my brother-in-law is the prince

chapter 144

Wang Ning's face was miserable.

I just feel that at this time, all the eyes looking at him are gloomy, and the bell in the swaying Taoist's hand is really urging his life.

Soon, under the persuasion of his father and son, he entered the side room.

The location was well chosen. If it was a place like the main hall or the bedroom, it would inevitably leave a horrible impression on his descendants, and it would look unlucky.

As for the chaifang and other places, they are too petty, and they are still sons-in-law, so they cannot lower their status.

Only this small hall is not considered to have lost its status, and it will not be a threat to his descendants.

The white silk was ready, it was the finest silk and satin, and Wang Ning's second son thoughtfully hung the white silk on the beam.

After a stick of incense, Wang Ning dangled on the beam, and the old lady Wang went in with her two grandchildren in tears to check the situation.

The eldest grandson Wang Su immediately started to cry, and wanted to hug Wang Ning from the beam.

But Wang Taigong stopped him and said: "Just wait a little longer, I'm afraid I'm not dead."

So he waited patiently for another stick of incense to make sure that he couldn't die any more.

At that moment, the three grandparents let go and started to cry loudly.

Hundreds of people outside the hall, including Wang Ning's daughter-in-law, family members, and servants, like conditioned reflexes, after a long silence, suddenly cried out together, and the crying shook the sky and the rubble.

The Taoist priests circled around the outside of the hall, sometimes chanting words, sometimes jumping, with bells in their hands ringing.

The filial sons and filial grandsons were all in grief, almost crying to death, and they buried Wang Ning's body together.

Because the preparations were adequate, the mourning hall was also properly arranged. When the coffin entered the mourning hall, countless people poured in, and there was a lot of crying. The whole house was filled with paper money flying around, ghosts crying and gods howling. It was a sad and lively scene.

……

"Your Majesty..." Yi Shiha tiptoed into the small hall, bowed to Zhu Di and said, "The Wang family has received news that Wang Ning has died."

Holding the memorial in his hand, Zhu Di looked up at Yi Shiha lightly, "I'm sorry for my sister..."

After speaking, he paused, and then said again: "The Ministry of Rites will send ministers to offer sacrifices."

Yi Shiha said, "Here."

Zhu Di put his hands on the imperial case: "How did you die?"

Yi Shiha said: "Say he hanged himself."

Zhu Di shook his head and said, "It's okay to keep the whole body, it's because of his past achievements."

After that, he didn't ask about this matter again, as if this matter never happened.

He closed his eyes, his mind was on the business affairs.

The size of the firm is no longer small.

According to Zhang Anshi, if he relies on the capital to make money, sooner or later he will be exhausted, and all the fry will be caught in one go.

Therefore, external expansion is a top priority!
If not, the commercial bank will not be able to break through the bottleneck, and the profits will not be guaranteed.

In fact, Zhu Di doesn't understand the operation of commercial banks, but he also understands the principle that things must go against each other.

From this point of view, future profits will fall on Zhu Gaoxu.

He thought for a moment, then suddenly picked up the ink pen, and wrote a note: "Order Zhu Gaoxu to lead the four guards of the Han King, and join the Model Camp together, and enter Annan first."

Then, he handed the piece to Yi Shiha: "Send this to Zhu Gaoxu."

Yi Shiha only glanced at it, as if he understood in his heart that now the imperial court is marching into Annan, there are two groups of troops, one is the military horses of the Mu family in Yunnan and Guizhou, and the other is the imperial army in the middle of the court led by Zhu Neng.

Now another Zhu Gaoxu has been added.

Zhu Di thought for a while, and then explained: "Zhu Gaoxu's four guards don't need the court to be responsible for money and food, and the merchants are responsible for raising all supplies."

After a pause, Zhu Di said again: "Teach them to work hard in every way. Whoever enters Annan first will own this land."

Yi Shiha couldn't help crying and laughing, but nodded and said: "Your maid obeys the order."

