Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1185 Huangpu River
Zhu Minlan temporarily lived in the Wei Mansion. Due to his special status, the Wei Mansion specially arranged Zhu Minlan in the backyard of the mansion, which was not only quiet but also very safe.

Zhu Minlan was very satisfied with the arrangements made by the Wei family. On the day he arrived at the Wei family, Wei Xuhua, under the instructions of Mr. Wei, sent invitations to each family in Songjiang Prefecture, inviting the heads of each family to come to the Wei family for a banquet.

The Wei family was the most prominent in Songjiang Prefecture, and they had been on good terms with each other for many years, and had intermarriages with many families, so they were not considered outsiders. In addition, the news that Wei's elder Da Xuliang had returned to Songjiang from Xuanfu and was about to be transferred to Dali, Yunnan, had spread long ago, and everyone knew about it, so the Wei family had sufficient reasons to invite each family. In addition, Shanghai was about to open as a port, and it would be nice for each family to take this opportunity to meet each other.

Just like that, on the third day after Zhu Minlan arrived in Songjiang, the Wei Mansion held a banquet to entertain the heads of various families. After the invitations were sent, the heads of various families responded to the invitation and came. Among them, the family with the best relationship with the Wei family was the Lu family. The Lu and Wei families had been intermarried for generations. Wei Xuhua's wife, who was also Wei Anding's mother, was the legitimate daughter of the Lu family. Moreover, the two families had already agreed to join forces by taking advantage of the opening of Shanghai as a port, so Lu was naturally the first to arrive.

The Lu family is not simple. Although few people know about the Lu family outside Songjiang Prefecture, the Lu family is actually a prominent family in Jiangnan that has been passed down for thousands of years. The ancestor of the Lu family can be traced back to Lu Xun, the general and prime minister of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.

During the Eight Kings Rebellion of the Jin Dynasty, the Lu family was almost wiped out, but some of their descendants managed to escape the war and continued to live and multiply in Suzhou and Kunshan, becoming a prominent family there. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Lu family moved from Suzhou and Kunshan to Songjiang to avoid the war, and then moved to Shanghai County, where they have lived for three hundred years.

Later, the Lu family also produced famous people, among whom Lu Shen of the Zhengde and Jiajing dynasties was one of them. Lu Shen passed the imperial examination at the age of 24 and became a Jinshi at the age of 28. He served as an editor in the Hanlin Academy and a chief academic officer of the Imperial College. Lu Shen was demoted for a time because he offended the eunuch Liu Jin, but was later reinstated and promoted. He was eventually appointed as the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites and became a prominent figure in the Shanghai civil service system during the Ming Dynasty.

However, after Lu Shen, although the Lu family also had children enter the officialdom, there was no more dazzling figure like Lu Shen. But even so, the Lu family, as a thousand-year-old family, has a foundation that other families cannot compare to. Even when Xu Jie was the prime minister, the Xu family of Huating still did not dare to call themselves the first family in Songjiang Prefecture because of the Lu family.

The current head of the Lu family is Lu Kang, who is also Mrs. Lu's brother and Wei Anding's uncle. Lu Kang is two years older than Wei Xuhua. He has the title of Juren but has not entered the government. Since he took over the position of head of the family seven years ago, Lu Kang has been staying in Pudong, Shanghai. The Lu family has a private manor in Pudong, which is not small in size and extremely gorgeous. It took two hundred years to build and maintain. In addition, the geographical location is excellent, so later generations also called this place "Lujiazui".

Because of Zhu Minlan's special identity, the Wei family was not in a position to reveal his identity. After Lu Kang arrived at the Wei Mansion, Wei Xuhua did not explain Zhu Minlan's true identity, but only introduced him to Lu Kang as a descendant of the Xuancheng Earl.

Lu Kang didn't take it seriously, and met Zhu Minlan politely, and then started chatting with Wei Xuhua and others. Not long after chatting, the heads of other families arrived one after another, and Wei Xuhua personally went out to greet everyone and invited them to chat in the central mansion.

Old Master Wei came out and met everyone. Considering that Old Master Wei was old, he was too drunk to drink two glasses of wine after the banquet started and went to rest in the back. The brothers Wei Xuliang and Wei Xuhua were left to entertain everyone. In addition, Zhu Minlan and Wei Anding also stayed to keep them company.

According to what was agreed before, after three rounds of drinks, they first talked about some common topics, and then gradually talked about the issue of Shanghai's opening as a port. As the head of the Wei family, Wei Xuhua asked about the views and preparations of each family on the opening of Shanghai as a port, and also brought up the topic that the Wei family had already cooperated with the Lu family. He hoped that as the big families in Songjiang Prefecture, since the court opened a port in Shanghai, each family's attitude would be what the subsequent plans would be. In addition, this matter can be said to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he hoped that everyone could work together, advance and retreat together, and seize this rare opportunity.

This topic immediately aroused everyone's interest, and everyone started discussing it enthusiastically. Judging from the attitudes of each family, they basically supported the opening of Shanghai as a port. After all, the court's establishment of a trading port in Shanghai was of great benefit to each family. Moreover, these families were able to stand for hundreds or even thousands of years and become prominent families. Naturally, their actions and vision were different from those of ordinary people.

Listening to the heated discussion of the crowd, Zhu Minlan, as a guest, listened carefully at the side, while also thinking secretly in his mind.

