Domineering Daming

Hearing the word Dongchang, Xiong Wenju's instinctive expression changed slightly, his eyes flashed with a struggle, and he said bravely: "This matter was indeed done by me alone, and no one else was responsible. The prince wants to send me to Dongchang. Aren't you afraid of leaving a stigma after being wronged for nothing!"

Zhu Youjian looked at Xiong Wenju's appearance of a rascal who didn't get involved, and felt bored for a while, so he stood up and said, "Leave it to the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and close the case as soon as possible!"

After speaking, he walked inside. In his opinion, this matter can be over.

Wang Chengen hesitated for a while, and had no choice but to order Xiong Wenju to be escorted to the Ministry of Punishment. At that time, he would instruct the Ministry of Punishment to continue the investigation, and forget it if he couldn't come here.

When King Xin said this, not only Xiong Wenju heaved a sigh of relief, but also Sun Chengze and a group of scholars secretly heaved a sigh of relief. If the court pursued them, they would all be implicated.

Xiong Wenju was escorted into the carriage and sent to the Ministry of Punishment. Sitting in the carriage, he had a smile on his face.If he went to Dongchang, he might be worried that he wouldn't be able to get out, but the Ministry of Punishment was different. People outside had a hundred ways to rescue him.

The other scholars were all talking about it, and they never thought that this matter was a rumor, and it was Xiong Wenju who leaked it and deliberately incited them to make trouble.

"What should we do now? Do you think the imperial court will settle accounts after the fall?"

"Probably not. Didn't King Xin say it? It's handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for investigation. There is no intention to expand it."

"It's not King Xin, I'm afraid of the Ministry of Rites and the Political Yuan, if they record something for us, it will be troublesome!"

"Yes, hurry up, go back and find someone, and you must ask clearly!"

"Don't let the Ministry of Rites and the Political Yuan record it, otherwise our official career will be ruined!"

The so-called "imperial examination leak case" was broken by Xin Wang, and the scholars were worried about whether they would be remembered by the court and affect their official career.

Sun Chengze also mingled in the crowd, said something casually, left quietly, and went straight to the restaurant where Zhang Pu lived.

At this moment, Zhang Pu was waiting for a letter at a post station not far from the west gate of the capital.

This station is a small yard with a tea stand in front of the gate.

Zhang Pu sat there drinking tea, facing a strong man with an abacus on the table, he typed quickly, and from time to time picked up a small black stick to write something on the paper.

The handwriting is relatively small, and the things written are also strange. Zhang Pu leaned over curiously and looked at it, and asked after a while: "What did you write?"

This is one of the eighteen sub-stations of the capital post station. The strong and strong man in front of him is named Han Chengxian, who is the manager of this sub-station. Sending letters and delivering goods depends entirely on brains. Later, the head shopkeeper of the post station knew that we were illiterate, so he bought a yard and hired a few gentlemen to teach us literacy and arithmetic. For two hours, I learned all this there."

Zhang Pu frowned. He didn't like such vulgar people, but his words were fresh, and he couldn't help saying: "You mean, your shopkeeper asked someone to teach you how to read? What is this for? A scientific examination ?"

Han Chengxian was taken aback, looked up at him strangely, and said, "Science is a must for studying?"

Zhang Pu was even more surprised, and said: "Study is not an official for scientific examinations, so why do you study?"

Han Chengxian was stunned for a while, and then said for a while: "When I was young, my family was poor and couldn't afford to read at all. Now at my age, I only need to learn some useful things to support my family. I just don't want to be cheated. It's good to be an official, but the world's official With so much, someone has to do something else, right?"

Zhang Pu couldn't answer Han Chengxian's words for a while, because Han Chengxian's words were reasonable, there were only so many official positions, and it was impossible for everyone to be an official, and there were other things that needed people.

But at a time when everything is inferior and only reading is high, such words seem very ridiculous.

Zhang Pu is conceited that he is full of talent, and he will be a general and a prime minister one day. He doesn't bother arguing with people like Han Chengxian. Seeing him writing that ghostly talisman again, he asked in doubt, "What are you writing?"

Han Chengxian smiled again, and said: "Not only you don't know, young master, but not many people in Ming Dynasty. According to the master who taught us, it was passed in by Persian merchants. They are numbers, simple and convenient, and very suitable for counting."

Zhang Pu's expression remained unchanged, but he secretly despised him. A businessman is a businessman after all, and he would do anything for the sake of money.

