Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 35 The Eunuch's True Feelings
After a while, Empress Dowager Li sat on the embroidered couch and looked angrily at her son who was standing with his hands hanging down.

"Emperor, were these evil paintings sent by Zhang Jing?"

"Yes." Emperor Wanli glanced at Zhang Jing and answered timidly.

"How dare you, you are so bold, committing adultery in the harem and presenting these filthy things to the emperor." Empress Dowager Li looked at Feng Bao with a narrowed eye, pointing at Zhang Jing on the ground and said, "Feng Bao, tell me, according to the palace rules, how should we punish this bastard?"

Feng Bao smiled respectfully. He had heard before that the young emperor had a conflict with Zhang Yun over a painting.

This morning, when he saw Zhang Jing coming back with something in his hand, he guessed that this bad guy Zhang Jing had bad intentions.

So he quietly went to the Cining Palace to ask the Empress Dowager for help, preparing to get rid of Zhang Jing in one fell swoop. But when he saw the Emperor's expression, he changed his mind and replied, "Zhang Jing is also an old man in the palace. It would be better to give him thirty strokes of the cane as a lesson."

"Yes, thirty strokes of the cane." Emperor Wanli cast a grateful look at Feng Bao. Fearing that the empress dowager would change her mind, he urged, "Come here, drag this fellow out and give him thirty strokes of the cane!"

Zhang Jing breathed a sigh of relief, wondering what Feng Bao's intentions were.

After a while, two young eunuchs broke into the hall and dragged Zhang Jing out.

Empress Dowager Li no longer held on to this matter. She pulled the emperor over and said with emotion: "Emperor, I am getting older and older. Now that the Queen and Concubine Gong are pregnant, you can't treat them lightly."

"I understand, son." Emperor Wanli was absent-minded.

Although the Queen and Concubine Gong were pregnant, they were both too dull and conventional, and did not like to make love with him according to the positions in the picture album.

Shupin is still the best. I feel comfortable with her.

Empress Dowager Li continued, "Emperor, since Concubine Gong is pregnant, she should be promoted to concubine."

"But she is a maid of honor."

"What's wrong with being a palace maid?!" Empress Dowager Li stood up from the embroidered couch in anger and shouted, "Mother was also a palace maid. Didn't she give birth to you? Didn't you also become the emperor?"

"Your son, your son obeys your command," Emperor Wanli realized that he had said something wrong and apologized quickly.

Feng Bao saw that the emperor disliked that woman, and after thinking for a moment, he smiled and suggested, "There's no need to rush. If Concubine Gong gives birth to a prince, it's only natural that she will be promoted to concubine."

"Okay." Empress Dowager Li nodded, looked at the emperor, pointed at Feng Bao and said, "Jun'er, Eunuch Feng is your best friend. In the past ten years, Eunuch Feng has managed the entire palace in an orderly manner. Tell me whether you have made any contribution?"

"Have."

"I, an old minister, dare not talk about my achievements. I estimate that I don't have many years left to live. I just want to stay with the Emperor and the Empress Dowager for two more years." Feng Bao's voice was choked with tears welling up in his eyes.

“I still remember one night when the emperor was a child, he had a bad cough and asked to ride a big horse.

Where can I find a horse for you in the middle of the night? I can only kneel on the ground and let Your Majesty ride the horse. Once you ride, the disease will be cured."

Emperor Wanli was probably infected by Feng Bao's atmosphere, and couldn't help but shout with red eyes: "Oban!"

"I'm here." Feng Bao responded quickly.

The emperor and his minister expressed their true feelings to each other, which was clearly seen by Empress Dowager Li. She also valued the old eunuch Feng Bao even more.

She recalled how arrogant and domineering Meng Chong and Gao Gong were when Emperor Longqing passed away.

It was Feng Bao who joined forces with her to get rid of Meng Chong first and then overthrow Gao Gong.

This led to the heyday of the tenth year of the Wanli reign.

"Mother, it's almost time for lunch. Please accompany me for a meal. I haven't had a meal with you for a long time." Emperor Wanli saw that the atmosphere was a bit depressing, so he made a suggestion.

