The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

Zhang Mao left.

Zhang Rong stayed.

He looked at Tang Hao with some trepidation.

After all, this nominal brother-in-law was notoriously tyrannical and domineering.

And Zhang Rong knew that the reason why his father Zhang Lun had his legs broken by his grandfather Zhang Mao and then his grandfather abolished his position as the crown prince was all the work of this second brother-in-law in front of him!

Tang Hao glanced at Zhang Rong and then motioned him to sit down.

Zhang Rong sat respectfully on the front half of the chair and listened to Tang Hao's teachings.

"This, grandfather's meaning is very clear, that is, he doesn't want you to be like your father!"

Tang Hao asked tentatively: "Do you know how your father's leg was broken?"

Zhang Rong trembled when he heard this, then nodded silently and lowered his head again.

"Then do you hate me... your second brother-in-law?"

Zhang Rong hurriedly shook his head and repeatedly said that he didn't.

To be honest, he actually had no feelings for that bastard father Zhang Lun, just like Zhang Jingshu.

After all, the prince of the Duke of Ying was a famous playboy who spent all day in brothels, either playing with women or on the way to playing with women. How could he have the time to take care of his children?

It was precisely because of this that almost all of Zhang Lun's descendants had no good feelings towards their father.

Not to mention that Zhang Mao had just said that Zhang Lun's legal wife, Zhang Rong's biological mother, and the sister of Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo, was a jealous woman, and Zhang Rong was raised by Zhang Xu since he was a child. It is conceivable what the relationship between the father and son was like.

"Actually, your grandfather had a hard time too."

Tang Hao sighed and said: "The reason why your father broke his leg is because I don't want to see him take the position of Duke of Ying."

"After all, I, the Marquis of Zhongshan, have been working hard for the rise of military honors, and the Duke of Ying is from an old-fashioned military family and has a high prestige among the military honors of the Ming Dynasty."

"In short, I don't want my political ally in the future to be a useless playboy like your father who only knows how to play with women, so his leg was broken and the prince was abolished."

Tang Hao tried to communicate with Zhang Rong in a language that he could understand.

"And your grandfather did this for the same reason."

"Let's be frank. Your grandfather will not live for many years. If your father Zhang Lun inherits the title, he will not be able to maintain the current power and status of the Duke of Ying's Mansion. Instead, he is likely to bring disaster to the Duke of Ying's Mansion."

"Your grandfather knows these principles better than anyone else. He just can't bear it. So I forced him to make up his mind last time, which led to your father Zhang Lun's broken leg. Do you understand?"

Zhang Rong nodded again.

But this young man kept his head down, and was extremely introverted.

Seeing this, Tang Hao couldn't help but whispered: "Raise your head!"

Almost subconsciously, Zhang Rong raised his head, his face full of panic.

"You are the descendant of the famous generals Zhang Yu and Zhang Fu!"

"Your ancestors fought for the Ming Dynasty and made great contributions!"

"Your grandfather is half buried in the ground, and all his hopes are placed on you, Zhang Rong!"

"Don't you, a young man of fourteen or fifteen years old, have such passion and bravery? Is the old Zhang family really as the world says, full of useless playboys who have lost the face of their ancestors?"

The last sentence finally touched Zhang Rong's heart.

He stared at Tang Hao with red face and roared angrily: "No!"

"Then prove it to the world!"

Tang Hao smiled and said: "I will throw you into the East Official Hall Camp and train with the Beijing Army soldiers!"

"No one will know your identity as the eldest grandson of the Duke's Mansion, which means that you will not enjoy any special treatment there. Everything is exactly the same as the Beijing Army soldiers, training, diet, rewards and punishments... Do you dare to enter the Beijing Camp?"

"Why not?!" Zhang Rong once again demonstrated the blood and courage of being a son of the Zhang family!

The Zhang family, the first military family in the Ming Dynasty, has never had a coward!

"Very good, then..."

Before Tang Hao finished speaking, the doorman hurried over and whispered a few words.

After listening to the doorman's report, Tang Hao's expression suddenly became strange.

"It's really interesting!"

"Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo, Duke Chengguo Zhu Fu, Duke Weiguo Xu Yu, Marquis Wu'an Zheng Hong... Even the Duke Baoguo Zhu Hui sent his eldest son here!"

