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

Chapter 169: Misfortune falls from the sky
Zhang Xijun told Zhu Shenzhui that before Wang Sen of the Wenxiang Sect started the uprising in Jizhou, Jiang Shuishan had found him under the pseudonym Liang Sanlang. When Jiang Shuishan told Zhang Xijun his identity, Zhang Xijun was shocked.

The Zhang family had not had any contact with the White Lotus for two generations. After so long, even Zhang Xijun himself had forgotten that they had such a connection with the White Lotus. But unexpectedly, Jiang Shuishan suddenly came and claimed to be a disciple of Wang Sen, the leader of the Wenxiang Sect, and came to find Zhang Xijun, with the purpose of "conspiring with him for great things".

Zhang Xijun was horrified when he heard this. How could he have come into contact with the White Lotus Sect in his life? The only reason he knew something was because his father secretly told him when he was still alive.

As a scholar, how could Zhang Xijun not know how hard the imperial court cracked down on the White Lotus Sect? Once involved in the White Lotus Sect, it was a capital crime.

After thinking about it, Zhang Xijun couldn't come up with a good idea, so he could only play dumb. He kept saying that he had never heard of Wang Sen of Jizhou, let alone the Wenxiang Sect.

Zhang Xijun said righteously that he was just a scholar and had nothing to do with these things. The other party might have found the wrong person, so he asked him to leave early.

Seeing Zhang Xijun like this, Jiang Shuishan wanted to persuade him at first, but then Zhang Xijun gritted his teeth and said that if he didn't leave, he would report him to the authorities. Seeing this, Jiang Shuishan didn't dare to stay any longer, and hurriedly left. After leaving, Jiang Shuishan was very dissatisfied with Zhang Xijun's attitude. As a member of the White Lotus lineage, it would be fine if he didn't acknowledge him, but he also reported him? It was simply an insult to his ancestors!

Jiang Shuishan left Taiyuan Prefecture in disgrace and returned to Jizhou without success. He reported the matter to his teacher Wang Sen, who was also furious after hearing it and threatened to teach Zhang Xijun a lesson. However, the uprising was imminent and Wang Sen had to do something big. He planned to settle accounts with Zhang Xijun later. When the uprising was successful, wouldn't a small figure like Zhang Xijun be at his mercy?
However, Wang Sen was unexpectedly suppressed by the imperial troops soon after he led his men to start the rebellion in Jizhou. This farce that he had carefully planned for many years ended in failure, not only did he fail to overthrow the Ming Dynasty, he even failed to capture the entire Jizhou.

After the failure of the rebellion, Jiang Shuishan escaped by chance, but Wang Sen was captured by the court. Imprisoned in the prison, Wang Sen did not know what he was thinking, but he actually gave out Zhang Xijun, saying that Zhang Xijun was a descendant of Li Fuda and that he had discussed the rebellion with him at the beginning. The two sides echoed each other and conspired for a great cause.

Upon hearing the news, officials hurriedly reported it. The court then sent people to Taiyuan to arrest Zhang Xijun. At that time, Zhang Xijun knew nothing and was studying at home to prepare for the imperial examination.

Disasters come from the sky when one is at home. Zhang Xijun's entire family was thrown into prison without a single escape. The government first stripped Zhang Xijun of his hereditary title, then stripped him of his title of scholar, and imprisoned his entire family in the government office and tortured them severely, in an attempt to dig out Zhang Xijun's accomplices.

Poor Zhang Xijun's old mother, wife and children could not bear the torture and were beaten to death in the court. Zhang Xijun himself was also beaten to death.

At this time, Zhang Xijun thought he was doomed, but who would have thought that there is always a way out. After reading Zhang Xijun's confession, Emperor Wanli felt that there was something fishy about the matter and ordered a re-investigation of the case. The officials who went to verify the case reported to the emperor after understanding the details of the case, saying that Zhang Xijun's identity as a member of the White Lotus Sect was unclear and he might have confessed under torture. Wanli did not execute Zhang Xijun, but ordered the local authorities to keep Zhang Xijun in custody and re-examine the case.

After that, Zhang Xijun went through several trials, repeatedly shouting that he was wronged. Because the emperor had spoken, the people below did not dare to kill him directly, but he suffered a lot. In the end, the case became a mess, because someone did prove that Wang Sen's people had come to him before. Although Zhang Xijun showed no signs of rebellion, he failed to report to the authorities in time. If so, his crime was not small.

In this way, Zhang Xijun was eventually sentenced to prison, and from a scholar he became a miner, and was thrown into the mine to work. If nothing unexpected happened, he would have died in the mine in his physical condition, but who would have thought that something happened in the mine not long after he arrived.

Li Hu and others were dissatisfied with the mine supervisor's oppression and intended to cause trouble, which gave Zhang Xijun an opportunity. He knew very well that if he continued to stay in the mine, he would die. In order to survive, Zhang Xijun took the initiative to find Li Hu to give them advice. After several people discussed it, they hit it off, which led to a series of events that happened later.

Just like that, one day the miners suddenly rioted. Li Hu and others led people to kill the mine manager, several unemployed servants and supervisors. Zhang Xijun followed Li Hu and others to escape from the mine, and finally settled down in Yangtou Mountain.

Zhang Xijun originally thought that he would be a bandit for the rest of his life, living day by day, and never knowing when he would die quietly. But who would have thought that not long after they became bandits, they would run into Zhu Shenzhui and his gang who happened to pass by Yangtou Mountain. By chance, they got to know Zhu Shenzhui, and after Zhu Shenzhui learned about their situation, he also wanted to take back the people of Yangtou Mountain for himself, and everything changed.

