Ji Gang asked: "Why should I believe you?"
Mountain King Chen Xuan said, "If we really wanted to harm the Jinyiwei, we would have had opportunities everywhere yesterday. We could have tampered with the food, or set fire to the post station in the middle of the night while you were sleeping. Do you still have a chance to survive?"
No.
The Jinyiwei were used to being powerful in the capital, and officials of all ranks were afraid of them. They mainly relied on beatings and scolding to solve cases, and it was effortless for them to trip up a prime minister. However, when they were far away from the power center of the capital and came to the poor and remote border areas, the Jinyiwei's proud and complacent weaknesses were undoubtedly exposed, and they were fooled around by a group of bandits.
What else can Ji Gang do except cooperate
Ji Gang said, "Before we start working together, I need to know your background. You can speak Jinling Mandarin, and from the way you talk, you don't come from a humble background, right?"
Chen Xuan sighed: "Master Ji has a keen eye, it's a long story..."
It turns out that Chen Xuan was born into a military family. His father was once the right commander of Chengdu, a third-rank military officer. However, at the beginning of this year, the prime minister Hu Weiyong's rebellion case involved thousands of court officials. Chen's father lost his head, and the whole family was exiled to the northwest. His mother followed his father and the family was destroyed.
During his exile, Chen Xuan could not bear the humiliation and beatings from the escorting soldiers, so he killed the soldiers and became a bandit in Zhuoying County. Relying on his martial arts and wisdom as a military family member, Chen Xuan became the leader of the Eighteen Villages in more than half a year.
These days, it's hard to be a bandit, and it's even harder to be a good bandit.
Chen Xuan took a different approach and opened escort agencies in major cities in Shaanxi, making profits by escorting caravans. As long as the caravans were escorted by the escort agency, they would be absolutely safe and would not be robbed - he couldn't rob himself.
Therefore, the escort agency's business was getting better and better. The existence of the Eighteen Villages was not to harass civilians, but to deliberately scare the caravans for the escort agency's business. Therefore, the imperial court was not keen on suppressing the bandits and maintained a delicate balance.
However, Liu Siyan and his group mysteriously disappeared on a mountain road in Zhuoying County, pushing the Eighteen Villages into a fire pit.
Chen Xuan's father was involved in Hu Weiyong's rebellion case, and his family was destroyed by the Jinyiwei. He knew how powerful the imperial power was, and it was a piece of cake for him to destroy the Eighteen Villages and take down the escort agency.
Therefore, Chen Xuan was more anxious than Ji Gang, because Ji Gang would lose his job at most, but his Eighteen Villages would lose their lives. He obtained 500 sets of Ming Dynasty soldiers' uniforms from the business connections of the escort agency, and also imitated the flags of the □□.
Ji Gang's wisdom was limited. There were too many officials involved in the Hu Weiyong case, and he really couldn't remember a Chengdu commander named Chen.
However, he felt that Chen Xuan was sensible and knew that the Jinyiwei were a group of people who would never give up, so he compromised first.
Ji Gang coughed lightly, and said with authority, "As long as you can help find the real culprit behind Liu Siyan's disappearance, the Jinyiwei will plead for you. However, the most urgent task now is to find Hu Dianzheng. If eight hundred men can't protect a woman, people will laugh at us if we tell others about it."
Chen Xuan said: "Of course, I have sent my brothers to search the mountain with hunting dogs."
Eight hundred men went to search the mountain, but after a whole day they didn't find even a single hair.
When Ji Gang fell asleep at night, he found that the quilt was a little uncomfortable for his butt. Oh no, there was a hidden weapon!
Ji Gang turned over and got out of bed, lifted the quilt and found a letter. The handwriting on the letter looked familiar, and there was Hu Shanwei's small seal.
Ji Gang opened the envelope, read the letter, burned it immediately after reading it, threw it into the brazier, and murmured: "As expected, beautiful women are the more cunning they are."