As soon as this was said, the second uncle Tang Yu was shocked at first, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Hao'er, they really recognize your status as the head of the nobles!"

This time is different from the past. In the past, these military heroes only sent the unpopular children in the family, such as illegitimate children, to support Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao.

But this time is completely different. All the people sent by these military heroes are their eldest sons, that is, the family heirs who will inherit their titles in the future!

These guys dared to send their eldest son heir here and hand him over to Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao with confidence, which naturally meant that they recognized Tang Hao's status as the head of the military merit. From now on, everyone will be a complete military merit group!

Tang Hao touched his chin and nodded, and then Tang Yu came forward to invite all these military merits in.

Zhang Rong stood up tactfully and stood behind Tang Hao.

Xu Guangzuo, Zhu Hui, Zhu Fu, Xu Yu and others saw Zhang Rong, and their faces had different expressions.

In fact, they saw Zhang Mao handing over his eldest grandson to Tang Hao, so they were tempted to send their eldest son to show their goodwill.

After all, the current Zhongshan Marquis is no longer the Zhongshan Marquis with no foundation.

Not to mention that Tang Hao returned to the court with the merit of destroying the country, and he is destined to be promoted and become the first person with military merit.

In addition, the affairs of the Japanese country are all under the control of this Zhongshan Marquis.

Whether the military merit can benefit from it, or who can get on the Zhongshan Marquis, is all in Tang Hao's mind, so they have to show their goodwill to Tang Hao and respect the identity of the first person with Zhongshan Marquis.

"Congratulations to Tang Hou on the birth of his son!" Zhu Hui said awkwardly.

To be honest, he is the most embarrassed among all the military merits.

Originally, the Duke of Baoguo and the Marquis of Zhongshan had a marriage alliance, and Zhu Hui married his concubine to Tang Hao as a concubine. As a result, in the last incident where Liu Jin joined forces with Li Dongyang to plot against Tang Hao, Zhu Hui did not stand firm. He not only sent a servant to the Marquis of Zhongshan's mansion to unilaterally announce the annulment of the marriage, but also wantonly humiliated the Marquis of Zhongshan's mansion, and the two families became enemies because of this.

Zhu Hui also paid a painful price for this. He was easily dealt with by His Majesty the Emperor. Not only was he imprisoned and tortured, but the Duke of Baoguo's mansion's wealth was also confiscated. It can be said that his father Zhu Yong's face was completely lost.

Moreover, because Tang Hao continued to rise, the other nobles also subconsciously rejected Zhu Hui and did not want to offend the Marquis of Zhongshan. Therefore, Zhu Hui's life is very difficult now. He had to come in person with a thick face, hoping that Tang Hao would express his attitude and expose this matter for the sake of their past relationship.

Zhu Hui's son Zhu Qi is now in his twenties and serves as a Jinyiwei Honor Guard.

Seeing the father and son's attitude of being arrogant at first and respectful later, Tang Hao couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion.

After all, he had received Zhu Hui's favor in the past, especially the book of Zhang Yong's experience in using troops, which can be said to have truly made Tang Hao grow into a qualified general of the three armies.

"Why do you have to do this, uncle!"

Tang Hao stepped forward and helped Zhu Hui and his son up.

"Is this brother Qi?"

"Do you want to join the Beijing camp or stay with me?"

Zhu Qi looked at his father, who did not answer.

There seemed to be nothing special about joining the Beijing army and training with the combat soldiers. It was better to stay with Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao and be his confidant, at least you could get familiar with him.

So Zhu Qi chose the latter, and Tang Hao was not surprised by this.

Then a group of eldest sons of dukes and marquises also made their choices. Most of them chose to join the Beijing army for training, and a few wanted to follow Tang Hao. Tang Hao agreed to all of them.

Then everyone started to discuss business, which was nothing more than the profit pie of Japan.

"You don't need to interfere with the gold and silver mines in Japan. This is a trap for the gentry."

As soon as these words came out, all the military heroes were shocked.

Fortunately, they came today, otherwise they would definitely follow the trend because of greed and fall into the trap set by Zhongshan Hou and His Majesty the Emperor.

"So what you have to do is to send people to various iron mines in Japan, complete the reform of these iron mines according to the model of Laiwu Iron Factory, and then continuously manufacture fine steel weapons, including firearms!"

