Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 93 Translation Translation, What the fuck is a surprise!
In the study, four octagonal glazed palace lanterns were hung at the four corners, and the bright light filled the entire room.

Zhang Juzheng was seen leaning on the armchair, looking at Zhang Yunxiu who came in with a stern expression.

"Father." Zhang Yunxiu bowed and called out.

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly and pointed to the purple wooden square table on his left hand side, on which a white paper raft was neatly placed.

Zhang Yunxiu walked forward, picked it up and took a look, and suddenly his whole face became strange.

It turned out that the happy event You Qi was talking about was actually his own wedding.

However, in July of this year, the former Prime Minister Xu Jie, who was also Zhang Juzheng's mentor, passed away.

The Xu family had abundant wealth, and when the Xu family members saw that they had lost their backing, they became anxious and began to target the Prime Minister.

Firstly, Zhang Yunxiu was not married yet, so the position of the main wife was still vacant. Secondly, he was not only the son of the prime minister, but also a popular figure in front of the emperor.

After careful consideration, Xu Fan, the eldest son of the Xu family, wrote a letter, wanting to marry his youngest daughter to Zhang Yunxiu.

Zhang Juzheng thought that Xu Jie was his mentor, and now his mentor had just passed away, if he did not agree to this marriage.

People outside would say that he was mean and ungrateful, so he just agreed.

The atmosphere froze for a few seconds, and Zhang Juzheng looked at his son and asked, "Have you finished reading it?"

"I've finished reading it." Zhang Yunxiu nodded, and then said, "But father, I feel that something is wrong. Now that Grand Tutor Xu has just passed away, her granddaughter should be in mourning. It's a bit too early to get married now."

"It's okay. You can arrange the marriage first and get married in two years." Zhang Juzheng didn't care at all and said in a tone that could not be refused. "The Xu family has sent someone to send their daughter's birth date and horoscope. You two are a good match."

Now, Zhang Yunxiu didn’t know what to say.

It was somewhat of a fantasy to marry a woman he had never met and spend his life with her.

"Why? Do you have other thoughts?"

Zhang Juzheng got angry and shouted, "We know that you have a mistress outside, and we don't care what you do outside, but you must marry this woman from the Xu family home for us."

"Yes." Seeing his father like this, he stopped worrying about it.

Nodding, Zhang Juzheng waved his hand and said, "Go down and have a rest. Five days later, you will go to Huating with Jingxiu to pay tribute to our teacher on our behalf and strengthen our friendship with the Xu family."

Zhang Yunxiu bowed to his future father, walked out of the study, and closed the door behind him.

Outside the door, a bleak autumn wind blew. Zhang Yunxiu shuddered, tightened his robe, and strode away.

After leaving the Grand Secretary's Mansion, Zhang Yunxiu got on a carriage and headed straight to the residence of his fourth brother Zhang Jianxiu.

When the two men met, Zhang Jianxiu immediately ordered people to set up a banquet.

After the two of them sat down, Zhang Jianxiu turned his eyes and glanced at his brother. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "You've been exposed to the wind and sun on the sea. Look at you. You've become quite a bit darker."

"It's not the sun, it's the tiredness." Zhang Yunxiu poured out a cup of tea, drank it in one gulp, and then said self-deprecatingly, "I suffered so much just to earn a little money."

"Don't lie to me, kid. Zhang Fudu told me that you made a fortune this time." Zhang Jianxiu held his brother's arm with his left hand, while his right hand made a gesture of counting money. "We put in a lot of effort, so we should get at least 20%."

"Well, look at what you said, who are we brothers?"

"Then let me tell you, 20%."

"Don't worry, I can't stand your kindness." Zhang Yunxiu smiled and changed the subject: "Do you know Miss Xu?"

"The one you are going to marry soon?" Zhang Jianxiu confirmed.

"Correct."

"Although we don't know each other, how can a girl raised by a wealthy family like the Xu family be bad-looking?" Zhang Jianxiu patted his chest and assured, "You can rest assured. Besides, the Xu family is rich, and the dowry will definitely be quite a lot."

Dowry?

When Zhang Yunxiu heard these two words, his eyes lit up instantly.

The Xu family was located in Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, which is today's Magic City and belongs to the Nanzhili region.

His family lived in the fertile and prosperous Nanzhili region, owning 240,000 acres of land.

Based on the calculation of ten taels of silver per mu, the land assets alone amounted to two million and forty thousand taels.

"Then how much dowry can they give?" After taking two deep breaths, Zhang Yunxiu asked while turning sideways.

"How would I know that?" Zhang Jianxiu rolled his eyes at his brother and muttered, "But the Xu family is in a lot of trouble right now. Your future father-in-law is no pushover. He is causing trouble for the whole village and sucking the marrow out of everyone.

