Chapter 243 Improving Performance

Zhang Zhou also wanted to establish contact with Wang Shouren before.

However, even though he is the top pick and has a relationship with him for many years, he is still not in the same circle. Even in the previous battle with Zhang Zhou, he was deeply involved, but others remember him more as Wang. Yue is desperate.

At that time, Zhang Zhou did not have much capital to recruit a "second-generation official" who was rich in resources in the civil service circle. If Wang Shouren wanted to get involved in the civil service circle, he would rely on his father's connections. No better than him

But now Zhang Zhou feels that he has the capital.

After the Battle of Ningyuan, the blooming cannons were enough to change the future war trend between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars. From Wang Shouren’s point of view, it is impossible not to realize this, then if you, Wang Shouren, still want to have a military in the future Ambition, don’t you want to follow him to learn and even become the founder of the highest military academy in the Ming Dynasty, or even become a lecturer?

Now the emperor has given Zhang Zhou the authority to transfer people.

As for whether Wang Shouren will cooperate after he comes, that is another matter. Zhang Zhou is not demanding yet.

Then Zhang Zhou followed Zhu Youtang to Kunning Palace and met Queen Zhang and Zhang Heling.

"Queen, look who I have invited here"

Zhu Youtang said with a smile, "Bingkuan's ability can be said to be unmatched by anyone in the Ming Dynasty. I admire him all."

Queen Zhang changed her hostile expression before, and she would not even face Zhang Zhou with an indifferent and distant look. Instead, she smiled and said with an approachable expression. "Bingkuan came and sat down."

It was as if the couple were one, and their attitudes towards Zhang Zhou were also in sync.

Zhang Heling came over, moved the chair out specifically for Zhang Zhou, and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, please sit down."

"Shouning Hou, how can you be so embarrassed?" Zhang Zhou smiled With.

Is Zhang Heling so "well-behaved"? The last time he met with Zhang Heling in the Jiaofang Division, Zhang Heling was obsessed with showing off to Zhang Zhou and wanted to use his status as a distinguished veteran to win over Zhang Zhou. , just by turning his face, his mentality can change

Zhang Zhou thought to himself, he is definitely not fooling me

Zhu Youtang said, "Bingkuan, you're welcome, you can afford to say that Ming Dynasty is still here." Who can cultivate Heling? You have to look at what Yanling was like before. Since he received your guidance, he can now be independent."

"Yes," Zhang Heling said in support. , "So I hope Mr. Zhang can give me some more encouragement so that I can achieve success in the army."

The general meaning is that this is asking for something, so I give you a good look.

Zhang Zhou didn't have much respect for Zhang Heling's attitude. He was basically perfunctory.

After Zhang Zhou and the emperor and his wife sat down, Zhang Heling came to the side and sat down, smiling at Zhang Zhou.

Empress Zhang asked, "Bingkuan, how is the prince's recent studies? Your Majesty has always said that you are giving lessons to the prince, which has made the prince's progress obvious. I, a woman in the palace, don't understand that. He is really promising."The good side"

"Yes Bingkuan, please talk to the queen. "Zhu Youtang is very proud.

The most capable person in the Ming Dynasty not only served as his adviser, but also became his son's teacher.

I have a keen eye for beading, and I was able to Select Zhang Zhou from the vast crowd

The emperor will not be complacent about his superior ability, but will be proud of his accuracy in hiring people.

Zhang Zhou said: " The minister only played a supporting role in the prince's studies, and still relied on the concerted efforts of the lecturers in the East Palace. The prince has indeed made progress in his recent practice of the Four Books and Five Classics, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. ”

“Then it all depends on you.” "Empress Zhang smiled, glanced at her husband, and then glared at Zhang Heling with resentment, and then turned back to Zhang Zhou with a gentle smile.

Zhang Zhouguang's look came back and forth from this woman. You know she is a character who is not easy to mess with.

Could it be that Queen Zhang, in addition to knowing how to control her husband as others said, also has her own knowledge in governing the country?

Then Zhang Zhou This idea was dismissed.

The reason is that Empress Zhang did not get angry during the Hongzhi, Zhengde, and Jiajing dynasties. During the Zhengde period, she failed to persuade her son. During the Jiajing period, she could use Yang Tinghe to control her adopted son Zhu Houcong. She had a tight grasp of her, but she was not capable of doing so. Instead, it took three years for an inexperienced prince to complete the purge, and he even relied on great rituals to deny her as his mother and ran back to recognize her. The ancestor has returned to the clan.

If she has some political ambitions, why is she like this?

