Chapter 21 Zhou Anmin's Identity
Chapter 21 Zhou Anmin's Identity
Holding Zhu Shenzhui's gift, the two kids were so happy that they lost their eyesight. One was fiddling with the nine-ring chain, and the other was shaking a rattle, both of them were so happy.
If Zhu Xiuer hadn't said to eat first and play later, the two kids probably wouldn't even want to eat today's meal.
Putting away the toys temporarily, the two children followed Zhu Xiuer to the kang to eat dinner. Perhaps because of Zhu Shenzhu's arrival, the two children had a particularly good appetite today and ate a little more than usual.
Zhu Shenzhui and his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin were at another table. According to traditional rules, women and children were not allowed to sit at the table, even family members.
They drank, ate and chatted, and Zhu Shenzhui asked about the two children. When he came, he heard the eldest son reading in the room, reading the Three Character Classic, which sounded quite good.
Zhou Anmin said with a smile that Zhou Chong had almost memorized the Three Character Classic, and the next step was to learn the Thousand Character Classic. He also specially hired a teacher for Zhou Chong, an old man in the city, and had sent him a tuition last month. These days, Zhou Chong officially went to a private school.
As for Zhou Bin, he is still young, so he will be taught by Zhou Chong at home, starting with the Hundred Family Names and Three Character Classic, and will be sent to a private school in two years. The old teacher said that the two children are very smart, especially the eldest Zhou Chong, who has a talent for studying. Maybe the future of the Zhou family lies in Zhou Chong.
If the child can make a name for himself in his studies, after seven or eight years of study, let him take the examination for a tongsheng first. If he passes the tongsheng examination, he can take the examination for a xiucai. After passing the examination for a xiucai, he can take the examination for a juren. After passing the examination, he can take the examination for a jinshi.
If the Zhou family produced a Jinshi, then the Zhou family would be honored and their fortunes would be completely reversed. Speaking of this, Zhou Anmin's eyes were shining and he looked expectant.
All things are inferior except reading. This is true not only in feudal society but also in later generations.
It is the wish of all parents to get into 985 or 211. It is even easier to find a good job after graduating from a prestigious university, and it is also much better than others to take the civil service exam.
Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but sigh when he saw Zhou Chong and Zhou Bin wolfing down the steamed buns while occasionally glancing at the nine-ring chain and rattle placed not far away.
Although times have changed, parents’ thoughts are the same. They don’t know whether their nephew can become a test-taker in the small town and get a good score on the college entrance examination.
But the good days of the Ming Dynasty were coming to an end, and Zhu Shenzhu knew this very well. He calculated the days, and if Zhou Chong could pass the imperial examination smoothly, then he would not have to take the imperial examination, because the risk of being an official at that time was too great, so he might as well find another way.
However, it is too early to say this now. Besides, it is not a bad thing to hope that your son will become successful. It is always good for children to read more. If Zhu Shenzhui was not a member of the royal family, he would have thought about taking the imperial examination. Unfortunately, this path is feasible for ordinary people, but it is not feasible for Zhu Shenzhui.
Zhu Xiuer and the children ate very efficiently. After they finished their meal, they took the two children away.
The two children did not refuse, as they were now focused on the gift that their uncle Zhu Shenzhui had just given them. They took the children to the inner room, leaving the outside room to Zhu Shenzhui and Zhou Anmin, who slowly drank and talked.
"Have you been to Zhao Village?" Zhou Anmin asked in a low voice, picking up the wine jug and refilling Zhu Shenzhu's cup.
Zhu Shenzhui nodded. Zhou Anmin knew that he and Wangjia Village were smuggling salt, and Zhou Anmin had helped a lot.
There is something that outsiders don't know. Zhou Anmin is not only the postmaster here, but also a member of the Jinyiwei system. However, the latter's identity is very secretive. Except for Zhu Shenzhui and his sister Zhu Xiu'er, even his two children are kept secret.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard was a special department in the Ming Dynasty. Initially, this department was just the emperor's personal guard of honor. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang granted the Embroidered Uniform Guard the right to privately monitor all officials, and thus this department gradually changed from a guard of honor to a secret service organization.
The Jinyiwei has existed since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Although most of the time the Jinyiwei's authority was weakened a lot because of the emperor's heavy use of eunuchs and the establishment of the East Factory and the West Factory, judging from the Jinyiwei's existence time and scale, this agency is still the largest spy agency today.
The Jinyiwei had many specific duties, one of which was to gather information and monitor officials. To achieve this, ears and eyes were necessary.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Jinyiwei was at its most powerful and could penetrate any corner of an official's home. An inconspicuous old servant who had worked for more than ten years might be a Jinyiwei. They worked diligently and anonymously for decades, quietly monitoring their targets, secretly recording their every move and reporting to their superiors at any time. The Jinyiwei's monitoring ability was so great that the secret service agencies of later generations might not be as good as it is. It is hard not to mention how powerful and terrifying this agency was.
