The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 91: Loyal Ministers and Good Generals in Their Youth

Chongqing Prefecture was the site of the ancient Ba County, and was the vital gateway to Bashu.

After the five centipede ships of the navy broke away from the fleet escorting Prince Lu, they went upstream and headed straight for Chongqing Prefecture.

Wanli was not going to Chongqing City. His destination was Zhongzhou, the eastern gateway of Chongqing Prefecture.

Zhongzhou is the only place named after the word "loyalty", and it was named by Emperor Taizong of Tang himself.

This "loyalty" means loyalty, faithfulness, loyalty, bravery, and filial piety. The word "loyalty" has become a culture in Zhongzhou.

Zhongzhou has produced many loyal ministers and generals since ancient times.

This time, Wanli came to look for loyal ministers and capable generals.

In history, there were more than ten generals from the Qin family of Zhongzhou who died fighting for the Ming Dynasty. Almost all of Qin Liangyu's brothers, nephews and nieces died fighting for the Ming Dynasty, leaving only two who were seriously injured and could no longer go to the battlefield.

Naturally, he wanted to recruit such a loyal and capable general as soon as possible, so he went to Chongqing Prefecture to look for Qin from Zhongzhou under the pretext of escorting Prince Lu to his fiefdom.

Chongqing Prefecture is more than 3,000 miles away from Yangzhou Prefecture. In order to save time, he spent a lot of money.

He told the naval officers and soldiers who were manning the boats that if they could reach Zhongzhou within ten days, each of them would be paid two taels of silver per day. If it took more than ten days, the wages would be halved to only one tael per person per day.

As the saying goes, there is always a brave man under a big reward. This day's reward is equivalent to a month's food and wages, so the navy officers and soldiers naturally rowed hard.

They paddled hard all the way, passed through Wu Gorge and Kuimen, and finally arrived at Zhongzhou Wharf around 3 p.m. on the ninth day.

The sun was shining brightly, but there was a bit of a cold wind blowing at Zhongzhou Wharf. The steps next to the wharf were so long that you couldn't see the end at a glance, as if they extended to the horizon.

This is the famous mountain city of Chongqing.

Wanli looked up at the seemingly ethereal Zhongzhou City in the clouds and asked, "Master Zhang, have you ever been here?"

You still call me sir!

This means you are playing the role of a rich young man, right?
Zhang Zhen, the father-in-law, shook his head and pointed to a few Jinyiwei in plain clothes nearby and said, "I haven't been here, but they have been here. They are responsible for delivering goods here."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Has anyone heard of the Qin family of Zhongzhou?"

Several Jinyiwei all shook their heads in confusion.

It seems that the Qin family in Zhongzhou is not well-known at the moment, so we have to send someone to look for them.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "How many people can the largest inn in Zhongzhou City accommodate?"

The leading Jinyiwei flagman said, "Mr. Huang, the largest inn near the dock only has a courtyard covering an area of ​​about ten acres. In addition to the main house, there are only about ten bungalows in a circle. If we squeeze in, we can probably accommodate about a hundred people.

There is also a separate courtyard.

Not bad.

Wanli thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Master Zhang, you come with me to live in that courtyard. Sigong, take your men to the city to look for Qin Kui and Qin Liangyu's family and find out more about their family.

As for where to live, it's up to you guys, just make sure it's close to where we live."

Upon hearing this, Luo Sigong hurriedly bowed, then waved his hand and led dozens of his secret guards to quickly walk towards the city gate above the steps.

Wanli looked at the long steps again, then waved his hand and said, "Uncle, let them carry the things up, and we will go into the city. The navy officers will stay and watch over the boats."

There were about a hundred people in their group, and most of them were strong men. They looked a bit intimidating, but they were carrying a lot of things, and seemed to be traveling merchants.

The Zhongzhou Wharf is the gateway to Chongqing Prefecture and also the gateway to Bashu. It is not surprising that big merchants come here to rest.

In fact, most of these things disguised as goods were gifts he brought to the Qin family, and the rest were gold and silver they would spend on the road.

