Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"Isn't this Xiao Guo and the second child of the Lu family? My old man is too tired to sit alone, so come and accompany me!" Just as Guo Zeng'an and Lu Jianchen were talking, a voice suddenly came from the side.They turned their heads and saw an old man with white beard and hair waving to them.

"Yo! Mr. Lin!" The two immediately stood up and saluted the old man, and then trotted to the front of Mr. Lin.

That Mr. Lin is the father of the head of the Lin family, the largest family in the salt industry in Yangzhou City, that is, the old head of the Lin family.Although Mr. Lin is no longer in charge of things, but he has senior qualifications and seniority in the salt industry, so Lu Jianchen and Guo Zeng'an felt a little flattered to be called to the same table by Mr. Lin at this time.

As soon as the two of them sat down, Mr. Lin picked a sandwich from their plates. Lu Jianchen and Guo Zeng'an quickly stood up and said, "Master! Let's do it ourselves! We're killing the younger generation."

Mr. Lin smiled and motioned for the two to sit down, and said, "I'm old and I don't have a good appetite. But seeing you young people eating deliciously, I feel very happy. Eat, eat!"

What he said made Lu Jianchen and Guo Zengan a little confused. After they looked at each other in doubt, they both opened their mouths and took a bite of the steamed stuffed bun.

So Mr. Lin's smile became wider: "I have been busy all my life, and now I should enjoy my happiness. But I also have a regret in my life. People outside have always called our Yangzhou salt Huai salt, but I have always thought about it. Get rid of the word 'Huai'."

Hearing Mr. Lin talking about the topic, both Lu Jianchen and Guo Zengan put down their chopsticks and listened seriously.

"But why does our Huaiyan always have to compete with Shaanxi and Sichuan salts to compete with the market and lower prices? In terms of production, our Huaiyan accounts for half of the world; in terms of background, we also have a lot of connections in official circles. But our colleagues in Yangzhou have been in these years. Life is getting worse and worse, natural disasters are happening. Too many people have died, and there will be fewer people who eat less salt!" [

"But this is also a good opportunity! The old man has been thinking: Isn't Shanxi and Sichuan always causing civil disturbances? If someone calms down there and gives us the salt field there, won't it be all over the place all day long?" Have you eaten our salt? But as I get older, I may not see such a day, it depends on your younger generation."

"This..., old man..." Lu Jianchen and Guo Zeng'an were inexplicably placed with such high hopes by old man Lin, which made them not know what to say.

Mr. Lin made a gesture to make the two of them quiet, and then said with a smile: "I have lived for a long time. I have seen many ups and downs. For this opportunity of our colleagues in Yangzhou, we must not fight among ourselves Ah! Speaking of Yangzhou before, there were four great masters, but now it has become three great masters. Hey——! But in the future, it may be five great masters!"

Hearing what Mr. Lin said, Lu Jianchen and Guo Zeng'an couldn't sit still anymore.They stand up and want to speak.Mr. Lin smiled and pointed to the door, only to see Lu Jianchen and Guo Zeng'an's companions fidgeting around the door early in the morning.As if there was something to say.It's just that they saw their master and Mr. Lin together, so these companions didn't dare to approach.

Mr. Lin then smiled and said: "Go quickly! Don't miss the business!"

As soon as Lu Jianchen and Guo Zeng'an, who were confused, came to the door, their companions shouted excitedly: "Master! Master! Commander Wu of Ru Ning has won! They have defeated the Tartars!"

The hearts of Lu Jianchen and Guo Zeng'an suddenly floated to the clouds, but before their hearts fell, someone shouted in front of them: "Two masters, all the masters of Yangzhou Salt Industry invite the two masters to enjoy the flowers in the plum garden. "It was the butler of the Lin family who spoke.

until then.Only then did Lu Jianchen and Guo Zengan understand why Mr. Lin found them both.But at this time, they seemed to have eaten ginseng fruit, and the pores on their bodies showed two words-comfortable!

Nanjing City, Ruan Dacheng's mansion.

Ruan Dacheng dragged Hou Fangyu into the study, and closed the door behind him.Then he said: "Chaozong, why is it necessary to be a fireworks girl?"

Hou Fangyu replied straightforwardly: "If you should avoid it for yourself, you can't bear it for your friends. Fang Yu knows the kindness of the husband, but he can't agree with each other. Let's leave today."

"Stop being impulsive!" Ruan Dacheng hastily pulled him back, and then persuaded him, "It's all just to be patient for a while, Mr. Mu Zhai is irresistible, and he is the leader of Jinling's literary world. Chaozong has to think twice!"

Today is Ruan Dacheng inviting talents from Nanjing and everyone to gather in his residence.But at the banquet just now, the Qing army's entry into the customs was discussed again, but while talking, Qian Qianyi began to mock Wu Shigong who took the initiative to meet the enemy.Originally, Hou Fangyu wanted to hold back, because everyone knew that Qian Qianyi had Wu Shigong as his love rival.But Liu Rushi was also overwhelmed by Qian Qianyi's demeanor, and kept speaking for Qian Qianyi, which made Hou Fangyu unable to bear it.

So a fierce and elegant quarrel broke out at the banquet, but Qian Qianyi had many friends and disciples, and Hou Fangyu was defeated by them.Seeing that the situation was not good, Ruan Dacheng, as the master, quickly persuaded Hou Fangyu to his study.

