Chapter 44

Daming's military families, the most elite of which are the Dong and Li families from the east and the Ma family from the west, as well as the Ma family from Weizhou, the Liu family from the southwest, who have produced two generations of generals. There are also the Yu family from Fujian, the Wang family from Yulin, the Du family from Yan'an, the You family from Yulin, and the Zu family from Liaodong, among others. Of course, there is also the Lai family from Xuanfu.

These military families share a common characteristic: they are all hereditary military families originating from the garrisons. They all have a pillar figure who has reached the rank of general, and their families have produced many generations of generals, deputy generals, and other military leaders. With hereditary positions in the garrisons, they can own large amounts of land and military households, which provide the financial and human resources to raise private soldiers. With private soldiers, they can establish a foothold in the military, achieve military merit, and promote their family members to higher ranks. This cycle of power and status allows them to protect their family members, who then inherit the hereditary military positions, thus forming a continuous loop. The Dong and Li families are no exception.

Zhang Chen is also from Yulin. He accumulated merit to become a general and succeeded Qi Jiguang as the general of the Jizhen garrison. He often led a thousand or two of his elite private soldiers deep into the grasslands to attack the enemy, achieving significant military success. After 1567, Zhang Chen retired, and now his sons and nephews have reached the ranks of general and deputy general. The private soldiers that Zhang Chen once led are now under the command of these sons and nephews. Currently, Zhang Chen's family is still on the rise. In Datong, the most powerful is Zhang Quanchang, who holds the position of vice-general in Yanghe. This matter is certainly related to Zhang Quanchang.

"I need to go to Yanghe." Zhang Han, after some thought, suddenly stood up and ordered, "Prepare the horse, and have Liang Xing follow me!"

A hint of jealousy flashed in Yang Qiu's eyes. When the young master had urgent matters, he still thought of Liang Xing first.

He did not dare to show this emotion and quickly agreed.

When Zhang Han dismounted from his horse, he felt a tingling in his thighs but did not show it.

Liang Xing and the Jiang brothers accompanied him to Yanghe, while Zhang Chun stayed in Xinping. This young companion, after being trained for so long, was now capable of handling things. At least with Zhang Chun around, things in various places could be coordinated, and there would be no internal chaos.

Yang Qiu was sent to Tiancheng, and this time Zhang Han sent over a dozen more people. He instructed Yang Qiu to take care of things there, to invite a doctor to treat Li Yuchun, and of course, not to allow anyone to beat up the people from Yusheng.

With these bodyguards, the worst-case scenario would be the current situation.

Liang Xing and others escorted him to the front of Zheng Guochang's residence, where they tied their horses to the hitching post far away. They did not go to the main gate, as they were commoners without official positions and had no right to enter through the main gate.

At the side gate, the gatekeeper recognized Zhang Han and greeted him with a smile. Zhang Han gave him a red envelope with five taels of silver, and the gatekeeper quickly thanked him. Without waiting for any indication from inside, he led Zhang Han and his companions in and directly to a side room to wait.

After a short while, the gatekeeper came back with a smile and said, "Sir is having dinner. Upon hearing that Mr. Zhang has arrived, he immediately summoned you and asked for an extra set of chopsticks and bowls. This is truly rare."

Zhang Han nodded and smiled, "Indeed, it is rare. I feel quite honored."

Merchants in the Ming Dynasty were not part of the official system. No matter how much power they had in secret, they were still excluded from the gentry class, whether they were from Shanxi or Jiangnan. Unless they were gentry who engaged in business, which was a different matter.

For a commoner like Zhang Han, who had a merchant registration, to be summoned was already rare, let alone to be invited to dine.

He did not dare to be negligent and quickly followed the gatekeeper through the second gate, past several large houses, and along a northward corridor to a small garden. The garden was densely wooded, with a path paved with pebbles leading inward. In the center was a pond with deep green water, and the lotus leaves were just the size of palms. To the south was a two-story building, with several of Zheng Guochang's private soldiers from his hometown standing guard downstairs. They made way for Zhang Han, and Zheng Guochang was upstairs.

The small building was not high. When Zhang Han went upstairs, he saw Zheng Guochang sitting by the window, a small table in front of him with a few exquisite dishes. The short and thin Zheng Guochang, without a hat, had his hair tied up with a blue cloth and wore a Taoist robe, looking quite elegant.

"Today, I have some leisure time and want to organize my poems and essays from past years. It's good that you've come, my disciple. Let's have a couple of drinks together."

Zhang Han then noticed several open manuscripts on both sides of the window, all written in regular script. He found reading the unmarked and vertically arranged text headache-inducing, but he could understand it, having the level of a child scholar. However, he found such matters uninteresting. He could not back down at this moment and quickly smiled, picked up a manuscript, and said while reading, "I came at the right time. Your poems must be excellent."

Zheng Guochang, who passed the imperial examination in 1567, had a very ordinary talent for poetry. Although he was pleased to hear Zhang Han's words, he knew it was flattery. He laughed and scolded, "You just focus on making money. You probably don't even know where you've thrown your books. How can you talk about poetry? Sit down and drink with me."

This made the conversation feel more like that between old acquaintances. Zhang Han had visited here many times, sometimes seeing Zheng Guochang and sometimes not. This month, he had distributed over a thousand taels of silver in dividends, and it seemed that money was indeed more important than anything else. The letter from Puzhou only solved Zhang Han's small troubles at the time, but to receive such treatment now, it was clearly due to the money.

