On the eighth day of August in the 19th year of Chongzhen's reign in the Ming Dynasty, Qiaokou Town, Changsha, Hunan Province.
At Qiaokou Town Pier, a group of wealthy people dressed as officials or scholars have gathered. The colorful painted archway for pick-up has been set up as quickly as possible. According to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, when a prince or prince passes through the country, it is extremely grand. However, the princes of the Ming Dynasty used to be raised like pigs, except for a short walk when they were granted vassal status, and then they were locked up in the fiefdom and never moved. As for the prince, he has been growing up in a deep palace since childhood, always living in a deep palace, and dying in a deep palace. The last time a prince wandered around the world was when Zhu Zhanji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, was the prince. There had not been a prince who left the capital for more than 200 years and wandered around. Until the exception of Zhu Cixiang, who took refugees to beg for food. They can do it... This is really weird stuff that happens every year, especially this year!
Since there is something strange going on, there are bound to be people watching. The banks of the Qiaojiang River on both sides of the pier were already crowded with people from Qiaokou Town and villagers from all over the country who came after hearing the news. They all craned their necks to look eastward, and kept talking to each other.
"Mogaji, if Tong Daba is older than a prince, which family will become the head of the cellar?"
"You are a rich family! What are you afraid of? Zhang Papi's family is in bad luck and will be impoverished!"
"Hey, isn't that Zhang Bapi? Why are you still acting like that? Are you just dumbfounded?"
"That's fake. I feel so miserable!"
"You lads, stop talking nonsense, be careful if you catch someone and chop off your heads!"
When they heard that his head was about to be chopped off, the villagers who were watching the excitement did not dare to speak. They quickly closed their mouths and opened their eyes wide. They wanted to see what the beggar prince looked like, and even more wanted to see Zhang, who was usually domineering. The unlucky look of a person.
But what they saw was Zhang Daju, who kept the graceful demeanor of a celebrity, and a high-ranking official in a black gauze python robe beside him, laughing and talking in a low voice. How could he look like he was going to be unlucky? Could it be that Zhang Juren is not going to be unlucky, but is going to have good luck?
The common people in Qiaokou Town and the surrounding country bumpkins just watched the excitement, but the big families in the surrounding towns and several rice merchants from Changsha all knew that Zhang Juren fainted yesterday... ...
Who is Zhang Juren? He was a big landowner in Changsha Prefecture. He didn't care about thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver, so he fainted. How could he have lost hundreds of thousands or millions of taels, right?
Could it be that Zhang Tingsu's generation was the only one to be as wealthy as the Zhang family in Qiaokou?
But look at Mr. Zhang's appearance today. It doesn't look like he's going to die. On the contrary, the Zhang family has embraced the prince's thick legs and will soon be prosperous... None of these rich men are going to die. With their eyes widened, they all waited for the prince's dragon boat to arrive.
...
The "dragon boat" Zhu Cixi was riding was almost at the Qiaokou Town Pier at this time. He seems to be in a pretty good mood - he hasn't been to his hometown for more than three hundred years, how can he not be excited now? This mountain and this water were completely different from what he remembered!
But his hometown is his hometown after all, and now he has returned home in full glory - it is very honorable to bring hundreds of thousands of refugees back to his hometown to beg for food!
He Tengjiao has sent someone back to report. The Hunan gentry in Qiaokou Town were really excited when they heard that the prince had arrived! What an honor is this? It must be a blessing that has been cultivated for several lifetimes! So no one cares about more than 100,000 or 200,000 shi of white rice...
Can the people of Hunan let the good prince of Ming Dynasty starve? Isn’t it just rice? Whether the bandits are here or not, there will be plenty of them when the prince is here!
At this time, the dragon boat was approaching the dock, and the sound of firecrackers and drums were loud at the same time. Zhu Cixiang in the cabin smiled and said to Wu Sanmei and Zheng Chagu who were accompanying him all the way: "Look, Hunan people are so generous! It seems that I came to Hunan at the right time... The so-called Hunan people will not fall. China will not fall!"