Hu Shanwei was watching the battle in the cave. The fighting inside and outside the post station ended in less than a cup of tea. It seemed that Captain Shi’s words were credible. This group of people were really bandits, but why did they stop fighting
I'm really confused.
Hu Shanwei was thinking about countermeasures, and he thought that instead of getting into a tangled mess here, it would be better to go to the source of the problem—Xi'an □□, and observe secretly.
So Hu Shanwei wrote a letter, asking Shi Baihu to sneak into the post station and give it to Ji Gang. Then he disguised himself as a man and became a member of the caravan, heading towards Xi'an city.
In the letter, Hu Shanwei instructed Ji Gang to pretend that he did not know her whereabouts and never reveal her whereabouts, as well as the fact that Mu Chun sent eight bandit captains to protect her. He was in the light while she was in the dark, and the two of them joined forces to find out the whereabouts of Liu Siyan and his group.
Therefore, the next day, Ji Gang left twenty Jinyiwei at the Zhuoying County Post Station to search the mountain together with the real postmaster and the servants of the post station who were released by Chen Xuan, while he himself continued to move forward with 280 people towards Xi'an Prefecture.
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Ji Gang and Chen Xuan agreed that the alliance would only be in secret, and on the surface they were still in an opposing relationship between officials and bandits.
The Eighteen Village bandits led by Chen Xuan left Zhuoying County and became the official Weifeng Escort Agency. They had a branch in Xi'an and they would keep in touch secretly in the future.
October 26th, Xi’an Prefecture.
Hu Shanwei and nine others entered the city gate in the afternoon.
Snowflakes were floating in the dim sky. The weather was dry and cold, and the north wind was bringing sand, which was like invisible sandpaper, polishing people's cheeks.
No wonder people's faces here are generally not as moist and smooth as those in the south of the Yangtze River.
Hu Shanwei was wearing a rough sheepskin robe and a wolfskin hat on her head. Having grown up in the south of the Yangtze River, she was not used to the climate here. Her lips were chapped and even though she was dressed like a fat man, she still felt cold.
The caravan had to pay taxes before entering the city. The captain bowed and took the city gate clerk to look at the goods, and secretly slipped a dime into his pocket, hoping to pay less tax.
On the cart were silk satin fabrics from Jiangnan, all of which were in great demand. The chief clerk estimated a tax of three taels and seven cents of silver and asked the driver to pay the tax before entering the city.
The autumn wind was bleak and the land was barren and sparsely populated. But when we entered Xi'an city, we saw densely packed shops and bustling passers-by, and it instantly became a prosperous scene. The thousand-year-old capital was indeed worthy of its reputation, and after years of war, it was the first to recover its vitality.
In the third year of Hongwu, the fifteen-year-old second prince Zhu Chong was named King of Qin, and his fiefdom was set in Xi'an.
Zhu Chong was born on December 6, the 16th year of Zhizheng, while Crown Prince Zhu Biao was born on October 10. The Prince of Qin was only one month younger than the Crown Prince.
That year was a crucial year for Zhu Yuanzhang's ambition to dominate the world. In this year, he conquered Jiqing and renamed it Yingtian, which is now the capital Nanjing.
In this year, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself King of Wu and formally established the Three Kingdoms relationship with Zhang Shicheng, another King of Wu who established his capital in Suzhou, and Chen Youliang, who proclaimed himself King of Han.
The Prince of Qin was intelligent, brave, and heroic, so the Hongwu Emperor gave the most important frontier city of Xi'an to the Prince of Qin, which showed his importance and expectations for his second son. In the year of the Prince of Qin's enthronement, the Hongwu Emperor ordered the Ministry of Works to go to Xi'an to select a site and build the Prince of Qin's Palace.
In the eleventh year of Hongwu, the 23-year-old King of Qin became a fiefdom, which has been two years ago.
As the end of the year approaches, the city of Xi'an is in good order and prosperous. It seems that the King of Qin has some ability and has managed the matter well.