However, as the Ming Dynasty has been established for more than 200 years, the Jinyiwei has inevitably declined, especially the current Emperor Wanli, who has not attended court for decades and does not pay as much attention to the Jinyiwei as before. So the current Jinyiwei is no longer the Jinyiwei that was once in its heyday, but even such a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse, and the brand of Jinyiwei is still well-known.
As the postmaster, Zhou Anmin did the work of the director of a local guesthouse. Moreover, his guesthouse was a government-run guesthouse. The people who stayed here were either officials passing by or their family members.
Because of this job, it has long been a custom for the postmaster to concurrently serve as the Jinyiwei, so Zhou Anmin was also given the title of Jinyiwei while serving as the postmaster. Of course, his position was only the lowest-level captain in the Jinyiwei, and people like him were countless in the Jinyiwei, at least thousands if not tens of thousands, and he was not noticeable at all.
But no matter what, the Jinyiwei are the Jinyiwei. With this title, many things are much easier for them to do than for ordinary people.
Moreover, the Jinyiwei were not detached from worldly affairs. Although some things could not be done openly, it was common for them to use the name of the Jinyiwei to get some convenience for themselves in private. It was for this reason that when Zhu Shenzhu was preparing to sell illegal salt, he specifically asked his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin for help. Zhou Anmin spent some effort to help him get through the connections and introduced several good colleagues to his brother-in-law.
By the way, the connections in Zhao Village were established with the help of Zhou Anmin, which led to the current stable salt road.
In addition, Zhu Shencui's identity is also a problem. You must know that Zhu Shencui is a member of the royal family, and royal family members are not allowed to leave their place of residence at will.
Zhou Anmin also helped a lot in this regard, and used his connections to cover up the matter for Zhu Shenzhui. If it weren't for the fake identity that Zhu Shenzhui had obtained privately from the Pingyang government office, how could it have been so easy to get away with it?
"Did the journey go smoothly this time?"
"It went smoothly, but something happened when we passed by Yangtou Mountain..." Zhu Shenzhui did not hide anything from his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin. Besides, another reason he came here besides visiting his sister and brother-in-law was to verify Li Hu's situation.
Although Zhu Shenzui believed that Li Hu would not lie to him, he was still worried about Li Hu's background and the people under him based on Li Hu's words.
Furthermore, Li Hu had committed a crime. How serious was this crime? Would there be any unforeseen consequences after Yangtou Mountain? Zhu Shenzhui had to figure this out. This was also the main reason why Zhu Shenzhui decided how to identify Li Hu. If he didn't figure this out, Zhu Shenzhui would not be completely relieved.
Immediately, Zhu Shenzui told Zhou Anmin about the encounter with Li Hu and his group at Yangtou Mountain. As Zhu Shenzui spoke, Zhou Anmin gradually frowned. He looked at his brother-in-law thoughtfully. As a brother-in-law, he knew very well what kind of person his brother-in-law was and what it meant to say these things today.
I mean, don't underestimate my brother-in-law, he is really not simple. In just two years, even with my help, he could have done this with the help of those mud legs in Wangjia Village. Ordinary people can't do it at all.
Moreover, although Zhu Shenzhui did not have much education, he had a lot of strategies, especially his intelligence and courage, and his martial arts were also very good. If Zhu Shenzhui was not a royal family member, based on Zhou Anmin's understanding of him, it would not be difficult for him to make a name for himself in the future. Even if he did not take the imperial examination, even if he joined the army as a general, or was introduced to the Jinyiwei by Zhou Anmin, he could still do something.
Unfortunately, Zhu Shenzhui's status as a member of the imperial clan restricted him. With this status, he could not display his abilities. He could only smuggle salt and secretly earn some money. If he guessed correctly, Zhu Shenzhui was so concerned about Li Hu and his gang because of Li Hu's temperament and their convenience in Yangtou Mountain. If he could recruit Li Hu, then the safety and certainty of continuing to smuggle salt in the future would be much greater.
As for the rest, Zhou Anmin didn't think much about it. After all, the control of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty was too strong. It was fine for Zhu Shenzhu to do small things like this, but once he had other ideas, it would be impossible. During the reign of Emperor Wuzong Zhengde, Prince Anhua Zhu Zongqi and Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao rebelled one after another.
The rebellions of these two princes caused a sensation for a time, but both Prince Anhua and Prince Ning were suppressed soon after they rebelled.
Among them, Zhu Zongqiang encountered Yang Yiqing. Upon learning that Zhu Zongqiang was rebelling, Yang Yiqing immediately dispatched troops to suppress the rebellion. However, before he reached the front line, Zhu Zongqiang's rebellion was settled by Yang Yiqing's old subordinate Qiu Yue.
As for Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, this unlucky man with great ambitions but little talent ran into Wang Yangming. He was pinned to the ground by Wang Yangming not long after he led his troops. The defeat was so quick that the Zhengde Emperor, who was preparing to lead the army in person, was dissatisfied and deliberately set him free. In the end, his entire family lost their lives.
(End of this chapter)