Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 31 The Stingy Father-in-Law
Pushing Wu Qingbo out now is just to muddy the waters.

Use another more popular matter to cover up Feng Bangning's matter, and the two will work together, and Wu Qingbo's matter will be successful.

As Zhang Yunxiu was thinking, a maid suddenly walked in with a fruit plate in her hand.

Li Wei took a step forward, took the fruit plate from the maid, and glanced at the only two pears on the plate.

After hesitating for a moment, he picked up the largest one and put it into his mouth.

Then he looked at Zhang Yunxu and said with a simple smile, "These pears don't last long. If you wash them too much, they'll go bad. Let's wash as many as we can and eat as much as we can."

Zhang Yunxiu had heard that Wu Qingbo was stingy, but he didn't expect him to be so stingy.

He smiled awkwardly, picked up the pear which was only the size of a baby's fist, put it in his mouth and started to eat it.

After eating the duck pear, Zhang Yunxiu took out a piece of rice paper from his arms and handed it to Wuqingbo Li Wei.

Wu Qingbo took it and saw that it was a letter. He couldn't help asking, "What does it mean?"

"This is a letter I wrote to Wang Zhuan, the Imperial Censor of Caojiang, asking him to reserve a grain boat for you." Zhang Yunxiu looked relaxed and contented.

"Okay, go wash two more big pears for Master Zhang!" Li Weihuo stood up and instructed the maid.

Wang Zhuan, the Imperial Censor of Caojiang, was a close associate of Zhang Juzheng, in charge of the grain transport, although he was only a fourth-rank official.

But the power he holds is in no way inferior to that of a third-rank minister.

There are countless officials and bandits on the Thousand Mile Canal. They take bribes and extort money. Most of the goods that merchants transport from the south to the north will be eaten up by these officials and bandits.

The grain ships are different. They transport things to the imperial court. Who dares to stop them?
Therefore, every canal boat was a hot commodity that merchants competed for.

Zhang Yunxiu shamelessly asked for four in total.

He gave one of them to Li Wei, kept one for himself, and had to think about making money for the little emperor with the remaining two.

Li Wei was so happy to receive such a great gift that he couldn't stop smiling. He looked at Zhang Yunxiu with more favor. "My dear nephew, our family has been farmers for generations and we are very poor. If you have such good things in the future, please think of us."

"Just rest assured, my Lord. I won't forget it."

Afterwards, the two of them picked wild cotton, talked about family matters, and asked about each other's well-being.

Zhang Yunxiu took the opportunity to explain his purpose: "My Lord, Feng Bao is also a ruthless character. He used to respect you a lot. Now that his nephew is in trouble, you must not add insult to injury."

"What are you talking about?" As the saying goes, one should be grateful to the person who has taken the money, and one should be grateful to the person who has taken the money. Li Wei curled his lips and replied, "We have no grudges against Eunuch Feng, so why would we mess with his nephew?"

"I know you have a grudge against my father." Zhang Yunxiu said lightly.

"Don't talk nonsense, when did we have a grudge against the Prime Minister?" Li Wei shrank his neck and became nervous.

"Let's not talk about you. Which nobleman in the entire Ming Dynasty doesn't have a grudge against my father?" Zhang Yunxiu didn't hide anything and said directly, "Don't worry, we can make up for the money you lost somewhere else."

"How to make up for it?"

"maritime."

"On the sea?" Li Wei muttered in a low voice and shook his head. "There is a lot of money on the sea, but the risks are also great."

"The risk is not great. When the time comes, let the imperial army explore the way ahead, and we will follow behind and pick up the ready-made ones." Zhang Yunxiu stood up, looked at Li Wei with a smile and asked, "Does the father-in-law know about Japan?"

"Of course I know. That place is still off-limits and we are not allowed to go there. Otherwise, the fabrics from Japan wouldn't be so expensive."

"The most abundant thing in Japan is silver."

Zhang Yunxiu smiled and continued, "I heard that they have a silver mountain there, called 'Shijian Silver Mountain'. Even if we mine it day and night, we may not be able to mine it all in hundreds of years."

"So much?" Li Wei's eyes turned red, and his breathing became rapid. "If the father-in-law doesn't believe me, wait a few years and we'll bring the silver back, and you'll know."

"Okay, we have to tell the emperor about this as soon as possible, to prevent others from digging us out." Li Wei's voice was filled with excitement.

How many years would it take to consume such a huge mountain of silver?

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard footsteps outside the yard.

They both turned their heads and saw Qian Yu leading Wei Qingfeng walking in, looking exhausted.

Li Wei recognized him as the eunuch in charge of the Qianqing Palace. He smiled and walked up to him and asked, "Eunuch Wei, is our grandson here to give us another reward?"

"Oh, father-in-law, this time I'm here to ask Master Zhang to enter the palace, not to give you a reward." Wei Qing smiled flatteringly and shook his head.

Li Wei's mood instantly dropped, and at the same time he was secretly jealous of Zhang Yunxiu's favor.

"Mr. Zhang, please go quickly. The emperor is still waiting for you. It will not be good if you go too late." Wei Qing bowed to Li Wei and shouted at Zhang Yunxiu.

Zhang Yunxiu responded, bowed to Li Wei, and followed Wei Qing out of the Wuqing Earl's Mansion.

Half an hour later.

Emperor Wanli finally saw Zhang Yunxiu. He stood up from the dragon throne, walked to Zhang Yunxiu, and said with a smile: "Zhang Yunxiu, you are sick, aren't you? I see that you are full of energy, you don't look sick at all."

"Could it be that you are deceiving the emperor?!"

"I am really ill." Zhang Yunxiu was quick to respond and flattered, "It's just that once I saw Your Majesty, I was in a good mood and my illness healed immediately."

"How dare you, you greedy minister, use sweet words to deceive me." Emperor Wanli pretended to be angry and shouted.

"I am a loyal minister! It is rare to find an emperor like Your Majesty who does not like to listen to flattery, even if you look through all the history books."

That's true.

Wanli was very proud of this compliment, and suddenly he remembered his business, so he waved his hand and urged: "Let's go, my friend is not here, I want to see what my people are doing today."

"today."

"What happened today?" Emperor Wanli shot a cold gleam.

"I have not prepared anything today." Zhang Yunxiu replied stiffly.

"Prepare for what?" Emperor Wanli smiled and waved his hands, looking casual. "I just want to see what the common people do every day. If you prepare deliberately, I will lose interest."

Zhang Yunxiu's mind was working rapidly, and after weighing the pros and cons, he agreed.

"Then as usual, I will leave the palace first, and you and the other eunuchs will blend in with the crowd of people leaving the palace and get out together."

"I know, I know." The Wanli Emperor said impatiently, "I want to have some fun today. Come pick me up soon, or I will punish you for taking me out of the palace without permission."

Zhang Yunxiu's face was filled with black lines.

This bastard is also born in the Year of the Dog, he can get angry at any time. But who can blame him for being the emperor and me being just an employee?
After complaining a few words in his heart, Zhang Yunxiu bowed to the emperor and was about to leave.

"etc."

Emperor Wanli called out, and Zhang Yunxiu stopped, turned around, and asked, "Does the emperor have anything else to tell you?"

"Ahem. I've already finished reading the albums from last time. It's time to send in some new ones this time."

(End of this chapter)