The rise of the poor

In the capital, every city, and in the suburbs of villages and towns, officers from the Ministry of Rites posted a notice with a red background in conspicuous places.

A notice was also posted on the big tree in front of the ancestral hall in a village on the outskirts of Beijing. A group of curious villagers gathered around to watch the fresh notice.

"Old scholar Zhang, we are all illiterate, but you are the only one who can read and write. Read it to us. What is written on it? Is it a wanted notice? Why don't you see the portrait of the Jiang Yang gangster?"

The villagers looked at the words on the notice curiously, thinking that it was a wanted notice for a certain gangster as usual, but it didn't look like it, because they didn't see the portrait of the gangster, but they didn't know the words, so they quickly grabbed a The old man with gray hair and robe asked him to read the contents of the notice to everyone.

"What kind of wanted notice? Didn't you see that it has a red background? You can tell it's a good thing just by looking at the color. It says, forget it, you won't understand it either. I'll give you a simple translation in vernacular. Didn't Suzhou Prefecture achieve a great victory? They killed 40,000 Japanese pirates, captured several hundred Japanese pirates, and even captured a Japanese monk alive. In order to celebrate this great victory and boost the morale of the army and the people against the Japanese, the imperial court will hold a Meridian Gate ceremony in two days. The capture ceremony, this notice was issued by the Ministry of Rites, inviting the most respected squires in our room, as well as the elders over eighty years old, to hold a celebration ceremony."

Zhang Laoxiucai straightened his back, stroking his beard with one hand and pointing to the notice with the other, and preached to the curious villagers.

"Oh my god, it's great, it's great...".

A big and thick man suddenly jumped three feet high, as happy as if he had won the first prize on the imperial list.

"Butcher Zhang, are you having a seizure? Your family has been butchering pigs for generations, and your family, Li Zheng, and the squire are all out of reach." The people around him sneered.

"Lizheng and the squire have nothing to do with us, but my old man is eighty-one this year, and the imperial list says that people over eighty years old can attend the ceremony. This means that my old man can go to the ceremony. Maybe we can see the emperor again, oh my god, our old Zhang family’s ancestral graves are really smoking."

Butcher Zhang said with excitement and pride.

"Oh, it's true. It's a pity that my father is only seventy. I really hate him for not being able to make steel." The onlookers were envious.

While they were watching the announcement, Li Zheng had already come to count the number of people in the village, which was more than eighty. Of course, only those who could walk could do it.

At the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City, a group of eunuchs commanded a group of craftsmen who were doing simple construction, building high platforms and furnishings.

"The Meridian Gate Prison Presentation Ceremony will be held the day after tomorrow. The throne must be set up today. The position of the throne must be in the middle of the couplets in front of the Meridian Gate Tower. It cannot be offset by an inch. The Qintian Supervisor said that the weather the day after tomorrow will be sunny but windy, so You must pay attention to shelter from the wind and keep warm, the throne must be covered with white tiger skin, and ambergris must be prepared.”

Huang Jin came to inspect the construction progress and took the trouble to explain the precautions to the eunuch in charge over and over again.

Outside the Forbidden City, Liu Mu and others lived in the Forbidden Army barracks, and they also had to participate in the Meridian Gate Prisoner Presentation Ceremony.

They were responsible for escorting Japanese pirate prisoners.

However, they were only responsible for taking the Japanese captives one mile in front of the Meridian Gate, and then handing the prisoners over to the Imperial Guards, who would then escort the Japanese captives to the Meridian Gate and offer them as prisoners.

Although they didn't have a chance to stand out, they still had the benefit of at least wearing a military uniform.

After the Meridian Gate Prisoner Presentation Ceremony is completed, they can return to Suzhou.

While the capital was preparing for the Meridian Gate Prison Presentation Ceremony, the eunuchs who went to Suzhou to read out the imperial edict had already gone south under the escort of factory guards.

When they arrived in Suzhou and read out the imperial edict, Zhu Ping'an was officially promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War in Yingtian and the governor of Zhejiang.

