My eunuch godfather

Chapter 17 Returning Home in Glory

Zhang Kun was unaware that Sun Jing, having finished arranging the funerals for his son and the team members, was on his way to Hejian with his daughter.

The river engineering battalion has already recruited 800 people, and the remaining 200 slots were reserved by Zhang Kun for his hometown of Xinzhuang.

Zhang Kun then mustered the four best-trained teams of 200 men from the Jiazi Battalion and headed out of the city to Xinzhuang.

It serves both as a training exercise and as a ceremonial guard to enhance the morale and prestige of the troops.

The guerrillas in Hejian have earned a lot of merit and money these days by capturing the bandits' informants and raiding their hideouts.

Zhang Kun was thus able to purchase a batch of "cloth armor" without armor plates, or rather, cloth clothing, from the guerrilla camp at a low price.

The workers did some simple repairs and put them on the four teams, and each person was also given a waist knife. They looked quite presentable from the outside.

The Ming Dynasty's weapons ban was much more lenient than that of previous dynasties. Due to the great development of firearms, even crossbows were not prohibited, let alone carrying swords.

As Zhang Kun approached Xinzhuang, more of the original owner's memories flooded back:

The cheap old man was not a local of Hejian; he was a salt worker at the Binle Salt Bureau in Shandong.

Just then, Zhang Juzheng extended the Single Whip Law from Southern Zhili and the southern provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian to the whole country.

The Single Whip Law is both complex and simple; it can be simply understood as "merging various taxes," taking household registration as an example:

In the past, salt-producing households enjoyed many exemptions from miscellaneous duties compared to ordinary households, because salt-producing households had to pay salt taxes.

Compared to the land owned by ordinary households, the land owned by salt-producing households was subject to lower taxes because the salt-producing land was mostly saline-alkali soil with very little harvest.

However, after the Single Whip Law was implemented, the taxes and corvée labor of salt-producing households and ordinary households were merged, resulting in a significant increase in the tax burden of salt-producing households.

Unable to bear the burden, the cheap old man rallied dozens of households, killed the salt soldiers, and fled, eventually reaching Xinzhuang in Hejian County.

He's a real man.

After that, the cheap father went to the cheap mother's house and became a live-in son-in-law, working in the Wang family's carpentry shop.

After the cheap father died from injuries sustained while hunting a man-eating tiger, the Wang family treated the original owner of the body very well.

However, many neighbors, especially some teenagers of the same age, often ridiculed and even insulted the original owner of the body whose father had died and whose mother had remarried.

"Your mother doesn't want you anymore!" "Your father's grave is three feet high, your mother's sleeping on someone else's bed!" "You bastard, born of a mother but raised without one!"

I wouldn't dare bully them, since my adoptive parents have excellent genes, and the Wang family raised the original owner of the body to be very strong.

The original owner of the body was provoked by these gossips and insisted on going to the city to start her own household, and the result was...

I, Zhang Kun, am back! And I've even found a eunuch godfather!

"The soldiers are coming!" "Quickly pack up your stall!" "Wife, go back inside and hide!"

Suddenly, an "army" arrived in Xinzhuang, startling the market vendors into a panic.

The yamen runners sent by the Hejian County government to Xinzhuang were pushed out by the people of the town and came to the crossroads to greet them with trepidation.

When the other party approached, the constable knelt down with a thud and respectfully said:

"This humble servant greets you, sir. I have no idea what your name is..."

"Hey, isn't this Uncle Hu from Zhuangdong?"

Sitting atop his horse, Zhang Kun looked down at the constable with his rear end sticking out and said with a smile:

"Uncle Hu, there's no need for such formalities. I am Zhang Kun from the Zhang family of Zhuangxi!"

Hu Si couldn't remember who Zhang Kun was for a moment, and knelt on the ground, too afraid to get up. Zhang Kun smiled and reminded him:

"The one raised in the Zhuangxi Wang family, the bastard child your son used to call fatherless."

"Fourth Uncle was wrong! It's Fourth Uncle's fault for not disciplining the family properly; Fourth Uncle failed to control the little beast in the house!"

Hu Si still couldn't remember, but upon hearing Zhang Kun's words, he was greatly alarmed and immediately kowtowed repeatedly, saying:

"Your fourth uncle kowtows to you. Your fourth uncle will beat that little beast to death when he gets home!"

