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

Chapter 228: Both Literary and Martial
"Have you read this book before?" Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help asking after Xu Xiancheng talked for a while.

"No, I just said it. I had only heard of it before, and today is the first time I saw this book," Xu Xiancheng replied.

"Then where did the insight you just mentioned come from?"

"Haha, brother-in-law, since it is an insight, doesn't it come from reading books?" Xu Xiancheng seemed to think that Zhu Shenzui's question was a bit strange, and answered with a smile as a matter of course.

Zhu Shenzhui was speechless. Could it be that his brother-in-law was a military genius? Calculating the time, he cleaned up the wing room, and then it took him more than an hour from the time Xu Xiancheng moved in after dinner to the time he entered the room. In such a short time, Xu Xiancheng could not see much.

But Xu Xiancheng talked about the contents of the book very clearly, and some of the insights and opinions he put forward were very similar to what Lao Jin and others had explained to him at the beginning. Had Xu Xiancheng really never read this book before?

With doubt, Zhu Shenzhui continued to ask Xu Xiancheng about his understanding of the book. Xu Xiancheng did not think much about it and continued to talk. However, he could not go on after talking for a while. He said to Zhu Shenzhui embarrassedly that he had only read this part and had not had time to read the rest of the content, so he could not continue for the time being.

Hearing such an answer, Zhu Shenzhui didn't know what to say. He looked at Xu Xiancheng deeply, then smiled.

Zhu Shenzui didn't ask anything else, but changed the subject and talked about other things. The two chatted for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, Zhu Shenzui asked him to go to bed early and got up and left.

After walking out of Xu Xiancheng's room, Zhu Shenzhui subconsciously looked back, with a complicated expression on his face and no one knew what he was thinking. After a while, he returned to normal and returned to his room. Seeing his wife and children sleeping on the kang, Zhu Shenzhui showed a warm smile, climbed onto the kang, put his arm around Xu Jingqiu, and soon fell asleep.

After Xu Xiancheng came, the home became more lively and warm than usual. In addition to accompanying his family, Zhu Shenzhui also often chatted with Xu Xiancheng in the past two days. During the chat, Zhu Shenzhui found that Xu Xiancheng was indeed smart. He was worthy of being a scholar who passed the imperial examination at a young age and almost passed the imperial examination.

Xu Xiancheng not only studied the Four Books and Five Classics intensively, he also had a good understanding of miscellaneous essays, history and military affairs. In particular, he liked to read military books. The military books in Zhu Shenzhu's home included not only "Jixiao Xinshu", but also "The Art of War", "Wu Zi", "Sima Fa", "Wei Liaozi", "Liu Tao", "Wei Gong Bing Fa" and many others. To be honest, Zhu Shenzhu found it difficult to read these military books before. After all, he was not a real scholar and had not studied as hard as Xu Xiancheng.

Books like Jixiao Xinshu were better, after all, Qi Jiguang lived in the Ming Dynasty, not too far from his own era. However, Sunzi and Wuzi were ancient military books, two thousand years away from this era, and the words and sentences in the texts were simple and ancient. With his level of classical Chinese, he could only understand a few of them. However, in Xu Xiancheng's hands, he read them with great interest, and he could even explain the essence of them to Zhu Shenzhu in vernacular Chinese.

For a moment, Zhu Shenzhui felt like he had discovered a treasure trove. Xu Xiancheng's arrival enabled him to understand the true content of these military books through these explanations, and to understand the essence and key points of the books of these ancient philosophers.

The more he interacted with Xu Xiancheng, the more he felt Xu Xiancheng's talent in this area. Putting aside other things, Zhu Shenzhu could not understand the use of the formations written in the "Jixiao New Book" without the guidance of Lao Jin and others, but Xu Xiancheng was self-taught and figured it out in a short time.

He even took the Go pieces and set up a battle formation in front of Zhu Shenzhui, and he explained it very clearly. If it weren't for Xu Xiancheng's young and immature face, Zhu Shenzhui would have thought that an experienced general was explaining to him just by listening to his explanation.

"Little brother, have you ever thought about leading an army in the future?" One day, the two of them discussed a passage in the book. After the discussion came to an end, Zhu Shenzui couldn't help but ask.

"Brother-in-law, why do you ask this?" Xu Xiancheng asked back in confusion.

"Haha, don't I think you have quite a lot of insights into military affairs? It's just a casual question." Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile.

Xu Xiancheng thought for a moment and said, "No one can predict what will happen in the future. Besides, I am just a scholar. I will still have to take the provincial examination in three years. If I pass, I will have to prepare for the metropolitan examination."

"I am naturally interested in military affairs, but I have no intention of giving up literature to join the army. But brother-in-law, I think it is not a bad thing to know military affairs even if you enter the officialdom as a scholar. I think the way of scholars has gone astray. How many people can understand Confucius' six arts now? Scholars who only know how to read but have no ability to fight are not what Confucius intended. People have long forgotten the original intention of Confucianism."

"Besides, in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, civil and military officials were always inseparable. Scholars became generals and ministers. Wasn't that the case? Although there were scholars and warriors in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, there were many scholars leading the army to fight. Even in the Song Dynasty, wasn't Xin Qiji also a scholar?"

"The difference between civil and military is different nowadays than in ancient times, especially in our Ming Dynasty, civil is more important than military, and it is said that everything is inferior except for reading. I think I have been led astray and too extreme. The so-called scholar is one who can stabilize the country with literature and rule the country with martial arts. This is the real scholar!"

