Hongwu Survival Guide

Chapter 273 Fengxiang Zhuang Family
When I got home, it was already past noon, and Xieyi was thinking of sending someone to ask if she wanted to eat out, so there was no need to bother.

The lunch was still very rich, and there was Zhuang Liuniang and Zhongli Watermelon duo who came together again with a few dishes. Zhu Yuan could see that the watermelon girl was picked up by Zhuang Liuniang after the beating Submissive post.

After dinner, Zhuang Liuniang said that her second uncle Zhuang Muxu had arrived before noon and had been waiting, hoping that Zhu Yuan could see him.

See you then.

In the main hall in the front yard, Zhuang Muxu, wearing a blue silk robe, looks like he is in his 50s, with a goatee beard, thin and energetic.

After saluting, Zhuang Muxu sat down at the bottom, but he didn't take the initiative to speak, his waist was straight, waiting for orders.

Holding a cup of warm tea, Zhu Yuan recalled the last time he told He Xuan to pay attention to the information about the Zhuang family. It was roughly about the situation of the Fengxiang Zhuang family in Shaanxi from Zhuang Murui, who was the prefect of Fengxiang, to the generation of "Mu". Interested in finding a topic: "The dealer is in Shaanxi, how long has it been passed down?"

"Returning to my lord, if you look for ancestral traces, the Zhuang family was originally from the mountains of the Qinling Mountains. At present, there is a ancestral hall of the Zhuang family in the mountains in the east of Xingyuan, which was established at the end of the Sui Dynasty. At that time, Li Jing, General Li Jing, the general of the Dingxiang Road, conquered the Eastern Turks and made some military exploits, so he settled down in Guanzhong. In the following hundreds of years, after several dynasties, the Zhuang family also fell into despair and hid back in the mountains. Fortunately, it has been passed down to this day. "

Sui Dynasty, around 600 AD.

just now……

Another big family that has been passed down for 700 years.

Thinking about it, let's say that hundreds of years later, in this land, even if it is a small household, who hasn't inherited it for thousands of years?

Those that were not handed down are gone.

The problem, of course, is size.

The Zhuang family was able to preserve the ancestral hall for 700 years in this way, and when the new dynasty was founded, someone snatched a fourth-rank magistrate of Fengxiang, that must be a rich family.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuan smiled and said, "I envy you all. In any case, for a family to last for six or seven hundred years, it requires not only luck, but also great wisdom."

"The adults are rude."

Zhu Yuan took a sip of tea, and continued: "I won't talk about it before, the new dynasty and the new atmosphere, the key is the future, has Mrs. Zhuang thought about it?"

Zhuang Muxu keenly noticed that 'I won't say it before', it wasn't like a young boy casually said, and he didn't dare to treat the boy above him as an ordinary boy, so he understood that this is the advice, and the new court will not mess up Turn over the old accounts, and look at the future.

Silently memorizing it, and raising his spirits, Zhuang Muxu didn't bother, and said bluntly: "Master Zhuang only wishes to serve the court wholeheartedly, and please help me to talk about it."

This is simply.

Perhaps, it is also the person who knows the current affairs is a hero.

There used to be a Bei Yuan, but now, the Bei Yuan is gone, and the desert is full of loose sand. If the big clans from all over the place have two minds, they are stupid.

Thinking about it, Zhu Yuan asked, "Your family failed to catch up with this year's imperial examination, right?"

Zhuang Muxu showed a regretful expression: "Yes."

"I know Zhuang Murui and Zhuang Que, but I think you won't be satisfied. Coincidentally, next year there will be an imperial examination, and there will be both civil and military exams. You can pick some young students to come over and give it a try. Heh, it doesn't matter if they are young students, Mr. Zhuang is also able to enter the examination room."

Zhuang Muxu nodded, and said again and again: "A villain can't be called a gentleman. Um... next year, definitely, definitely."

"My ancestors have always been thirsty for talents, and I am also looking forward to seeing the talents of the Zhuang family next year," Zhu Yuan said, "However, Mr. Zhuang, it may take a while to come to Beijing. You should see that our Ming Dynasty is different from the past. Yes, how do you feel?"

Zhuang Muxu replied cautiously: "The new dynasty, of course we have to weed out the old and bring forth the new."

What he said was simple, but Zhuang Muxu was quite emotional in his heart.

Different?
Of course not.

Zhuang Muxu has never heard of the "Ten Departments" of Zhongshu recently established by the Xin Dynasty, let alone a series of "universities" that have opened or are in preparation in Xuanwu Hubei, as well as the "Daming Monthly", or a series of other things 'Group', 'Company'.

Unheard of.

Zhuang Muxu also discovered that behind the scenes, it was a worldly expert who called out "give 500 years of Guozuo" last year. Today, His Majesty the emperor recognized his relatives and became a royal family. As long as there is no accident, there is a high probability that he will be a 'king of the county'.

