Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty
Chapter 175 A kind person
Chapter 175 A kind person
The more violent the Donglin Party became, the higher its prestige among the people increased, and the more Zhang Xijun felt that the Donglin Party was a rabbit with a long tail.
Moreover, in the current situation, even if Wei Zhongxian's reputation is ruined, the result will be counterproductive, because Tianqi will continue to use Wei Zhongxian, unless the Donglin Party collapses completely that day, the civil service group from the court to the local level is completely reshuffled, the Donglin Party and other parties no longer have any influence, the civil service group is completely suppressed, and the emperor truly holds power. Then perhaps Wei Zhongxian's usefulness will come to an end.
Zhang Xijun was a very clear-headed person. He could see the real side behind this complicated situation with a cold eye. He couldn't help but admire the decisiveness and skill of the young emperor Tianqi.
Although Emperor Tianqi never directly confronted the Donglin Party, including the civil service group in the court, he had always been an impartial bystander. On weekdays, he either hid in the harem and lived a carefree life or concentrated on his carpentry work, as if he didn't care about state affairs at all.
But in the more than one year since he ascended the throne, Emperor Tianqi did a lot of things through Wei Zhongxian without leaving any trace, and these things seemed to have no direct relationship with the emperor. All the blame was borne by Wei Zhongxian, the servant, and the real beneficiary was Emperor Tianqi himself.
Whether it was re-employing Xiong Tingbi to govern Liaodong, or putting pressure on the court through Wei Zhongxian and the Imperial Household Department to force the Donglin Party to make concessions on some political affairs, these all reflected Tianqi's political wisdom. It is said that there was already a rumor that Wei Zhongxian intended to follow the example of Emperor Wanli when he sent mining and tax supervisors to various places to rectify the commercial tax in Southern Zhili.
This matter was strongly opposed by the Donglin Party, which claimed that this would completely disrupt the country and compete with the people for profit, and that Wei Zhongxian must not be allowed to do such a thing.
It was not easy to abolish the mining and tax supervision departments under the Wanli Emperor. It has not been long since then, but they have to be re-established. The people of the world have suffered from harsh policies for a long time. Are they going to make the same mistake again?
These words sounded very nice, but Zhang Xijun actually disagreed. He knew very well that the Donglin Party's so-called high-sounding words of worrying about the country and the people were actually just a layer of gorgeous clothes, and the core was nothing more than touching the interests of the Donglin Party itself.
Zhang Xijun knew exactly what kind of people the local gentry of the Ming Dynasty's civil service group were, and what was the origin of this group of people, mainly the Donglin Party.
Although Wanli's mining and tax supervision had drawbacks, its core purpose was to increase national tax revenue. The first to suffer from such a policy were not ordinary people, but the interest groups behind the civil service group.
After Wanli's death, this policy was cancelled. The civil service group and the interest groups behind them celebrated because without mining and tax supervisors, many of their businesses would not have to pay taxes to the court. The benefits of this were obvious.
Once the system was restored, the good days that had just passed were gone. As the saying goes, taking someone's money is like killing their parents. How could the Donglin Party watch the money they had earned fly away? In order to prevent the implementation of this policy, they desperately threw dirty water on the eunuch party, stood on the moral high ground to gain sympathy, incited public opinion, and attacked opponents. Such operations were also very natural.
But they don't think about it. They are greedily sucking blood from the Ming Dynasty, making more money than anyone else and shouting slogans louder than anyone else. But the real victims are the Ming Dynasty and the people of the world.
The situation in Liaodong is currently unstable. The two consecutive defeats since Sarhu have severely damaged the vitality of the Ming Dynasty. In order to reverse the situation, the maintenance of Liaodong's military strength and food, weapons, military pay, etc. for a long time in the future will all require the allocation of the court.
The court had no money, so what could it use to fight? How could it recover Liaodong and quell the rebellion of the Later Jin Dynasty? Tianqi was very clear-headed. Although he did not understand these things when he first ascended the throne, after a year as emperor, Tianqi had gradually matured and understood why his grandfather Wanli did so.
Since Zhang Xijun arrived in the capital, apart from settling down, he has been wandering around, either in restaurants or in teahouses.
In a blink of an eye, half a month passed and it was almost the end of the year. Zhang Xijun made up his mind. On this day, he did not go to the teahouse or restaurant as usual. Instead, he went to Wei Liangqing's mansion in person, bringing gifts that he had prepared long ago.
They arrived at the place in a hired sedan chair. It was a large and luxurious mansion. The small courtyard where Zhang Xijun lived now was not even half as good as this one.
After getting off the sedan chair, Zhang Xijun asked his attendant to go to the door to deliver a letter. The doorman was very polite when he received the letter, but said that he didn't know whether their master could see Zhang Xijun, and he needed to go in to report and get a reply.
Zhang Xijun didn't take it seriously. He nodded and sat down waiting at the gatehouse. After a while, a man who looked like a manager came out and politely asked who was Master Zhang Xijun. Zhang Xijun stood up and said that he was the master. The manager looked at him and then said to follow him.
Leaving his long-time attendant outside and handing the gifts to the Wei family's servants, Zhang Xijun followed the steward inside.
