Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 838: No Chaos
Zhu Jing never thought that there would be a day when he would be isolated and helpless in this family, with everyone opposing him. If his family members were greedy for the power of the position of Minister of War, then he could at least put down a bunch of righteous reasons. However, starting with his wife Jiu Niang who was the first to express opposition, everyone's reasons were very convincing.
Jiu Niang objected because she felt that the Madam always put the big things first, and the doctor didn't say there was any danger to your life. You stay at home and hang around in front of people every day, but you are not the type to talk and make people happy. Over time, the Madam, as a mother, will not think it is good to have a son to take care of her, but will definitely find it too annoying to have you around every day.
Zhang Shou opposed it because he felt that even though the lady was a patient, she still needed dignity. If you, as her son, resigned from your post and returned home to take care of her, it would remind her of her old age and weakness all the time, which would be detrimental to her recovery. This reason was also strongly supported by Zhu Ying.
Zhu Tingfang opposed it because he felt that the emperor appointed Zhu Jing as the Minister of War in order to check and balance certain officials in the court. If he just resigned like that, unless Duke of Chu Zhang Rui could take over immediately, someone else might not meet the emperor's wishes.
Even if Zhu Jing wholeheartedly recommends Duke Chu for your sake, the feud between the two families is well-known in the capital. Even if Duke Chu accepts your favor, those other civil servants who covet the position of Minister of War will not say that the Zhu family did not avoid enemies when recommending someone from outside the family. Instead, they will spread rumors and make trouble, gloating over other people's misfortunes. Not only will the emperor and Duke Chu be embarrassed, but if the news reaches the ears of the lady, it will be detrimental to her well-being.
As for his daughters-in-law Zhang and Zhu Er, one was naturally a follower of the husband, and the other was a yes-man for Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying. As a result, Zhu Jing, the master of the Duke of Zhao's mansion, was left alone and without anyone to respond. After staring at the crowd in front of him for a long time, he finally left without saying a word.
When he left, except for Zhu Er who felt a little uneasy, everyone else looked normal. Zhang asked, "We were discussing something just now, but the Madam didn't keep anyone. Should I go and take care of the patient first?"
Knowing that Zhang wanted to leave the place for them to talk about business, Jiu Niang shook her head and said, "Your father-in-law was opposed by all of us. I think he must have gone to Qing'an Hall to tell his grievances. Let him go to accompany them first. Old people are bound to have disasters and misfortunes. Just like Ah Shou said, we must stabilize ourselves first and not treat it as if the sky has fallen."
"Let's see if Mother can get better in the next few days and if she can get out of bed. If she is really bedridden, it would be reasonable for him to resign or ask for leave. But now that New Year's Day is approaching, he is both a Duke and the Minister of War. If he resigns, it would be like throwing the mess to someone else."
At this point, Jiu Niang looked at the others and said, "Da Lang, you can go to the government office and do your work. Your wife, Er Lang, and Yingying, we can take turns to take care of him. There are so many people in the family, no one eats for free, how can we let the mother in Qing'an Hall suffer? As for Yingying, you are going to the girls' school, and Er Lang has things to do as the emperor asks, so you can go."
"As for Ah Shou, you just need to come often. Mom likes you as her grandson-in-law very much. It's better for you to spend more time with her and talk to her."
Seeing that Jiu Niang had arranged everything, Zhang naturally had nothing to say. After Zhu Tingfang nodded in agreement, he said that he wanted to go see his father. Zhang went out to summon the housekeepers and the housekeeper's wife to tell them about the arrangements for the days when the lady was ill. As soon as the couple left, Zhu Er came back to life.
Compared to his father Zhu Jing, his stepmother Jiu Niang has always been nice to him, so of course he is not afraid of her. At this moment, he went up and pulled Zhang Shou in front of Jiu Niang, betrayed Ji Jiu's unreliable plan with a bitter face, and then sighed.
"I believed him before, and now things have gotten so serious, and my grandmother is sick again. Brother-in-law, should I take advantage of my grandmother's illness to withdraw from this?"
"Why withdraw? Ji Jiu is indeed not low-key enough, but Zhang Chen has already had a high-profile conflict with others before. If the emperor really wants to be low-key, he can send people to look around in the delegation. He will always be able to find one or two loose-lipped people to inquire about the matter. Is there any need to send you to join in?"