It has to be said that it was a good idea for Mr. Wei to summon all the families to the banquet at his mansion with this reason. All the people present were prominent families in Songjiang Prefecture, and even more so local prominent families. Moreover, these family members were incomparable to ordinary businessmen in terms of local status and influence, and even had a certain influence in officialdom.

Judging from the current actual situation, Zhu Minlan was very happy with everyone's attitude. It can be seen that the court's decision to open a port in Shanghai was correct, which would not only benefit the country but also the people. In this way, there was no problem with the policy of setting up a trading port.

But there are also some other factors, such as some issues and concerns raised in the discussion, which Zhu Minlan had not considered before. In addition to some smuggling issues, there are also many planning and operation issues, which opened Zhu Minlan's eyes and made him realize that many things are not as simple as imagined, especially in the specific implementation, there are many details to consider.

Keeping these situations in mind, Zhu Minlan planned to think about them slowly in the future and find ways to adjust and solve them. This banquet was quite rewarding. It not only allowed Zhu Minlan to see the attitudes of the major families in Songjiang Prefecture, but also to understand the actual situation of some things, which was extremely beneficial for his future work. The day after the banquet, Zhu Minlan was ready to leave the Wei Mansion and go to Shanghai for inspection. Although he refused the Wei family's kindness to arrange for him to stay in the Lu family's villa, he also took Wei Anding with him to Shanghai.

Zhu Minlan did not directly reward the Wei family for their kindness and attitude, but this arrangement alone showed his attitude towards the Wei family. After learning that Wei Anding could go to Shanghai as the prince's entourage, Mr. Wei was very happy. His grandson was promising, and now he had a relationship with the prince. With the prince's care in the future, Wei Anding might be the backbone of the Wei family in the future. This was a blessing for the Wei family.

As for Nie Chi, it goes without saying that the Nie family was just a gentry merchant compared to the Wei family, and was far inferior to the Wei family in terms of background. However, he accidentally met the prince, which was really a pleasant surprise. From the first day he arrived at the Wei family and knew Zhu Minlan's identity as the prince, Nie Chi's mood had been mixed with joy and worry. He was happy that he met the prince and that the prince became his friend. But he was worried that the Nie family's status was too far behind him, and he had no idea whether he could grasp such a good opportunity.

His anxious expression was seen by Xie Guangwei, who quietly told Zhu Minlan about the situation. Zhu Minlan smiled faintly and asked Xie Guangwei to tell Nie Chi that they would go to Shanghai together. After hearing the news, Nie Chi finally put his mind at ease and smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth.

It only takes one day to travel from Songjiang Prefecture to Shanghai County. You can set off in the morning and arrive in Shanghai County in the afternoon.

Shanghai County is not large in scale. The entire county is much smaller than other counties in the south of the Yangtze River. Moreover, Shanghai was not well-known before. There is a tidal flat not far to the east of the county. Most of the surrounding areas are fishing villages. Fishermen rely on fishing for their livelihood. Agriculture is relatively backward, and there are very few businesses.

After arriving at Shanghai County, Zhu Minlan did not enter the city immediately, but asked people to walk around the periphery of Shanghai County. The area to the west was better, there were many local residents' residences outside the county, and it was slightly popular, but as we walked to the northeast, that is, near the river, the road was a little difficult to walk, and there were not many buildings, only a few new buildings, and the ground was simply paved, most of the place seemed very depressed.

"Where is ahead?" Zhu Minlan asked, looking forward.

"In front of us is the Chunshen River, also known as the Huangpu River. From here, across the river is Pudong, Shanghai. Not far to the northwest after crossing the river is the Lu family's manor." Wei Anding is a local and of course is most familiar with the situation here. He explained in a low voice as he accompanied him.

"The pier is just ahead?" Since Zhu Minlan was going to Shanghai, he naturally learned about Shanghai in advance and asked immediately.

"The wharf is on our right, which is southeast. It's about two miles from here. Going southwest from the wharf is the east gate of the county town."

"Let's go and take a look." Zhu Minlan said with interest. Wang Xin responded and drove the car to the riverside. After a while, they arrived at the area near the riverside, but many places on the road were not repaired. Most of the area was still muddy or even mudflats, and there was no way to get close to the Huangpu River. They had no choice but to go around and head towards the pier. After walking a while, there were more buildings on the west side, and the road was much easier to walk. After walking for a while, they finally saw a pier.

There is not only a wharf here, but also a bustling market and villages outside the wall of Shanghai County. The wharf is not large, but not small either. It is obvious that some places are newly expanded. In addition, there are several newly built buildings in the area west of the wharf, as well as houses and shops behind it, which makes it look quite lively.

"Does this pier have a name? Where is this place?"

"Your Highness, this pier has existed since the Song and Yuan dynasties. It was used for fishing villages to dock, and merchant ships would also land here to head to Shanghai County. However, it seems that its scale is much larger than before. The locals call this place Shanghai Pu, so this pier is also called Shanghai Pu Pier."

"Shanghai Pu?" This name is simple, and Zhu Minlan couldn't help but laugh. He got out of the car and walked around, carefully looking at the situation at the dock and the relatively busy area opposite the dock, then returned to the car and prepared to go to the east gate of the county town and officially enter Shanghai County.

(End of this chapter)