jdhmnovel Chapter 991 The Ming Dynasty's ancestral fear of wives is truly terrifying!
Chapter 991 The Ming Dynasty's ancestral fear of wives is truly terrifying!
According to folk custom, since Ms. Chang was not yet married into the family, the black sesame dumplings had to be prepared as a generous gift before the Mid-Autumn Festival and personally delivered to Chang Heitan's home.
Zhu Biao wasn't worried about the gifts.
However, Zhu Biao is now quite afraid to go to the Duke of E's mansion.
Especially when he stayed at the Duke of E's mansion for meals, Zhu Biao felt a chill from the bottom of his heart whenever he saw Chang Yuchun's forced smile as he urged people to drink.
Now that Yang Shaofeng has suddenly brought up the wedding date, Zhu Biao instantly forgets about his job as a scholar from Ningyang County and starts worrying about his Mid-Autumn Festival visit.
After pondering for a while without coming up with a solution, Zhu Biao, who was becoming increasingly uneasy, could only look at Yang Shaofeng expectantly and ask, "Brother-in-law, are you afraid of returning home for the Mid-Autumn Festival this year?"
Yang Shaofeng simply snorted.
afraid?
Who are we afraid of?
Are you afraid of Lao Deng?
What a joke! Do you think I'm afraid of Old Deng?
Yang Shaofeng looked Zhu Biao up and down, and said with a mocking tone, "Is Your Highness afraid of the Duke of E?"
Zhu Biao unconsciously swallowed and said in a low voice, "It's not that I'm afraid, it's just that I feel a little guilty."
"Brother-in-law, as you know, my sister is the eldest daughter of the Duke of E, and the Duke of E is often away leading troops in battle, so he rarely spends time with her."
"The Duke of E always felt that he had wronged a certain young lady."
"Now that I'm going to marry a certain young lady, the Duke of E's side will inevitably find me somewhat displeasing."
"This...this..."
Zhu Biao chuckled twice and said haltingly, "Every time I go to the Duke of E's mansion, the Duke of E is always very unfriendly. Now I don't even dare to stay at the Duke of E's mansion for a meal."
"The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, and my younger brother's wedding is in about a month."
"This visit..."
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and looked at Zhu Biao, saying, "If the Duke of E doesn't like you, does the Duchess of E like you?"
Zhu Biao immediately straightened his chest and said with a proud look, "My aunt watched me grow up since I was a child. She loves me just as much as Sheng-ge and Mao-ge. How could she possibly dislike me?"
Yang Shaofeng smiled again, looking at Zhu Biao with the kind of eyes one would use to show concern for someone with intellectual disabilities: "Although the Duke of E is known as having 100,000 men and is indeed a fierce general in battle, who is in charge in the Duke of E's mansion?"
Just as Empress Ma had the final say in matters of the imperial palace, Lady Lan, the wife of the Duke of E, naturally had the final say in the Duke of E's mansion.
What is a constant 100,000?
He's a big spender outside, but when he gets home he becomes a henpecked husband.
Even Lan Yu, who dared to forcibly harm the concubines of Hu Yuan in Buyur Lake and even dared to bombard the city of the Ming Dynasty when impulsive, was as obedient as a cat in front of the Lan family.
Thinking of this, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but stroke his chin again.
Speaking of which, it seems that very few generals in the Ming Dynasty were not afraid of their wives.
Let's not even talk about people like Chang Yuchun, since their leader was a henpecked husband.
The key point is that after the Hongwu era, and even into the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, most of the civil and military officials were afraid of their wives.
For example, during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, there was a Hanlin Academy lecturer named Chen Yin who was not afraid of the Western Depot agents but was afraid of his wife. He was known in the martial arts world as "Chen Yeba".
Take, for example, Qi Taibao, who could beat a short, ugly man into a pulp.
He even left behind anecdotes about "inviting his wife to review the troops" and "wanting to kill a chicken for his wife to eat," demonstrating his firm grasp on the position of the younger brother within the family.
Tsk tsk.
