Father can be an enemy to the country

After Lijiang Mujia, the second person to come to Kunming was a Menghua Prefecture Tongpan named Zuohe.

Not to mention compared with the Mu family, among the many chieftains in Yunnan, this person is also an insignificant existence.

Because the ranking of official positions basically represents the status of local officials within their jurisdiction. First of all, Menghua Prefecture is only one of the five prefectures under Dali Prefecture. Secondly, the largest chieftain in the prefecture is Ren Zhizhou, the second-ranked chieftain Ren Tongzhi, and the next one is Tongpan.

Moreover, Tongfan has no fixed number of members, and any local chief with some strength can get a Tongfan.

Therefore, it can be judged from his official position alone that this person is only a small role in Dali Mansion and is not qualified to meet alone. Even when there is a group audience, they are still standing outside the hall as a foil.

Therefore, the Chief Secretary did not arrange for him to have an audience, and did not even report it to the prince. He was taken to a post house to stay and ignored.

Unexpectedly, this person is not a very economical person. If the Chief Secretary does not arrange for me to meet him, then I will submit a message myself to ask for an audience.

The guards of Prince Dian's Mansion knew the prince's temper so well that they didn't dare to look down upon others and report him in immediately.

Zhu Zhen was discussing matters with Pan Yuanming at that time. When he saw the famous post, he couldn't help but wonder: "Shouldn't you arrange an audience?"

"Yes." Pan Yuanming took a look at the name card and made a guess: "The people below probably thought that this person's identity was not enough to meet him alone, so he didn't report it."

"As a result, people came to my door to post a message." Zhu Zhen glanced at him and said, "I invited them here, but I didn't see them. How can they not be angry?"

"Yes, yes." Pan Yuanming wiped his sweat and said, "I will make sure to make corrections when I return and arrange an audience with him immediately."

"Forget it, everyone is at the door, why are you taking off your pants and farting?" Zhu Zhen waved his hand and said, "Let him come in."

~~

The splendid Yin'an Palace of Prince Dian's Palace is nine rooms wide, two more than the prince's regulations allow. This was an act that exceeded the regulations of the Liang Dynasty. Zhu Zhen originally planned to request an order to demolish it, but Boss Zhu did not agree. The reason is that he is now the third prince, and having one more prince and one more house is just right.

But Zhu Zhen strongly suspected that the old thieves simply did not want to waste money, because they had to rebuild after demolition, and the cost of demolition and construction was lost. And the most important thing is that the money has to be paid by the old thief...

As a result, the Dian Prince's Palace became the only prince's palace in the world that was nine rooms wide. From the perspective of a country chieftain like Zuo He who had never seen the world, this was no different from the palace.

Standing in front of such a Yin'an Palace, he couldn't help but his legs were shaking. When he entered the door, he tripped over the high threshold and almost fell down.

Zhu Zhen on the throne was amused by his naivety: "Don't be afraid, I don't eat people."

All the civil and military officials chuckled, and the young chieftain also laughed naively.

"Hurry up and meet the prince!" Pan Yuanming scolded softly.

"My lord, Zuo He, pays homage to the prince. May the prince be blessed with peace and prosperity!" Zuo He quickly knelt down and bowed four times.

Zhu Zhen asked him after letting him stand up: "Can you speak Chinese?"

"My lord, I'll meet you." Zuo He replied hurriedly and respectfully: "My grandfather once served as the Tongzhi of Menghua Prefecture, and my grandfather served as the Tongzhi of Sunning Prefecture, so I have learned both Chinese and Mongolian languages ​​since I was a child."

"Very good." Zhu Zhen nodded and glanced at Pan Yuanming.

