I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 181 I, Song Shen, actually have relatives?

That time and that moment.

After Song Shen returned home, the more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.

Indeed, after Li Shanchang was pulled into the tutoring class, he had one more channel of information, and this channel was particularly reliable, because Li Shanchang was one of his many students there, and the students in the class would always be convinced of him for various reasons, and even regarded him as an immortal.

Under such circumstances, Li Shanchang had no reason to talk nonsense with him, and there was no need to do so. Even if this was an old fox who could fight Zhu Yuanzhang for a while, he would have to lie down obediently when he arrived at his territory.

Logically speaking, Song Shen should be happy.

But now he was pacing back and forth in his study, and several times he hurt his knees because he couldn't see the road.

"It's too difficult, too difficult..."

Song Shen sat dejectedly in the chair, feeling a little discouraged for a moment.

Although he did not take historical materials as the criterion, he still believed in them on major issues. I thought Li Shanchang was dragged into the Hu Weiyong case by his brother Li Cunyi, but what was the result?
As a result, Li Shanchang confessed to him today that Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao sneaked to his house in the middle of the night and asked a sixty-year-old man to act as a spy for them in Hu Weiyong's place!
Is this what human beings do?

The way Li Shanchang begged me to save him in the office did not seem fake, and his shock, sadness and despair were extremely real. Of course, the possibility of the bigwigs in the court showing off their acting skills cannot be ruled out, but Li Shanchang was taken into the office as soon as he arrived. Who else could tell him these things except me?

Since Li Shanchang has no need to pretend...things are scary.

It was Zhu Yuanzhang who instructed the contact with Hu Weiyong.

If he had not been found in the middle of the night, Li Shanchang might not have gone to the banquet at all. At least at this point in the tenth year of Hongwu, he had no intention of having too much contact with Hu Weiyong, because he was a smart man and saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was about to make a move.

But in the end, more than a decade later, Zhu Yuanzhang still used the excuse of the Hu Weiyong case to make Li Shanchang die a miserable death...

Putting aside the untrue and ceremonial words in the historical materials, the more Song Shen understood the behavioral logic of Zhu Yuanzhang, the more fear he felt.

Zhu Yuanzhang's life creed was probably that as long as you are in my way, no matter what merits you have, no matter how high your status is, no matter whether you have a golden medal of immunity from death or not, I can kill you anytime and anywhere if I want to.

What a living hell!
Li Shanchang, who had worked hard and made great contributions and was even forced to become a spy, ended up like this. Why did Song Shen think that he was special and could have a good end in the Hongwu Dynasty?
We cannot place all our hopes on Queen Ma.

"Lan Yun!"

Song Shen took a deep breath and called Lan Yun, who had been waiting outside the door, in:
"Please help me write a letter to my grandfather and send it back."

He didn't get a response right away, feeling a little strange, so he asked again:
"Lan Yun, are you in?"

After a few seconds, Lan Yun's voice rang out.

"I am here..."

"But sir, my family just received a letter from the old master. Would you like to listen to it first before you reply?"

Song Shen was stunned for a moment.

Grandfather, did you also write him a letter?

Counting the dates, this should have been a letter written shortly after I returned to my hometown. If I hadn't asked someone to deliver it urgently, it should have arrived around now.

He hesitated for a moment and nodded:

"Then read it to me first."

The sounds of letters being opened and papers unfolded were heard, followed by the sound of Lan Yun reciting.

The content of the letter is not complicated, it is very simple.

Basically, Song Lian showed concern for him, asked him how he was and whether he had recovered some memory, and then said that there was something he had forgotten to tell his grandson.

In fact, Song Shen had married when he was just 18, but the girl was unlucky. She died of illness less than a year after marrying him, and she didn't leave any children. Although he lost his wife, Yue's family didn't blame him, because the girl was weak from birth, and the family was prepared for it, and they didn't blame the Song family for not taking good care of her.

For several years after his late wife's death, Song Shen had no plans to remarry and continued to be a young widower, saying that his influence was insignificant now and he would think about these things when he reached a higher official position.

Then I got to the point.

His father-in-law's surname is Zhu - not the Zhu of the royal family. His father-in-law is Zhu Mengyan, who has served as Yuwenlang of Shanxi Province and Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Rites. Now he is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

The original Minister of Rites was Lü Ben. After he was sent out, the position became temporarily vacant. But after all, it is the highest official position in one of the six ministries and it will not remain vacant forever. In addition, His Majesty is unlikely to let Lü Ben come back to continue to hold this position in the short term, so it is likely that someone from the existing vice ministers of the Ministry of Rites will be promoted to fill the vacancy.