Before Zhang Shou could say anything, Zhu Ying, who came up from behind, snorted in annoyance, and then said angrily: "The emperor said he wanted to find out what was going on, but in fact he just wanted to test you three. Otherwise, what would the reputation behind the Goryeo tribute girl matter? If grandmother knew about this, she would definitely let you do it to the end. It's so difficult to do things according to the emperor's order, and you still want to push it away?"
Zhang Shou laughed and said, "Your Majesty really doesn't care whether the so-called mountain king of a small country like Goryeo is wise or foolish, sinister or kind. However, there has been no tribute of women for many years. Regardless of what the imperial edict said, Goryeo sent nine women this time. Looking at the list, they are all from their so-called famous families."
"Your Majesty probably still wants to know whether this is really voluntary or for some other reason."
Zhu Er finally felt that he understood a little bit, but it seemed that he didn't understand it.
Although his grandmother was ill and the situation was unknown, he should not rush his own affairs, but this was a rare time for him to receive a direct order from the emperor, so he immediately asked anxiously: "Even if they were not willing, their families forced them, or the King of Goryeo put pressure on them, what can they do?"
"Besides, isn't the most difficult thing how to place these women?"
As he spoke, he scratched his head in annoyance. However, the next moment, he heard Jiu Niang, who had been silent the whole time, laugh: "A Shou is not talking about whether these women are willing or not. As women, born in official families, they seem to have no worries about food and clothing and have noble status, but most people are just used as tools for marriage. How can they have any autonomy?"
"What Ah Shou said is that the Emperor might want to know whether this is a task assigned to their family by the King of Goryeo, or whether they volunteered to do it, or whether the King of Goryeo thought it was a good job and assigned it to their family, or whether he wanted to suppress their family and thus selected their legitimate daughter into the ranks of the tribute girls this time."
"As for the future arrangements for these girls, if the emperor does not want to take them into the harem, you don't have to worry about it. At most, you can give each of the court officials a Korean concubine. Even if this fails, it is not impossible to put them in the girls' school."
"I don't want it!" Zhu Ying's eyebrows immediately turned upside down, "What does a Korean woman have to do with our girls' school! And, mother, don't take it so lightly. Even if the emperor doesn't force a Korean concubine into our family, it will make so many families mad!"
Zhang Shou smiled and then thought of the three Korean concubines of Yuan Shikai. Some said one of them was the daughter of a Korean princess, while others said one of them was the sister of a princess. But in short, the rumor that a daughter of a rich family married two maids and was equal to them was exaggerated by all the media, even if they themselves did not know whether it was true or not.
But that was before their country was about to be destroyed. As for now, although the Joseon Dynasty is experiencing internal power struggles and family ups and downs, the Ming Dynasty thinks that it is a small country with a small population. In fact, compared with those European countries, it is not small.
If the emperor of the Ming Dynasty wanted to take concubines, people would of course send beautiful women to him obediently. But if the emperor did not take them, but a group of elderly officials took Korean concubines, that would be a bit tricky. Although people would not dare to disobey, their attitude in the future might change subtly.
Thinking of this, Zhang Shou laughed and said, "It is said that the Goryeo nobles often speak Chinese and write Chinese characters. Since these women can be included in the list, I think there is no problem with their language and characters. They are much better than the boy from Florence in my family. Yingying, do you really think they are not worthy of women's education?"
Zhu Ying immediately glanced at Zhang Shou in annoyance: "Aren't you asking even though you already know the answer? I don't want to say that those who are not of my race must have different hearts. The Goryeo people are even more obsessed with the Three Obediences and Four Virtues than the Ming Dynasty. I'm just afraid that they will lead others astray!"
Zhang Shou looked at Jiu Niang who was smiling but not saying anything, and smiled for a moment: "But Yingying, have you ever thought that they were sent here, no matter what the reason is, they can never be sent back. Otherwise, if Goryeo makes any noise, either the Goryeo king will smear our dynasty, or political enemies will use them to throw dirty water on their families, and then they may be dead."
"You know, Goryeo has never had peace since its founding. For the sake of the throne, they have used sons to bully fathers, uncles to bully nephews, and have killed people without mercy. There are also many cases of ministers being exterminated. Our dynasty has no grudges against their families, so why would we do this to them?"
"But it doesn't matter if the Ming Dynasty keeps them. But rather than having a Korean concubine in the family of an important official, it would be better to have a few more Korean girls working in the women's school. After all, it's not easy to find girls who have read books and can stay in the women's school and work peacefully."