Unlike Li Hu and others, Zhang Xijun was well educated and had experienced such twists and turns at home, so it can be said that he had escaped death by chance.

Zhang Xijun, who escaped with his life, had a changed temperament. He believed that there was no fairness in this world and that it was nothing but the law of the jungle. The saying that evil lives a thousand years while good people do not is absolutely true.

If he wants to gain a foothold and live well, he can no longer be as simple as before. In addition, the death of his family has dealt a great blow to Zhang Xijun. He is full of resentment towards the government, especially those officials who tortured him and his family. He even wanted to eat their flesh. It's a pity that Zhang Xijun is just a literati. He can't do anything else without the power of fighting chickens. Originally, he planned to follow Li Hu and live in Yangtou Mountain first. If he has the opportunity to become a mountain king who enforces justice in the future, it would be good. Kill a few people who should be killed and do what he should do. By the way, didn't you wrongly accuse me of rebellion before? Okay! I will really rebel! One day, Zhang Xijun will let everyone in the world know his name and grievances.

Although it is a good idea to think this way, it is not easy to do it.

The people in Yangtou Mountain were all poor, they had nothing, and they didn't even know if they could survive the winter. Maybe by next year, they wouldn't be able to do anything, and they might even starve to death. When Zhang Xijun was thinking about what to do, Zhu Shenzhui appeared.

The appearance of Zhu Shencui gave Zhang Xijun hope, because when he first met Zhu Shencui, Zhang Xijun felt that Zhu Shencui was definitely not just an ordinary private salt dealer.

Zhu Shenzhu showed goodwill to the people of Yangtou Mountain and showed kindness to Yangtou Mountain. In the eyes of Li Hu and other people with strong limbs and simple minds, Zhu Shenzhu was a righteous man and a trustworthy elder brother. But Zhang Xijun was not an ordinary person. He was not only a scholar, but also experienced so many twists and turns. Although he did not say it, he understood Zhu Shenzhu's true intention in his heart.

When Zhu Shenzhui finished his trip to smuggle salt and brought food and other items to Yangtou Mountain on his way back, Zhang Xijun became more certain of his guess.

This was also the reason why Zhang Xijun went to find Zhu Shenzui in private after drinking that time and took the initiative to propose to follow Zhu Shenzui to leave Yangtou Mountain.

In Zhang Xijun's opinion, Zhu Shencui was far more suitable to join than Li Hu and others. Moreover, Zhang Xijun was very conceited and thought that his literary skills were beyond the reach of ordinary people. If he could become Zhu Shencui's confidant, borrow Zhu Shencui's power and add the people of Yangtou Mountain, he might be able to do something.

Unexpectedly, although Zhu Shenzui agreed to let Zhang Xijun follow him down the mountain, he did not keep Zhang Xijun by his side, but instead placed him and Li Hu's son Li You in Wangjia Village.

When in Wangjia Village, Zhang Xijun felt a little disappointed at first. But after thinking about it carefully, he realized that he was a little too hasty. Zhu Shenzui did this because he didn't trust him. After all, a stranger who he had only met twice suddenly took the initiative to come to him. If it were him, he would also have to be on guard.

After figuring it out, Zhang Xijun was not discouraged. He settled down in Wangjia Village with peace of mind. He didn't get involved in other people's business on weekdays, and never took the initiative to go out to inquire about news. He gave people the impression that he was harmless.

Zhang Xijun was very low-key in Wangjia Village, but it was only on the surface. He did not forget his own thoughts in his heart, and was also very curious about the mysterious origins of Zhu Shenzhui. It didn't take long for Zhang Xijun to figure out who this Zhu Shenzhui, known as the Sixth Master, was. When he learned about Zhu Shenzhui's identity as a royal family member, he was very surprised. However, as time went by, the more information he learned, the more active Zhang Xijun's mind became.

Afterwards, Zhang Xijun watched a series of Zhu Shenzhui's actions. When Zhu Shenzhui opened a trading company and planned to trade with the Mongolians on the grassland, and used his connections in the palace to get Wang Rong a commander's post, and also helped his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin become a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zhang Xijun truly concluded that Zhu Shenzhui's agenda was very big.

If it were someone else, they would be frightened if they knew this, but it was different for Zhang Xijun. The more far-reaching Zhu Shenzhu's plans were, and the bigger his plans were, the more excited Zhang Xijun was.

With such a lord, where else could Zhang Xijun find one? If Zhu Shenzhui was really as he thought, then Zhang Xijun would definitely have a place to use his talents in the future.

Because of this, Zhang Xijun took the initiative to inform Zhu Shenzhu of the other party's identity in the Zhaowuling incident and assisted Zhu Shenzhu in successfully killing Jiang Shuishan and his gang. Later, Zhu Shenzhu asked him to go to the company to assist Kang Youfu, and Zhang Xijun did not say a word. He was busy these days and did a great job.

As time went by, Zhang Xijun was very happy to see Zhu Shenzhu's plan gradually come to fruition. At the same time, he was unwilling to stay in the company as just the second shopkeeper.

He thought it was a waste of his talent to be the second manager because he could help Zhu Shenzhui more. So not long after Zhu Shenzhui got married, Zhang Xijun took the initiative to ask for a meeting with Zhu Shenzhui, which led to their meeting today.

(End of this chapter)