Chapter 242: Joining Ceremony, Tooth for Tooth
"The eldest daughter of the Li family will be married soon, and then it will be the uncle."
The matchmaker looked at Jiang Qingzhi, the fat on his face squeezed into a ball and his eyes could not be seen.
The palace also needs royal matchmakers. Such people usually stay at home and remain unmoved even when the dignitaries come to invite them. In a word, they have to maintain their status.
"Thank you." Jiang Qingzhi didn't care about it and gave the matchmaker a red envelope. The matchmaker smiled and said, "I've never seen such a polite and generous host."
"Your Majesty is very stingy?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
matchmaker:"……"
Jiang Qingzhi smiled, "Well, if you go to the Li family, please ask the young lady... Just tell her, if you have something to say, just talk."
As the marriage progressed, Jiang Qingzhi became more and more uneasy, and worried about whether Li Tian could adapt to the change in role as his wife.
He is a person who doesn't like to trouble others. If he can solve a problem by himself, he will never ask others for help. If he can't solve it, he would rather put it aside unless it is absolutely necessary.
Some people said that he had social phobia, but Jiang Qingzhi scoffed.
Later, he analyzed his own personality and felt that it was because of his parents' quarrel that he had a low self-esteem since childhood and always felt that he would be rejected when he asked for help... and he was worried that when he was rejected, he would be looked down upon.
Later, even though he could look down on his former relatives and neighbors, Jiang Qingzhi still couldn't change his temperament.
The matchmaker smiled and said, "Don't worry, the last time I went to the Li family, the young lady was making clothes! Master, just wait to wear new clothes!"
"Celebrate it."
Xia Yan and Jiang Qingzhi were too familiar with each other, so they walked in straight away.
"Mr. Xia...Mr. Xia." The matchmaker knew Xia Yan.
"Oh!" Xia Yan nodded, "Hurry up and do it! To be honest, if this guy doesn't get married, many people will say that he has a homosexual tendency."
"That's right, that's right..." The matchmaker left the Jiang family and said to the waiting eunuch, "My God, when I saw Mr. Xia in the palace before, he had a stern face and looked so intimidating without even getting angry. It was so scary. But when I saw him today, he was just like an old neighbor who came to visit. He was so friendly!"
……
"The pickled meat tastes good. Um... I'll put more chili next time." Xia Yan savored the taste of the pickled meat, or bacon. "Old pickled meat is best with rice, salty and fresh. New pickled meat is best with wine, not too salty or too bland, and goes well with that smoky smell. By the way, what did you put in it?"
"Fruit peels, pine and cypress branches... and a lot of other good stuff." Jiang Qingzhi made pickled meat of southwestern style, which was hung in the kitchen for fumigation on weekdays. After half a year, it was covered with patina. "Boil it first, then wash it with rice washing water... It's best to fry it, but steaming it is also good... Have you tried clay pot rice?"
"No."
"Want one?"
"necessary."
"By the way, how are your teeth?"
"very good."
"Look, you still have such good teeth at your age, which shows that you have a long future ahead of you!"
"That is."
Jiang Qingzhi personally cooked two servings of clay pot rice, while Xu Wei and Hu Zongxian watched eagerly. Xu Wei rolled his eyes and urged Sun Chonglou to ask Jiang Qingzhi to make a few more servings.
Sun Chonglou said regretfully: "I want to eat too, but the young master is busy with work!"
"Business?"
Sun Chonglou nodded seriously, "Old Xu, just like when you and Old Hu lit a cigarette for the young master for the first time, this is business. Business cannot be interrupted, otherwise the young master will be angry, really angry."
"Isn't that the joining ceremony that Master mentioned? Lord Xia..." Hu Zongxian was stern, but Xu Wei clapped his hands, "Good!"
A bowl of clay pot rice made Xia Yan smile happily.
After dinner, everyone had a cup of tea. In the study, Jiang Qingzhi also made some incense, which gave it a full sense of ritual.
"Other people's cliques all have names, such as some academy or some learning society, but they are just fictitious. Do you have a name for yours?" Xia Yan asked.
