Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 59: Luoyang Incident
There had been no news of Meng Ningzhi for a long time, and he suddenly came to surrender. This was somewhat unexpected to Zhang Yu, but upon careful thought, it was reasonable.

Meng Ningzhi is short and ugly, and is not tolerated by society. In addition, he was born a knight-errant and his behavior is extreme, so he has always been discriminated against. From Meng Ningzhi's words, it is not difficult to see that he speaks rashly and directly, and rarely considers others.

In the past few months, Meng Ning's parents have both passed away, and his life has been unhappy. Under such circumstances, Meng Ning is full of resentment towards life. Therefore, he joined the army out of helplessness, eager to tear open the obstacles to his upward leap.

However, after a few months of military service, he was once again taught a lesson by social reality. If Zhang Yu had not helped him twice, given his own situation, he would probably still be a private.

Meng Ningzhi is not a fool. Today he finally meets someone who appreciates him, and he doesn't want to miss the opportunity. He longs to become a superior person, to live with a beautiful wife, and not have the appearance that even village women dislike.

Between hope and despair, Meng Ningzhi boldly chose hope. Even though he didn't know what kind of person Zhang Yu was, he knew that Zhang Yu was the only one who appreciated him and could give him the opportunity to move up a social class.

Now, knowing that Zhang Yu was about to leave Yingchuan, Meng Ningzhi gave the reward money to Xu Fu, and while Du You was leading his troops to escort Wang Yun to Qiao County, he escaped from the army and waited for Zhang Yu halfway.

Of course, Meng Ningzhi didn’t say these things, but Zhang Yu could also feel it.

No one in the world will give up things easily and bet his future on one person, unless he feels that he can get more from this person, including valuable items such as ideals, emotions, money, and official positions.

If Zhang Yu cannot win Meng Ningzhi's heart, Meng Ningzhi will leave Zhang Yu in the future. This is the logic of the king choosing his ministers and the ministers choosing their kings.

After accepting Meng Ning, Zhang Yu kept him and his cousin Zhang Maoshan as his right-hand men during his studies in Luoyang, while Hao Zhao and Shi Yi were ordered to take the cavalry back to Chanhewu.

At the same time, before entering Luoyang, Zhang Yu was worried that his cousin Zhang Maoshan would be discriminated against by the people of Luoyang because of his name, so he named him Zhang Feng, with Maoshan as his courtesy name.

Zhang Maoshan was born in a poor family. His father died early, so his mother named him Maoshan. If Zhang Yu had not intended to cultivate his direct descendants, Zhang Maoshan would probably still be struggling to make a living in the frontier, and he would never dare to dream that he could learn classics and martial arts and have the opportunity to come to the Central Plains.

After parting with the Canhe cavalry at Hulao Pass, Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao, along with several attendants, entered the capital from Hulao Pass. After passing through Gongxian, Yanshi, and Pingxian, they walked for more than two days before reaching Luoyang.

Because the Yellow Turbans had not yet been suppressed, Luoyang was still on high alert. For example, Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao had been checked by officials many times since they entered the capital.

When passing by Luoshui, Zhang Yu also encountered an outrageous thing. He and Zhong Yao were about to cross the bridge, but were stopped by an official who claimed to be "Zhang Rang's disciple" and demanded a bridge tax.

Seeing that there were many officials present, in order not to offend "Zhang Rang's followers", Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao had to pay the bridge tax per person.

After crossing the bridge, Zhang Feng couldn't help but say, "This is the first time I've heard of charging money to cross a bridge. Such arbitrary collection of taxes and fees is suspected of extortion. There are so many high-ranking officials in the capital, why hasn't anyone stepped forward to stop it?"

Zhong Yao sneered and said, "These officials know how to judge people's status. Those who are of high status and need to cross the bridge will be exempted from taxes. For people like you, me, merchants, and ordinary people, if we cross the bridge, officials will naturally stop us and ask for taxes under various pretexts."

Zhang Feng shook his head and said nothing. It was his first time in Luoyang. He didn't expect that he would be subject to such outrageous miscellaneous taxes as soon as he arrived in Luoyang.

Zhang Yu was unmoved and said calmly: "I wonder how much of the miscellaneous taxes collected by these officials can be handed over to Your Majesty. And I wonder how much money Your Majesty will allocate to subsidize the treasury tax revenue."

