I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 185 True and False Ji Gang
"Well, then please bring the person over here, Brother Congming, and let's have a chat before we talk about other things."

Song Shen thought about it for a long time and finally decided to meet first before making a judgment.

There are so many people with the same name in the world, and the person Zhang Wei brought this time may not be the Ji Gang he knew.

But after thinking about it...the other party's current identity seems to be somewhat consistent.

Even without using the tutoring class's database to verify, Song Shen still remembered some things about Ji Gang.

After all, he was the most famous Jinyiwei commander during the Yongle period, and the head of spies. There are many records about him in history books. Ji Gang was not born in Yingtian Prefecture, but should be from Suqian. It was not because Song Shen had a good memory, but because this story was quite legendary.

According to records, in the second year of Jianwen, the army of Prince Yan fought fiercely with the army of Jianwen, and the latter was defeated.

Later, the Prince of Yan led 200,000 cavalrymen through Linyi and conducted cavalry drills more than 20 miles northeast of Linyi. The people within dozens of miles were ravaged and almost wiped out. There was a Su'an Inn in Linyi since ancient times. When the Prince of Yan Zhu Di passed by this place, Ji Gang, a native of Su'an, and his fellow villager Mu Su joined the army together. Ji Gang risked his life to seize the Prince of Yan's mount and asked to voluntarily follow the Prince of Yan to serve.

King Yan liked Ji Gang's courage and skill in archery and horse riding, so he immediately recruited him as his personal soldier.

Think about it, Ji Gang was truly courageous for daring to rush into the camp of an army of 200,000 strong and recommend himself, regardless of whether this story was fabricated or exaggerated.

And later, Zhu Di actually took him under his wing, which made the story even more legendary.

Regardless of whether the details of the story are true or not, just from the fact that "Ji Gang rushed to Zhu Di to recommend himself", which actually happened, it can be seen that this man definitely had no achievements, otherwise, no matter what, he would not have risked the extermination of his entire clan to run to Zhu Di.

It should be noted that no matter what the name of the campaign was, whether it was called Jingnan or Qingjunce, it could not change the fact that Zhu Di sent troops to overturn the table, which was equivalent to rebellion. For any young man with fame and a bright future, who would be willing to take such a risk to gamble for the merit of following the emperor unless they were forced to go down a dead end? There are not many successful gamblers, and most gamblers will lose their pants.

It is relatively reliable to infer from this that Ji Gang had no achievements and had never been involved in official affairs, government offices, or the military before he defected to Zhu Di.

Just now Zhang Wei said that this man has great kung fu skills, but his family is worried and doesn't want him to fight on the battlefield. This is somewhat true.

However, it is now the tenth year of Hongwu, and there are still more than twenty years to the second year of Jianwen. If that is true, then when Ji Gang defected to Zhu Di, the two were about the same age? It is a bit absurd for a man in his forties to take the initiative to follow Zhu Di in a rebellion.
It seemed useless to think so much, so Song Shen put aside the thoughts in his mind.

We’ll talk when we meet!

…………

Ji Gang is actually only sixteen years old this year.

He just looked a little anxious, and his tall and strong figure was very deceptive. In addition, he grew a beard to make himself look older and more reliable, so he was often mistaken for being seventeen or eighteen years old, or even older.

Zhang family.

Zhang Wei returned to his own courtyard and found Ji Gang waiting there.

"Ji Gang, come with me."

He waved at the young man who was a little bit overwhelmed in his own home and didn't know what to do with his hands and feet, motioning him to come over.

After Ji Gang did as he was told, Zhang Wei walked slowly in front of him, saying:
"From today on, you are no longer a palace guard, and you no longer hold an official position. However, your salary will still be paid, but it will come from His Majesty's private treasury. To the outside world, you can tell them that I paid for it and that I hired you. You have nothing to do with the palace or the government. Do you understand?"

Ji Gang nodded in agreement, but he was still quite confused.

He hesitated for a moment, confirming that this former censor was a good-tempered person and was now giving him some advice, before he dared to ask:

"I will do my best and will not let down the trust of His Majesty and the Commander. But..."

"However, I don't quite understand. If Your Majesty wanted to look after someone, why didn't he just send someone from the Yiluansi? Why did he have to look for a nobody like me?"

"Who is the person you want to take me to see now, and why does His Majesty favor him so much?"

Zhang Wei paused and looked back at him.