"Well said!" Zhu Shenzhui laughed and clapped his hands, his eyes flashing with brilliance. He never expected that his brother-in-law would have such insight, coupled with his talent and intelligence, Zhu Shenzhui even thought of bringing him into the group.

Although Xu Xiancheng is young, Zhu Shenzhui feels that as long as he trains well for some time, at least a few years or even longer, he will become a strong arm to him in the future.

There was no shortage of ordinary warriors like Zhu Shenzhu, and ordinary scholars could be found everywhere, but people like Xu Xiancheng were rare. Moreover, he was his brother-in-law, and from the perspective of blood, he was someone he could trust. If...

Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzhui could not help but feel restless, but after calming down, he suppressed this idea. This matter still needs to be considered in the long run. After all, it is not a trivial matter. Once Zhu Shenzhui does it, he has to consider the consequences, especially since it involves the Xu family. In addition, he is not sure that he can convince Xu Xiancheng, and he is not sure what Xu Xiancheng himself thinks. Anyway, his brother-in-law is not afraid that he will run away. He will slowly test it when he has the opportunity in the future. Just when Zhu Shenzhui was secretly thinking about this plan, a voice came from outside. Zhu Shenzhui got up and opened the door. Standing at the door was his own servant.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone outside is delivering a letter to the master." The servant replied respectfully.

Zhu Shenzhu nodded and walked towards the gate. When he arrived at the gate, he saw an ordinary-looking man standing there.

"Sixth Master!" The man called out in a low voice when he saw Zhu Shenzhui.

Zhu Shenzhui nodded, and the man took out a letter from his arms and handed it to him: "Urgent letter from the capital."

"Thanks for your hard work."

"It's my duty, Sixth Master. I'm leaving now." The man said, bowed and left.

After everyone left, Zhu Shenzhui took a look at the envelope. When he saw an inconspicuous mark on the envelope, he frowned and quickly went to the side room on the other side.

After staying in the side room for some time, when Zhu Shenzhui walked out of the side room, the letter in his hand had disappeared, and his face looked a little ugly, with his brows furrowed.

The letter just received was sent urgently by Zhang Xijun in the capital. The content of the letter was the news mentioned in the memorial submitted by the censor Liu Ce to the emperor, especially pointing out that some royal family members in Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi, had secretly colluded with the Mongols to smuggle goods, including some military supplies. This shocked Zhu Shenzhui and made him feel a great crisis.

This is no small matter. Once the emperor sends someone to investigate and finds out that this matter is related to Zhu Shenzhui, it will be a big deal.

By then, it would no longer be possible to conceal the fact that Zhu Shenzhui was the real owner of Hengtong Commercial Bank, and once all the things he did in private were dug out, he would be doomed.

A member of the royal family not only smuggled salt, but also set up a large trading company and colluded with the Mongols. He married the woman of Taiji in Mongolia and had a son with him. He then engaged in large-scale smuggling trade with the Mongolian tribes in private. The smuggled goods included not only grain, tea, salt, cloth and other supplies, but also military supplies such as pig iron, arrowheads, and spearheads. Zhu Shenzui even moved some muskets and gunpowder to the tribe.

What was he trying to do? Was he planning a rebellion? Zhu Shenzhu was well aware of the strict control the imperial court had over the royal family. Once the imperial court knew about this, not to mention the officials in the court, Emperor Tianqi would definitely not let him go.

Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui did much more than that. He also used his connections to get his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin to the position of Jinyiwei Qianhu, and his uncle became the commander of the guard. He also set up his own secret bases in Zhaowuling, Yangtoushan, and Wangjiacun.

Zhaowuling was particularly unusual. In Zhaowuling, Zhu Shenzhu not only mined privately, established workshops, manufactured weapons, and even developed firearms. In addition, he also trained veterans of the Qi Family Army in the name of the garrison. If these things were known to outsiders, Zhu Shenzhu's head would not be enough for Emperor Tianqi to chop off.

For a moment, cold sweat broke out on Zhu Shencui's forehead. He had never felt a life-and-death crisis like today. Even when he led people to smuggle salt and drew a knife to fight with others, Zhu Shencui had never been so nervous.

Zhang Xijun made it clear in the letter that this matter could not be stopped, and the memorial had already been submitted to Emperor Tianqi. Zhang Xijun could not judge how the court would react next. There were only two things he could do. One was to pass the news to Zhu Shenzhu as soon as possible to let him prepare, and the other was to try to resolve this matter through Wei Zhongxian.

However, Zhang Xijun also told Zhu Shenzhu in the letter that looking for Wei Zhongxian was not a complete solution to the problem. After all, Wei Zhongxian's power came from Emperor Tianqi, and Emperor Tianqi's judgment and opinions on the royal family issue were the source of Wei Zhongxian's attitude.

Moreover, Zhang Xijun could not let Wei Zhongxian know that Zhu Shenzhu was behind him, let alone drag himself into it. It was not that Zhang Xijun was afraid of getting into trouble, but he did not want to complicate things and arouse Wei Zhongxian's suspicion.

Zhu Shenzhu agreed with Zhang Xijun's opinion. He admitted that Zhang Xijun's concerns were correct. Wei Zhongxian could be used, but Wei Zhongxian could not be allowed to suspect anything, and he could not place all his hopes on Wei Zhongxian.

In addition, the arrival of this letter also made Zhu Shencui see hope in danger. After all, there was no conclusion on this matter in the capital, and Emperor Tianqi's opinion was undecided. Zhu Shencui learned the news in advance through Zhang Xijun, and he still had time to make arrangements, so as to clean up the mess and cover up the truth before the court sent people.

Wish you all a happy New Year’s Eve!

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(End of this chapter)