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "I will definitely live up to the queen's expectations." "

Empress Zhang looked at her husband again and said, "Your Majesty, should I reward Bingkuan heavily?"

"Haha, Queen, you don't need to worry about this, I will naturally be generous. Given to him. "Zhu Youtang thought, I need you to remind me

Empress Zhang smiled and said, "The imperial court gave it to you. It is your majesty's wish. I also want to reward him. This represents the wishes of the Zhang family, even my mother. I also told my concubine before that I would go out with Bingkuan more often in the future. He had no bad intentions and was focused on serving the royal family and the Ming Dynasty. The concubine also wants him to take more He Ling and Yan Ling with him."

This sounds fine.

But Zhang Zhou still felt that there seemed to be a deep meaning in the words.

It wasn't that Queen Zhang showed it deliberately, but she accidentally "let it slip"

The words "He has no bad intentions"

Zhang. Zhou thought about it, I saved your daughter, predicted the disaster in Qingning Palace, and did so many things for the court. How could it make you initially think that I had bad intentions and I must have given the emperor a concubine?

You have seen that in the six months since I have been with the emperor, I have never instigated the emperor to have a concubine, and I have even helped you and your wife take care of themselves and prepare for pregnancy, so you will resolve your previous prejudice against me. Or you know you can't fight me now, so you made peace with me

Zhu Youtang said, "Queen, you want a reward.I won’t stop you, but your Zhang family is not big, so you’d better listen to me on how to reward you more. ”

Actually, the emperor doesn’t want the Zhang family to do the rewards.

First of all, the name issue is very illegal. Why does the Zhang family reward meritorious officials on behalf of the royal family? Even if it is said to be assistance, the main thing is You are helping me, not deliberately helping the Zhang family. Just thank me.

But Zhang Zhou knew that the more critical factor that the emperor cared about was that the emperor felt that the queen was a reward. It was also the money from his pocket.

Just like you, the Zhang family, can make money or wealth now, but in the end, you didn’t take the money from my pocket.

I, the two. My brother-in-law will make his own wealth

They are being polite if they don’t clear out my wallet. The meager wealth I have in the past two years has been almost wiped out by the two brothers

"Pass the meal, I'm having a drink with Bingkuan today, Heling, why don't you go back first?" Zhu Youtang seemed to have no intention of leaving his brother-in-law to eat in the palace.

Zhang Heling said, "Your Majesty, minister. Hungry too. "

Very direct.

Zhu Youtang frowned and said, "It's okay if your family is short of a few mouthfuls of food. Let's stay together. When I talk to Bingkuan, don't interrupt."< /p>

“Yes, yes. I didn’t even have time to follow suit, so how could I interrupt?”

It was a very tasteless lunch.

The main reason was that Zhang Heling was there, so he was not allowed to interrupt, but at the dinner table He talks the most nonsense.

Zhu Youtang is still a little unhappy because he had no intention of inviting anyone other than Zhang Zhou, otherwise he would even have left Zhu Feng, but now Zhang Heling is there. Ruining the situation.

After lunch, Zhu Youtang asked Zhang Zhou to follow him on the pretext of going back to Qianqing Palace.

Zhang Zhou found that he was becoming more and more like an emperor. The nearby eunuch

"Bingkuan, as I said before, I asked you to take care of Heling to deal with the queen. You don't have to take it seriously. "Zhu Youtang was afraid that Zhang Zhou would mind cultivating the Zhang brothers, so he gave special instructions.

Zhang Zhou smiled.

It seems that even if a man reaches the level of an emperor, With his wife, he said one thing in person and another behind his back.

Zhang Zhou said, "If Shouning Hou studies hard, I won't mind teaching him everything." "

"As long as he didn't cause trouble for me, it's good. You may also wonder why I support him and protect him when I know he is dishonorable," Zhu Youtang asked with emotion.

Zhang Zhou smiled and shook his head, "Your Majesty has too few relatives around him. As long as Shouning Marquis and Jianchang Bo do not do anything too outrageous, I think your Majesty will treat them leniently." "

"Yes, I thought so before, but in recent years, the two brothers have become more and more outrageous. More and more people are trying to impeach them, but the queen still protects them. ”

Zhang Zhou can feel it from here.

Because of Zhang Zhou’s appearance, the emperor already had a rift with the Zhang family.

Initially Queen Zhang should know very wellRealizing this, after all, the emperor no longer only regards the Zhang family as his relatives, but also has Zhang Zhou, an awesome figure with a civil servant background and the blessing of a half-immortal status, to make suggestions. After Empress Zhang became aware of the crisis, she took action against Zhang Zhou and Zhang Zhou. Kind of picky.

