The whole world is the land of kings. The Ming Dynasty is the world of Emperor Chongzhen, and the vassal kings are the landlords of their respective fiefdoms. The nominal king is respected by the civil and military officials and the people within the fiefdom.
However, Jinan is slightly different. Zhu Youli is a bit special. He is just a successor prince with no power, money and power. In terms of strength, he is not even as good as other wealthy families in the city. He just holds the title of vassal king.
For such a ruined vassal king, he might be able to maintain some dignity in other places, but not in Jinan Mansion, because there is Liu Zeqing here.
Liu Zeqing even dared to disobey Emperor Chongzhen's imperial edict. You can imagine how he could take this shabby prince seriously. On weekdays, Zhu Youluo would have to be humiliated and looked down upon by him. Over time, he would grow to hate him!
So as soon as he heard that Chang Yu wanted to take advantage of this person, he became interested, and even suddenly felt an inexplicable liking for Chang Yu.
It’s just... why did this little eunuch come to help him on Liu Zeqing’s idea? He never believed in good things like pie in the sky. He heard that Liu Zeqing was still obeying his orders when he went north to King Qin. He also thought that the two of them were old acquaintances. Could it be that the two of them deliberately staged such a drama to plot against themselves?
"At the beginning of the year, the prince must have heard about Liu Zeqing's resistance to the imperial edict." Chang Yu tapped the table with chopsticks, looking at the dazzling array of delicacies in front of him, and sighed in his heart, the year of disaster will not affect the big family's New Year celebrations.
Zhu Youli suddenly realized that the emperor did not have the strength to punish Liu Zeqing at that time, but now he has calmed down and settled the accounts after the fall.
"Besides, there are also personal grudges!" Chang Yu said lightly, and Zhu Youli became curious again: "Could it be that this guy has offended Eunuch Chang?"
Chang Yu nodded: "This governor is a person who will retaliate for his anger. If he blocks our family from entering the city, the relationship will be over." Then he added more fuel and jealousy to the incident of entering the city. As expected, Zhu Youli felt the same and scolded Liu Zeqing for being extremely domineering.
As he spoke, he was suddenly startled: "That guy blocked Eunuch Chang from entering the city. I also blocked you from entering the palace before. Doesn't Eunuch Chang also have a grudge against me?"
Chang Yu laughed loudly: "Maybe, but our family is easy to talk to. If the prince wants to live in peace, lose money and avoid disasters." Zhu Youli thought he was joking, and then nodded in agreement: "That's a way, but I am poor. The sound of jingle bell makes you lose money even if you want to."
Oops, he is a perfect guy. Chang Yu's impression of Zhu Youli gradually changed.
"We don't know whether the prince is poor, but it's okay if someone is not poor." Chang Yu smiled faintly, and Zhu Youli quickly said mysteriously: "No, that guy is not poor at all. He is from Jinan... No The richest man in Shandong is not an exaggeration. I once heard that in the 14th year of Chongzhen’s reign, Zhou Yanru came to Beijing and resumed his post as chief minister. When he passed through Shandong, he gave him ten thousand taels of gold..."
"It turns out that the prince also knows about this." Chang Yu chuckled, and Zhu Youli said: "This matter is not groundless, right?"
Dongchang is the intelligence center, and even the Jin Yiwei must obey the orders. The young eunuch is the leader of Dongchang, so this matter must not be hidden from him.
Seeing Chang Yu nodding, Zhu Youli patted his thigh: "This guy is so fat."
"Pigs, when they are fattened, they need to be slaughtered. The fat meat tastes good when eaten." Chang Yu said casually, but Zhu Youli misunderstood it, and his expression became solemn: "Is the court going to deal with him?"
Chang Yu didn't want to deceive him and shook his head in denial. Zhu Youli also had a clear idea: "Yes, he has a lot of troops. The war in the south is not over yet. It's the right time for the court to employ people..."
"There is a big difference between being powerless and being powerless." Chang Yu's words made Zhu Yue suddenly enlightened. The court was unable to deal with Liu Zeqing before, but now it is very different. Maybe it is to keep it useful, or it wants to gradually weaken it, but no matter what This thorn in the side has been targeted by the court.
