Shouning Hou Mansion Study Room.

Zhang Yanling was restless, and later he probably couldn't wait. He was so angry that he often slapped the book in his hand on the table, making a "slap" sound.

Zhang Heling's housekeeper couldn't see it, so he mustered up the courage to walk into the study and persuaded: "Second Marquis, if you can't wait, you can go back to your mansion first. When the master comes back, I will tell him that you can come over again then!"

Zhang Yanling was furious and smashed the "Jin Ping Mei" in his hand: "Brother is the master of this mansion, so I am not? Tell you, if my brother doesn't come back today, I will not leave. Go and prepare the dinner, have the best wine, and clean up the room in the backyard!"

The housekeeper was hit on the forehead by a thick thread-bound book, making a large piece of red. However, he didn't even dare to scream in pain and ran away with his head in his arms.

Zhang Yanling's domineering behavior made the Shouning Marquis' Mansion extremely indignant.

This place is clearly the Marquis of Shouning, but Zhang Yanling regards her as her own home. She doesn't even sleep in the wing room but has to sleep in the backyard. Although Zhang Yanling is quite a good example at her brother's house, the wife of Shouning and her concubine are not old and are broken into the backyard by her brother-in-law. Even if she is not in the same room, her reputation will not be good.

When the wife of the Shouning Housing heard the housekeeper's urgent report, she could no longer sit still. She quickly sent someone to inform Zhang Heling that the second master of his family was showing off his power in the mansion, and seemed to have been stimulated by some stimulation that he could not speak calmly.

It was not until night fell that Zhang Heling hurriedly returned to the Shouning Marquis Mansion.

When he entered the main hall, Zhang Heling looked at his younger brother with a bad expression. Zhang Yanling was also full of anger at this moment, and the two brothers looked at each other coldly.

Zhang Heling asked in a question: "Let me ask you, how many people's money and cream have you plundered in the capital during the days when martial law was in the capital?"

Zhang Yanling stood up suddenly and asked dissatisfiedly: "Brother, what are you talking about? Minzhongbao? I just made a little money!"

"I have already respected you for thousands of taels of silver and helped the emperor collect 60,000 taels of military expenses. Do you think that all the money is blowing from the strong wind? Or are the merchants in the capital willing to lose money for no reason to avoid disaster? To put it bluntly, wasn't it my brother who tried every possible way?"

Zhang Yanling knew that some things could not be hidden all the time.

Zhang Heling was not completely unaware of it before, but things were not big at that time. Zhang Heling turned a blind eye, but now Zhang Heling is obviously under pressure, which is likely to come from the court, and the focus is on the Governor's Office of the Five Army.

The war in the northwest before had no result. Even if the nobles knew that the Zhang brothers had made money, they would not dare to make a statement because the emperor was in a state of anxiety and it was very likely that the matter would be in front of the emperor, which would not only fail to work, but would instead pay himself.

But now that Liu Daxia has won a battle at the border and Emperor Hongzhi has regained his rationality, he has to worry about people's livelihood issues and worry about the influence of public opinion. These nobles are jealous of the Zhang brothers and make a fortune in martial law, and want to put pressure on the two brothers to submit. If the Zhang brothers do not lose money, they will make things happen and see who is in trouble in the end!

"Do you know what you are doing? I, Zhang family, have His Majesty's favor, have food, drink and fiefdom, and have an increasing status in the court day by day. You are so good, you don't even care about justice for money! Do you know how embarrassed you are when you are asked by someone in the Governor's Office of the Five Army? Why don't you know how to think about your brother!"

Zhang Heling's heart was also full of anger, and he yelled at his younger brother when he came up.

Originally, Zhang Yanling came to find his brother to discuss how to extend the martial law in the capital so that he could continue to use the power at hand to make huge profits. Now that Zhang Heling is so angry, Zhang Yanling knew that it would be difficult to continue the business.