But later Empress Zhang discovered that she, Zhang Zhou, could do too many things and was irreplaceable in the emperor's heart.

That’s why I took the route of warm friendship.

"So Bingkuan, you punish them for me, punish them well, you're welcome." Zhu Youtang's attitude was very firm, "I can safely leave the prince to your charge, how can it be that even two My brother-in-law is not willing to give up, so you don’t have to worry about it?" Zhang Zhou thought to himself.

Your son nominally worships me as his teacher, but the Zhang brothers are at best my temporary students. It is much harder to control these two misbehaving people than it is to control your son.

No matter how smart your son is, he is still a child. When it comes to choosing interests or pursuing hobbies, I can keep track of them.

How to control the Zhang family brothers?

Should we recruit them with titles, favors, or women with money?

Unless I really have the ability to bring down a bolt of lightning from the sky. , hit them, they will probably know how to obey.

Zhang Zhou did not stay in the Qianqing Palace for too long.

Then we went to Wenhua Hall.

The afternoon is a "special session" reserved for Zhang Zhou's teaching, which means that all the other lecturers in the East Palace can leave, leaving only Zhang Zhou to teach alone. It is not a whole afternoon, but about an hour. , then Zhang Zhou can leave the palace, and Zhu Houzhao can go to have dinner with his parents and sisters and share the happiness of family.

"Master Zhang, you are here."

When Zhang Zhou arrived at the Wenhua Hall, he saw Liu Jin waiting at the door. After seeing Zhang Zhou, he came over with a nervous look on his face.

Zhang Zhou said, "What's going on?"

Liu Jin said with a bitter face, "The prince said that he asked Marquis Anbian to get him a powerful long-range cannon. The prince wanted to see the cannon in person. Do you have that divine power?"

"Isn't this nonsense?" Zhang Zhou frowned.

Liu Jin said helplessly, "Only you can tell the prince this. Even Marquis Anbian doesn't know how to say it."

Zhang Zhou entered the palace and found Zhu Houzhao eating.

Zhu Feng, with a bitter look on his face and a pen in hand, was standing there drawing something on the paper. After learning about Zhang Zhou's arrival, Zhu Feng couldn't help but raise his head and look at him for help.

Zhang Zhou frowned.

Why are you, Zhu Zhijie, so cowardly? You are already a marquis, do you have to have some dignity in front of the prince?

You should throw it away with a big ear-scratcher. Of course, it shouldn’t be so extreme. At least you should take it. Show off your temper and tell the naughty kid what he can and cannot do

"Prince, what are you doing?" Zhang Zhou came in and asked immediately without even a courtesy.

Zhu Houzhao said, "I asked him to draw a picture of the war in Ningyuan. If he can bring artillery, I will let him go.I want to help my friend."

Zhang Zhouzhou grabbed Zhu Houzhao's chopsticks and threw them on the ground.

"Ah"

Then whether it was Zhu Feng or not, The eunuchs of the East Palace were all dumbfounded.

How can ministers treat the prince like this?

Zhang Zhou said, "Prince, I can bring you artillery, but can you tell me where to go." Do you want to fight?"

"You and I can fight wherever you want." Zhu Houzhao was so angry that he was trembling all over.

Zhang Zhou pointed in the direction of Fengtian Palace and said, "I Don't choose a direction, just go there. How do you think the Forbidden City will be blown to pieces? You can just take the opportunity to rebuild it. "

"Zhang Bingkuan, I want to give you face. I call you sir. Don't touch your nose and face, and don't talk to me in such a weird tone." Zhu Houzhao looked in front of Zhu Feng, not wanting to give Zhang Bingkuan any face. Zhou Feng, because he knew that if he didn't show some momentum today, even Zhu Feng wouldn't be afraid of him in the future.

Finally, he caught a soft persimmon, but he couldn't be fooled just because his momentum was weak today. Turn around and pinch him.

"I just want to see the artillery. Why are you bragging so much? It seems to me that it is all bragging. Otherwise, why don't you dare to show it to others?"

Liu Jin hurriedly said in peace, "Your Highness, the mighty long-range cannon is so powerful that I'm afraid it can't be demonstrated here. "

"Where can we demonstrate it?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Liu Jin rolled his eyes and said as if he was singing a double act with a naughty child, "I heard that Master Zhang is about to start a demonstration. There is a military school called Yanwutang, which specializes in teaching people how to use the mighty long-range cannon and the mighty sky gunpowder. If you can go there and learn something."

"Yes. Zhu Houzhao seemed to be inspired and glared at Zhang Zhou and said, "What about Zhang Bingkuan, do you want to intercede on behalf of your friend? If you take me to Yanwu Hall, I promise not to embarrass this guy in the future."

