Zhou Duxin ranked seventh in the exam, but the Zhou family did not hold a big banquet.
Zhuang Jike ranked 183rd in the exam, but the Zhuang family sent an invitation to the palace.
Jiang Changning threw the invitation on the table and said, "I'm not going."
"Do we need to prepare gifts?" Xiulan asked.
Jiang Changning thought about it and realized that with Old Madam Zhuang around, the relationship with the Zhuang family would not be severed. "Let's prepare the gifts as usual. When the time comes, I'll tell the prince to let the chief historian go."
The left and right chief secretaries of the palace were both fifth-rank officials, so it would be a good idea for the chief secretaries to replace her and the Prince of Jin.
"Okay." Xiulan went out with the invitation.
At the beginning of the You hour, Jiang Changning did the sex exercises with Nanny Feng, and played the stick picking game with Fu Cui on the kang.
Fang Ju came in and reported: "Princess, Lai Xi just came back and told me that the government office is busy today, and the prince asked you not to wait for him to eat."
"I understand." Jiang Changning said without raising his head.
Xiulan, who was embroidering shoe pads nearby, was sure that the princess made these toys for herself to play with, not for the young prince or the little princess.
The reason why the King of Jin returned late was that Yu Cang, the powerful minister of Annan, proclaimed himself king and sent people to ask the Qin Dynasty for the title.
He also claimed that the Li family of Yue State was massacred by rebels, and the main line of the family had been cut off, and the branches were destroyed, with no one to inherit the throne. He said that he, the nephew of the Li family of Zhao State, was elected king by everyone.
The emperor was not willing to worry too much about the internal affairs of Annan, which was located in a remote corner.
As long as he is willing to surrender, he doesn't care who becomes the King of Annan.
He wanted to approve the request of Yu's father and son, but some upright officials in the court thought that it should not be done so hastily.
"The actions of Yu Cang and his son are truly rebellious and cannot be tolerated by the gods and spirits. I believe that Your Majesty should send troops south to wipe out the Yu family's rebellious faction and return power to the Li family."
"The entire Li family has been wiped out, why are they returning?" a minister said.
"This is just one side of the story from Yu's father and son. If we look for them, we will definitely find the Li family members."
The emperor listened quietly to the arguments of his subjects, unmoved.
Until one of the ministers said something shocking, "If we let these traitors go like this, I'm afraid they will not even take the suzerain country seriously. What if some of them follow suit and kill the king and usurp the throne?"
The emperor had always suspected that the prince of Jin had a rebellious heart, so he deliberately asked the prince of Jin, "How should this matter be handled?"
"In reply to your Majesty, I think we should send someone to investigate whether the Yu father and son are rebelling. It is not difficult to conclude that the Yu father and son are plotting to usurp the throne just based on the fact that they requested to be enthroned."
"I second the motion." Several ministers stepped forward and said.
If so, the ministers in the court will discuss who should be sent as envoy to Annan, whether he should bring troops with him, and if so, how many troops should he bring
Because of this matter, there was endless debate, and the envoys were finally decided. The Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple was appointed as the chief envoy, and four fifth-rank officials were selected as deputy envoys.
There was another debate about the selection of people to escort them to Annan.
In addition to the city defense forces and the imperial guards, the capital also has five other teams.
General Song volunteered, but his opponents strongly opposed it.
Some spoke up for General Xiong who was idle at home, while others disagreed, saying, "General Xiong is too reckless. If he leads the troops, I'm afraid that small things will become big, just like the matter of comforting the disaster victims, which is out of control."
There were also those who suggested that the Prince of Jin lead troops to escort them, but they were mocked: "A group of fourth and fifth rank officials, what qualifications do you have to ask the prince to lead troops to escort them?"
What he said does make some sense. Of course, even if he didn't say this, the emperor would not let Prince Jin lead the troops.
The last person to lead the troops was the commander of the Jinwu Right Battalion, who was promoted by the emperor.
