My eunuch godfather

Chapter 35 Yongning Temple

Since work was scheduled to begin tomorrow, Zhang Kun restrained his confidants from drinking too much.

Only Wei Sengteng did not stay to work at the river work camp. Those who knew the inside story came over and forced him to drink, and he got very drunk.

After the banquet, Zhang Kun personally escorted Wei Sengteng to his lodgings.

To Zhang Kun's surprise, Wei Sengteng was actually renting a place in a Buddhist temple.

The temple is named Yongning. It was first built in the Northern Wei Dynasty and was then called Guanglin Temple. It was renamed Hongye Temple in the Sui Dynasty and Tianwang Temple in the Tang Dynasty.

Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao Dynasty built a stupa called "Yongning" in the temple.

The Buddhist temple was destroyed in war at the end of the Jin Dynasty, leaving only the Yongning Pagoda. It was rebuilt during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty and renamed Yongning Temple during the Xuande period.

After listening to the monk's story, Zhang Kun waved for the monk to leave and stood alone in front of the pagoda.

Thinking that in two years it would be Sarhu, and in ten years it would be the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Uprising.

The world is about to fall into war again, and peace will be hard to come by. I couldn't help but speak up:

"The name is good, but it can't even protect a single temple, let alone..."

"Does Master Kun think the world is about to descend into chaos?"

After drinking the hangover soup, Wei Sengteng became much more sober. He walked to Zhang Kun's side and asked.

Zhang Kun paused for a moment, remained silent for a while, nodded to Wei Sengteng, and said frankly:

"The dynasty has been established for more than two hundred years. On the surface, it is still very glamorous, but inside it is riddled with problems."

In Liaodong, Nurhaci of the Jurchens claimed the title of Khan, while in Liaoxi, Huduntu Khan of the Tatars raided the border, creating a pincer attack.

When the Mang clan of Yunnan attacked and occupied the Xuanwei Divisions of Mengyang and Mubang, the chieftains in the southwest inevitably became unstable.

The Japanese pirates in Zhejiang and Fujian have been quelled, but there are still pirates from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, as well as the Fulangji people from Ouluoba.

Nowadays, Shandong, Henan, and other inland areas are suffering from disasters year after year, which inevitably leads to unrest.

Although it is not difficult to quell the situation, these inland areas will be weakened and unable to support the border regions, making the situation even worse!

When internal and external troubles combine... peace and tranquility will be hard to come by!

"Impressive, Master Kun has such insight!"

Wei Sengteng was impressed by Zhang Kun's assessment of the political situation and said with admiration:

"My knowledge is far inferior to Master Kun's, but I have traveled all over the country. Life is indeed getting worse day by day."

We all served as soldiers in border towns, and we were all heroes who risked our lives to kill the Tartars for our country!

As a result, not only were military merit rewards denied, but even regular rations and pay were severely reduced! Weapons were also all old and worn out.

They could only become servants under a certain official, and if the official was unfortunately demoted, they would immediately lose their livelihood!

We refused to be thieves, which is why we were sent to the capital garrison, hoping to find you, our good master!

Zhang Kun patted Wei Sengteng on the shoulder, "Don't worry, I will never mistreat your brothers!"

"Those brothers, each with their own personality,"

Wei Sengteng also spoke frankly with Zhang Kun, analyzing the situation point by point:

"Yang Desheng isn't particularly clever, but he's resolute and patient; if he were in the army, he would be the best central army commander..."

After commenting on the skilled fighters, he then addressed the others who were standing beside Zhang Kun:

"Cao Meng, who originally followed Commander Chen, is too impatient, but he is brave and daring. Perhaps he can be trained into a fierce general."

"Xu Xin, I think he lacks assertiveness, but he's very serious about his work, and you can rely on him if you keep him around..."

Finally, when the topic turned to Zuo Liangyu, Wei Sengteng's expression became serious, and he said to Zhang Kun:

"Among those who defected from the Yun Army, I think Zuo Liangyu is the most capable and the most difficult to manage."

He is a very opinionated man and cannot tolerate being wronged. If Master Kun wants to use him, he must keep this in mind.

Zhang Kun nodded in agreement.

That was Zuo Liangyu, a near-first-rate general in the late Ming Dynasty, and the lifelong enemy of Zhang Xianzhong, the Great Western King.

