The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 392

The second day Zhu Houzhao left Beijing was the day Zhang Zhou prophesied that the capital had an earthquake.

Because Zhu Youtang had been ordered to stay out for a day, he got up a little later that day, but he did not know that his son was missing until Yang Peng, the admiral of the East Factory, and Mou Bin, the commander of the Jinyiwei, personally reported it.

"Bastard?! Can a living person be gone?"

Zhu Youtang felt an anger that wanted to kill someone.

After all, Mou Bin was the one with low status in front of Yang Peng, and this time he took it for granted that he was the "back-up man". He knelt down on one knee and said, "Return to Your Majesty. During the palace, there were quite a few middle officials who gave gifts, and it is said that the middle officials from the Eastern Palace were also among them, or... the crown prince was among them."

"Marquis Shouning and Uncle Jianchang?" Zhu Youtang slammed his fists on the table angrily, "Are the brothers tired of their jobs? Where are they?"

In the past, the Zhang family brothers were the brothers-in-law who were absolutely trustworthy close ministers in the eyes of the emperor.

But it's different now, the Zhang family will fall behind Zhang Zhou anyway, and belong to the "second-line" close ministers, so the treatment they receive is naturally very different.

Mou Bin said: "I have inquired about the soldiers and horses of Wucheng, and they said that before nightfall yesterday, the carriages of Marquis Shouning and Uncle Jianchang left the capital, and they said they were heading for Tongzhou. The crown prince may be in the carriage."

"Cough cough cough..." Zhu Youtang coughed angrily when he heard this.

The two brothers-in-law are going against each other, oh my god, it's fine to take the prince out of the palace, but they actually take the prince out of the capital?Or just go out of the city with two carriages?Another accident on the way...

Xiao Jing hurried over to comfort him: "Your Majesty, calm down."

Immediately, he shouted at Mou Bin and asked, "Didn't you send someone to chase after him?"

Mou Bin said: "I have sent people to check the post stations along the way, but I haven't found the carriages of the Shouninghou Mansion and Jianchangbo Mansion, and... I dare not set up checks."

Xiao Jing hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, since Duke Lai said that there will be an earthquake today, the entire Shuntian Mansion is probably in chaos. I'm afraid it will not be easy for the crown prince to leave the capital like this."

"Check! Bring him back!" Zhu Youtang yelled at Mou Bin angrily.

At this moment, someone from Jin Yiwei came to pass the news at the door, and Yang Peng who was standing at the door turned around and asked, and then came back and said to Zhu Youtang: "Your Majesty, the imperial concubine outside the palace... said that she is going to give birth. .”

"what?"

When Zhu Youtang heard it, the old lady really hit it off. Today, the capital is about to experience an earthquake, and I'm going to have another child?

Then this child...

"Follow me!" Zhu Youtang no longer cared about personally asking about Zhu Houzhao's runaway from home.

Yang Peng hurriedly asked: "The prince..."

"Children who are less than ten years old, can't you chase them back? I still need to teach you? Cough cough." Zhu Youtang is thinking about having another son, and now he is finally going out of the palace to "draw a lottery". It can be achieved today...

Don't take care of the big ones first.

Let's see if the little one is a son...

It is useless to practice the trumpet, so it is necessary to practice the trumpet.

……

……

Zhu Youtang took people out of the palace, but Yang Peng, Mou Bin and others were not qualified to accompany them, only Xiao Jing was allowed to follow him out of the palace, and at the same time brought a large number of guards.

"Eunuch Yang, what should I do?"

On the way out of the palace, Mou Bin asked Yang Peng for help again.

On the way here, Mou Bin wanted to ask for help, but Yang Peng was very smart and didn't ask for specific details, so as to show that this matter had nothing to do with him, so that when the emperor asked him, it seemed that he could get out of the matter.

When the task of chasing the prince back is carried out, the overall arrangements will be made, so that the fault will be Mu Bin's, and the credit for chasing him will be his.

Yang Peng said: "Didn't you already send someone there? Follow up quickly, how far can the prince go overnight?"

Mu Bin said nervously: "The pioneers have already arrived in Tongzhou, and Zhang's car was not found along the way. It is strange to say that there is no sign of the two uncles going east along the official road along the way."

"you……"

Yang Peng stopped, frowned and looked at Mou Bin and said, "Then you still swear to His Majesty that the driver is going to Tongzhou?"

Mou Bin said: "It is true that some people have seen that they are going to Tongzhou."

"You...you are going to piss off our family." Only then did Yang Peng realize that it was not as easy as he imagined to track down a brat who ran away from home.