King of the county!
And this person is right in front of him.

Zhuang Muxu was also a scholar, and he couldn't put down the books in his daily spare time. Therefore, he knew that the Song court suppressed the emperor's relatives and relatives a lot. However, both sides of the Song Dynasty, no matter in Tang Dynasty or Yuan Dynasty, the clan had real power.

Besides, the young boy in front of me is not only a potential county king, but at such an age, he has become a government official of the imperial court. It is inevitable to see the attitude of the new dynasty towards the clan.

That being the case, there will be no big mistake if you come up.

What's more, when an opportunity falls upon him, a useless abandoned woman with a ruined family is exchanged for a big backer.

Of course you have to catch it.

Even, Zhuang Muxu was still worried during this time, afraid that the niece of the elder brother's family who had been arrogant since childhood would offend the young Pingzhang.

to this end……

This time I deliberately...

Just as he was thinking about it, the young boy Pingzhang said again: "The times are different. In the future, everyone will change. If you change it, it will be another century and a thousand years. If you can't change it, the torrent of the times will pass by, so what?" There are none left."

Zhu Yuan's words, Zhuang Muxu didn't understand very much, but he was shocked.

Nothing left?

This is……

Zhu Yuan saw Zhuang Muxu's surprised and uncertain expression, smiled, and said: "Don't think about it, you don't meander, I will just say something straightforward. As for the Zhuang family, it is a good thing that they are willing to serve the court, but, This time is different. Let’s just say... the imperial court has opened ten departments, and everyone’s attention will be on the ten departments in the future. The imperial court has established a university, and if they want to keep up, they will scramble to enter the university. Even, in the future , scholars, farmers, businessmen, and the imperial court have treated everyone equally. These are the simplest and most fundamental truths. You may sound a little empty, but if you can understand it, the Zhuang family can easily enter the ranks of a thousand-year-old family. "

"It's not empty, it's not empty." Zhuang Muxu quickly denied it, but he did understand. After thinking about it, he simply got up and prostrated: "Mr. Zhuang, thank you for your reminder."

Signaling the other party to get up, and waiting for Zhuang Muxu to sit down again, Zhu Yuan asked instead: "Is your family in business?"

Zhuang Muxu paused again, and quickly said: "Indeed... there are a few."

"Shaanxi, the beginning of the Silk Road, is it westward?"

Obviously, it was impossible for Zhuang Muxu to turn the corner right away. He felt that it was disrespectful to talk about these merchants, so he stumbled: "In the early years... in peacetime, some of them went west, but in recent years, they all went south or north, connecting central Sichuan And outside the Great Wall."

Zhu Yuan easily drew a line in his mind, from the south to central Shu and the north to the desert, and he could imagine the scale of the dealer's business.However, I was still curious and asked: "Why don't you go west?"

In fact, I probably remember.

During this period of time, the Central Asian region also continued to fight, which cut off the Silk Road and largely promoted the arrival of the age of great navigation.

However, Zhu Yuan wanted to know some specific details.

Zhuang Muxu didn't know why the young Pingzhang was interested in this question, thought for a while, and said: "About 20 years ago... Well, if the villain remembers correctly, it has been 22 years since the Chagatai Khanate in the Western Regions broke out. A rebellion was divided into east and west, and they are still conquering each other. After that chaos, the caravans going west were no longer guaranteed. The Zhuang family failed to return for two consecutive caravans. At that time, my father was still there. Decide for yourself, and you will not go west any more.”

22 years ago, it is still chaotic.

Ok……

Zhu Yuan grasped one point: "How do you know...is it still in chaos now?"

Zhuang Muxu said: "It's just that the dealer is not going, but there are always some people who are not willing to go west for the huge profits, so the small ones can often hear the news."

Zhu Yuan nodded, unable to help thinking.

Soldiers entered Shaanxi without bloodshed, and Sichuan was pacified. The Ming army was capable of taking Gansu in one go. Taking Gansu, opening up the Hexi Corridor, and taking back the land of the Western Regions is like searching for something.

However, it is a pity that the key to this matter is still outside the war.

The present is still an agricultural era with extremely low productivity. In Zhu Yuan's "distribution" related, the ability of "resource allocation at the regional level" in the agricultural era will only be weaker, which means that the cost of expeditions to the Western Regions will be very high.

Daming still can't afford it.

Three years.

Come to a 'three-year plan' first, after that, let's see.

However, after three years, even if you want to fight, it is most likely to go north or west... It is estimated that it will take three years and then three years.

Old Zhu used to be very patient about this. Hongwu only pacified the desert and the Northeast 20 years ago.

This time, don't rush.

Zhu Yuan only hoped that the war in the Western Regions would continue, but he must not stop suddenly.

Seeing Zhu Yuan lost in thought, Zhuang Muxu didn't know what he was thinking, it couldn't be an expedition to the Western Regions, could it?

However, if this is really the case, it would be easier for the banker to be in Shanxi.

