Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 323: Double act? Zheng Chen?
Although Zhu Er used the word "get lost", Lao Xianyu certainly didn't take it seriously. He immediately came forward with a smile, ignoring Zhu Er who was being pestered by Xiao Hua and begged for mercy, and went straight to Zhang Shou and Zhu Er. It was only after Zhu Tingfang arrived yesterday that he knew that the so-called Second Young Master of Qi was actually Second Young Master Zhu, the second son of Duke Zhao and one of the top noble children in the capital.
However, compared to Zhu Er, who looked like a decent person but actually spoke and acted sometimes stupidly and sometimes magically; compared to General Zhu Tingfang, the eldest son of Duke Zhao, who had an extraordinary status but a scar on his face made him look fierce; compared to the eldest prince who was called a prince but was hateful because of his indulgence in sensual pleasures and oppression of the people; he felt that the handsome young man in front of him was more extraordinary.
Moreover, he had already recognized the cold young man who had visited his shop before, and immediately asked with a smile: "Excuse me, young master, who are you..."
Although Zhu Er was getting annoyed by Xiao Huasheng's pestering, when he heard what Lao Xianyu said, he still said before Zhang Shou: "This is my brother-in-law..." But when he saw Zhang Shou's half-smile, he quickly changed his words: "This is my teacher, Doctor Zhang from the Imperial College. However, he is also my future brother-in-law!" He is already his brother-in-law, so how could Zhang Shou dare not admit it?
Not to mention that Xiao Huasheng immediately forgot to continue to beg Zhu Er to intercede, even Lao Xianyu was shocked. Zhu Er's teacher? And his future brother-in-law? This generation doesn't seem right! But thinking that royal marriages never care about generation, and the circle of noble children is also the same, Lao Xianyu still respects Zhang Shou.
Anyone who can become a doctor of the Imperial College at such a young age must be a very learned person!
So he immediately said politely: "Dr. Zhang, I'm sorry. Please come in... Uh, no, let's find a quiet place. There are too many salted and dried sea fish in my shop. The smell is too strong. I don't want to make a distinguished person like you sick!"
Zhang Shou only saw Zhu Er's eyebrows raised, with an annoyed expression on his face, as if he wanted to say - I often come to your place, why aren't you afraid of being irritated? He just pretended not to see Zhu Er's tangible resentment, and nodded slightly with a smile.
"I heard that in the past when the country was short of money and salt was sold exclusively, Emperor Taizu did not prohibit coastal fishermen from pickling and selling salted fish? So, this salted fish may taste a bit strong, but it was once genuine and affordable and benefited many people. It was truly a benevolent policy."
Hearing Zhang Shou actually mention the salt industry because of salted fish, and praising Taizu's benevolent governance, Old Salted Fish smiled so much that the wrinkles on his face seemed to stretch out - compared to the initial smile that seemed to be fake no matter how you looked at it, his smile at this time was obviously much more sincere, and the words he said were also filled with a bit of sigh and melancholy.
"Yes, many people couldn't afford salt at that time, but a salted fish was enough salt for an adult for several days... And Emperor Taizu said that the salt and iron monopoly was limited to a temporary period, and he really kept his word. It was abolished within a few years. If such a good emperor could live a hundred years, it would be great, and there would not be the turmoil and disputes that followed."
Zhu Er often talked about this topic with others when he was in the capital. Praising Emperor Taizu seemed to be the favorite thing for the sons of nobles, so he and Lao Xianyu had been quite speculative before. At this time, he agreed without hesitation: "That's right, if it weren't for the good foundation laid by Emperor Taizu, and several emperors later ruined the country like that, our Ming Dynasty would have perished long ago!"
"Although both Grandpa Yingzong and Grandpa Ruizong were strong men, it's a pity that Grandpa Yingzong didn't have a good son. Our Grandpa Ruizong was in power for too short a time! Grandpa Yingzong was in power for sixteen years and worked diligently. The Ming Dynasty was revived, otherwise it would not have been able to withstand the torment of his prodigal sons. The previous emperor, Grandpa Ruizong, was even stronger. He had a keen eye for talent and promoted a lot of talents, which is why we have the peaceful days today."
Among them was my father who had made great military achievements and was promoted!
Zhang Shou now knew that all of Yingzong's sons were gone, as most of them died fighting for the throne. The only surviving Prince He left behind a son, Prince Sihe . Prince Sihe had one legitimate son and two illegitimate sons. The most valued legitimate son, Zheng Huai'en, had now even lost his clan membership. Therefore, the decline of Yingzong's lineage was naturally imaginable.
