Regarding the problem of food and grass, even though Zhu Su was well versed in ancient and modern times, Zhu Di was growing up day by day, and there were brave and resourceful generals like Zhang Dingbian and upright civil servants like Ru Taisu, they were helpless. After all, Zhu Su didn't have a system. It was impossible for a bunch of wheat and potatoes to appear out of thin air after a sudden sound in his mind, right?
If this was true, I'm afraid he would have been taken by the suspicious Lao Zhu as a demon who stole his son's body, and he would be caught and sliced into pieces.
Fortunately, three days later, good news came from the south of Qian'an County: several ships carrying the flag of the Ming Army appeared in the long-abandoned port of Qian'an. Then another wave of messengers came to report: This fleet is the Ming army led by Zhang He and went south to raise military supplies!
Everyone in the camp was overjoyed. Zhu Su directly left Zhu Di to take charge of the camp, and he quickly rushed south to meet Zhang He in person. Zhang He also knew that time was precious, so he did not make any repairs after landing, but directly led the people to Changli. Not long after Zhu Su led his talents into the north gate of Changli, Zhang He actually entered the city from the south gate at almost the same time.
"General Zhang He, I have met His Highness! Your Highness has been waiting for a long time! Fortunately, General Zhang He did not miss the important event!" Zhang He had already heard about the advanced situation on the road, and saluted after seeing Zhu Su.
"Soon, soon!" Zhu Su quickly helped Zhang He up. To be fair, Zhang He was already very fast. Although Yuan Ting had walked through the shipping channel before, this was the first time for the Ming Dynasty. Zhang He didn't have a chart in his hand. It can be said that he had to create a new route from scratch.
Not to mention that the original ship to Liaodong had been destroyed when he left. Zhang He did not have a ship large enough for a long voyage at the time.
If he hadn't been Zhang He and had witnessed with his own eyes his ability to successfully lead the fleet out of a certain death situation in a storm, Zhu Su would never have thought of letting him temporarily transport military supplies by sea and land.
When I asked Zhang He how things were going along the way, I found out that Zhang He's trip was also full of twists and turns. After he arrived in Qian'an, he temporarily recruited civilian ships and ventured across the sea to Leling. After borrowing a large ship from the Ming army in Leling, he also borrowed enough ships from Donghai Qianhu Station, which was responsible for coastal defense. , and then returned to Suzhou all the way at sea.
According to Zhu Su's instructions, he asked Wei Guan, the prefect of Suzhou, who was old with Zhu Su, as well as Suzhou guards and Taicang guards to help raise a sufficient amount of food and grass, and then hurriedly rushed here with the ships. Finally, they managed to return to Changli before Zhu Su and others ran out of food.
"General Zhang, thank you for your hard work." Zhu Su sighed sincerely. Although Zhang He said it easily, Zhu Su could guess the dangers and difficulties involved. He, Zhang He, was only the deputy commander of the Fuzhou Guard, and he had no acquaintance with the Ming armies in Leling, Donghai and other places. How could these people lend warships to each other so easily? Even if he took out Zhu Su's token, you should know that most of the vassal kings in the court were young at this time, and no one held important power yet. It was hard to say whether these proud soldiers of the Ming Dynasty would give him, the fifth prince, face.
If you haven't seen Gong Changhou Guo Xing and others, have you never paid attention to yourself, the so-called prince? Zhang He must have received a lot of glares along the way, and maybe there were even conflicts. Not to mention how difficult this journey is on the sea, it must be extremely dangerous.
He just expected that his reputation might not be good, so he asked Zhang He to go to Suzhou to adjust grain. After all, the top leaders of both the military and political parties in Suzhou have a history with him and are relatively easy to talk to. If we go to other places to ask for food, if the official in charge refuses to report to the capital first, then everything will be over.
"By the way, Your Highness. When we return this time, we will bring three more people with us." Zhang He suddenly remembered something. "These three people said that they are all old acquaintances of His Highness. Without their help, it would have been impossible to raise such a huge amount of food and grass in a short period of time."
"Huh?" Zhu Su was stunned and also a little curious. "Who is it? Let them come and see you."
Sure enough, three people from Shaoqing were brought in by Zhang He's men. When the three of them saw Zhu Su, they all bowed their heads and worshiped: "Caomin Yang Lu (Chen Sen, Zhao Yunyan), I have met His Highness the Fifth Prince!"
"Commander Yang?" Zhu Su was also shocked when he saw that the person in charge was Yang Lu. At this time, Yang Lu was dressed as a businessman, and his back was stooped. He no longer looked like the high-spirited person he had been when he was the commander of the Suzhou Guard. When he heard Zhu Su calling him, he hurriedly bent down and said with a flattering smile: "The villain is no longer a commander. Now the villain is just an ordinary commoner in Suzhou City. Your Highness can just call the villain by his nickname."
