Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 419: Overdoing Things Can Backfire
If it weren't for the introduction by Shopkeeper Hua, Zhang Shou would have found it hard to believe that the man he called Mr. Hua Si was actually a young man under 30, with no hair on his face and a slight beard. You know, in this day and age, whether in government or business, old people are more trustworthy than young people, so young men are busy growing beards, as if growing a beard makes them look older and more dignified.
Therefore, it is extremely rare to find a man who is over thirty and still has a fair complexion and no beard, because in that case, even if he wears an official hat and robes, he will not look like an official in the eyes of outsiders… As for what he looks like, please tell me about Chu Kuan, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department who is over forty but still has a fair complexion and no beard?
Zhang Shou, who is now an official at the age of not even having his hair cut off, has no intention of growing a beard to look old. He intends to continue to look young! So when he sees a man who is at least seven or eight years older than him, or even ten years older, but still has smooth hair above his lips and chin, he naturally feels very special. However, he forgets that he is even more special in the eyes of others.
After receiving the letter from Manager Hua, Fourth Master Hua sent someone to deliver the letter as fast as possible, and at the same time sent someone to Suzhou to gather the stewards of his family and other wealthy merchants, and then he immediately set off from Huai'an to the north by boat. In his opinion, if he could meet Zhang Shou in Cangzhou, that would be the best, but if he was called back to Beijing, he could always find a way to meet him to negotiate when he arrived in Beijing.
However, even though he had prepared himself mentally, he did not expect such a coincidence to happen today. Seeing such a handsome young man with outstanding manners who even a young man like him would be jealous of, he still felt that the twenty years or so that he had always been proud of had been wasted.
Therefore, after the greetings, he smiled and started the conversation with this: "Dr. Zhang, don't look at my young age. I am the eldest grandson of the family. So since I was five years old, my grandfather has brought me with him to meet guests, check accounts, and hold negotiations... I have been influenced by this since I was a child. So after my father passed away early, I was able to take charge of the family business at a young age thanks to the trust of the old grandfather."
"In fact, the so-called Fourth Master is not quite accurate, but since I am already the head of the family, it is not appropriate for people to call me Young Master. My Fourth Uncle cannot overshadow me as the head of the family, so everyone calls me that. Dr. Zhang, if you like, you can call me Hua Si or Ah Si, that's what my grandfather called me."
Shopkeeper Hua knew that the Fourth Master, the head of his family, could be said to have many faces, arrogant, gentle, rude or fierce. As long as he wanted, he could show any face. But this was the first time he had seen such a humble Fourth Master. Although he was the uncle in terms of seniority, he did not dare to act like an elder in front of the heir that the old man had devoted himself to teaching, so he simply avoided him.
God knows whether the Fourth Master would forget his contributions and even feel jealous and resentful because he was seen pretending to be a grandson by the emperor?
Zhang Shou was used to seeing people who pretended to be a grandson first and then turned against him, so he treated Hua Siye's face as normal.
Shopkeeper Hua left, but he did not let Ah Liu leave. Instead, he said with a smile, "Master Hua, you are too polite. You are older than me, and you are also much more experienced than me. Although you are the host and I am the guest today, it is said that the guest should follow the host's wishes, but not everything can be done casually."
Fourth Master Hua smiled disapprovingly and said, "Dr. Zhang, if what you discussed with my Nineteenth Uncle can be accomplished, I don't know how many merchants in Suzhou will be grateful. To put it more bluntly, I regard you as my bread and butter, which is too light. I wish I could worship you in the shrine and burn three incense sticks every day, just like offering you to the God of Wealth. Merchants value profit, that's how practical it is."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but smile when he heard Fourth Master Hua say that he was practical but also said it in a humorous way. He chatted with the man for a while, and seeing that the man was calmly saying very nice compliments, he simply broke the window paper directly.
"Now that I have left Cangzhou, I can no longer care about Cangzhou's affairs. If Fourth Master Hua wants to make plans, he should either try to find a way in the court or go to my future brother-in-law to negotiate. But I am the wrong person to come to."
Without waiting for Mr. Hua Si to reply, he smiled and said, "I am only in charge of my little piece of land in the Imperial College this time. I am really powerless to do anything else."
Fourth Master Hua had not expected Zhang Shou to be so straightforward and after a slight pause, he simply went straight to the point and said, "Doctor Zhang, are you really going to ignore the great situation you have created in Cangzhou? You know, no matter which dynasty or generation, in the court, the emperor has his own ministers, and in the local area, the government is closed when the people leave. I don't know how much effort your husband and uncle have put into Cangzhou. Are you really going to just throw it away like that?"
"Haha." Zhang Shou smiled casually, and then said lightly, "Mr. Hua, what you said is indeed similar to what the eunuch Lu from the Ministry of Ceremonies who came to Cangzhou before said."
