of the rebels, Zhou Yanru couldn't help but slap his thigh in anger.

"These Shandong civil and military officials are so incompetent! The thieves have been around for two months and they can't be exterminated, but they still let the thieves run rampant!"

As soon as he finished cursing, he hurried into the cabin and said in a panic: "Master, there are many thieves here again, I'm afraid they are going to attack us!"

"Ah, what can I do?"

Zhou Yanru was completely panicked.

He was a native of Yixing, South Zhili, and came from a family of officials. He was known as a "child prodigy" since he was a child. When he was a boy and a young man, he socialized with the Donglin Party members and became a famous official in the south of the Yangtze River.

At the age of 23, he won the imperial examination, and at the age of 24, he won the first place and the number one scholar. From then on, he rose to great heights!

At the age of 42, he became the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty!

If you don't count the failure in the fight with Wen Tiren's party a few years ago, his life has been extremely smooth and he has become rich and powerful.

With such a background and such experience, it is natural that he cannot withstand things.

But he was smart after all, and he gained wisdom in his haste. He pointed at his followers and said: "Take off your clothes quickly!"

I was stunned when I heard this!
He heard that Zhou Yanru had sex when he was young, and that he and his friend Feng Quan, who was a Jinshi scholar in the same year, "shared the same bed and quilt, and had sex every day."But I didn’t expect that now that I am over 50 years old, I would be fine with this.

The problem is that he has an ordinary appearance and has never experienced this before. He couldn't help but shyly said: "Master, my appearance is mediocre, and I haven't taken a shower in a few days. I'm afraid it's inappropriate."

Zhou Yanru was stunned for a moment, then became furious and kicked his attendant down: "What a dog wants to do! I want to change clothes with you!" His attendant was aggrieved and said, "I didn't tell you earlier."

"Don't be silly, hurry up!"

With that said, Zhou Yanru took off his clothes first.

He got up and took off his clothes.

The weather was still hot right now, so the two of them didn't have many clothes, and soon they were left with only a pair of big pants.When Zhou Yanru was about to put on his attendant's clothes, another attendant came running in.

When he saw the scene in the cabin, his eyes widened immediately, he turned around quickly and shouted: "Master, I didn't see anything!"

Zhou Yanru was too lazy to explain, put on his personal clothes in disgust, and then asked: "But the thieves have boarded the boat?"

The personal attendant said: "This is the traitor's military advisor. He also brought several boxes of gifts. He said he wanted to pay homage to you, sir."

"Meet me?" Zhou Yanru was stunned.

Then he thought of imitating Cao Cao and asking his followers to pretend to be him to meet with the rebel strategists.

However, the person who changed clothes with him was only in his twenties, which was far different in age from him. As long as the other person was not stupid, he would definitely know his identity.

So he had to change his clothes again with his entourage, and then someone invited Wang Linchen to board the boat.

Although Wang Linchen was a strategist with more than 10,000 troops and horses, and compared with the sleeping dragon and the phoenix, it was obvious that Zhou Yanru still had some inferiority complex, and bowed humbly: "Student Wang Linchen pays homage to the chief minister."

This kind of official-like meeting scene is what Zhou Yanru is good at. Although he was extremely scared, he still managed to hold it in. He gave a faint hum and asked, "Are you famous as a scholar?"

"The student passed the college examination at the age of 23, but unfortunately he failed in the examination again and again."

Zhou Yanru, who was the number one scholar at the age of 24, secretly despised him, but said: "If you want to serve the country, the imperial examination is not the only way."

After hearing this, Wang Linchen thought that Zhou Yanru was hinting that he was willing to recruit them. He was overjoyed and quickly responded: "The chief assistant is right, that's what the students thought. Therefore, after hearing about Li Qingshan's uprising, it swept both sides of the canal and was unstoppable, so he took the risk I defected, hoping to guide this generation to serve the imperial court."

After learning that the rebel strategist was visiting with gifts, Zhou Yanru calmed down and thought about it, and realized that the rebels were probably trying to recruit people.

He is extremely disgusted with these mud-legged people who will starve to death and rebel at every turn, but this does not prevent him from taking advantage of their desire to be recruited by the imperial court to escape.

After hearing what Wang Linchen said, he took advantage of the situation and said: "You are really interested. I will mention you when I see the emperor."

Zhou Yanru's words are ambiguous and do not actually promise anything.

But the atmosphere had reached this point. Wang Linchen, who wanted to be recruited, thought that Zhou Yanru had agreed to help them solve the problem of being recruited, so he was overjoyed and bowed deeply.

"Thank you so much, Chief Assistant! By the way, our leader learned that the Chief Assistant passed by and admired him in his heart. He specially prepared some gifts and asked the Chief Assistant to accept them!"

With that said, he motioned to the rebels who had followed him aboard the official ship to open all six wooden boxes on the deck.

Zhou Yanru noticed these six wooden boxes as soon as he came out - the reason why he "agreed" so quickly was also related to these six wooden boxes.

When he thought about it, Li Qingshan had been in trouble for two months. He roamed both sides of the canal and looted countless gold and silver treasures. He would not be stingy if he gave him gifts and asked for his help.

But when the six wooden boxes were opened, Zhou Yanru was stunned.

What he found inside was not the gold and silver treasures he expected, but rather elegant things such as calligraphy, paintings, and inkstones.

He could tell at a glance that most of those inkstones and brush washers were ordinary goods and not worth much.

So with the last bit of expectation, I picked up a few calligraphy and paintings to "appreciate" them.

As a result, I picked out several paintings in a row. They were either not famous calligraphy and paintings, or they were fakes that couldn't be more fake!
When Wang Linchen saw Zhou Yanru admiring the calligraphy and paintings one by one, he thought it was the right gift, so he smiled and said, "Student, please don't bother me to appreciate the calligraphy and paintings."

Zhou Yanru did not dare to let Wang Linchen see his displeasure, so he nodded and said: "I won't send it away."

When Wang Linchen got off the boat, Zhou Yanru immediately asked his followers to take all the calligraphy and paintings into the cabin and look at them one by one.

After viewing dozens of calligraphy and paintings, Zhou Yanru was so angry that he kicked over a box at his feet and said bitterly: "Are these thieves insulting me? There are so many calligraphy and paintings, but none of them is worth more than a hundred taels!"

A close aide next to him also looked at the inkstone and other items, and he was also speechless and said: "Dong Weng, these inkstones, brush washers, etc. are also ordinary goods."

Zhou Yanru became even angrier when he heard this, "Such a group of people who can't stand on the stage want to be recruited? Bah!"

On the other side, Li Qingshan and Wang Linchen thought that Zhou Yanru had agreed to recruit them, so they did not dare to neglect and sent people to respectfully send several official ships out of the control area.

After leaving the section of the canal controlled by Li Qingshan's department and passing through Dongchang Fucheng, Zhou Yanru accepted another group of civil servants and generals' bribes, and his mood finally improved.

Unexpectedly, not long after leaving Dongchang Fucheng, the official ship was stopped by a group of officers and soldiers at night.

'You won't be unlucky enough to encounter a group of officers and soldiers who rebelled, right? '

Zhou Yanru peeked at the officers and soldiers on the bank of the canal, his heart rising again.

　First more.

　　It is said that "the Ming Dynasty will die when the imperial court dies". In fact, the Ming Dynasty had already entered the countdown to its demise in the 14th year of Chongzhen (meaning that it would not be able to turn around again by following normal historical development).

　　
　
(End of this chapter)