Ping An Biography

Zhang Ning and his party of eight, leading a dozen or so small horses, carefully crossed the river on the main bridge. This bridge was rather crude. 78 The flow of the river under the bridge is much smaller than the last time in my impression. The last time I came was in summer when the water swelled and gathered.On the other side is the main village of Fengxia Mountain. From a distance, there is no change. The lush trees are still full of greenness in autumn and winter.

A few people were washing things by the river, and another was scraping fish scales. When people saw the bridge coming, they straightened up and looked there.Everything seems to be very peaceful.

There is an archway at the entrance of the village, and there are some people standing there waiting. When they get closer, they recognize Monk Yao, Yao Erlang and others among them. In the past, Zhang Ning arranged for Fan Laosi, Ma Dapeng and others to work in the Weapons Bureau.As soon as he arrived here, Zhang Ning found that he had a lot of acquaintances after staying here for a few months.

Zhang Ning handed the reins to the people behind, stepped forward and bowed, "Why do you have the nerve to ask uncle to greet you outside the village in person?"

Monk Yao clasped his fists and said: "Heard someone came back to report that Ping'an and Mr. Zheng came to our village, so I will wait here with everyone." After speaking, he bowed to Zheng Qia and others behind him.Everyone came up to greet each other, Zhang Ning and other acquaintances greeted one by one, and Monk Yao invited everyone into Zhuangzi to talk.

"My mother also came to Fengxia Village?" Zhang Ning asked.

Monk Yao said: "Mrs. Yao has just arrived a few days ago, and the main altar is not very safe now, so everyone first came to live with me." After all, it is a family, and Fengxia Mountain is remote, it is indeed better for Yao Ji to come here place.Monk Yao went on to say, "In addition to that, more than ten altar masters came. I heard that the altar master Hou of Changde mansion was arrested, and the people near Changde mansion in the east are very worried."

Zhang Ning already knew about these situations, so he nodded, and then turned to Fan Lao Si who was behind him: "I have been away from Fengxia Mountain for a few months, have you continued to make firearms?"

Fan Laosi looked surprised, he didn't expect so many important people present, Zhang Ning talked to himself specifically, and hurriedly said: "The iron mine we opened here is a small mine, it used to be more than enough to make some farm tools, weapons and arrow clusters, but how many A few months ago, the master built several cannons, more than a hundred muskets, costing nearly [-] catties of iron, and the iron beasts used to suppress the river gods by the river melted. Later, after fighting the bandits, there were not enough iron weapons, and the Weapons Bureau stopped working. Wei Baihu wanted to charge and train his subordinates, but there was not enough gunpowder, and the nitrate and charcoal were fine. We collected human and animal dung to boil some nitrate out; it is really difficult to get a large amount of sulfur, and there are no sulfur mines around here. In the past, they used to find ways to go out of the mountains to buy, but recently the rumors have become tighter, and sulfur is also in short supply."

Hearing Fan Lao Si call "Wei Bin" Wei Baihu, Zhang Ning understood that the things he had made had not been completely disbanded.Wei Bin is an elder in the village, and he is also in charge of armed training. He is the arm of Master Yao. Fan Lao Si is more or less flattering.The so-called hundred households were temporarily sealed by Zhang Ning at the beginning. Maybe people think that they are officials, big and small.

Walking north along the main road of the village, you will soon see a large building complex in the middle, which is the temple dedicated to the gods, the residence of Monk Yao, the warehouses in the village, etc., which belong to Fengxiazhuang. center.

Monk Yao said that the altar masters from all over the world were discussing matters in the temple.Zhang Ning didn't know the altar masters of the evil cult, so he didn't have anything to say for the time being, so he said, "I'm going to visit my mother first, I don't know where her old man lives?"

Zhang Ningsui temporarily separated from Zheng Qia and the others, followed Monk Yao through the corridor on the side of the temple, and came to a small courtyard inside.Zhang Ning also lived here last time, and it is probably the best residence in Fengxiazhuang.

Monk Yao entered the yard and asked someone to go in to report, and then he said that he would not go in to disturb Mrs. Yao, and asked Zhang Ning to meet in the past.I saw many guards wearing earthen cloth and green clothes and carrying short soldiers standing under the eaves on all sides of the courtyard, and some were equipped with bows and crossbows, which seemed to be very guarded.

Outside the upper room on the north side, there were two women in white dresses, veiled hats and long swords. They walked around there casually. Gently opened the wooden door, and when Zhang Ning and Chunmei walked in, she then closed the door.

As soon as she entered, she saw Yao Ji sitting on a padded wicker chair with one foot lifted up and placed on a round stool. Next to her was her valet, Xiaoyue, who was kneeling there and rubbing her jade feet.When she saw someone coming in, she unhurriedly retracted her foot and put it into the shoe underneath. <Mei knelt down and said: "My subordinates refer to the leader."

Yao Ji slightly raised her long sleeves: "Get up, there is a stool next to you." Then she glanced at Zhang Ning's face: "I heard that the Zhang family in Nanjing was arrested by the government?"

Zhang Ning replied blankly: "Later, he was executed by Ling Chi."

Yao Ji's expression changed slightly, and then she said, "I didn't know they were arrested when some of your subordinates returned to the main altar last month. I didn't ask anyone to tell Zhang Xiaomei. You can tell it yourself this time."