"Your Majesty, do you want to share the money with the eunuchs?" Zhang Feng asked naively.

"hehe!"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "There are few officials in the world who are not greedy. Your Majesty is collecting taxes. If these officials cannot get a share of the money, how can they be willing to work hard for the country?"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu exhaled slightly and said, "I am afraid that these officials will collect taxes under various pretexts, but in fact they are corrupt in disguise."

Zhong Yao glanced at Zhang Yu and felt that Zhang Yu, despite not being an official, actually knew the tricks in tax collection at the grassroots level.

Zhang Feng sighed and said, "The eunuchs are causing chaos in the government. Is it possible that no one in the court dares to report to the emperor?"

"It's not that no one dares to submit a memorial, but Your Majesty turns a deaf ear to it and allows the eunuchs to retaliate against the ministers. Over time, no one in the court dares to submit an impeachment memorial." Zhong Yao said helplessly.

Zhang Yu said meaningfully, "Without the eunuchs, Your Majesty would not be able to divide the accounts."

"Split the bill?"

Zhang Feng was confused as to what he heard, while Zhong Yao looked at Zhang Yu with great interest.

As time went by, if Zhang Yu became more and more interested in Zhong Yao, Zhong Yao also began to appreciate Zhang Yu's character more and more.

Although he was born in the northern part of the Saibei, he was by no means a simple-minded person, nor a greedy and reckless person. Instead, he was a person of great wisdom who could see the essential problems of many things, rather than being simply deceived by others.

At the age of 20, he was still a passionate young man, and he would not understand many things until he was almost 30. However, Zhang Yu, who was still passionate, understood these things so early, which made him feel ashamed.

"Young Master, we have arrived in Luoyang!"

Meng Ningzhi, who had been silent all the way, suddenly spoke.

"it is good!"

The Eastern Han Dynasty claimed to be the "Fire Virtue", so it renamed Luoyang to Luoyang. The city is nine miles from north to south and six miles from east to west, so it is also called "Six Nine City". Because Luoyang has always attracted a large number of dignitaries from all over the country, merchants from all over the world flocked to do business, it has long become the economic, political and cultural center of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

With so many people living in Luoyang, the space in the city was limited and there was certainly not enough room for people to live in. Therefore, the housing prices in the city were expensive and only the powerful and high-ranking officials were allowed to live in the city. A large number of people lived in the southern suburbs near the Luo River.

When they were about to reach Luoyang, although the two were going to the southern suburbs together, they had different destinations. Zhong Yao needed to go to Fanglin Pavilion, while Zhang Yu wanted to go to Yiyang Pavilion, so the two had to say goodbye and separate.

Yi Yang Pavilion is located in the southern suburbs, close to the south city, and is close to Lingtai, Mingtang, and Taixue in the southern suburbs. After passing Kaiyang Gate, you can reach the three dukes' palaces in the city.

As for why Wang did not buy a house in the city, the reason is not difficult to understand. The houses in Luoyang City cannot be purchased by anyone with money, but there are certain social status requirements.

Although Yiyang Pavilion is called a pavilion, it is already the size of a small city. Due to its superior location, it is considered one of the most expensive pavilions in the southern suburbs.

When Zhang Yu arrived, it was almost noon. There were many people coming in and out of the pavilion, and there were a lot of cars and people. Some nobles passed by with their servants, and some young people called their friends to play. The houses along the way were as tall as walls, such as the Zhi, and their luxury dazzled Zhang Feng and Meng Ningzhi.

Zhang Yu was unmoved. This prosperous street scene was not as good as the shopping malls in counties and cities in later generations. If the people of Luoyang were to see the prosperity of a big city, they would probably be scared.

According to the address left by Wang Yun, Zhang Yu searched for the location of the palace.

Following the guidance of passers-by, Zhang Yu found the palace in the core area of Yiyang Pavilion. Although the residence was not extravagant, it had at least three entrances and multiple courtyards, which was in line with Wang Yun's status in Luoyang City. Zhang Yu straightened his clothes and prepared to knock on the door.

"Young Master, let me do it!" Meng Ningzhi said.

Zhang Feng glanced at the palace, then glanced at Meng Ningzhi. The contrast between the two made him laugh, but he quickly restrained himself.

