When he just arrived at the archway outside the gate of Prince De's Mansion, Zhu Youli hurried out of the Prince's Mansion to greet him. When he was far away, he shouted: "Eunuch Chang didn't say hello in advance when he came this time. I'm missing you."
Welcome, disrespectful, disrespectful!"
Chang Yu laughed: "How dare you trouble the prince? It's too outrageous to say this based on our friendship!"
"Isn't it?" Zhu Youli was still surprised that Chang Yu came to Jinan. He couldn't figure out why he came here, and he felt a little guilty, although he thought he had not done anything extraordinary recently.
However, it is definitely not a trivial matter for the Governor of Dongchang to take action personally, but as long as it does not implicate himself, it will be fine.
"Your Majesty, this is General Zheng." Chang Yu quickly introduced Zheng Zhilong next to him.
"Your Majesty Zheng Zhilong pays homage to Prince De" Zheng Zhilong hurriedly saluted and Zhu Youli responded casually. All his attention was on Chang Yu and he had no time for others. He thought he was just an accompanying general soldier beside Chang Yu, but suddenly he felt that this name
A bit familiar: "Zheng Zhilong?... Are you the one from Fujian..."
"It's the official!" Zheng Zhilong said quickly.
Oops, Zhu Youli was suddenly shocked. He had naturally heard of a big guy like Zheng Zhilong. I wonder if the government and the public had not heard of all kinds of rumors about him. In the past, he was a big pirate who roamed the sea, but now he is a big warlord who dominates one side. There are
With money, power, warships, power, and strength, he was considered the most popular warlord in the Ming Dynasty.
At this moment, this leader was right in front of him. At first glance, he looked like a follower of the great eunuch.
Although Zhu Youli didn't know why he was following Chang Yu, and he didn't care about such things, he keenly sensed business opportunities. Zheng Zhilong was a pirate and a maritime merchant, the largest overseas trader in the past and now!
As a result, the attitude of the prince, who was full of business knowledge, became very enthusiastic. He quickly welcomed Chang Yu and Zheng Zhilong into the palace, and he just decorated the palace with lights and colors and beat gongs and drums. Of course, when he saw Chang Yu wearing casual clothes, he knew that Chang Yu was secretly leaving the capital, and he also
He specifically ordered everyone in the palace to keep silent, otherwise his tongue would be pulled out.
"Have you eaten, Your Majesty?" Chang Yu and Zhu Youli are familiar with each other, and they speak very casually. There are not so many etiquettes and not many rules. There is no need to be careful about their wording. They are just talking to ordinary people. Although Zhu Youli's identity is
He was much more noble, but according to his power, Zhu Youli was like an ant that could be crushed to death at any time in front of him.
So don't put on airs in front of me, and don't put on airs with me either.
"You can eat it again after you've eaten it." Zhu Youli's words made Chang Yu and Zheng Zhilong laugh. They felt that this prince didn't have the airs of a prince.
Although it was already past noon, and Zhu Youli had also eaten, soon another table of rich wine and food was arranged in Prince De's Mansion. Everyone looked at the fine food and wine in front of them, and they wanted to gorge themselves on it, especially Zheng Zhilong, who was drinking wine.
The addiction got out of hand, and Zhu Youli's eyes widened as he raised his glass again and again: "General Zheng, do you know that we Shandong people are also very good drinkers? Let's see how my drinking capacity compares to yours."
.
Zheng Zhilong readily agreed, but was rejected by Chang Yu: "Your Majesty, it's not that our family will destroy our prestige, but you really can't drink him." Zhu Youli was still a little unconvinced, and Chang Yu said again: "I'll drink too much later.
I can’t even speak anymore.”
Only then did Zhu Youli realize that no, two great gods of wealth came to the door. They couldn't just drink and have a good chat about business, so he gave up and moved the topic from drinking to somewhere else.
"Has the prince's palace been repaired?" Chang Yu asked seemingly casually. The former palace of Prince De was extremely luxurious, but after the Qing army broke through Jinan City, it was looted and burned down again.
It was abandoned for a period of time. After several years of renovations when Zhu Youli moved in, it could only be restored to one-third or even less of its original state. Chang Yu still remembers that when he first lived in Prince De's Mansion, most of it was deserted. Many places said that
It's not an exaggeration to say it's a mass grave.
Zhu Youli smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This is the worst" he said and rubbed his hands.
Chang Yu laughed loudly: "Your Majesty, our family is just passing by to visit friends, not here to enjoy the autumn breeze." Zhu Youli breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, but said: "Eunuch Chang speaks like this, and it will be ignored. If Eunuch Chang or the court have any
If you need it, even if I sell it, I still have to get it together."