"Uh... Yang Lu." Zhu Su calmed down. "You were fired? How did you become like this?"
After listening to Yang Lu's account, Zhu Su understood the cause and effect. Although Yang Lu was incompetent and involved with the remnants of Zhang Chen, Zhu Su wanted to cover up for Yang Lu because he was originally interested in Yang Lu and was not intentional. He was very cooperative when he was in Suzhou.
But Zhu Su's failure to report to the capital does not mean that world affairs can be hidden from Lao Zhu's eyes and ears. Jinyiwei reported Yang Lu's situation to Yingtian without Zhu Su's permission. When Lao Zhu heard this, he was furious and wanted to kill Yang Lu and abandoned the city on the spot. It was Empress Ma who thought about Concubine Yang in the palace and persuaded Yang Lu that Yang Lu had not made a big mistake that made Lao Zhu take back his life.
However, despite this, Yang Lu was directly removed from his official position, severely punished, and fined ten thousand taels of silver. His once strong family wealth suddenly became thinner. He provoked the imperial court and was ostracized by everyone in Suzhou. Even Concubine Yang in the palace was implicated and was reprimanded by Lao Zhu before being thrown into the cold palace. I don't know if Zhu Su's future brother, who will be named Prince Ning, will have a chance to be born.
Yang Lu experienced all the ups and downs of the world in one day, and his heart was miserable. He was no longer the same as before. It wasn't until Zhang He returned to Suzhou and was prompted by someone that he cheered up. Thinking that his current situation was all caused by offending the fifth prince Zhu Su, if he could be forgiven, he might still be able to build up his family business again.
So Yang Lu sold the rest of his family's assets and used them all to buy grain and grass to send to Zhu Su. The intention is to exchange for Zhu Su's favor.
"That's it." Zhu Su nodded. "I understand your intentions. Being so anxious about the country's crisis shows that you are not bad at heart. It is impossible to restore the official position. I will speak kindly to my father. You will be in Suzhou from now on. Take good care of yourself." Just live."
"Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness!" Yang Lu kowtowed as if he was pounding garlic. He was relieved to be forgiven by the fifth prince. In this way, the officials and merchants in Suzhou City would not deliberately exclude and make things difficult for him, and it was not impossible for Concubine Yang in the palace to gain favor again.
As for the dispersed family wealth, in this era, floating wealth is nothing compared to the royal favor.
Although Yang Lu is incompetent, he has never been a fool who can't figure things out.
"Shen Sen...why are you here?" Zhu Su looked at the next person, Shen Sen, the young head of the Shen family.
"Your Highness." Shen Sen kowtowed heavily to Zhu Su. "I, the Shen family, are originally merchants working for His Highness. If His Highness has needs, I will naturally do my best to help."
"The Shen family also sold a lot of their property in exchange for fifty thousand dan of food and grass. I'm here to help His Highness defeat the enemy!"
Zhu Su nodded. Shen Sen's words were awe-inspiring, but how could Zhu Su not know what the Shen family was thinking? It was simply that the son of Shen Wang, the second in command of the Shen family, had secretly hoarded food and made arrogant remarks, which frightened everyone in the Shen family, so he came here to atone for his sins.
"Hmph, the Shen family is running out of successors. They only use this method of breaking up the family to show courtesy. But what they said seems to be selling my Zhu family's kindness, and they are desperate to save face." Zhu Su thought to himself.
"It's better to be like Yang Lu and say directly that he is here to atone for his sins. If Shen Wansan was still here, he would definitely not behave like this." A businessman began to stick to the hypocrisy of face and refused to admit his mistakes. This basically It is a symbol of forgetting one's origins and is often the beginning of their downfall.
But that's okay, the Shen family was originally the richest man in Jiangnan, and they made a lot of money by cooperating with him in the glass business. Now that he has the leverage to control them, he can weaken the Shen family at any time, and through this "richest man in the south of the Yangtze River", he can control the direction of the businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River to a certain extent.
"What about you? Who are you? Have I seen you before?" Zhu Su looked at the last person. This person was also an old acquaintance of his? But why don't I have any impression?
"I have met His Highness! I, Zhao Yunyan, used to hold a banquet in Shen Garden, and I was one of the merchants." The man said, his tone neither humble nor arrogant.
"There is a banquet in Shen Yuan..." I remembered that time I summoned Suzhou merchants in order to make them spit out all the food they had hoarded. So, this person is also one of those unjust merchants who hoard? Zhu Su's eyes suddenly turned evil when he looked at Zhao Yunyan.
"Your Highness, I did not hoard on purpose, it was because my family was a grain merchant, and the price of my grain shop only increased by five cents, and the store was never closed. "Seemingly seeing Zhu Su's bad intentions, Zhao Yunyan quickly added.
(End of chapter)
