Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 117 Getting in touch
"Brother-in-law!" Zhu Shenzhui was instantly delighted when he saw Zhou Anmin.

Zhou Anmin was exhausted and had an unconcealable look of fatigue on his face, but he was in good spirits.

He quickly welcomed Zhou Anmin in. After meeting Zhang and Qiao'er, Zhu Shenzhui took Zhou Anmin to his room, brewed a pot of tea, and asked Zhou Anmin to have a sip of tea and take a rest first.

"Brother-in-law, how did that matter go?" After Zhou Anmin drank a cup of tea, Zhu Shenzhui picked up the teapot to refill his cup, and at the same time couldn't help asking again.

"It went fairly smoothly. We've basically gotten things done." Zhou Anmin smiled lightheartedly. As soon as he said this, Zhu Shenzhui felt relieved.

Then, Zhu Shenzhui asked Zhou Anmin about his trip this time. Zhou Anmin told Zhu Shenzhui that after returning to Pingshun, he went to the Jinyiwei’s base, first asked someone for some information, and then quietly went to Northern Zhili alone.

After arriving in Northern Zhili, he went to Dingxing County first according to the information he had obtained from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and found Ke's family there without much effort.

Ke Shi was the wife of Hou Er of Dingxing County. Her real name was Ke Baba. She and Hou Er had a son, Hou Guoxing. In addition, Ke Shi had a younger brother, Ke Guangxian. Both of them lived in Dingxing County and were ordinary farmers.

Hou Er had passed away long ago, and Hou Guoxing had been living with his uncle Ke Guangxian, and the family made a living by farming. Life at home was not very good, just an ordinary farming family. Moreover, due to frequent natural disasters in northern Zhili in recent years, the output of farming could not support the family at all, and they barely survived by relying on loans.

Although Keshi was the emperor's wet nurse, Emperor Tianqi ascended the throne too suddenly. Although Keshi was favored by Tianqi as the emperor's wet nurse, her status in the palace was not high. In addition, she had been away from home for many years and had not had time to take care of her relatives in her hometown.

Keshi's son and brother were living a very hard life. When Zhou Anmin found them, they were almost unable to eat and were heavily in debt.

Zhou Anmin approached them in the name of Ke Shi and as a Jinyiwei. It was easy to fool these two people. They were just ordinary farmers and had no knowledge. It didn't take much effort to gain their trust.

A few days after Zhou Anmin met them, he took the initiative to help them pay off their debts, and also gave them money to buy some land. He helped them take care of everything, and soon their lives changed dramatically. In addition, Zhou Anmin also helped Keshi's son Hou Guoxing find a wife in Dingxing, which made the two of them very grateful.

After deliberately making friends with each other, the two naturally regarded Zhou Anmin as their benefactor and were extremely grateful to him.

He stayed in Keshi's hometown for more than half a month, during which time he treated Hou Guoxing as uncle and nephew, and was as close to Ke Guangxian as a brother. After settling Keshi's family, Zhou Anmin took the initiative to say goodbye. When leaving, he did not mention any conditions, and said that he would visit them again when he had time in the future.

Zhou Anmin said goodbye to them reluctantly as they were filled with gratitude. After leaving Dingxing, Zhou Anmin rushed to nearby Suning, where he found Wei Zhongxian's elder brother Wei Zhao and his nephew Wei Liangqing's family.

Just like in Dingxing, Zhou Anmin repeated what he had done before and easily won the trust of Wei Zhao and Wei Liangqing, father and son.

I helped Wei Zhao and Wei Liangqing, father and son, to set up business in their hometown. I was busy with the management for quite some time, and the relationship between the two sides became closer and closer.

When Zhou Anmin finished all these and was ready to leave Suning, he and Wei Liangqing had become so close that they were almost wearing the same pants. When drinking before leaving, Zhou Anmin deliberately mentioned his uncle, saying that his uncle Wei Zhongxian had now been favored by the emperor and had become the chief eunuch in the palace.

Upon hearing the news, Wei Liangqing immediately thought of going to the capital to seek refuge with his uncle. Zhou Anmin agreed to this and took out money to help him with his travel expenses and expenses in the capital. This move made Wei Liangqing very grateful to Zhou Anmin. After that, Zhou Anmin personally brought Wei Liangqing to the capital and helped him settle down there. He did not leave until he had used his connections to get Wei Liangqing in touch with Wei Zhongxian.

After doing all this, Zhou Anmin set off to return to Shanxi. After entering Shanxi, Zhou Anmin did not even have time to go home, but went directly to Pingyang to find Zhu Shenzhui.

"Brother, I am really impressed by you. How do you know this Li Jinzhong... No! How can Wei Zhongxian gain the trust of the emperor?" Zhou Anmin couldn't help but sigh.

"Brother-in-law, didn't I say this before? Wei Zhongxian was originally someone close to the emperor, and Keshi was the emperor's wet nurse. How could the new emperor not take care of the people around him when he ascended the throne? There is a saying that if one person becomes enlightened, everyone around him will benefit. Isn't this obvious?"

"Hahaha, that makes sense!" Zhou Anmin laughed, and couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't know until I arrived in the capital that Eunuch Wei Zhongxian had become the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, and the emperor was extremely fond of his wet nurse, Ke Shi. This move was made in a second, thanks to me, and it was finally right. If there are no accidents, it won't be long before our good days come."

