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

Chapter 858: Zhongdu Fengyang
Time flies and it is the end of the year. After this year, it will be the first year of Yongming in the Ming Dynasty.

With the passing of the Chongzhen reign title, the court officially adopted the Yongming reign title, and the Ming Dynasty truly entered the era of Zhu Shenzhui.

Because of winter, the Grand Canal connecting the north and the south is no longer accessible. The usually busy canal routes have stopped for some time. The river surface is frozen and the ships that used to shuttle through the canal are nowhere to be seen.

Just after the Chinese New Year, on an official road not far from the canal, a group of people were walking southward. The size of this group was not small. Not only were there hundreds of people in the group, but there were also ceremonial guards in the team, and they were escorted by fully armed Jinyiwei. It was obvious at first glance that they were not ordinary people.

The ceremonial guard carried a flag with the words: Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and Right Censor of the Censorate, Minister of the Supervisory Department, Senior Official, Governor of Southern Zhili and Zhejiang, and Imperial Commissioner. This team went directly south to Zhang Xijun after celebrating the New Year in Beijing. Logically, this was not a good time to go south. Due to the suspension of navigation on the Grand Canal in winter, the journey from the capital to Nanjing could not be carried out by boat and could only be carried out on the official road, which not only took longer but also was more tiring.

Especially the south is different from the north. Although the winter in the north is cold and it often snows, the cold in the north is dry and cold, so as long as you dress warmly, you won't feel too uncomfortable. But it's different in the south. There is a lot of moisture in the south. When the weather drops, the cold in the air is just like drilling into your bones. No matter how tightly you wrap yourself up, it's useless.

It took more than half a month to go south and just pass Xuzhou. Continuing forward, we reached Fengyang.

Next, Zhang Xijun will stay in Fengyang for a while, mainly to offer sacrifices to the Xiaoling Mausoleum on behalf of Zhu Shenzui. After the matters in Fengyang are completed, he will continue to head south.

Zhu Shenzhui has been on the throne for half a year. Although he had offered sacrifices to the world and ancestors when he ascended the throne in the capital before, he had not been able to go to Fengyang Xiaoling Mausoleum. So this time he sent Zhang Xijun to the south, Fengyang was a must. Zhu Shenzhui himself could not go there for the time being, so it was reasonable for him to let Zhang Xijun take his place and offer sacrifices to the imperial mausoleum of Emperor Taizu.

Sitting in the carriage, Zhang Xijun was holding a book and reading it intently. His carriage was unusual. It was bigger and more gorgeous than ordinary carriages. Moreover, the decoration inside the carriage was almost like a small mobile house. It not only had exquisite decorations, but also some practical small furniture. There was a charcoal stove and incense burning in the carriage. Compared with the ice and snow outside, it was warm as spring. A pot of tea was boiling on the charcoal fire, and there were two pretty maids serving him. He was drinking tea and reading a book with a thin brocade quilt covering his knees. He looked very leisurely.

After an unknown amount of time, the carriage suddenly stopped. Zhang Xijun, who was sitting in the carriage, felt it and looked out the window. At this time, the Jinyi Captain who was accompanying him came to the side of the carriage and reported to Zhang Xijun that Fengyang was ten miles ahead. Fengyang prefect Li Jiqian and other officials at all levels learned that Zhang Xijun was coming and had specially greeted him on the official road ahead.

"Haha, they are really attentive." Zhang Xijun couldn't help but smile. He didn't hide his whereabouts when he was heading south, so it was easy for them to know his journey. Moreover, he had informed them in advance that he was coming to Fengyang, but he didn't expect Li Jiqian to be so considerate and actually waited for him on the official road to Fengyang. In this winter, he didn't know how long they had been waiting here. It was not easy.

Although Zhang Xijun's official position was much higher than Li Jiqian's, and he was also an imperial envoy on his trip to the south, Zhang Xijun did not put on airs. Upon learning that Li Jiqian and others were waiting for him in front, Zhang Xijun put down the book in his hand, changed his clothes, put on a cloak, and got out of the car directly.

After getting off the car and walking forward, he soon saw Li Jiqian and his group. Li Jiqian was standing at the front, and slightly behind him was Ma Shiying, the co-magistrate of Fengyang Prefecture. As for those behind him, judging from their official uniforms, they should be officials of various levels of Fengyang Prefecture. In addition, there were also entourage, yamen runners, etc. At a glance, there were at least dozens of people.

"Your humble servant Li Jiqian, the prefect of Fengyang, greets Lord Zhang..." When Li Jiqian saw a man in a cloak with an extraordinary demeanor walking towards him, escorted by several Jinyiwei, he immediately realized that the real host had arrived, and hurriedly led his men a few steps forward to salute respectfully.

"I am truly humbled to have come here to greet me, Lord Li. Lord Li and my colleagues have worked hard to come out of the city ten miles to greet me in such a cold day." Zhang Xijun stepped forward quickly and held Li Jiqian, who was half-curtling, with one hand. His expression was filled with emotion and a hint of shame, and his demeanor was extremely sincere. He took the other's hand and was extremely affectionate.

This was the first time Li Jiqian had dealt with Zhang Xijun, and he had never met Zhang Xijun before. But he knew Zhang Xijun's name. Who didn't know that Zhang Xijun was a favorite of the current emperor? At present, Zhang Xijun was not only the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, but also the Right Censor-in-Chief and the Minister of the Supervisory Department. In particular, the latter was directly responsible for the Beijing Inspection. There was only one person in the court who had the same power as him, and that was the emperor's uncle Xu Xiancheng.

