The Marquis of Huining, Zhang Wen, was lying leisurely under the big tree in the backyard, while four maids kept fanning him. Before he came, Zhang Wen had only heard about the benefits of being a governor in Nanyang from other nobles. But this was just
He heard it from hearsay and had no personal experience, so he didn't feel it too deeply.
When he arrived in Anping, he realized that besides being a little hot, it was really a place for gods. Ever since Annan was occupied by the King of Qin, Anping has never had a decent threat.
As the governor, Zhang Wen combined military and political power, which was absolutely impossible in the Ming Dynasty. But here, his words and deeds can easily shake the entire Anping. This kind of power, without any constraints, makes him very
Obsessed. ??
What's more, Anping is rich in pearls and has many fertile fields. He can grow food three times a year, so he doesn't have to worry about food shortages at all. He only needs to keep an eye on Anping Port every day, collect taxes, and transfer pearls from the pearl divers.
Just collect the pearls in your hand.
Just when Zhang Wen was intoxicated in Wenrou Township, a subordinate hurriedly ran in and reported: "Master Hou~"
Before the visitor finished speaking, Zhang Wen immediately opened his eyes, looked at the visitor with a gloomy expression, and said, "Didn't I say that? At this time of the day, don't disturb me if there is no big deal."
The subordinate immediately raised his head, clasped his fists and replied: "Master Hou, there is something very big."
"What's the matter?" After hearing this, Zhang Wen did not blame his subordinates anymore, but his face remained as gloomy as ever.
The subordinate quickly replied: "Master Marquis, the navy is here. And"
Before his subordinate finished speaking, Zhang Wen casually waved his hand to interrupt his words and said: "It's just a navy man. Look, I'm making you nervous. Who is here? If it's Han Du, then I'll go
Take a look. If not, then I won’t go, just go and arrange them."
Zhang Wen sat up slowly. He was a superior marquis, and ordinary navy generals were naturally not looked down upon by him. But Han Du was different. Han Du was not only a marquis, but Han Du also conquered Nanyang. He
Now that I can sit back and enjoy the success in Anping, I naturally have a good impression of Handu.
The subordinate quickly replied: "Master Marquis, look at the navy's royal order flag, it is His Royal Highness who is here."
"What? Your Royal Highness is here? Are you sure you read it correctly!" Zhang Wen got up from the recliner in an instant and asked condescendingly.
"It's absolutely true, if I dare to use my head as a guarantee, it is His Royal Highness who is here."
Zhang Wen didn't hesitate anymore and immediately shouted: "Quick, open the middle gate and follow me to greet the prince!"
Due to the hot weather, Zhang Wen originally only wore a white singlet. Now that he was going to meet the prince, of course he needed to wear a marquis robe.
Seeing several maids standing there blankly holding fans, Zhang Wen stamped his feet anxiously and immediately shouted loudly: "Why don't you quickly bring me my robes to change my clothes? What are you waiting for?"
"Yes, Lord Marquis~" The two maids hurriedly turned around and entered the room to get their robes.
With the flagship in front and two warships guarding the left and right, it slowly sailed into Anping Port.
Zhu Biao stood on the bow of the ship, with merchants and merchants shouting loudly on both sides of the ship. It was not that Zhu Biao had never accepted people’s kneeling before him, but he was the first to accept such spontaneous kneeling at sea.
Second-rate.
The sounds of roaring mountains and tsunamis on both sides followed Zhu Biao's progress. Zhu Biao stood on the bow of the ship like a spear standing upright.
"Why do they feel so happy about Gu's arrival? Isn't this a pomp created by Zhang Wen on purpose?"
Han Du, who was sitting a little behind, glanced to both sides and replied with a smile: "I'm afraid that Marquis Huining doesn't have the ability to make so many people congratulate His Highness in unison. They should all be sincere."
"Haha, Han Du, although I am very happy when you say this, I won't believe it if you don't have a reasonable explanation." Zhu Biao pointed his fingers at Han Du and smiled.
