The night has become so intense that I can’t even see my fingers. From time to time, a dazzling light flashed across the gloomy sky, followed by rolling thunder.
Shen Yiyuan stood at the door, staring at the night sky. A bolt of lightning tore through the clouds, and cracks appeared in the sky, as if it wanted to tear everything apart.
But the lightning eventually disappeared, leaving behind a darker night. Runniang took the Cattail Fan, walked to Shen Yiyuan, fanned the wind, looked at the night, and said softly: "They all say that lightning has the power to destroy the sky and the earth, but looking at it now, no matter how much lightning or thunder, it will It’s just struggling under the sky. Rather than saying that lightning is resisting the sky, it’s better to say that the sky is destroying something, which creates lightning. Rolling thunder is just a death cry.” Shen Yiyuan turned sideways and smiled faintly: "Run Niang's words seem to mean something. We have been husband and wife for more than 20 years. What can't we say directly?" Run Niang looked at Shen Yiyuan's black and white hair and sighed: "Since the invitations of King Dai and King Liao were sent to When you get home, you have something on your mind. Yesterday, you took out the tablets of the Shen family members. This is the first time I have seen the tablets taken out on a day other than the day of sacrifice. You have something on your mind, why don't you just say it? ?" Shen Yiyuan stretched out his hand, took Runniang's hand, suppressed his smile, and said softly: "You don't know, the current situation in Jinling City is far more dangerous than the border and more deadly than the front line. I have an intuition , in the near future, someone will force us to stand in line. I can't make up my mind and am uneasy. I just asked for a memorial tablet yesterday." Run Niang raised her head and looked at Shen Yiyuan. She has been deeply in love for a lifetime. He has never failed her: "Jinling It's dangerous, then let's leave Jinling. Shopkeeper Wang wrote a letter saying that the farm on Balni Island has been repaired, and it's just right to take the whole family to Nanyang." Shen Yiyuan looked at Runniang and smiled bitterly: "If everything can be done, just leave. , there are no worries. Runniang, we can't leave this time, and we can't leave." Runniang didn't understand what could make her husband, who was always decisive and fearless, become hesitant and timid.
Crash. The rain poured down. Shen Xiude ran over holding an oil-paper umbrella. Seeing that his mother was there, he couldn't help but look at his father. Shen Yiyuan nodded helplessly: "She is your mother. There is no need to hide it. Just tell her." Run Niang rolled her eyes, feeling emotional The two closest people still have something to hide from themselves.
Shen Xiude looked solemn, looked around cautiously, and whispered: "Father, the clerk at the dock discovered that the number of large businessmen entering the capital has increased sharply in recent times, and these people have brought many followers. The clerk asked, and they said It's for business, but the accompanying ship didn't carry any goods, which looked very strange." Shen Yiyuan sighed: "As expected, I thought I was wrong." Run Niang frowned.
Businessmen and businessmen are all shrewd people. It is impossible to go to Jinling from the local area empty-handed. A real businessman will definitely purchase a batch of goods from the local area and then bring them to Jinling. After selling them, he will buy the goods from Jinling and transport them to the local area to make two sides of money. This is the way to do business and a reasonable arrangement.
The thieves are still in vain, let alone the merchants who are better than the thieves... Even if there are one or two inexperienced merchants who have just entered the industry, there cannot be too many.
"Could it be that these people are not businessmen?" Runniang said with some confusion. Shen Yiyuan nodded slightly. Runniang was not as smart as a day or two. She had followed him all over the world in the past few years and had seen a lot. She was not a rich person who stayed in the boudoir and never went out.
Shen Xiude said solemnly: "Father, this matter is too weird. Tomorrow, there will be King Liao and King Dai at the Chamber of Commerce of Heroes. Can you find an opportunity to tell them about this matter and ask them to forward it to the emperor, so that it can be arranged early? Someone has to find out." Shen Yiyuan pondered for a long time and shook his head: "Big businessmen and businessmen from other places gathered in Jinling. If there is no one behind this, I don't believe it. We don't know who has so much energy. If we act in a hurry, On the contrary, it will cause trouble and may lead to disaster." Shen Xiude looked at his father in surprise. The hidden meaning of these words was: King Liao and King Dai may not be trustworthy.
How is this possible? They are the uncles of Emperor Jianwen! Shen Yiyuan looked at the heavy rain outside and asked softly: "Child, what do you think of Emperor Jianwen?" Shen Xiude looked at Shen Yiyuan in confusion. There seemed to be some secrets that no one knew hidden in those deep eyes.
"Father, in my opinion, Emperor Jianwen is not inferior to the Emperor Wu and Tang Zong of the Han Dynasty. Not to mention his talents and strategies, his courage to create new things is unmatched by any emperor of the dynasty. His foresight, macro layout, and future planning are unparalleled. The wisdom and means to practice the future are rare in history books. He is good to the people, soldiers, businessmen, and civil and military officials, and is deeply loved." Shen Xiude said solemnly.
Shen Yiyuan nodded slightly and asked again: "Do you think there is anyone besides the prince who can replace him?" Shen Xiude's face changed drastically.
Runniang even covered her mouth and looked at Shen Yiyuan in shock. Once such words spread, it will be a crime of extermination!
