During this time, Song Li was traveling around, conducting field surveys for the canal reopening project. In fact, the wealthy people along the coast had no deliberate contact or understanding.
After all, he was not alone in dealing with such a big matter as moving the capital.
For example, Shen Diaolan and other Jin Yiwei were sent to Shandong by Emperor Yongle, and they were not just for free.
That is the real person responsible for monitoring and intrigues, and it is his duty to do a good job in dredging the canal.
However, I am still very impressed with the Zou Mansion in Jining, mainly because as the only two wealthy families in this section of the canal in Shandong, the Zou Mansion and the Wen family are in sharp contrast: the Wen family is eager to approach Song Li, but the Zou Mansion is When Song Li entered Shandong, he said that the family wanted to go to the countryside in person to inspect the autumn harvest. Only after Song Li arrived in Jining, he sent something thoughtfully, not even an invitation.
This reaction would seem abnormal to anyone, not to mention that the move was the intention of Emperor Yongle. A wealthy household in the Zou Mansion had no right to object. In terms of pros and cons, the Zou Mansion traced its ancestry to the canal and developed by relying on the canal.
Since the end of the previous dynasty, years of war had left the government with no time to dredge the canal. After the Huitong River section became congested, the Zou Mansion, not to mention retreat, at least stagnated.
This is a vital interest closely related to the future of their family. Ordinarily, the Zou Mansion should be more active than anyone else in reopening the canal. Why should they hide from Song Li, who is responsible for dredging the canal
Song Li thought about it and felt that there were probably two possible scenarios: the first was that the Zou Mansion was actually connected to the forces around the emperor, so he did not want to have any more involvement with him; the second was that the Zou Mansion was afraid of being taken advantage of.
After all, one of the most righteous reasons for those in the court who opposed moving the capital and reopening the canal was that when the country was initially established, even if Emperor Jianwen, who was not recognized by Emperor Yongle, was included, the throne would only last for three generations. In Taiping, Emperor Yongle is self-contained and is on his own expedition. The world has not reached its peak, the treasury is exhausted, and the cost of moving the capital and reopening the canal is not a small amount. At this time, the war in the north is not over, and the country is going to be like this. A big project, isn’t this a waste of time and money
If one goes wrong, the national treasury will collapse, and the Central Plains, which has only been pacified for a few days, will inevitably be in chaos again.
Although Emperor Yongle suppressed such advice forcefully, he also privately told Song Li and others that while presiding over official affairs, they should not miss the opportunity to reduce the pressure on the treasury.
For example, let the people along the canal who will benefit from the reopening of the canal pay some blood
If it was the first situation, Song Li felt that it was excusable; if it was the second situation, Song Li sneered: He wanted to take advantage of the imperial court's reopening of the canal, but also wanted to get nothing. How could anything be so cheap in the world
In particular, Emperor Yongle, who is currently in power, inherited Emperor Taizu's ruthlessness of skinning and stuffing the grass when he disagreed. After the Battle of Jingnan, many of the courtiers who were loyal to Emperor Jianwen had their heads removed and their female relatives were all sent away. A dirty place. Poor high-ranking ladies and ladies, not to mention being reduced to fireworks, some were unwilling to endure or could not bear the torture and died, and their bodies were even dragged to be fed to dogs.
For such a master, disobeying him would really cost him his life.
Song Li thought so, then threw the information about this family into the corner and stopped paying attention to it.
After all, he had no intention of competing with Jin Yiwei or the inner court for people, nor did he intend to talk seriously to a confused family.
Now when Xu Jingyuan heard that the Zou family was going to celebrate the old lady's birthday next month and had sent a message to Miss Dingguo's family, his face suddenly darkened, but he suspected that the reason why the Zou family avoided him in the first place was because he looked down on himself. Shangshu, but he has made up his mind to join the Xu family!
The Xu family is the natal family of Emperor Yongle's first wife, Empress Xu, but their prominence is not due to having a queen. On the contrary, Empress Xu was able to marry Emperor Yongle, who was still King Yan, because she was born into the family of such a founding hero. Chance.
