The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty

March 29th.

Even when the sun was high in the sky, the area in front of Zhang Mao's residence remained very quiet.

A carriage stopped outside the back gate. A maid got off first, set up the horse stool, and then called a woman down. The two women, mistress and servant, were led inside by the old woman from the Zhang family.

Not far away, two members of the Imperial Guard, a captain and a lieutenant, were keeping watch. After recording everything they saw, they returned to their position in the corner.

"Are these people from the Duke's mansion?" the junior officer asked the head officer beside him.

The captain scoffed, "Women like this coming and going is all too common. Who can blame him when our old man is still so vigorous?"

Xiaoqi seemed puzzled and said, "She doesn't look like she came from a brothel. How did they find her? Or is she a member of the Duke's household? What is she here for?"

"Hehe." The captain was clearly a seasoned veteran. He waved his hand and said, "Go buy some fried cakes and I'll tell you all about it. If you want to get information out of me, you'd better show some sincerity."

"I'll go right now..."

The junior officer was clearly inexperienced and eager to hear gossip, so he quickly went to buy some fried cakes.

Upon returning, they wrapped the food in oil paper, placed it aside, and the two sat down to eat.

Because the two were different commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, even though their positions were different, they didn't stand on ceremony when they sat down to eat.

The flag officer pointed to the people coming and going on the road and said, "Have you ever heard the saying among scholars? It goes that all the world's hustle and bustle is for profit."

"I think I've heard of it. You're quite knowledgeable." Xiaoqi picked up a fried cake and put it to her mouth, but didn't seem to like the taste.

The flag officer laughed and said, "Who is this Duke Zhang? He controls the power of the Beijing Garrison. How many people want to get things done from him? You tell me, if someone wants to get something done, wouldn't they have to offer some benefits? If you say it doesn't seem like a brothel, then it definitely isn't."

"What do you mean?" Xiaoqi asked, looking puzzled.

The flag officer said, "Eat up! What's wrong? Don't you like it? You don't usually eat much oil in your stomach."

The junior officer said, "Oh, I've been eating too much oily food lately, it's too greasy. Wouldn't it be better to leave it all for you? I was talking to you!"

As they were talking, several men dressed in Jinyiwei uniforms came up from behind, seemingly subordinates of a junior officer.

The captain said, "What, you still have duties in your thousand-household garrison? Go and get them done."

"That won't do. I bought you fried cakes, so you have to tell me what I want to hear. That's called an exchange." The junior officer insisted. "You lot, stop following me. I'm on duty here. Am I blind? Keep your distance."

The group had no choice but to follow Xiaoqi's orders and walk a distance away, their eyes constantly glancing in this direction.

The flag officer sighed, "The left-hand banner is much better off. They eat well and dress well. Even a small banner officer there gets tired of eating oily food all the time, while we here... sigh!"

"Go on, you're doing well. I'll buy you some more." The junior officer said with a big smile, stuffing the fried cakes into the captain's arms.

The captain suddenly felt much closer to the junior officer, so he said earnestly, "This Duke of Ying is extremely greedy and lustful. He has cheated countless soldiers in the past, and no soldier in the capital speaks well of him. Yet, the higher-ups trust him and entrust him with important responsibilities, so he has become arrogant and spoiled."

"It's all the same," Xiao Qi said. "Who with power and influence doesn't do it?"

The captain said, "The garrison troops transferred from the border army are not like that. I heard that they have strict rules and regulations, and whoever has the ability can rise to the top."

"Really?" the junior officer grinned. "You're making me want to join the garrison."

"Don't talk nonsense. Once you put on this uniform, you can never take it off for the rest of your life. Do you think you can just transfer to another one? Besides, being a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard at least means you can make a living. How many soldiers outside are starving?" the flag officer sighed.

"Let's not talk about that. Let's talk about the Duke of England. Was that woman... given to him by someone else?" the junior officer asked with a very gossipy look.

The flag officer nodded and said, "Of course, they must have asked him for favors and were exploited by him."

"Who could it be?" the junior officer asked.

"Who else could it be? Whoever asks him for a favor, he sends their own women in. Sigh! It's all a matter of mutual consent; we're just watching the show." The captain said, pointing to the ornate carriages passing by. "Look at these carriages; they're obviously for officials. But there's no need to be envious. Maybe it's just some official sending their women to the government office. It's all just for show."

The junior officer listened with great interest and exclaimed, "If I had power, I would definitely be just like them."

"Don't even think about it. That power won't fall into your lap. You're lucky you even got this position. But speaking of which, what good jobs do you guys usually have? Jobs that can make you a lot of money? Give me a heads-up, so I can get a piece of the action too?" The captain suddenly seemed to have something to ask for.

Since we're not in the same government office, I wanted to ask about their successful experience in making money.

The junior officer stood up and said, "My salary is meager, but my family is wealthy. I bought this position in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Didn't expect that, did you?"

"You have money to donate this? You're not kidding me, are you?" The flag officer felt that the young man opposite him was making fun of him.

Although the Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guards were treated much better than the soldiers in the capital garrison, they weren't exactly sought-after. At most, ordinary people would want to send their children there, but what wealthy person would actively seek to join them?

The junior officer stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and said, "I have to go now, I have other business to attend to. Brother, let's talk again next time."

"You're leaving already? Weren't you sent by Zuo Hu to work here? This is called dereliction of duty!" The captain felt that he had finally managed to get a rich guy on his side, and he was sure he wanted to rip him off as much as possible.

The junior officer sighed, "Even if we find out something, we have to go back and report it. You eat your food, and I'll buy you roast chicken next time we meet."

"Roast chicken? Tsk tsk, you guys are really rich."

……

……

The junior officer stood up from the corner, yawned, touched his waist, and suddenly found his sword interesting, so he drew it out and brandished it in his hand.

Passersby were so frightened by what they saw that they quickly backed away.

"Sir, please don't do this," a man in plain clothes came over and quickly reminded him.

"You scared me, didn't you? It's nothing. I was just showing it off." The junior officer said, putting the embroidered spring knife back into its sheath.

The man in plain clothes said, "Commander Qian has already sent people to keep an eye on each household."

"What's the point of keeping an eye on other families? Just keep an eye on this one." The junior officer grinned slyly. "Didn't Prince Ning later send someone to report that Tang Yin's prophecy was even more accurate, saying that it wasn't some other prince or nobleman, but actually that old scoundrel Zhang Mao. So his reputation was that bad? But Jiang Bin... you're something else. Even this lowly official praises your fair treatment of rewards and punishments, saying that the garrison commander is the most impartial."

"We're all doing this for the court." The man in plain clothes was secretly pleased, but dared not show it too much.

"Let's find a teahouse to sit down; I'm really not used to this outfit. I'm here to watch the excitement instead of sleeping, so don't let me miss out on the fun."