As soon as Hu Shanwei and his companions arrived at the inn, a group of brokers from the silk brokerage business surrounded them and wanted to take their silk.
The silk from Jiangnan had no problem finding a good market, but the journey was rather difficult and dangerous. Shi Baihu thought the price offered by the broker was too low and politely declined.
Hu Shanwei found a seat by a fireplace in the lobby of the inn, took off his hat and gloves, drank a cup of hot tea, and then he felt his soul come alive.
Her little finger turned slightly red, which was a sign of a recurrence of frostbite. She quickly applied a layer of white paste on her hand, slowly baked it over the stove, and rubbed it to blend the medicinal properties into her skin.
This was prepared for her personally by Ru Siyao, who warned her that if she was not careful, frostbite would recur every year. The hands of a female official must not be so rough anymore.
There was a broker sitting next to her. Hu Shanwei said, "Someone is at this table. They will be here soon."
The agent was so thick-skinned that he swallowed his anger and said with a smile, "You are their young master, right? I see that your car is full of fine silk and satin. You are the boss. Name a price and sell the things to me. From your accent, you are all from the south. The New Year is coming soon. You want to take the money and go home for the New Year, right?"
Apart from anything else, this agent had a very good eye and could see the affiliation of this small caravan.
Hu Shanwei said, "Don't take advantage of my youth and ignorance. You are a broker, and you make money by acting as an intermediary. You don't have cash, so you have to find the next buyer before you can pay us. Our goods are good, and we have worked so hard all the way, just to make more money, right? We can find a market ourselves, so you don't have to worry about it."
The broker kept smiling and said, "You are right. I am from the brokerage business. However, we make a living as brokers because we have clients and buyers that outsiders cannot even get in touch with. You who come from other places, even if you hold incense, don't know where to worship Buddha. I will bring the real Buddha to you. You eat the meat and I just drink some soup."
The agent held up four fingers and said, "I only take 40%, this price is very conscientious."
Hu Shanwei picked up the teacup and sent the guest away, "Go find someone else."
The agent put away one finger and said, "Sancheng, I will find you a perfect buyer who will pay generously and will never default on the payment. Even if you sell it to a silk shop, you won't get a very good price. There are many goods coming from the south now, and the silk shops are secretly working together to lower the price."
The more the agent pestered her, the more uneasy Hu Shanwei felt. She simply stood up and went to find Shi Baihu, who was at the counter getting his household registration and pass to register for check-in.
The broker said quickly, "Really, if you agree, we can do the deal tomorrow at the earliest, and you can get the money and go home for the New Year. There is a big happy event in the Qin Palace today. The Qin King's eldest son was born. The Qin King is 25 years old and just got his first child, and it's a son. He is very happy. He will hold a grand third child celebration in three days. The palace is in urgent need of cloth and silk. I will introduce you to the steward of the Qin Palace, and I will buy all the cloth for you. Taking advantage of the joy of the birth of the eldest son, I will give you money very happily."
When he heard about □□, Hu Shanwei stopped, turned around, and held up two fingers, "We'll give you 20%, if it works, it works, if not, forget it."
Princes of the Ming Dynasty usually got married at the age of sixteen. For example, the fourth prince, Prince of Yan Zhu Di, is twenty years old this year. The eighteen-year-old Princess Yan has already given birth to three children, two daughters and one son. She is currently pregnant with another one, which is expected to be born during the Chinese New Year.
The King of Qin was twenty-five years old when he held his first child, which shows how happy he is today.
The agent clapped his hands and said, "I just like straightforward people like the young master. Two for two, let's be friends first. When we have good customers in the future, I will recommend your products to you."
Hu Shanwei returned to his seat and began to ask, "Since you had a child so late, we can ask for a higher price. I don't know what pattern of silk the Princess of Qin likes."