Han Du smiled slightly, "Your Highness does not know something. This Anping Port is not a big port at all, nor is it the only way for maritime merchants. They can come here or not. The Marquis of Huining does not dare to force them at all.
, Otherwise, if these maritime merchants no longer come to Anping Port, where will their taxes be collected?"
Zhu Biao listened, nodded in agreement, and asked: "But Gu has not done anything for these maritime merchants, why do they treat Gu like this?"
Han Du patiently explained: "Whether they are merchants or ordinary people, since they come here, it means that they travel by sea and rely on the treasure land of Nanyang to eat. In the past, although the imperial court set up many governor's offices in Nanyang,
It is still not enough to give the maritime merchants and the people full confidence. Because they will worry that the imperial court may withdraw the Governor's Mansion one day in the future. This also leads to the fact that neither the maritime merchants nor the people dare to plan to stay in Nanyang for a long time.
If they continue to stay, they are afraid that this day will come sooner or later. If they invest too much energy and material resources in Nanyang, they may lose everything by then."
"But His Highness's inspection of the coastal areas this time gave them a clear message. That is
The Ming Dynasty will not give up Nanyang easily, at least not His Highness."
Zhu Biao nodded, raised his eyes to look at Han Du, and suddenly asked: "In fact, you are also worried that Gu will give up Nanyang in the future, just like those maritime merchants, right?"
Han Du smiled and nodded slightly. Of course he had this worry. After all, Zhu Biao was too kind, and he paid great attention to and was cautious about the opinions of civil servants. Han Du was afraid that one day, if those civil servants united to present a memorial, Zhu Biao would be
There is a real possibility of being taken into a ditch by them.
"Nagu will make you a promise today. Nanyang is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will never give up Nanyang." Zhu Biao said categorically as he looked at the densely packed merchant ships and Ming people on both sides of the waterway.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Han Du quickly bowed.
While Han Du and Zhu Biao were chatting, the warship had already docked.
The two navy teams disembarked first, cleared all the plank roads, and guarded them airtight.
Before Zhu Biao could get off the boat, Huining Marquis Zhang Wen stepped forward alone. He suddenly paid homage to Zhu Biao who was walking down step by step: "Your Majesty, Zhang Wen, pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince. His Highness the Crown Prince is a thousand years old. I'm late to greet him. I'm sorry."
Please forgive me, Your Highness."
Zhu Biao walked up to Zhang Wen step by step, helped him up with his own hands, and said with a smile: "You are so welcome, Marquis Huining. You have worked hard to travel thousands of miles to sit overseas."
"It's not hard for me." Zhang Wen quickly replied and stood up. Moreover, his words were not polite. He did not feel it was hard at all. Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, coming to an overseas place is equivalent to being trapped.
It's a disguised arrangement, but Zhang Wen actually likes his current life.
Some people think that to serve as a governor, you need to stay in Nanyang for five years, which is very difficult. But Zhang Wen doesn't think so. What does it mean to only be five years? When he guarded the border in the past, he would only go once or twice or three times.
Years? It’s just a little longer now.
But compared to guarding the border, Nanyang is really much better. Not only does it have great power, but the prosperity of Anping is even greater than most cities in the Ming Dynasty. There is no shortage of fine wine, food, and beauties. On the contrary, the border is not only very
It's bitterly cold, and it's like a barbaric land. There's nothing there except military cities and garrison troops.
For Zhang Wen, Anping Governor's Mansion was like a comfortable home, more comfortable than staying in the capital.
Zhang Wen smiled and nodded slightly to Han Du, indicating that he had met. After that, he waved to the prince and said, "His Royal Highness has traveled thousands of miles and worked hard all the way. I have already held a banquet in the mansion to welcome His Highness. Please go first!"
"
"Okay! Huining Hou is interested." Zhu Biao walked slowly in front with a smile on his face and his hands behind his back.
