Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 73 The Transaction of Four Zhuangzi

In the heavy snow, Wang Yangming looked at the Ba Bridge ahead and suddenly pulled the reins: "Change the route and go to Xi'an Prefecture! Stay in Ba Bridge for one night first. Captain You, please send someone to inform the governor and ask him to return to Xi'an Prefecture."

Yang Mao, the commander of Jueshengwei, and You Baihu of Dongchang were both very surprised after hearing this.

Captain You asked directly: "Master Wang, why do we have to change the route to Xi'an City? We have been walking all night on the way to Sanyuan!"

"Captain You, I am not teasing you on purpose. I am doing this for your lives and to ensure that Zhang Yu and other important criminals are successfully escorted to the capital. If I am right, the people who went to silence us last night must be Li Dongyang's men. After seeing that we got there first, they will definitely go directly to Sanyuan to intercept us. After all, we are under the banner of escorting princes to the capital, and everyone knows that we will definitely go to Sanyuan, so they will naturally know it too."

Wang Yangming raised his index finger and said with a confident smile: "But we won't go to Sanyuan. We will go to Xi'an first and take the main road back to the capital. We can even find the governor Yang Yiqing directly and ask him to send more cavalry to escort us back to the capital."

After hearing what Wang Yangming said, Captain You felt that it made sense, so he nodded and sent someone to stop Ma Yongcheng, the governor of the East Factory.

Ma Yongcheng was also very angry after hearing this. He thought that he was the governor of the East Factory and the second most important person in the inner court, but now he was being played around by a bachelor of the Imperial Academy. He asked him to go to Xi'an first, then to Sanyuan, and now he wanted him to go back to Xi'an! In this cold winter, with ice and snow everywhere, who can stand going back and forth!
But Ma Yongcheng was not in a hurry to see Wang Shu. He cared more about whether he could successfully escort Zhang Yu and others back to Beijing. Unfortunately, Zhang Yu and others were in Wang Yangming's hands, so Ma Yongcheng could only suppress his anger and rush back to Xi'an.

As soon as Ma Yongcheng saw Wang Yangming, he pointed at him and yelled, "What on earth do you want to do?"

"Please calm down, Governor. You should thank me. If I didn't let you come back, I'm afraid you would be buried in Qinchuan now," Wang Yangming said and repeated to Ma Yongcheng what he had said to Captain You at the beginning. He also told Ma Yongcheng that he had arrested Zhang Yu and others just as Li Dongyang's people came.

Ma Yongcheng couldn't help but look serious after hearing this, and asked Captain You: "Is this true?"

"Indeed, and the opponent's strength should not be underestimated. They are all skilled cavalrymen, no less than 500 of them," replied Captain You.

Ma Yongcheng couldn't help but slap the table after hearing this: "Great, great Li Dongyang, he is quite capable, he can even command 500 cavalry to silence people, why doesn't he just rebel!"

"Look at what you said, what he did is no different from rebellion. We should not delay any longer. Let's go to Xi'an City as soon as possible!"

Wang Yangming said as he mounted his horse and went ahead. At this time, Ma Yongcheng asked, "Why don't you ask me about the details of the prefect who came from Xi'an?"

"No need. Since Li Dongyang sent someone to silence me instead of going directly to the Xi'an prefect, it means that he, as a student, is also unaware of his teacher's conspiracy. However, I suddenly remembered that I need to ask the governor something. Does the governor know where the Shaanxi governor Yang Yiqing is?"

Wang Yangming asked.

"Now teaching at Zhengyi Academy!"

Ma Yongcheng was the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot and had already deployed his own spies in Shaanxi, so he naturally knew about Yang Yiqing's recent situation.

"Then we will have to trouble the Governor to personally go to Governor Yang Yiqing to borrow troops," Wang Yangming said with a smile.

Ma Yongcheng was furious: "Wang Shouren, you are such a jerk. Am I really your errand boy? Why do you want me to go and borrow troops myself? I am the chief envoy. Now I order you to go and borrow troops!"