After receiving the note, he hurried to do things for Zhu Di.

Zhu Di picked up another memorial in his hand, looked at it carefully, but his face became serious.

"Minister Songjiang prefect played: Songjiang epidemic, Huating, Fengxian, and Jinshan counties have many monks and lay people suffering from plague, and the dead are sleeping on their pillows, especially in Qingpu County, half of the people died..."

Zhu Di was shocked, and immediately took another memorial, which was sent by Taicang Prefecture, and it was actually about the plague.

However, it is clear that Songjiang Mansion is the center of the plague. The plague has only slightly spread to the neighboring Taicang Prefecture, but there are also many patients in Taicang Prefecture.

Immediately afterwards...Suzhou Mansion again...

The so-called catastrophe must be followed by a catastrophe.

Regarding this situation, Zhu Di had already sent someone to understand the situation of the plague.

But judging from the facts, it seems that... what should happen still happened.

The situation in Songjiang Prefecture is the most dire, followed by Taicang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture.

If it is allowed to spread, it may even...appear in various states and counties in the south of the Yangtze River.

The whole of Nanzhili, and even the city of Nanjing...

Zhu Di's brows were deeply wrinkled, his face was as dark as ink, and a look of worry appeared in his eyes.

In the army, he knew the horror of the plague the most. After all, a plague in the army caused more casualties and casualties than a protracted and fierce battle.

Not only that, once the plague spreads, the entire prosperous Jiangnan, even including the capital city, will be littered with corpses.

Zhu Di didn't hesitate much, and immediately said: "Come here, come here, hurry up and order the Grand Master of Wenyuan Pavilion, and the ministers of all ministries will have an audience, hurry up!"

At this time, Zhu Di no longer cared about the business.

Money can be made again.

But if life is gone, everything is really empty.

…………

Zhang Anshi received a note here, which is actually the emperor's order.

Zhang Anshi was very excited.

He originally wanted to start with Myanmar bitterly, but who knew that His Majesty was so crazy about money that he actually wanted to operate in Annan.

Annan's land is fertile, and most of it is along the coast. Once a piece of land is won, it will definitely be earned with blood.

You know, that place... the rice is three-cooked.

And if Annan is used as a springboard, it will be more convenient to infiltrate the entire West in the future.

So he immediately asked someone to summon the Model Camp and Zhu Gaoxu, and the brothers made a careful discussion and decided to send troops immediately without hesitation.

Zhang Anshi said: "Don't worry about the food, we have tried our best to buy it. All the ordnance, the Zaozao...we bought it at a high price. There are already some reserves on the gunpowder side. All in all, we are in a hurry now, and we cannot let Cheng Duke Guo and General Zhang Fu took the lead."

"I mobilized all the boats and boats to support this operation. Fortunately, we have a lot of boats in the shipping industry. As long as you are willing to give money, people, food, and other supplies, you can pass through Jiangxi along the river, and then from Jiangxi, Transfer to Guangxi! At that time, it will be entirely up to you."

Zhu Gaoxu sharpened his knife, and said in a full-fledged manner: "Very well, I am full of sulking, and I want to find someone to vent my anger!"

Zhang Anshi said: "Then the fifth brother is the commander, he has experience, Zhu Yong is the deputy, Zhang Fu and Qiu Song are assisted, and Gu Xingzu is in charge of logistics and teaching."

Zhu Jin also came to the meeting.

When he came, he was about to suffocate.

A gathering of heroes.

These are all the princes, relatives, and future ministers of Daming.

Everyone here is someone I look up to!I didn't expect that I, Zhu Jin, would be here today. I'm afraid that if I tell this story, people won't believe it.

Zhang Anshi looked at the excited Zhu Jin and said, "I have to transfer at least half of the ships from the shipping industry. In addition, I have prepared mules, horses, grain, ordnance, and tung oil. I want as much as I want."

Zhu Jin suddenly put away his excitement and was taken aback.