After nightfall, Xiang went from a restaurant on Dingfu Street through a secret passage to Langhuan Bookstore to meet his real master, Prince Jin.
"The father and son of the Yu family are extremely vicious. You should be safe within the territory of Daqin, but when you enter Annan, be careful that they may send people to ambush you." The King of Jin warned him.
After talking for a while, the commander left through the secret passage. Prince Jin took a few ancient books and left the bookstore.
When he returned home, Jiang Changning had already gone to bed, and the couple had no chance to talk.
The next day, before Jiang Changning woke up, he went to the morning court again.
Jiang Changning didn't find a chance to tell the chief historian about asking him to go to the banquet at the Zhuang family, but he will go tomorrow.
It is not convenient for Jiang Changning to go to the government office to find someone, so he goes to Liuxuanyuan and asks the imperial concubine to let the chief official go to the banker's house. Is that okay
When the concubine heard that the banker had sent an invitation, she was worried that Jiang Changning would go out for the banquet, but she couldn't stop her. After all, Jiang Changning's belly was not big yet and it was quite convenient for her to move around.
Fortunately, Jiang Changning took the initiative to say that he would not go, and asked the chief historian to go. The concubine was very happy, "Let the chief historian go, I will go and talk to him."
"Thank you, mother. It's been a great honor for you." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
"You are such a gift kid, just a little thing."
The next day, the Chief Secretary went to the Zhuang family for a banquet on behalf of Prince Jin and Jiang Changning.
When Mrs. Zhuang learned that Jiang Changning did not come, a hint of disappointment appeared in her eyes.
Wu curled her lips, "What an ungrateful person."
"If you can't speak, just shut up." Mrs. Zhuang said sternly.
"Sister-in-law, trouble comes from the mouth. Think before you speak. Times are different now. Don't put on airs as Mrs. Zhuang." Zou said sarcastically.
Wu snorted coldly, "It's none of your business."
"We are all members of the Zhuang family. If you offend someone, our second branch will suffer with you. Of course, it is my business." Zou said confidently.
"When did I offend anyone? It was obviously you who offended." Wu said unconvinced.
"Okay, it's a happy day, stop making noise here and go out to entertain the guests." Old Mrs. Zhuang said unhappily.
The two daughters-in-law glared at each other, left the old lady's yard and went forward.
Old Madam Zhuang sighed heavily and leaned back on the pillow, "Little girl Ning is alienated from me."
"Madam, although the Princess of Jin didn't come, she asked the Chief Clerk to come. There is also a seventh-rank official in the Prime Minister's Mansion. I don't know what rank this Chief Clerk is, but I guess he should be at least sixth or seventh rank, right?"
"You ignorant little girl, the chief official is a fifth-rank official." said Mrs. Zhuang.
"The Fourth Master will definitely become an official after passing the imperial examination. The Princess of Jin sent a fifth-rank official here. This is not to alienate the old lady, but to honor the Fourth Master."
When Mrs. Zhuang heard this, a hint of joy appeared on her face.
Jiang Changning did not come, but a fifth-rank official was sent to come, which shows that the Prince of Jin's Mansion did not sever its ties with the Zhuang family and the two mansions had exchanges.
Even if the Prince of Jin's Mansion did nothing, people in official circles would not dare to look down on the Zhuang family, which would be beneficial to Zhuang Jike's entry into the officialdom.
The Zhuang family invited many relatives and friends to this banquet. The chief historian found that most of them were officials of the third and fourth ranks, and then he saw people from Dai Jianjun Mansion.
After the banquet, the chief official returned home and reported the matter to Jiang Changning.
Jiang Changning didn't care much about it. The boss of the Zhuang family has always been a man of high status, and since they were officials in the same court, it was not a big deal for him to have a relationship with the Duke of Daijian's Mansion.
The article mentions the Annan Rebellion, which is based on the Annan Rebellion in the Ming Dynasty. Friends who are doing research please forgive me.
(End of this chapter)