Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 226: Opportunities are rare, so be cautious
January 8

Hangzhou
Ever since Duoduo escaped and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was forced to land under the Qing army outside the city, Hangzhou has gradually become prosperous.

Of course, this prosperity is only compared with the previous one or two months. It is still far from before.

However, for ordinary people, it is a blessing not to be like Yangzhou. Even if life is harder than before, everyone can only curse the dogs Tartars in their spare time, and spend the rest of the holidays busying about their own lives.

When talking about life, we have to mention the Grand Canal which starts from Hangzhou. This river was artificially dug, connecting many water systems and connecting the north and the south. It truly deserves the name of China's artery.

However, the entire northern border has now fallen into the hands of the Tartars, and Hangzhou has suffered another severe blow after the sharp decline in maritime trade.

It can be imagined that the Ming Dynasty, which had just driven the Tartars back to the north of the Yangtze River, would certainly be unable to recover the lost territory in a short period of time, and the Qing army would not dare to cross the river rashly after suffering a heavy loss.

Under such circumstances, the restoration of the Grand Canal was a long way off, and the decline of Hangzhou was foreseen by people of insight.

However, the situation seems to have undergone some subtle changes in recent days.

The Tan family, which had made a fortune through maritime trade in the early years, began to recruit sailors again and acquired several large ships of 700 to 800 tons from other families. It was obvious that they were planning to find a way to save the family's declining situation through maritime trade.

Some people who didn't know the inside story naturally scoffed at this, thinking that the Tan family was making a last-ditch effort.

After all, the obstruction of the sea route was caused by many reasons. Not to mention that his Tan family had already declined somewhat, even if the strength of all the big families in the south of the Yangtze River was gathered, it might not necessarily produce any results.

But no matter what year it is, valuable information is only known by a very small number of people.

Although most families were not optimistic about the Tan family's behavior, there were still people who could communicate with them, so many more people came to look for Tan Changyuan privately.

"Line up! Line up! How can I write when you're pushing and shoving like this?"

Hearing the roar coming from the dock, Tan Changyuan, who was sitting in the cabin, just took a glance and then turned his gaze back to the old man sitting opposite him.

Perhaps it was because it was hard to find work, but after he set up a stall to recruit sailors near the pier, there was an endless stream of people wanting to sign up, almost flattening the pier.

But he was not too happy about this situation. After all, most of the people who came to sign up were already in their forties, which was a little too old for maritime affairs.

But this is not a problem. After all, most of these people have served in various fleets and have rich experience. What's more, this voyage is just to go to Champa and Siam to buy food, and the physical requirements for sailors are not that high. As long as they can recruit enough sailors and go to sea smoothly, other things are not a big deal.

"Changyuan, thanks to your concern, otherwise my Wen family would have missed it."

The old man who was speaking was Mr. Wen from Huating. It was a coincidence that he, as an elder in the area, could appear here.

Although he successfully coaxed away Wu Zhikui, who came with the IOU to extort money, he thought about it afterwards and felt that it was not safe.

In this situation, the first thought that came to his mind was naturally to find a door that could shock the soldier, but because the court had undergone tremendous changes due to the war, the local elders were not sure who His Highness would use for a while, so after thinking it over, he finally decided to go to Hangzhou in person.

It is not difficult to imagine what happened next. Mr. Wen saw the fleet organized by Tan Changyuan in Hangzhou and learned the inside story from certain channels.

But Master Wen was no fool after all. He did not immediately hope to report Wu Zhikui's behavior to the Crown Prince through Tan Changyuan.

The reason is not difficult to understand. Although Tan Changyuan was entrusted with an important task by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, to put it bluntly, he was just a person who did the specific work in the matter of purchasing grain.

With such status, even if Mr. Wen was really shameless enough to ask for help, how could Tan Changyuan waste the little chance of meeting the Crown Prince for him?

With this understanding, it is easy to imagine what Master Wen will do next.

Help Tan Changyuan to complete the task assigned by His Highness beautifully. After he and His Highness have a stable communication channel and a slightly deeper relationship, he will find an opportunity to expose Wu Zhikui's harm to the local area to His Highness.