This guy

It’s you

You have learned to be cunning at such a young age

You also know how to mention it directly to your father. , or you told me that there is no way for you to go to the Yanwu Hall to study.

That’s why I deliberately made things difficult for Zhu Feng, trying to open a gap

What a pity. You still can't hide your little kid's colorful intestines from others. Your father knows that there is a risk of exploding the body, so he will let you get rid of it unless your father wants to stop it.

"Prince, do you know what the mighty gunpowder is?" "Power" Zhang Zhou asked.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "I know, it can blow down the city wall." I don’t want to go in person, just look at it from a distance. I’ll light a cannon. That’s no problem.”

Zhang Zhou said, “Prince, do you know that the Shenwei Cannon has the risk of exploding its barrel?”

"What do you mean by exploding the barrel?" Zhu Houzhao looked confused.

Zhang Zhou sighed, "Exploding the barrel means that after ignition, the shell does not go out, but it explodes on the spot, and people within one or two feet around it, There is no complete body after death"

""

Zhu Houzhao was speechless for a moment, "You are scaring me."Palace"

Zhang Zhou said, "Ask Marquis Anbian if that's the case."

"Really?" Zhu Houzhao stared at Zhu Feng.

"Yes. "Zhu Feng nodded hurriedly.

That's called a coward.

Zhang Zhou didn't even bother to scold Zhu Feng.

This kid is also in front of men of the same age. He behaves very lively and seems to have strong communication skills, but he is limited to socializing among young people. Once he goes to a big scene, he will easily get stage fright.

To put it bluntly, this is a playboy second generation. Had he not met Zhang Zhou, he would have never had the opportunity to touch the political arena for half his life. Later, he inherited his elder brother's Dukedom of Chengguo, but he also achieved nothing. In the end, it was Zhu Feng's son Zhu Xizhong who saved Emperor Jiajing's car with Lu Bing and made him Chengguo. The government has been prosperous for decades.

Historically, Zhu Xizhong was born in the eleventh year of Zhengde, that is, seventeen years later.

Zhang Zhou couldn't figure it out. , what the hell is Zhu Feng going to do for the next ten years?

Zhu Houzhao glared at Liu Jin and said, "Then let me learn how to fire cannons."

Liu Jin said, "Your Highness, your servant. I’ve never fired a cannon, so I don’t know what it’s like. "

Zhu Houzhao pulled Liu Jin forward, "Mr. Zhang, otherwise, you should teach Liu Jin to me first. If I have nothing to do, I can just go and have a look. I will never go into battle in person like this." Right?"

Zhang Zhou sneered and said, "Your Highness, do you think I can decide this kind of thing?"

"You can tell your father. "Zhu Houzhao seemed to take it for granted.

Zhang Zhou said, "Old rule, if you have succeeded in your studies recently, then I will let you go to see the power of the divine cannon from a distance in person. If you can't do it, you can't even think about it. Don't even think about it. "

"Come again"

Zhu Houzhao was quite tough at first, challenging Zhang Zhou and singing the double act.

But after listening to Zhang Zhou Zhu Houzhao became worried about Zhou's conditions every time.

Every time, he used some good things to lure him, so that he had to study hard in exchange for the opportunity. He wanted to ask, Zhang Bingkuan, could you change your tactics?

Zhang Zhou sat there and said coldly, "Prince, do you still remember what I told you before? When you ask a person to do something, you should first think about what he needs. ”

“You don’t need to torment me and take pleasure in it?” Zhu Houzhao was annoyed.

I felt like I was being played by Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou said angrily, "I am an official in the East Palace. You don't know about my performance evaluation standards. Your Majesty and the Queen asked me about it before." I’m too embarrassed to tell you about your academic performance. You’ve learned such bullshit recently.”

“You’re scolding me.” Zhu Hou took the photo and turned around to teach Zhang Zhou a lesson.

“Hum, learn.” If you don't do well, I won't let you say that compared to before you met me, your academic performance has improved a bit, but the problem is that your progress is far behind that of ordinary children studying in private schools. If you can't keep up with their academic progress, you still have to goodYou want me to tell His Majesty that you should leave the city."

"Why do you want to leave the city?"

"Nonsense artillery, are you letting the prince out of the city? You should know what kind of battle it is. What I need is that your academic progress will satisfy your father. You can choose for yourself, whether to change or not."

Zhang Zhou said this.

Zhu Hou Illumination That's it.

Zhang Zhou just wanted to exchange his academic progress for "performance." Zhang Zhou would not be willing to intercede for him until he had achieved performance.