Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 147
The south of Jiankang City is Changganli, because it relies on the Qinhuai Waterway, connecting east to west and connecting north and south, it is the most prosperous place in Jiankang City.The Zhang family's ancestral house in Danyang is located here, so the locals and common people live together, and the people are mixed. Therefore, the Zhang family's mansion is somewhat beyond the prescribed architectural specifications.

Zhang Lan's ox cart went through the door and headed straight for the atrium. After getting off the cart, he quickly asked a few disciples standing in front of the court: "Is my elder brother at home?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, Zhang Lan hurried towards Zhang Kai's courtyard with the wooden box in her hand. After walking a few steps, she ordered a person: "There is still a brocade box in the car, take it together."

Zhang Kai is admiring a painting with several guests in the small hall at this time. In the painting, an alchemist walks with a stick, with a free expression and a free and easy posture, which is quite vivid.Speaking of the origin of this painting, it is also an interesting fact, and it is something that Zhang Kai is quite proud of recently.

Recently, he rested at home and went out for a walk. He happened to find this painting in a shop in Xiaochanggan.After I bought this painting, I enjoyed it with a group of friends who were also interested in painting, and gradually deduced that this painting should be one of the "Gao Shi Tu" made by the Association of Painting Saints. It was recognized by Zhang Kaihui's eyes, and he was selected from a bunch of groceries.

Zhang Kai is very good at painting. Although he has no wonderful brushwork, he is conceited that he can learn from others. Therefore, this incident has become a deed that he is proud of. He always mentions it to others, and he does not feel bored.

"Wei Gong's painting method is accurate in shape but strong in meaning, skillful in brushwork and clear in spirit. You look at this belt, it seems to be dancing in the wind, with a sense of air and shape. This is the beauty of Wei's paintings. ah!"

Zhang Kai pointed at the painting and admired it endlessly. No matter whether the diners around him understood the beauty of the painting or not, they all nodded in agreement, and then praised Zhang Kai for his ability to learn from others.

Perhaps Zhang Kai was not overly delighted to hear such praises too much recently, but just said with a smile: "I don't have any insight, but I just know a lot. Looking at the beauty of this Wei painting, I admire his teacher Cao even more." Unhappy should be such a wonderful pen, but it is a pity that there are very few authentic works by the Cao family, and I have not been able to see them until now."

Jiang Zuo was good at painting, although Wei Xie called him a saint of painting, it is still recognized by the world as being inferior to his teacher Cao Buxing.Cao Buxing's paintings are known as the eight masterpieces in Wuzhong. At the beginning of the overseas Chinese's journey to the south, Wang Zhen was regarded as the number one calligraphy and painting in Jiangzuo by the northerners. He was often ridiculed by the Wu people.Therefore, those who are good at calligraphy and painting all regard it as a blessing in life to be able to view Cao Buxing's paintings.

One of the guests subconsciously said: "I was lucky enough to see Cao's original work, it is a tiger crouching on a stone, it is cold all over the body, it makes people dare not take a closer look, it is indeed the pinnacle of the painting."

Hearing this, Zhang Kai couldn't help but increase his interest, and hurriedly asked: "I don't know where to look?"

"It is the hometown of the Cao family, in the hall of Wu Xing and Shen's family. Cao and Shen's previous generations have always been married, so the Cao family..."

When the guest spoke up to this point, his voice suddenly paused, and he realized that he had made a slip of the tongue.

Zhang Kai chuckled when he heard the words, and said no more, his disappointment could not be concealed.Seeing this, the others hurriedly changed the subject, but the previous breezy and joyful atmosphere disappeared for a while.

At this moment, Zhang Lan walked quickly into the hall, and whispered something in front of Zhang Kai, Zhang Kai's face suddenly became gloomy, he waved to several guests, and said, "Enjoy yourselves today, everyone go home."

After everyone left one by one, Zhang Kai opened the wooden box provided by Zhang Lan, flipped through the files in it, his expression became more and more cold, and said in a deep voice: "Then what did the Shen family say?"