I have to say that Master Wen is indeed a shrewd man who has lived for many years.

Not to mention that he was able to take the other party's situation into consideration when asking for help, the fact that he gave up asking other officials for help based on the somewhat vague relationship between Tan Changyuan and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince showed that he had a clear understanding of the situation in Jiangnan.

"Uncle, you are too modest. With the wealth of the Wen family, how could they be interested in such a small profit? In the end, isn't it based on the friendship between him and my father in his early years?"

"Changyuan, I will not hide it from you. If you can gain respect from His Highness, I will not be without a request."

Master Wen did not accept Tan Changyuan's gratitude calmly. After explaining the whole story, he added at the end: "But Changyuan does not need to feel any burden. After all, the people who were forced to write IOUs by the enemy chief are all over Suzhou and Songjiang. I don't believe Wu Zhikui can still cover up the world with one hand."

What debt is the hardest to repay?

When Tan Changyuan wanted to make a last attempt, he ran into obstacles everywhere. It was only with the help of those people who had some friendship with his father that he was able to successfully find the source of goods and form a fleet.

Although this plan ultimately failed to come to fruition because he received orders from His Highness, these debts of favor still fell heavily on him.

Of course, he could now follow Master Wen's words and pretend nothing had happened after scolding Wu Zhikui who was hundreds of miles away.

But in the final analysis, the Ming Dynasty was still a society based on personal relationships. If he really did this, not only would his reputation be damaged, but he might not be able to overcome the hurdle in his heart.

"Uncle, I have taken note of your matter. After I have completed the task for His Highness, I will find an opportunity to report to His Highness about Wu Zhikui's disturbance of the local area."

"Changyuan, don't be anxious. It's not easy for you to have a say in front of His Highness. You must not make His Highness dislike you because of what happened to me."

Hearing what Tan Changyuan said, Master Wen naturally felt relieved, but when he responded, every word he said was for Tan Changyuan's sake, which also made the obedient people feel warm in their hearts.

"I, your nephew, will save myself from this trouble. However, I am fully confident that I can do this job well. If Your Highness has any reward, your nephew will ask Your Highness to administer justice."

Although Tan Changyuan's words were very full of confidence, they were not without purpose.

After receiving the task from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he used various channels to learn about the grain prices in the southern countries. The final result was naturally gratifying. Whether it was Toungoo, Siam, Annan, or Champa, the grain prices were much cheaper than those in the Ming Dynasty. Even if they were transported back to Zhejiang by sea, there was still a lot of profit.

Of course, he was also worried about whether the tiny country could raise enough food, but later he found out that a place like Champa could produce three crops a year. If he had not been extremely confident in his source of information, he would have had to go there in person.

This does not mean that Tan Changyuan is ignorant. After all, although he had docked in these places in his early years, their destinations at that time were mostly Southeast Asia.

Under such circumstances, which citizen of the Celestial Empire would deliberately try to learn about these small places they pass by?

Having said that, Master Wen knew that this was the greatest guarantee that Tan Changyuan could make, and he then seamlessly turned the topic to maritime trade.

Afterwards, he came up with a lot of ideas based on his half-life experience, with only one purpose, which was to find ways to help Tan Changyuan gain a firm foothold in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

To others, this may seem like putting the cart before the horse, but Master Wen knows that if Tan Changyuan can really help the Crown Prince solve his current difficulties and relieve his worries about money in the future, then the Tan family will surely soar to fame, and his Wen family will never be the same as it is now.

This is the opportunity.

There are always some people who have to wait for God to give them food, but at the same time, there are also many people who can use their keen insight to fight for their own share of the food given by God.

If you ask which type Zhu Cilang belongs to.
He is probably two in one.

He had the summary of hundreds of years more achievements than the people of the Ming Dynasty, and the ability to know the direction of history. This was naturally a gift from God. But if he had not fought a way out of the disasters, I'm afraid that the meal given by God would have had little chance of being useful.

But to be honest, it's not just these two things that have got him to where he is today.

For example, the reorganization of the left part.

Under heavy siege, he clearly used his power to overwhelm Zuo Menggeng, and Zuo Menggeng probably would not have any ability to resist. However, after gaining absolute initiative, he arranged a very bright future for Zuo Menggeng.