This is close to 5 horses, and the cost is astonishing to be responsible for such a huge supply.

Although there is money in the account now, it is far from being as simple as directly supplying a large-scale war.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Anshi said again: "Don't be reluctant to part with the money. You must buy the best in everything. The speed of soldiers is precious. I ask the entire army to be turned into mules and horses."

"What does it mean to turn into a mule?" Zhu Gaoxu was the first to ask.

Zhang Anshidao: "It is to ensure that all the supplies, all the personnel, are equipped with horses and chariots, and they are also transported by mules and horses."

Zhu Gaoxu said in amazement: "How much will it cost?"

"Is it your consideration to spend money?" Zhang Anshi said: "You can just think about how to win Annan for us. You must not let Duke Cheng and General Zhang Fu take the lead and let them succeed."

Zhu Gaoxu was breathing heavily.

In the battle of Jingnan, if the beggar turned over.

So what we are fighting now is really a battle of wealth.He felt that he would be ashamed to live if the birds like Cheng Guogong and Zhang Fu competed for the lead.

"Brother has an order, I will carry it out, and I will go to gather the army and horses."

At this moment, Zhang Anshi looked back at Zhu Yong and the others: "Don't talk about affection with your father and brother. This involves our brothers' livelihood. The Heavenly King Lao Tzu is here, and there is no affection to talk about."

Zhu Yong only felt his blood boil, and he yelled: "Brother, my father doesn't know how to flatter me, so I will teach him as usual."

Zhang Anshi patted him on the shoulder, stared at him appreciatively and said, "Good brother."

At the moment, after the arrangement, whether it is Zhu Gaoxu or Zhu Yong, everyone is gearing up.

Only Zhu Jin drooped his head, he had to calculate how much it would cost.

Obviously, the loss of materials required this time is astronomical.

After all, the imperial court can recruit men, and the treasury allocates money and food.

But for the 5 people in the firm, all the losses and losses have to be bought with their own money.

Finally, after busy work, Zhu Jin quickly came to Zhang Anshi again and said, "Uncle, there is bad news and good news."

Zhang Anshi said: "I only listen to good news."

Zhu Jinbian said without further ado: "The good news is that these days, we sucked up the money of many gentry, so they are selling their grain now, plus... a lot of land in our major banks, There are also some income, such as food and tung oil, these basic needs can be purchased at a reasonable price."

Zhang Anshi nodded and said, "That's great. I'm afraid that in a large-scale acquisition, some people will hoard goods, causing the price of rice and horses to rise."

Zhu Jin smiled wryly and said, "Don't dare now. The tung oil incident has just passed, and so many people have lost their fortunes. Now even if someone has such a wicked heart, I'm afraid they won't have the guts to do so!"

"However...we mobilized so many boats, the wages of the boatmen, and other manpower, I am afraid that the cost is not small. If you calculate the small ones carefully, I am afraid that the cost will be around 100 million taels of silver. "

"It's only 100 million taels?" Zhang Anshi said in surprise, "Even if it's split up, this soldier is only 20 taels of silver? Who are you looking down on?"

In fact, this number is already considered very high. During the reign of Emperor Gaozu, he was diligent and thrifty, and all the guards were dispatched to support themselves, which can minimize the cost of war. A war may cost the cost of a soldier. , spread out evenly, it is only seven or eight taels of silver.

It can be said that Emperor Taizu Gao gave full play to the frugality of the old peasants.

However, Zhang Anshi's thinking is different. What he believes in is always high investment and high return.

What is the reason for living frugally in war?

Zhang Anshi directly said proudly: "Prepare 300 million taels of silver! If 300 million taels is not enough, you can continue to add more, allocate all the funds available on our books, and give me the support of the four guards and the military horses of the model battalion. Don't always Thinking of saving money, the account is not calculated like this."

Zhu Jin was taken aback.

These days, isn't it all the money that has been worked so hard to fool the gentry?

