Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 88 Big Winner

The sun was high in the sky, with no clouds in the sky, and the sunlight that burned my skin poured down unreservedly.

It hadn't rained for a long time, and the soil on the ground had already turned yellow-brown, and it was hot and hard to step on.

On an official road thirty miles outside Seoul, Zhao Dazhuang was leading his brothers to escort the money earned from selling salt back to Seoul.

He felt very frustrated on this trip. He thought he could show his talents, but unexpectedly he was only given an escort mission.

He just felt that all his strength was hitting cotton, and he felt uncomfortable all over.

Sweat trickled down his forehead, and Zhao Dazhuang felt uncomfortable all over. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, waved and shouted to the people behind him, "Hurry up, hurry up, get into the city earlier, and rest earlier!"

The laborers and the guards in charge of the transportation were shocked and answered "yes" in unison.

After turning a slope, suddenly, a large group of Korean people rushed out from the dense woods on both sides.

They were all dressed in rags, had sallow complexions, and their eyes were full of anger.

There were hundreds of them, and as soon as they came out they surrounded the team of Zhao Dazhuang and others.

"Damn it, this is outrageous. They are trying to steal my things! Brothers, grab your weapons!" Zhao Dazhuang's eyes were bloodshot and full of violence. He shouted, "Whoever dares to steal my things will be stomped to death by me!"

The civilians and Jinyiwei strongmen behind him also became furious. They picked up their weapons and looked fiercely at the rioters around them.

"Give us back our money!" A leader of the rioters opened his eyes wide and spoke to Zhao Dazhuang nose to nose.

"Well," Zhao Dazhuang smiled coldly, waved the steel knife in his hand, and said jokingly, "As long as you can stand here and let me chop you, I will give you fifty taels of silver. How about that? Is it a good deal?"

"you"

The leader of the rioters was very excited. He stepped back and poked Zhao Dazhuang's nose with his hand. He was about to curse. Zhao Dazhuang had been very angry recently. He was immediately furious when he was pointed at: "Fuck you!"

He grabbed the man's fingers with his right hand, raised his left fist high, and smashed it at the leader of the rioters.

"what."

After a scream, the leader's left eye instantly sunken in. Now, the rioters behind him were all excited, shouting and rushing forward.

The Jinyiwei were not afraid at all and went to meet them.

Although they are not at an advantage in numbers, their fighting power, with steel knives in hand, is much stronger than that of the civilians holding different "weapons".

In just a moment, the smell of blood spread.

The moment they saw the blood, the rioters were completely panicked. The Jinyiwei looked like evil spirits from hell. "Run! Run! They're killing people! They're killing people! If you don't run now, it will be too late."

"The Ming army killed people. The Ming army killed people."

I don't know who shouted, but the surviving mobs scattered and fled on their wheels. At this moment, they really hated their parents for not giving them two more legs.

Zhao Dazhuang did not chase after him. He just glanced coldly at the corpse on the ground and said expressionlessly, "Carry the corpse to the side and continue to move forward."

That evening, the Seoul police only asked Zhao Dazhuang and others a few simple questions and then let them go. At the same time, they arrested all the rioters who tried to undermine the friendship between the two countries.

After this incident, the people of Korea no longer dared to block the Ming Dynasty's caravans.

...

It is August in a blink of an eye. The scorching sun of midsummer is high in the sky, emitting irresistible heat.

Although it is summer, most of North Korea is as cold and bleak as autumn.

Everywhere you can see people with dazed expressions, holding bags of salt in their hands, shouting and selling the salt in their hands.

Nowadays, it’s no longer a matter of fifteen cents. People will still sell it for ten cents or even eight or nine cents.

When this thing was in short supply before, it could even be used directly as currency.

They didn't feel anything.

Now that the price of salt has dropped, it’s impossible to sell it even if we want to.

You can't just eat salt every meal, not eat rice, and not buy other things.

Zhang Yunxiu stood on the attic, his arms folded across his chest, leaning against the window and watching everything quietly, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

Life is a gamble in itself, but he has a lot of capital and can afford to lose.

Some people have small capital and cannot afford to lose.

Those who are not afraid of losing are more likely to win, and those who are more afraid of losing are more likely to lose.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yunxiu smiled and shook his head, sighing: "Humans, after all, cannot escape the word 'greed'. Dreams of getting rich overnight are good, but the trivialities when you wake up from the dream are the reality."

Just as he was thinking about this, Han San walked up the stairs with a "dong dong dong" sound. Zhang Yunxiu tilted his head to look and saw Han San excitedly shouting, "Sir, we made a fortune this time. We sold more than 20 million kilograms of salt. Excluding the cost of 200,000 taels and losses, the gross profit from selling salt alone is 500,000 taels, which is 200,000 more than what you told Your Majesty."

"Okay, okay, okay," Zhang Yunxiu said "Okay" several times, and then asked, "How are those 'old things' that Wang He brought selling?"

"Not bad. I sent a few smooth-talking men to make up a story, and this batch of goods was sold for more than 7,000 taels of silver."