Tang Hao looked at the military heroes with a serious expression and said: "The iron factory has made a lot of profits, you all know it."

"This marquis has only one request, that is, the iron factory should pay no less mining tax, and the weapons and equipment that should be produced should not be less, and they must be completed on time and with quality. This involves our future dispatch of troops to the Northern Tartars. You understand the importance of this matter!"

Dispatch troops to the Northern Tartars!

Hearing this, everyone's expression was lifted and they nodded excitedly.

If you say what is the most touching thing in the Ming Dynasty, it is nothing more than the Northern Tartars!

There is no way. The Ming Dynasty was once beaten to the gate of the capital by the Northern Tartars, and the capital was almost broken by the Northern Tartars, so the Northern Tartars naturally became the heart of the Ming Dynasty.

In the same way, because the court is wary of and pays attention to the Northern Tartars, once the troops are sent to the Northern Tartars and make military achievements, the rewards given by the court will far exceed anything!

For example, now that Zhongshan Hou has flattened the Japanese country, it seems to be a great achievement of destroying the country, but in fact this achievement cannot prove anything, because the Japanese country is too weak. This is a general consensus of the court and the public.

But if Zhongshan Hou can lead his army to wipe out the Northern Tartars, no one can stop him from being promoted to Duke and becoming the first powerful minister of Zhengde!

This is the value of "Northern Tartars"!

"In addition, there is the East China Sea trade."

"The trade is about to start. Each of you should prepare the goods and then send them to the Shandong Qinghe Shipyard. The rules are as we agreed before. Thirty percent profit is not a small amount."

When it comes to this, all the dukes are happy.

Of course, they don't care about such a small profit. What they care about is doing business with Zhongshan Marquis and His Majesty the Emperor. This means that their family has an extra trump card, which is enough to ensure the prosperity of the family.

Well, except for Zhu Hui, the Duke of Baoguo, he is really short of money, so he probably has to borrow some to raise goods.

"Finally, I have a word to remind you." Tang Hao said seriously, "Don't merge land, don't merge land, don't merge land!"

"There are many ways to make money. After joining the East China Sea trade, it is enough to make your family's descendants have no worries about food and drink, so this duke doesn't want to see you continue to merge land, otherwise don't blame this duke for turning his face against you!"

Hearing this, all the princes trembled in their hearts.

Don’t annex the fields!

Marquis Zhongshan said this three times!

It is obvious that his attitude towards this matter is Nilian!

"I think you should also know that His Majesty the Emperor appointed Liu Jin, an eunuch, to take action against the clan king who annexed the land."

"I don't know how many members of the Qing Fan clan who were involved were killed by Liu Jin. You see this matter, so you should keep it in your heart!"

Tang Hao sneered: "Because the Qingfan lineage is not the end, but just the beginning."

"Next, these vassal kings will all be investigated by this madman Liu Jin!"

"Whoever annexes land will die, without exception!"

As soon as these words came out, all the princes suddenly took a breath of cold air!

I see!

This is so!

Liu Jin was not targeting the Qing clan, but all the clan kings!

Whoever annexes fields will die!

How many fields do you have under your name now?

For a moment, all the princes were a little panicked.

They don't want to become Liu Jin's next target!

After all, it is said that that damn eunuch likes to torture his targets the most, making them take off their clothes and play the pipa...

This "playing the pipa" is not an elegant thing, but one of the tortures that Jin Yiwei is famous for.

The specific operation is to press the criminal to the ground, control his hands and feet, lift off his shirt to expose his ribs, and then use a sharp knife to "pluck" the person's ribs back and forth, which is "playing the pipa".

After every torture, the prisoner was in great pain, his cries shook the walls, his flesh and blood festered, he could not live or die, it was so cruel that it was unspeakable. Finally, his skin and flesh slowly opened and cracked, itching and hurting, and even if he did not die, most of his life would be lost. !

"Tang Hou, what should we do if we... have already annexed the fields?"

Zhu Hui said in a panic.

He was really frightened by that little emperor.

Moreover, among these princes, which one has annexed the most fields, it is nothing more than the one who protects the country.

"What should I do? Give it back!" Tang Hao replied angrily: "Either find a way to return it, or if you can't find the original owner, just give it to the government!"

"After becoming the king of the clan, Your Majesty will start to liquidate other forces. I don't want to wipe the butt of you guys at that time. I will find a way to solve this matter before then!"

