Chapter 73 73 Zhejiang Corruption
After a banquet to celebrate the completion of the exam, Wei Guangde followed Zhang Hongfu and Wu Dong back to Zhang's house.
The two brothers Zeng Yuanshu and Zeng Yuanrui have their own residences, so naturally they will not follow them.
After entering the gate of Zhang Mansion, Zhang Hongfu asked casually: "Where is my father?"
What he meant was to ask where his father was, whether he was in the backyard or in the study.
Regardless of whether Wei Guangde did well or not in this government examination, he must go and talk about it first.
There was a banquet outside after the exam this time. This was something I had told my father before. The Zeng family was also a wealthy family in Pengze County, so Zhang Shigui would not stop his children from interacting with them.
"Young Master, I just went out. Someone came from the guard and said that an emergency army has been reported to the guard."
The butler on the side quickly bowed and answered.
"What military report?"
When Zhang Hongfu heard the military report, he was still in a hurry. Naturally, he thought of his grandfather. He was still making a future for his children and grandchildren. He had been with the army for a month, and he communicated with each other through the military report between Jiujiang and Zhenjiang. A message to convey the situation.
Wu Dong and Wei Guangde behind him naturally had the same idea as him, but they were all thinking about their father.
"It should be the news from Zhenjiang. When it came over, it was just that it was urgent."
The butler replied with a low eyebrow and spoke very carefully.
"Can we go over there and take a look?"
Thinking that the guardhouse was not far from the Zhang family, it was just a street away.
"You can't go in. It's so late at night, but you can still go in during the day. After all, it's an important place for government offices."
Zhang Hongfu shook his head and said in a low voice, "My father can enter and exit the guard and command yamen at will because he has the title of Yingshiren on his body and can help my grandfather handle some official affairs. I don't have a position yet, so I can't even join the yamen." No."
"What about me? I also have a belt."
When Wu Dong heard this, he wanted to know the news in Zhenjiang as soon as possible, so he naturally said.
"Your waist card is only useful in Qianhu, it is of no use here."
Zhang Hongfu shook his head and said, "Wait, let's go sit in the flower hall for a while and ask someone to bring some tea and cakes. My father will let me know when he comes back."
Zhang Hongfu ordered the housekeeper and took Wu Dong and Wei Guangde straight to the flower hall to rest.
We all drank a little, so we were not drunk. We were still a little excited under the stimulation of alcohol.
Sitting in the flower hall, they didn't drink the sobering soup brought by the servants. They just changed the light tea into strong tea, although it was late at night and drinking strong tea was not good.
They were chatting casually, and they didn’t know what time it was. The three of them were all a little dizzy now, and their spirits were a little weakened after being stimulated by alcohol before.
"Bang bang bang bang."
The faint sound of a watchman banging a wooden clapper could be heard outside the hospital.
"How many days has it been?"
Zhang Hongfu asked casually.
"Young Master, it's already the fourth watch."
The servant standing outside the door replied.
The third watch is the midnight hour, which is from 11 pm to 1 am the next morning, and the fourth watch is the scandal, which is from 1 am to 3 am.
"Master hasn't come back yet?"
At home, the eldest master is specifically Zhang Shigui, and the second master is Zhang Fugui.
But at this moment, the second master is not at home, so if you ask the master directly, the servants below will know who you are talking about.
"No."
After waiting for a long time, they all began to sit there and doze off, and then they vaguely heard the unique creaking sound of opening the door outside.
Wu Dong reacted the fastest. He sat up straight and turned his ear towards the door to listen.
Zhang Hongfu and Wei Guangde also quickly sat upright. The voices and footsteps outside became clearer, but it was Zhang Shigui who was back.
The three of them had already stood up and were standing at the door of the flower hall. Just as they were about to walk out, the door curtain was opened by a servant outside the door, and soon Zhang Shigui's figure walked in.
"Dad, you're back."
After sweeping away the fatigue from before, Zhang Hongfu looked in high spirits at this moment.
"uncle."
"Uncle Zhang."
Wu Dong and Wei Guangde both bowed to Zhang Shigui, but Zhang Shigui waved them casually at this moment to tell them not to be too polite.
Zhang Shigui sat where Zhang Hongfu had been sitting before, while the three of them just stood below with their hands down.
With a slight sigh, Zhang Shigui took out a folded manuscript from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Hongfu. He said, "This is a military newspaper I copied. You should also take a look."
With the military report in hand, Zhang Hongfu started reading it without delay. Although Wu Dong and Wei Guangde were worried, they stood beside him and stretched their heads as close as possible to see the words on the paper clearly.
Soon, all three people were shocked.
The Japanese pirates really dared to take action, and they did so in a big way.
According to the information in the military newspaper, the Japanese pirates had actually taken action the day before yesterday, but they did not follow the battlefield set by Nanjing, but boldly looted the coast of Zhejiang.
According to the documents asking for help sent from the coastal prefectures of Zhejiang, the Japanese pirates were coming in a ferocious manner and landed in many prefectures along the Zhejiang coast almost at the same time. The first one to report the warning was Taizhou Prefecture, and then Wenzhou Prefecture also Information about Japanese pirates landing.
Although it is not known to what extent the situation in Zhejiang has developed at this moment, whether it is Zhang Hongfu, Wu Dong, or Wei Guangde, they have already thought that Luancheng may be in trouble at this moment.
"Can the guards in Zhejiang withstand it?"
Wu Dong was the first to react and asked.
"I don't know. It's just the news that Japanese pirates were discovered. The following documents may have just arrived in Nanjing at this time."
Zhang Shigui sighed.
It stands to reason that the battlefield did not appear in Songjiang Mansion, which means that the possibility of Mr. Zhang, Wu Zhankui, Wei Meng and others directly participating in the battlefield is extremely slim. However, obviously at this time, what everyone saw was not this. .
It should be said that the officialdom in Zhejiang and South Zhili is in turmoil at the moment.
The Japanese pirates were able to gather tens of thousands of troops to plunder. The news spread to Beijing and reached the ears of Emperor Jiajing. God knows what would happen.
The warning signal had been conveyed long ago, and Jiangnan was agreed to mobilize troops to suppress it. However, the result was that the Japanese pirates came directly ashore and looted the area where the army was stationed. Need we say more about this?
"The army in Zhenjiang has been dispatched?"
Wei Guangde asked in a low voice.
"We've already been dispatched. If we can't wipe out all the Japanese pirates who came ashore this time, I'm afraid that guy's thunderous fury will be unstoppable."
Zhang Shigui sighed.
Who would have thought that large armies had been assembled along the coast of Zhejiang, but the Japanese pirates were not frightened.
I thought that if the guard station over there failed to withstand the Japanese pirates' invasion of Zhejiang, it would not be possible for a major earthquake in Jiangnan's officialdom to end it, or even someone's head might fall to the ground.
But even if the one in Beijing lowers the thunder, it actually has little to do with Jiangxi and Jiujiang Wei. Wei Guangde is still worried about the safety of Zhenjiang.