Zhang Pu was not interested in talking to Han Chengxian, but just sat there, anxiously waiting for the letter from the south.

Han Chengxian didn't have time to greet Zhang Pu, so he frowned after thinking about it.

The account books show that his profit this year has exceeded 1000 taels, and after excluding those handed over to the main station, there is still 600 taels left, which is double that of last year, indicating that the business will continue to expand.

But as a "courier" who just wanted to support his family, he was very unambitious and didn't want to expand, so it would be good to make money comfortably.At the same time, he knew that if he didn't recruit people, the business would be taken away by other sub-stations.

"It seems that we still have to recruit people..." Han Chengxian said to himself, a little reluctantly.

Regardless of what he was muttering, Zhang Pu said impatiently: "Are you sure you can arrive within this hour? I don't want to wait in vain."

Han Chengxian smiled immediately, and said, "Don't worry, my lord, what we pay attention to when we collect the money is credit. If you are late for a stick of incense, you will be refunded in full, and if it exceeds an hour, you will be compensated three times."

30 taels of silver is not a lot for Zhang Pu, so he had to wait patiently after hearing the words.

Not long after Han Chengxian finished speaking, an extended carriage entered the city and turned to the post station on his side, and at the same time two people stood up on it and shouted: "Brother Han, he is from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, come quickly to unload the goods. "

Han Cheng closed the account book first, and replied loudly: "Okay, brothers, unload the goods, and bring the letters here first."

A few guys in the yard came out in response, and quickly began to unload the goods from the big carriage. One guy came over with a big sealed box and handed it to Han Chengxian, "Brother, the seal hasn't been moved."

Han Cheng first took it, looked at it, tore off the seal, opened the box, took out a stack of letters from inside, found the letter "Zhang Gandu's personal letter", handed it to Zhang Pu, and at the same time there was a receipt, and said with a smile: "Young master, after signing, you can take the letter away."

Zhang Pu saw everything in his eyes from beginning to end, and frowned from time to time.

The inn used to be owned by the imperial court, and they never cost anything to send letters and slips, but this time, it costs ten taels of silver to send a letter from Hangzhou urgently!

What is the concept of ten taels of silver? He can spend it on the Qinhuai River for three days!

But it was such a letter!

Ten taels of silver!

While Zhang Pu was signing the receipt, his hatred for the capital was rapidly increasing.

As soon as Zhang Pu signed, Han Chengxian took it over with a smile and said, "Thank you for your patronage. If you still have letters or something to send next time, I will give you a [-]% discount. If it is not urgent, it will only cost [-]% to Hangzhou." Ten words."

Zhang Pu didn't nod or shake his head, and hurried away with the letter in his arms.

The capital seems to be stable, but in fact, the undercurrent is raging. He encountered many troubles in the capital alone, and needed the help of his uncle Zhang Fuzhi.

Zhang Fuzhi was also a senior minister of the Ministry of Industry, at least he still has some contacts that can be used by him.

Zhang Pu quickly walked into the restaurant room, closed the door and eagerly opened the envelope, frowning as soon as he opened it.

Zhang Fuzhi didn't mean to help him, but rewrote the eight words "Hide your strengths and bide your time, wait for the price to sell".

These eight words seem simple, Zhang Pu pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

After a long while, he shook his head, his uncle was old after all, he was always cautious and lacked courage.

He stood up, pushed open the window, looked at the increasingly bustling and bustling capital, his eyes glowed brightly, and whispered to himself: "At this moment of great importance, how can we just sit back and let us miss it..."

"Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang!"

Suddenly, his door was knocked eagerly, and Sun Chengze's anxious voice was heard.

Zhang Pu's eyes moved slightly, he stepped over to open the door, Sun Chengze rushed in, closed the door and said anxiously: "Brother Zhang, Brother Xiong was arrested by King Xin, and now he is sent to the Ministry of Punishment."

Zhang Pu's expression remained unchanged, and he said indifferently: "There is no need to worry, neither King Xin nor the Ministry of Punishment has any evidence, just a confession, and Brother Xiong cannot be convicted according to the law of the Ming Dynasty."

Sun Chengze became even more worried, and said: "Brother Zhang, do you still understand? The king of Xin has come forward in person, and the court will not let it go. I am worried that Brother Xiong will not be able to bear the heavy punishment from the Ministry of Criminal Justice."