Whoever annexes the land will die!

The lineage of Qing Fan is just the beginning, and the clan king is just the beginning!

Next came the other forces, including military generals, royal relatives, and gentry!

Therefore, all the princes realized the seriousness of the problem, looked at each other and immediately left, going home to liquidate the annexed fields under their own names.

They don't want to be the next target of Mad Dog Liu Jin and be pushed to the ground to "play the pipa"!

After these princes left, Tang Hao couldn't help laughing.

Liu Jin is really a mad dog!

How dare he use the torture of "playing the pipa" on the clan members!

However, the effect is still very good, at least now everyone's color changes after hearing "Liu Jin".

Tang Hao just used Liu Dajun's evil reputation to scare these princes and nobles and let them solve the dirty things under their butts by themselves. Don't really ask him, the leader of martial arts, to wipe their butts.

The princes had just left, and before Tang Hao had time to take a sip of tea, another "uninvited guest" came to visit.

This was such an uninvited guest that Tang Hao even wanted to drive him out.

That's right, the person who came was none other than Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao, the minister of Guanglu Temple who was stirring up trouble in the court!

Seeing Zhu Chenhao's ugly face, Tang Hao couldn't help but want to punch him.

After all, you are also a clan vassal king. How dare you come to visit me, the Marquis of Zhongshan, so arrogantly?

What, is this really floating?

Do you now dare to openly violate Taizu’s prohibition?

"Tang Hou, you are fine!"

Zhu Chenhao said with a smile, his face full of flattery.

Tang Hao frowned and looked at him, then reminded him in a low voice.

"Prince Ning, even under the new system of vassalage, there are clear regulations that the vassal king is not allowed to associate with courtiers, and anyone who disobeys the order will be treated as treason!"

"Not to mention, I, Tang Hao, am still the Commander-in-Chief of the Beijing Army. You are setting me up for disloyalty and injustice!"

When Zhu Chenhao heard this, his expression became solemn and he said seriously: "What did Marquis Tang say? I just came to visit my daughter..."

Tang Hao: "???"

ah?

ah? ? ?

Where the hell did you get your daughter from?

And it’s still in my Zhongshan Marquis...

etc!

Something's wrong!

Tang Hao seemed to have thought of something, and then stared at Zhu Chenhao with a gloomy expression.

"Prince Ning doesn't mean that Gu Li is your daughter, right?"

Gu Li, a stunning orchids, is obviously from the Western Regions, probably from Xinjiang.

Zhu Chenhao replied with a smile: "That's right, Li'er is the adopted daughter of this king since he was a child!"

"Back then, she was given to me by a profiteer. Seeing how pitiful she was, I inquired about her life experience. I thought it would not be easy to get this girl, so I accepted her as my adopted daughter and have always treated her as my own... …”

I'm crazy!

Tang Hao's face turned green for a moment.

If he hadn't known what kind of virtue Zhu Chenhao was, he would have believed this guy's nonsense.

"Okay, okay."

"If Prince Ning has anything to say, just say it!"

Tang Hao waved his hand impatiently.

"When these tactics are used, they are just plain disgusting."

If Guli's first blood had not been taken by Tang Hao, he really wanted to throw this woman to Zhu Chenhao and take your so-called "adopted daughter" out!

Well, this is "sex is a knife above your head"!

Zhu Chenhao also tore off his disguise and whispered: "Tang Hou, I want to march into Japan, at least I want to share the profits of the Iwami Silver Mine!"

As expected, Zhu Chenhao really came for the big cake of Japan.

After all, this Prince Ning wants to rebel!

Raising soldiers, making friends with court officials, winning people's hearts... all these cost money!

If you don't pay, who is willing to follow you and fight to do such a head-losing job as rebellion?

"In addition, I want an iron mine!"

Zhu Chenhao narrowed his eyes and made another unreasonable request.

Well, iron mines are also needed. After all, it is better to build military equipment and supplies by yourself to avoid leaking the wind.

Rebellion requires weapons and armor!

Tang Hao looked at Zhu Chenhao with a half-smile. Does he trust himself so much?

"Prince Ning, what do you want to do?"

"Marquis Tang knows it very well, why ask again?"

"Aren't you afraid that I will tell on you?"

"Marquis Tang won't."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because you are my son-in-law!"

"My son-in-law..."