The Wei Mansion had high walls and a large courtyard, with magnificent pavilions and towers inside. After entering, he didn't know how long he walked or how many corridors he passed through. After a while, the steward finally brought Zhang Xijun to a place, asked him to wait at the door, went in to report, and then came out to call him in.
It was cold outside, but the house was warm as spring due to the ground heating. When I entered, the surroundings all looked rich. I walked forward and saw a man in his thirties sitting upright, smiling at Zhang Xijun who had just entered. Wei Liangqing looked good. After all, he was Wei Zhongxian's nephew and had a similar appearance to Wei Zhongxian. He also had thin eyebrows and long eyes, and a handsome appearance. However, Wei Liangqing had been working on the land for many years, so he was a little tanned. If he was whiter and wore a blue Taoist robe instead of the gorgeous robe he was wearing now, many people would believe that he was a scholar.
"I, the humble servant Zhang Xijun, pay my respects to Lord Wei!" Upon seeing Wei Liangqing, Zhang Xijun bowed deeply without hesitation and called him Lord Wei.
Wei Liangqing was very happy because his uncle Wei Zhongxian had recently given him a title of Jinyiwei Commander. Although it was just a title, it was also a rank of the fourth rank. Of course, he had no real power as a Commander, and he didn't have to go to work. It was just a title. Wei Zhongxian gave him a leadership position in the construction of Qingling Mausoleum, which was also just a title, and he also received an extra salary. Wei Liangqing, who was born in a peasant family, was very satisfied.
“Get up, get up, no need to be so polite, hehe...hehe..." Wei Liangqing raised his hand with a smile and asked Zhang Xijun to get up.
Zhang Xijun performed the formal greetings without hesitation, and then stood up. Seeing Zhang Xijun's attitude, Wei Liangqing was even happier. Although it was the first time he met Zhang Xijun, he had a good first impression.
When Zhang Xijun stood up, he took out the letter from Zhou Anmin and handed it to him respectfully, saying, "Before I came to Beijing, Lord Zhou specially wrote a letter and asked me to deliver it to Lord Wei. In addition, Lord Zhou also asked me to bring gifts to Lord Wei. I have just handed it to the housekeeper. This is the gift list."
Wei Liangqing took it with a smile, but did not open it to take a closer look, because he would not understand it even if he looked. Wei Liangqing had been a peasant for decades, and he could speak a little about farming, but when it came to recognizing words, even though these words were known to him, he did not recognize any of them.
But it doesn’t matter. There are stewards in the mansion who can read. When the time comes, just ask the steward to read it to you.
Putting the letter and gift list aside, the servant brought tea. Wei Liangqing asked Zhang Xijun to sit down and talk. Zhang Xijun bowed again and respectfully sat down below Wei Liangqing with half of his buttocks close to him.
"Brother Zhou has sent me a letter before, saying that Mr. Zhang will come to the capital in the near future and asked me to help take care of him. I originally thought that Mr. Zhang would arrive in the capital soon, but I didn't expect him to come so late."
"Replying to Lord Wei, I dare not call you sir." Zhang Xijun replied quickly.
"Hey, Brother Zhou said in the letter that Mr. Zhang is a scholar, so how can he not be called Mr.? By the way, why do you call yourself a commoner?" Wei Liangqing asked curiously.
Zhang Xijun smiled bitterly and said, "How can I be called a scholar? I have only read a few books before. I have studied hard for ten years but have not achieved any academic success. I have turned to business because I failed to learn. How can I be called a teacher? Lord Zhou's words are just a compliment. I dare not let Lord Wei call me that."
Wei Liangqing suddenly realized and said with a smile: "So that's how it is. Although you haven't passed the imperial examination, you can be considered a scholar because you are a diligent reader of poetry and books. As for doing business, that's just a small matter. I used to farm in my hometown, working hard in the fields, with no food to eat. Now, haven't I become an adult? Hahaha!"
Wei Liangqing was not arrogant at all, but instead talked about his past as a farmer in a self-deprecating way, and even directly referred to himself as "I". When he said this, Zhang Xijun also laughed, and took the opportunity to flatter Wei Liangqing, saying that Lord Wei had a noble person who would help him after his bad times. How could an ordinary person like him compare with a person like Lord Wei? Even if he had read a few books, he really couldn't call himself a scholar, let alone a person like Lord Wei.
"Hahaha!" Wei Liangqing was very happy when he heard this, and was even happier in his heart.
Especially when Zhang Xijun said that he had good fortune after bad times, it was true! He was a peasant who rose to fame overnight, not only came to the capital but also became an official. Where else in the world could he have such good fortune as himself?
He was happy and liked Zhang Xijun even more. He waved his hand and said, "Sir, you are indeed an educated man. You speak in a nice way. So, Sir, don't call yourself a commoner. It will be more appropriate to call yourself something else."
"this……."
"It's settled. You are not strangers. Brother Zhou is my good brother, and you are Brother Zhou's friend. Before you came, Brother Zhou wrote to me asking me to take care of you. Naturally, you are one of us. Now that you are in my home in the capital, you can be as casual as you would be in your own home. There are not so many broken rules here."
Zhang Xijun wanted to refuse again, but seeing Wei Liangqing's nonchalant smile, he changed his mind. He immediately stood up and thanked Wei Liangqing, and followed Wei Liangqing's words without any hesitation, changing his address from "commoner" to "I".
(End of this chapter)
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