Smuggling Daming

When the frontier army entered Beijing, Zhou Zhong couldn't keep the news under control when such a big event happened in the court. He immediately rushed to the governor's mansion, and at the same time, he asked Jiao Fang, Wang Shouren and other officials to be summoned to the mansion, and reported the news again. As a result, most of the officials in the mansion scolded Jiang Bin for deceiving the Holy Majesty, and even stated on the spot that they would write a memorial to impeach Jiang Bin.

Zhou Zhong was not surprised by the reactions of these officials. He was most concerned about the reactions of Jiao Fang, Wang Shouren and Zhang Cai, so he had been observing each other from the very beginning. What disappointed him was that Jiao Fang and Zhang Cai Zhang Cai was only taken aback when he heard the news that Jiang Bin had led the frontier army into the capital, and then his face returned to normal. Wang Shouren showed a hint of annoyance, but he quickly stopped his anger, lowered his head in thought, It seems that he is thinking about the impact of the frontier army entering Beijing.

Zhou Zhong waited until the officials at all levels below had vented their anger, and then let everyone disperse, but he himself came to the study in the governor's mansion to wait for others, because he knew that Jiao Fang and the three would definitely come to find him. my own.

Sure enough, after a while, the three of Jiao Fang came to Zhou Zhong's study one after another, and they didn't look surprised when they saw each other. After all, this was not the first time.

"Lord Jiao, you should know more about the situation in the Xuanfu area than we do. Now that the frontier troops have been transferred to Beijing, will it have any impact on the frontier?" Zhou Zhong was the first to ask Jiaofang, and this was also what he was worried about. One of the problems, after all, the Mongols and the Jurchens in Liaodong are not good at dealing with them. Now that so many frontier troops have been transferred away, Zhou Zhong is most worried about the border problems of Ming Dynasty.

After Jiao Fang heard Zhou Zhong's question, she lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then she answered, "My lord, please rest assured that although [-] frontier troops have been mobilized from Xuanfu and other four towns this time, the remaining guards in these four towns There are still tens of thousands of frontier troops, and the border people there are strong. If you hurry up to recruit soldiers, there should be no problems. In addition, the little Tatar prince was defeated by the Xuanfu army last year. This caused the Mongols to lose their vitality. Seriously injured, I probably won't have the strength to go south this year, and by next year, my Daming frontier army should be able to recover!"

"That's right, the governor doesn't have to worry about border issues. With the court's emphasis on firearms, artillery and muskets have begun to be slowly equipped to the frontier army, which has greatly increased the combat effectiveness of the frontier army. For example, the Xuanfu last time The firearms contributed a lot to the defeat of the little Tatar prince, so even if part of the frontier army has been transferred now, with the strength of the Mongols, it will only suffer if they go south!" Wang Shouren also said at this time, he was in the Ministry of War After working for many years, he has the most say in military matters.

"As long as the frontier is fine!" Zhou Zhong was relieved when he heard that Jiao Fang and Wang Shouren had made the same judgment. No matter how much Zhengde and Jiang Bin mess around, as long as the safety of the Ming court is not endangered, everything will be fine. within the controllable range.

"My lord. Now is not the time to think about the frontier. This Jiang Bin is so aggressive that he can suppress the commander of Jin Yiwei, Qian Ning. As a result, the officials are worried that this person will attack you." At this moment, Zhang Cai suddenly He said with a worried face, his wealth is all tied to Zhou Zhong's body, so he naturally doesn't want to see Zhou Zhong lose power, as for whether the frontier is safe or not, it doesn't seem worth mentioning at all.

Although Wang Shouren and Jiao Fang were very disgusted with Zhang Cai's disregard for the frontier, they also knew it.Now that Ming Dynasty can achieve such a great situation overseas, it is inseparable from Zhou Zhong's efforts, and the reason why Zhou Zhong can have such great energy, besides the position of Governor of the World, the most important thing is His Majesty's favor.Without Zhengde's trust in Zhou Zhong, I am afraid that the current governor of the world would not know what it would be like to be impeached by the important ministers in the court.

It was precisely because of this thought that Jiao Fang and Wang Shouren also showed contemplative expressions. After a while, Jiao Fang suddenly changed his expression and raised his head to say something, but just as he opened his mouth, he was suddenly surprised again. Turning her head to look at Zhang Cai, she found that the other party's eyes seemed to be closed but not closed, and she was secretly looking at him and Wang Shouren. This made Jiao Fang feel annoyed. Fortunately, his reaction was fast enough, otherwise he would have fallen into Zhang Cai's trap up.

Regarding the actions of Jiao Fang and Zhang Cai, Zhou Zhong was watching the actions of Jiao Fang and Zhang Cai, which made him immediately understand that these two people must have some suggestions for him, but because of reasons unknown to him, the two people fought In his heart, no one dared to speak out on his own initiative, which made him angry and annoyed.

But Zhou Zhong soon knew what Jiao Fang and Zhang Cai wanted to say, because Wang Shouren had already spoken it out for them. Wang Shouren bowed to Zhou Zhong and said, "Mr. , but after all, he is deeply trusted by His Majesty, and if Jiang Bin wants to completely deceive His Majesty, he will definitely slander His Majesty, if His Majesty does not prepare early, I am afraid Jiang Bin will really cause trouble in the future!"