Although in the fifth year of Yongle, Empress Xu and the empress' eldest brother Xu Huizu passed away one after another, the Xu family still has the honor of being a duke of two countries. The second eldest brother, Xu Yingxu, does not have a title, but he still has the grace of a hereditary commander.
Xu Jingyuan was the direct daughter of the Duke Dingguo of the Xu family. Although she was a female, she was quite decent in front of Emperor Yongle.
This is because of her father Xu Zengshou.
Xu Zengshou was the youngest son of King Xu Da of Zhongshan and the youngest brother of Queen Xu. He was still a concubine and would not have received a title, let alone a title from the Duke of the Kingdom. But it was when the Battle of Jingnan first emerged that Emperor Jianwen suspected that Emperor Yongle of Yan was rebelling, so he asked Xu Zengshou about this. Xu Zengshou categorically said that these were all unfounded things, and then quietly informed Emperor Yongle of Ying. Tianfu's deployment can be said to spare no effort to help his brother-in-law.
However, these actions were finally discovered by Emperor Jianwen. When Emperor Yongle came to the city, he specially pulled Xu Zengshou to question him. Xu Zengshou could not answer, so he was killed.
Emperor Yongle originally had a deep relationship with Empress Xu and was very tolerant of his brothers-in-law. It was his brother-in-law Xu Huizu who wholeheartedly helped Emperor Jianwen deal with him. Even after he broke into Yingtian Mansion, he still had an unruly attitude. watch.
He felt even more distressed and guilty for his brother-in-law who tried so hard to set him off.
After hearing the news, he not only caressed the corpse and cried, but also made him Marquis of Wuyang and gave him the posthumous title of "Zhongmin". Soon he felt that it was not enough to make up for it, so he was promoted to Duke of Dingguo.
Xu Zengshou was only twenty-eight years old when he died. He did not have many children, and they were all young. After hearing the bad news, his eldest son Xu Jingchang and his legitimate daughter Xu Jingyuan could do nothing but cry.
Empress Xu was still there at that time, and she loved the brothers and sisters in every possible way, and even took them to stay in the palace for a few days. Even after entering the palace, the brother and sister could not relieve the pain of losing their father. They lived in misery all day long. Emperor Yongle felt that he was indebted to them, and among his nephews, he was particularly kind and doting on them.
Even if Empress Xu is gone, Emperor Yongle still has this attitude so far.
It can be said that although Xu Jingyuan does not have the title of princess, she is no different from a princess in that she is unscrupulous in and out of the palace and behaves arrogantly.
Otherwise, an ordinary woman would have to be talked about when she appeared in public. She, a lady of a wealthy family, took people all the way from Yingtian Mansion to Shandong just because of a quarrel. It was a long way... How could this be an ordinary aristocratic woman, especially a girl who had not left the court? What kind of ability and courage can you have
If the Zou Mansion can cling to her and have Duke Dingguo's Mansion as its backer, they really don't need to pay attention to Song Li.
Song Li understood these truths, but he felt a little uncomfortable. At this moment, he said coldly that if Xu Jingyuan wanted to go to the Zou Mansion for a banquet, he should go alone. He could help send some people for protection or something.
As for her daughter Song Jianiang, she doesn't have to worry about it.
Song Jianiang will never go to Zou Mansion!
Xu Jingyuan is determined to meddle in this nosy matter, but who will listen
Immediately he said: "Is it okay for me to go to the Zou Mansion alone? I want my wife to accompany me!"
Song Li patiently said, "Miss Xu, you have so many followers, how can you go to Zou Mansion alone? Besides, if you think it is not good to go to Zou Mansion like this, you don't have to go!"
He thought that he was a veteran of two dynasties, and he was somewhat respectable in front of Emperor Yongle. Looking at the reputation of the Xu family, he was a little tired of Xu Jingyuan interfering with his daughter's marriage, so he couldn't help but add without mercy, "Besides, although Jianiang's status is not as noble as that of the young lady, she is still my beloved daughter, and she is not the young lady's servant. It seems that the young lady is not qualified to have Jianiang follow you everywhere, right?"
