Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

It was late February, and the sky in the capital was still gloomy.

Although Cheng Si's case attracted widespread attention, as news came back that the Eastern Expeditionary Army had moved north from Shanhaiguan, many people's attention turned to this war.

To this day, because Confucianism has already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, it has also influenced the thinking of the Chinese army.

It's just that the overly benevolent Confucian method is destined to be difficult to commit evil acts such as robbery, so wars usually require the sacrifice of economic interests, making war in the Ming Dynasty a money-burning behavior.

"Although a country is large, if it is warlike, it will perish."

"This matter should be considered in the long term. Conquest is not the way to go to the country!"

“Now that the Great Wall is stable, wouldn’t it be wonderful to share the blessing of peace?”

…

For the scholar-bureaucrat class, even spending two million silver to strengthen the Great Wall was more cost-effective than spending two million military expeditions, but times were quietly changing after all.

"If you really think that Ming Dynasty is weak and can be bullied, why should you increase the rewards?"

"These Jurchens are greedy, and we, the Ming Dynasty, should punish them!"

"Even if the court wants to raise taxes for such a thing to show off the Ming Dynasty, I will accept it!"

"I heard that the Haixi Jurchens exchanged cotton cloth with us and always wanted to buy it by force. It's time to let them know how powerful the Ming army is!"

…

Faced with this military operation, more and more people in the capital not only did not feel war-weary, but showed great support and even sacrificed themselves.

From Zhao Laosi in the suburbs to Liu Ying and other common people in the city, there is now an unprecedented atmosphere of unity in Ming Dynasty. In particular, the combat effectiveness of the Ming Dynasty's army became more and more convincing, causing public opinion on the main battle to gradually gain the upper hand.

Although the army has moved north, this is an expeditionary battle, so it will take a long time for everyone to know the final results.

"A small tribe will succeed immediately!"

"I heard that they are fighting together with the Mongolian cavalry. There is no suspense in the war at all!"

"With the current strength of the Ming Dynasty's army, even taking down the entire Beiyuan is no problem!"

…

The Ming Dynasty has formulated the policy of strengthening the army in recent years, and there is "a wise king in the government and a strong general outside", which makes ordinary people have an optimistic attitude towards this war.

Originally, the scholar group was the main force of military public opinion in the capital, but the county examinations in Wanping and Daxing counties were held as scheduled, attracting most of the attention.

The imperial examination has always been a top priority in this era.

However, times are changing quietly after all. The civil examination is naturally the most important part of the imperial examination, but the military examination has also gradually emerged.

Not only the children of local military families can pass the martial arts examination to obtain the title of martial arts scholar, but also those who are naturally strong men or have excellent martial arts skills can also become martial arts students.

In February of the fourth year of Hongzhi, there was a large group of young people who wanted to stand out through civil or military examinations, and Yu Yuanzan, the top scholar in martial arts, and Lin Feiyang, the top student in martial arts, became role models for many young people.

Wangfu Street, Prince Consort's Mansion.

The capital is a gathering place for the royal family. Although the royal vassals have to be enfeoffed outside the country, the princesses are a special group and they often strive to stay in the capital.

Princesses are always mortal, and they often have concerns in the palace, so they naturally want to stay in the prosperous place of the capital, or else stay in the capital region, followed by staying in Beizhili, or even if it is not possible, they will go to the prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River. place.

A sedan entered the front yard from the middle door, and then walked out of the sedan a middle-aged woman with an average appearance, but her clothes showed her extraordinary status.

Princess Jiashan was the third daughter of Zhu Qizhen, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty. She had lived with Xianzong, the then prince, since she was a child, so she was loved by her eldest brother.

When she got married, Xianzong personally looked for a consort for Princess Jiashan, so that Princess Jiashan successfully stayed in the capital and became the highest-status imperial concubine.

Princess Jiashan is over forty years old. Although her appearance is not outstanding, she has fair skin and bright eyes. Unfortunately, her mouth is too big, so she was nicknamed "Big Mouth" when she was a child.

Just after coming out of the palace, he went directly to the Prince Consort's Mansion and brought some cakes from the palace.

A few years ago, when her mother-in-law was still there, she would always come home with a full meal, but unfortunately, we are now separated forever. But compared to other princes and princesses, she was already content.

"Ten thousand dollars worth of wine in a golden goblet, ten thousand dollars worth of treasures on a jade plate. Stopping the cup and throwing chopsticks, unable to eat. Drawing the sword and looking around with a confused mind... There will be times when the wind and waves break, and the cloud sails will be hung directly to help the sea."

