Chapter 75: Future Blueprint

With Zhang Jing's imprisonment, the selection of the Imperial Son-in-law also came to an end.

Feng Bao acted quickly; in just two days, he clarified all of Zhang Jing's crimes and finally presented them to the Emperor, who sentenced Zhang Jing to one hundred strokes of the heavy staff and exile to Nanjing Xiaoling, never to return to the capital for eternity.

His family assets and wealth were all confiscated.

Those bailiffs carrying out the punishment were all shrewd men; knowing Feng Bao's intent, they did not hold back on the one hundred strokes, and after only thirty, Zhang Jing had completely fainted.

It was only because the Emperor showed mercy that seventy strokes were remitted for Zhang Jing.

However, although his death sentence was commuted, he would never be able to straighten his back again.

Besides Zhang Jing being severely punished, the Liang Bangrui family also met a miserable end.

Their family fortune was emptied, and in the end, they were left with nothing.

Zhang Yunxiu did not care about this family at all; if you aren't greedy, how would you invite such disaster? That day, Zhang Yunxiu rose early, and after finishing his usual washing, Zhang Fu paced in and said with great excitement, "Young Master, the shops belonging to Zhang Jing, as well as the shops and land he extorted, have all been transferred to our family name by Han San."

"Mm." Zhang Yunxiu smiled and wiped the water droplets from his hands, then added, "I will be setting sail in a few days, so please take care of matters here in the capital. If there is anything you cannot handle, go find the Fourth Brother and You Qi."

"This servant understands."

Zhang Fu replied respectfully and reminded him, "Zheng Guotai recently obtained the position of a Hundred-Man Commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard and has been clamoring to treat you to a meal. Young Master, will you go or not?"

"I will." Zhang Yunxiu nodded with a smile and said seriously, "Tell him that we have time this evening."

"Yes." Zhang Fu hurriedly noted it down.

"By the way, you should also go check on Xi'er more often," Zhang Yunxiu instructed.

"Young Master, rest assured. Ever since you favored her that day, this servant immediately selected ten maidservants for her, and all the old items in the residence have been replaced with new ones; I would never dare to show the slightest neglect."

"Mm, that is good."

"Young Master, before you set off, won't you go see Miss Xi'er again?"

Zhang Yunxiu hesitated slightly, pondered for a moment, then shook his head and smiled: "Forget it. One cannot spoil a woman too much, otherwise, if she starts clinging to you, she will make it impossible for you to move a single step."

"The Young Master is truly a veteran of the romantic scene; this servant is full of admiration." Zhang Fu chuckled and gave Zhang Yunxiu a thumbs up.

Zhang Yunxiu could not be bothered to continue this idle chatter with him and walked out of the room in a few strides.

In the blink of an eye, it was evening; the golden sun sank in the west, the sunset filled the sky, and the forest birds returning to their nests swept across the sky of Beijing, chirping incessantly.

Located on Fugui Street, the Yilan Pavilion was already brightly lit and filled with guests.

Inside a street-facing private room on the third floor, Zhang Yunxiu and Zheng Guotai sat opposite each other.

Today, Zhang Yunxiu was only wearing a casual bean-green silk round-collared robe, looking refined and scholarly.

Zheng Guotai, however, was dressed in a black round-collared shirt made of gold-threaded fabric, with an imperial-bestowed jade belt hanging at his waist, looking quite like a man of noble status.

But the moment he opened his mouth, he immediately revealed his true colors.

"Brother Zhang, this brother hasn't seen you for a long time. Tell me, you are such a big official, why are you so busy every day that your feet never touch the ground? It would be better to join me and go find a couple of women to play with."

Zhang Yunxiu's face twitched; although he felt disdain in his heart, he offered congratulations with his mouth: "Brother Zheng, having been appointed a Hundred-Man Commander is truly a joyous and congratulatory event. I was busy these past few days and actually forgot about this. Otherwise, even without you saying it, I would have invited you here for a feast."

