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

Chapter 528 Goal
"Uncle!" Seeing Zhu Shenzhui, Zhu Qiuqi saluted him respectfully with a hint of excitement in his expression. He hadn't seen Zhu Shenzhui for nearly a year. Although the two had been in contact during that time, those contacts were basically about business matters. This time, Zhu Shenzhui came to Pingyang and found him the first thing he did. This made Zhu Qiuqi excited and felt fortunate.

"Sit down!" Zhu Shenzhui nodded with a smile and waved his hand for him to sit down.

After he sat down, the servant brought tea and left. After the servant left, Zhu Shenzui asked in a friendly manner about their situation during the days he was away from Pingyang.

Facing Zhu Shenzhui's inquiries, Zhu Qiuqi told him everything he knew, and roughly described the situation of himself and his two uncles. With Hengtong behind them and Zhu Shenzhui's care, their lives were really good, which was completely different from their previous lives. It was all because of Zhu Shenzhui!

"Thanks to uncle, otherwise how could our families have such a good life? Some time ago, my nephew and my fifth uncle talked about the past events of the general's mansion while drinking. By the way, uncle, do you still remember that year?"

"How could you not remember? At that time, your fifth uncle was reluctant to eat even a piece of cake. He planned to hide it in his sleeve and take it back to his children at home."

"Yes, yes!" Zhu Qiuqi nodded repeatedly, and at the same time sighed: "Life was really not easy in those years. My family was better off, but my two uncles' families were almost unable to eat. In fact, it's not just them. How many of us royal families are in a good situation? It's really embarrassing to say that we are all descendants of Taizu, but comparing ourselves with others will make us angry! Why do some royal families have countless mansions and thousands of acres of fertile land, but we, the low-level royal families, can't even have enough to eat? It really makes our ancestors lose face."

As he spoke, Zhu Qiuqi sighed, "I still remember the scene of the royal family eating like wolves and stomachs in the general's mansion that day. It's ridiculous that the royal family, the descendants of the royal family, have lost their dignity. These years, I often wonder, if it weren't for the help of uncle, how could we have the good life today? Maybe we are not even as good as them. Uncle, what I said today is what is in my heart. My parents gave birth to me, but it is you, my sixth uncle, who made me my nephew! I will never forget the great kindness you have shown me. No matter what you ask me to do, I am willing to go through fire and water!"

"Hahaha! Little Eighteen, little Eighteen, you are such a talkative kid."

"Uncle! This is what I really think. If you don't believe me, I swear..." Zhu Qiuqi stood up and said seriously.

Waving his hand, Zhu Shenzhui asked him to sit down, saying that he naturally believed him, and looked at him sharply. At this time, Zhu Qiuqi did not avoid Zhu Shenzhui's gaze, and sat down respectfully beside him with a calm attitude.

Zhu Shenzhui knew his nephew very well. Zhu Qiuqi had always been loyal and had a good reputation among the royal family. Back then, everyone had a hard time, especially Zhu Minyu's family. There were many people in the family, old and young, and the salary from the court was low and often in arrears. Zhu Minyu was an honest man and was unable to support his family.

If Zhu Minfeng and Zhu Qiuqi had not often helped those who received relief, Zhu Minqi's entire family might have starved to death.

The reason why Zhu Shenzhui brought these three uncles and nephews together was that they were all relatives, and the three of them were closely related in the royal family, and the affection between the elders was still there. Moreover, these three people had good personalities and were grateful people. In addition, they had contacts on weekdays, so it was better to help them instead of looking for others.

Today, Zhu Qiuqi was called here. Before Zhu Shenzhui explained the purpose of calling him here, Zhu Qiuqi said this. It must be said that Zhu Qiuqi looks careless on the surface, but in fact, he is as thoughtful as ordinary people.

As mentioned before, after following Zhu Shencui for these years, Zhu Qiuqi vaguely felt that his uncle seemed to be doing "big things". Zhu Qiuqi was a person who did not like to be lonely. He had hinted at his ideas several times before, hoping that Zhu Shencui could give him more "things" to do. On the one hand, he wanted to repay Zhu Shencui's kindness, and on the other hand, he wanted to use this opportunity to show his affection and follow Zhu Shencui.

Unfortunately, Zhu Shenzhui never agreed, or rather, Zhu Shenzhui pretended not to understand Zhu Qiuqi's words, which made Zhu Qiuqi very helpless. However, he did not lose heart. He believed that one day Zhu Shenzhui would understand his thoughts and treat him as a real "one of his own".

Zhu Shenzhu was naturally clear about Zhu Qiuqi's thoughts. The reason why he did not respond was not because he did not believe Zhu Qiuqi, but because he felt that the time was not right. Moreover, Zhu Qiuqi was not an ordinary person like Kang Youfu. He had the identity of a royal family like himself, and royal family members had to be extremely cautious about their every move. Once Zhu Qiuqi got involved in his own affairs, if the news leaked or was discovered by others, it would be a big trouble.

But today, Zhu Qiuqi was called here differently from before. This time, Zhu Shenzhui planned to let Zhu Qiuqi do something. The reason why he let Zhu Qiuqi do it instead of others was very simple, because Zhu Qiuqi was the most suitable person to do this.

"eighteen!"

"My nephew is here!"