In fact, Zuo Liangyu's private morality was not bad: in the original timeline, he never remarried after his first wife died.

He didn't drink the blood of his soldiers, often shared his money with his subordinates, and even adopted the children of those who died in battle.

While his men indulged in revelry, he remained alone in his tent.

However, Zuo Liangyu had a major "problem": he couldn't stand being wronged and was also daring and audacious.

If they're behind on paying our wages, then we'll just rob them!

If you don't reward them with military merit, be careful in your next life!

Want to get rid of me? Then collude with bandits, raise them to enhance your own power, and become a warlord!

Zhang Kun never expected to draw this SSR card in Linqing, and he was unsure how to deal with Zuo Liangyu.

Currently, there is no bias or special treatment towards Zuo Liangyu; he is treated the same as Yang Desheng, Cao Meng, and others.

Fortunately, Zuo Liangyu and Zhang Kun are the same age, only seventeen this year, still very young, so it's not too difficult for him to handle.

......

Early in the morning, Zhang Kun, who had chatted with Wei Sengteng until late the night before, sat up in bed with a yawn.

Ning Xuan'er brought over a basin of water and helped Zhang Kun wash up and change his clothes.

The kitchen maid had already prepared breakfast: a large bowl of peppered mutton soup noodles, a plate of scrambled eggs with chives, and a small plate of sweet and sour radishes.

Upon arriving at the river works camp in Nanxiawa on horseback, Zhang Kun was somewhat surprised:

Chen Jizong, whom I hadn't seen for many days, was actually here, having arrived even earlier than me.

"Brother Chen, thank you so much for coming!"

Zhang Kun dismounted, walked up to Chen Jizong, and said with a smile:

"Today is the first day of work for our river engineering team. If you weren't here to oversee things, I would be very nervous."

"Brother, there's something I need to tell you."

Chen Jizong pulled Zhang Kun aside and lowered his voice, saying:

"Your fourth brother, Li Cheng, who oversees the horse-breeding warriors and the Four Guards Battalion, suddenly came to me yesterday."

He has already colluded with your 35th brother, the grain supervisor of our river work camp, and they plan to do business in supplies.

They wanted to take me with them, but I made an excuse to decline.

Fuck!

After hearing Chen Jizong's words, Zhang Kun flew into a rage, feeling his blood rushing to his head as if it were about to burst.

Lao Tzu acted as a go-between, facilitating the project of dredging the nine gates of the city moat.

He then personally went south to recruit 5,000 river workers. He finally managed to bring the team back to the capital, but they encountered bandits along the way.

They put in a lot of effort to prepare all kinds of accounts and forms and build the camp well.

The suppliers for the materials have already been selected, and Zhang Kun did not engage in any kickbacks or similar practices in order to ensure the smooth progress of the project.

Li Cheng, what do you mean by suddenly jumping out and trying to win over Zhang Guotai and Chen Jizong to get involved?

Do they think that land speculation isn't profitable enough and want to make an extra buck?

Or is he just trying to seize power and reap the benefits?

"Don't rush."

Seeing that Zhang Kun's expression was off, Chen Jizong quickly suggested:

"Go to Zhangjiawan and find Zhang Neixiang, and see what he means!"

"I'm here at the river engineering camp. It's just starting work; nothing serious will happen."

"Thank you very much, Brother Chen!"

Zhang Kun tried his best to calm himself down and sincerely thanked Chen Jizong:

"I'll leave this place to you, Brother Chen, while I go see my godfather immediately!"

......

Several hours later, at Zhang Ye's private residence in Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou.

Zhang Ye sat at the head of the table, rubbing his temples as he glanced at his two adopted sons out of the corner of his eye.

Li Cheng sat on the left with his legs crossed, looking relaxed, as if he had just come to see his godfather and have a cup of tea.

Zhang Kun stood opposite, his eyes fixed on Li Cheng with a sinister gaze, his right hand resting on the hilt of his goose-feather saber.

"Sixty-six years old,"

After a brief standoff, Li Cheng spoke first, smiling at Zhang Kun:

"Fourth Brother did handle this matter rather hastily, but he also wanted to help you out because you were too busy at the river work camp."

"You're in charge of every aspect of the river works camp, so mistakes are bound to happen. Fourth Brother is doing this for your own good!"