"So what if I'm just being unreasonable?" Song Li wanted to reason with Xu Jingyuan and make Xu Jingyuan realize how rude and rude he was, but Miss Xu didn't want to accept this trick. After hearing this, she spread her hands indifferently, which was very magnanimous. He said, "I just want Jia Niang to accompany me to Zou Mansion for birthday wine. If you don't want to, I will stop responding to Tian Mansion and follow you everywhere! I will make trouble for you no matter what you do. Let’s see when your mission can be completed!”
Song Li's face darkened, and his words were threatening: "What I am doing now is what your Majesty has entrusted me to do..."
"You, a minister of two dynasties, can't even deal with me, how can you still have the nerve to complain to my uncle?!" Xu Jingyuan was not afraid at all and sneered, "I want to see if my uncle blames you or me after you report it to me? !”
"..." The corner of Song Li's mouth twitched slightly. He was confident that after reporting it, Emperor Yongle would definitely reprimand Duke Dingguo. The problem was, it was just a reprimand.
After all, Xu Zengshou sacrificed his life for Emperor Yongle and died at a young age, leaving behind orphans and widowers. How could Emperor Yongle really do anything to Duke Dingguo's mansion just because of Xu Jingyuan's childish nonsense
The terrible thing is that Emperor Yongle will not do anything to the Dingguo Palace, but the two brothers and sisters in the Dingguo Palace... Because their father died early, the widowed mother only had two babies. Even the Yongle Emperor and the late Empress Xu The main thing is pampering, and the widow is getting used to it, so the brother and sister are not very good-tempered, and they often find troubles.
If there is a problem this time, God knows how this unruly young lady will torment the Song family
The emperor and empress treated the juniors with kindness. Naturally, Song Li, a minister, could not be beaten or scolded. Then he couldn't go to Emperor Yongle to complain all day long, right
After all, Song Li had seen strong winds and waves and would not be easily swayed by emotions.
At this moment, although she was angry at being threatened by a yellow-haired girl, she remained silent for a moment, and finally chose to give in, "It's okay if Miss Xu insists that Jianiang go to Zou Mansion. However, you keep saying that you are Jianiang's good sister, and you even went far away this time. I also came here to find Jia Niang... I guess I won't cheat Jia Niang, right? Let me tell you frankly, although the Song family has plans to marry the Shen family, the matter has not been finalized for a day. If any word is leaked, what will happen in the future? If something unexpected happens, the farmer will always suffer the loss!"
Xu Jingyuan glanced at him sideways and hummed: "Of course I won't harm Jia Niang! But you, I don't know if you are your biological father! How could you not help your daughter, but instead persuade her to let the adulterer and adulterer go? ?!”
Song Li's face turned a little dark: "Young lady has a distinguished status, such dirty words really shouldn't come from your mouth!"
Xu Jingyuan would consciously say something unpleasant in front of Song Jianiang because he didn't like Song Li, so he just sneered and ignored her.
When Song Li saw this, his pupils shrank, and he didn't bother to talk to her anymore, so he stood up and left.
After returning to the back hall, he told the guard: "Go out and find the doctor to grab some harmless but drowsy medicine. When we get near Jining, let the maid secretly mix it into Jianiang's food. In short, she will not be able to attend the Zou Mansion." It's a birthday party. If Miss Xu is willing to join in the fun, just ask her to go alone!"
If Xu Jingyuan wants to mess around, just mess around. Anyway, don't try to drag his daughter into trouble.
Although the master went to the banquet alone, it was not impossible to mention Song Jianiang, but for an old fox like Song Li, as long as his daughter did not appear at the scene, there were many ways to clear up the relationship!
... While Song Li was making plans for the birthday banquet of the Zou Mansion, the news about the banquet in the Zou Mansion had just spread.
Xi Fuwei was a little surprised when she found out, because currently, due to the dredging of the canal in Shandong, other state capitals are just paying it forward. It is not an exaggeration to say that Yanzhou Prefecture and Dongchang Prefecture, which pass through the Huitong River, are undercurrents.
At this time, the Zou Mansion is going to have a banquet, and I'm afraid this banquet will not be simple.