Chapter 1593 The Road to Idol

In fact, Zhang Siwei should have been the chief examiner of the imperial examination in the fifth year of Wanli's reign, and Shen Shixing should have been the deputy chief examiner.

However, Xiao Wei has been unlucky for many years and has been in trouble with the Lilliputian Kingdom. His attempts to regain power over the past few years have all ended in failure. He has basically guessed who is secretly plotting against him.

Therefore, he gave up the idea of ​​coming out of retirement during the reign of Prime Minister Zhang. He could only cultivate himself in the mansion covering an area of ​​more than 200 acres and wait for changes in the world.

As a result, Shen Shixing, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was able to take up the position of Chief Examiner one section earlier. The vacant Deputy Chief Examiner was originally supposed to be Yu Youding, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, according to seniority.

However, Prime Minister Zhang made an exception and appointed Zhao Shouzheng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Yu Youding was naturally unhappy about being cut in line, but the person who cut him in line was Zhao Shouzheng, which made him feel much better. Because Ningbo joined the Jiangnan integration, he owed Zhao Hao a big favor, so he comforted himself by thinking that this time he would just repay a favor...

Xu Guo, who ranked behind Yu Youding, was a fellow villager of Zhao Shouzheng from She County. Moreover, his elder brother Xu Gu was the chairman of Huizhou Development Corporation...

Behind Xu Guo is Wang Xijue, a close friend of his who can’t be more loyal…

Since these three big brothers all said that there was no problem, the people behind them had no right to make any more noise.

~~

After sending the examinee to the exam, Zhao Hao returned to Zhaojia Hutong just as the sky was getting light. After having breakfast, he took Xiaojing and the giant tortoise and headed straight to Dashamao Hutong.

As for my godmother, I can only go there tomorrow.

My father-in-law is rarely at home today, because his eldest son Jingxiu and second son Sixiu are also going to participate in this spring exam...

Although Zhang Xianggong spoke with the emperor's mouth and sat on the dragon bed, he was still unable to escape the custom at this moment. Like all old fathers who wanted their sons to succeed, he asked the emperor for a day off to take his son to take the exam.

Zhang Juzheng had just seen off Jingxiu and Sixiu. It was a rare day of rest. He was about to take a nap, but when he heard that his daughter and son-in-law were coming, he immediately lost all sleepiness. He jumped out of bed and stepped barefoot on the floor tiles. He was so happy that he almost cried and said, "This damn girl, she finally came back. I wonder if her father must be worried to death!"

While putting his shoes on, Gu smiled and said, "Then let them in quickly. I miss Xiaojing so much."

"That's not... possible!" Mr. Zhang suddenly changed his mind, threw off his shoes, lay down again and said, "Let them wait! Let them experience the torment of waiting first..."

"Master, why are you like a child?" Gu was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"I haven't been gone for more than three years. You should be scolding your daughter!" Zhang Juzheng groaned, leaned his head on the pillow, and warned his wife: "You are not allowed to go out and sleep with Bu Gu! And Mao Xiu and the others are not allowed to show up!"

Gu was helpless, but she did not dare to disobey Zhang Juzheng, otherwise he would really get angry... So she asked her maid to tell the young couple to be patient, as Old Taishan was angry with them.

Zhao Hao had expected this, and upon hearing this, he said to the maid who delivered the message, "I'll wait here for my father-in-law to calm down. Take Xiao Jing in to rest first."

As she said this, she gestured at her belly. The maid's eyes immediately lit up, and she looked at the young lady happily, and sure enough, she saw Xiao Jing shyly nodding slightly.

~~

In the inner bedroom, Zhang Juzheng lay in bed, pricked up his ears, listening to the noise outside.

Outside, the maid reported to the lady with a happy expression on her face. It was not known whether it was intentional or unintentional, but Mrs. Gu was shocked.

"Is this true? Oh my God..."

Zhang Xianggong could no longer lie there. He sat up, slapped the bed and shouted, "What evil have they done? Even if you invite the king of heaven to come, don't expect me to forgive them so easily!"

"Congratulations, sir. Congratulations, sir." Gu came in with a smile and bowed, saying, "Your daughter is pregnant..."

"Oh?" Zhang Juzheng was stunned for a moment, then said with a complicated expression: "My daughter is going to suffer, I am heartbroken, I don't have time to be happy..."

Having said that, she immediately glared at the maid and said, "Why don't you let the young lady in quickly? Do you want her to tire herself out?"

"My lord, I asked the young lady to come in, but she said..." The maid said timidly, "A married woman should obey her husband. If the husband sits on the cold bench, the wife cannot let him sit on the warm bed."

"You are trying to take down my army! Who is she on the same side with?" Zhang Xianggong was so angry that his body was shaking. "I just don't believe it. I can rule the world but I can't rule this family!"

~~

After a cup of tea, Mr. Zhang came out with a dark face. He sat on a chair, sulking and silent.

Gu sat down next to him and said angrily, "Humph, if it weren't for my little grandson, I wouldn't have made you wait for three days and three nights!"

When she was in front of her children, she stood on the same side as her husband again. Although she was still speaking for the young couple, this made it easier for Zhang Juzheng to accept.

So even if it's a firecracker that catches fire at a touch, there are still ways to control it. It just depends on whether you can find the way.

Zhao Hao and his wife immediately knelt down and kowtowed to apologize.

Of course, it was useless for Zhao Hao to say anything. Zhang Xiaojing called her parents with tears in her eyes, and Mr. Zhang's eyes turned red.

