Among the sixteen prefectures in Huai'an, Fengcheng can be regarded as a prosperous place.
It is precisely for this reason that Zhuang Ming came to Fengcheng in person and spent several months to lay the foundation of Zhuang's trading company here.
Precisely because Fengcheng is a prosperous place, the forces are intertwined, with major families and many famous people having intertwined interests.
Even Zhuang Ming spent a lot of effort and battles of wits and courage before he was able to take root here under the joint efforts of various families, making them willing to cooperate with him and seek common interests.
The bright moon hangs high tonight.
The streets of Fengcheng are brightly lit.
Vendors hawking on the street and shops operating on both sides.
The pedestrians passing by and the noisy voices all reflect the prosperity of this city.
"Within the Dongsheng Dynasty, apart from the most powerful capital city in the world, if we talk about prosperous places, among the ten cities, Fengcheng should be one of them."
Zhuang Ming sat in a wheelchair, looking at the night in Fengcheng with a smile.
Yin Ming pushed the wheelchair and Qian Yang walked on the left.
The little maid Shuang Ling is on the right, looking left and right, in a very good mood.
"Master, Master, look, Gao Yuelou has arrived."
Shuang Ling pointed to the restaurant ahead.
The restaurant was luxuriously decorated and had about five floors, with lanterns hanging under the eaves extending from each floor.
There were cheers and laughter inside, and the guards in front of the door stood erect.
People come and go, all dressed luxuriously and behaving in an extraordinary manner.
——
And when Zhuang Ming arrived.
The atmosphere became weird again.
This young man who stirred up troubles in Fengcheng has been experiencing ups and downs in recent times.
"Is Zhuang Ming here?"
"It's him. I didn't expect that King Chen would actually invite him."
"I heard that King Chen has unblocked all Zhuang's trading firms."
"It seems that the hostility has been turned into friendship."
There was a lot of discussion in the dark.
Someone else came forward to greet him, quite enthusiastically.
Zhuang Ming looked as usual and said a few polite words.
These people were also on that ship last time, when Zhuang's Trading Company was sealed down by King Chen's order, and its future was in doubt and in danger of collapse.
At that time, although these people did not dare to taunt or add insult to injury, they did not dare to talk to him for fear of being missed by King Chen and suffering the consequences.
The attitude this time was completely different from the previous one.
Even more lively than before.
Zhuang Ming was also a very well-off man in the city, and he could not express his emotions or anger. On the surface, he was still chatting and laughing with these people.
——
"Previously, Prince Chen ordered a thorough investigation into all kinds of violations of the Dongsheng Dynasty, but he only closed down Zhuang's trading company, clearly targeting Zhuang Ming."
"This move can be said to be ruthless. If ordinary trading houses cannot resist it, they will fall apart."
"The prince's intention is clearly to torture him to death."
"Now that his shops and warehouses have been unsealed, and hearing this news, the government seems to be treating Zhuang's Trading Company more favorably than before."
"What a strange thing. How did a mere businessman make the prince change his mind? What qualifications does he have to make Prince Chen change his mind? Although Zhuang's Commercial Bank has strong financial resources, how can the prince be bribed with gold and silver? ?Secondly, if the prince seizes the Zhuang's Trading Company, he only needs to kill Zhuang Ming and order someone to take over. The entire Zhuang's Trading Company is in the prince's pocket, so why reconcile?"
"What tricks did this young man use?" An old man stroked his beard slightly, looked down, and pondered: "Such a change in such a short period of time is like turning decay into something magical."
"Yes, it has reversed the inevitable situation." Another middle-aged man said with emotion: "It is said that Mr. Thirteen is very wise and resourceful, but the prince ordered and the government suppressed the situation, so it cannot be solved.
Even though he was in a dead situation, he was able to turn things around and come back alive."
"However, I heard that a lot of things happened in the Sixteenth House of Huai'an in the past two days. Bandits looted, killed many people, and took away many things. The details are not clear..."
"What does this have to do with anything?"
Everyone did not know the true intention of King Chen in coming to Huai'an, and they did not know the connection between these things.
What's more, how can a noble king with a different surname, just a mere businessman or ordinary people, be forced to compromise in this way?
