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

Chapter 122 Kindness
When he called out "Uncle", Zhou Anmin felt a little lighter, and Wei Zhongxian's eyes softened as he looked at Zhou Anmin.

"Please sit down." Wei Zhongxian pointed to a chair beside him.

Zhou Anmin thanked Wei Zhongxian again and then sat down carefully. When sitting down, he did not dare to sit firmly on his buttocks, but only half of his buttocks were lifted up.

Seeing his posture, Wei Zhongxian felt better about Zhou Anmin.

After he took his seat, Wei Zhongxian told Zhou Anmin directly that his visit to the capital this time had nothing to do with the Ministry of War, but Wei Zhongxian wanted to meet him in private.

When Zhou Anmin came to the courtyard and saw the young eunuch guarding the gate, he knew it. Then, Wei Zhongxian asked Zhou Anmin about his situation, including his work as the postmaster in Pingshun and his position in the Jinyiwei. Zhou Anmin told them everything and did not dare to hide anything.

When asked about the eradication of the Wen Xiang Sect, Zhou Anmin basically told the truth except for concealing the situation of Zhu Shencui, including mobilizing the military households of Wangjia Village to assist in the name of Jinyiwei.

Wei Zhongxian was quite interested in this and asked a few questions in detail. Zhou Anmin told him vividly how he learned about the situation in Zhaowuling and how he found out about the abnormality of Jiang Shuishan and his gang, and then how he reported it to the Jinyiwei and how the Jinyiwei responded to him. He said that without the support of the Jinyiwei, he used his identity as a Jinyiwei to find help from Wangjia Village, where his wife's uncle's family lived, and dispatched the military households there to pretend to be people from Yangtoushan to sneak in. Then he took advantage of the unpreparedness and launched an attack, which caught Jiang Shuishan off guard.

In the battle of Zhaowu Village, Zhou Anmin paid a heavy price and finally killed Jiang Shuishan. Afterwards, he led his men to Zhaowuling without stopping and completely wiped out Jiang Shuishan's men in Zhaowuling.

Zhou Anmin was originally a post station chief, who was the director of a local guesthouse. The key to this job was to deal with all kinds of people, and to observe their expressions and their words and expressions. Zhou Anmin was absolutely good at it, not to mention his thick skin. It was common to encounter some difficult officials when working at a post station. If one could not bring himself to do so and could not speak well, he would not be able to do this job well.

Zhou Anmin has quite a talent as a storyteller. Not only does he tell the stories vividly, but he also captures the thrilling and climaxes just right.

Wei Zhongxian asked casually at first, but as Zhou Anmin continued to narrate, he was gradually attracted by the plot. As the story reached a climax, Wei Zhongxian's eyes lit up as he listened to the tense description of the scene under the sword. When he heard Zhou Anmin gesticulating with a knife to chop off Jiang Shuishan's head, and then holding the head in his hand, he shouted at Jiang Shuishan's group: "Here is your head! Why don't you surrender, you rebels!"

At this time, Wei Zhongxian felt that the blood in his body was boiling. He couldn't help but slap his thigh and shouted three good words in a row.

"I didn't expect you to have such ability?" After Zhou Anmin finished speaking, Wei Zhongxian couldn't help but praise him.

Zhou Anmin said modestly, "My nephew has been good at archery and horse riding since he was young, and his boxing skills are pretty good. But compared to my cousin Wang Jinwu, he is far behind. His skills are only this good in Wangjia Village. Even in the entire guard post, there are not many people who can compare with him."

Seeing Zhou Anmin giving a thumbs up, Wei Zhongxian couldn't help but sigh, "That's true. There are many heroes in the market, not to mention in the garrison. When I was young and hanging out in my hometown, I didn't care about my life when I fought. I'm not bragging. Three or five ordinary guys couldn't get close to me."

At this point, Wei Zhongxian looked nostalgic, as if recalling the time when he was a gangster in his hometown. He shook his head and sighed, "It's been so many years. I'm old now, and my skills are not as good as before."

"Uncle, what are you talking about? I see that you are still very impressive and dignified. Even though you are old, your foundation is definitely not bad. It's a pity that you don't have the opportunity to take action now. If you were there at that time, maybe you wouldn't have the chance to take Jiang Shuishan's head. I'm afraid it would have been taken away by your uncle."

"Hahaha! You little monkey, what you said sounds really nice. I like it, hahaha!" Wei Zhongxian burst into laughter. Although Zhou Anmin's words were flattery, Wei Zhongxian felt comfortable listening to them. What's more, Wei Zhongxian himself had experienced similar things. Although it was not as risky as Zhou Anmin's direct use of a knife, he had fought in many fights when he was young. Even after so many years and becoming a eunuch, Wei Zhongxian still had some of the heroic spirit in his heart.

After laughing for a while, Wei Zhongxian asked about the situation in Wangjia Village and Yangtou Mountain. Zhou Anmin told Wei Zhongxian that the captain of Wangjia Village was his wife's uncle. Although his uncle Wang Rong and cousin Wang Jinwu were centurions, they always led the military households of Wangjia Village and did not forget their identities. They never slacked off in daily training and always looked forward to serving the court, fighting on the battlefield and making achievements.