Of course, Zhang Shou would not elaborate on what Lu Chan said, but he was very sure that in addition to lobbying him and Zhu Tingfang, Chu Kuan, the head of the Imperial Household Department who was obviously fond of stirring up trouble, would not ignore the previous actions of the Su Gang officials to overthrow Jiang, and might have already prepared to contact Suzhou businessmen like the Hua family.
Therefore, when he saw Fourth Master Hua's eyes light up, he said slowly, "However, due to the old system of Emperor Taizu, eunuchs are not allowed to enter the palace because they are harmful to the harmony of nature. Therefore, there have always been few eunuchs in the palace. Even if the Imperial Household Department has some plans, they are always by the emperor's side, so they are close to the emperor and have the upper hand. However, the ideas of some officials in the court have always been deeply rooted, and if they are not careful, it is easy to backfire."
Mr. Hua Si, who had been planning to take an unconventional approach, suddenly had an idea. Since Emperor Taizu disdained to use eunuchs, the civil officials in the court were overjoyed and had been working together to suppress the number of eunuchs, fearing that they would become powerful. If he really colluded with the eunuchs, if they spread the news in order to drag them on that boat, it would be too late for him to get off the boat.
Moreover, what kind of people are eunuchs? Look at the Ten Attendants at the end of the Han Dynasty, the eunuchs who deposed and enthroned emperors in the Tang Dynasty, and the Liang Shicheng and Tong Guan who took advantage of the emperor's power to run rampant during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song. This is enough to make people wary.
If we want to open a port, we have to find an ancestor above our heads... no, a bunch of ancestors. Wouldn't that be frustrating?
The message he wanted to convey had already been delivered, so Zhang Shou naturally had no intention of staying any longer - he had indeed put a lot of effort into the affairs of Cangzhou, but that did not mean he had to be involved in person, so he stood up and said goodbye after saying that.
Seeing that Fourth Master Hua had sent him out with a smile and without any grudge, he was naturally polite when he said goodbye to the young head of the family at the door. As for those people peeping at the Yangzhou Guild Hall across the street, he just pretended not to see them. It was not until he got on his horse and turned back and entered the Chongwen Gate of the inner city that he suddenly asked Ah Shou, "Did you bring me to the Yangzhou Guild Hall on purpose?"
"I just know that it tastes good." Ah Liu answered easily, but after riding his horse and following Zhang Shoufu for a few more steps, he continued, "Of course, I also remember that it was right opposite the Suzhou Guild Hall."
Zhang Shou suddenly turned around, pointed at the seemingly honest and dull Ah Liu, and scolded him with a smile: "When you cheat people, it's really hard to guard against you! You're so smart. If Manager Hua knew that he fell into your trap, he would definitely be so angry that his eyes would pop out."
Ah Liu nonchalantly pushed his horse's belly and took two more steps forward, only lagging behind Zhang Shou by half a horse's length. He then coughed dryly and said, "A red man becomes redder if he keeps company with a red man, and a black man becomes blacker if he keeps company with a black man. I learned this from you, young master."
Zhang Shou wanted to scold him, saying that he didn't learn good things but chose bad things, but he thought that was the same as scolding himself, so he could only shake his head and sigh that such a simple and honest boy had turned black. But as he continued to move forward, he couldn't help but curl up his lips as he rode his horse in front. He was actually in a good mood, but he still warned, "Don't try to be clever next time, or you may end up making things worse!"
In a place like the capital, it is better to be a little treacherous than to be too honest. He has always felt that people like Ah Liu who are taciturn are the most worrying. Now, he doesn't have to worry about Ah Liu being too honest and loyal... He might as well worry about those self-satisfied victims who will run into this kid's gun in the future. He can fight and cheat people, which is really amazing!
When Zhang Shou dismounted at the gate of Zhang Garden, he saw two figures rushing out and finally grabbing the reins he had dropped. Seeing that it was Old Liu and Lame Anlu staring at each other, the latter quickly stepped aside without saying a word and turned to lead Ah Liu's horse. Only then did his expression ease a little. He thought that these two were not so competitive that they would mess up things.
Immediately afterwards , the always talkative Old Liu said first: "Master, Miss Zhu and her wife went to worship Buddha."
Does Zhu Ying like to worship Buddha? Zhang Shou thought that a Buddhist temple was not suitable for her at all. But when he thought about how she liked to chant Amitabha Buddha or even the mother of all gods and Buddhas when she was anxious, he understood that Zhu Ying might have made this trip just to accompany Wu. And considering Wu's request yesterday, the two of them might have gone to perform a ritual for the deceased Mr. Zhang and his wife.
He was just blaming himself when Ah Liu's voice came from behind him: "Does the young lady always come here?"