The number of emperors and ministers in the Ming Dynasty who were afraid of their wives was as numerous as carp crossing a river, and the root cause mostly lay with people like Lao Deng and Chang Heizi.
While Yang Shaofeng was pondering these random thoughts, Zhu Biao's eyes lit up, and he chuckled, saying, "I understand, little brother."
I said, "Why is my brother-in-law never afraid of my dad?"
So that's where the root of the problem lies.
If that's the case, then why should I be afraid of the Duke of E?
So what if I feel guilty? I feel guilty in front of the Duke of E, but does that mean the Duke of E doesn't feel guilty in front of Aunt Lan and that other girl?
understood.
I'll go to the Prince Consort's residence later and ask my sister for some gifts that will please Aunt Lan and that young lady, and then I'll go to the Duke of E's house.
With confidence now in his heart, Zhu Biao stood up again and said, "Brother-in-law, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, you should still send over thirty-two scholars, and then I'll send a few more back for you."
Yang Shaofeng stared blankly at Zhu Biao.
This black sesame glutinous rice ball... is he a bandit?
The key question is, from whom did they learn this habit of prioritizing hiring people over hiring them?
Is this also a problem inherited from the Zhu family?
Maybe.
After all, Old Deng even fired at the victory celebration building.
Even if the story of bombarding the celebration tower is fictional, the fact that he fed Xu Da roast goose is definitely true.
Oh, Xu Da was in Beiping at the time, and the whole roast goose thing was fabricated by someone to slander Lao Deng.
Moreover, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun are still alive today, so it's really a bit unreasonable to use these two anecdotes to make fun of Lao Deng, or he'll easily get a beating from his mother-in-law.
Just as he thought of this, Yang Shaofeng laughed in exasperation at himself.
At this point, the question should be how to arrange Old Deng's schedule?
Obviously not.
At this point, the focus should be on how to protect the successful candidates from Ningyang County School and send them to Dengzhou to work as laborers, rather than having them packaged up and sent to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices by the black sesame dumplings.
Not right either.
Black sesame dumplings are not the only thing that is thinking about the students from Ningyang County.
Lao Deng, Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, Chang Heitan, Xu Da, and even Hu Weiyong, all of these people were eyeing the students of Ningyang County.
Especially the two bandits, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun.
Old Deng and Li Shanchang still had some patience for the students who wanted to complete their studies.
The two bandits, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, wished they could pack up and take away all the able-bodied men in Ningyang County.
No.
I must find a way to dig a pit and trap all these bandits inside.
Yang Shaofeng stroked his chin, speaking thoughtfully as he said, "Liaodong is short of laborers, Ningyang County is short of laborers, Dengzhou Prefecture is short of laborers..."
Before Yang Shaofeng could finish speaking, Zhu Biao rolled his eyes and said, "The Ming Dynasty has more than a dozen provincial administration commissions, more than a hundred prefectures, and more than a thousand counties. Everywhere is short of laborers."
Yang Shaofeng nodded and followed Zhu Biao's words, saying, "Your Highness is right. There is a shortage of laborers everywhere, but the Ministry of Railways is about to start building railways."
"Your Highness just heard it too, Chen Mo just blurted out 100,000 laborers."
"And that figure of 100,000 laborers is probably an understatement."
Yang Shaofeng smiled maliciously and then played the same trick on Zhu Biao: "Has Your Highness considered where the Ming Dynasty is going to find 100,000 laborers for him right now?"
"If we add Dengzhou Prefecture, Ningyang County, Liaodong, and even more than a dozen provincial administration offices, a million laborers might not be enough."
"How does Your Highness intend to resolve this issue?"
Zhu Biao looked at Yang Shaofeng expectantly and asked, "Does brother-in-law have something in mind?"
Yang Shaofeng immediately smiled, then spread his hands and said, "No."
You, a black sesame dumpling, are thinking of the scholar from Ningyang County.
Go and worry about the 100,000 workers now!
If you, little Deng, aren't confident, go find Old Deng. If Old Deng can't handle it, he'll go find Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen.
Once you all get busy, no one should be thinking about the scholar from Ningyang County anymore, right?