Meng Ningzhi realized that he had a plain appearance, and he was about to retreat with a sense of inferiority. However, at this moment, Meng Ningzhi felt a force pushing him forward, and when he turned around, he saw that it was Zhang Yu.

"Bo Ning, please tell me your name!"

Zhang Yu laughed and said, "If you can ignore life and death, how can you be afraid of your servants?"

"promise!"

A warm feeling suddenly surged in Meng Ningzhi's heart. He bowed to Zhang Yu, strode forward and knocked on the door.

"Boom~"

After a while, the doorman pushed open the door, stuck his head out, and was almost scared when he saw Meng Ningzhi.

He paused for a moment, and saw that the man who came was ugly, and that Zhang Yu and the other two were not dressed richly.

The servant's expression darkened, and he asked unhappily, "Who is here to visit? This is the residence of the governor of Yuzhou, the prince."

"Where is the business card?"

"If you are idle, please leave immediately!"

Seeing that the doorman spoke in a bad tone and seemed to be looking down on others, Meng Ningzhi and Zhang Feng outside the door became angry.

Zhang Yu's expression remained unchanged, and he simply said, "Zhang Yu from Yunzhong, Zhang Ji'an, came here on the orders of Envoy Wang."

"What about the term?"

The disciple had not yet reacted and continued to ask for business cards.

"You can report to the two young masters in the mansion, and they should know my identity." Zhang Yu said.

"You have no name, how can I inform you?" the disciple insisted.

The other gatekeeper seemed to remember something and hurried over to the gatekeeper's ear and whispered something.

Hearing this, the servant looked at Zhang Yu's face again, and immediately reacted. He hurriedly bowed and said, "I am blind and I didn't recognize you, son-in-law. Please forgive me!"

After saying this, he asked others to inform everyone while opening the door and inviting Zhang Yu in.

Zhang Yu smiled warmly and said, "Just be careful next time."

Zhang Yu was concerned about his status and could not lower himself to argue with his disciples. However, Meng Ningzhi and Zhang Feng were not polite at all. They bumped into the disciples hard as they passed by and gave them warnings with terrifying eyes.

The servant thought of the story of Zhang Yu killing the Hu people, which was praised by everyone in the mansion, and he couldn't help feeling afraid.

After a while, a young man who looked somewhat like Wang Hong came walking quickly. He smiled happily and asked, "Is this my brother-in-law?"

"Greetings, brother!" Zhang Yu bowed.

Wang Chen was very enthusiastic and immediately helped Zhang Yu up, saying with a smile: "I have been waiting for Ji'an for a long time!"

As he spoke, Wang Chen looked at Zhang Yu's appearance and praised him, "It is just as Shu Lan said in his letter. He is indeed worthy of being my brother-in-law!"

"Brother Miao Zan!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yu knew that Wang Jiyin was worried about him coming to Luoyang alone, so he asked his brother Wang Chen to help take care of him. He suddenly felt warm in his heart.

"go!"

Wang Chen warmly embraced Zhang Yu and went inside. Before leaving, he seemed to remember something, looked at the doorman coldly, and said, "I don't recognize my family. Pack your luggage and go back to Qi County with me."

The disciple was devastated, and immediately knelt down, begging, "Please forgive me this time, young master. I will never do it again!"

"Jian!"

Wang Chen looked at Zhang Yu, indicating that it would be up to Zhang Yu to make the decision.

Zhang Yu thought that he had just arrived at Wang's and needed to show his good will to everyone, so he said, "Brother, the Yellow Turbans are in chaos now, and the roads are inconvenient to travel. It would be better to keep him for a while."

Zhang Yu's words were very clever. He did not mention whether he would forgive his disciples, but his words were full of forgiveness. Besides forgiveness, his words also contained a warning.

Wang Chen nodded slightly, waved his sleeves and said: "I will forgive you this time, but if you do it again, I will never forgive you."

"Thank you, young master!"

The disciples bowed to Zhang and Wang again and again to express their gratitude.

"Thank you, son-in-law!"

"Book of Tang·Biography VI": "Wang Chen, courtesy name Zhengxiang, was a noble relative who loved to study, was magnanimous and well-mannered, good at writing, and knowledgeable in planning. Empress Gao was his sister...."

(End of this chapter)