Zhang Han's mind was very agile. After sitting down, he first poured a cup of wine for Zheng Guochang, raised it to his eyebrows, and drank it. Then he smiled and said, "Sir must be thinking of publishing these poems and essays to pass them down. This is a great matter, and I am happy to see it happen. The cost of engraving, of course, will be borne by me."

Zheng Guochang indeed had this intention. Scholars valued achievements, virtue, and words. He had achieved much in his career, and he had no significant flaws in his virtue. The only thing missing was his words. He had long wanted to publish his essays, poems, and some excellent letters, compile them into a book, and distribute them to his superiors, colleagues, and friends. This was a good way to gain fame in the scholarly world. Besides the practical benefits, it would also ensure his legacy.

"My disciple, the dividends you send each month are already considerable. How can I ask you for more money?"

"Sir, what are you saying?" Zhang Han smiled and said, "This is a great matter of literary fragrance. If I can contribute, I will surely be mentioned in the future. This is a refined and elegant matter. The money I provide is just a small matter. The most important thing is that your work can be engraved and passed down."

Zheng Guochang was pleased and found Zhang Han increasingly likable. After a few more drinks, he said, "You must have come for something important, right?"

"Yes, there are some mundane matters that I must consult with you, sir."

"Do not call yourself a commoner," Zheng Guochang stroked his beard and said, "It is most appropriate for us to address each other as uncle and nephew. I am the fourth, so call me Uncle Four."

Zhang Han estimated that Zheng Guochang was sincere and immediately knelt down, saying with great respect, "If Uncle Four says so, then I will be presumptuous."

Zheng Guochang smiled and said, "There is no need for such formality, nephew. Please stand up and speak."

"Yes," Zhang Han said, "Recently, there have been some troubles. If they are not resolved, it will greatly affect this year's profits."

"Hmm?"

Upon hearing Zhang Han's words, Zheng Guochang was quite surprised and his expression became serious.

He had people in Xinping and Datong, called accountants, who watched Zhang Han's business every day. He received letters every few days, and Zhang Han's mule and horse business and accountancy were very prosperous. However, the costs on Li Yujing's account were greatly exaggerated, and many orders from the accountancy were concealed, hiding at least 70% of the daily profits. Even so, in Zheng Guochang's eyes, the money was flowing in. He initially supported Zhang Han out of respect for Zhang Nian, his former student. He did not expect Zhang Han to be so capable. The monthly dividends were already close to his half-year income, and the dividends for two months were equivalent to his previous annual income. As a deputy military commissioner, Zheng Guochang's annual income was only two to three thousand taels, and more would be considered excessive. Ming Dynasty officials had a certain amount of gray income, but too much would affect their reputation and future career.

Doing business and receiving dividends was a different matter. There was no negative reputation, and the money was safely in his pocket. Zhang Han was also easy to deal with, and there had been no trouble in the past few months. He did not expect such a big problem today.

Zhang Han said, "I just want to know if this is a deliberate move by the Zhang family from Yulin against Uncle Four?"

Zheng Guochang shook his head and said, "Zhang Quanchang and I have no grudges. Moreover, civil and military officials are separate, and we have no conflicts of interest. If this grain store matter is related, he should have his subordinates talk to your subordinates, and then you could come to me. I would then discuss it with Zhang Quanchang. This sudden attack is like a declaration of war, and I cannot even communicate with him. It is incomprehensible."

"Do you know the relationship between Deputy General Zhang and Military Commissioner Wu?"

Zheng Guochang shook his head and smiled, "I passed the imperial examination one term later than Wu. When I was a censor, I once impeached him, but it was just a formality. Every official has been impeached. Now that he is old, I have no conflicts with Wu. He is a jinshi from 1564, and I am from 1567. There is a three-year difference in our examination terms, and we are about ten years apart in age. Wu is unlikely to advance further, so there is no conflict between us."

"That makes it clear," Zhang Han smiled and said, "Deputy General Zhang is probably targeting General Ma."

"That makes sense," Zheng Guochang put down his wine cup, stood up, and walked around the room a few times before nodding and smiling, "Zhang Han, you are remarkable. You are truly underappreciated as a merchant."

Zhang Han also stood up and smiled, "Nephew is just suited for business. Uncle Four's praise makes me blush."

"No, no," Zheng Guochang waved his hand, "You think quickly. Others would just ask me to resolve the issue, but you analyze the underlying reasons, seeing deeper into the matter. And you immediately thought of General Ma. You are remarkable, and the young generation is to be feared."

Zhang Han smiled, "In business, the most important thing is to see things clearly and think long-term. This is not a big deal."

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To emphasize, some readers have been saying that my values are incorrect and that I am collaborating with the enemy. Look at my previous books; which one is like that? If I were to travel to the late Ming and not fight the Later Jin, would I really surrender? The protagonist needs a process of recognition and change. Since he was a merchant in his previous life and is a merchant in this life, it takes time to reveal and change his character. If you still criticize, it is intentional, and I will not pay attention.

Also, the collection rate has slowed down in the past two days, which is quite worrying. No matter where you see this, please take the time to collect it on Zongheng Chinese Network to give me some support and confidence. Thank you.