As for Yangtou Mountain, there was originally a group of refugees there. Because of the persecution of local officials, these refugees drifted to Yangtou Mountain and became bandits. Later, when Zhou Anmin learned about it, he spent some effort to appease them. Now these refugees in Yangtou Mountain are temporarily managed by Wangjia Village and himself. Reclaiming wasteland and farming on Yangtou Mountain can be regarded as a way out for these people. Hearing this, Wei Zhongxian nodded and said that this matter was well done. The local officials are largely responsible for the poor life of the people. These local officials only know how to write articles but not do things, and even force good people to become bandits, which is really too much. He and the people of Wangjia Village can actually use such means to guide these people back to the right path, which can be regarded as a great merit and a good thing.

Wei Zhongxian said these words not because he felt sorry for the people in Yangtou Mountain, but because he liked Zhou Anmin. To Wei Zhongxian, what were these common people? The life and death of these people had nothing to do with him. When Wei Zhongxian was a gangster, he owed a lot of debts from gambling. In order to pay off the debts, he even sold his wife. He could do such a lousy thing. Did he really think that Wei Zhongxian was a living Buddha?

After talking about the Wenxiang Sect, Wei Zhongxian asked Zhou Anmin what reward the Jinyiwei gave him since he had made such a great contribution.

Upon hearing this question, Zhou Anmin showed an unnatural expression. He laughed dryly and replied that the Jinyiwei had already noted his contribution and now awarded him the position of Quan Xiaoqi. As for the other positions, they were still on hold for the time being, but his boss had already assured him that this credit would not be in vain.

"You are still too young." Wei Zhongxian shook his head and sighed, "How can you hang your merits on the shelf? Who knows how long it will last. We need to strike while the iron is hot. With your merits, it would not be too much to give you a small flag, or even a centurion."

"Uncle is right, my nephew... my nephew..." Zhou Anmin lowered his head, looking embarrassed.

Seeing him like this, Wei Zhongxian smiled again: "Alright, stop pretending in front of me. You came to me for this matter, didn't you? Since you call me uncle today, I can't stand watching you, my nephew, suffer injustice. I will take care of this matter for you!"

Zhou Anmin suddenly looked up, his face full of joy, but also with trepidation. He stood up and knelt down in front of Wei Zhongxian, kowtowed and said: "I am very grateful for your words, uncle, but this is an internal matter of the Jinyiwei. Although uncle is in a high position and has great power now, it may not be easy for him to interfere in the affairs of the Jinyiwei. If my matter makes uncle embarrassed, I will feel really sorry. Otherwise, let's put it aside for the time being. Anyway, I have been through this for so many years. I am young and I will have a chance in the future..."

"You little monkey, stop it, the ground is cold, get up." Wei Zhongxian felt relieved and raised his hand to let Zhou Anmin get up, then laughed and said, "Jinyiwei is a big name, haha, what's the matter? Are you afraid that we can't afford to offend you? Don't worry! We have the emperor behind us, who in this world can be more powerful than the emperor?"

"Besides, the unclear rewards and punishments are the problem of the Royal Guards. We are in charge of the East Factory, which has the authority to supervise the Royal Guards. This is our authority. We will handle your matter for you."

"By the way, I've thought about it. With your contribution, you can be promoted to a governor, not to mention a centurion. How about I help you get you transferred to the Northern Governor's Office in Beijing?"

Zhou Anmin was stunned, and quickly kowtowed to thank Wei Zhongxian, and then said that he did not want to be promoted so high, the position of Zhenfushi was too high, and it was not appropriate for him, a mere Jinyiwei lieutenant, to reach this level all of a sudden. Moreover, his family was in Shanxi, and it was not convenient for him to come to Beijing. He did not know anyone in Beijing, and even if he came to the Jinyiwei Yamen in Beijing, he might be suppressed if he did something.

Zhou Anmin thought it would be better for him to stay in Shanxi. First, his family was there. Second, he was familiar with Shanxi. Third, if he could get a promotion, it would be more convenient to be an official in Shanxi, and he could help Wei Zhongxian in the future. As for the position, the pacification envoy didn't dare to think about it. It would be enough to have a general flag or a trial centurion.

However, Zhou Anmin also made a request. His wife's uncle Wang Rong from Wangjia Village had used the power of Wangjia Village to accomplish that thing. Wang Rong and his son Wang Jinwu had always wanted to serve the court, but they had no chance. The Jinyiwei were unable to reward Wang Rong and his son for their previous merits. If possible, he hoped that Wei Zhongxian could consider Wang Rong and his son and help them find a position in the guard post, giving them a chance to serve the emperor and Wei Zhongxian.

Zhou Anmin's words made Wei Zhongxian think deeply, but Wei Zhongxian did not give Zhou Anmin any answer. He then turned to other topics in the next few sentences.

He chatted with Zhou Anmin on other topics in a friendly manner for a while. Seeing that it was almost time for sunset, Wei Zhongxian stood up and said that they would stop here today as he had to go back to the palace.

As for Zhou Anmin, he can stay in the capital for a few days and visit Wei Liangqing. He is told that Wei Liangqing has settled down in the capital and they have not seen each other for some time. Now that he is here, there is no need to leave immediately. They are all family, so he might as well stay in the capital to celebrate the New Year.

After that, Wei Zhongxian left. Zhou Anmin respectfully sent Wei Zhongxian away. After Wei Zhongxian left, he realized that his underwear was soaked by sweat in the cold weather. Although Wei Zhongxian was kind to him, it was the first time for Zhou Anmin to meet Wei Zhongxian. He was very alert and spoke very carefully. Now that he had met him, he was still a little nervous about what the result would be.

(End of this chapter)