Wu Sanmei was a little dazed when she heard this. She didn't understand what "the Hunan people will not fall, the Chinese will not fall" means. Isn’t Hunan just a rice warehouse? Haven’t you heard how powerful Hunan people are? In the official circles of the Ming Dynasty, there was a large market for Hubei people. The famous officials from Hunan seemed to be Liu Daxia, oh, and there was also Li Dongyang who seemed to be originally from Hunan, but he was a member of the Jinwu Zuowei Army and lived in Nanjing.
Zheng Teagu kept nodding her head - everything the prince brother said must be right!
"Yes, Hunan people are very generous," Tea Girl said with a smile, "But we Hujian people are more generous. We will go to Southeast Asia, go to the East, and after a while we will cross the Pacific to New Asbania!"
The "Hujian people" these days are indeed more promising than the Hunanese... Not only have they traveled all over the Southeast Asia and the East, they are now planning to send a ship to New Spain (New Asbania). And we have to send Galen’s ship!
Didn't Zhu Cixiang ask Zheng Zhilong to build ten Western Galen-style soft-sail warships last time? They also promised a subsidy of 30,000 taels of silver per boat.
A few days ago, when Zhu Cihong was in Wuchang, he received news that the first of ten Western-style warships had been built. We are preparing for its maiden voyage. If everything goes well, we will use it to fly the Pacific route!
Yes, of course it’s a trade route!
Don't think that just a few Western-style sailing gunboats can take down all the Western maritime powers such as Spain, the Netherlands, and England.
Until then...ocean voyages won't be possible! I have never been to America or Europe myself. The Zheng family's ship has been as far as Batavia. This level is that of a primary school student in the Age of Discovery.
As for the navy of other names in the Ming Dynasty, they are now just wandering along the coast of the Ming Dynasty...
Therefore, in order to obtain the Ming Dynasty's maritime power, we must first learn to travel across the ocean, and then consider other things. Ocean voyages not only train sailors, but also test shipbuilding skills. At the same time, low-intensity conflicts with Western pirates and navies are inevitable during ocean voyages.
Only by running back and forth across the ocean and getting familiar with it can you really train your team (shipbuilders and sailors), and then you can think about dominating the ocean. The cost of traveling across oceans must be offset by commercial activities... Therefore, the naval powers these days are basically ocean trade powers.
He Tengjiao and Zhang Tingsu had already boarded the boat at this time, one wearing a black gauze python robe and the other wearing a square scarf Taoist robe. On the deck, he paid homage to Prince Zhu who was walking out vigorously and announced his name.
Zhu Cixiang also had a smile on his face, and he went up to support Zhang Tingsu, who was wearing a scarf and Taoist robe, "Zhang Yuanwai, please come up quickly... I already know about Yuan Wai's righteous deed! Okay, okay, he is indeed a famous scholar in Xianghu!"
It turns out that Zhang Tingsu quickly figured it out after being pinched and woken up yesterday... He couldn't force Zhu Cixiang, the beggar prince!
They are bringing 500,000 people with them! If he really dares to carry it, even the big eaters will eat up the Zhang family...
Since you can't carry it, you can only hold it on your thighs!
We must let those who covet the Zhang family's fortune in Qiaokou see that Zhang Tingsu has already embraced the prince's lap!
Giving away 200,000 to 300,000 dan of white rice is nothing, and losing tens of thousands of acres of official, military, and hidden fields is not a disaster.
As long as he is the prince...every aspect will continue to support him. The land and food given away now will always be earned back in the future.
No matter what happens, the Zhang family's remaining property can still be saved.
So Zhang Tingsu gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, and asked He Tengjiao to tell Zhu Cihong that he was willing to donate 200,000 shi of white rice and 40,000 acres of official, military, and hidden fields, and invited Prince Zhu to visit the Zhang family in Qiaokou Town. Big house!
He originally only thought that it would be a great honor for Zhu Cihong to stay in the Zhang family mansion for one night. Unexpectedly, Zhu Cixiang, a cunning and cruel beggar prince, was particularly friendly to him. He actually took his hand and got off the dragon boat's gangplank together. Amidst the sound of drums and the sound of mountains shouting for thousands of years, they walked up to Qiaokou Town Miliang. pier.
Now everyone was shocked - what is the relationship between Zhang Ju and Prince Zhu Cixiang? Why are they so close?