And now the meaning of Song Lian’s letter is that Zhu Mengyan has sufficient qualifications and connections, and His Majesty is likely to favor him.

"Grandfather wants me to interact more with Zhu Mengyan, my former Yue family?"

Song Shen felt a headache listening to classical Chinese, so he temporarily interrupted Lan Yun's recitation.

Recently, he has been studying historical materials whenever he has free time, and his classical Chinese has improved a lot, but that was in the system space, with the help of computers and dictionaries, so he can look up what he doesn't understand. Now Lan Yun is reading the letter, and although there are no uncommon characters in it, it is a bit difficult for Song Shen to understand because the language and text cannot be compared.

So he simply stopped Lan Yun from reading, as it would be easier to just ask directly.

Lan Yun looked at the contents at the end and denied it:
"No, what the old man means is that if Zhu Mengyan comes to visit you to reminisce about the past, it would be best to find some excuse to refuse. Even if you have to meet him, don't reveal any of your positions or thoughts during the conversation, just practice Tai Chi with him."

Song Shen's expression became serious:
"Did grandpa tell me who Zhu Mengyan belongs to?"

Lan Yun searched carefully between the lines and then replied:

"It wasn't mentioned explicitly, but the old man said you should know who it is."

Song Shen's face, which was not very good to begin with, became even darker.

What the hell... Could it be that his former father-in-law was Hu Weiyong's man?
Damn it, I finally know how Song Shen, a seventh-rank official of little importance in history, was dragged into the Hu Weiyong case.

Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to take action against the Song family. With this relationship, when Hu Weiyong's case broke out, Zhu Mengyan would probably not be able to escape. Wouldn't he, the widower son-in-law, be the perfect target then?
He was silent for a moment and asked:
"Lan Yun, do you know how many children Zhu Mengyan has? Are there any boys serving as officials in the court?"

Lan Yun knew that his son had forgotten many things, but he didn't expect that he had no memory of such an important matter as his wife's Yue family.

She paused, then sighed:
"The Zhu family has only one daughter, your late wife, Song Zhu."

Song Shen:……?
Huh? Well, this...

The only daughter died of illness after marrying him, leaving no children. Doesn't this mean that the family has no descendants at all?

wrong.

According to ancient concepts, the Zhu family was probably already extinct when they discovered that they could not give birth to a son.

Come to think of it, it sounds oddly familiar.

Song Shen thought for a long time and asked again:
"Lan Yun, do you know of any other high-ranking officials in the current dynasty who only have one daughter?"

Being placed beside the blind Song Shen to serve him, Lan Yun was definitely not just an ordinary maid.

She grew up in the Song family, and was a child born in the family. Song Lian himself was a famous scholar, and he attached great importance to the education of the children of the servants in the family. Whether it was a maid or a servant, they had to learn to read and write when they were young. In Song Lian's words, he would let him study first, and whether he had a future was another matter. If he could read well, he would let him go as a slave to seek fame. If he was not capable, a servant who had read books would not bring shame to the Song family. Women could not take the imperial examinations, and very few of them focused on studying. Lan Yun was one of the best.

Not only did she read the Four Books and Five Classics, but she was also trained by Song Lian and had a relatively good understanding of the interpersonal relationships in the court. At least she, who held a high position, had heard Song Lian talk about them.

If Lan Yun didn't have such ability, how could Song Lian let Song Shen leave home and move out alone?
"Sir, there is indeed one."

Lan Yun recalled for a moment and nodded firmly:
"The former Minister of Rites, Lü Ben, also had an only daughter in his family, but she was very promising and is now a concubine in the Eastern Palace. I heard that something happened to her a few days ago, but it's just a rumor and there's no definite news."

Song Shen just felt that this world was so ridiculous.

Both of them worked in the Ministry of Rites, and both had only one daughter in their families. Both of their daughters had accidents, but Mrs. Lu was still alive, while Mrs. Zhu passed away suddenly a few years ago.

Zhu Mengyan and Lu Ben served in the same dynasty, and perhaps even stayed in the same government office for a long time. If they were to communicate now, would they have a common language?

Could it be that Lu Ben is also Hu Weiyong's man, and took this opportunity to win over Zhu Mengyan?
There is no follow-up to the matter of this guy raising smallpox patients in a farm outside the city. I don’t know how Empress Ma will deal with it. Perhaps she wants to wait and deal with Hu Weiyong’s case together.