Zhu Ying suddenly fell silent.
Even though the female teachers in the girls' schools are all unmarried and seem to be not ready to get married, the emperor hopes that these girls who were once chosen for the eldest prince and the second prince will get married quickly and not delay. As time goes by, they will of course most likely get married one by one and take care of their husbands and children.
By that time, how many people will still come to the girls' school to be female teachers?
So, after a long while, she murmured quietly: "These Korean women can be female historians, but they are definitely not suitable to be teachers!"
"Of course." This time it was Jiu Niang who spoke. Her thoughts coincided with Zhang Shou's, and she naturally smiled deeply at this moment, "It's just to find a harmless and beneficial place for them to go. How can they be teachers?"
Zhu Ying was finally satisfied. At this moment, Zhu Er, who had never had a chance to speak, finally found a chance to speak. He asked pitifully, "But, my grandmother is ill now. As her grandson, I am not at home to take care of her. Instead, I am showing off with that Jeshan Jun of Goryeo. If this gets out, won't others think I am heartless?"
"Second brother, you are heartless to begin with..." Zhu Ying sneered. Seeing Zhu Er's expression become even more pitiful, she realized that she had gone too far and immediately comforted him with soft words, "Just like mother said, let's see how grandma is doing first. If she's not too bad, then it's nothing to worry about. You can take Ji Jiu and Zhang the big guy out to show off for a while. Those who are waiting to see how lively our family is will be unsure."
"This is called deliberately setting up a false formation!"
Zhu Er suddenly realized. It turned out that he was not only fulfilling the emperor's mission, but also covering for his family from outside? He suddenly became energetic, and seeing Jiu Niang also nodded happily, obviously having no objection to Zhu Ying's statement, he put down the burden in his heart.
With his stepmother and sister backing him up, he doesn't have to worry about being beaten up by his father and brother! As long as it doesn't involve major issues like family, country, and the world, this mother and daughter will be the perfect counter to the father and son!
In a place like the capital, unless one racks one's brains to create confusion and confuse people, once anything happens, there is no wall that is impenetrable. Therefore, while people were talking about the incident of Zhu Erjijiu, Zhang Dakutou and the other two breaking into Huitong South Pavilion, the news of Mrs. Zhao's sudden serious illness also spread like wildfire because two imperial doctors and a famous doctor were invited.
So, when Luo Sanhe, who was brought back by Zhang Shou, entered the Ciqing Palace with a haggard face, he heard a clear voice coming from inside: "Third brother, can we really go to the Duke of Zhao's mansion to visit the Madam? Won't others spread rumors about how sick the Madam is because we go?"
Luo Sanhe recognized the voice as that of the Fourth Prince, and immediately realized that he was talking about visiting the mother of Zhu Jing, the Duke of Zhao. He had just returned to the capital, so of course he didn't know that the Madam was ill, and he was slightly stunned at this moment. While he was hesitating, the person who brought him here had already gone in to report.
Then, the young eunuch who was lost in thought heard an overbearing voice from inside: "Why are you still standing outside when someone has arrived? Do you want us to go and invite you?"
Following this voice, seeing the Fourth Prince appear in front of him with a fierce face, if it were the previous Luo Sanhe, even if he didn't say anything, his face would reveal some emotions that he couldn't help but reveal. But today, he lowered his head and whispered, "Fourth Prince, I was arrogant before."
The fourth prince had never expected that this annoying guy would surrender so clearly. He stared at him in surprise for a long time, but in the end he couldn't help but be curious: "You stayed in that village for a month, what was the final result?"
How... Luo Sanhe thought of the chaotic students, the lazy and irresponsible parents, the atmosphere of living from day to day, and the country life that seemed to remain unchanged forever. He finally pulled the corners of his mouth and revealed a wry smile.
"I thought I could definitely pick out a few underserved children, but after a month, I realized I was overthinking. Not to mention a month, even if I stayed for a year or two, or even three or five years, it might still not help."
Hearing this, although the Fourth Prince had the same opinion when comparing his own situation, he still acted like a senior and raised his head slightly and said, "You are wrong. This is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. How can you think that what you have done is completely useless just because of a temporary setback? Well, my third brother and I are going to visit the Madam at the Zhaoguo Mansion. You can come with us. Let me tell you, Zhang Chen and I have completely subdued those people in Baijia Village and selected two good children!"