Zhang Yanling explained: "Brother, you have thought about one thing. If the martial law in the nine cities is in the morning and evening, how much food and daily necessities can be transported in outside the city? Those illegal vendors took the opportunity to hoard goods and had to wait until the people could not afford the food before selling the food. The original price of rice and grain of a few cents per kilogram soared to dozens of cents later."

"But with our channels, the grain outside the city can be transported into the city continuously. Due to the impact of new grain, those profiteers can only obediently lower the price and sell it. Many people lost all their money for this... I am doing things for the emperor and the court, rather than plundering people's wealth as you said."

"Now you go and ask the people in the city. If I hadn't transferred food from outside the city to the city, I don't know how many people would starve to death. Are I a criminal or a hero?"

When Zhang Yanling considers the problem, he always thinks about the favorable side of himself first. When it comes to smuggling, Zhang Yanling feels that he has done nothing wrong and has also given a certain reason.

"If my brother thinks it is wrong, then I will ask, do you know how much rice and grain prices are in the city now? Or do those people who questioned my brothers by the Five Army Governor's Office know this? They are eating dry food and don't even understand the people's livelihood, but they use the righteousness of the country to make things difficult for me and my brothers!"

"Little do we know that we are helping the people in the city, not just for personal gain. The martial law in the capital was made by Your Majesty. A war in the northwest occurred. Your Majesty was in poor health. The martial law in the capital helped the people to remain calm and help the court to successfully complete the handover in case of three or two shortcomings..."

"I transported grain into the city, and besides letting the people in the city eat lower prices of rice and grain, what are the consequences? Is the safety of the capital threatened? Or is there someone who is planning to usurp the government's affairs?"

"Actually, it is just the princes and princes who think that my brothers are young and have little experience and are foreign relatives in the army. They are not convinced by my brothers. In fact, they are also inherited from their ancestors. In terms of merit, they are also established by their ancestors. What has he done to make achievements for the court over the years, including Zhang Mao, what has he done to make achievements for the court?"

The more Zhang Yanling said, the more he felt that his actions were reasonable. This time he was attacked and criticized, he was simply wronged and humiliated. He was in a state of grief for a moment and almost lost control.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Heling felt that what his brother did seemed to be not very wrong.

When considering the issues, the Zhang brothers only thought about them in a favorable direction. Zhang Heling heard Zhang Yanling's analysis and wanted to scold him, but he couldn't even say a serious word.

Zhang Heling changed the topic and asked, "Then... confess honestly, how much money have you plundered in the past two or three months?"

When asked the question, Zhang Yanling looked a little hesitant and then replied: "Not much, only tens of thousands of taels of silver!"

"Ten thousand taels of silver? I'm afraid it's ten times more! If you only get ten thousand taels of silver, you will be willing to take out 60,000 taels of silver to raise military expenses for Your Majesty? The people in the capital complained to the court, and it may have something to do with your tricks and robberies. You said those illegal and unruly merchants hoarded goods, and I think you are indulging them!"

The more Zhang Heling said, the more angry he became, and pointed at Zhang Yanling and said, "Now I won't ask you anything else, I will write a confession immediately. I will bring it to the palace to face the saint, please forgive me. Otherwise... even brother will not be able to protect you!"

Zhang Yanling was dissatisfied when he heard this, and raised his neck and said, "Brother, we are brothers. Are you planning to not speak for me? I can see the emperor, but I have to make it clear. We two brothers are on the same boat now, and others don't think that the eldest brother has not taken advantage of this matter..."

"I have presented gifts, including my sister-in-law. My brother has lived a comfortable life these few months. I basically helped me pay the more than 8,000 taels of silver in the mansion. In addition, there is an intake of 50,000 taels of silver. I am filial to you, brother. Are you really going to let go?"

"you!?"

Only then did Zhang Heling realize that he had gotten on his younger brother's pirate ship and could not get off, "You...what do you want?"