Zhang Wen then signaled to Handu, "Marquis of Zhenhai, please!"
"Marquis Huining, please!" Han Du returned the greeting.
Zhang Wen stopped delaying and followed Zhu Biao to the left, while Han Du walked to the right. Under the guard of navy soldiers, the group walked towards the Governor's Mansion.
Zhu Biao's arrival caused the originally bustling and busy Anping Port to press the pause button. Maritime merchants and Ming Dynasty people all took the initiative to stand on both sides of the street and knelt down towards Zhu Biao with pride on their faces.
There were some rare locals who were not even qualified to kneel down and worship Zhu Biao, so they were driven far away by the soldiers of the Governor's Mansion, and they were strictly prohibited from approaching.
After Zhu Biao passed by, the merchants and the people began to talk with smiles on their faces. Not only did everyone not feel upset because Zhu Biao's arrival had temporarily stopped doing business in Anping Port, but they all talked excitedly about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's inspection.
The impact of maritime borders.
When everyone was talking enthusiastically, a native suddenly interjected and asked: "Master, who is this big shot just now? Such a big pomp?"
The person in question looked back and saw that he was a clerk in his shop. Moreover, this clerk was usually very clever and he liked him very much. So he did not get angry at him, but explained: "Big shot? What big shot?"
Can it be compared to the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty?"
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" The native Chinese speaker speaks very well and is obviously a smart person. He works under his employer, so he naturally has some understanding of the Ming Dynasty. In his understanding, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is the master of the world and rules the world.
Thousands of miles of territory. As the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and the future emperor, this identity shocked him and left him dumbfounded.
He muttered a sigh: "No wonder the pomp and circumstance is so grand."
When the merchant saw that this native man looked like he had never seen the world, he felt a sense of pride. He held his head high and said, "What kind of pomp is this? It means that Anping Port is too small to be used."
He raised his hand and pointed at the densely packed navy warships on the sea, and said proudly: "Have you seen it? That is the invincible navy of the Ming Dynasty. That is the real scene of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Hundreds of ships of various kinds lie across the sea, endlessly like a giant city on the sea.
It gave the local guys a huge shock.
Early the next morning, Zhu Biao rejected Zhang Wen's repeated attempts to stay and left Anping for Annan.
This time Han Du sent a fast horse to inform the King of Qin in advance. When Zhu Biao had not reached half the distance, he was picked up by Zhu Ping who hurried over.
"Hahaha, brother Huang!"
Zhu Ping, who was far away, got off his horse and ran all the way over.
Zhu Biao also reined in the reins, dismounted, and went up to meet him.
The two brothers hugged each other and slapped each other hard on the back to relieve the bromance. ??
After Zhu Fang calmed down a little, he grabbed Zhu Biao's shoulders and said excitedly: "When Han Du sent someone to tell the emperor brother that he was coming, I didn't even believe it. I didn't expect that the emperor brother actually came. Father, the emperor
How did you agree to let the emperor come out?"
Zhu Xi also knew something about his father, and knew that it would be very difficult for Zhu Biao to convince his father to let him come to this overseas place.
"Well, it's a long story." Zhu Biao glanced at Han Du subconsciously, turned back to Zhu Xi and said with a smile. He covered it up and did not continue to explain.
Zhu Xi didn't ask any more questions, and then put the question aside, and said to Zhu Biao with a smile on his face: "We haven't seen the emperor for a long time, and we miss him so much. This time the emperor is here, no matter what, we must
Stay a few more days."
"Okay!" Zhu Biao nodded repeatedly and said with a smile: "I miss my second brother very much."
The two of them talked while walking. Zhu Biao and Zhu Xi talked about the situation in the capital, while Zhu Xi told him all kinds of interesting things about Annan. Zhu Biao and Zhu Xi seemed to have endless things to talk about. Until they came to
In Zhu Chong's Qin Prince's Mansion, the two of them stopped talking with unfinished thoughts.