"But why don't they believe that Chang Jing will win?" Hou Fangyu said aggrievedly. [

"That's not the case!" Ruan Dacheng explained, "Since the Wanli period, so many powerful military forces have been defeated by the Liaodong chief slaves. Every time the court is full of confidence, but in the end it all falls, and the heart is cold! "

"But even so! Mr. Mu Zhai and the others, what are they proud of? To put it bluntly, even if Mr. Mu Zhai and the others enter the cabinet, they still need a strong army. Could it be that they carry their own guns to the battlefield? Let's not mention that Mu Zhai and the others Why should others underestimate Chang Jing's fight for the wind? Saying defeat before the battle is fruitless, is this good for the court and us? Not to mention that Fang Yu thinks: If only one army in Ming Dynasty can defeat the Tartars, then There is only the long-respected Runing Army."

"Oh? Chaozong is so high-minded, can you tell me? Where do you think Wu Runing's army ranks in the world?" Speaking of this, Ruan Dacheng suddenly became interested in Wu Shigong's Runing army.

Ruan Dacheng is both a general of the Donglin Party and a traitor of the Donglin Party, so his experience is very legendary.

Ruan Dacheng is a disciple of Gao Panlong, and his fellow villager Zuo Guangdou is also the leader of Donglin and a friend whom Dacheng relies on for self-respect, and he even took the lead in the "struggle" to overthrow Fang Congzhe's non-Donglin Pavilion elder Shi Jikai and others. Because of his meritorious service, he was listed as the backbone of Donglin, and was nicknamed "Unblocked" in "Dianjianglu" compiled by Wei Zhongxian.

But in the fourth year of Tianqi, there were vacancies in the official department, and Zuo Guangdou notified Da Cheng to come to Beijing to fill in.However, because of internal strife with Zuo Guangdou, ** Xing, Gao Panlong, Yang Lian and the others planned to use another of Gao's disciples—the same Dongdong Lin Chuang will be Wei Dazhong.After some internal transactions, when Dacheng arrived in Beijing, the gang of Xingxing asked him to make up for engineering.

You know, this status gap is huge. In the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Officials ranked first, while the Ministry of Industry ranked last.Ruan Dacheng, who should have been in the official department according to his seniority, was outraged.So he didn't do anything, and immediately took refuge in Wei Zhongxian.

Of course, Wei Zhongxian welcomed Ruan Dacheng with all his hands, so he let Ruan Dacheng get his wish.However, Ruan Dacheng didn't serve as an official for long, and the terrible pressure of the Donglin Party made him abandon his official position and flee back to his hometown within a month of taking office.From then on, Dacheng broke with Donglin.If you really enjoy it, you will die.

Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen came to the throne, and officials who had relations with Wei Zhongxian were all unlucky anyway.Therefore, he was dismissed from office after being listed in the case of rebellion. He avoided living in Anqing and Nanjing, recruited rangers, talked about soldiers and swords, and formed a literary society.

It can be seen from this that Ruan Dacheng is an official fan.When living in Nanjing, besides making outstanding contributions to Chinese culture and drama, he always wanted to make peace with Fushe and Donglin.Therefore, he has been giving generously and convening a banquet for scholars in Nanjing.Of course, those scholars often ate and had fun at the banquet, and then turned around and cursed Ruan Dacheng, a traitor of the Donglin Party.That's why today, after seeing Hou Fangyu being squeezed out by Qian Qianyi and the others, he felt a sense of sympathy.

Unexpectedly, after talking with Hou Fangyu, Ruan Dacheng discovered an opportunity.

Of course Hou Fangyu didn't know what Ruan Dacheng was thinking at this time.Because finally someone was willing to listen to his words, Hou Fangyu immediately said: "Don't hide anything, sir. Fang Yu thinks: Chang Jing's Runing Army can rank first in the world, stronger than the three sides and the Liaodong Frontier Army." many."

"Really?" Ruan Dacheng's eyes became brighter.

But Hou Fangyu thought that Ruan Dacheng didn't believe his words, so he immediately explained: "Changjing's Runing Army has been in the army for more than ten years. It has more than ten major battles and continuous small battles. It has not lost a single one so far. It is during the Jisi period. King Qin won the battle with the Tartars. This result is not a fluke. Let me say one more thing to my husband: Chang Jing cannot be stopped, but tomorrow will be unstoppable! So where does China go? Is it the Tartars outside the pass? Recovering the Mongolian Yuan? Or Guizhou bandits? The artifact changed hands? No matter what, you and I will be buried."

"And Chang Jing is in Runing, Guide respects education, promotes agriculture and mulberry, trains a strong army, and is close to gentry. He is more a student. He is a follower of Shenggong, just like you and me. He is also humble and polite. Love to make friends and honor promises is not what Mr. Mu Zhai said."

Hearing this, Ruan Dacheng's mind became active, and he immediately saluted Hou Fangyu with a smile: "Sure enough, as Chaozong said, Dacheng's heart is itching. I really want to see this hero as soon as possible. Dacheng has something wrong." Please, can Chaozong introduce you?"

Today's Hou Fangyu and Ruan Dacheng were very speculative, so he immediately agreed: "It's a little effort! Wait for Fangyu to write a letter for Mr. immediately."

But at this moment, there was an uproar outside.Ruan Dacheng immediately asked loudly: "What's going on outside?"

The servant at the door immediately went inside and reported: "Master! The news just came that Marshal Wu of Runing has defeated the Tartars." (To be continued...)

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