"Oh, then I don't know how Brother Bo'an thinks I should prepare?" Zhou Zhong also asked. He also feels very difficult about Jiang Bin's matter now. After all, this person has met Zhengde and transferred the border army to Beijing. In addition, he is too far away from the capital, and he can't even see Zhengde's face, let alone compete with Jiang Bin.

Hearing Zhou Zhong's question, both Jiao Fang and Zhang Cai lowered their heads, but Wang Shouren straightened his chest and said, "My lord, now Nanyang has been set up, and most of the three major fleets have been formed. Time will improve. With these three major fleets, I, Ming, have enough troops in Nanyang and other places. Even if the Portuguese come again, I am afraid they will only suffer worse defeat. In addition, Iwami and Edo in the Wa Kingdom have also been pacified. , There are endless wars within the Wa Kingdom, and no one has the guts to dare to fight against our Ming Dynasty, so the Governor-General does not have to worry about safety issues in the layout of the Wa Kingdom."

When I said this, I saw Wang Shouren took a long breath, and then said with a serious face: "In other words, my Ming Dynasty's overseas layout has almost been completed, and it will take time to digest it slowly. Come on, the position of Governor of the Four Seas does not require you to sit in person, so the officials think that you should plan to take up an official position in the capital!"

After hearing Wang Shouren's words, Zhou Zhong was taken aback at first, and then he understood why Jiao Fang and Zhang Cai were unwilling to talk about it just now. After all, it was Zhou Zhong who built the Governor's Mansion of the Four Seas into what it is now. , and Zhou Zhong's power also comes from the Governor's Mansion, coupled with his influence on the sea, it can be said that as long as Zhou Zhong holds the post of Governor of the Four Seas, then he is equivalent to the King of the Sea, and even the imperial court takes He has no choice, so it can be inferred from common sense that Zhou Zhong will definitely not be willing to give up the position of governor. After all, even if he goes to the capital to be the chief assistant of the cabinet, he is not as comfortable as the governor of the world.

It is precisely because of this that although Jiao Fang and Zhang Cai both thought of transferring Zhou Zhong to the capital, they refused to speak up, because in their view, Zhou Zhong would never agree to this matter anyway, after all, no one He will give up his hard-earned foundation. Now Zhou wants money and people, but if he gives up the position of governor and takes a post in the capital, it is equivalent to all his previous efforts to make wedding dresses for others.

However, compared to Jiao Fang and Zhang Cai, Wang Shouren doesn't have so many scruples, because in his opinion, Zhou Zhong is not a person who cares about power and power, and even Wang Shouren feels that Zhou Zhong doesn't seem to care about fame and fortune, but only cares about money in his heart. The people of Ming Dynasty are involved, so they have worked so hard to deploy overseas, in order to solve the current predicament of Ming Dynasty.In addition, Wang Shouren is an upright person, and he discusses things as they arise. He feels that all aspects of the Governor's Mansion are now on the right track, and Zhou Zhong's role in it is already very small. Instead of letting Zhou Zhong waste time continuing to serve as Governor, it is better to let Zhou Zhong Zhou Zhong tried to find a way to be transferred to the capital, so he might be able to make greater contributions to Daming.

I saw that Zhou Zhong fell silent after listening to Wang Shouren's words. He was not reluctant to be the governor of the world, but he was considering his own identity. After all, he was not an ordinary official, but Zhengde's younger brother. He continued to serve as the Governor of the Four Seas because he was persuaded by Zhou Zhong, and he felt that instead of restoring Zhou Zhong to his original status, he should continue to do something for Ming as the Governor of the Four Seas, and transfer some of the crises that occurred within Daming to overseas. go.

Now Zhou Zhong, the governor of the world, has done everything he can do. Naturally, people like Wang Shouren will deal with his usual official duties, and there is no need for him to come forward in person. This is why he has been relatively leisurely during this period of time.In other words, Zhou Zhong has fulfilled his promise to Zhengde at the beginning, if he clings to the position of governor so tightly, it may arouse Zhengde's suspicion of him.

However, if Zhou Zhong gave up the position of Governor of the Four Seas and went to the capital, I am afraid that Zhengde will immediately announce his identity to the world, declare him the most honorable vassal king of the Ming Dynasty, and even directly designate Zhou Zhong's eldest son as the crown prince.It's just that according to the current rules of Ming Dynasty, all feudal lords can only stay in their own fiefs when they become adults, and they can't even leave the door without an imperial decree.

In this way, Zhou Zhong regained his original identity, but not only could he not stay in the capital, but at the same time he had to send his two-year-old son to the palace to be raised by Empress Dowager Zhang and the Empress Xia of Zhengde. I believe that Empress Dowager Zhang will love her grandson very much, but the imperial palace is the most filthy place in the world, and there are all kinds of intrigues and intrigues. Zhou Zhong is worried that his son will grow up in such a place, and his personality will be different. Distorted, maybe even have no chance to grow up, after all, the two daughters of Empress Dowager Zhang were assassinated by Zhou Hai, and even Zhou Zhong was stolen out of the palace, so from a father's point of view, Zhou Zhong In any case, he could not put his son in danger.