"I have never formed a party."
"hehe!"
“I call this a team.”
Jiang Qingzhi said confidently.
"Are you worried about the consequences of forming a clique?" Xia Yan sighed, "No need."
"Wang Anshi of the former Song Dynasty stepped down in disgrace, but Zhang Dun and others continued to take over. But what did they do? They forced themselves to do something that was impossible. They were not doing it for the public good, but for their own selfish interests and for grudges."
"Are you worried?" Xia Yan took a sip of tea.
"I'm not worried."
"Then what are you afraid of?" Xia Yan said contemptuously: "Don't forget, you hypocritical boy, when I was thrown into the imperial prison, there were very few people who spoke up for me. You can see what kind of person this is! We need to get some helpers."
The two were silent for a moment.
"Now, you should tell me what you really think of this Ming Dynasty."
"This Ming Dynasty!" Jiang Qingzhi covered his forehead, "If nothing changes, it will collapse in less than a hundred years."
"Do you think there will be civil unrest?"
As expected, it was the former Prime Minister. Jiang Qingzhi nodded, "Internal strife, external enemies take advantage of the situation to attack."
First, Li Zicheng conquered the capital, then Wu Sangui defected, and the Man Qing took the opportunity to enter the pass...
"Sure enough, I said that you were so keen on dealing with Altan, you must have some plan." Xia Yan smiled.
"Altan is not the biggest scourge."
"Who is that?"
"A tribe that was saved by the Ming Dynasty."
"It sounds just like the truth."
"Yes! It's true." Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile.
At that time, the Jurchens were like dogs that had lost their homes. It was Emperor Chengzu who accepted them and provided them with a place to settle down.
But the facts proved that those who are not of our race must have different hearts. Before long, they showed their restless side, and were beaten up by Daming, and they behaved themselves for a long time.
Until Nurhaci gave Li Chengliang the title of general agent, Li Chengliang allowed the enemy to grow stronger and fatten up the Jurchens.
Later, the slaves who had risen up sang and Man Qing successfully counterattacked.
"I'll go check it out."
Jiang Qingzhi said while looking into the distance.
"Wang Shen, the envoy of Altan Khan, is here." A clerk from the Ministry of Rites came over and asked, "I wonder what the rules are here, Lord?"
"Where?"
"Waiting outside the city."
This matter needs to be reported to Emperor Jiajing to see what level of reception should be adopted.
The clerk from the Ministry of Rites seemed to be waiting respectfully.
At this time, Sun Bu Tong came in and quietly informed him, "Xiao Zhuo sent someone to tell him that Zhang Gu said in the Ministry of Rites that we should be careful with Wang Shen, but we must not be disrespectful."
This was an implicit statement that Wang Shen should be received with dignity.
Jiang Qingzhi said to the clerk, "Go back and tell them that I am going to meet Wang Shen."
"But my Ministry of Rites..." The clerk felt that it was unkind of Jiang Qingzhi to leave the Ministry of Rites behind.
"Hmm!" Xu Wei snorted coldly, "Who gave you the courage to question the earl?" As an earl, Jiang Qingzhi's position was not high, but he had power.
The clerk bowed his head and said, "I made a mistake."
After he left, Hu Zongxian asked, "Do you want to talk to Wang Shen alone?"
"Yes, we need to talk."
Jiang Qingzhi stood up, "Sun Bu Tong."
"The villain is here!"
"Bring all the guards. Mo Zhan."
"exist!"
"Stone."
"exist!"
"Walk."
Dou Jialan was startled, and Xu Wei smiled and said, "We have to keep someone at home."
But he turned around and said to Hu Zongxian: "The uncle seems calm, but I feel like he is furious."
……
Wang Shen and the delegation were waiting outside the city.
As the population of the capital city grew, there was not enough space in the city, so people began to build houses outside the city, and gradually their houses grew in size.
There were shops on both sides of the street, and people were everywhere. The merchants were shouting enthusiastically, adding a bit of warmth to this chilly spring morning.
Wang Shen was over 30 years old. His father was a slave who was captured and brought to the grassland. Because he was educated, he was promoted to an official. By the time of Wang Shen's generation, he had become a close confidant of Altan Khan.