If it was really Zhuang Ming who did this, even if there is no evidence, as long as the prince has doubts, he can use trumped-up charges to imprison Zhuang Ming, and no one would dare to object.
Outsiders don't know the twists and turns, but they can only sigh that Mr. Thirteen of Zhuang's Trading Company really has the wisdom to turn things around and bring him back to life, so that King Chen's murderous intention disappeared and he changed his mind.
——
"The prince is here."
Following this sound, everyone looked upward.
I saw King Chen walking slowly, majestic and solemn, with the air of a dragon walking and a tiger walking.
When everyone saw this, they all bowed respectfully.
Even Zhuang Ming, sitting in a wheelchair, also bowed his hands and saluted, showing a respectful look in front of the public, which gave King Chen a good face.
King Chen's eyes swept across everyone and rested on Zhuang Ming for a moment.
King Chen was originally in a bad mood, but now he saw Zhuang Ming looking respectful and bowing his hands in salute. Although he also knew in his heart that this young man was bold and might not be respectful in his heart, and he was only doing superficial things, but seeing such behavior, he felt slightly relieved.
.
"You don't have to be polite."
King Chen waved his hand and said: "Please take a seat first. Last time at Bailing Lake, Mr. Zhao hosted a banquet for you. I am grateful for your enthusiasm towards me... Therefore, this time, I will personally host a banquet to entertain everyone."
Zhuang Ming's expression was as usual, and he was secretly thinking about it.
This King Chen is not a kind person.
This banquet must have a purpose.
However, for the time being, it should not be directed at me.
After all, King Chen must still be finishing the work.
Moreover, with Qian Yang and Yin Ming beside him, and the young dragon guarding him secretly, he had nothing to fear.
——
Tonight's banquet is actually different from before.
Everyone sat down, and the wine and food were served one by one.
There was another singer, Yingying, who came forward and danced gently.
The music sounded, light and joyful.
"Fine wine, delicious food, delicacies from mountains and sea..."
Zhuang Ming looked at the dishes placed in front of him, which looked extremely exquisite.
This banquet was held in the name of the prince, and the guests of the banquet were the upper class figures in Fengcheng.
Therefore, most of these dishes use precious ingredients, and the various preparation and cooking methods are also extremely complicated.
The so-called "all-round color, fragrance", especially in the aspect of "color", is almost achieved to the extreme.
At this time, King Chen stood up again, raised his glass to an old man and drank it all before speaking.
"I heard that Mr. Lin recently prayed for his family, meditated and abstained from eating meat, and was grateful for God's grace. Therefore, the table you are serving is vegetarian. Please feel free to eat."
When the old man heard this, he looked astonished.
And everyone looked at it.
In front of the old man, in addition to a few dishes, there were also chicken, duck and fish, which were no different from the dishes in front of everyone.
The old man picked up a piece of fish and put it into his mouth, with a look of satisfaction on his face and said with a smile: "Good cooking skills. The fish itself is made of beans. Its meat texture and taste are no different from real fish. It's even better."
A bit refreshing."
——
Shuang Ling looked at the old man for a few times, and said softly behind Zhuang Ming: "Master, that old man is one of the great scholars in Fengcheng. I heard that he hates our Zhuang's Trading Company. His former disciples,
I also wrote a sentence: 'The wine and meat of the rich family are stinky, and the bones are frozen to death on the road' to mock you."
Zhuang Ming chuckled, nodded and said, "I know."
That day on Bailing Lake, in the boat next door, this old man was having a very pleasant conversation with King Chen.
After boarding the ship himself, King Chen came to the building ship where he was.
In the eyes of those scholars, it was me, an ordinary person, who disrupted their enjoyment of talking about poetry and poetry.
At that time, the old man was also quite dissatisfied.
"It's so hypocritical to meditate, abstain from eating meat, and express gratitude for God's grace..."
There was a scholar in the corner, who seemed to be quite dissatisfied, and muttered: "The texture and taste of the meat are no different from any real fish, so you just eat fish? This kind of vegetarian food is much more expensive than ordinary chicken, duck and fish, obviously
It’s just extravagance and waste.”
"If you really want to meditate and abstain from speaking, wouldn't it just be a simple meal? Do you want to make it look like chicken, duck, and fish meat, but also want to make it taste like chicken, duck, and fish meat?"