Zhu Jin hesitated and said: "This... If something goes wrong, it will be nothing."

Zhang Anshi laughed mockingly and said: "Nothing to lose? We lose nothing when we lose. So we can only have one choice, how to win, don't let the soldiers eat and drink enough, don't let them have enough energy, don't Give them enough supplies, but don't provide them with the best firearms and ordnance, why should people work their lives?"

"You people who are in business know how to care about every detail. At this time, is it time to care about money? These are not things you consider, you have to consider... how to mobilize all the gold, silver and resources we can use to support the four Weihe Model Camp."

Zhu Jin thought for a while, although he couldn't understand Zhang Anshi's concept of spending money like water, but for him, anyway, he just needs to be obedient.

You know, he has been with Zhang Anshi for so long, and he has seen a lot of Zhang Anshi's ability, so he is very convinced of Zhang Anshi.

So, he said: "Okay, the villain will definitely live up to my uncle's expectations."

…………

The army pulls out.

When the four guards of Han Wang Tiance saw Zhu Gaoxu, all of them were refreshed.

When Zhu Gaoxu was convicted, the four guards fell into an unprecedented panic. No one knew whether Zhu Gaoxu's incident would implicate them. In addition, without Zhu Gaoxu's big backer, the future of the ups and downs in the future All slim.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu appearing alive and kicking in front of them now, how could it not cheer them up.

The generals were summoned, but Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything, just said to his face: "Prepare one day, leave the camp at this time tomorrow, and go to Annan immediately! Everyone... put on the military flag of the firm, and everything else remains the same. This time the model camp is the forerunner." .”

The words were left lightly, but all the military officers up and down were still excited.

As long as Zhu Gaoxu is still alive, they still have hope.

As for where to go, this is not important.

No matter what Zhu Gaoxu does, he will never forget everyone, anyway, as long as he follows him hard.

At the moment, the four-guard camp is extremely lively, and everyone is packing up.

And in Brother Ships, a large number of ships began to be transferred.

The leading men and horses have also started to set off, and they have to arrive at various docks in advance to adjust the shipping of various places.

A large number of boatmen were recruited, but fortunately, they were all their own boats, and the boatmen's salaries remained the same, and they even promised some subsidies for leaving home.

On the other hand, a large amount of grain and medicines began to be purchased, and many grain merchants were directly summoned.Zhu Jin personally came forward and set a price, and those who were willing to sell would be delivered immediately.

Now a large number of gentry sell a lot of grain to the market because they need funds. You must know that these grain merchants have a lot of grain in their hands.

As for taking advantage of this opportunity to hoard goods, if there is no such thing as tung oil, perhaps some grain merchants will secretly unite to operate one or two.

But with this lesson learned from the past, plus Zhu Jin has faintly begun to emerge in the business world, everyone knows that his background is extraordinary, and anyone who dares to fight against him at this time is probably looking for death.

As a result, large quantities of grain, food, medicine, and in addition, many ordnance, and gunpowder were loaded on board.

Zhu Jin's action is still very fast, mainly due to his confidence. In addition, these days, he has recruited a lot of capable talents. Everyone knows that working for a firm will not lose their own benefits. The future is promising, so they are all willing Desperately.

Everyone was very busy, but Zhang Anshi became more relaxed.

After all, there are people like Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Yong in the military, and Zhu Jin and Gu Xingzu in the logistics supply.

Instead he found himself with nothing to do.

When I had time, I went to the East Palace excitedly.

He was going to find his sister in the dormitory of Crown Princess Zhang, but outside the dormitory, he saw Zhu Zhanji sitting on the steps with his head drooping in a daze.

Zhang Anshi went up and touched his head, but he still looked sullen.

Zhang Anshi then said: "Dear and dear nephew Zhanji, if you have something on your mind, please tell uncle."

Zhu Zhanji raised his head, glanced at Zhang Anshi, and sighed, "Uncle, why did my father and you plead for him when my second uncle made a mistake? I thought it would be fun to watch."

