Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 75 Future Blueprint
With Zhang Jing being imprisoned, the selection of a royal consort came to an end.

Feng Bao acted quickly. In just two days, he had found out all of Zhang Jing's crimes. He finally presented them to the emperor, sentenced Zhang Jing to 100 strokes of the cane and exiled him to Nanjing Xiaoling Mausoleum, never to return to Beijing again.

All property and belongings will be confiscated.

The strong men who were carrying out the execution were all shrewd men. They knew what Feng Bao meant, and they did not hold back on their blows. After only thirty blows, Zhang Jing fainted completely.

Thanks to the emperor's mercy, Zhang Jing was spared the seventy strokes of the cane.

Although he was spared the death penalty, he could never straighten his back again.

In addition to Zhang Jing being severely punished, Liang Bangrui's family also suffered a miserable end.

He emptied the family's savings and ended up losing both his money and his life.

Zhang Yunxiu doesn't care about this family at all. If you are not greedy, how could you bring such a disaster upon yourself?
Zhang Yunxiu got up early that day. After washing up as usual, Zhang Fu walked in and said with great joy, "Sir, Zhang Jing's shop, as well as the shop and land he extorted, have all been transferred to our family by Han San."

"Yes." Zhang Yunxiu smiled and wiped the water off his hands, then said, "I will be going out to sea in a few days. I'll trouble you to take care of the affairs in the capital. If there is anything you can't do, go find Fourth Brother and You Qi."

"Little understands."

Zhang Fu responded respectfully, and then reminded, "Zheng Guotai got a position as a Jinyiwei centurion a few days ago, and he has been clamoring to invite you to dinner. Sir, are you going or not?"

"Go." Zhang Yunxiu nodded and smiled, and said seriously, "Tell him that we have time tonight."

"Oh." Zhang Fu quickly wrote it down.

"By the way, you should also visit Xier more often." Zhang Yunxiu reminded.

"Don't worry, sir. Ever since you favored her that day, I immediately selected ten maids for her. All the old things in the mansion were also replaced with new ones. I would never dare to neglect them in the slightest."

"Ah That's good."

"Sir, why don't you go and see Miss Xi'er before you leave?"

Zhang Yunxiu hesitated for a moment, thought for a moment, shook his head and said with a smile: "Forget it, you can't pamper a woman too much, otherwise she will stick to you and make it difficult for you to move forward."

"Young Master is indeed an old hand in the love field. I admire you very much." Zhang Fu smiled and gave Zhang Yunxiu a thumbs up.

Zhang Yunxiu was too lazy to argue with him about wild cotton and walked out of the room in a few steps.

In the blink of an eye, it was evening, the sun was setting in the west, the sky was filled with sunset clouds, and the returning forest sparrows flew across the sky of Beijing, filling the air with their chirping.

Yilan Tower, located on Fugui Street, was already brightly lit and filled with guests.

In a box facing the street on the third floor, Zhang Yunxiu and Zheng Guotai sat opposite each other.

Today, Zhang Yunxiu was only wearing a casual bean green silk round-necked robe, looking gentle and refined.

Zheng Guotai, however, was wearing a black shirt with a round collar and gold thread, and a jade belt bestowed by the emperor around his waist. He looked quite noble.

As soon as he opened his mouth, his true colors were revealed.

"Brother Zhang, I haven't seen you for a long time. You are such a high-ranking official, but why are you so busy all day long? Why don't you go with me and find two more women to play with?"

Zhang Yunxiu's face twitched. Although he was disdainful in his heart, he congratulated him and said, "Brother Zheng has been released as a centurion. This is really a cause for celebration. I was so busy a few days ago that I forgot about this. Otherwise, you are unworthy. I will also invite you to come here for a meal."

"Let's drink a glass of wine as punishment."

As he spoke, Zhang Yunxiu raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"Okay, Brother Zhang is a big drinker!" Zheng Guotai saw Zhang Yunxiu giving him face and slammed the table and shouted, "Let's just say that Brother Zhang is our benefactor. Since we met Brother Zhang, our family has been blessed with good luck." "Let's toast to Brother Zhang too!"

Zheng Guotai picked up the wine pot and walked to Zhang Yunxiu's side. Zhang Yunxiu stood up, raised his glass to clink with him, and then drank it all.

After two glasses of wine, the two of them stopped bothering with the formalities and started to eat the delicacies on the table.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

Zheng Guotai's face flushed. He pretended to be half drunk and thought about it in his mind for a while. He stared at Zhang Yunxiu and asked, "Brother Zhang, I heard that you are going to do a big deal soon?"

"What big deal?" Zhang Yunxiu pretended not to know.

"Well, stop playing dumb with me. Last time we went to have our fortune told, the half-immortal said that we would make our fortune on the sea. After we came back, I was so upset. Now that you are going out to sea, you must take me with you."

"I thought it was something else." Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand and said calmly, "We are either going out to sea or visiting North Korea this time. It's not far away. If you want to go, it's not impossible."

"Korea? Isn't that a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Yeah, that's why I didn't inform you, brother."

Zhang Yunxiu smiled and explained the reason, "This time we are mainly testing this ship to see if it works well. To really sail in the ocean we need sea charts and enough warships."

"How long will that take?"

"It will probably take at least three to five years." Zhang Yunxiu thought for a while and then spoke.

It doesn't take much effort to travel between Japan and North Korea.

There are many island countries on the South China Sea, such as Luzon (Philippines), Malay Peninsula, and Indonesia. These small islands in Southeast Asia have a unique geographical location because they are close to the Strait of Malacca.

When Zheng He sailed to the West, he reached the Indian Ocean from the Strait of Malacca.

Unfortunately, after Zheng He, the Ming Dynasty no longer had any fleet sailing to the West.

However, a large number of the Chinese who followed Zheng He to the West settled down there.
Zhang Yunxiu planned to build a huge fleet within five years at the latest and control the Strait of Malacca first.

"Three to five years is a bit long." Zheng Guotai seemed a little anxious.

"It won't be long. We haven't gotten far yet. Even if we build ships and purchase warships at the same time, it will take time. Not to mention, Eunuch Zheng's sea chart has been lost. We have to send people to explore the way and find a guide at the same time." Zhang Yunxiu rolled his eyes at Zheng Guotai, quite speechless.

You treat sailing as a game. If you wander around on the sea without a nautical chart, you are playing with your life.

In any case, he would never leave Asia until the route was developed.

It won’t be too late for him to set off after the people below open up a route.

Zheng Guotai didn't understand all this. His mind was full of Li Banxian's words, so he urged: "Brother Zhang, you have to hurry up. If we are slow, the treasures on the sea will be snatched away by others, and we will lose a lot."

"Don't worry, they can't rob all the treasures. Even if they rob for 500 years, they can't rob all the treasures on the sea."

"Really?"

"It's more real than real gold!" Zhang Yunxiu assured, patting his chest.

"Brother Zhang." Zheng Guotai's eyes lit up, he raised the wine pot and filled it for himself, and poured another cup for Zhang Yunxiu, "Then our future prosperity and wealth will depend on you."

"You're welcome, Brother Zheng." Zhang Yunxiu took it, and the two of them clinked glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

(End of this chapter)