"This, Your Highness..." Di Meng suddenly knelt down. It was clearly the twelfth lunar month, and he was sweating profusely in an instant.
"I... will always be loyal to His Highness..."
"I didn't say you were disloyal." Zhu Su frowned slightly. "Whether you are a royal guard or not does not conflict with whether you are loyal to the king or not."
"Or are you, the Jin Yiwei, loyal to him, Mao Xiang, rather than my father?"
"No, no..." Di Meng lowered his head. "We will always be loyal to His Majesty."
This sentence has already acquiesced to his identity as a Jin Yiwei.
"That's fine. Being loyal to me does not conflict with being loyal to my father." Zhu Su said.
Seeing that the usually serious and mature young general was kneeling on the ground and shivering, he frowned again: "Get up, you know, I don't like those close to me to kneel down and worship at every turn."
"I don't know about Jinyiwei... I don't know how Mao Xiang trains you."
"It's just that I hope that while you do your job well as a royal guard, you don't lose the drive and ambition of a young general."
"Young men should be energetic. They will kneel down at every turn because of a question from me, and even be afraid of it."
"What does it look like?"
"Yes...yes." Di Meng stood up in embarrassment. I also felt a little ashamed. As soon as Jin Yiwei's identity was exposed, his first reaction was panic, fearing that Zhu Su would exclude him from Wu Wangwei's queue.
In fact, Zhu Su had already guessed his identity. When he entered the city to discuss business at Shen Mansion, Di Meng was one of the dozens of guards accompanying him. Afterwards, Zhu Sudan went on a trip, and Di Meng, the most outstanding young man on the training ground, was always with him and was never absent once.
Old Zhu can always accurately grasp Zhu Su's actions and even the content of his conversations. If there are no Jin Yiwei spies among these guards, it would be a ghost.
In fact, this is a tacit agreement between father and son. Zhu Su himself didn't care if there were any secret agents of Jin Yiwei around him. After all, he could still feel the concern that Lao Zhu and Queen Ma had for him.
Moreover, his actions did not conflict with Lao Zhu's, so naturally he did not need to worry about what Jin Yiwei would do. Is it possible that Lao Zhu can still ask Jin Yiwei to collect evidence of crime and throw me into the high wall of Fengyang?
But it was Di Meng's attitude... that made Zhu Su feel a little embarrassed. Di Meng was so frightened. Could it be that Mao Xiang, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, had said something to him? For example, ordering him not to reveal his identity?
After thinking for a while, I suppressed this doubt. Mao Xiang is just a hawk dog in Lao Zhu's hands. He has his own ideas on how to deal with Lao Zhu, and he doesn't need to think about it. Zhu Su, who had finished his breakfast and wiped his mouth, stood up and said to Di Meng, "Why are you still standing here? Let's go and do it."
"Don't worry, I don't have so many demands. Just do whatever the Jin Yiwei wants you to do to convey your whereabouts. It's just my errand, and you have to do your best."
"They are all working for our Ming Dynasty, so there is no need to divide into any yamen. As long as you know how to be loyal to your father, that's all."
"The general knows it." Di Meng said, cupping his fists. A touch of emotion flashed in his eyes. This prince, who was not tall enough, was really broad-minded...
Knowing that the general he had trained was actually someone else's secret agent, he didn't even get angry at all, and even offered words of encouragement and comfort...
"Go ahead, first check among the Jinyi Guards if there is any news about the Taihu water bandits."
"Before returning home tonight, I want to see the files related to Jin Yiwei."
"Yes." Di Meng clasped his fists and came out.
Zhu Su also called the dog guarding outside the door and asked him to drive to the prefect's Yamen. Today I have made an appointment with Magistrate Wei to inspect the refugee camp in the west of the city.
…
"Your Highness, this is where the refugees will be resettled." The carriage stopped, Wei Guan jumped out of Zhu Su's carriage, and said to Zhu Su who stepped out of the carriage.
"Well... you can tell at a glance." In fact, without using his eyes, just using his nose, Zhu Su could tell that this must be a resettlement place for refugees. Sewage flows across the area, the air is filled with a rotten smell, and the houses and shanties are in dilapidated condition.
Zhu Su saw that the people here all looked sick and were in ragged clothes and listless. Many government officials stood in the streets and alleys, vaguely like guards. Occasionally, some people saw Zhu Su and his party dressed in fine clothes, but they just glanced at them blankly, looking like they didn't care.
"Why are there so many government officials here? Isn't this just like being detained?" Zhu Su asked Wei Guan.
"Alas..." Wei Guan sighed. "His Highness said he was under custody, which is correct."
"Whenever refugees enter the city, there are always those who seek trouble and cause trouble. Previously, cases of refugees causing trouble outside Suzhou City also occurred from time to time. Instigated by water bandits, some waves of refugees took advantage of the chaos to attack the city gates and loot the surrounding villages and towns. "
"Ha." Zhu Su sneered. "Don't you think that the people of Susong miss Zhang Shicheng so much? Is this how those bandits who falsely claim to be the ghost of King Cheng's army treat the people who cherish Zhang Shicheng?"
"The bandit's ambition is just to take advantage of Zhang Shicheng's past favor. How can he really care about the people?" Wei Guan also showed disdain. "For the sake of restricting refugees, I discussed with Sir Ru, the censor of the river patrol, and settled the refugees in the west of the outer city."
"Zhang Shicheng's army demolished the houses here in order to get the rolling stones and logs used to defend the city. Therefore, although this place is within the city wall, the original people have moved elsewhere. The refugees were resettled in This will also make it convenient for us and the Suzhou government to take care of and provide relief."
"If we place them in the city, aren't we afraid that water bandits will be mixed in and incite the refugees to riot?" Zhu Su asked.
"Master Ru and I also have this concern," Wei Guan said. "Therefore, firstly, as your Highness has seen, government officials are dispatched day and night to maintain public order here. Secondly..."
"Lord Youru has pledged himself as a guarantee and moved here to live and eat with the refugees."
"The refugees are not hard-hearted. Seeing that a high-profile official like Mr. Ru is willing to take risks, they naturally feel at ease."
"Even if there are one or two people with evil intentions who want to incite civil unrest, with Lord Ru sitting in charge, those people will naturally not be able to cause trouble."
"Ru Taisu...actually eating and living with the refugees here?"
Zhu Su was a little surprised. In his impression, Ru Taisu had always been the rotten scholar who pursued him relentlessly in the Fengtian Palace. It's an annoying existence.
This guy is so fearless that he is willing to risk his life to appease the people of the refugees?
"That's right. In fact, our Suzhou Prefecture is quite prosperous and is close to the capital. There is no shortage of grain, grass, porridge and rice for relief. As long as the people's morale is not chaotic, we can survive until spring plowing begins."
"What's the use of waiting until spring plowing? It rains and snows so much in winter. I'm afraid that when the summer floods come next year, the floods will be fierce..." Zhu Su looked worried.
Even if food is planted in the spring, if flooding occurs again and the fields are flooded, the houses built with the seeds finally sown will still be in ruins.
"Sigh... If it doesn't work out, we have to wait until the spring gets warmer and lead these refugees to build a dam..." Wei Guandao.
Zhu Su nodded. Only in a peaceful and stable environment would there be no room for rebels to move around. He still knew this truth. It is definitely imperative to build embankments and stabilize water.
"It's just that, Governor Wei... I have another concern." Zhu Su said to Wei Guan: "The people can send an official to comfort them, but the victims will be placed in the city like this."
"What if a plague breaks out... wouldn't it mean that the whole city is wiped out?"
(End of chapter)