Sure enough, he was still too young. Although he was sensible and had a quick mind, he was curious about everything and wanted to ask about everything from the beginning.

Zhang Wei did not give a direct answer, but just looked at Ji Gang quietly and said:

"You used to be a palace guard. You also know that I used to be an imperial censor, but later I resigned and stayed at home without work."

"But guess what, if I lost my salary, how could I maintain such a house in Jingzhao and provide for my wife, children and the elderly?"

Ji Gang was stunned for a moment and felt a chill on his back.

He didn't dare to think too much, but his mind uncontrollably followed the information given by Zhang Wei and thought about it one by one.

Zhang Wei was once an imperial censor, a low-ranking official but very noble. This group of imperial censors was notorious for not giving face to anyone, so Ji Gang did not think about why Du Jiang resigned. In his opinion, it was normal to be dismissed from such an offensive job.
But now think about it -

If Zhang Wei really offended someone and was dismissed from office, he should have been exiled from the capital by now, and found a cold and remote place to be a county magistrate or something. This would be more torturous than staying in the capital.

The ancients said: Living in Chang'an is not easy.

Chang'an is not the only place that is not easy. As long as it is the capital of the country, food, clothing, housing and transportation have never been cheap in all dynasties.

The conditions in Yingtian Prefecture are the best in the world today, and it is also the most prosperous place. Apart from spending money, there is no harm in living here. Zhang Wei can still live here with the living standard of an ordinary official, but now he has lost his official position and salary, so where does his money come from?
In short, it is impossible that it was obtained through greed.

The current emperor hates corruption deeply and everyone in the court is terrified of it. Every year, many people are skinned and stuffed with straw after being investigated. Zhang Wei was handed over to him by His Majesty and the commander of the Yiluansi. To be valued by those two, Zhang Wei must be as clean as can be.

That leaves only one scenario.

That is, Zhang Wei, like himself, was transferred from his original position by His Majesty for some reason, and the salary he received as usual was also paid out of His Majesty's private treasury.

Ji Gang's forehead was already covered with sweat.

I was just an ordinary palace gate guard, so I was transferred away. I lost my official position in exchange for being able to hug the dragon's leg, which was definitely not a loss.

But Zhang Wei is an official appointed by the imperial court! Even he could be transferred away, and he seemed to be quite willing to do so...

Who exactly is the person I'm going to meet later? !
…………

No more words along the way.

Ji Gang followed Zhang Wei's footsteps silently, went out from the back door of Zhang's house, crossed a small alley, and arrived at the back door of another house.

Looking at the half-open door, Ji Gang's eyelids twitched:

"Zhang Yushi, are you a neighbor of this person?" Zhang Wei pushed open the door and nodded slightly:

"If I hadn't bought this house for him, it wouldn't be my turn to do this job today."

"Let's go. Be careful with your words later. The rest is easy to talk about, but you must not reveal a single word about His Majesty. I have explained everything to you in advance. If there is an accident, just keep your mouth shut or just agree with what I say. It's better to let him think you are rude and boring than to say the wrong thing. Do you understand?"

Ji Gang's heart was in his throat and he nodded quickly.

The two walked inside.

The house is not small, but it is not too big either. At least in Ji Gang's impression, the people who can trouble His Majesty, Mao Xiang and Zhang Wei to mobilize such a large force should live in a better, more luxurious and more status-reflecting courtyard.

However, it took less than a quarter of an hour from the time he entered the door to the time he entered the study used for receiving guests.

There were no rare treasures or garden scenery in the house, and the owner seemed to attach no importance to these things at all. The only special thing Ji Gang noticed was that there was not a single step in the entire house, the threshold was very low, and there were almost no stone lamps or other decorations on the road, as if they had been moved away on purpose.

After meeting his "employer", Ji Gang finally understood why the yard was like this.

The other person's eyes were dull and his gaze was unfocused. He was very slow in picking up the teacup when drinking tea. Although the tea did not spill, it was the result of holding the cup very carefully.

That's a blind man.

"Ziwei, hey, I can finally eat the snacks from your home again. Come on, I brought the person to you, ahem… talk to him!"

Zhang Wei was not at all shy. He sat down on the chair and did the whole series of actions, including grabbing snacks, drinking tea and introducing the guests, all in one go. It made him feel more like home than at home.