"Boat! Search all the boats. Send people to the west, south, and north to check. The prince is very smart, especially after following Master Zhang for a long time. Maybe he has also learned some skills of Qimen Dunjia. We must prevent He's blaring."

Yang Peng admired Zhang Zhou so much that he didn't dare to be careless about the brats Zhang Zhou taught.

Mu Bin cupped his hands and said, "The humble job takes orders."

……

……

Zhu Youtang led people out of the palace gate, and found that the outside of the palace was in a mess.

"The people in the city are all on guard against earthquakes. Shuntian Prefecture governs the two counties attached to the capital and Guo, and cooperates with the five city soldiers and horses to carry out disaster prevention and resettlement. The people are convinced of this, but they are afraid that this matter will not happen. It will affect the prestige of the imperial court." Xiao Jing followed behind, still explaining to Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang said: "Do you think that Bingkuan will use this kind of thing to torment me and the people of the capital?"

Xiao Jingdao: "The servant is just afraid that the sky will not fulfill one's wish."

"Hmph." Zhu Youtang said, "If I had to choose, I would rather not have this earthquake. Do you think that if there is a catastrophe, it will be a good thing for me?"

"Yes."

Xiao Jing slandered, Your Majesty, please stop pretending, you are clearly aware that you are very excited about the arrival of the earthquake, it seems that an earthquake can become a touchstone to test Zhang Zhou, and it can also make all officials in the government and the public speechless.

The group arrived at Ning Tong's shop.

Jin Yiwei had already entered in advance, and Zhu Youtang went straight in after arriving.

Ning Tong didn't say anything about going out to avoid the disaster, but just stood there watching Zhu Youtang stepping in, saluting from a distance, Zhu Youtang didn't bother to pay attention to her.

"This is?"

When Zhu Youtang entered the backyard, he realized that the backyard had become a mess.

Because a woman is going to give birth, there may be an earthquake that day, and the delivery cannot be done on the street, so a temporary tent is set up in the yard, and all kinds of people are not allowed in the house. The temporary wet nurse and the tea-handling female officials and maidservants...

The back yard is almost full.

"Did you give birth?"

After Zhu Youtang walked over, he first looked at the maid beside Xiaolian.

The servant girl said: "If you go back to the master, not yet, it's not going well."

"Has anyone from Tai Hospital come?" Zhu Youtang greeted from the side.

Xiao Jing had already questioned the eunuch who was sent in advance, and hurriedly said: "Go back to Your Majesty, I just informed the Imperial Hospital that people are rushing here."

"You bastard! We'll be notified until now? Didn't you prepare in advance?" Zhu Youtang was furious, and then he supported his head with his hands as if he had a headache.

Xiao Jingdao: "Your Majesty, many things have been rushed together. The nobleman gave birth outside the palace, and there is no plan in the palace. The main reason is that you didn't give orders before, Your Majesty..."

"hurry up……"

Zhu Youtang felt that his head was buzzing, and he didn't bother to argue with this group of people anymore, so he waved his hand, meaning what you like.

Hurry up and take my son out.

……

……

The capital city has indeed become a mess.

Some urban areas are still in good order, but there are some people in the market who take the opportunity to make troubles, so that the yamen at all levels under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Mansion have to come out to maintain order, and the task of arresting bandits is also very heavy.

Ministers do not have to go to court that day, but basic official duties still have to be completed.

Xie Qian was visited by Tu Yu early in the morning, and the two went to the public houses on both sides of the Daming Gate together, and saw all kinds of tents rising from the ground, and the empty places were occupied by officials.

"Nonsense!" Amidst Tu Yu's wailing voice, it was the hammer hitting the ground, expressing the emotion of a country's generals.

Xie Qian looked indifferent, shook his head helplessly and said: "I have expected it a long time ago!"

At this time, an official from the Ministry of Officials came over and said, "The two ministers, the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture Zhang Fu, have been waiting in the Ministry of Officials for a long time."

"go!"

Tu Yu was about to ask his own people to lead the way to meet Shuntian Mansion Yin Zhang Xian, when he thought of Xie Qian next to him, he said, "Yu Qiao, let's go and ask about the situation together?"

Xie Qian said helplessly: "What else is there to ask? In such a situation, the most important thing is not to affect the court's handling of official affairs. I'd better be my own job. I'm leaving."

With Xie Qian's shrewdness, in this extraordinary period, he would not go to see Shuntian Fu Yin.

If an earthquake does happen, and the earthquake is very serious, then some people will say that Xie Qian's command was improper... Zhang Xian came to visit the Minister of the Ministry of Officials and others, didn't he want to push the big responsibility up?