Zhang Anshi patted his head, and said patiently: "Because he is your relative, why don't you always see your relatives well? Zhanji, Zhanji, outsiders and relatives are different. No matter what mistakes your relatives make, It's also connected with your blood!"

"If you think like this, what's the big deal? Will you kill uncle because of something wrong with your uncle in the future?"

Zhu Zhanji tilted his head and said, "But... shouldn't there be right and wrong?"

Zhang Anshi said: "Right or wrong depends on who it is used on. People need to be flexible. Have you been taught badly by your masters again? Don't listen to them."

Zhu Zhanji pouted, thought for a while and said, "Then let's leave it at that?"

Zhang Anshi said: "Your second uncle is just trying to plot something wrong, what kind of big mistake is it? Oh, I advise you to be generous, you should learn more from your brother-in-law."

Zhu Zhanji felt that something was wrong, but with his small head, he seemed unable to refute Uncle. Anyway, what Uncle said seemed to make sense.

So, I had to droop my head and say: "I'm very angry, I want to eat popsicles."

Zhang Anshi rolled his eyes at him: "Go and tell your sister yourself."

Zhu Zhanji said with a bitter face: "I dare not say."

Zhang Anshi said: "That's it. You didn't dare to do it yourself, but you told me what to do? Zhanji, Uncle is doing it for your own good. I looked at Uncle and worried about you."

Zhu Zhanji blinked: "Accounting for the interest, Uncle owes me eight popsicles."

Zhang Anshi patted him on the head: "I won't talk to you anymore, I'm going to talk to sister."

After finishing speaking, he walked quickly into the bedroom.

At this time, Mrs. Zhang was writing with a pen in front of the desk.

Zhang Anshi approached lightly, and said, "What are you writing, sister?"

"Must Buddhist scriptures." Mrs. Zhang continued waving her pen without looking up.

Apparently someone had already come in to inform her just now, so she wasn't surprised by Zhang Anshi's appearance at all.

On the contrary, Zhang Anshi was surprised and said: "Buddhist scriptures? I am familiar with this. I have a friend who is an eminent monk. If I say hello to him, he can silently recite a hundred chapters. Does my sister know the blood scriptures? It is made with the blood of an eminent monk. Making ink and transcribing Buddhist scriptures are more advanced things, and my friend can also do it, but it is a bit expensive."

Mrs. Zhang said: "This thing can't be faked by others. It's only with a sincere heart."

As she spoke, she finally raised her head and said, "Who is that friend you're talking about?"

Zhang Anshi said vaguely: "This...it's hard to say, he doesn't like to show his face, after all, he is an eminent monk."

Mrs. Zhang didn't ask further: "Okay, okay, I'm going to copy the Buddhist scriptures and send them to the bright hall in the palace to show to the queen mother. I don't have time to talk to you now, so go play with Zhanji."

Zhang Anshi said very sadly: "Zhanji is always jealous of my uncle, I'm afraid that if I'm with him, he'll pick me up again."

Mrs. Zhang said with a sweet smile: "You are about to start a family and start a business, but you are still angry with your child. He hasn't spoken ill of you in front of me recently, so don't worry."

Zhang Anshi let out a sigh of relief, and said, "Sister, why did you suddenly transcribe Buddhist scriptures?"

"You don't know about this?" Mrs. Zhang looked at Zhang Anshi in amazement, and then said, "There is a great epidemic in Songjiang Mansion, and many people have died. The emperor was also shocked. How did you know that Songjiang Mansion had no knowledge of it before?" I didn't realize it, and waited until the epidemic spread in all directions, so I was in a hurry to report!"

"Nowadays, not to mention the Songjiang Mansion, even the Suzhou Mansion and Taicang Prefecture have already had patients. Now the whole court is in chaos. Who knows how far it will spread, let alone how many?" If something happens to someone, I'm afraid it won't last long, and they may come to Nanjing City."