In contrast, although only one of Ruizong's two sons survived, he had four sons. If the eldest and second sons were not good enough, there would be third and fourth sons. Moreover, the emperor was still young, and more princes might be born in the future. Even if we ignore this point, no one would worry about the Sihe prince who was as honest as a quail.
So, when he heard Zhu Eryu talking about Yingzong and Ruizong from Emperor Taizu, with a tone that sounded both regretful and complacent, he pretended to glance at Lao Xianyu casually. He saw that the old man's face looked normal, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and that smile seemed to carry a hint of indescribable weirdness.
So, his suspicion of the old man, which was already 70 to 80 percent, increased to 100 percent at this time.
When talking about Emperor Taizu, people have great respect and approval for him. However, when talking about the two emperors Yingzong and Ruizong, who are regarded as having great reputations by people today, people disagree. This old salted fish who seems to only know how to pickle fish definitely has something wrong!
Xiaohuasheng was very young and had little knowledge of the distant facts about emperors and generals. Moreover, he couldn't understand why Laoxianyu ignored Xian Yunhe's serious business and kept talking about other things. He couldn't help feeling anxious.
However, although he did not understand what kind of official this Dr. Zhang was, and why he was the teacher and brother-in-law of Mr. Zhu, he at least understood one thing: this handsome man with gentle and amiable manners might be more effective than Mr. Zhu!
So, without a second thought, he immediately abandoned Zhu Er, turned around and ran straight to Zhang Shou, gritted his teeth and knelt on the ground, wanting to hug that thigh. But as soon as he stretched out his hand, he found that there was suddenly nothing in front of him, and when he looked again, Zhang Shou had been dragged behind him by the cold boy next to him, and the cold boy was staring at him covetously.
At that moment, he, who had encountered a vicious dog before, even had an illusion that someone was weighing which side would be more delicious to bite him from.
Although he was trembling with fear, Peanut still tried his best to say, "Dr. Zhang, please save Uncle Yunhe! He is Uncle's nephew, and he was also forced into a desperate situation, so he called everyone together to do something! He said that he hoped the situation in Cangzhou could be reported to the emperor. He didn't want to rebel, he just beat the eldest prince because he hated him so much."
Zhang Shou was immediately shocked. The guy who led a group of unemployed workers and cotton farmers to revolt actually beat up the eldest prince? Zhu Yi and Zhu Tingfang had never mentioned it before! Did they think this matter was unimportant? I'm afraid not. The Zhu family probably thought that the man had done something too ruthless and hurt the reputation of the royal family, so they were probably having a headache...
Although Xiao Huasheng's voice was slightly trembling, he insisted on finishing what he had just said because he was not in front of Zhu Tingfang, who looked majestic. But he found that the cold boy in front of him had no intention of giving way, and Lao Xianyu did not say anything, and Zhang Shou was silent and did not express his opinion, so he could not help but gradually despair.
He didn't know how long it took before he heard Lao Xianyu sigh deeply: "I only have one sister and this one nephew, so of course I hope he can live well. But why didn't Yunhe discuss it with me before doing such a big thing? He should know that no matter what the reason is, this one thing he did is enough to make him lose his head several times! Hey, Xiaohuasheng, get up and don't embarrass me."
"I……"
Peanut's eyes suddenly turned red, but when he was about to wipe his tears, he saw a hand in front of him. He looked again and saw that it was the boy who he thought was very cold just now who reached out his hand to him. Although there was still no smile on his face, he couldn't help but feel that the other person was a little friendly. At this time, he heard another sentence.
"A Liu came to Cangzhou a few days ago. At that time, the houses of several textile workers were burned down. He happened to be passing by and rescued two of them, but he didn't expect that the situation would get worse later."
Seeing that Peanut looked up at him, Zhang Shou smiled at him and said, "A Liu may appear cold on the outside but is actually a warm-hearted person who is eager to help others. As for what you said, neither I nor Zhu Erlang can guarantee to help you. After all, a country has its own laws and a family has its own rules. But I can clearly say that if your Uncle Yunhe cannot escape the law, then neither can the eldest prince."
"Huh?"
This time, it was not only Lao Xianyu who was surprised, but also Zhu Er. Zhu Er could not help but shout: "Even if the emperor does not like the eldest prince very much, will he really punish him severely for what happened in Cangzhou?"
"Don't forget that the Second Prince has been caned twice from the end of last year to the beginning of this year." Zhang Shou smiled and held up two fingers, then said nonchalantly, "No punishment for officials, no courtesy for common people. Emperor Taizu once refuted this saying with 'Princes who break the law are guilty of the same crime as the people.' Previously, Zheng Huai'en, the son of Prince Sihe, was not only caned, but also had his clan membership removed."