Bu Gu took a breath as if nothing had happened, and while holding back his tears, the resentment in his heart also disappeared...

He sighed depressedly, "My enemy, I owe you. Get up."

Gu then took her daughter aside and talked to her for a long time, asking her what she had been through in the past three years. Although Zhang Juzheng did not interrupt, he listened very attentively, and when he heard something tense, he would involuntarily clench his fists.

Zhao Hao wanted to reply, but his father-in-law glared at him. This made Master Zhao feel so redundant. He thought to himself, Mao Xiu and the others didn't even take the imperial examination, so why didn't they come out to see my brother-in-law? My brother-in-law even brought you gifts...

Little did they know that Mr. Zhang's house arrest order had not been lifted yet. If the brothers-in-law dared to run out without permission, they would be hung up and beaten!

Mr. Zhang has absolutely serious double standards towards his daughter and son.

Unfortunately, Zhao Hao was also lumped in with his son...

So Mr. Zhang was always angry with him, and obviously he was unwilling to vent his anger on his daughter, so he took it out on him.

until

Zhao Hao presented him a deposit certificate for two million taels of silver, and his expression eased a little.

"What's this for?" Zhang Juzheng said in a falsely polite tone, "We agreed at the beginning that the court only provides a title, and you are responsible for your own income and expenditure."

"Who would have thought that the red-haired devil is so rich? How can I feel at ease if I don't show some respect to my father-in-law?" Zhao Hao apologized with a smile.

"That's good. The emperor got engaged in the spring, and then the crowning ceremony of Prince Lu was held. Your Majesty attaches great importance to it, and the expenses are huge." Zhang Juzheng nodded, accepted the deposit slip and said, "I am worried that the family assets that I have accumulated with great difficulty will be emptied again."

Seeing Zhao Hao opened his mouth in surprise, Zhang Juzheng finally came to his senses and asked, "Are you giving this to me personally?"

"Of course, it's all up to my father-in-law." Zhao Hao lowered his head and said. Oh my god, what kind of magic potion did the Queen Mother give my father-in-law to make him treat the country as his own home?

Besides, other people don’t differentiate between home and country, they just move the national treasury to their home. But why is it the other way around for idols?

But Zhang Juzheng did not think it was wrong at all. Instead, he said calmly: "Why do I need so much money? It is enough to spend. What you cannot bring with you when you are born and cannot take with you when you die will only bring harm to your descendants."

"Yes, my father-in-law is right." Zhao Hao said respectfully.

"I heard that Xiaojing and her friends made a fortune on this trip, but I didn't expect it to be true." Zhang Juzheng looked at the deposit slip from Jiangnan Bank, counted the zeros on it and said, "America is so rich, I can go there more often."

"This time we caught them off guard, but next time there won't be such a good thing." Zhao Hao gave him a shot of prevention with a wry smile.

"That's true. They will definitely try to mend the situation. With so much money, it shouldn't be difficult for them to tighten the fence." Zhang Juzheng agreed.

After hearing what Zhao Hao said, he felt much more comfortable. Otherwise, if he could just go out to sea and bring back tens of millions of taels of silver, wouldn't it make his reforms unnecessary?

"Father-in-law, you worry too much." Zhao Hao hoped that the Ming Dynasty could develop in America as soon as possible. He was really incapable of doing it alone. He tried to test it: "In fact, there are only a few hundred thousand Spaniards in America, but they have to rule a territory several times that of the Ming Dynasty and tens of millions of natives. So as long as the court is determined, there is a chance to replace them!"

"There are only a few hundred thousand red-haired devils there?" Zhang Juzheng was surprised, but he had no objection to the fact that the land area of ​​America was several times larger than that of Ming Dynasty, because he had read "A Brief Knowledge of Nature" compiled by Zhao Hao.

Now that his daughter had returned from her round-the-world voyage, he naturally would not allow anyone, including himself, to question the contents above.

Especially the concept of the Earth itself, and the continents and oceans my daughter has visited, no one is allowed to deny it! If you don't agree, sue me!

"Because Spain has a total population of only tens of millions, and it has to fight several powerful enemies at the same time, so the population that can be sent to the colonies is really limited." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "And they also have to guard against the Indians who hate them to the core..."

"Well, it's really interesting." Zhang Juzheng was tempted at first, but soon calmed down and said:

"This matter can be considered in the long term, but the timing is not right now."

"But I feel that time is running out for us, father-in-law..." Zhao Hao wanted to persuade him again.

"Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. You can't do everything at once." Zhang Juzheng waved his hand and said without question:

"You may not know these years when you were overseas, but from the implementation of the performance evaluation system in the first year of the Wanli reign to now, the administration of officials has just been rectified, money and grain have been accumulated to a certain extent, and border troubles have been basically quelled. It is time to continue to rest with the people while steadily doing some big things - whether it is counterattacking the Tatars, pacifying Liaodong, controlling the Yellow River, implementing the Single Whip Law throughout the country, or land surveying, even quelling the rebellion in Burma, it is much more important than expanding the territory! We must first stabilize the Ming Dynasty before we can talk about America, Africa, and the like!"

"If we rashly expand our territory at this time, and even expand to an enclave tens of thousands of miles away, the people's hearts that have been gathered with great difficulty will be dispersed. If it is not as simple as you said, and the court falls into the quagmire of Annan in the past, the consequences will be disastrous!" He sighed and said:

"In short, we have to solve these life-and-death issues first before we can dream of a prosperous country and a thriving people. Do you understand?"

(End of this chapter)