A handsome middle-aged man was drinking in the flower pavilion, chanting poems and having fun. He held up the wine bottle and poured wine into his mouth, looking extremely chic and free.

Although he has entered middle age, he has thick eyebrows, big eyes, a standard Chinese character face, and a kind of confidence in his special eyes. He must have been a handsome boy when he was young.

This person is none other than Princess Jiashan's consort Wang Zeng.

Wang Zeng can be said to be the proud son of heaven. His grandfather was granted the title of Uncle Jingyuan for his meritorious service, and was later awarded the title of Minister of the Ministry of War during the Seizing of the Gate, making the palace one of the top dignitaries in the capital.

He is the direct second grandson of the Wang family. He has been very smart since he was a child. He achieved excellent results in the Imperial College in his early years and was regarded as the number one scholar by Meng Xian, the then Prime Minister of the Imperial College.

Originally, according to the Ming Dynasty royal family's criteria for selecting a son-in-law, Wang Zeng, an earl of the orthodox lineage, could not be chosen, but it was also a mistake to be outstanding.

As fate would have it, when Wang Zeng easily gained the title of a member of the imperial family, his talent and appearance were noticed by the royal family, who then decided to recruit him as their consort.

Wang Zeng is both a winner and a loser in life. Although he has lived a life of a prince-consort with no worries about food and clothing, he is destined to be unable to display his talents in this life.

Now more than twenty years have passed. Although Wang Zeng was not destined for an official career, he was active in the literary world, causing many people in the capital to know that there was a talented consort.

"Consort, this poem you recited is so good!" Princess Jiashan knew that her consort was the most outstanding man in the world, so she praised the poem flatteringly.

Wang Zeng's eyes flashed with contempt, but he had no intention of explaining the beautiful misunderstanding: "How about entering the palace today?"

"I..." Princess Jiashan never had the airs of a young master, so she prepared to report the situation as usual.

Wang Zeng handed the wine bottle to the maid next to him and emphasized with dissatisfaction: "There are no outsiders here!"

"Yes, the slave family went to Renshou Palace and met the Queen Mother. They were invited to play a game of mahjong with her. From their mouths, they learned that the emperor's poetry talent was actually very good. He and his husband were both talented! Especially the poem 'Stanza after verse' There are thousands of branches gathering thousands of leaves. I don't bloom, so I don't tease bees and butterflies. It's so wonderful!" Princess Jiashan glanced at the two maids present, then changed her name and told what she had seen and heard in the palace.

Although she is not close to the current emperor, she has always been proud of her royal blood and is very concerned about her nephew.

She has always felt that she is not good at reading and is not good enough for her husband. The reason is that her blood has no talent for reading.

Now that I unexpectedly learned that the royal bloodline produced an outstandingly talented emperor, and that he was also his own nephew, I couldn't be more happy. It's not that my royal bloodline doesn't have "talent", it's just that I don't have talent.

"You know poetry better than me?" Wang Zeng pretended to be calm when he heard this sentence, and then commented with disdain: "This kind of poetry is mediocre. It's okay to deceive a novice like you who doesn't understand poetry, but in this world In the eyes of famous poets, this kind of poetry only makes sense, but in fact it makes no sense!"

This has been the case in poetry from ancient times to the present, with human words accounting for a lot of weight. No matter how ordinary a poem is, if everyone from all walks of life praises it, it is still a masterpiece of the world.

As for the emperor's frightening and peerless poem, as long as everyone in this group of poems unanimously slams it, it is also a nonsense limerick.

"It's just that everyone said that the emperor's poems are good, and the poem he wrote earlier, 'Falling red is not a heartless thing, it turns into spring mud to protect flowers.' I heard it is the motto of the new sergeant now!" Princess Jiashan looked cautious when she thought of the scene in Renshou Palace. typical.

Wang Zeng immediately cast a stern look at Princess Jiashan and asked like an expert: "Who do you think understands poetry better than me in this world?"

The two personal maids seemed to feel Wang Zeng's anger, and they looked at Princess Jiashan with dissatisfaction. They also didn't understand how the always obedient Princess Jiashan had the confidence to question.

"Of course it's the prince-in-law who talks about poetry. It's my fault!" Princess Jiashan always felt that the people around her were right. In fact, she had delayed the prince-in-law's talent and learning, so she took the initiative to admit her mistake.

Wang Zeng opened his mouth and ate the pork belly brought by another maid. He was very satisfied with Princess Jiashan's transformation and found that everything was under his control: "Is there any explanation from Concubine Shao?"

"She gave this letter!" Jiashan seemed to have thought of something and immediately took out a letter from his body.

When Wang Zeng saw the letter delivered to him, he looked into Princess Jiashan's eyes and asked, "You didn't open it, did you?"