When Grand Tutor Xu was pushed out by Gao Huzi, the old man of the Xu family was immediately sentenced to exile. " "Later, it was only when my father became the Prime Minister that the sentence was changed."

"It's a pity that Grand Tutor Xu lived a life of integrity, but in the end, he was ruined by these descendants."

At the end of his speech, Zhang Jianxiu looked resentful.

Zhang Yunxiu also frowned. The eldest master of the Xu family, Xu Fan, was born to Xu Jie's first wife.

When he was only two years old, his mother died. At that time, Xu Jie offended the Prime Minister Zhang Cong and was kicked out of the capital to Fujian.

Knowing that he owed his eldest son, Xu Jie doted on and indulged him, which led to his tyranny.

"Alas, I just hope that this little girl can stay clean and not get tainted by her father's bad habits." Shaking his head, Zhang Yunxiu frowned and said with some helplessness.

"What's the big deal? At most, we can just treat it as a Buddha statue at home." Zhang Jianxiu picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and swallowed it down slurply.

"It's fine if you don't talk about Buddha, but I feel uncomfortable when you do."

"what happened?"

"Isn't it that nobleman in the palace who likes to throw money into the sea?"

"Tell me, how do you throw it?"

Zhang Jianxiu was full of curiosity and asked further. Zhang Yunxiu swallowed a mouthful of hot tea, moistened his throat, and then said: "Empress Dowager Li wants to repair the temple and let the emperor become a monk."

"Ah! You don't want to care about the good world anymore? You want to become a monk?"

"Not really. They are looking for a substitute to become a monk for the emperor." Zhang Yunxiu added, looking as if he had eaten a dead fly. "Tell me, what good are those bald donkeys? The court uses the money from supporting these monks to pay the soldiers on the border. How dare the Tatars invade the border?"

"Are you angry about this?" Zhang Jianxiu asked after hearing this.

"Ah."

"Well, I thought you had learned some tricks of the officialdom, but you are still a greenhorn. The Jiajing Emperor likes to cultivate the mysteries, and the status of the alchemists even exceeds that of the ministers. Tell me, who dares to control the civil and military officials in the court?"

"It was that fool Qing Hai Rui who dared to offend the emperor."

"Empress Dowager Li is just repairing the temple now, it's not a big deal. Our father doesn't care about it, why do you care?"

Zhang Yunxiu was about to retort, but Zhang Jianxiu interrupted him with a wave of his hand and said with a smile: "Okay, I'm happy today, and I don't want to argue with you about these trivial things and hurt our brotherly feelings."

"That's right." Zhang Yunxiu smiled freely and stopped dwelling on the matter.

The two were enjoying their meal when a chubby boy lay at the door, rolling his big black eyes.

"Zhongrun." Zhang Yunxiu saw it and waved his hand.

Zhang Zhongrun moved his short legs and ran in quickly. When he saw the two of them, he respectfully called out, "Dad, Fifth Uncle."

"Hey." Zhang Yunxiu smiled, hugged Zhang Chongrun to his lap, stared into his eyes and said jokingly, "Little guy, I haven't seen you for a few months. You have become a lot heavier."

Zhang Chongrun raised his chubby little hand, looked at it, and rubbed his cheeks with a frustrated look on his face.

"Hahahaha" Zhang Yunxiu was very proud. He took off a jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Zhang Chongrun, saying, "I give it to you as a small gift for your admission to school. When you make progress in your studies, I will give you a big house."

Zhang Chongrun, who is already five years old, has begun his enlightenment.

When he heard that there were benefits to be gained, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hurry up and thank your fifth uncle." Zhang Jianxiu shouted with a cold face.

Zhang Chongrun shuddered, looked up and said with a smile: "Thank you, Uncle Wu."

"Why are you being so polite to me?" Zhang Yunxiu pretended to be unhappy and frowned, "Zhongrun is your son, and he is also our dear nephew. Why should I thank you with a small gift?"

"Even brothers should settle accounts clearly." Zhang Jianxiu pursed his lips, and suddenly thought of something, leaning sideways to urge, "You are already an adult, hurry up and get my eldest nephew out, just in time to keep Chongyun company."

"Forget it, let's not talk about this and continue eating." Zhang Yunxiu saw that he was getting on fire and quickly changed the subject.

Zhang Jianxiu laughed out loud and stopped talking.

The two of them ate for more than an hour. The sunlight that came through the window faded away and the light in the room became dim.

Zhang Yunxiu stood up and was about to leave, but Zhang Jianxiu held him up and complained, "You can only drink three cups of wine. Don't try to be brave in public in the future, otherwise you will make our family lose face."

Seeing his fourth brother's caring look, Zhang Yunxiu felt warm in his heart and grinned.

(End of this chapter)