"Okay, Eunuch Feng, please eat something too." Empress Dowager Li nodded slightly.

While they were having dinner, the news that Zhang Jing was beaten with a stick quickly spread throughout half of the inner court.

Some people said that Zhang Jing fell out of favor, while others said that Zhang Jing angered the empress dowager and was sent to Nanjing to grow vegetables.

Zhang Yunxiu got the news early, but he didn't believe the rumor at all.

The emperor trusted Zhang Jing even more than Feng Bao. How could he be overthrown so easily?
To chop down a big tree, you have to chop it left and right one by one, and it will fall down naturally when the time is right. Fortunately, Feng Bao did not kill him, otherwise the emperor would definitely blame him when he thought about it later.

Just as he was sighing with emotion, Zhang Fu walked in and said respectfully, "Sir, Han San wants to see you."

"Hurry, bring him in." Zhang Yunxiu shouted excitedly.

He had previously sent Han San to investigate the death of the Wanping County Magistrate. Han San had previously discovered that Zhao Lin died of poisoning. Now that he is back, he must have more direct evidence.

Zhang Fu understood and walked out, then turned back after a while, followed by a dusty man with a piece of black cloth on his back, which contained something hidden inside.

Seeing Zhang Yunxiu, Han San bent his knees and saluted: "Han San, greetings, sir."

Zhang Yunxiu held up his falling body and urged him, "Tell me quickly, how is the investigation going?"

Han San's face was heavy as he untied the package on his back and spread it out on the stone table in the pavilion. Zhang Yunxiu took a closer look and saw that there were nothing else inside but three longbows of different sizes.

"What is this?" Zhang Yunxiu asked curiously.

"Longbow." Zhang Fu replied.

"I know, I'm asking Han San why he brought this thing here!"

Zhang Fu smiled awkwardly. Han San took a deep breath, stared into Zhang Yunxiu's eyes and said, "Zhao County Magistrate's death is related to these three bows."

"So, he was shot to death with a bow?!"

Zhang Fu cried out strangely. Zhang Yunxiu glared at Zhang Fu fiercely, then turned to look at Han San and ordered, "Keep talking."

Han San thought for a while and continued, "These three bows are not used to kill people, but they are more powerful than killing people! When ordinary people see them, no one will not tremble."

"What does it do?"

"Measure the land." Han San uttered four words, and then introduced them one by one. "The small bow on the left is three feet and two inches, which is used to measure the land for ordinary people. The one in the middle is three feet and five inches, which is the size stipulated by the Ministry of Households. The one on the far right is four feet, which is used to measure the land for the powerful and wealthy."

After hearing this, Zhang Yunxiu felt his scalp tingling.

According to court rules, one bow is one step, and 240 steps are one acre of land.

The common people's land increased by three inches with each step, while the land of the rich and powerful increased by five inches with each step.

As a result, the burden on ordinary people has not been reduced but has increased.

Zhang Juzheng also used the share of land surveyed as an assessment criterion. Anyone who had less land surveyed would definitely have a low assessment score.

Therefore, the officials below figured out their superiors' thoughts and gave small bows to ordinary people.

Against those powerful and wealthy people who used money, we used large bows.

What the superior likes, the subordinates will like even more!

I'm afraid the entire Ming Dynasty used this method.

"Young Master, this matter is of great importance and it is beyond the control of you and me. So... don't cause trouble for the Master." Zhang Fu also came to his senses. He glanced at Zhang Yunxiu's face and reminded him.

"Yes, sir, in my opinion, let's stop here." Han San nodded and echoed, "The land survey is almost finished, and there are 3 million hectares of land in the world, most of which belong to the rich and powerful."

"It's not a big deal if the common people suffer a little."

Zhang Yunxiu remained silent.

Zhang Fu raised his eyes and continued to persuade: "Sir, this is just a pile of shit. If you bury it in the ground, it won't stink. If you pick it up, you will be the one who stinks."

After a long silence, Zhang Yunxiu took a deep breath, looked at Han San and asked, "What do you mean by saying that the death of County Magistrate Zhao was related to this bow?"

Han San smiled bitterly and told the two the whole story.

(End of this chapter)