Beiping, Taicang.
Carriages loaded with grain and grass stopped on the street, and the crowds of people moved the grain and grass in like ants.
Han Du and King Yan stood at the gate of Taicang.
Zhu Di held a document in his hand and compared the amount of grain and grass one by one. After confirming that it was correct, he solemnly stamped the gold seal of his King Yan on the document.
He turned around, handed the document to Han Du, and said with a smile: "The food and grass inventory is correct, please keep this survey."
Seeing that the delivery was finally clear, Han Du immediately let out a long breath as if a heavy burden had been lifted. He happily bowed his hands and said, "Your Majesty, you are so polite. I would like to thank you."
Han Du held the thin document, but his feeling was very different. With this document, we can tell Lao Zhu that sea transportation is as reliable as water transportation, or even more reliable than water transportation.
This time, two million stones of grain were transported. Although it was subject to violent storms from time to time, fortunately, this had no impact on the ship. Not a single ship capsized, and even the two million grains and grains showed no sign of being soaked by sea water or rain. They were transported to Peiping almost intact. If you think about the pre-Song Dynasty, when shipping was almost 30% floating, you will know that the hearts of corrupt officials are darker than ink.
The shipping throughput is large and the time is short. If the two million stones of grain and grass were transported by water this time, it would take less than a month to reach Peiping, and it would also consume a lot of manpower and material resources.
However, along the way, Han Du spent almost no manpower except for Zhu Di sending people to Dagokou to transport grain to Peiping and loading grain and grass on ships. This saves a lot of effort for water transportation.
The advantages of sea transportation over water transportation are also reflected in this transportation of grain and grass.
As long as Lao Zhu gets the news after returning to Beijing. He has always been stingy and will definitely not give up shipping.
Suddenly, Han Du seemed to have discovered some great secret. In the past, Han Du did not dare to show Lao Zhu's stingy behavior, but he often complained about it in his heart. But now Han Du discovered that as long as the strategies he proposed in the future could help Lao Zhu save money and allow him to continue to be diligent and frugal in running the country, it would be almost unfavorable.
No one can dissuade Lao Zhu, an old farmer, from his determination to live frugally.
Zhu Di saw Han Du standing there without saying a word after taking the document, looking at him with burning eyes. As time went by, Zhu Di inevitably lost his temper and pretended to hide it to avoid Han Du's gaze.
"Haha, in order to celebrate the smooth handover of food and grass, I will host a banquet at the palace tonight, Han Du, you must honor it."
When Han Du heard the sound, he suddenly came back to his senses and recalled Zhu Di's words. Han Du couldn't help but feel a little thump in his heart. "It's a banquet, isn't it just a bar?"
Han Du glanced at Zhu Di vaguely, drinking with such a person was simply boring. "He is a fool. Zhu Di didn't drink much at every banquet. He always asked his generals to drink alcohol on him. Even if he drank a lot, he couldn't bear the drinking of more than a dozen generals."
"What the hell, drink? What's the point of drinking like this? I feel so uncomfortable until the end, but I still have to stay awake to avoid making people laugh."
With a plan in mind, Han Du cupped his fists and bowed with a smile and said: "Your Majesty is so kind, I am flattered. However, I have the emperor's orders, and there is a batch of grain and grass that needs to be shipped back as soon as possible, so I won't disturb the Prince, and I will leave."
Zhu Di did not try to persuade him, but tactfully concealed it: "Since you are still coming, I will leave the banquet for you. When you finish transporting the food and grass, I will get drunk with you before we retire."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding. I will take my leave." Han Du beamed with joy. He quickly bowed to Zhu Di, took two steps back, got on his horse and walked away with Tang Ding.
Zhu Di stood there, watching Han Du leave. As Han Du left, Zhu Di secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, this plague god was sent away. In just a few days, Zhu Di felt as tired as if he had been there for several years.
However, when he thought that Han Du would come again, the smile that just appeared on Zhu Di's face disappeared again before others could see it.
Han Du and Tang Ding rode side by side and left Beiping City.
Seeing that Tang Ding was unhappy all the way, Han Du couldn't help but smile and asked jokingly: "What? Brother Tang is a little reluctant to leave Peiping?"
Tang Ding was thinking about something in his mind. When Han Du said this, he immediately raised his head and glared angrily, "Brother Han, don't you think that we have been restrained by an invisible force since we entered Beiping City?" Are you ready? We have been having banquets, singing and dancing these past few days in Peking. Looking back now, we have never even left the palace. Do you think this is normal? "
"You only have a few days, what else do you want? Do you want to explore the entire city of Beiping?" Han Du said to Tang Ding with an indifferent look on his face.
Tang Ding pondered for a moment, shook his head indifferently, and sighed: "That's true, maybe it's because King Yan has stayed in this frontier for too long. When he saw us, he felt like he was seeing his relatives. He treated us so warmly. we."
Tang Ding really thought so. After all, it was better to be treated warmly than to be treated coldly.
But Han Du didn't think so. He was just perfunctory with Tang Ding. Zhu Di seemed to have missed the capital for a long time before he entertained himself so warmly. But it was because it was so normal that Han Du noticed something strange.
I am not familiar with Zhu Di, I have only met him a few times at Zhu Biao's banquets, and I have never even had a drink with each other. Why is Zhu Di suddenly becoming so enthusiastic now?
What's more, I live in the palace, and if I come to the maids at random, I will get to know myself. Han Du was very sure that when he first met the maid next to Zhu Gaochi, he had never seen the maid in person. Why did she know him?
There is only one possibility, and that is that Zhu Di specifically told the maids in the palace how he looked, where he lived, and even showed them his portrait. Only in this way will the maid recognize herself at a glance.
Logically speaking, this is completely unnecessary. After all, the maids are not fools and will not offend the guests who enter the palace. Special reminder, it is basically one move multiple times.
Unless there is such a reminder, there is another purpose...
Of course, if Zhu Di really valued himself, then such a reminder would be justified.
Han Du is now in a dilemma. Both situations may happen, causing Han Du to not know what Zhu Di's thoughts are, right? Or bad?
But even if Zhu Di has bad intentions, Han Du can't do anything about him. After all, Zhu Di was the King of Yan. Without conclusive evidence, Han Du was helpless against him.
And this is also the reason why Han Du was perfunctory with Tang Ding just now.