"Since the court is not planning to touch him now, how can Eunuch Chang get money from that guy, and how can he benefit from me for nothing?" Zhu Youli knew that there was no benefit in losing the pie in the world, so he wanted to ask clearly.
He didn't believe that a big boss from Dongchang, who had no friendship with him, would get him money to build the palace for no reason.
Chang Yu laughed and said, "There is a saying in Chapter 129 of 'Historical Records', 'The Biography of Huo Zhi': The bustle in the world is for profit, and the hustle and bustle in the world is for profit. Since there is no peace, then it is natural to do it with the prince. It’s a deal.”
"Eunuch Chang speaks well, and he really deserves his reputation, but I don't know what kind of deal he wants to do with this king?" Zhu Youli has also changed a lot about Chang Yu now. At first glance, he was restrained, but the next time he looked at him, he became more and more ignorant.
"We will give you money, and you will give us food!" Chang Yu said this without a trace of a smile on his face, and was extremely serious.
What? Zhu Youli looked confused as if he had heard a book from heaven: "Where can I get the food for you?"
Chang Yu smiled: "The prince doesn't seem to be sincere in negotiating this deal with our family."
"I am sincere, but I don't understand what Eunuch Chang said." Zhu Youli smiled slightly: "Be direct and say something that I can understand."
"If the prince is happy, then our family won't be coy." Chang Yu coughed lightly: "Our family can get a million dollars of silver for the prince, but we need the prince to provide 100,000 stones of food and grass for the court."
Oh, Zhu Youli nodded slightly with an expressionless face: "A million is really tempting, but how can I get a hundred thousand stones of food and grass for you?" He said with a sneer: "I understand, Eunuch Chang has made such a big circle , instead of helping me get money, this is to get my food!"
"If the prince says there is no money, our family will believe it. But if you say there is no food, let alone our family, the whole people of Jinan City will not believe it." Chang Yu chuckled, took a piece of beef and put it in his mouth.
Zhu Youli narrowed his eyes: "How do you say this?".
Chang Yu breathed out: "Everyone knows that Prince De's Mansion occupies one-third of Jinan City, but few know how much fertile land there is in Prince De's Mansion. Even the people in Jinan City can't count them. Your Majesty, you can count them all. How much land?"
Zhu Youli was startled, then smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I really don't know."
Chang Yu smiled: "During the Chenghua period, Xianzong gave the deposed King of Qi and King of Han to the towns of Dongchang and Yanzhou, as well as the fertile fields of Baiyun, Guangping, Jingyang, and Sanhu belonging to Jinan Prefecture, to the first generation of King De. The palace's Lutian and powdered fields range from thousands to tens of thousands of hectares. Almost all the fertile land in Jinan is in the hands of the palace, and these lands are "self-taxed" by Prince De's palace. Your Majesty, do you believe that our family has no food? ? The Tatars can plunder the palace, but they can't take away a piece of your land. The palace has stored a lot of food in the past few years."
"Eunuch Chang felt it so clearly. It seems that he came well prepared." Zhu Youchi said with a calm expression: "We have a little food, but we don't plan to touch it in this disaster year, otherwise we wouldn't be so strapped for money. ".
Hey, he is a bachelor. At this point, Chang Yu felt that this shabby prince was more difficult to deal with than the old fritters he had encountered before, because he was barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes, and oil and salt could not enter.
"Besides, I'm exchanging the grain for your money. It's better to sell it directly. Now that rice is in short supply, I can definitely sell it at a good price. Why do I owe you such a huge favor after all this trouble?"
"In this case, it is a sale to anyone, and it is the same to our family." Chang Yu smiled softly, and Zhu Youli curled his lips: "I have said that food is the lifeblood in disaster years, and I have no intention of selling it." .
"What if our family buys it by force?" Chang Yu chuckled, picked up the tea cup, Zhu Youli's face suddenly darkened, stared at Chang Yu and said: "Eunuch Chang is just joking."
Chang Yu drank tea and smiled without saying a word, while Zhu Youli's face became increasingly ugly.
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