"Your Majesty is very particular about people." Chang Yu quickly extended his thumb and asked, "Is the harvest bad this year?"
Zhu Youli nodded.
As mentioned before, it was pie in the sky that Zhu Youli could succeed King De, but this pie had no fillings. The Tatar army gave up the entire city of Jinan, and Prince De's palace was also in ruins. What he inherited was almost just a name.
Fortunately, there are still a lot of land where he can collect rent to make a living, but Liu Zeqing is the one-man-powerful one in Jinan and completely ignores him. At best, he is just a big landowner in Jinan. After several years of hard work, he finally managed to save some money, and Chang Yu even lent it to him.
Almost done.
But later Chang Yu didn't treat him badly. First, he helped him get rid of Liu Zeqing. Although almost all of Liu Zeqing's family property was confiscated, at least one-third of the real estate, including thousands of hectares of fertile land, went into Zhu Youli's hands.
And he finally became the king of Jinan!
After acquiring so much land at once, plus he made a lot of investments, such as investing in Da Ming Bank, Chang Yu estimated that this guy had nearly a million in savings.
But Zhu Youli spread his hands and said, "I can barely make ends meet."
Chang Yu didn't believe it at first, but after hearing what he said, it suddenly dawned on him. It turns out that with so much more land and investment income due to Zhu Youqi, the investment income should be much higher than before. However, the drought and locust plagues two years ago greatly reduced the harvest, and then there was a famine in the capital and Jinan.
It was also within the scope of the impact. I don’t know how many people starved to death in and outside the city. At this time, Zhu Youli did not stand idly by. He reduced rents, opened warehouses and porridge shops, built shelters, and even set up schools...
In short, he did do a lot of things during this period, and the good things that benefited the country and the people made Chang Yu very impressed with him. He couldn't help but praise him for setting an example for the world, and wanted to report to the emperor to ask for credit.
In fact, it’s just a name request!
The Dewang lineage is now too weak in the large imperial family and has been marginalized. What Zhu Youli wants most now is to increase his presence. He is a very smart person. Ever since he found Chang Yu as his backer, he has
Know how to operate.
Once you are famous and have influence, you will get twice the result with half the effort, even if it is just to make money, it will be much easier, not to mention that the emperor will remember your good deeds, mention you and praise you a few times when there is nothing wrong, and you will be very proud in front of other clan members.
"Among all the vassal kings in the north, our family has the best friendship with Prince De and has the same goals. Based on this, those in our family who stutter in the future will not dare to forget Prince De. But if you are told, just speak up." Chang Yu heard Zhu You
Yue opened a porridge shop, a school, and a shelter again. He was indeed moved. Although he also knew Zhu Youju's intentions behind his back, no matter what, he did do a lot of practical things to provide help in times of need, not to mention borrowing money and donating food before.
Feeling loyal.
So when he was moved, he said something that spoke from the bottom of his heart. Of course, his words were very heartfelt, but Zhu Youli was greatly moved after hearing this. As a prince, he also had information channels, and the few surviving vassal kings in the north They are all closely related to this eunuch. Prince Heng of Qingzhou is considered Dongchang’s biological mother. He will lend money and grain as soon as he opens his mouth. He can talk nicer than the emperor. Prince Jin of Taiyuan and Prince Dai of Datong even collaborate in the coal business. However, he only ignored King Lu of Yanzhou Prefecture.
"I don't dare to tell you. Eunuch Chang's words are enough." Zhu Youli said and stood up to raise his glass: "It's all in this wine." He raised his head and drank it all in one gulp. Chang Yu also quickly stood up and drank the tea in the cup. He said: "Our family is not a person who makes random promises. Why don't we bring a god of wealth to the prince?" He winked at Zhu Youjue. Zhu Youjue understood instantly and looked at Zheng Zhilong and raised his glass again: "Zheng Zhilong Commander-in-Chief, oh no, Zheng Caishen, can we leave alone?"
Zheng Zhilong smiled bitterly and stood up quickly: "Your Majesty, just say whatever you need."
At this moment, the palace steward came to the door and said, "Your Majesty, Wei Chengzhong would like to see you."
"What is he here for?" Zhu Youli raised his brows, wondering whether this guy knew that the eunuch was coming to Jinan, so he came over to catch the heat? Impossible, if Chang Yu's people hadn't informed him in advance, he would have done it himself Do not know at all.
"Our family asked him to come here," Chang Yu said lightly. Zhu Youli said oh, then waved to the housekeeper and said, "Bring him in."