Lightning strikes and rolling thunder flies. Shen Xiude was a little frightened. The oil-paper umbrella in his hand fell, and the rain instantly wet his body.
Shen Yiyuan bent down, picked up the oil-paper umbrella, and held it on Shen Xiude's head: "If this umbrella is gone, you will get wet. If the world doesn't have that umbrella, everyone will get wet. Personal grudges are nothing. Let go of what should be put down. It is the greatest desire of the tribe to leave a good umbrella to protect future generations from the wind and rain. Mother Run, didn’t you ask me if my parents had left me a message?”
"Now I can tell you that before my father was arrested, he told me that I must live well. My mother combed my hair and hoped that I would not hold grudges. Living is more important than anything else. Decades have passed, and the appearance of my parents has always been remembered. It’s not true anymore, but I believe that if they are still here, they definitely don’t want me to cloud my conscience for personal hatred.”
"Father." Shen Xiude was a little uneasy. His father had never talked about his ancestors, and neither had his mother. But judging from the fact that his father had married into a wife and had no relatives, Shen Xiude also knew that his family was probably involved in some major case during the Hongwu period, which led to The family was broken up and people died.
However, no one said anything, no one talked about it, and Shen Xiude didn't think much about it. He just had some inexplicable resistance and dissatisfaction with the court.
Later, after entering the Imperial College, Shen Xiude truly understood the Ming Dynasty and Emperor Jianwen, and discovered that the imperial court was not as unbearable as he thought. The innovations and new ideas of the Imperial College, as well as several speeches by Emperor Jianwen, made Shen Xiude become Emperor Jianwen's successor. Big fan.
The bloody storms of the Hongwu period seem to have become a distant past. Except for the sadness when paying tribute, no one talks about it on weekdays, and everyone is looking forward to getting better day by day.
Shen Yiyuan handed the umbrella to Shen Xiude and said calmly: "Being a good person before doing business, and being a person should be loyal and filial. No matter whether there were injustices in the past, it is over. Today, we are the people of Emperor Jianwen. Xiude , I remember that you know Li Laosan's son Li Sheng." Shen Xiude nodded and said: "Yes, he and I are good friends." Shen Yiyuan looked at Shen Xiude solemnly: "You go find Li Sheng. Let Li Sheng take you to find Li Laosan, tell him that the emperor is in danger, and let him enter the palace to remind the emperor."
"The emperor is in danger?" Shen Xiude was shocked. Shen Yiyuan stretched out his hand and took out a letter from his sleeve: "Bring this letter to Li Laosan and ask him to deliver it to the emperor in person." Shen Xiude took it, and after questioning, Shen Yiyuan did not elaborate, I had to ask: "Why are you looking for Li Laosan? He is just a farmer." Shen Yiyuan chuckled: "Don't underestimate Li Laosan. He is an old man who is an old acquaintance of Emperor Jianwen. If he goes to the palace to ask for an audience, the emperor will definitely agree." Shen Xiude was a little confused: "Why don't you just go to Mrs. Huang directly? You must know that her son Huang Eryue and daughter-in-law Chen Yu are both working for the palace." Shen Yiyuan He shook his head and said: "It's because they are doing things for the palace that we can't find them. My child, now we don't know who to trust. Although, maybe Emperor Jianwen has been alert, but now that we know something, we have to try our best. Go express your position. Only in this way can the Shen family still exist after the storm." Shen Xiude looked at the letter in his hand, agreed, turned around, changed into a set of clothes, and left the house in the night rain. After having a drink, we thought about the reasons for visiting, to celebrate that Li Sheng was about to become a father.
Runniang looked at Shen Yiyuan with some worry: "What does it mean that the emperor is in danger? Could it be that there are still people in this world who can hurt the emperor? And those businessmen who enter the capital and don't look like businessmen, can't they be assassins?" Shen Yiyuan sighed helplessly: "Who knows, everything is unclear now, but I think everything is caused by interests. The court's suppression of land annexation, strict control of the number of acres, and floating commercial tax rates have all greatly harmed In order to protect the interests of large households, wealthy households, and gentry, when there are strong enemies outside, they may not dare to come forward to assert their demands."
"Isn't this taking advantage of the situation?" Runniang shouted. Shen Yiyuan nodded. But no, this is just taking advantage of the situation, but it's not clear whether it will lead to self-immolation.
If a person enters the capital, he will not suspect that it is related to the imperial power, but the invitations from Zhu Zhi and Zhu Gui make him doubt what is going on behind the scenes.
The content of the invitation is very simple, that is, to discuss the pros and cons of floating tax rates and whether the number of acres of land in the imperial court is unfair.
After Shen Yiyuan saw it, his hair stood on end. When did a chamber of commerce dare to openly discuss major court affairs, and when did it dare to openly question court policies?
This is not transgression, this is courting death. But Zhu Zhi is a smart man. He has been to Nanyang. He has seen the vastness of the ocean and knows that Emperor Jianwen is more ferocious than the sea!
Maybe the problem lies with Zhu Gui. Although this person has some brains, he also has some ambitions. He once tried to monopolize all coal mines in Shanxi and monopolize the profits.
Over the years, he has owned more and more coal mines and has more and more miners under his command. It is said that he has also purchased a large number of slaves, whose predecessors were Timur's army!
