Wang Pu in the late Ming Dynasty

While playing with the child, the doorman outside reported that Concubine Dong of the Zhou Palace came to ask for an audience. Wang Pu was surprised. This Concubine Dong of the Zhou Palace, nicknamed Lady Dong, was a strong woman. Most of the Zhou Palace's property was handed over to her, so she often showed up in public. However, he and Lady Dong seemed to have a little conflict. The marriage between Lady Dong's nephew and her sister Wang Lian fell through. Last month, her sister Wang Lian participated in the selection and was sent to the capital. In the Ming Dynasty, it was a great shame for the man to regret the marriage. Lady Dong must have come to ask for punishment.

Wang Pu felt guilty and was about to blurt out: "No." But he changed his mind and laughed dumbly. He was a warrior, how could he be afraid of a young woman? If this got out, it would become a joke in the whole city. He couldn't avoid it anyway, so Wang Pu ordered to welcome the guests.

The living room was open, and Lady Dong and her entourage came in in a mighty manner. This woman's face was shabby and frozen, and she was visibly unhappy, but respectable people could not avoid etiquette, after the greetings.

"Wang Jiezhi, you are such a busy man. You are neither in Datong nor Yanmen. You just entered Taiyuan today. Where have you been to suppress bandits these days? Have you gained anything?" As expected, Lady Dong's words were very impolite, and it could be heard that she had been chasing Wang Pu to ask for an explanation, but could not find anyone. Wang Pu could even feel the anger of this woman.

"I am busy all over the place, isn't it to protect the property of your Zhou Wangfu from being destroyed by the thieves?"

"Haha." Lady Dong's laugh was nasal, and the truth was more unpleasant than crying.

"What's wrong with what I said."

"You are not the first place winner of the imperial examination. You can just say one or two sentences of official articles. The key is not to do things against conscience. People who don't read books can't hold the word "property" in their stomachs."

This is scolding in front of people, and scolding without using swear words, which is unpleasant to hear. Wang Pu didn't tolerate it either, and counterattacked: "You dare to regard your natal family as more important than your husband's family. Are you putting your husband's family in an awkward position for a nephew?"

After hearing this, Empress Dong's eyes flashed with a trace of panic. If this crime was confirmed, the trust of King Zhou in her would be reduced. She was already old and her beauty had faded. The affectionate favor in the early years had faded. It was only because she carefully managed the property of the palace over the years that she could speak in front of the prince. If she didn't have this favor, she would be no different from those abandoned concubines in the cold palace.

But seeing Wang Pu's smug face, she was so angry that her teeth itched in her heart and she was unwilling to accept it, so she said: "Wang Jiezhi is so domineering, where is justice."

"What do you want?" Wang Pu knew that she was unwilling to accept it, so he asked.

"In a few days, you will go to Liaodong, I want to know how the victory will be."

"Hey, why are you asking this? Is there any benefit?" Wang Pu was very surprised, but when he saw a trace of cunning flashing across Lady Dong's face, he knew that there was indeed a benefit, and he understood it instantly. "Could it be that you want to use insider information to trade futures."

Lady Dong's face twitched visibly, she was shocked, and she couldn't help but murmured: "Such an opportunity to make a fortune, I missed it. "Since the other party has seen through it, even if he said it, he would not dare to take the risk. What if Wang Pu deliberately said the opposite and cheated him? What if she lost the prince's money and died without a burial place.

"I see." Wang Pu finally understood the intention of this woman to come to his house, and smiled and said, "You can do this kind of thing, amazing." This was not a compliment, but came from the heart. He came from the modern era and had various channels to obtain knowledge of financial futures. However, ancient people could only learn from a few pieces of information without a teacher. They could understand the tricks of shorting and longing in futures in a very short time. This lady Dong would definitely be a famous big shot in the modern era. It was indeed not without reason that King Zhou was willing to use her.

"Alas, there are famines every year, and bandits are rampant everywhere. It is not easy to maintain the dignity of the royal palace. The annual cost of guarding the caravan alone is a huge sum, more than ten times more than in the past peacetime. "Madam Dong suddenly lowered her attitude and said, "Your business with the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan is getting more and more prosperous. The prince is jealous, but he can't touch it. Do you think the prince will be happy? I have no choice. Please give me some inside information. As long as you help me get through this, I will be grateful to you. Of course, I don't need to take the previous small festival seriously."

"Oh, what Madam said suits my taste. Madam is a smart person. Dealing with smart people will reduce unnecessary internal friction. "Wang Pu understood what this woman meant. As long as he could help her make money and make contributions in front of the prince, he would forgive her and they would not owe each other anything from then on. This woman was very rational and did not indulge in emotions.

Empress Dong looked at Wang Pu quietly without saying anything.

Wang Pu fell into deep thought. This war was bound to fail. From the beginning, it was a dead end of siege and attack. Going was to die, and not going would make the emperor angry. Except for the two armies that were not afraid of the emperor, the Shenjia Camp and the Guanning Army, the rest of the armies could only die. As expected, the more obedient people were under the command of the dog emperor Chongzhen, the worse their death would be. No, there was a third way, which was the Kong Youde in history, who turned his back on the battlefield, grabbed a handful of Shandong, and then defected to the Eastern Tartars.