The steps next to the Zhongzhou Wharf were extremely long. Wanli was a little out of breath after climbing up. When he looked up at Zhongzhou City, he was stunned.

The gate of Zhongzhou City is only about ten feet wide, and the city wall is less than two feet high. The streets inside are also very narrow, and it seems difficult for a carriage to pass through.

It seemed that they had no choice but to walk, as there was not a single horse on the street.

The Jinyiwei who were responsible for delivering the goods were accustomed to this route. They led the group of about a hundred people into the city, wandered around the narrow streets for a while, and finally arrived at a low two-story inn.

Wanli was too lazy to show his face. He directly ordered the Jinyiwei to book the separate courtyard at the back, and then led his men to walk back.

The conditions here are really poor. The yard of the inn is not as good as the yard where his water room is located in the Summer Resort.

However, this is not the point. He can't stay here for many days anyway.

After they settled down, it seemed all they had to do was wait.

They waited until sunset, and when the sun was almost setting, they all finished their dinner. Luo Sigong then hurried in and said, "Mr. Huang, we've found it. The Qin family is at Qinjiaba, about five miles west of Zhongzhou City."

No wonder it took so long to find, it turns out the Qin family is not in the city.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "What's the current situation of the Qin family?"

Luo Sigong explained in detail: "Qin Kui, the master of the Qin family, is a tribute student and serves as an instructor in the county school.

Qin Kui has three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Qin Bangping, is sixteen years old this year. It seems that he got married and had children just last year. His youngest son, Qin Yiming, is not even one year old yet.

My second son, Qin Banghan, is only fourteen this year, my daughter, Qin Liangyu, is only eleven this year, and my youngest son, Qin Minping, is only eight years old."

Uh, it turns out that these loyal ministers and generals are still a bunch of teenagers. No wonder they didn’t take part in the military examination.

Qin Bangping, the eldest of the four siblings, is only sixteen years old now. Moreover, to participate in the military examination, one must either obtain the title of military candidate or have military merit.

Qin Bangping seemed to be responsible for carrying on the family line, so he probably had no time to take the military examination. Moreover, the military examinations were terrible at the time, so it was unlikely that the father of a tribute student would pass the examination.

As for military achievements, he got married and had children at the age of fifteen, so he had no time to go to the battlefield and make merit.

It seems that they don't want to take part in the martial arts examination, but they are not qualified to participate.

What should I do now?

Should I just go to their house and say, "I am the current emperor, and let your sons follow me to the Beijing camp to serve as generals?"

If he ran over and said that, people would probably think he was crazy!
Qin Kui's sons had no military achievements, had never been on the battlefield, and were only in their teens or even a few years old. It was really absurd to ask them to be generals directly.

So, how do you tell others?
How could he trick these young men into going to the capital?

This Qin Kui might be fooling people.

Because Qin Kui was a tribute student, which meant that he did not pass the provincial examination but was on the second list. Every three years, the local government would send these second list candidates to the Imperial College.

To put it simply, it means recommending someone to study at the Imperial College to see if he or she can pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi.

However, there were too many tribute students from the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, so one had to queue up to enter the Imperial College, or one had to rely on money and connections.

Qin Kui probably didn't have much money or any strong connections, so he didn't get a number in the queue. So he went to the county government to find a job and taught his children at home.

It would be extremely difficult for these tribute students to get a number to enter the Imperial College, but for him, getting someone into the Imperial College was just a matter of a word.

He might be able to directly let Qin Kui enter the Imperial College, and then trick the whole family into going to the capital.

The problem is that the white-pole soldiers under Qin's command are the chieftain soldiers of the Shizhu Xuanwei Office.

He tricked the whole family into going to the capital, so Qin Liangyu could not marry Shizhu Tusi Ma Qiancheng, and it was not known whether the White Spear Soldiers would still exist.

This problem is indeed a bit troublesome.

It’s not early anymore.

Running over to visit at this time would make it seem like he had a mental problem.

It seems we'll have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Wanli looked at the setting sun, and a trace of confusion appeared on his face.

(End of this chapter)