"Brother-in-law, what are you talking about? You and I are a family, and as the saying goes, we shouldn't have different opinions. If you are well, it means I am also well, right? Besides, even if I came up with the idea, it was you, brother-in-law, who did it. If it weren't for your carefulness and experience, there wouldn't be this result now." Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile.

Zhu Shenzhui's words were not a compliment, he had never thought that Zhou Anmin could do this so well. Although Zhou Anmin only paid for the Hakka and Wei families without asking for any conditions, it seemed that he was at a disadvantage on the surface, but in fact, this was Zhou Anmin's cleverness.

By doing this, Zhou Anmin could leave a deep impression on the other party. In addition, he now has a very good relationship with both families, and they have become each other's benefactors and call each other brothers.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that what he did was a timely help. Even when Keshi and Wei Zhongxian found out about this later, they knew in their hearts that Zhou Anmin did this only to show goodwill to them in order to get something in return, and they would not be unhappy about it.

After all, Zhou Anmin never put forward any requirements or conditions. In addition, when he did this, Wei Zhongxian had not yet entered the Imperial Household Department, and even outsiders did not know much about Keshi, the emperor's wet nurse. Such a clever and intelligent person would not turn a blind eye no matter from which perspective. It is also human nature for him to give some appropriate help and reasonable rewards.

However, Zhu Shenzhu was a little surprised that Zhou Anmin helped Keshi's son to find a wife. Thinking about it carefully, it might be that Zhou Anmin got the inspiration from his sister Zhu Xiuer. Didn't Zhu Xiuer arrange her own marriage before? Hou Guoxing was not much older than Tianqi, and at this age, he should get married.

After asking tentatively, Zhou Anmin found out that Ke Guangxian and Hou Guoxing, uncle and nephew, had no objection, so he helped him make the arrangements. This made the relationship between the two sides closer, which was an unexpected surprise.

The task was accomplished, and it went more smoothly than expected. Even the silver that Zhu Shencui had given to Zhou Anmin was not spent. Zhou Anmin took out the remaining more than 100 taels of silver and said he would return it to Zhu Shencui, but was rejected by Zhu Shencui.

Zhu Shenzhui not only refused, but also told him to keep the silver with him for the time being, and not to stay in Pingshun for too long this time. He should take a day off today and return to Pingshun as soon as possible tomorrow. When he returned, Zhu Shenzhui would give him some more silver and keep it together with the remaining silver. If nothing unexpected happened, Zhou Anmin would receive good news, and the silver would be put to good use.

"Little brother, this amount of silver is not a small amount, you..."

"What's silver? Silver is a bastard. If you lose it, go earn it again!" Zhu Shenzhui said proudly, "Brother-in-law, don't worry. As long as we can get things done properly, it's worth spending any amount of silver. To be honest, the merchant caravan just came back from the north a few days ago. We made a lot of money on the grassland this time. When you get promoted, you will have no shortage of silver!"

"Okay!" Zhu Shenzhui's words aroused Zhou Anmin's confidence. He nodded vigorously and agreed. Thinking of the possible results, Zhou Anmin couldn't help but laugh with Zhu Shenzhui.

Zhou Anmin stayed in Pingyang for only one day. On the second day, he returned directly to Pingshun with the money that Zhu Shencui helped him raise.

After Zhou Anmin left, Zhu Shenzhui felt relieved. Now he had done everything he could, and all he had to do next was to wait patiently.

Although he didn't know how Wei Zhongxian and Keshi would reward Zhou Anmin, and whether he could achieve his goal, Zhou Anmin had no worries in the next few years after he established this connection. As the saying goes, Qin Hui also had a few good friends, not to mention Wei Zhongxian and Keshi.

Moreover, the way people in this era repay favors is far from what it would be in later generations. Regardless of whether they are good or bad, it is human nature to repay favors. If you don't even care about the favors you received when you were down and out, how can you convince the public? Even people like Wei Zhongxian and Keshi were like this.

Besides, Zhu Shencui and Zhou Anmin had said that if one person succeeds, everyone will benefit. Even if Wei Zhongxian and Keshi did not take action personally, it would be enough for their relatives to take care of them. Zhu Shencui knew that Wei Zhongxian's nephew Wei Liangqing later rose to prominence and became an earl, and later a duke. With such a backer, what could he not accomplish?
After settling down, Zhu Shenzhui was in a good mood. In the following days, after finishing his business, he made a special trip to Wangjia Village.

When they arrived at Wangjia Village, Zhu Shenzui found his uncle Wang Rong. The two of them closed the door and discussed for a long time. After the conversation, both uncle and nephew showed relief and joy on their faces.

I took some time to go to Zhao Da's blacksmith shop. When Zhao Da saw Zhu Shenzhui coming, he immediately stopped his work.

"Sixth Master, I haven't seen you for a long time."

"Haha, wasn't there a national mourning before? I couldn't leave Pingyang for a while, but now it's finally over." Zhu Shenzhui said this with a smile, and then asked Zhao Da: "Uncle Zhao, how was the previous work?"

"I was just about to tell you about this. Please come in and have some water first?" Zhao said with a laugh. His son Shitou also grinned at Zhu Shenzhui. This time, he didn't need his father to remind him and quickly went to get some tea.

After entering the shop and sitting down, Shitou brought up some tea. Zhao Da sent his son out and asked him to guard outside the shop.

After Shi Tou went out, Zhao Da went inside and came back a moment later with five finished muskets.

(End of this chapter)