"I shall punish myself with a cup."

Saying this, Zhang Yunxiu raised his wine cup, tilted his head back, and drank it dry.

"Good, Brother Zhang has a massive capacity for liquor!" Seeing Zhang Yunxiu give him such face, Zheng Guotai slapped the table and shouted, "I just said that Brother Zhang is my noble benefactor; ever since I met you, my family has had good luck one after another. I will also toast Brother Zhang a cup!"

Zheng Guotai picked up the wine pot and paced to Zhang Yunxiu's side. Zhang Yunxiu stood up, raised his cup to clink with him, and then drank it in one gulp.

With two cups of wine down, the two no longer bothered with those tedious formalities and swept through the delicacies on the table.

After three rounds of wine and five courses of food.

A flush appeared on Zheng Guotai's face; he feigned being half-drunk, drafted his thoughts in his mind, and stared at Zhang Yunxiu, asking: "Brother Zhang, I heard you are about to do a big business deal?"

"What big business deal?" Zhang Yunxiu pretended not to know.

"Sigh, don't play riddles with me. I went to have my fortune told last time, and that immortal said my fortune lies on the sea. After I came back, my heart has been like a cat scratching at it; now that you are going to sea, you must take me with you."

"I thought it was something else." Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand and said generously, "I am not going to the open sea this time, just going to Joseon for a turn; it's not a very far place. If you want to go, it's not impossible."

"Joseon? Isn't that a vassal state of the Great Ming?"

"Yes, that is why I didn't notify you, Brother."

Zhang Yunxiu smiled and explained the reason, "My main goal this time is to test these ships to see if they are easy to use. True ocean voyages require sea charts and enough warships."

"How long will that take?"

"Probably three to five years," Zhang Yunxiu thought for a long while before speaking.

It would certainly not take much effort to wander around Japan and Joseon.

There were also many island nations along the Nanhai, such as Luzon (the Philippines), the Malay Peninsula, and Indonesia; these small Southeast Asian islands were geographically blessed because they were close to the Malacca Strait.

When Zheng He went to the Western Oceans, he reached the Indian Ocean from the Malacca Strait.

It is a pity that since Zheng He, the Ming Dynasty never again had a fleet go to the Western Oceans.

However, a great number of the Chinese who followed Zheng He on his voyages to the Western Oceans took root there. Zhang Yunxiu planned that within five years at the latest, he would build a massive fleet and first control the Malacca Strait.

"Three to five years, that's a bit long." Zheng Guotai was somewhat impatient.

"It's not long; we are just getting started. Just building ships while acquiring warships takes time. Not to mention that Eunuch Zheng's sea charts have been lost, and we have to send people to scout the route while finding guides." Zhang Yunxiu rolled his eyes at Zheng Guotai, feeling quite speechless.

Do you think sailing is child's play? Without a sea chart, wandering around on the ocean is just playing with your own life.

In any case, he would absolutely not step one foot out of Asia until the shipping routes were developed.

It would not be too late for him to set off once his men had opened up the routes.

Zheng Guotai did not understand these ways; his mind was now filled with Li Banxian's words, so he urged: "Then Brother Zhang, you must be quick. If we are slow and the treasures on the sea are snatched up by others, then I will have suffered a huge loss."

"Don't worry, you can't snatch them all. Even if you let them snatch the treasures on the sea without stopping for five hundred years, they wouldn't be able to finish them."

"Really?"

"Truer than real gold!" Zhang Yunxiu patted his chest to guarantee.

"Brother Zhang." Zheng Guotai's eyes lit up; he picked up the wine pot to fill his own cup and poured another for Zhang Yunxiu, "Then my future glory and wealth will depend on you."

"Brother Zheng is too polite." Zhang Yunxiu took the cup, the two clinked them together, and tilted their heads back to drink it dry.

(End of this chapter)