Although the imperial edict has not yet arrived, the news that Zhu Ping'an was promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War in Yingtian and the governor of Zhejiang has already spread to Suzhou and Zhejiang.

In addition to local officials in Suzhou, many officials from Zhejiang also sent people to congratulate him in advance after receiving the news. When people come, they can't be kicked out. Moreover, the new official has not yet taken office, so Zhu Ping'an has to deal with waves of officials coming to congratulate him.

"You must remember that people can enter, but gifts cannot. All congratulatory gifts will not be accepted, otherwise people will not be allowed in."

Zhu Pingan immediately set an iron rule as the concierge and refused to accept any congratulatory gifts.

Zhu Ping'an got the news two days ago. Two days ago, he received a letter from Master Xu Jie. In the letter, Master Xu informed Zhu in advance of the news that Emperor Jiajing appointed him as the Right Minister of the Yingtian Ministry of War and the Governor of Zhejiang. Be safe and prepared.

In the letter, Master Xu also told Zhu Ping'an that Yan Shifan's henchman Luo Longwen was sent to Jiangnan for business.

This business trip is quite special. Luo Longwen is from Zhongshushe, but this time he is assigned by the Ministry of Industry.

Now that there is a Japanese invasion in the south of the Yangtze River, aren't city walls being built in various places in the south of the Yangtze River?

Originally, small towns in the south of the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty basically had no city walls. Because the economy in the south of the Yangtze River was developed and capitalism was budding, building city walls not only cost money, but also affected transportation. In addition, it was not a battleground for military strategists, so basically No city walls were built.

Nowadays, the Japanese invasion is becoming more and more serious. All places in the south of the Yangtze River are facing the threat of Japanese pirates. The cities with walls are relatively fine. When the Japanese pirates come, they can barely hold on by closing the gates. However, the cities without walls are in trouble. The Japanese pirates rush into the city and kill people as soon as they come. Arson set fire, and the people in the city suffered a lot of bad luck.

A city without walls is like a girl without clothes, it's too unsafe.

Such a comparison highlights the importance of the city wall. Jiangnan is relatively prosperous. For safety, people from all over the country actively donated money and materials, and a vigorous craze for building city walls began in various places in the south of the Yangtze River.

As long as the imperial court did not pay for it, the imperial court was quite supportive, and petitions from various places to build the city wall were basically approved.

As the Ministry of Works is the agency in charge of construction projects, they can take charge of the construction of city walls across the country.

The mission of the Ministry of Industry was to inspect and guide the construction of city walls in various places in the south of the Yangtze River.

However, as a member of Zhongshushe, it is still unreasonable for Luo Longwen to participate in the Ministry of Industry's overseas inspection.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Combined with the conflict between Zhu Pingan and Yan Dang, and the fact that Zhu Pingan had just been promoted to the right minister of the Yingtian War Department and the governor of Zhejiang because of the victory in Suzhou, Xu Jie reminded Zhu Pingan that Luo Longwen was probably here for Zhu Pingan. Zhu Ping'an must be prepared and be careful about Luo Longwen.

"It's not very possible, but Luo Longwen must have come to me." Zhu Pingan put away the letter and was very sure of Luo Longwen's intention.

Luo Longwen was Yan Shifan's iron leg. He usually stuck to Yan Shifan's side like a dog and couldn't drive him away. This time he was sent to Jiangnan, a thousand miles away, and it was definitely not to inspect and guide the construction of city walls in various places in Jiangnan.

Yan Shifan had the intention to kill him when he was in the capital, but due to various reasons, he failed to succeed and just demoted himself to Jiangnan.

But to their disappointment, it didn't take much time for him to make a comeback, and even went a step further. The right minister of the Yingtian Ministry of War and the governor of Zhejiang stimulated him so much that he sent Luo Longwen.

Don't be afraid, soldiers will come to block it, water will come and earth will cover it. (End of chapter)