The Beijing inspection was restored before the current emperor ascended the throne. During the more than one year since the restoration, many officials have been punished. There are quite a few officials in the capital who have been demoted or even dismissed. Zhang Xijun and Xu Xiancheng have made a lot of efforts to put these people in this situation.

Besides, everyone knew that Zhang Xijun had been the emperor's man for a long time. When Zhu Shenzhu was still a member of the imperial clan, Zhang Xijun secretly joined Zhu Shenzhu. Otherwise, how could he have risen to prominence later? Moreover, Zhang Xijun was really not a simple person. When Wei Zhongxian was in power, he had a good relationship with Wei Zhongxian's uncle and nephew. He often went in and out of Wei Liangqing's mansion. Who in the eunuch party didn't know Mr. Zhang's name? After Wei Zhongxian's fall, Zhang Xijun, who was good at dancing with long sleeves, was not implicated. Although Zhang Xijun had a good relationship with Wei Zhongxian's uncle and nephew, he never directly participated in the eunuch party's affairs. Instead, he secretly protected many officials with Wei Zhongxian's power, and had a reputation in Beijing for being generous and generous.

Because of this, Zhang Xijun remained safe and sound after Wei Zhongxian's fall, and Zhang Xijun was as comfortable in the capital as before. Although he was not an official, his influence was probably greater than that of ordinary senior officials, and there were many people in the court who were on good terms with him.

But no one expected that Zhang Xijun was Zhu Shencui's man. Shortly after Zhu Shencui started his rebellion, Zhang Xijun helped and ran around in the capital, winning over a large number of people to secretly join Zhu Shencui. In the end, it was with the help of Zhang Xijun that Zhu Shencui easily took the capital and occupied the center.

When Zhu Shenzhui became the regent, Zhang Xijun suddenly became a high-ranking official in the court and was highly valued by Zhu Shenzhui. Although Zhang Xijun was not given a title after Zhu Shenzhui ascended the throne, everyone could see that the reason why Zhang Xijun was not given a title was not because of insufficient merit, but because Zhang Xijun himself did not want to be given a title. This was the same as Xu Xiancheng. The two of them could be said to be the right-hand men of the civil officials around the emperor. Once they were given a title, they would go from being civil officials to nobles, and it would be impossible for them to make further progress in their official careers.

As a civil servant, the highest aspiration is to enter the cabinet and become the prime minister. Which civil servant does not want this? Although the current prime minister is Wen Tiren, Wen Tiren is already old. He will not be able to sit in the position of prime minister for many years. In a few years, it will be the time for Zhang Xijun and Xu Xiancheng to enter the cabinet. Once they enter the cabinet, the future prime minister will inevitably be one of them.

Moreover, theoretically speaking, Zhang Xijun has a better chance of becoming the prime minister than Xu Xiancheng. Don't forget that Xu Xiancheng is a relative by marriage. Although Xu Xiancheng has a deep foundation as the founder of the Fushe Society, if a relative by marriage were to become the prime minister, there would definitely be strong opposition in the court. On the contrary, Zhang Xijun does not have this problem. Although he is an old man around Zhu Shenzhu, he is not a relative by marriage. In addition, Zhang Xijun has always had a good reputation in the court and has many friends. There are many people from all walks of life who hope that he will join the cabinet. If there is a chance for him to replace Wen Tihen in the future, I am afraid that there will be no shortage of supporters.

Holding Li Jiqian's hand and exchanging a few words of greeting, Zhang Xijun did not put on any airs of a superior. His kind smile made people feel like they were bathed in the spring breeze.

Then, under the introduction of Li Jiqian, Zhang Xijun was introduced to officials of all levels in Fengyang Prefecture, including Tongzhi Ma Shiying and others. Zhang Xijun was still enthusiastic about these officials. After everyone talked for a few words, Zhang Xijun smiled and pointed to the sky and said that it was already late and it was very cold. It was embarrassing to ask everyone to come here to greet him, and it was even more inconvenient to continue chatting. It would be better to enter the city first. It would not be too late to talk when we arrived in Fengyang Prefecture.

Zhang Xijun's suggestion was recognized by everyone, and Zhang Xijun's attitude also made many people feel relieved. Many people secretly praised Zhang for being worthy of his reputation. No wonder he had such a good reputation. It was rare for such a high-ranking official to not only be humble but also be so considerate of his subordinates.

Back in the car, Zhang Xijun and his party continued to head towards Fengyang. Li Jiqian and his team led the way, and Zhang Xijun's team followed behind.

Ten miles away, not far from the official road, the group walked for a while before the majestic Fengyang Mansion appeared in front of them.

Fengyang Prefecture was the central capital of the Ming Dynasty and was also the capital specially built by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang originally planned to place the capital in Fengyang, but later, due to various reasons, he placed the capital in Nanjing. Even so, Fengyang was still listed as the central capital, and built three walls, namely the imperial city, the forbidden wall, and the outer city, which were the same as those of the capital. The overall layout was no different from Nanjing, and in some aspects it was even more magnificent than Nanjing.

So although Fengyang was nominally a prefecture, its political status was actually not low. The rank of Fengyang prefect was higher than that of ordinary prefects. Just like the current prefect Li Jiqian, he was not only the prefect of Fengyang, but also a doctor of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing. Such a part-time job was only available in Fengyang Prefecture.

It was the first time for Zhang Xijun to come to Zhongdu Fengyang. When the convoy passed through the tall city wall and entered Fengyang Prefecture, Zhang Xijun couldn't help feeling a little emotional. He didn't know how much manpower and material resources had been spent to build such a big city. It was a pity that Fengyang, the Zhongdu, only had a name of Zhongdu, but had never played the role of Zhongdu. In the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, Fengyang Prefecture was just Fengyang Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)