Zhang Ning nodded: "Don't worry, mother, I will deal with this matter myself."

Yao Ji acted indifferently, maybe she still couldn't let go of Zhang Ning's secret memorial to the court, and the catastrophe facing the evil sect now was also a direct result of that secret memorial.She said softly again: "Altar Master Hou in Shimen County, Changde Prefecture was arrested by the officers and soldiers. Now people are in panic. More than a dozen altar masters from the sub-altars are here. The altar master Hou was accused by the local officials when he was in Yongle. Those who escaped were trusted by Emperor Jianwen and the church. They knew a lot of things and knew the position of the main altar very well, so I quickly led people away from the main altar. Now... I heard that Zheng Qia is also here Is it? He hasn’t come to see me yet, he should be here to deal with the matter of the evil sect on behalf of Emperor Jianwen.”

She didn't show anxiety, but because of her relatively reserved personality, Zhang Ning could tell that she was very annoying.

Tens of thousands of people from the evil sect are facing scattered and fleeing. If they want to survive, they have to run away and hide their names incognito.In addition, Yao Ji and other core personnel can only be rearranged by the people of Emperor Jianwen; as Zheng Qia reminded, the case of Prince Wenkui's poisoning has not yet been settled. Around Yao Ji and Zhang Ning, once they leave the evil cult, their situation will not be very optimistic.

As for the raising of troops that Zhang Ning mentioned before, Yao Ji didn't think too much about it. Now even the army didn't come, and just an official from a county town destroyed a branch altar, posing a great threat to the evil cult, and there was no sign of rebellion. thing.

But it can't be all blamed on Zhang Ning's nonsense. Even if Wu Yong's melody hadn't been forged, it would have happened sooner or later, maybe it could only be delayed for a while.After Wu Yong and Zhan Zhuli died, Jin Yiwei should have come down to investigate secretly, and found the bodies of Wu Yong and others... Otherwise, the Zhang family would not have been arrested so soon.

Zhang Ning didn't know how to explain it for a while, so he asked, "Mother's foot hurt?"

"It doesn't matter." Yao Ji said softly, "The road on Fengxia Mountain is very rough, and the horse-drawn carriage can't get in. The one below made a sedan chair to carry me. I didn't want to sit, so I walked for a while. I haven't left for a long time. After traveling a long distance, I got some blisters on my feet, I asked Xiaoyue to massage them to activate the blood, and it should be fine in a few days."

After hearing this, Zhang Ning moved closer to the stool, bent down and gently lifted her calf on his lap, and stretched out his hands to rub her feet.Yao Ji didn't resist, but her face flushed slightly, and her eyes turned away.Yao Ji's legs were very slender and well-proportioned. Even though she was wearing long trousers under her long skirt, she couldn't completely cover up her beautiful lines. <May said. <Mei put her legs back, and said seriously: "Don't pretend to be filial, such a big person should be prudent, just avoid causing trouble. You wrote the Hanwang's article? Zhu Di's family Dou, what are you taking the risk to mix with?"

Zhang Ning said: "The King of Han is invincible in his southward march. The civil and military forces in the localities are fighting... They all watched the fire from the other side and didn't care to resist. The Yangtze River fell into the hands of the King of Han in a blink of an eye. This is enough for Emperor Xuande to drink a pot. When they fought, the main force of the court If we don’t care about us, we will have a chance.”

"Opportunity? What are you going to do?" Yao Ji frowned, the blush on her face gradually fading.

Seeing her expression, Zhang Ning sighed: "It is true that in this world, the great feudal lord who holds military power has a better chance of raising troops, but I think the King of Han still can't accomplish anything, and the resources at hand are wasted... we Raising an army is as difficult as ascending to the sky, but is there any other choice right now?"

Yao Ji didn't answer.

Zhang Ning said again: "The imperial court has listed us as an anti-thief and rebellious party, and has arrested people who have obtained many useful clues. When they free up their hands, they will definitely encircle and suppress us all at any cost. Failure to raise troops is a serious crime of treason. Sitting and waiting to die is the same as a traitor, there is no difference, what should we be afraid of?" He glanced at Chunmei, knowing that this apostle was Yao Ji's confidant, and continued, "If mother doesn't support me on this road , we disbanded the evil cult and went to the father's side, I'm afraid it's not a good way..."

Yao Ji's face turned a little pale when she heard that Jianwen went to Jianwen. She had experienced the cruel struggle in the palace. Of course, she knew the fate of losing power and offending others. The enemy had a hundred tricks to force her to survive. The point where you can't ask for death.

Jianwen is no longer the emperor, but Yao Ji has only one way of life based on her experience in court struggles: since she has a prince, she is the biggest trump card in her hand, and she must do everything possible to protect her prince; Let him become the heir, and hide and defend if he has no chance, and when the time comes, he will be entrusted to keep him safe, and he will have support for the rest of his life.

This set of struggle experience is also suitable for the current identity.In the current situation of Emperor Jianwen, it doesn't matter whether Zhang Ning is the heir or not. Anyway, the benefits are not great; the key is to protect his son from being plotted against, so that he can inherit part of the property and establish a separate family.

"You can't go to Emperor Jianwen's side." Yao Ji said coldly.