Zhang Lan repeated the content of the previous conversation at the Shen family, and said with a serious expression: "Brother, do you think what the Shen family said is true or not?"

"Is it important?"

Zhang Kai threw those files on the case, leaned half of his body on the bed, pointed at Zhang Lan, hesitant to speak, and finally couldn't help sighing: "Then the Shen family can't see clearly, and you Why pretend to be clever and encourage people to beat Dengwen drums and pollute his house!"

When Zhang Lan heard this, her expression was also bitter.At that time, it was common practice in the capital to slander the Shen family. He happened to deal with a lawsuit involving the Shen family. How could he think that there would be so many twists and turns in the future?

On the way home, Zhang Lan had gone through the files carefully, and felt that the situation was a bit serious.How could it be possible for a great family that has been passed down for a hundred years to be kind to others and rarely have disputes in the village!

These dossiers record small things, which are not worth mentioning in ordinary seasons, but the most amazing thing is that they are detailed and large.Some of the crimes, even Zhang Lan is not very clear.

But there are also some who are impatient to investigate deeply, and a major problem will be exposed if they are investigated. For example, when he was the magistrate of Jurong County, his family owned a private water pond, which caused more than [-] people to be killed or injured by the flooding of farm buildings.If you follow this incident, you can find out that Zhang Kai, who was the internal historian of the Jinling Mausoleum at that time, took advantage of opening Xinfengtang to privately recruit hundreds of private households.However, the opening of Xinfengtang was another good deed that benefited the country and the people, and the nearby counties benefited from it, and Zhang Kai became the Jiuqing for his meritorious service.

Seeking a little substantial profit for oneself without compromising the national economy is already a very ethical behavior for these aristocratic families nowadays, and it is really nothing to be surprised about.But in the current situation where the north and the south are facing each other, once someone uncovers it, I'm afraid someone will take advantage of this to bite the Zhang family and pursue it all the way.At that time, all the dark undertones will appear!
"Even if there is such a righteous man, how do you know that there are so many things in my family? Brother, do you think the Ji family is secretly helping the Shen family?"

Hearing that Zhang Lan was still struggling with the origin of these crimes, Zhang Kai frowned and said, "What's the use of thinking about this right now? The most important thing right now is, what is the purpose of the Shen family's handing over these things to you? Did he keep them? Did he hand them over again? give others?"

Zhang Lan felt a little embarrassed when she heard the elder brother's words, and said: "I am in a hurry..."

Zhang Kai didn't expect Zhang Lan to give him an answer, but murmured to himself: "Since the Shen family entrusted these to you, he didn't want to go to war, and wanted to force my family to retreat. Hmph, this child is quite worthy of his father's love." wind!"

"However, when it comes to the background of each family, how can the Shen family be clearer than my family! His family has dominated the village for many years, and he has made great disturbances in Wuxing since the beginning of the year. How can there be no one or two violations! You immediately send someone to go quickly Wu Xing, it doesn't matter whether you search or fabricate it, within ten days, I want a copy of this sufficient file to be placed on my desk!"

Zhang Kai sneered, how could he be overwhelmed by such a trick after going through the trials and tribulations of the world.The Shen family wanted to surpass his family to gain the Emperor's sect, how could it be possible!

Hearing Zhang Kai's words, Zhang Lan's eyes lit up, and Dang Shi hurriedly left the hall to give instructions on the matter before returning to the hall.

Although he immediately prepared a countermeasure, Zhang Kai's demeanor was not relaxed.As for the contest for the selection of the emperor's son-in-law, although Wu Xingshen's family has won the emperor's trust, they are not the main opponent in his eyes, and the Langya Wang family is.After all, the Shen family is new, and their popularity is not good, so they are not popular.

Because of this self-confidence, Zhang Kai was particularly cautious, because the atmosphere in Taicheng was delicate recently, and he stayed at home for a long time to avoid suspicion.His family, as a high-ranking Southern clan, was fighting against the Langya Wang clan. If they were lucky enough to win, it would be a great event for the entire Southern clan to benefit.