Seeing that Xiao Huasheng was biting his lips in disapproval, he said calmly, "Nobles are different from commoners. If they are punished with corporal punishment, they will lose face. If they lose their clan membership, they will never have a chance to turn things around in their future. After all, even Shang Yang, because the crown prince broke the law, only punished the tutor. He was not as good as our Taizu."
Old Salted Fish immediately nodded and agreed, "Indeed, from ancient times to the present, no one has ever been convicted of a crime for bullying the common people. Even if they were convicted, it was only the servants who took the blame. Our dynasty's treatment of guilty princes is the most fair in history."
Peanut was curious about how the cold-blooded boy, Ah Liu, could save people and where the people he saved were. But when he heard what Lao Xianyu said, he was speechless. Uncle, who are you helping?
When Zhu Er looked at Zhang Shou and then at Lao Xianyu, he always had the illusion that the two were performing a double act.
Zhang Shou also felt that Lao Xianyu was a little too much, as if he knew his inclination and flattered him. So he decisively stopped the topic and said in a deep voice: "The previous drawing of the spinning machine was presented to the emperor by me, and the prototype was also made by me. The eldest prince came to Cangzhou because he took the initiative to promote it in Jiangnan. The emperor could not resist his entreaties and used Cangzhou as a test field."
These news were inside information that ordinary people like Old Salted Fish and Little Peanut could not get, and their faces were different for a moment. As for hating the maker of the machine, Old Salted Fish was old and experienced, so he would not be so extreme, while Little Peanut had a good impression of Zhang Shou because of his preconceived impression, and he was in a complicated mood at the moment, so when Old Salted Fish pulled him, he stopped talking.
"So when the emperor heard about the incident in Cangzhou, he was deeply distressed. He knew that other people might not be able to control the eldest prince, so he appointed General Mingwei." Zhang Shou never mentioned that this was his recommendation, and then he said lightly, "And because a loyal minister made a direct remonstrance to his face, pointing out that the eldest prince's crime was extremely serious, the emperor has promised to deal with it strictly according to the law and will not tolerate it."
A loyal minister directly rebuked the eldest prince for his crime? Wang Datou was not here, so who was so fierce? Zhu Er couldn't help but startled, and then he heard a crisp laugh. He subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a young man in a blue shirt riding a horse in front of him with a joyful face. At one glance, he couldn't help but cover his forehead.
Yingying, you're wearing men's clothes... You might as well just dress up normally! Think about your face, which is still radiant even without makeup. Even if you transform into a man, you will still attract countless eyes...
Zhang Shou just thought that Zhu Tingfang was furious because of Zhu Ying's boldness in proposing conditions, so Zhu Ying forced the emperor to promise to punish the eldest prince. He did not say it clearly, but used the word "loyal minister" vaguely. But he really did not expect that Zhu Ying, this "loyal minister", would not only come, but also come so quickly, and even follow him here miraculously!
So, before anyone came close, he glared at Ah Liu. You are usually very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, but once you meet Zhu Ying, you, the boy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, immediately become a traitor and help her with everything! Maybe it was Ah Liu who left the mark on the road!
Ah Liu still looked at Zhang Shou with innocent eyes. If I didn't show some favor to my fiancée, who was born in a noble family but had a good temper and good character, she would have run away long ago because of your cold face and strange temper! Besides, my current "salary"... that was also given by the Zhu family, and Madam Wu at home still relies on this money to support the family!
Zhu Ying didn't notice the looks from Zhang Shou and Ah Liu. She walked up briskly. She didn't reveal that the so-called loyal minister was herself. Instead, she coughed and said, "My family was worried, so I brought Zhu Hong and the others here. This way, we don't have to go to the Ruiqi Battalion every time we have something to do. Those soldiers are all very arrogant. My father and grandmother both say that Du Heng is not easy to deal with."
Ah Liu nodded immediately: "General Du has a strange temper."
Zhu Ying nodded repeatedly, and everyone else, including Zhang Shou, was sweating. You still say that he has a weird temper? Can he be as weird as you?
Seeing that Old Salted Fish and Little Peanut were constantly peeking at Zhu Ying, Zhang Shou could only hand them over to Zhu Er for the time being, and let the second brother explain to her the origins of the old and the young and some of the details. Then he said to Old Salted Fish as if nothing had happened: "How about this, you take me to see the workshop that uses the new textile machine. We can talk on the way."
He thought about it and finally explained Zhu Ying's identity: "This is the sister of General Mingwei and Zhu Erlang, the daughter of Duke Zhao, and my fiancée."