"Brother Imperial, let's see how this palace looks like, little brother?" Zhu Xi raised his whip and pointed at the palace of Prince Qin and said.
Zhu Biao looked at it carefully, nodded and praised: "It's good, but is it a little small?"
Zhu Xi is a prince, and the Ming Dynasty has clear standards for how big, high, and scale his mansion should be. Although the mansion in front of you is already very good here, it is not as good as the one in the Ming Dynasty.
, at least there is a big gap in regulations.
Zhu Xi came forward and said with a smile: "This was originally a palace that the Li family planned to build for themselves. After it was destroyed by us, it was preserved. Annan was not stable at that time, and we were not willing to waste people and money on large-scale construction projects.
, so I regard this place as the royal palace."
"Brother Emperor, don't think it is small in terms of regulations, but in fact it is not bad at all. Brother Emperor will know after entering."
Zhu Biao glanced at Zhu Feng in surprise and said curiously: "Oh? What's the difference here? It seems I want to take a closer look."
A group of people walked into Prince Qin's Mansion.
Han Du just listened to Zhu Xi's words. As soon as he entered the door, he looked carefully inside the palace, trying to find something special. But after looking around, he didn't find anything remarkable. As far as what he saw now
, this palace is completely unworthy of Zhu Xi’s proud expression just now. Is there anything else that I haven’t seen?
After entering the lobby, Han Du immediately saw the chairs placed on the left and right sides.
"This is?" Han Du said in surprise and couldn't help but walked forward.
After looking at it for a while, he raised his head and looked at Zhu Ping in shock, and asked in a harsh voice: "Your Highness, King Qin, is this chair made of red sandalwood?"
"Hahaha" Zhu Xi smiled triumphantly a few times before nodding heavily towards Han Du, "Of course."
Seeing the shock on Han Du's face, Zhu Ping even pointed out: "Look at what's on the floor, and look at the beams and pillars in this house."
The floor is made of golden nanmu. Although golden nanmu is also available in the Ming Dynasty, even with Lao Zhu's luxury, it was only used as beams and columns in the Forbidden City. It was not luxurious enough to use golden nanmu to pave the floor.
The beams and columns here are also golden nanmu, but the other wooden boards are extremely rare rouge wood. This wood naturally emits a fragrance, which not only calms people down, but also repels snakes and insects.
Living in a house like this, no matter how sultry the weather is, there will be no mosquitoes to disturb you.
Yes, it is true that there are no carved beams or paintings in this lobby, but it is just these wooden materials, and no carved beams or paintings can match it.
"If we can dismantle the wood here and bring it back to the Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid we can buy some of the best houses in the capital." Han Du said with eyes shining and his mouth watering.
"Don't even think about it!" Zhu Xi looked at Han Du warily.
When Zhu Biao saw him, he smiled and tried to smooth things over, giving Zhu Ping a hand and saying, "He just said it, what do you care about him?"
Then he sighed: "But you really shocked Gudu. I have only seen my father use red sandalwood to make a dragon bed, but I have never seen anyone use it to make a chair."
After hearing this, Zhu Fang quickly explained: "This was not done by my younger brother. It was done by someone from the Li family. My younger brother
This was already the case when I took over this place.”
Zhu Biao nodded and said nothing more.
And Zhu Xiang had already prepared a reception banquet for Zhu Biao. After the banquet, Zhu Xiang looked at everyone with a proud expression on his face.
When Han Du saw it, he looked at Zhu Xi with some surprise and asked tentatively: "Does His Majesty the King of Qin have anything else that he would like to show me?"
Zhu Biao also laughed when he heard this and said, "Second brother, do you have any good things?"
"Of course." Zhu Xi nodded.
Then he clapped his hands and shouted outside: "Bring it in."
Two rows of maids, each holding an exquisite wooden box, walked in and stood on both sides of the hall.
Under the confused looks of Han Du and others, Zhu Ping waved his hand and said, "Open it!"
As the maid opened the wooden box, a flash of emerald green came into view under the firelight.