In this way, no matter what the generals in the field thought before, when he said that, who could not praise His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for "nostalgia" in their hearts?

Indeed, according to past experience, a person like Zuo Zhen leading troops outside was the behavior of a local emperor, but who can say that studying in the cabinet as a prince's tutor was not a good way?
You know, in those days even Zuo Liangyu couldn't avoid being called a "soldier" behind his back. Although Zuo Menggeng had a title, the fact that he was placed among the civil servants by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could truly be considered a great honor to his ancestors.

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Although he agreed, when the time came to actually implement it, Zhu Cilang had no choice but to have a fight with those three old men.

After all, this matter is extremely against the rules. Even though he is the real controller of Jiangnan, he will always encounter resistance when touching the reverse scales of the civil servants.

However, he did not care too much about this. After all, his power still held an absolute advantage in this small court, and any civil servant faction needed his support to gain a foothold in the court.

In this situation, as long as he could find a reasonable excuse, the three old men would probably just pretend to compromise under the tyranny of the emperor.

After settling the reorganization of the various units in Wuhu that day, he went straight to Xuancheng without stopping.

There is nothing much to say about Xuancheng. Although the composition of the rebel army here is complex, in the final analysis, they all rise up in resistance because they do not want to be the people of a fallen country.

Of course, there are people who have certain dreams in their hearts, but to be frank, how many people can stick to their grand ideals in the face of reality?

Therefore, when Zhu Cilang arrived in Xuancheng, Jin Sheng had already told Zhu Cilang everything about the leaders of the various armies. He just drank with those rebel leaders like a mascot and had nothing else to do.

Speaking of which, Zhu Cilang also had some expectations for these volunteers who stepped forward in times of crisis. After all, weapons and equipment can be built, and physical fitness can be trained, but the spirit of sacrificing one's life for the greater good is very difficult to cultivate.

With this understanding, he was not so strict in the reorganization of these rebel forces.

Those who wish to return home will be given travel expenses and rewards, and those who wish to stay in the army will have their physical fitness requirements appropriately relaxed.

In short, when he left Xuancheng and headed south to Hangzhou, everyone in the city, from the generals to the ordinary soldiers, praised His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and no one had any resistance to this reorganization.

What is a life of hard work?
Zhu Cilang is now destined to a life of hard work.

He returned to Yingtian on July 7, where he arranged a series of events, some large and some extraordinary, and then headed south again.

After entering Hangzhou last night, he did not disturb anyone as it was already late at night. He only stayed overnight in the old residence of the Rebel King, and only this morning went to pay his respects to Empress Dowager Zou.

After seeing Zhu Cilang suddenly appear, the joy expressed by Empress Dowager Zou could be described as impolite. Not only did she suddenly stand up from her chair, she also walked down from the phoenix steps that were slightly higher than the ground.

If the eunuch beside her had not quietly reminded her, she might have taken a few steps forward in person as the empress dowager.

It is said that when you give someone a gift, you must have something in mind.

Zhu Cilang was naturally a little surprised at the old lady's behavior.

But when he thought about what the old lady had experienced in the past few months, he let down his guard in the blink of an eye.

You have to know that she has not been able to sleep peacefully for a single day since she escaped from Yingtian. When the rebel king was preparing to surrender the city, the old lady who knew something about the Jingkang Incident was even ready to commit suicide.

Afterwards, although the situation in Hangzhou improved somewhat due to the arrival of Zhu Cilang, the Tartar soldiers were still stationed near Hangzhou, and Old Lady Zou never dared to feel at ease for a moment.

Fortunately, the Tartars who had been crushing them all the way were finally driven back to Jiangbei by the prince of the previous emperor, and Old Lady Zou was finally able to relax her heart which had been broken for several months.

How could she control herself under such circumstances?
Of course, no matter how excited Old Lady Zou was, there was not much to talk about between her and Zhu Cilang.

After that, they chatted about the war as usual, and then Zhu Cilang heard Queen Mother Zou say, "Yue'er, aren't there some new lotus flowers blooming in the back? You can take the prince to see them, it will help relieve his fatigue a little."

(End of this chapter)