For an upcoming earthquake in the capital, it is better to give an early warning. When the people are preparing for their own disasters, the person with the most pressure on their shoulders is probably Zhang Xian.

……

……

Tiqi from Jinyiwei and Fanzi from Dongchang are engaged in a chasing battle.

The targets are Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling who "abducted the prince out of the city".

But in fact, the two brothers had already returned to the city at this time, but their carriage was ordered by Zhu Houzhao to stay in the farm outside the city, and Zhu Houzhao took his "Four King Kong" Liu Jin, Gao Feng, Ma Yongcheng, and Qiu Ju. , to Nanjing.

Both Liu Jin and Ma Yongcheng have been to the frontier as errands. In Zhu Houzhao's opinion, he already has a certain military talent, and he himself wants to be the coach of running away from home.

Near noon, Zhu Houzhao was dressed in ordinary people's coarse linen clothes, lying on a bullock cart and sleeping.

"Another group passed by." Ma Yongcheng waited for a group of riders to pass by before raising his head and looking east.

Ma Yongcheng drove the car with his head down. Fortunately, their clothes were too ordinary, because there might be an earthquake in the capital, and many merchants were walking from the capital to Tongzhou, and the road was very lively.

The people of Jin Yiwei couldn't have imagined that the prince would give up the convenient carriage and sleep on the ox cart, and five people would squeeze into the ox cart...

"Shh."

Liu Jin made a silent gesture, "Don't say anything, Your Highness drove all night last night, and now you have to rest, so don't make any noise."

"Hmm." Ma Yongcheng felt aggrieved in his heart.

When we were in Liaodong before, our family was also a garrison officer on our own, but now... a driver of an ox cart?
And Zhu Houzhao, who was lying there sleeping, seemed to hear the conversation between Liu Jin and Ma Yongcheng. Even with his eyes closed, his eyeballs rolled around, and then turned over to continue his dream.

……

……

The ox cart and his party arrived in Tongzhou at noon that day.

After all, it was less than fifty miles away, and the road was flat, but it was also because of the ox cart, otherwise we would have arrived early.

"My lord, shall we find a place to rest, or should we find a boat first?" Liu Jin stepped forward to inquire.

Zhu Houzhao said: "Of course we will do it together."

Zhu Houzhao, who had slept in the morning, was in good spirits.

After jumping off the bullock cart, he looked beside the canal, and suddenly thought of something, and said, "Let's not take the boat, but continue to ride the bullock cart."

"Ah?" Liu Jin and the others felt their heads grow big when they heard this.

"Let's find a restaurant first and have something to eat. My son wants to taste folk delicacies." Zhu Houzhao rubbed his hands, as if he was rushing all the way to stimulate his gluttonous worms.

Qiu Ju came over and said, "My lord, the food in this market is not safe, your rich body..."

"What is a rich body? Didn't I tell you? I'm just a down-and-out son of a noble family. I'm going to visit relatives in Nanjing. If anyone has no brains and can't remember, I'll throw him into the canal to feed the fish!" Zhu Houzhao cursed.

Then the group of five people didn't enter any big wine shop, but just found a restaurant stall near the canal. There were many porters, trackers and others around, and there were also merchants waiting to take a boat to go south.

"It's a mess." Ma Yongcheng walked over and quickly dusted Zhu Houzhao's stool with his sleeve.

Zhu Houzhao sat down, winked at Liu Jin, and then Liu Jin went to greet the store and served some simple dishes. Before the dishes were served, Qiu Ju and others stood there, as if serving Zhu Houzhao for dinner in the East Palace.

"Sit down! Whoever jumps like this again will sink into the river!" Zhu Houzhao threatened.

Then four people came over, a table surrounded by four sides, but there was no room for them to sit around, and finally Ma Yongcheng sat at the next table.

"Come and squeeze, you can't make a show when you go out, a table is enough." Zhu Houzhao greeted.

Several bowls of noodles were served here, one bowl for each person, and Zhu Houzhao's bowl was specially ordered by Liu Jin to put less noodles and more condiments.

Zhu Houzhao eats it deliciously.

The food is not necessarily delicious, but this is free food, unfettered, you can eat whatever you want, and you pay for it yourself.

While eating, three people dressed as literati came to the next table, and after sitting down, they also ordered a few bowls of noodles.

While waiting for the table, I heard a person say: "This time, when Lai Guogong went south to Nanjing City, I heard that scholars from all over the world will gather in Yingtian Mansion. It is really a gathering of talents. Ying Tianfu will become a grand event in the literary world of my Ming Dynasty." where."

The accent is not like that of the north, and it is precisely because he is a scholar from the south that he brags about this grand literary event.

