Wu Zhen, Marquis of Jinghai, was the younger brother of Wu Liang, Marquis of Jiangyin.
There is a saying that "brothers fight tigers, and father and son go into battle." Boss Zhu himself has no brothers to help fight against the enemy, but he has many brothers among his subordinates, such as the brothers Gongchanghou Guo Xing, Guo Ying, Zheng Yulin, and Zheng Yuchun.
Like the two Wu brothers, they are both ranked among the "Twenty-Four Generals of Huaixi". They are the iron team of Boss Zhu who started his career, and the old brothers who accompanied him when he was young. The sixth brothers have to be called uncles when they meet...
Moreover, the brothers Wu Liang and Wu Zhen are currently the only pair of brothers and double marquises in the Ming Dynasty.
After Zhang Shicheng was pacified that year, Boss Zhu named Wu Liang General Zhaoyong, Commander of the Suzhou Guard, and ordered him to guard Suzhou. Later, in order to build the Central Capital, he changed the town to Fengyang, and worked with Tang He as Li Shanchang's deputy.
After the construction of the central capital, Wu Liang took over the defense of the Yangtze River and assumed the important task of protecting the capital. He was obviously an important minister trusted by the old thieves.
And his younger brother Wu Zhen was the "Navy Commander" of the Ming Dynasty. In order to prevent the Chaohu Navy from being dominated by one family, Boss Zhu forced Fang Guozhen to surrender and recalled the Chaohu Navy on the grounds of the Western Expedition against Ming Yuzhen.
Instead, he ordered Wu Zhen to recruit Fang Guozhen's navy. After a hasty drill, he ordered him to continue the southern expedition. Fortunately, Wu Zhen did not disappoint Boss Zhu. He went to Fuzhou, broke through Yanping, captured Chen Youding, and pacified the coastal areas of Fujian.
In the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Temple of Meritorious Officials in Jilong Mountain to worship the twenty-one founding heroes. "The dead have their statues sculpted, while the living occupy their empty thrones." Wu Zhen and Wu Liang were both among them, and the following year they were both granted the title of Marquis.
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Starting from the third year of Hongwu, Wu Zhen was appointed as General Jinghai, commanding tens of thousands of naval forces and supervising shipping.
After the Japanese invasion occurred in the seventh year of Hongwu's reign, he was reassigned as the chief military officer preparing for Japanese invasion and was responsible for the coastal defense of Jiangsu and Zhejiang...Boss Zhu's trust in him could not be further increased.
Oh, by the way, the abolition of the Shipping Department was also proposed by him.
~~
It can be said that these two brothers have the final say on everything on the Daming River.
If the King of Chu wants to reopen the Shibo Department, he can't get around these two brothers. Unfortunately, he can't put on airs with others... If we really make trouble with the old thief, we still don't know which side he will take.
"Jinghaihou, is he also a protective umbrella?" Zhu Zhen asked with a bit of a throat.
"I really don't know. I've only dealt with Commander Lin a few times, but I haven't come into contact with someone as high as Marquis Jinghai." Xie Yunzhang said feeling ashamed.
"Aren't you afraid of me as a prince, but you are afraid of him as Marquis Jinghai?" Zhu Zhen felt a little annoyed. But he also knew that in the eyes of Lu Zhonghe and others, he, an empty prince, was definitely not as powerful as the powerful one.
Marquis of Jinghai.
"Hmm." Of course, Lao Liu wouldn't say what was in his heart, he just continued to ask:
"You just said that those smuggling ships haven't come even once this year?"
"Yes." Xie Yunzhang nodded quickly.
"Did Lu Zhonghe propose it, or did that adult mean it?" Lao Liu asked.
"Lu Zhonghe said that it was what the adult meant." Xie Yunzhang swallowed and looked at Lao Liu with some fear: "He said that the adult said that as long as there is no ship for a few months, people in Suzhou City will starve to death.
, when something goes wrong, His Highness will be in trouble."
"Fuck..." Zhu Zhen cursed, sooner or later he would retaliate with tooth for tooth. He looked at Xie Yunzhang coldly and said:
"I finally understand why there was such a big fuss after Lu Zhonghe's death. It turns out that you were thinking about his words and wanted to send me away in the hope of causing trouble!"