"call"

Zhang Yunxiu nodded, and the heavy stone in his heart finally fell.

It has been almost three months since I came out. I am unfamiliar with the place and I always feel homesick.

Now that the matter is over, it is time to return home, as for North Korea's retaliation and attack.

Zhang Yunxiu was not afraid at all.

With his status, if he were to be in the future, he would be the commander of the American troops stationed in South Korea. How could they dare to attack him?
During his stay in Seoul, he met many high-ranking Korean officials. From the tone and demeanor of their voices, Zhang Yunxiu felt respect, awe, and even flattery.

For fear of neglecting the big men of these suzerain countries.

After figuring this out, Zhang Yunxiu nodded and smiled, and instructed Han San: "Let the brothers rest for five days, and then return to Hwanghae Province together after five days, and then take a boat back to Tianjin from there."

"Okay." Han San responded with a smile and walked down the attic with a "dong dong dong" sound.

Seven days later, in the morning, the weather was not yet hot, and the early morning sea breeze, carrying a slight fishy smell, wandered along the vast coast.

On the shore, a team of more than a thousand people, with smiles on their faces, boarded the docked ship in an orderly manner.

Zhang Yunxiu was extremely generous with the money he earned this time. Even the assistants who did odd jobs received a reward of several taels of silver each.

In the past, that would have been unthinkable.

Such a good superior would be hard to find even with a lantern.

The boarding process lasted for more than three hours. When everyone was on board, Zhang Yunxiu made a gesture to Han San.

Han San understood and called the flag bearer next to him, and ordered: "Pass the order and set sail."

"Yes!" The flag bearer responded respectfully, then stood on a high place and waved the bright red flag in his hand.

When the flag bearers on the other ships saw the flag waving, they knew it was a message to sail, so they passed the message on.

After a while, the originally silent fleet turned into a sea-going dragon.

"Rumble"

The azure sea water rolled up white waves and rapidly retreated to both sides.

The fleet, loaded with treasures, headed straight for the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the sky was blue and the clouds were light, and the breeze was gentle. Zhang Yunxiu stood at the bow of the boat and looked back at the Korean coast that was getting farther and farther away.

He knew that he would come back to this place again in the future.

North Korea's geographical location is extremely special.

On land, it is separated from Liaodong only by the Yalu River.

On the sea, he is located in the northern part of the Yellow Sea, separated from the Shandong Peninsula by the sea. How can I allow others to snore beside my bed?

To the east, North Korea is across the sea from Japan.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yunxiu curled his lips and couldn't help muttering: "We can learn from the Eagle Sauce and station troops in North Korea first, and use it as a transit station for overseas troops."

"Sauce? What sauce?" Han San, who was standing by, thought Zhang Yunxiu was talking to him and asked hurriedly.

"Nothing."

Zhang Yunxiu's face darkened, and he waved his hand, changing the subject, "By the way, where's Zhao Dazhuang? I feel like I haven't seen him much recently."

"Oh, this guy is so thin-skinned. He thought he could show his skills this time, but in the end he was of no help at all. Now he is too embarrassed to come to see the young master, and he has retreated to the fleet at the back." Han San grinned.

Zhang Yunxiu burst into laughter when he heard that.

This big black guy is actually quite cute.

Before setting off, he was still afraid of the thieves on the sea, but he didn't realize that he was the biggest "thief".

When he saw the Ming flag flying out and the shining swords and guns on the ship, who would dare to offend him?
After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Yunxiu asked again, "We heard that there were some North Korean people causing trouble there?"

"There were some, but they didn't respond to our call. The Korean government helped us disperse the people." Han San raised his eyebrows and said with great joy, "My lord, you didn't see how fierce those officials were. They beat and kicked the common people, but they were very kind to us."

"He made us all feel embarrassed."

Han San described the situation vividly, but Zhang Yunxiu did not feel happy at all.

This is a kind of sadness, striking hard at one's fellow countrymen and trying one's utmost to please those who are stronger than oneself.

Isn’t it the same for the Ming Dynasty?

For this, the people even composed a ballad for the officials.

"Carrying the yoke on your shoulders,
Portable iron chain.

Walking in the streets,

A bunch of bad guys.

Mr. Rich,

I get soft when I see you.

Seeing the people,

Blowing nonsense and glaring.

A little resistance,

He will be in prison for life."

Perhaps Han San noticed that Zhang Yunxiu was not in a good mood, so he stopped talking. He took a step back and stood with his hands hanging down, waiting for Zhang Yunxiu to summon him at any time.

The fleet moved slowly forward. On the vast ocean, the only sounds were the sound of waves and the sound of flocks of seagulls in the sky.

Time quickly came to evening, and under the burning red sunset, the sea water had turned into light black.

It's time for dinner.

The guards who accompanied him had already brought a square table to Zhang Yunxiu and placed food on it.

After washing his hands and face, Zhang Yunxiu sat down. Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, he suddenly heard a commotion at the stern.

Without waiting for Zhang Yunxiu to speak, Han San hurried to the stern of the ship.

(End of this chapter)