Dazzling and beautiful!
Zhu Biao and Tang Ding didn't react yet, but Han Du suddenly stood up and said with surprise on his face: "Have you really found the prince?"
Zhu Biao was surprised by Han Du's reaction and what he said, so he asked Zhu Fang: "What did you find? Is this it?"
Zhu Xi nodded, but did not explain too much to Zhu Biao. Instead, he signaled that Zhu Biao had questions to ask Han Du, because he also sent people to look for it at Han Du's request, and he did not expect that he would actually find it.
But although this thing looked very beautiful, he didn't know what it was used for.
I took it out today just because Han Du was here so that he could explain.
Zhu Biao nodded clearly and turned to look at Han Du. He saw that Han Du was focused on these things and did not notice him at all.
Then he cleared his throat and asked, "What are these and what are they used for?"
Han Du came back to his senses and glanced at everyone's doubtful eyes. Han Du explained in a hurry: "This is an extremely rare gemstone in the world and a very rare treasure."
Seeing that everyone still didn't understand, Han Du continued to explain: "Everyone knows jade, right? A piece of beautiful jade is worth ten thousand gold. This kind of thing is also a kind of jade, but it is different from the jade we usually see."
"What's the difference?" When he heard Han Du say that this was a kind of jade, Zhu Xi's eyes suddenly lit up. You must know that jade is worth a lot of money, and this thing is still on his territory. If it is really worth tens of thousands,
Then doesn’t he get rich?
"The jade we usually see is famous for being moist, greasy, and fair. But this kind of jade is famous for its glass-like luster." Han Du said excitedly.
Tang Ding asked doubtfully: "What's the difference?"
"The difference is huge." Han Du took off a jade pendant from his waist, held it up to the soup cauldron and said, "This is Hotan mutton fat white jade. It is warm and greasy when you get it, so it is suitable for playing with."
Han Du picked up another piece of material. Although most of this piece of material was covered with stone skin, it was very rough. However, a goose egg-sized piece of stone skin had fallen off, revealing the dark green color inside.
"Look at the luster here. Is it similar to glass?"
Seeing Tang Ding nod, Han Du continued: "The things made of this kind of jade are radiant and beautiful, and are very suitable for viewing. They are completely different from the common jade we have."
"Can it be sold for money?" Zhu Fang didn't care what was good about this thing. He just wanted to know whether it could be sold for money and whether it could be sold for a big price.
Han Du sneered and said, "Can I sell it for money? Can I remove the word "?"
Zhu Xi suddenly became happy, and raised his hands to thank Han Du: "Haha, thank you for clarifying my doubts, otherwise I would really have entered the treasure mountain and returned empty-handed!"
Han Du frowned, raised his eyes and stared at Zhu Xi and asked: "What does King Qin mean? Does the prince want to monopolize this business?"
Zhu Xiangshi smiled and said: "How can this be called monopoly? This is something that belongs to my fiefdom, and it belongs to me by nature."
Zhu Xiang's meaning is very clear. This is my king's thing. It has nothing to do with you, Han Du, and it has nothing to do with other people. Since it has no relationship, it certainly cannot be said to be monopoly.
Even Zhu Biao didn't express this. In his opinion, this thing belongs to Zhu Chong. If it can be sold for money, it naturally belongs to Zhu Chong.
But Han Du was extremely unwilling. Others did not know the value of this thing, but Han Du knew it clearly. As long as this thing is born, it will definitely be sought after by the world. What Zhu Xi is sitting on is not a treasure mountain, but a solid mountain.
It is a real mountain of gold, which is the wealth that can rival a rich country.
With such a huge piece of meat, if he didn't take a big bite, Han Du would feel that he would be sorry for his future generations.
Seeing the dissatisfaction on Han Du's face, Zhu Fang pretended to be generous and said: "But don't worry, you found this treasure for me, I will not treat you badly. I will write a letter back to Beijing later and send you 10,000 guan."