"This villain deserves death!" Xie Yunzhang slapped himself hard. At this moment, he didn't dare to tell a lie to the King of Chu.
"Okay." Zhu Zhen waved his hand and asked in a cold voice: "How many smuggling ships are there, how strong are the pirates?"
"Many, not only many, but also big!" Xie Yunzhang replied hurriedly: "Their largest ship is twice as big as His Highness's commercial ship."
"Isn't that nonsense?" Zhu Zhen couldn't believe it. In his eyes, the palace-like ship of the Chaohu Navy was already a giant.
"I don't dare, because the navy of Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen, and Chen Youding are far more powerful than the navy of the imperial court back then." Xie Yunzhang hurriedly argued: "For trade, their fleets have to sail to Southeast Asia and even the Western Ocean.
Therefore, the ship must be built big, and the bigger the better.
"Later, when the three families were defeated, the big ships were basically driven away by the men who were unwilling to surrender."
"That's it..." Zhu Zhen felt uneasy in his heart.
He originally thought that the Chaohu navy must be invincible, so he never worried about the safety of the commercial fleet. But now it seems that the danger is not small.
~~
Things in the world are like this, whatever you are afraid of will come...
A few days later, Zhu Zhengang planned to return to Beijing with his third brother to attend the wedding of his fifth brother.
June 15th is the big day for His Highness King Wu to marry the legitimate daughter of Duke Feng Sheng of Song Dynasty and become Princess Wu!
Youdao relies on mountains and rivers, and the two brothers are kings and hegemons in Suzhou and can be called rich men. Of course, they have to prepare a generous wedding ceremony for Lao Wu.
Moreover, Lao Wu was the King of Wu, and Suzhou was his future fiefdom. Of course, the big families had to sincerely prepare gifts. As a result, a whole large ship was packed.
Unexpectedly, before setting off, Zhu Zhen received an urgent report from the Municipal Shipping Department - the Municipal Shipping Fleet returned with failure and suffered heavy losses...
Zhu Zhen was so angry that he broke his guard on the spot and cursed his mother in various languages!
Although the third brother couldn't understand foreign languages, he also knew that Lao Liu was crazy. He also knew that Shibosi was crucial to Lao Liu's plan.
"Let's do this. I'll go back with the gifts first. I'll go to Liujiagang and deal with the things there. It's still too late to rush back."
"That's fine." Lao Liu didn't say no to Third Brother, and nodded: "I'll go take a look and come back, there won't be any delay."
"Okay." The third child nodded, and asked someone to bring his beloved white horse 'Blue Eyes Jade Dragon' to the sixth child and said, "Ride it fast."
"Well, thank you, third brother." Lao Liu was not polite, got on his horse, waved his whip at King Jin, and rode away.
~~
The Shibosi Yamen is located in Liujiagang, Taicang, one hundred and thirty miles away from Suzhou City.
It took most of a day to go down the river by boat. But the king of Chu was too slow, so he directly rode to Liujiagang under the protection of a hundred personal guards.
Hearing that His Highness was coming in person, the Chief of Shipping Department promoted Han Yike and Nan'an Marquis Yu Tongyuan and hurriedly went out to greet him.
"Your Highness..." Yu Tongyuan knelt down on one knee, preparing to apologize. Because he was the leader of the municipal fleet...
"Stop talking nonsense." His Royal Highness the King of Chu on horseback waved his hand impatiently. "I don't want to hear any nonsense now!"
"Your Highness, it's better to go back to the Yamen first." Han Yike said, "Drink some water and then listen to the report."
"Go to the pier." Zhu Zhen shook his head decisively. Han Yike shrank his neck and had no choice but to lead him to the Shibosi Pier.
In the dock dedicated to the Municipal Shipping Department, King Chu saw six ships flying the flags of the Municipal Shipping Fleet.
"Where are the other four boats?"
"Probably captured..." Yu Tongyuan burst into tears. It was an unprecedented shame and humiliation for the Chaohu Navy!
