Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 374 Zhang He Returns
Regarding the problem of food and grass, even though Zhu Su was familiar with ancient and modern times, Zhu Di was growing up day by day, and he had a courageous general like Zhang Dingbian and an upright civil official like Ru Taisu, he was helpless.After all, Zhu Su doesn't have a system, it's impossible for a sudden ding in his mind, and then a pile of wheat potatoes appear out of thin air, isn't it?

If this was the case, I'm afraid he would have been caught and sliced ​​up by the suspicious old Zhu as a monster who took away his own son.

Fortunately, three days later, good news came from Qian'an County in the south: several sea-going ships bearing the flag of the Ming army appeared in Qian'an's long-abandoned port.Then another wave of messengers came to report: This fleet is the Ming army led by Zhang He, going south to raise rations!
Everyone in the camp was overjoyed.Zhu Su even directly left Zhu Di to sit in the camp, and he rushed to the south to meet Zhang He himself.Zhang He also knew that time was precious, so he didn't rest up after landing, and directly led his people to Changli.Not long after Zhu Su brought his talents into the north gate of Changli, Zhang He also entered the city from the south gate at almost the same time.

"The last general, Zhang He, has met His Highness! Your Highness has been waiting for a long time! Fortunately, the last general did not miss a major event!" When Zhang He was on the road, he had already heard about the advanced situation, and he saluted after seeing Zhu Su.

"Not long, not long!" Zhu Su quickly helped Zhang He up.In all fairness, Zhang He was already very fast. Although Yuan Ting had passed the shipping channel before, it was the first time for Daming to go. Zhang He didn't have a chart in his hand, so it could be said that he opened up a new route from scratch.

Not to mention that when he left, the original boat to Liaodong was destroyed. Zhang He didn't have a big enough boat at that time.

If he was not Zhang He, and had witnessed his ability to successfully lead the fleet from a fatal situation to safety in a storm, Zhu Su would never have thought of letting him transport military supplies temporarily by land and sea.

After asking Zhang He how the situation was along the way, he realized that Zhang He's trip was full of twists and turns.After he arrived in Qian'an, he temporarily requisitioned private ships and ventured across the sea to Leling. After borrowing a large ship from the Ming army in Leling, he borrowed enough ships from the Donghai Qianhu Office in charge of coastal defense. , and then return to Suzhou all the way by sea.

According to Zhu Su's order, after Zhu Su's old Suzhou prefect Wei Guan, Suzhou Wei, and Taicang Wei helped to raise enough food and grass, they rushed here with the boat.Finally managed to return to Changli before Zhu Su and others ran out of food.

"General Zhang has worked hard." Zhu Su sighed sincerely.Although Zhang He said it was easy, Zhu Su could guess the hardships and difficulties involved.He, Zhang He, is only the deputy commander of the Fuzhou Guard, and he has never met the Ming army in Leling, Donghai and other places. How could these people borrow warships so easily?Even if he took out Zhu Su's token, it must be known that most of the vassal kings in the imperial court were young at this time, and no one had yet held important powers.These arrogant soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, it's hard to say whether they will give him face as the Fifth Prince.

Didn't see Gong Changhou Guo Xing and others, so he never paid attention to himself, the so-called prince?Zhang He must have received a lot of supercilious glances along the way, and maybe even had conflicts.Not to mention how difficult this journey is at sea, it must be extremely dangerous.

I just expected that my reputation might not be good, so I asked Zhang He to go to Suzhou to adjust the grain.After all, the top leaders of both the military and government in Suzhou have old relationships with him, so they are relatively easy to talk to.If you go to other places to ask for food, if the official in charge refuses to report to Ming Jingzhong first, then everything will be over.

"By the way, Your Highness. This time, the last general brought three people with him." Zhang He suddenly remembered something. "These three people said that they are all old acquaintances of His Highness. Without their help, it would be absolutely impossible to raise such a huge amount of food and grass in a short period of time."

"Huh?" Zhu Su was taken aback, but also curious. "Who is it? Let them come and see."

Sure enough, three people from Shaoqing were brought in by Zhang He's subordinates. When the three of them saw Zhu Su, they all accepted their heads and bowed: "Caomin Yang Lu (Shen Sen, Zhao Yunyan), I have seen His Highness Fifth!"

"Commander Yang?" Zhu Su was shocked when he saw that the person in charge was actually Yang Lu.At this time, Yang Lu was dressed as a businessman, his back was bent, and he was no longer the high-spirited look he had when he was the commander of the Suzhou Guard.Hearing Zhu Su calling him, he quickly bent down and said with a flattering smile: "The villain is no longer a commander. Now the villain is just an ordinary commoner in Suzhou City. Your Highness can just call the villain by his humble name."

