After listening to the words of the two men, His Royal Highness King Chu concluded: "So let's just say one sentence - either join me or be eliminated?"
"That's understandable." Shen Rong and Gu Yuanchen nodded.
"Then I will understand what to do." Zhu Zhen's eyes suddenly brightened, and he stood up and said to them: "You two should go home quickly and explain, and we will set off early tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Your Highness." The two responded hurriedly.
"Senior brother, it's a little troublesome here. We have to wait for the decree to come down before we can take office. It's a pity that we have to miss this Zhenjiang conference." Zhu Zhen patted Han Yike on the shoulder.
"I..." Han Yike wanted to say, I haven't agreed yet.
But before the words came out, Lao Liu rushed to say: "Don't worry, it won't be too long, it will only happen a year or two ago."
"No, I..." Kuai Kou Censor felt uncomfortable being blocked today.
"Oh, senior brother, you still have to take care of the food?" Lao Liu said with a smile: "Where are we, No. 100, how embarrassing."
"I can't control it." Han Yike finally choked out a complete sentence.
"Hahaha, I'm kidding you." Zhu Zhen laughed and said, "I know that my senior brother is as honest as water, so he won't let you live in poverty."
"Let's go." He said, waving his hand to him, and walked away in a flash.
"You..." Han Yike didn't even say his rejection until the end. "I... alas..."
~~
After the brothers went to the ancestral mausoleum to offer sacrifices, they went straight to Zhenjiang.
Zhenjiang is located on the south bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It is the only way for the Grand Canal to connect the river and the sea. It is connected to Huainan on the top, controls the sea on the left, and controls Shenjing in the front. It is the first key point in the downstream. The Six Dynasties called it "Beifu", and people in the Song Dynasty called it "Beifu". The portal of western Zhejiang'.
After Boss Zhu established Jinling, Zhenjiang became the first county of Jifu, together with the five prefectures of Yingtian, Taiping, Ningguo and Guangde. In the process of his unification of the world, Zhenjiang assumed the main logistics and military support.
Therefore, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Boss Zhu repeatedly commended these five prefectures as the "land of prosperous kings", and also gave them special preferential treatment in terms of taxation and labor. Therefore, the people in the five prefectures have lighter burdens and live richer lives. Boss Zhu's It also has the highest level of support.
This formed a huge contrast with the miserable situation of the five prefectures of Su, Song, Chang, Jia, and Hu who originally supported Zhang Shicheng after entering the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the contradiction between the two places became more and more serious. People from the five prefectures in western Zhejiang, scolded The Five Prefectures of Jinling have no integrity, they are the accomplices of tigers, and they are not true Jiangnan people. The people of the Five Prefectures of Jinling and those who criticize the Five Prefectures of Western Zhejiang are all rebellious ministers and traitors without kings and fathers.
But since the twelfth lunar month, those authentic Jiangnan big families from the five prefectures in western Zhejiang have been heading north to Zhenjiang one after another, arriving at this unfortunate place where they hate each other.
As the New Year is approaching, all the inns and hotels in Zhenjiang Fucheng, which used to be closed at this time in previous years, are full this year. This naturally arouses the vigilance of the government.
So Cao Dabin, the prefect of Zhenjiang, ordered Zhou Shizhong, the magistrate of Dantu County who was attached to Guo, to quickly figure out what was going on. Zhenjiang is the throat of the capital, and stability is the top priority. The divine capital must not be disturbed!
Zhou Zhixian did not dare to neglect the order after receiving the order. He originally planned to summon a few barbarians from the south of the Yangtze River for questioning, but his friends persuaded him that those people from the south of the Yangtze River who came to Zhenjiang were all cheering and spending money. They treated the local girls. It was not enough to wrap them up, so they also spent a lot of money to invite famous prostitutes from Jinling and Yangzhou to spend the day and night together.
You know what the consequences will be if you offend them, so you'd better be polite to them.