But the Altan Khanate was full of internal conflicts and struggles for power were endless. Wang Shen was capable, but he was often criticized for his status as a Han Chinese.
This time, sending Wang Shen on a diplomatic mission was the opportunity that Altan gave him.
——To show off one’s power!
Altan said meaningfully.
Wang Shen knew the unspoken meaning in the words. This was the critical moment for Altan to reorganize the internal situation. They could not turn against each other unless it was absolutely necessary.
However, the situation within the Ming people was not peaceful either. It was said that the Yan Party and the newly-promoted powerful Jiang Qingzhi were fighting each other to great pleasure.
This is the good news. The bad news is that the Ming people are purging the Beijing guards. Because we don’t have enough information, we don’t know the specific situation.
All we know is that the host was Jiang Qingzhi.
Deputy Envoy Huang He stroked his beard and looked at the city wall of the capital, and could not help but marvel, "It is indeed magnificent."
"The Ming Dynasty is peaceful and the military is weak. The officers and soldiers of the nine borders are like slaves, but the Khan is full of vigor and his cavalry is constantly sharpening and has become majestic. Now we are just waiting for the opportunity... Once we go south, we will turn all this into our pasture."
Wang Shen looked at the pedestrians and chuckled, "Aren't these people the best slaves?"
"That's right, and the women of Ming people are the most delicate."
As the two spoke in a relaxed manner, their followers looked at everything around them with surprise and greed. Some even said, "I wish I could just draw my sword right now and grab everything!"
"somebody is coming."
More than ten riders came out of the city. The soldier guarding the gate pointed in this direction, and then a knight looked over.
"It's a young man." Huang He said, "It looks like he is from a wealthy family."
Wang Shen thought of the noble children in the Altan tribe and said contemptuously: "The noble children under the Khan have been learning riding and shooting since childhood, while the noble children of the Ming Dynasty have been learning how to fight for power since childhood. This alone shows that one is gaining while the other is losing..."
The dozen or so riders came surrounding the young man.
Until the mission.
One rider asked, "But is it the messenger from Altan?"
Wang Shen said calmly: "It is Wang."
He saw the young man raise his eyebrows and ride his horse over.
……
"Jiang Qingzhi is trying to steal the credit!"
Ministry of Rites, Zhang Gu sneered, "First you seize the right to receive the envoys, and then exclude my Ministry of Rites... what a trick."
Xiao Zhuo said in a deep voice: "Chang Wei Bo is not that kind of person!"
Some people questioned, "Then what is he going to do?"
……
"Who was the one who drove his horse and injured the people in Tongzhou that day?"
Jiang Qingzhi asked.
The accompanying official from the Ministry of Rites had just gone to get some tea and warm himself by the fire. When he saw someone coming, he hurriedly drank up the tea, but was scalded and spit it out, coughing continuously.
"It's me, why?"
An attendant rode out with an innocent look on his face, "Your people all witnessed that it was a frightened horse."
Jiang Qingzhi looked at him and suddenly smiled.
At this moment, the officials from the Ministry of Rites came hurriedly from behind, "It's a frightened horse, it's a frightened horse..."
Jiang Qingzhi laughed and said, "Frightened horse?"
He suddenly swung the whip and hit his follower hard in the face.
Amid screams, Jiang Qingzhi drew his sword.
The light of the knife flashed.
The horse's head fell to the ground.
The horse stood still for a moment before it fell down with a loud bang.
The follower fell headfirst.
Jiang Qingzhi pulled the reins and the horse stood up.
Yilulu!
With a neighing sound, the horse's hooves fell heavily.
Stepped on the follower's leg.
"you dare?"
Click!
The follower's calf became a ninety-degree angle.
Wang Shen was furious and shouted, "Who are you?"
The official from the Ministry of Rites rushed over at this time, was startled, and then said, "He is Long Wilbur!"
"I am Jiang Qingzhi." Jiang Qingzhi nodded, "My horse is also frightened."
……
Asking for votes.
(End of this chapter)