After finishing speaking, Mrs. Zhang sighed quietly, and said: "Not to mention the emperor's side, the queen mother's side is also very worried. Last year, there was a flood, and this year there was a severe epidemic. I don't know how many people will suffer. So the queen mother copied Buddhist scriptures in the palace. I thought, as a daughter-in-law, I can't be idle..."

Zhang Anshi said: "What's the use of copying Buddhist scriptures at this time?"

Mrs. Zhang said: "Don't talk nonsense. There are some things... I would rather believe in something than in nothing. Maybe the mother's sincerity has touched the heavens? After all, God has the virtue of good life, and it is good to teach this disaster to pass. You, Sometimes sensible, sometimes confused."

Of course Zhang Anshi knew that in ancient times, this pandemic was terrible!
Not to mention the records in the history books that corpses are strewn all over the fields, even the royal family, with such favorable conditions, would still kill many people.

It's no wonder that Sister, who is usually disrespectful to the Buddha, is now holding on to the Buddha's feet.

Zhang Anshi said: "What is the disease and what are the symptoms?"

"A great epidemic is a great epidemic..." Mrs. Zhang said, "What are you... asking about this?"

But Zhang Anshi turned around and ran away, and said: "Sister, you know a bird... goodbye..."

Hearing this, Mrs. Zhang was very angry, her face was gloomy, but Zhang Anshi ran fast and disappeared in a whoosh.

As a result, Zhang's eyebrows were slightly frowned, and her heart was in a state of confusion. With a flick of the pen in her hand, drops of ink spread out on the hand-copied Buddhist scriptures and became a blur.

"Come on, come on, he dares to come next time, don't let him get away easily!"

"Yes, ma'am."

…………

The news of the great epidemic has not yet reached the capital, but someone has already heard the news in advance.

Many people became terrified.

The past few years have been relatively peaceful, but many elderly people still have memories of the tragedy after the outbreak of the epidemic.

Zhu Di met various ministers almost round after round.

The prince Zhu Gaochi stayed in the palace almost all night at this time, preparing for possible situations at any time.

People always have a different kind of fear of the unknown.

Even a murderous person like Zhu Di couldn't help but feel palpitations.

Because right now his enemies are invisible, and no one even knows what is going on with this so-called great epidemic.

And it's in Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture.

In a Zhuangzi, the sedan chair of the local magistrate Liu Sheng has arrived.

The epidemic in Huating County is the most serious.

The county magistrate Liu Sheng was in a state of desperation. He was lucky and did not get sick for the time being, but six people in the county had already died. In addition to those who were sick at home, the number of assistant officials and servants in the county had been reduced by half.

Coupled with the current prevalence of epidemics, the entire county has become a purgatory.

He was already scared out of his wits, yet trembling, watching one bad report after another, Liu Sheng was helpless.

In the past few days, he has been sleepless, trying his best to contact the local gentry to discuss countermeasures, and to seek medical treatment everywhere, but unfortunately...many of the famous doctors in the county who wanted to be called were all ill.

The remaining few have all kinds of prescriptions, but they are not very useful.

At this moment, Liu Sheng heard a piece of news... In a Zhuangzi in Huating County, no one was infected with the epidemic.

There are more than 400 people in Zhuangzi, but they are all intact.

It is said that he is a scholar who has found a countermeasure.

Scholar...

Hearing this, Liu Sheng felt unbelievable, because rumors of various ghosts and ghosts are everywhere recently, but after people investigate, they are all kinds of stories made up by people under panic.

Therefore, he first asked the guards to find out the truth, but... he found out that it was actually true.

Immediately, County Magistrate Liu was overjoyed, but worried that the situation might not be true, so he rushed to the village in a hurry.

And I want to see how the Zhuangzi is doing, and see this great scholar again.

If... there is really a countermeasure...then...then...there are countless living people and a great merit.

Even... this scholar...is truly a model of Shilin.

(End of this chapter)