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

Chapter 124 Zhou Anmin's Concerns
When Zhu Shenzhu pointed out Wei Zhongxian's path to Zhou Anmin, he told him that if this path worked, not only a small flag of the sixth rank, but even a pacification envoy or a deputy commander could be possible if he managed it well. However, Zhou Anmin also said that neither the pacification envoy nor the deputy commander was as profitable as being a captain of a Jinyiwei Qianhu Division in Shanxi.

When Zhou Anmin heard this, he just smiled, thinking that this possibility was very small. After all, he was just a small lieutenant, and was said to be a high-ranking Jinyiwei official like a thousand households. Even if he was given a hundred households, Zhou Anmin would probably laugh out loud in his dreams.

He had met Wei Zhongxian in the capital before, and Wei Zhongxian agreed to make arrangements for him, and even proposed that Zhou Anmin serve in the Northern Pacification Office of the capital. At that time, Zhou Anmin knew that he would definitely be promoted. However, even so, Zhou Anmin thought that at most he would be promoted to a trial position of a hundred households or a hundred households. But who would have thought that within a few days after returning home, he would be officially appointed and was given the position of a deputy thousand households.

More importantly, this deputy commander actually held the title of commander, which meant that Zhou Anmin was the de facto leader of the Jinyiwei commander in Luzhou, Shanxi. How could Zhou Anmin be stunned by such a big change from a lieutenant to the immediate superior of his immediate superior's immediate superior?
It was not until Tian Ergeng saw him in a daze and reminded him with a smile, congratulating him on becoming the deputy captain, that Zhou Anmin came to his senses and hurriedly returned the gift to thank him.

"Haha, Brother Zhou, this is the credit you deserve. To be honest, from now on, we two brothers will be working from the same pot. Eunuch Wei has been so kind to me and has also awarded me the real job of Jinyiwei Commander. From now on, we brothers are truly family members and we need to take care of each other."

"Oh, Brother Tian, ​​this... How can this be done? You are my humble superior, and I need you to take care of me." Zhou Anmin was shocked again, and quickly apologized to Tian Ergeng. Tian Ergeng smiled and waved his hand, saying, what does an official position mean? If Zhou Anmin had not thought of going to the capital to take up a post, he would not have had this opportunity.

We are all family, and we all work for the Emperor and Eunuch Wei. We should be one family and keep our distance from each other. Brothers should be closer to each other in the future, as there are many days to come.

The two chatted very intimately. Tian Ergeng was more capable than Zhou Anmin. On that day, Zhou Anmin specially prepared a banquet to entertain Tian Ergeng.

After a few sips of wine, Tian Ergeng was so excited that he wanted to pull Zhou Anmin to become his sworn brother. Zhou Anmin originally said that he dared not do so, because it was too high for him. But when Tian Ergeng said this, he became unhappy and asked Zhou Anmin if he looked down on him. If he looked up to him, he would not have to refuse.

Helpless, Zhou Anmin could only laugh and cry at Tian Ergeng's strong request to burn yellow paper and cut off the chicken head as a sign of sworn brotherhood. After the ceremony, Tian Ergeng was even more affectionate to Zhou Anmin, calling him "Second Brother" all the time, and Zhou Anmin followed suit and changed his name to "Big Brother". He also specially called his wife and children to let them meet this sworn brother. After meeting Zhu Xiu'er and Zhou Anmin's two sons, Tian Ergeng was even happier and directly took out gifts from his arms and forced them on Zhou Anmin, saying that he came in a hurry and didn't bring anything good, so these were gifts for his younger brother and his two nephews.

The drinking was very enjoyable. Tian Ergeng, who was drunk, told Zhou Anmin a good news, that is, the matter with his brother-in-law Wang Rong was also settled. This time, he not only had to visit Zhou Anmin, but also had to go to Wangjia Village.

Like Zhou Anmin, Wang Rong was given the position of commander of Luzhou Guard. That is to say, in the future, Wang Rong would be the commander of Luzhou Guard, and Zhou Anmin would actually be the commander of Jinyiwei. In this way, the entire Luzhou Guard was controlled by Wei Zhongxian's people.

Wei Zhongxian asked Tian Ergeng to convey a message to Zhou Anmin, asking him to manage Luzhou Guard well with Wang Rong after taking office, monitor local movements, and train soldiers, as Wei Zhongxian might be of great use to them in the future.

After hearing this, Zhou Anmin immediately patted his chest and promised, saying something like "I am Eunuch Wei's man in life and I am Eunuch Wei's ghost in death". Tian Ergeng smiled and corrected him, saying that this was a bit too much, it should be "I am the emperor's man in life and I am the emperor's ghost in death". Zhou Anmin slapped his forehead and said yes, yes, yes, but he said that the same is true for Eunuch Wei, Eunuch Wei represents the emperor, and what he said before was not wrong, isn't serving Eunuch Wei also serving the emperor and the court? No matter what, Eunuch Wei is not only his benefactor, but also his uncle.

Ming Ting was drunk after drinking so much that Zhou Anmin had to be helped back to the backyard by Old Tang. Tian Ergeng was not much better off. He was so drunk that he fell asleep on the kang in the guest room.

He came into the house drunkenly and waved to Old Tang to go back and rest. After Old Tang closed the door and left, Zhou Anmin, who had been drunk just now, instantly lost his drunken look and walked to the kang in the west room and sat down.

The children were already asleep. Zhu Xiuer, who heard the noise, walked out from the east room. When she got here, she saw Zhou Anmin sitting motionless on the kang, drunk. She couldn't help but blame him for drinking so much, and hurried to make him some sobering soup.