The Shen family only cared about their own selfishness, but disregarded the overall interests of the Southerners, and tried to attack each other to force the other family to retreat. In Zhang Kai's view, they simply did not understand the general situation to the extreme!Could it be that the Shen family thinks that even if his family withdraws, his family will be able to compete with the Wang family?What a joke!
Besides, the Zhang family can't retreat either. His family lives in Danyang, and a slight change in the current situation can cause the family business to be in turmoil.The year before last, there was chaos in Wang Dun. Although Zhang Kai lived in the capital, many of his family and children were sent to Wang Dun's place, just to prevent the loss of the family property no matter which side wins or loses.

However, this selfish arrangement was fully exposed when the emperor inspected the six guards.Most of the six guards served as Danyang's disciples, and the emperor said with an inexplicable joke at that time: "Why is there no reason for the Wei Zhongwei?"

At that time, Ji Zhan lay down to protect the six guards, and most of Ji's children lived in the guards.The two families in Danyang form a strong contrast, and Zhang Kai feels chills all over his body whenever he thinks of this sentence.Because of this, after the chaos, all the furniture were rewarded, but none of the Zhang family was awarded a title.Although the emperor never got to the bottom of it, Zhang Kai couldn't let it go.

Now that the Zhang family is able to choose the emperor's son-in-law, this opportunity should not be missed no matter what!The other family's official career is frustrated, but they can still return to their hometown as a farmer. If his family retires, the family temple will have nowhere to stand!

In fact, apart from other things, Zhang Kai didn't think that his family could beat the Shen family in this competition.The Shen family is in a prosperous position, and Shen Chong is already the highest honored person among the southerners, and he is already a family favored by the emperor.The only thing that Mrs. Zhang can be commended for is the false name of Qing Wang's family reputation.

But now that the north and the south are facing each other, the Zhang family has already received the support of the southerners, especially the second son of the Lu family, who personally came forward to build momentum for the Zhang family.In Taicheng, Zhong Shujian and Guojiu Yu Liang also expressed his preference for Zhang's selection of the emperor's son-in-law.The situation is very good, the Zhang family has no reason to retreat lightly!

"Burn it."

Zhang Kai pointed to the pile of files spread out on the case, he was sure that the Shen family was just bluffing, if it really set off a frenzy of southerners attacking each other, the turbulent waves would be far beyond the Shen family's ability to resist.

Seeing his elder brother so calm, Zhang Lan also breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn't help saying angrily: "That Shen family son is really hateful! I didn't notice it for a while, but I was scared out of my mind by him."

Skipping this matter aside, Zhang Kai asked again: "What else is there to do when I go to his house this time?"

Zhang Lan pondered for a while before remembering, and said with a smile: "There is one more trivial matter. Before parting, the son of the Shen family said that he gave it to the second Duke of the Lu family as a gift. Please pass it on."

When Zhang Kai heard this, his heart skipped a beat, and he frowned and said, "His family wants to give a gift to Mrs. Lu, why should you hand it over?"

Zhang Lan was taken aback when she heard this, yes, why?
With a thought in his heart, he quickly fetched the brocade box, and when he opened it, he saw that there were two more files inside. When he opened the files to see the contents, he froze on the spot.

Seeing this, Zhang Kai quickly took the file and took a look, only to see that it recorded in detail the wealth and goods exchanges between the Lu family of Wu County and the Yan family of Wucheng. The amount was so large that it was shocking!Wucheng Yan's collusion with Jiehu is already a traitor determined by the government and the public. The Lu family has such frequent contacts with this kind of family and involves so much wealth. Once it is publicized, one can imagine how much turmoil it will cause!
"Brother..." Zhang Lan looked at Zhang Kai with a bitter face.

Zhang Kai's face turned livid, and only now did he realize that Shen's son was using his own crimes to intimidate him, and he clearly used the crimes to drive a wedge between his family and the Lu family!The Lu family's crimes entered his house, how can we explain this clearly?Do you still want to send it to the Lu family?Does the Lu family treat his family with the same trust as before?If he didn't send it, and the Shen family would send someone to the Lu family to inform the matter, how would the Lu family treat his family?

"Shuzi trapped me!"

(End of this chapter)