Pan Yuanming hurriedly reported the temporarily prepared information to the prince: "This Zuohe is the leader of the nine tribes of Timoya in Weishan. During the previous campaign in Dali, he led his troops to return and assisted the king in pacifying Weishan. Then he went to Midu alone. Hongyan persuaded the Liang King to surrender Gao Tianhui's soldiers, disintegrated Gao Tianhui's army, and helped the army advance into Dali without bloodshed. After the war, he was appointed as the general magistrate of Menghua Prefecture due to his meritorious service..."

"That's right." Zhu Zhen nodded slightly and said, "Knowledge, courage, and eloquence are really rare among chieftains."

"I also feel that I am excellent." Zuo He said proudly after hearing this.

"You're still thick-skinned." Zhu Zhen couldn't help laughing and said, "That's even more rare."

"Wei Chen, what Wei Chen said is the truth." Zuo He blushed and said sarcastically.

"Yes, it is indeed a fact." Zhu Zhen smiled and asked: "The Chief Secretary did not arrange for you to meet with me, but you insist on submitting an invitation to meet with me. What do you have to say?"

"I, I feel that the official position given to me by the imperial court is too low. Please let me be promoted to the position of magistrate of Menghua Prefecture!" Zuo He kowtowed vigorously and said loudly.

"What a good guy, you blatantly want an official position." Zhu Zhen couldn't help but laugh again.

"Presumptuous!" Pan Yuanming scolded: "Official appointments, removals, promotions, and demotions are all based on the superior, and ministers can only obey. With people like you begging for an official position, isn't the court in chaos?!"

"My lord, the current official positions are acting, not actual teaching. In other words, they haven't been counted yet!" Zuo He said plausibly: "Isn't it enough for me to nominate myself at this time?"

"Okay." Zhu Zhen put down his hand to tell Pan Yuanming to shut up. Then he smiled at Zuo He and said, "I can do as you wish, but you have to make me willing to promote you."

"I have brought nine beauties to the prince. They are all pure girls carefully selected by our nine tribes of Timoya." Zuo He said loudly.

"..." The civil and military officials laughed secretly when they heard this. Zhu Zhen also twitched the corners of his mouth, and said in a muffled voice for a while: "I don't like young girls."

"I also brought ten loads of mountain products to the prince... including bearskin, deer antlers, deer penis, poria, gastrodia elata, ginseng, matsutake, chicken fir... all valuable things." Zuo He added.

"Do you think this king lacks something like you?" Zhu Zhen coughed and said seriously: "If you give me gifts, does it have any inevitable connection with your ability to be a good official? And the more gifts you give, the higher your promotion will be. Will you work harder to get it back without losing money after becoming an official?"

As he spoke, he slapped the handrail and said, "Blow him out!"

The guards in the palace were about to step forward to chase them away. Zuo He hurriedly said loudly: "No, no, no, no, I thought it was because I didn't give a gift that I couldn't be considered a fellow scholar. If the prince doesn't accept the gift, I won't give it anymore."

"Why, everyone else got the job because of gifts?" Zhu Zhen asked quietly. The eyes of Pan Yuanming, Feng Cheng and others also became unkind.

"I don't know." Zuo He was a smart little guy and shook his head decisively: "I feel that in the former Yuan Dynasty, you can't get an official position without giving gifts. I wonder if the same is true in the Ming Dynasty."

"Hahaha." Zhu Zhen laughed and waved his hand, asking the guards to retreat and said: "The Ming Dynasty is not like this. My father hates corruption and bribery most. Corrupt officials will be skinned and stripped of their grass."

"That's it." Zuo He suddenly said, "That was my misunderstanding."

"..." Pan Yuanming, Feng Cheng and others all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then why is the prince willing to promote me?" Zuo He has not forgotten this.

"What I want is a good official who can make Menghua Prefecture peaceful and the people can live and work in peace and contentment." Zhu Zhen said solemnly: "If you have this ability, I will do what you wish. If you don't have this ability, Even if you become the magistrate of the state, I will fight you to the end. So it’s better to weigh your own weight first!"

"I can do it!" Zuo He said without thinking.