The magistrate of Zhou County was very obedient and asked a friend of the secretariat to find out which of these Jiangnan barbarians were the most distinguished ones. He planned to invite them to the Yamen for tea.
Who knows, it doesn't matter if my friend doesn't ask, but he will be shocked if he asks.
All the big and famous companies from Su, Song, Chang, Jia, Hu, Hangzhou and Ningbo came here.
The Lu family in Suzhou, the Tang family in Shanghai, the Zheng family in Songjiang, the Ni family in Qingyuan, the Cao family in Fushan, the Xie family in Hangzhou... and all of them are heads of families.
"I'm a good boy. These gods usually sit in the temple, waiting for people to come and burn incense. Which Buddha is this, gathering them together?" Zhou Zhixian was stunned and didn't dare to tell anyone.
. Hurry up and have people deliver greeting cards, and prepare to visit them one by one.
He knew very well that no matter it was the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, or today's Ming Dynasty, these wealthy gentry in the south of the Yangtze River were all figures with powerful eyes and hands. They could even influence the formulation of national policies, overturn the court's decrees, and determine the fate of officials... Although today's Holy Emperor
Not only did they not give them face, they also tried their best to suppress them, but the contest between the two sides was far from the moment when the winner was completely decided.
Anyway, Zhou Zhixian, a small county magistrate, would not dare to offend these gods.
He first visited Lu Zhonghe, a member of the famous Lu family in Suzhou. The Lu family was the most famous family in Jiangdong, and his descendants had served as generals and prime ministers in the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, and they were very distinguished.
Of course, in this dynasty, the Lu family has also been severely suppressed by Boss Zhu. Although its reputation is great, it is difficult to live up to it. Otherwise, the dignified head of the Lu family would not meet him as a small county magistrate.
After the two parties chatted, Zhou Zhixian found out that it was His Royal Highness the King of Chu who sent the Laba message and invited them to drink Laba porridge.
"His Royal Highness, King of Chu, how old is he?" Zhou Zhixian heard this and couldn't believe it. He immediately realized that he had made a mistake and quickly made up for it: "What I mean is, why does His Highness, King of Chu, invite you to drink porridge for no reason?"
"Haha." Lu Zhonghe said with a wry smile: "Actually, I'm also surprised. He said he wanted to talk about reopening the shipping company, but our Lu family has always been engaged in farming and studying, and Suzhou is not close to the sea. How can we talk about it?
What's the deal?"
"Then why did His Highness the King of Chu choose Zhenjiang?" Zhou Zhixian asked again.
"Maybe it's not convenient for so many people to come to Beijing. Who knows." Lu Zhonghe shook his head.
He and Zhou Zhixian were strangers to each other, so how could they have a close conversation? So they chatted in general terms.
Seeing that he couldn't find any useful questions and that the other party had no interest in making friends with him, Zhou Zhixian, who was hot-tempered but cold-hearted, left sadly.
Then go to the next one and continue posting...
~~
Zhenjiang Magistrate’s Office.
"Just like that, I paid a visit to the official, and everyone agreed that it was His Royal Highness the King of Chu who sent the Laba stickers and invited them to eat Laba porridge." The miserable magistrate of Guo Zhou County reported back to the magistrate:
"His Royal Highness the King of Chu called them here, probably to discuss the reopening of the Shibo Department. Because he didn't know who to talk to, he simply called them all."
"Well." Magistrate Cao nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then we just need to receive His Highness well and cook Laba porridge for them, and that should be fine."
As he said this, he smiled at Zhou Zhixian, and the latter's heart skipped a beat, knowing if something was good.
"Yangzhou Prefecture has notified me that on the seventh day of the lunar month, the five highnesses will arrive in Zhenjiang."
As he said this, he smiled and said, "You still have to work hard, Brother Zhou Xian, to do a good job in reception."
"Ah? Five highnesses? Isn't it just the King of Chu?" Zhou Zhixian wanted to cry but had no tears. He really didn't cultivate in his previous life, so the Zhixian attached himself to Guo!