"Please don't blame me, Governor. It's not that I don't want to go myself, but my position is too low. I'm afraid I can't borrow soldiers. You are the governor of the East Factory or the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department. There is also the order from His Majesty. Naturally, only you can go in person to borrow border troops. But please rest assured, Governor. I will keep an eye on Zhang Yu and other important criminals for you!" Wang Yangming said with a smile.

Ma Yongcheng, the governor of the East Factory, was still very depressed, but he had no way to say that Wang Yangming was wrong, so he had to ride his horse back to Zhengyi Academy.

At this time, Shaanxi Governor Yang Yiqing received Zhu Houzhao's secret decree and a letter from Li Dongyang. However, Li Dongyang's letter was naturally not as persuasive as Zhu Houzhao's secret decree. What's more, Ma Yongcheng, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the governor of the Eastern Depot, came to see him in person. Therefore, Yang Yiqing did not hesitate to directly dispatch 500 Qin cavalry to help Ma Yongcheng escort Zhang Yu and others to Beijing.

At the same time, Ma Yongcheng handed over the document appointing Wang Shu as the Minister of Personnel to Yang Yiqing and asked Yang Yiqing to send another group of officers and soldiers to replace the Juesheng Guard to escort Wang Shu to Beijing.

Yang Yiqing directly asked the prefect of Xi'an to send a local garrison to escort Wang Shu to Beijing.

After all, in Yang Yiqing's opinion, Wang Shu was going to Beijing to take up his post, not to a border town, let alone a wanted criminal, so there would be no great danger. It would be enough to send a group of ordinary officers and soldiers to scare off the bandits along the way. Shaanxi had been harassed by the little prince for many years, so naturally, too many elite border troops could not be transferred away.

At this time, Wang Yangming and Ma Yongcheng, together with the Juesheng Guards, the Dongchang people, and five hundred Qin cavalrymen, escorted Zhang Yu and other important criminals directly from Xi'an via the main road back to the capital.

A few days later, Wang Shu received an imperial decree from a military officer named Ye Qianhu and a messenger official that he had been reinstated as the Minister of Personnel.

Although Wang Shu is old, he is still strong and said directly: "Since the court is willing to reform the civil service, I will do my best and go to the capital tomorrow!"

So, when the cold wind was raging, Wang Shu, who was already ninety years old, left Sanyuan County under the escort of a thousand officers and soldiers, and walked towards the capital on the snow.

……

Lü Zhonghe, the imperial censor of Shaanxi, had also received a secret letter from Li Hong. When he opened it, he saw only "Four Zhuangzis" written on it.

Lu Zhonghe couldn't help but laugh. He also knew that this meant that he could get four villages after the Tartars entered the pass and massacred the villages. He couldn't help but say, "The upper echelons are quite generous this time!"

"Not only that, if you do a good job in this matter, you will be transferred to Sichuan to be the governor. Sichuan is comparable to the south of the Yangtze River and warmer than Guyuan," Li Hong said with a smile.

"Don't worry, sir. I will definitely handle this matter well and make sure that Wang Shu and Zhang Yu don't die a good death! And that Dongchang Supervisor, it can be considered as eliminating a eunuch thief in one fell swoop!"

After saying this, the inspector Lu Zhonghe had Li Hong sent away, and he immediately called his confidant: "Take my order and go out immediately to find the little prince's people. Tell them that there is business to be done. This time you can slaughter four villages!"

When Wang Shu was about to set out, a group of no less than 500 Tartars rode in from the city gate of Guyuan. One of them even went straight to the inspector Lu Zhonghe and asked, "Which villages are they going to massacre this time?"

"Wang Shu and his men will massacre the villages wherever they go, but we still have to follow the old rules. The fields of the villages they massacre will belong to us, and the money and women will belong to you. But you have to do the work first and then make money. This is a special order from above!"

Lu Zhonghe said.

(End of this chapter)