"No need, just pour me a glass of water." Zhou Anmin called out to his wife and said softly.

"Are you okay?" Zhu Xiuer quickly poured a glass of water and watched Zhou Anmin drink half of the glass in one gulp. She couldn't help but ask with concern.

Zhou Anmin smiled and said, "It's okay. I drank a little but I'm not drunk. I won't go back to the east room to sleep tonight because I'm drunk. You go back and rest first. I'll stay here tonight." "The children are asleep and you've drunk. How about I..." Zhu Xiuer hesitated.

Zhou Anmin waved his hand and said, "It's okay. The smell of alcohol is really overwhelming. You should go back. I'm fine alone. I'll rest now."

As he said that, Zhou Anmin asked Zhu Xiuer to go back to the room. Seeing him like this, Zhu Xiuer did not force him anymore. She poured him a glass of water and placed it on the head of the kang. She reminded him to remember to drink water if he was thirsty at night, and then went back to the east room.

After Zhu Xiuer went back, Zhou Anmin leaned on the kang and did not drink water. The oil lamp in the room had been blown out, and it was pitch black all around. Although Zhou Anmin had drunk a lot of wine today, his mind was very clear. The drunken state just now was just pretended.

Tian Ergeng's arrival and the news he brought surprised him, but he was also very excited. For so many years, he had been an ordinary postmaster and captain, but from today on, he became a powerful figure in the Jinyi Qianhu Office.

All this seemed a little illusory, but it was real. Moreover, even Wang Rong became the commander of the guard. The reason for this change was related to Zhu Shenzhu's original guidance and Wei Zhongxian's promotion.

He himself did not expect that everything would come so easily and so suddenly. In addition to being excited, Zhou Anmin could not help but feel a little uneasy. He was such an insignificant person, but he suddenly took up such an important position. Is this really a good thing?

It was a bit outrageous that a eunuch could decide an official position in the imperial court. And it was not just him, but also a big shot like Tian Ergeng. As a second-rank military officer, he actually fawned on Wei Zhongxian and even forced Zhou Anmin to become his sworn brother. Zhou Anmin didn't think he was that charming. In the final analysis, wasn't it because he valued his friendship with Wei Liangqing? If not, how could a man like Tian Ergeng look up to him?
Thinking back to what Zhu Shenzhui had said to him, Zhou Anmin felt that Zhu Shenzhui's calculations were too accurate. But how could Zhu Shenzhui be so sure? How could he be sure that this would succeed?

All in all, Zhu Shenzhui has spent more than 6,000 taels of silver on this matter. This is no small amount of money. Zhu Shenzhui also told himself that after his position is confirmed and Wang Rong's side is arranged, he will find a way to get more money every year to help them open up connections and consolidate their position.

Although they were relatives, it was hard to understand why Zhu Shenzhui did this. Zhou Anmin was very clear about the Zhu family's previous situation, and he knew better than anyone what kind of life Zhu Shenzhui had lived before. Relying on the adventure of smuggling salt, he finally made a comeback in the past two years. Last year, Zhu Shenzhui used some means to destroy the Liu family in Pingyang, and took the opportunity to get the Liu family's salt shop, and then started trading in the northern grasslands.

Zhou Anmin saw everything Zhu Shenzhui did step by step. The money he earned was earned by taking risks. This was not a small risk. To put it bluntly, he risked his life. This also included the last fight with Jiang Shuishan. As someone who was at the scene, Zhou Anmin knew the risks very well.

Although Zhou Anmin is very good at dealing with people, he is not a mean person. It was Zhu Shenzhui's idea that he approached Wei Zhongxian, and the subsequent steps were also coincidental. Zhou Anmin had personally dealt with Wei Zhongxian, and he had some bad things to say about him. Wei Zhongxian was quite good to him and acted very affectionately, but Zhou Anmin always felt that Wei Zhongxian had a kind of ruthlessness and viciousness in his bones that ordinary eunuchs did not have. This was not an ordinary person. Is it really good to get too close to such a person?

The same is true for Tian Ergeng today. To be honest, Zhou Anmin knew that Tian Ergeng was a profit-seeking villain who only cares about whoever feeds him. Although he is very close to him now and has sworn brotherhood with him, this is all based on his friendship with Wei Zhongxian and Wei Liangqing.

If there was no such relationship, how could Tian Ergeng have such a face? Zhou Anmin had been the postmaster for so many years, and he thought he had a way of judging people.

More importantly, Zhou Anmin could not see through what his brother-in-law Zhu Shenzhu was trying to do. He had put so much effort into this and planned for such a long time. In addition to his influence on Wangjia Village and his recovery of the villagers of Yangtou Mountain, Zhaowuling, and Zhaowu Village, Zhou Anmin did not believe that it was just for business.

If that's the case, then why did Zhu Shenzhui do this? Want to stand out? That's impossible! Zhu Shenzhui is a member of the royal family. How are the royal family members of the Ming Dynasty? What is the attitude of the royal family towards the royal family? How could Zhou Anmin not know?
Can you say that Zhu Shenzhui has ulterior motives? But it doesn't seem like that. If Zhu Shenzhui is said to have the intention to rebel, Zhou Anmin would never believe it. After all, rebellion is not a trivial matter. Moreover, the powerful Ning Wang failed in the past. How can a low-ranking member of the royal family like Zhu Shenzhui succeed? It is simply a fantasy.

After thinking about it over and over again, Zhou Anmin's head hurt. Finally, he decided to stop thinking about it. He would just take it one step at a time. Now that he had become a deputy captain, and his uncle Wang Rong would soon become the commander-in-chief, it would not be too late to think about what the future would be like once he had settled down.

(End of this chapter)