As soon as he thought about it, he had an idea, Zhuang Muxu decided to write a letter to his brother immediately after returning home, asking the family to pay more attention to the situation in the Western Regions.Even, there are merchants, it doesn't matter whether they make money or not, the key is to listen to the news, for this reason, it is worthwhile even if it takes some lives.

Just thinking about it, I suddenly heard a young boy's voice: "What is Mr. Zhuang thinking about?"

Zhuang Muxu woke up with a start, apologized quickly, and told the truth after thinking about it: "The villain is thinking, let the family try to run the business route to the west again, not for money, but for the imperial court to hear some news about the Western Regions."

"Yes," Zhu Yuan nodded, feeling excited: "This can be done as a serious matter, and I will mention it to my ancestors tomorrow."

Zhuang Muxu paused, and said cautiously: "The villain thinks that if this is the case, Gansu...is a problem."

If you want to go west, the Hexi Corridor is the most convenient way. The problem is that Gansu, which controls the Hexi Corridor, is not yet in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuan shook his head: "Gansu is not a problem."

Although the imperial army pressed on Sichuan, it did not completely stop its actions against Gansu. However, the methods adopted were the same as those against Shaanxi, focusing on appeasement.

Gansu once caused some troubles to the Ming army, but that was because of the expansion of Timur.

Now, Kuo Kuo is competing with grassland tribes in the vicinity of Mobei and Lin. Gansu, like Shaanxi before, only has a few local military towns entrenched, which is not a climate.In this time and space, even Beiyuan is gone, and the local structure of Gansu... Unless you want to stand on your own like Xixia used to be, otherwise, if you go east or west, you must submit to one side.

Zhu Yuan believes that as long as they are not stupid, there is a high probability that everything will go smoothly.

After all, although Gansu seems remote at the moment, Huaxia has a history of more than a thousand years of business operations, and the local Han people are still quite powerful.

Now that Sichuan has been pacified, Gansu also knows that the sooner you submit, the more you can maximize your benefits, and the later you will change.Moreover, Tanghe, who has arrived in Shaanxi, is not idle, and is also taking the initiative to contact.

Maybe, you can hear good news around the New Year's Eve.

Taking Gansu, Ming can push the territory directly to Yumen Pass.

His thoughts fluttered for a while, and seeing that Zhuang Muxu was still waiting for him to speak, Zhu Yuan threw out a sentence, but he didn't say anything more, but said: "This is a major military matter, so let's not discuss it too much. As for your family's willingness to talk about it again I will still help to talk about the business route to the west, the imperial court can send some people, um, in this way, even if the two of us are together, I will pay some money, and it will be regarded as a partnership."

Zhuang Muxu knew what Zhu Yuan meant by 'the imperial court can send some people', but he had no thought of refusing at all. What was more important was that the young Pingzhang in front of him wanted to partner with his family, so he couldn't help but get up subconsciously: "The villain...the villain must do his best .”

Zhu Yuan waved his hand to signal the other party to sit down, and suddenly laughed: "You dealers are thinking about how to go up, but it's actually that simple, three words: do things. But do good things, don't ask about the future, on the contrary, you will have a future."

Zhuang Muxu nodded in agreement, but he didn't quite agree in his heart.

There are too many people in this world who want to 'do things', but they can't find the way.My family...is really lucky too.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Muxu took the initiative to mention: "My lord, this time... there is a daughter of the Zhuang family, she is the concubine daughter of the villain's third younger brother Mu Wei's family. There is nothing to say, but she looks good and knows some poems. , I hope she can cook tea and play the piano for adults, and add some entertainment."

Zhu Yuan smiled and said, "One Liu'er is enough to amuse me. This, um, what number is it?"

"If you sort by all the juniors in the family, this is the 22nd mother," Zhuang Muxu said, and then hurriedly said: "My lord, Liu Niang...if, if...but according to the handling, the lord is doing big things, so don't worry about it .”

This is also said in a stuttering manner.

Back then...he had heard about what his niece looked like at Zhongli's house.

If the pampered niece went to Pingzhang's mansion, she would still be like this and offend the young Pingzhang in front of her, even if a white silk strangled her to death, the dealer would not bother, after all, strictly speaking, she was not considered the daughter of the dealer at all.

In comparison, the young man Pingzhang in front of him, his backing, was the most important.

However, this cannot be said too bluntly.

Zhuang Muxu still doesn't quite understand the temperament of the young Pingzhang, if the other party thinks that the Zhuang family is too ruthless, so he is rejected, it will not be worth the loss.

Zhu Yuan didn't think about this, but thought that the number '22' was pretty good.

So I didn't refuse.

Anyway...the family already has one.

Obsessed with women!
After chatting like this for a while, the goals of both parties have been achieved, and Zhu Yuan has other things to do. Seeing that the time is about the same, he serves tea to see off the guests.

(End of this chapter)