Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 70: Old Minister Returns to Beijing
In the northwest, the north wind was biting and the cold wind was howling. A carriage, a hundred soldiers, six sedan chair bearers, dozens of Hami generals, civil officials and even eunuchs stood in the cold wind, their eyes focused on a mansion.

Not long after, an elderly man in his seventies walked out of the house, and everyone looked at him with great respect.

Wang Yue looked at everyone, the sadness on his face flashed away, and he encouraged them: "I will be back before the Lantern Festival next year at the latest."

"The earliest I can come is this year to celebrate New Year's Day with you all."

He looked at several generals and told them, "During my absence, do not use military force against foreign enemies. Strengthen the defense of Hami cities. Be sure to monitor Hami spies carefully and do not allow spies from other places to enter the city. Ensure the safe exchange of merchants between Gansu, Liang and the seven guards of Guanxi."

Everyone clasped their fists together and said, "Yes!"

Wang Yue sighed and said, "It is bitterly cold at the border, and I should ask for merit for you when I return to the capital this time."

Because of his existence, no matter how great the achievements of those around him are, their final contributions will be ignored.

In the Battle of Helan Mountain, the commander-in-chief Zhu Jin, the garrison eunuch Zhang Qian, the general commander-in-chief Li Jun, the deputy general commander Zhang An, the right supervisor Hao Shan and others should have been rewarded according to their merits, but the court only hastily rewarded them with some food on the grounds that they had made too little contribution.

After such a long time, how can these subordinates who have followed him through life and death continue to guard the border safely?
It’s time to go back. Even though it’s a dangerous place, Wang Yue has no choice but to give it a try!

Zhu Jin, the commander of the army, clasped his fists and said to Wang Yue, "Old General, you have to work hard. We are willing to be forgotten. As long as you are well, it is better than anything else."

"With you here, Hami can enjoy long-term peace and stability, and the Ming Dynasty can maintain its territory intact."

Wang Yue pursed his lips, said nothing in the end, and got into the sedan chair.

As the crowd watched and snowflakes flew, hundreds of soldiers guarded the carriage and slowly disappeared into the snow, leaving behind a trail of footprints of varying depths on the ground.

……

Forbidden City Imperial Palace.

Emperor Hongzhi looked at Zhu Houzhao awkwardly and said, "Look at how stingy you are. Fine, I will buy it from you, right?"

"You make a price."

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said, "I'm sorry, father, I won't sell it! This is mine."

Emperor Hongzhi covered his forehead with his hands, thinking, this unfortunate child, why is he so stingy? He doesn’t seem to be a good person at all.

You are young and have excellent eyesight. How useful is it to you? After the novelty wears off in two days, will you still play with it?
How practical for your grandma.

Emperor Hongzhi said, "Then you can lend it to me for a while, right?"

"I will give you one tael of silver per day as a loan fee, is that okay?"

Zhu Houzhao sneered, "Father! This is a rare treasure!"

"You have to pay more!"

Emperor Hongzhi: “…”

He finally rented the magnifying glass from Zhu Houzhao at a rental price of five taels of silver a day.

He really had no temper at all towards this naughty son.

"Go and deliver this thing to the old empress dowager." Emperor Hongzhi said to the eunuch beside him.

"According to the order."

……

In late November, it started snowing again in Beijing, from small to large snowflakes.

Chen Ce was sweeping the snow in the courtyard with a big broom. Zhu Houzhao was right. It was time to improve his living environment. He invited a group of renovation workers from the market to transplant a big locust tree in the courtyard. The craftsmen said that they would ensure that the tree would bloom with fragrance next year. If it withered, they would refund the money and compensate with another one.

A long stone path was built from the central hall to the front door to prevent the entire yard from becoming muddy after the snow.

The craftsmen felt that the small piece of land in the front yard affected the appearance and wanted to fill it up. This scared Chen Ce and he quickly refused, asking them not to touch the land.

There is still room for expansion in the backyard. The craftsman suggested expanding the backyard to create a courtyard so that poultry can be raised in the backyard in the future. This is a good suggestion.

Many potted plants, a square table, an armchair, and two coffee tables have been moved into the main room.

There were many more bookcases in the two side rooms. They originally wanted to sell some calligraphy and paintings. A craftsman said that they had paintings by Tang Bohu in their shop that looked realistic enough, and asked Chen Ce if he wanted to buy some.

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "Tang Yin's paintings are too ostentatious. My yard is not worthy of them. Buying a fake will make people laugh. When he has time, let him paint two paintings himself."

The craftsman was choked and thought to himself, you are really a boaster, you even asked Tang Yin to paint for you personally, why don't you ask Zhu Zhishan to write calligraphy for you?

But the other party is the financial sponsor after all, so these complaints can only be kept in mind.

I didn’t expect that you, a young man who looks honest, can be so good at bragging. They have a new understanding of Chen Ce.

The kitchen was also renovated inside and out. It took most of the day to complete all the work. Chen Ce couldn't help but sigh at the hard work of these craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty.

In the future, if it were not for the delay of ten days or half a month, you would feel embarrassed to pay someone, and you might even think that the other party was cutting corners.

This renovation cost Chen Ce fifty taels of silver, which was a fair price. Chen Ce even gave the other party an extra tael of silver. The other party was very grateful to Chen Ce and said that if he had business in the future, he would look for the old Li family in the south of the city and introduce others to Chen Ce for a share of the profits.

Sure enough, businessmen are like this in all eras.

It was already evening and the snow had lessened a lot.

Two more people came to the door of Madam Wu next door. Nie brought her son to the door. Madam Wu argued with the other party. Finally, Nie's son began to mention Chen Ce's name and looked very emotional.

Chen Ce knew that he might cause trouble for himself, so while they were arguing, Chen Ce went out with an umbrella.

Using the power of the Jinyiwei to deal with these common people is a bit like using an anti-aircraft gun to kill a mosquito or using a butcher knife to kill a chicken. It is too bullying.

After Chen Ce arrived at the Northern Pacification Office and introduced himself, Li Zhen, the co-director of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, came out to meet Chen Ce in person.

He didn't know why the prince valued this boy so much, but since the prince attached so much importance to him, he didn't dare to take it lightly.

"Why did Master Chen come to see me?"

Chen Ce smiled and said, "It's okay. I would like to invite you to have some tea at my house. Do you have time?"

Of course I don’t have time, but I have to make some time even if I don’t have time.

Li Zhen laughed and said, "Okay."

Both of them tacitly did not mention Zhu Houzhao. At first, Li Zhen was still thinking about how to lie to Chen Ce that Zhu Houzhao was not in the Jinyiwei office. When he saw that the other party did not mention it, he felt relieved.

However, the other party would not invite me over for tea for no reason. I guess he wants me to do something.

He will help if it is within his ability, but he can do nothing if it exceeds his authority or violates the law.

Civil officials have great power now, so it is better for the Jinyiwei to stay out of trouble. If it were the Taizong period now... humph!

Li Zhen was a real warrior and walked very fast, but in order to take care of Chen Ce, he deliberately slowed down his pace. After a while, he arrived at Huaihua Hutong and sat down in the central hall of Chen Ce's house.

Wait for it to be on the shelves. I will update more once it is on the shelves. It will probably be next week. Please bear with me.

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(End of this chapter)