He kowtowed very hard, thump thump thump thump, and in just a few kowtows, his forehead was covered in blood and flesh.

Zhang Kun waited until Hu Si was almost unconscious from kowtowing before signaling Xu Xin to stop him, and smiled slightly:

"He was just a child then, and children don't know any better. The beatings were too severe; a hundred lashes would have been enough."

Having said that, he abandoned Hu Si and rode forward.

Behind them, squads of "soldiers" followed them across the intersection and headed towards the market.

Hu Si's henchmen mustered their courage and nervously approached, helping Hu Si up as he said urgently:

"Quickly bring that little bastard of mine here, I want to beat him myself!"

The Wang family of Zhuangxi.

Zhang Kun's adoptive maternal grandfather, Wang Liangdong, was using a lathe to process a piece of wood into a table leg.

The neighbors rushed to the courtyard gate and shouted to Wang Liangdong, "Master Wang, your son is back!"

Wang Liangdong assumed it was his grandson studying in the city and, without even turning his head, said to the neighbor:

"Qi'er is back, so what's all the fuss about?"

"He's not your grandson, he's your grandson-in-law! Your grandson-in-law is back!"

Wang Liangdong was stunned for a moment, then, realizing what was happening, he immediately dropped what he was doing, rushed to the courtyard gate, and said urgently:

"Kun'er is back! Where is she?!"

"At the crossroads north of Zhuang, there were also many soldiers..."

Before the neighbors could finish speaking, the faint sound of rapid hoofbeats could be heard in the distance.

A moment later, Zhang Kun appeared with more than twenty riders, followed by countless infantrymen.

Although it had only been a few years, Zhang Kun's demeanor had changed drastically, and Wang Liangdong almost didn't recognize him at first, saying in a trembling voice:

"Kun, Kun'er?"

"Grandpa, Kun'er is back!"

Zhang Kun dismounted, took a few quick steps, and knelt down in front of Wang Liangdong. Xu Xin also knelt down on one knee.

There was also Yang Desheng, and Cao Meng, an impatient servant; both of them had already joined Zhang Kun's ranks.

Wang Liangdong was somewhat at a loss. He wanted to step forward to help his grandson up, but he couldn't move his feet. His eyes reddened as he said:

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back..."

Back then, the original owner of Zhang Kun's body ran away to the city to start his own business, and soon disappeared without a trace, with no news of him for several years.

Wang Liangdong thought his grandson had met with an accident and he and his wife had secretly cried several times.

Zhang Kun kowtowed three times deeply, stood up, and helped Wang Liangdong into the courtyard, explaining as they walked:

"Grandpa, I am currently serving as an official in the capital, as the supervisor of the river works camp.

The river works camp is recruiting workers in Hejian. I've gotten this job and I've come back to see you!

He didn't dare say that he was a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The people of the capital knew that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had officers who investigated cases, caught thieves, managed streets, and oversaw ditches.

There were also craftsmen, painters, elephant keepers... The overall impression wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.

People from other places, far from the capital, could only rely on hearsay and rumors.

Many of them were gentry who had been to the capital, and the gentry certainly didn't have many good words for the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Good, good! Kun'er is promising, very promising indeed!"

Wang Liangdong's mind had calmed down. He looked at Zhang Kun's fine armor and grinned.

He reached out to touch Zhang Kun's shoulder, but found his hand covered in sawdust, so he quickly withdrew it and rubbed it off.

He turned his head and shouted loudly into the inner room, "Old woman, Kun'er is back!"

"Kun'er is back!?"

Upon hearing Wang Liangdong's words, Zhang Kun's grandmother quickly ran out from the inner room. Seeing her grandson, she instantly burst into tears.

"Grandma, I'm home!"

Zhang Kun knelt down before his grandmother again and kowtowed three times heavily.

Wang Liangdong smiled and instructed the apprentices who were huddled in the corner, looking bewildered:

"Go quickly and call your senior brother back. Tell him his nephew is back, and also..."

At this point, Wang Liangdong's smile suddenly froze, and he turned to look at Zhang Kun.

Zhang Kun smiled and instructed his grandfather's apprentices, "Please invite my mother back as well."