Zhu Houzhao listened with his ears upright, and only then did he understand what it meant.

"Hey." Zhu Houzhao smiled.

Because he went south this time to join in the fun. If Nanjing City is very lively... wouldn't it mean that he went to the right place?

"Brother Hu, have you heard? This time it is about the study of mind and philosophy. I heard that if you can be appreciated by the Duke of Lai in academics, you may be able to accept him as a disciple. The Duke of Lai has not officially accepted any disciples. .” Another person said.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't listen anymore, it was because he had a small appetite, and he ate about the same amount, so he turned his head and said to the others: "You ignorant ones, Duke Lai has already accepted his disciples, don't you know?"

"Hehe, boy, are you a scholar? Do you know what we are talking about?"

Several people saw that Zhu Houzhao was wearing coarse linen clothes, coupled with his young age and his old-fashioned appearance, they naturally looked down upon him or were joking.

Zhu Houzhao snorted softly and said: "You say you are ignorant, you really are ignorant. What does Duke Lai do in the capital? He is a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. He usually goes in and out of the palace to teach the prince. How dare you say that he has no knowledge?" disciple?"

Zhu Houzhao was so close to bragging, I am the chief disciple of Mr. Zhang, okay?
"Haha."

The three people at the back table all laughed when they heard this.

The one surnamed Hu said: "Young master, seeing you like this, doesn't it mean that you have to be instructed by the Duke of Lai?"

"How do you talk?" Liu Jin couldn't listen anymore, and immediately went to find some people to settle the score.

This is called being eager to protect the Lord.

"Okay!" Zhu Houzhao said, "Don't be as knowledgeable as some ignorant scholars, you guys...Listen up, you'd better keep your eyes open. After arriving in Nanjing City, I will personally go to apprentice and pay homage to the teacher. Go to Duke Lai and let you know who is qualified."

"Haha... so it turns out that he is the young master who went to Nanjing to join in the fun. He is amazing... How many of you are the elders of his family? Don't worry about it?"

The three of them were talking, when suddenly someone pointed to the distance and said, "It seems that there is a boat coming. Let's get on the boat."

"The face hasn't come yet."

"It's the same as eating on board."

A few people were about to leave, but Zhu Houzhao stood up and pointed: "Why are you still sticking around? Hurry up and pay the bill and leave, there is a boat coming."

"But our ox cart..." Liu Jin wanted to say, why don't we agree to go south in the ox cart?

The cow was bought for four or five taels of silver. It is a hard currency in the market. Can ordinary people afford cows?

"Take the boat first, a few... wait, take care of me on the way."

Zhu Houzhao used to brag to a few strangers before, but now he feels that since these people are going south to Nanjing together, there can be more to take care of them on the way.

The one surnamed Hu smiled and said, "Young master, you have to prepare a lot to make money when you go to Nanjing."

"My son has a lot of money. Get on the boat!"

……

……

It is easy to have someone lead the way.

Following the three scholars who often travel between the capital and Nanjing, they can even find a suitable ship, negotiate a good price, arrange a cabin for a rest, and arrange where to eat and stay along the way. .

"Go out and meet noble people."

In the cabin, Zhu Houzhao took his Four King Kong and was sitting with three scholars, eating the roast chicken he bought.

The three scholars didn't expect this young man to be so generous.

"Young master, according to your accent, you are from the north, and your surname is Gao? You are like this...you travel very low-key."

The speaker's surname was Sun, and his name was Sun Che. He was about 25 or six years old, and he claimed to be a Gong student who was going back to his hometown to visit his relatives, but in fact he was just looking for an excuse to ask for leave to attend a once-in-a-century cultural event in Nanjing.

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "My surname is Zhu. You can just call me Zhu Shou. When traveling, it is better to keep a low profile. These four are my servants. If you have something to do, just give me an order. But if someone interrogates you on the road, you can also help talk about it... I ran away from home, afraid of being caught by my family!"

"Oh, I understand. Let's participate in the literary fair together. We are like-minded! I have a jug of wine here, shall we have a drink?"

Zhu Houzhao came out with roast chicken, and took out a jug of wine on the opposite side.

"Okay." Zhu Houzhao listened, how can this kind of daring show the revolutionary friendship if he doesn't drink two glasses?

Qiu Ju hurriedly reminded: "My lord, no!"

"You guys are in charge of what I'm doing? Go out and tell the boatman, hurry up on the road, don't miss our big business. Come here, pour it... hiss, why is it so spicy?"

"Haha, young master, you haven't had a drink yet? Is there any reason not to drink when you want to make friends while traveling?"

"It makes sense, my son will never stop getting drunk with you!"

(End of this chapter)