When Zhang Heling thought of what happened in the Fifth Army Governor's Office, it was obvious that others regarded their brothers as wearing the same pair of pants, and did not say anything about him, Shouning Hou or Jianchang Hou, but they all put the two together to tell the story, because they were originally a family and were both the younger brothers of Queen Zhang.

Zhang Yanling had a momentum at this time and said with confidence: "If you want to make mistakes, there are also mistakes. If you make mistakes, the Tatars violated the border. The martial law in the capital has brought us convenience. We just use the rules to act. Now that the martial law in the capital has not been lifted, my brothers can still continue to make money."

"If those people lead the matter to the emperor, the emperor will definitely consider the hard work of our brothers and will not pursue it. Even if we pursue it, we can still give it to the emperor as military expenses or rewards. The emperor is too happy, so how can we punish us?"

"Now the emperor is in poor health. Even his sister has just finished giving birth. She is in poor health. Can the court rely on Old Man Liu and those old men who are hemorrhoids to take care of it? The martial law in the capital is an extremely wise decision for the emperor, and we must support it!"

Zhang Heling said angrily: "You... why do you still advocate martial law? The Northwest War has ended!"

“It’s not over at all!”

Zhang Yanling said disrespectfully, "Brother, since that's the case, I won't hide some things from you... In fact, that boy Shen Xi has reported to the court many times that he encountered the main force of the Tatars in Xuanfu, as well as the military supervisor Zhang Yong. He also sent several secret reports, saying that he had fought fiercely with the Tatars at Tumu Fort and achieved the best result of annihilation of 4,000 enemies!"

"I found a way to detain both of their military newspapers, and the messenger also tried to dismiss it... I mainly think that this matter is too unreliable. What kind of soldiers are the Beijing camp? How many people did Shen Xi bring? How could he annihilate the 4,000 Tartar troops with those mobs? He must have been lying!"

"In order to verify the truth of the matter, I sent troops from the Beijing camp to investigate. Unfortunately, there were not many people who came back to report. They all said that shortly after leaving Juyong Pass, they were attacked by Tartar Rangers and had to flee back to Pass in a panic. Therefore, I judged that although Shen Xi and Zhang Yong had false reports, Xuanfu is indeed not peaceful now."

"According to my estimate, there are at least thousands to tens of thousands of Tatar soldiers in the Xuanfu. These people are currently under the eyes of the capital and may invade the capital at any time."

"In the first few days, the prince had made a statement about this matter in front of the emperor. The emperor was extremely angry. At this time, the victory of Ningxia promoted by the old man Liu Daxia was in full swing. If others did not mention this matter, after the martial law in the capital was lifted, the Tatar cavalry would advance straight into our capital at any time. If the city gate was lost, wouldn't our brothers become the criminals of the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhang Heling was shocked and asked, "What, you secretly detained Chen Xi and Zhang Yong to submit the military report to the court? If His Majesty finds out, what should we do?"

Zhang Yanling sneered: "The people guarding the four gates are our confidants. The messengers have all been properly resolved, and the letters have been burned by me. No one knows this. In fact, at the beginning, I hoped that the boy Chen Xi would die in the northwest without a burial place. But now when I think about it again, it would be better to report to Your Majesty the safety of Xuanfu involving the safety of my Ming Dynasty."

"However, it is better for us to use the mouths of others. We only advocate that the capital continues martial law, which will not only help the stability of the court, but also allow our brothers to make more money and gain enough political capital."

"Even if the emperor does not need money now, what after the prince ascended the throne? What does it cost to do? We just do what we should do, why not do it?"

After hearing Zhang Yanling's words, Zhang Heling was silent for a while, repeatedly considered the feasibility of the matter, and finally nodded helplessly.

***************

ps: The first update is here!

Oh, I really can't get up in winter morning, and the first update is so late every day. I'm sorry! But please rest assured, the emperor will still have a small outbreak today, so that everyone can enjoy it!
Chapter completed!