"The servants don't dare!" Princess Jiashan never dared to pry into Wang Zeng's affairs. She also knew that Wang Zeng was secretly helping their royal family, so she immediately shook her head seriously and said.

Wang Zeng reached out and took the letter, knowing that Princess Jiashan did not dare to deceive him: "You go down first!"

He despises this stupid woman from the bottom of his heart. If he were not born into an imperial family, let alone marrying this woman, he would not even look at her seriously.

Nowadays, this stupid woman has been subdued by herself, and she will obey the arrangements unconditionally in whatever she tells her.

"Please leave first!" Princess Jiashan gave a bow, then turned around and left silently.

As for the accompanying eunuchs and maids from the Princess's Palace, they have already received money from the Prince Consort's Palace. Regardless of whether they always turn a blind eye to things, they will not appear here to perform surveillance duties at all.

"Sir, what does the letter say?" Queen Qiong, Wang Zeng's number one confidant, asked after seeing Princess Jiashan leaving.

Wang Zeng had already read the content of the letter, but he sighed and said: "This Concubine Shao is a smart person and a woman with secrets, so naturally she won't say anything!"

"Then..." Queen Queen Qiong's eyes widened and she seemed at a loss as she said.

Wang Zeng handed the letter to a maid behind him for safekeeping, and then changed the topic: "Go to Uncle Jingyuan's mansion immediately and ask Uncle Jingyuan to make an appointment with the British Crown Prince tomorrow!"

His status is very special. He is not only the consort of the current dynasty, but also the uncle of the current Uncle Jing Yuan.

If he hadn't been born two years later, the current Earl of Jingyuan would not be his nephew, but himself. But now it's not too bad, relying on the identity of the consort to weave a network of Qi Xun's relationships, and using Jingyuan Bo's Mansion to contact the Wu Xun Group in Beijing.

In the entire capital, when it comes to the complexity of the relationship network, I am already considered to be one of the top people.

At this time, a middle-aged man who looked like a butler came in a hurry and whispered something into Wang Zeng's ear.

Wang Zeng's face looked slightly cold, but he got up and left immediately.

He walked into the study next to him, but there was a mechanism in the study. Opening the mechanism revealed a secret room, and there was a secret passage inside the secret room.

Everyone has a dark secret, and Wang Zeng is a man with a big secret.

Wang Zeng came to the end of the secret passage and saw another secret room in front of him. In the center of the secret room hung a set of black robes and a mask that symbolized his special identity.

At this moment, he had left the Prince Consort's Mansion and arrived at the most secret base belonging to their organization. The level was far higher than that of Dashi Yongfang.

Wang Zeng put on this black robe that represented another identity, and after putting on a ferocious ghost-headed mask, he came to the living room of this house.

"I've seen the robe head!" The personnel responsible for guarding the base here were waiting here and said respectfully when Wang Zeng appeared.

No one thought that the leader of the most mysterious organization hidden in the capital turned out to be the prince-in-law Wang Zeng, a frustrated man who in the eyes of outsiders only knew how to live in a drunken life and dream about death.

Wang Zeng came to the first seat and sat down. He turned to look at Cheng Minzheng, the minister of Taichang Temple who was also wearing a black robe: "Master Cheng, you are so anxious to see me, but because of Cheng Si's matter?"

"Soujie, we don't speak secretly! If you dare to touch my son, we will kill you!" Cheng Minzheng threatened the leader of the organization who appeared.

Wang Zeng knew that Cheng Minzheng in front of him wanted to keep his son, so he asked seriously: "If I don't take action, do you think you can fish Cheng Si out of Shuntian Mansion Office?"

"This case already has no evidence, so why not?" Although Cheng Minzheng knew that Song Cheng was good at trying cases, he expressed his position very confidently.

Wang Zeng sighed secretly, and immediately revealed: "Why do you think the emperor asked the Shuntian government office to arrest Cheng Si? Now things have changed. Wang Shouren and the other three are not dead at all. They will be able to arrive in Beijing smoothly in the near future. Your son Cheng Si This time there is no escape. You should not come to threaten me now, but should come and beg me to save your son. I am the only one who can save your son's life today!"

"You...what are you talking about? Wang Shouren and the three are not dead? Cheng Minzheng seemed to have been pierced by thousands of arrows, looking at Wang Zeng in disbelief for proof.

Wang Zeng took the tea cup brought by the butler and asked confidently: "When did my news go wrong? Last time, my news about smallpox was not timely. You are afraid that you, along with Ma Wensheng and others, would have been infected with smallpox and died." , where is the scenery like today?”

I'm back!