Song Lian did not say anything clearly in the letter, perhaps because he was worried about being seen and caught, but now Song Shen's vigilance has risen to the point where he is ready to sound the alarm.

Judging from the information currently revealed by my grandfather, his former father-in-law Zhu Mengyan can be basically confirmed to be a member of Hu's party, and he is likely to come to help Hu Weiyong to rebuild his relationship with him. And now is the time when Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang has just issued an edict to prepare for the special examination. Hu Weiyong definitely has no shortage of manpower, but he is most likely in urgent need of winning over a large number of literati with a say.

Song Lian is a non-confrontational person and has retired to his hometown. Zhu Mengyan is asked to help win over his former son-in-law Song Shen, so that Song Shen can speak on behalf of the Song family. This is a very clever trap.

If he was really the Song Shen of the past, out of guilt towards his father-in-law and affection for his deceased wife, he might really agree to it on impulse.

My grandfather has left Yingtian Prefecture and returned to his hometown. There is no one around to remind him. Even if he is in good health now, nothing will change.

Then, the Hu Weiyong case in the 13th year of Hongwu could easily implicate the Song family.

Song Shen finally figured out the whole thing and understood why his grandfather wrote to remind him as soon as he arrived in Pujiang.

In late autumn, he was actually covered in cold sweat.

What a good calculation... It makes people die without knowing how they died!

"Sir, do you still want to write to the old man?"

Lan Yun's reminder sounded beside him.

Song Shen came back to his senses, fumbled to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, shook his head and stood up:
"Write my reply later and tell them that I know what's going on. I know what's going on and will try to avoid them and won't let the Song family get into trouble."

"besides……"

"Prepare the car. I need to go to the palace."

…………

Wuying Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang was in a stalemate with Li Shimin behind the light curtain.

One lion wants everything and dares to ask for everything; the other one wants to slap him in the face and tell him to stop dreaming. If you give him some things, the Tang Dynasty will suffer the consequences.

Beside him, Zhu Biao had already roughly explained the matter to Li Shanchang. The former watched his father arguing with others in silence, while the latter was so overwhelmed with emotions that he did not say a word.

As a result, the entire Wuying Hall was suddenly silent.

I don't know how long the two sides were in a stalemate, but outside the door came a cautious announcement from the eunuch -

"Commander of the Yiluansi, Mao Xiang requests to see you!"

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been holding a stiff face, finally turned around and nodded to Zhu Biao.

"Let him come in and talk."

Then, he looked at the light curtain:

"Li Shimin, we are about to meet the ministers, are you still going to continue like this with such a shameless face?"

Li Er on the other side of the light curtain didn't care:
"You are not afraid of your beloved minister knowing about this, so why should I be afraid? You can tell him, and then tell me after you are done. I am not in a hurry."

Veins on Zhu Yuanzhang's forehead were almost popping out.

What kind of shameless dog is this?!

He took a few deep breaths, ignored Li Shimin, and focused his attention on Mao Xiang who had just come in.

Firstly, Mao Xiang was a man who knew the importance of things. It was not the time to plant potatoes recently, so he usually watched his men plowing the soil and the Yiluansi's original responsibilities. When the Wuying Palace was talking behind closed doors, Mao Xiang would not come to interrupt unless there was something important. If he came, it must be to report something important.

Secondly, Zhu Yuanzhang just wanted to verify something.

"I see your Majesty."

After Mao Xiang saluted, he was about to report directly, but when he looked up, he saw Li Shanchang in the hall.

The person that His Majesty had threatened just last night appeared here today...

He hesitated.

But Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly:
"Mao Xiang, if you have something to say, just tell me. We are not outsiders."

Mao Xiang paused, and chose to report obediently and cryptically:
"Your Majesty, I just received news that the man from the Song family is coming to the palace and will go to Kunning Palace."

"Do you want to go over there?"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows:
"He's here? What happened to him today? Did your men hear anything?"

Mao Xiang nodded:

"Yes. A letter from Pujiang was delivered to him today. Not long after, he asked someone to prepare a car and go to the palace to ask for an audience."

Of course Zhu Yuanzhang knew about Pujiang.

It’s Song Lian’s hometown.

"Pack up and let's go over there. We'll make the same arrangements as the previous times."

After giving the order, Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and asked again:
"Mao Xiang, did you see anything strange?"

Mao Xiang hesitated and looked at Li Shanchang's face.

The excitement on Li Shanchang's face froze.

You idiot... am I the weird thing in your eyes?!
(End of this chapter)