Listening to him eating and talking, and almost choking, Song Shen said helplessly:

"Eat slowly, Brother Congming. You and I live next door. You can come over anytime you want to have some snacks. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Zhang Wei coughed and said sarcastically:
"Don't think I don't know. I've seen Xu Yungong come to your house several times recently. You forgot about your brother when you were playing with him. What can I say? It's better to eat more snacks from your house while you can!"

Song Shen's face was filled with black lines.

Why is this guy fighting with Xu Yungong? Are they of the same age?
He ignored the sour Zhang Wei and tilted his head slightly to ask:
"You are the security guard that Brother Congming found for me, Ji Gang? How old are you this year?"

A voice came from not far in front of him. The person was not in the same position as Zhang Wei. Song Shen judged that it must be Zhang Wei who sat down unceremoniously, while this person was still standing there.

It was the voice of a teenager, with a hooted voice due to voice change. It wasn't pleasant to hear, but it was full of energy.

"To answer your question, I am Ji Gang, sixteen years old this year."

sixteen……

Song Shen nodded slightly and asked again:
"Where are you from? Have you ever worked as a security guard or anything else? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Although these were issues that he had already considered, Ji Gang couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

He cupped his hands and said:

"I am from Suqian. I have no brothers or sisters. I am the only child. I have never done any work before, or I have done very little. This time I wanted to come to Yingtian Prefecture to gain experience and join the army. But my parents refused to agree after knowing it. They were afraid that something might happen and the family would be extinct. They insisted that I find an ordinary military job."

"I studied for a while and can read, but I'm not good enough to win a degree. I only have decent strength."

"So later I worked as a doorman for a restaurant in Yingtian Prefecture for a while, but I found it boring. Every day I had to throw out those troublemakers and freeloaders. It was not safe and I could easily be targeted by others. So I decided to find a family to work as a security guard. This way I wouldn't have to pay for my own food and lodging, and I could save more money to go back and marry a wife."

Song Shen's eyelids started twitching from the moment he heard his first sentence.

From Suqian?
Could it be that this Ji Gang is really that Ji Gang?
This experience doesn't seem to be anything special. How did he get so lucky and be valued by Zhu Di?

After a moment of silence, Song Shencai said to Zhang Wei:

"Brother Congming, how much does this young man want per month?"

Zhang Wei swallowed the snack residue in his mouth, took a sip of tea, and then said:

"Don't worry about this. I'll pay for you. I've already paid for a year in advance."

Seeing Song Shen opening his mouth to refuse, Zhang Wei did not give him a chance and said bluntly:

"Don't be so polite. Song Longmen is my teacher, and you are his grandson. He is not in Yingtian Prefecture now, so I should take better care of you. To put it bluntly, you can't rely on the other two elders, so you'd better save the money in your pocket. The teacher has been very kind to me, and I am paying this little money for you as a way of repaying his kindness. It's nothing."

"If you keep pushing it back and forth with me, I'll write a letter to the teacher to complain about you, saying that you don't take good care of yourself every day. I want to take care of you but you won't let me. Let's see what he says about you in the letter then!"

Having said that, if I continue to push it back, I would be really being tactless.

Song Shen could only agree for the time being, thinking in his heart that if he came up with something good in the future, or thought of some strategy or something like that, he would give it to Zhang Wei to present the treasure, which would also allow him to get some credit and get promoted and make a fortune.

This is how human relationships work. You owe me one point and I owe you three points. After paying it back and forth, the favor will be repaid. There is really no need to be so fussy about this with Zhang Wei.

Wait, get promoted and make money...

As he was thinking, Song Shen suddenly thought of something.

He said to Zhang Wei:
"Brother Congming, I have a solution that has both good and bad effects."

"The good thing is that if you present this plan to His Majesty, His Majesty will certainly be pleased to use you. You will definitely have hope of getting promoted and making money in the future, and you may even rise to a high position."

"But the downside is that this plan will offend many people. If you don't do it right, you might be assassinated and silenced halfway through. That's possible."

"If you want to listen, I'll tell you. If you don't want to take the risk, it's best not to even listen, so as to avoid getting into trouble."

Zhang Wei was stunned for a moment and sat up straight.

He first glanced at Ji Gang beside him, and seeing that he was silent, he looked at Song Shen again:

"Does this mean that you are willing to let Ji Gang stay with you?"

"If that's the case, we're all family here. Tell me what you think will benefit the country. It's nothing to take a little risk for your brother!"

(End of this chapter)