The agent smiled and said, "I can tell you're from out of town, you don't know anything about the Qin Palace. The Qin Palace's wife is the princess of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the sister of the Northern Yuan Prime Minister Wang Baobao, and she was married to the Ming Dynasty as a political marriage, and she has never been favored. The one who gave birth to the eldest son today is the concubine Deng of the Qin Palace. Don't underestimate her because she is a concubine. Concubine Deng is the eldest daughter of Weiguogong Deng Yu, she is of noble birth, and is deeply loved by the Qin King..."
In fact, how could Hu Shanwei, who was in the palace, the center of imperial power, not know about the agent's gossip? She knew more deeply than the agent.
The Prince of Qin was only one year younger than Crown Prince Zhu Biao.
But when it comes to the right of inheritance, let alone being one year younger, even if he was one day younger, the Prince of Qin was destined to have no chance of becoming the crown prince. According to the "Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions" of the Ming Dynasty, if there is a legitimate heir, the eldest son will be the crown prince; if there is no legitimate heir, the eldest son will be the crown prince. This is the rule of inheritance.
But who would be willing to accept this when there is only one step left? Moreover, the King of Qin was intelligent, brave and good at fighting, and he was not convinced by the gentle prince who only knew how to read.
How smart was Emperor Hongwu? He used only one move to completely stop the King of Qin from thinking about the position of crown prince.
After the failure of the Ming Dynasty's second Northern Expedition, Emperor Hongwu sought peace and granted Wang, nicknamed Guanyinnu, the sister of Northern Yuan Prime Minister Wang Baobao who was captured during the first Northern Expedition, to the Prince of Qin in marriage.
Wang Baobao was named King of Henan, and his sister Wang was the Princess of Beiyuan.
The Prince of Qin had the Princess of Beiyuan as his princess. Firstly, his future offspring would have impure bloodline. Secondly, the Princess's attitude towards her homeland would arouse suspicion and distrust among the entire Ming Dynasty. Therefore, all hopes of the Prince of Qin to get involved in the throne were extinguished.
Of course, Emperor Hongwu knew about the grievances of his second son. In order to make up for it, he gave the eldest daughter of Duke Weiguo Deng Yu, Deng, to the Prince of Qin as a concubine the following year.
Such an arrangement could not only complete the marriage and bring temporary peace to the two countries, but also prevent the King of Qin from having improper fantasies about the crown prince's succession. It also appeased the King of Qin with Concubine Deng, who was of noble birth, and ensured the bloodline of the two families, achieving three goals at one stroke.
On October 26th of the 13th year of Hongwu, Concubine Deng of the Prince of Qin gave birth to his eldest son Zhu Shangbing. The Prince of Qin was very happy and distributed rice porridge and meat buns at the door to celebrate with the people.
It should be noted that even wealthy families don’t have meat buns to eat every day. The prince’s palace was too generous. A long line formed in front of the Qin/Prince’s palace. Everyone who received a meat bun would say a blessing to the eldest son: "Long life!"
Hu Shanwei and his group of nine braved the wind and snow and lined up at the gate of the palace to get steamed buns.
The author has something to say: Jin Yong created the heroine Zhao Min in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" based on the prototype of Princess Wang of Qin.
Congratulations to the reader Jiangjun for receiving a 100-point red envelope~~~
Yesterday's questions were beyond the syllabus. Some readers said they had never read any of the series abcd, while some readers also mentioned these questions. This was the only one she could answer.
But what the readers have in common is that they are all following "Hu Shanwei".
Readers come from all over the world, with different backgrounds and preferences, and it seems that they will never have any intersection, but they can blend in a novel. Zhou finds it very interesting. Every time he asks a question, he has unexpected gains. He can discover how complex and lovely the reader group is, and he can outline the profiles of the readers in his mind.
[-Collapse] Netizen: Jiangjun Comment: "Hu Shanwei" Score: 2 Published: 2018-12-08 20:37:11 Reviewed chapter: 47
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[1st floor] Netizen: Bacteria Rating: 0 Posted: 2018-12-08 20:37:35
Finally there is one I can do.