"Uh...Yang Lu." Zhu Su collected himself. "You were dismissed? How did you become what you are today?"

After listening to Yang Lu's narration, Zhu Su understood the cause and effect.Although Yang Lu is incompetent and has something to do with Zhang Chen Yuxie, Zhu Su originally thought that Yang Lu didn't do it on purpose, and because he cooperated very well when he was in Suzhou, he wanted to cover up one thing or two for Yang Lu.

But Zhu Su's failure to report to the Beijing Central Committee does not mean that the affairs of the world can be hidden from Lao Zhu's eyes and ears.Without Zhu Su's permission, Jin Yiwei reported Yang Lu's situation to Ying Tian.When Old Zhu heard this, he was furious and wanted to kill Yang Lu and abandon the market on the spot.It was Empress Ma who thought about Concubine Yang in the palace, and persuaded Yang Lu not to make a big mistake, so Lao Zhu took back his life.

However, if this is the case, Yang Lu was directly dismissed from his official position, severely punished, and fined tens of thousands of taels of silver. The once solid family fortune was suddenly thinned out, and he provoked the court, and was even more rejected by Suzhou.Even Concubine Yang in the palace was implicated, and was thrown into the cold palace after being reprimanded by Lao Zhu.I don't know if Zhu Su's future younger brother, who will be named King Ning, will have a chance to be born.

Yang Lu experienced all the changes in the world in one day, and his heart was miserable, and he was no longer what he used to be.It wasn't until Zhang He returned to Suzhou and was instructed by someone that he cheered up.Thinking about his current situation, it was all caused by offending the fifth prince, Zhu Su. If he could be forgiven, he might still be able to start his family again.

So Yang Lu sold the rest of the family's assets and used them to buy food and grass and sent them to Zhu Su.The intention is to exchange Zhu Su's favor with this.

"I see." Zhu Su nodded. "This king already understands your intentions. The fact that you are so anxious about the country's crisis shows that your heart is not bad. It is impossible for the official to return to his post. This king will speak well to his father. In the future, you will be in Suzhou, take care of yourself." Let's live."

"Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness!" Yang Lu kowtowed like garlic, and he was relieved to be forgiven by the Fifth Prince.In this way, the officials and merchants in Suzhou City will not deliberately reject him, and it is not impossible for Concubine Yang in the palace to gain favor again.

As for the scattered family wealth, in this era, floating wealth is nothing compared to the royal grace.

Although Yang Lu is incompetent, he has never been a fool who can't figure it out.

"Shen Sen...why are you here?" Zhu Su looked at the next person, Shen Sen, the young head of the Shen family.

"Your Highness." Shen Sen kowtowed heavily to Zhu Su. "My Shen family is originally a merchant under His Highness's subordinates. If His Highness needs it, naturally I will do my part."

"The Shen family also sold a lot of property in exchange for [-] shi of food and grass. I am here to help His Highness defeat the enemy!"

Zhu Su nodded. What Shen Sen said was righteous, but how could Zhu Su not know what the Shen family was thinking?It was nothing more than the son of Shen Wang, the second in command of the Shen family, hoarding food privately before, and then uttered wild words, which panicked the entire Shen family, so he came here to make amends.

"Hmph, the Shen family is also running out of successors. I only know how to use this kind of method to destroy the family and show courteousness. But what I said in my mouth seems to be selling my Zhu family's kindness, and I want to save face." Zhu Su thought in his heart.

"It's better to be like Yang Lu and say that you are here to atone for your sins. If Shen Wansan was still around, he would definitely not act like this." A businessman began to stick to his hypocritical face and refused to admit his fault. It is a symbol of forgetting their roots, and it is often the beginning of their downfall.

But that's good too, the Shen family was originally the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River, and they made a lot of money by cooperating with him in the glass business.Now that I have the handle to control them, I can weaken the Shen family at any time, and just use this "richest man in the south of the Yangtze River" to manipulate the direction of the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River to a certain extent.

"What about you? Who are you? Has this king seen you?" Zhu Su looked at the last person, who said he was also an old acquaintance?But how come I have no impression.

"I've met Your Highness! The villain Zhao Yunyan, the villain was also one of the merchants when His Highness held a banquet in the Shen Garden in the past." The man said, his tone neither humble nor overbearing.

"Shen Yuan hosted a banquet..." Recalling that time, I summoned Suzhou merchants to make them spit out all the food they had hoarded.In other words, this person is also one of those unjust merchants who hoard goods?Zhu Su looked at Zhao Yunyan with a bad look.

"His Royal Highness, the villain didn't hoard on purpose before, but it was because the villain's family was a grain merchant, and the price of the villain's grain shop was only increased by five cents, and the shop was never closed for sale. "As if seeing Zhu Su's bad intentions, Zhao Yunyan quickly added.

(End of this chapter)