Thinking of Kong Youde, Wang Pu had an idea and said, "I can't easily draw a conclusion about the war in Liaodong. "Yes, even if he knew that he would lose, he couldn't say it. If such words were heard by the emperor, it would easily cause misunderstandings and make him think that he was deliberately doing bad things, which led to the failure of the court's Liaodong military achievements. This crime was too serious. Even if he was not afraid of the emperor himself, he could not bear the anger of the entire civil service group. The longer he was in the Ming Dynasty, the more he could feel the profound foundation of the literati. For Wang Pu, a military general who was determined to fight for the world, it was easy to shake the Ming Dynasty, but it was as difficult as ascending to heaven to shake the literati.

So Wang Pu always carefully separated the emperor and the court. In front of the emperor, he was a mad dog with rabies virus. In front of the court civil servants, he was a Labrador dog, not very obedient, but human. For example, those eunuchs sent by the emperor to Shanxi to collect mining taxes were killed, and at most they pretended not to know. Eunuchs, especially those who came to collect taxes, were simply hated by both humans and gods. Wang Pu killed them, which was a righteous act celebrated by the whole world. Everyone had to give a thumbs up. Wang Pu was a real warrior.Also. But Wang Pu had been holding back from killing Su Yuanqiao, the Hubei censor who was looking for evidence of Wang Pu's treason. Killing the emperor was just a bad habit, and it was even more salvageable. Killing the court was a lack of martial ethics. The civil service group hated those who were not martial, especially those who were martial artists. They were hopeless. Wang Pu had to be domineering in front of the emperor, but he had to grasp the measure and give the world a sense that although I was unfaithful, unrighteous, and unfilial, I was a person who valued people.

"But Sun Yuanhua and I have a grudge, and I want to kill him." Wang Pu said again.

"Hmm? Hmm." Lady Dong was very indifferent after hearing this. Sun Yuanhua and Wang Pu had a grudge, which was not difficult to verify. Moreover, a civil official and a military man had a huge difference in status. It can be imagined that Sun Yuanhua must look down on the military man. Among the same school, the senior brother looked down on the junior brother, and the grudges between each other could not be resolved, and then it was common to fight to the death. Thinking of this, she just raised her eyebrows and asked, "Are all the futures in Shandong short?"

"Haha, if you see it but don't say it, you will make money." Wang Pu was not afraid of Lady Dong leaking the secret. He had already figured it out. Wang Yan had heard the news that Sun Yuanhua was not a man of honor from Qian Longxi. Who was Qian Longxi? He was a senior leader of the Donglin Party. He committed a capital crime but was able to survive under the guillotine of Chongzhen, a murderer. Not only did he survive, but he was sentenced to exile and exiled to his hometown in Jiangnan. In the place of exile, he still built high buildings, built gardens, lived in luxury, and was surrounded by women. This kind of god would not talk nonsense and do useless things for no reason. He must be hinting to Wang Pu to clean up the mess. Sun Yuanhua had an unclear relationship with the Huizhou merchants and had become a traitor to the Donglin Party.

So, when he took action against Sun Yuanhua, he didn't need to hide it. Instead, he should make it a big deal and let everyone know about it. This would better demonstrate the majesty of the Donglin Party and let the Donglin boss experience the reliability of his Labrador dog, which is very human. He would bite wherever he was pointed, without any ambiguity.

After sending Lady Dong away, he thought he could have a few days of peace, but he didn't expect a message from the grassland that the White Lotus Sect's main altar was accidentally destroyed by Zhao Xiao, and the saint Zhang Xiuying was captured alive. Wang Pu decided to postpone the expedition until the end of the month. Before that, he would meet Zhang Xiuying, which might be of some use.

Today is the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, the filling warehouse festival. The whole Taiyuan city has just recovered from the New Year's excitement in the third year of Chongzhen. This is the first temple fair after the New Year. Wang Pu has been hanging out with Wang Yan, Qin Jinling, Fu Ruoxue, Chi Yinping and other concubines for a long time, so he is tired, so he took the girls out to the temple fair. This is the first time he has been to a temple fair since he traveled through time, and everything he sees and hears is fresh.

Although there were bandits in Shanxi, Taiyuan was exceptionally prosperous, with red lanterns and lion dances, drums and iron flowers, and artists and merchants from all over the country gathered in the city. Wang Pu and his party were dressed in fine clothes and riding horses, wearing brocade belts and jade, and their female relatives were all beautiful and charming. The carriages they rode were particularly eye-catching on the street. The common people around them pointed and asked about the origins of this group of people.

The abbot of the White Horse Temple saw them from afar on the high platform, and knew that a great benefactor had sent money to his door. He actually left the pilgrims around him and came straight to the street to stop Wang Pu and his party, calling out "Buddha".He clasped his hands and asked with a smile: "Donor, I saw the Buddha's light coming from the east. I came out to see that a noble person was coming."