"I need you to do something, I wonder if you are willing to do it." "Since my uncle has given the order, my nephew is naturally willing to do it. I am willing to do things for my uncle!" Hearing what Zhu Shenzhui said, Zhu Qiuqi instantly became energetic. His face turned slightly red with excitement. He stood up and patted his chest and said, he even wished he could take out his heart and show it to Zhu Shenzhui.

"Of course I believe you, but let me be frank with you. This is not a trivial matter and involves great risks." Zhu Shenzhui said seriously.

"Please rest assured, no matter what happens, I will be fine. As for risks, what can be done without risks? The worst that can happen is the risk of losing your head. My parents died early, and now I only have my wife and children at home. If anything happens to me, I have nothing else to ask. I just ask you to take care of my two children. When the children grow up, I will be satisfied if you can lend a hand. If the children are useless, it would be nice to let them live a stable life as ordinary people with the inheritance left by me."

Zhu Qiuqi even said such words to get Zhu Shenzhui to agree to his request, which made Zhu Shenzhui very satisfied. He took a closer look at Zhu Qiuqi and saw that his expression did not seem fake. He also knew what kind of person Zhu Qiuqi was, so he felt more at ease with him.

"Don't worry, it's not as dangerous as you think. Even if this fails, I think we can suppress it. But since we have to do something, we have to do it well. What do you think?"

"Uncle is right, I will keep it in mind!"

"it is good!"

Zhu Shenzhui nodded and asked, "Do you know the Fan family in Jiexiu?"

"The Fan family from Jiexiu? Of course I know that. What's the matter, uncle? Could it be that the Fan family is... again?" Zhu Qiuqi asked hurriedly.

Zhu Qiuqi knew too well about the Jiexiu Fan family. As early as two years ago, Zhu Qiuqi had inquired about the Fan family's background because of Zhu Shenzui. At that time, he initially learned about the Fan family because their caravan was attacked on the grassland. Later, after investigating the matter, he finally unraveled the mystery and gradually found out the origin of the mastermind behind the attack.

After the caravan was attacked, Zhu Shenzhui found out that someone had bribed the merchant's clerk, which led to the leakage of the route and time, causing the caravan to be almost intercepted on the grassland. If it weren't for Zhu Shenzhui's new army and the coincidence of repelling the bandits, the caravan might have been finished.

A caravan died on the grassland, and no one knew about the robbery of property. After a few days, all traces disappeared. After the incident, Zhu Shenzhu sent people to investigate the matter. Although there was no evidence, it was felt that there was a mastermind behind the incident. After a period of investigation, the traitor was indeed found. Unfortunately, the traitor did not know much, and after further investigation, it was found that the person who contacted the traitor suddenly disappeared, which led to the interruption of the clues.

This matter has been investigated for a long time. Although the clues have been interrupted, the target points to several Shanxi merchants. At first, the Zhang and Wang families were the most suspicious because the interrupted clues vaguely pointed to them. However, the Zhang and Wang families are deeply rooted in Shanxi, and both have family members serving as officials in the court. It is not easy to investigate these two families.

But the investigation was still going on and they never gave up. Later, because of the development of border trade, several Shanxi merchants opposed the court's opening of border trade with the Mongols in Shanxi for their own interests. Among them, in addition to the Zhang and Wang families, there was also the Fan family.

It was at this time that the Fan family was included in Zhu Shenzhui's list of suspects. Later, Zhu Shenzhui handed the investigation of the Fan family to Zhu Qiuqi, who was also very concerned about the matter and spent a lot of effort to find out many problems about the Fan family. Although there was no solid evidence to prove that the Fan family was behind the attack on the caravan and the civil strife in the Ashitemur tribe, the suspicion of the Fan family was not small, even exceeding the Zhang family and the Wang family who were originally targeted.

Later, it was discovered that the Fan family was actually connected with Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Ji-Liao. The Fan family followed Yuan Chonghuan's brother Yuan Chongyu to engage in large-scale smuggling in Liaodong, and made huge profits from private trade with the Jiannu. This further strengthened the suspicion of the Fan family.

After learning about the situation of the Fan family, Zhu Shenzhui had the intention to attack the Fan family. For Zhu Shenzhui, as long as there was enough suspicion, it would be enough. He was not an official, let alone a county magistrate who needed solid evidence to solve the case. Most of the information he found could point to the Fan family as the original mastermind. Moreover, the private collusion between the Fan family and the Jiannu was even more shameful. Even if he took action against such a Fan family, he would not have any psychological burden.

However, this matter was later put on hold for various reasons, one being the changes on the grassland and the other being the Jisi Incident. In addition, the Fan family's lair was in Jiexiu, which is located in the south-central part of Shanxi. To deal with the Fan family, their lair must be destroyed, and it must be done in one fell swoop.

This is no small matter. Although Zhu Shencui has the ability to do so, he has to consider the consequences of doing so. If he cannot cover it up afterwards, he will be easily exposed. Considering the overall situation, Zhu Shencui can only put this matter aside temporarily. Today, Kang Youfu told Zhu Shencui that the rebels were making a lot of trouble in the west of Shanxi, which made Zhu Shencui suddenly think of the Jiexiu Fan family. While agreeing to Kang Youfu's grain trade with the rebels, he realized that the opportunity to deal with the Fan family had come.

(End of this chapter)