Old Liu and Ah Liu have been together for so many years that he knew what he meant. He immediately laughed and said, "She came here every day in the first few days the imperial physician went to the Duke of Zhao's mansion, so she can't come anymore. But Madam Zhao came here often."
Upon learning that Jiu Niang also often came to see Wu, Zhang Shou did not think it was strange that the Lady of Zhao condescended to her. After all, she was straightforward and willful. He had no intention of continuing to talk in front of the door, so he hurried inside.
But he happened to hear that Ah Liu seemed to be addicted to talking to Old Liu, and he actually asked how many times Lu Sanlang had come here on behalf of the Jiuzhang Hall students, how many times Ji Jiu had come here on behalf of the Banshan Hall First Hall students... He even asked about the third son of the Earl of Xiangyang, the big guy from the Zhang family. Old Liu also spoke very convincingly, claiming that everyone had come at least three times.
Of course, it was impossible for Wu to act like a great master when meeting these people. She just ordered people to come out to express her gratitude, accept gifts and return gifts, and then let them go back. The only time Lu Sanlang and Zhu Ying met each other was the time when Wu met them both.
Just when Zhang Shou was beginning to have doubts, Old Liu, who had brought Ah Liu with him, broke another piece of news to him: "From what I heard from afar, it seems that it was Lu Sanlang who instigated the eldest lady to deal with Lord Jiang."
"I swear to God, I really didn't instigate this. I just happened to come to see the Grandmaster's grandmother, and then I ran into the Young Master's wife here. I just tipped her off that Old Man Jiang had bad intentions...but I didn't know she would force herself on me. I was so scared that I even brought you up, saying that you definitely didn't want us to act rashly, but I couldn't stop her!"
"I deliberately sent someone to follow her, and then ran to the Duke of Zhao's mansion to find Madam Zhao to tip off... Who knew that Madam Zhao said it was okay and that the matter could be covered up? But even so, I still chased her to Tianxia Taiping Tower, and saw with my own eyes that she was so powerful that she silenced those scholars... I am really more wronged than Dou E!"
When he came here in the evening and was questioned by Zhang Shouyi, Lu Sanlang looked so aggrieved that he was about to cry.
When he came at night, he brought four strong followers with him, and they worked together to move two large boxes from the carriage, which were full of Jiuzhangtang homework. Moreover, he personally piled them on Zhang Shou's desk, and marked the date and type of each one, just like the world's number one substitute teacher .
However, Zhang Shou knew what kind of person Lu Sanlang was. Seeing that he was about to cry out in injustice, he smiled and said, "Oh, then it seems that I have wronged you. But you called me "Little Master's Wife" so clearly that even if you really did something, Yingying would not have the heart to blame you...even if she knew that you went to betray her to her mother."
Lu Sanlang shuddered suddenly. God knows Zhu Ying's temper. It would be better for him not to bet on this possibility!
So, without even thinking about it, he immediately backed down and honestly confessed all the conversations he had when he met Zhu Ying here. As for how he could remember all these details clearly... Don't underestimate the memory of a science nerd or a business genius!
Zhang Shou was originally just wondering why Zhu Ying suddenly exploded. Now that the missing link was filled in, although he was both angry and amused, he couldn't help but sigh that he really had no shortage of talents on his side.
There is Lu Sanlang who stabbed people in the back, Zhu Ying who confronted people in person, Zhang Chen who was good at acting, and Ah Liu who was good at playing dumb. In addition, there were a bunch of talents of all kinds. How could someone like him who started from nothing in such a big city have such a luxurious lineup? Speaking of which, he really gathered a bunch of talents that were once buried by accident!
Seeing Lu Sanlang looking at him pitifully, Zhang Shou smiled and said, "Well, since you have confessed everything after the interrogation, I will also make it clear to you that I will not hold you accountable for the past. Remember, this is because you have been conscientious in your duties in Jiuzhang Hall. Don't try to be clever all the time!"
Seeing the pass, Lu Sanlang was overjoyed. He quickly said a lot of good things about Zhu Ying. Seeing that Zhang Shou was just smiling but not saying anything, he quickly laughed and shut up, and then helped Zhang Shou look at the homework. Zhang Shou just took a general look and listened to Lu Sanlang's talk about everyone's acceptance ability and learning progress.
As he watched the assignments and listened to the progress, Zhang Shou also revealed a few things about the emperor's summons that day. As a result, Lu Sanlang, who had just been a little cautious, was extremely excited when he heard that Jiuzhangtang would be responsible for the internal treasury audit.
"Young sir, does the emperor really want to entrust such an important task to Jiuzhangtang? This is simply a godsend! As long as the news spreads, there will be no worries that people with mathematical talents will not try their best to come to us!"