Wang Pu laughed and said: "I am a warrior, I only have a fierce aura, what is the Buddha's light."

"Oh, could it be that you are a certain lord in the Shenjia Camp who protects the peace of my Jin land? The lord has overcome all difficulties and defeated evil spirits. You can be called a great meritorious and saved countless lives."

"Haha." Wang Pu couldn't close his mouth with laughter. The stinky monk's mouth seemed to be smeared with honey, and every word touched his heart. He asked: "May I ask the master's Dharma name."

"I dare not. I am just the abbot of Baima Temple. I indulge in the prosperity of the secular world and delay the Buddhist teachings. How can I be worthy of being a master? You can just call me Tailing Monk." The abbot of the White Horse Temple is very talkative.

"Tailing, a good Dharma name." Wang Pu is a rough man, but he likes this monk who is a little casual.

"Sir, please."

The monks came down the steps and stood on the left and right to welcome Wang Pu and his party into the temple. Among the women, only Chi Yinping was a true believer in Buddhism. She went up the steps and bowed to Monk Tailing.

Monk Tailing took the opportunity to hand Chi Yinping a string of Buddhist beads and said, "Fifty monks in this temple chanted the Diamond Sutra for a hundred days to get a rosary of the Sun Buddha. Now I see that the female donor is weak, so I'll just give it to you."

Hearing that the Buddhist beads were valuable, Chi Yinping was at a loss and looked at Wang Pu. Wang Pu knew that this was a marketing method of the monk, but he couldn't turn his face and not give money on this occasion, so he said to Wang Yan, "Reward." Wang Yan gave the monk a bag of brocade bags, which looked heavy, and should be silver or something like that.

After entering the temple, it is no wonder that the monks of the White Horse Temple are greedy for money. This is indeed a spiritual place. The magnificent temple towers are scattered in the quiet gardens with layers of ancient trees. During the walk, there is a sense of washing away the glitz and glamor and being reborn.

"What a good place, it has some scenery of a nursing home in the future." Wang Pu muttered.

The main hall was crowded with people, and the women were happily worshipping Buddha inside, but he was a timid person. He was afraid of encountering assassination, so he led a few soldiers to stroll around the other courtyard.

The sky was blue and the afterglow was bright. The tower was on the mountain cap. There were two thatched huts. When he approached, he saw a huge stone millstone, which should be the tool for the monks in the temple to grind flour. He couldn't help but sighed, "It's a pity that this good scene will not last long. When the enemy army breaks through here in the future, they will use this millstone to grind human flesh like Huang Chaochun. What a spectacle it will be."

"Who is outside? I don't like to hear this, hum." An old voice came from the thatched cottage, and then a head popped out. Seeing Wang Pu and others in armor, he was stunned and sighed, "No wonder, he is a warrior."

Wang Pu couldn't help but get angry. He was not a Ming Dynasty man, and he should not have the self-esteem of warriors in this era. But at this moment, he still felt a sense of frustration of being discriminated against. He fought in the south and the north, and went through life and death. Although he was not loyal to the king, he was loyal to the king without hesitation. In the end, any old man he met on the road looked down on him. This taste was really bad, so he sneered, "Sneaky, hiding your head and showing your tail, like a rat."

"Oh, yes, you are right, I, ahem, I think you are a general of the God Armor Camp. It is said that the God Armor Camp has won victory after victory and has defeated the enemy army. Most of the enemy army was killed, and the enemy leader was the only one who escaped. Why are you here to boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige? Or, the God Armor Camp falsely reported its military achievements. "

"War reports can deceive people, but the battle line will not. My God Armor Camp did defeat the enemy army, but this can only treat the symptoms and not the root cause. As long as the officials force the people to rebel, these enemy troops will revive and cannot be extinguished. With the people's hearts and minds like this, he, the King of Rebellion, can be defeated a thousand times, but I can only be defeated once. "Wang Pu said coldly.

"Good insight, I've learned a lesson. A good sentence can deceive people, but the battle line can't. It seems superficial when I first hear it, but after careful consideration, it's like a mellow wine with a strong aftertaste. Then, I don't understand why in Liaodong, my Ming Dynasty has been defeated repeatedly, but the battle line has not changed. "The old man is not good-looking, but he speaks elegantly, and he doesn't seem to be an ordinary citizen.

"Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. Eating a big country should be chewed slowly. The Later Jin has only a few troops and a small tribe. It can't swallow the Ming Dynasty in one bite. It's almost enough to divide it into seven or eight bites." Wang Pu blurted out, but then he realized that he had said something wrong. If such words were spread out, it would be bad for his reputation.

"Haha, not that, not that, my Ming Dynasty has a population of billions, the four seas are vast, the holy monarch is in power, and there are many good generals. How can it be that? ”

“Yeah, not really.” Wang Pu secretly admired that the old man had a high EQ and spoke more smoothly, unlike himself who always made mistakes.

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