"The old guy obviously doesn't want to part with delicacies from the mountains and seas, but he is afraid of people chewing his tongue, so he makes the cook spend a lot of time and energy to make all these things. He really doesn't mean what he says."
The voice was extremely low and it was in a corner, so others could not hear it clearly.
But there was a young dragon in Zhuang Ming's sleeve, and Qian Yang and Yin Ming were beside him. He heard it clearly, and felt interesting. He glanced over there, and immediately revealed a strange look.
The scholar was about in his early twenties and was dressed simply, but judging from his attire, he must be an unusual person. After all, this banquet was different from the last time. The people who could attend the banquet this time, regardless of all walks of life, all had one characteristic, that is,
He has a good family background.
"There are some faint traces of dust on this scholar's body."
Zhuang Ming calmly withdrew his gaze and said secretly: "It seems like there are traces of trying to cultivate the true energy, but I haven't started yet. I probably just meditated and calmed my mind, and had a vague sense of the energy, but I couldn't even condense the true energy. I probably got the mundane world."
Which family’s incomplete Taoist inheritance is there?”
Within the Dongsheng Dynasty, there was also a theory of cultivating Taoism and cultivating Qi, but it was mostly used to calm the mind and calm the mind, and was basically incomplete or just a basic breathing and breathing technique.
Therefore, the hermits in the mountains, whose names have been recorded in history, are actually mostly noble in temperament rather than possessing magical powers.
On the contrary, there are many martial arts practitioners in the market, and they have acquired martial arts skills that can protect themselves and travel around the world.
Of course, there are quite a few people like this scholar who have learned the breathing and breathing exercises, which are conducive to calming the mind and recuperating the mind.
Zhuang Ming withdrew his gaze, but he didn't care much about it. He just admired the scholar from the few words he just said.
"Everyone..."
King Chen picked up his wine glass, paid respect to everyone, and said with a sad face, "Dongsheng Dynasty, north of the Huaihe River, has suffered from drought. The disaster is serious. I am afraid that from now on, the number of victims will increase day by day. Every day, there will be people suffering from severe heat and food shortages."
Problem, and loss of life, such a cruel thing, I'm afraid many people will die of hunger and cold until the snow season."
He sighed and said: "From today onwards, I will pray for the people, and until today next year, I will eat vegetarian food."
Zhuang Ming glanced at the scholar in the corner, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
I could only hear the scholar whispering quietly again.
"Another extremely hypocritical one."
"Pray for the common people?"
"Are you trying to trick a ghost?"
"You eat secretly at home, who knows?"
"You just don't eat it secretly. How can these so-called vegetarian chicken, duck, and fish meats be so chewy and delicious?"
"This so-called vegetarian diet is more expensive than eating chicken, duck, and fish directly. It is a waste of human, financial and material resources. It is better to save some money and go to relieve the victims, just pretend to be a bird!"
——
The scholar was quite disdainful, but his appearance remained normal. He was sitting in a corner, and not many people paid attention to him.
But what King Chen said was quite popular.
Everyone present, no matter what their thoughts, all agreed.
After King Chen finished speaking, an old man stood up and gave a salute.
"Your Majesty is so benevolent. He prays for the victims and refrains from speaking and talking. It is beyond my ability."
"Your Majesty is benevolent!" As the old man said, everyone stood up and echoed.
"I'm just trying my best. I just hope that the sky will take pity on me and stop bringing disasters. I pray alone, but I'm afraid that my manpower is meager and it won't help." King Chen smiled bitterly and sighed sadly.
"My lord, don't belittle yourself." The old man said seriously: "You are a king in this world. You are a hero among people. You are below one person and above ten thousand people. Even if there is a spirit in the sky, you should respond."
"I hope so."
King Chen raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.
Everyone responded one after another and drank all the wine in their glasses.
But King Chen drank the wine, but his expression turned ugly again.
Among the crowd, someone asked at the right time: "Your Majesty, do you have any more instructions? Is there anything we can do to spare?"
When King Chen heard this, he couldn't help but sigh and said: "I'm ashamed to say that today, I hosted a banquet with fine wine and delicacies, but I couldn't help but think of the victims in the northern region. Facing famine, it's really a bit 'Zhumen smells of wine and meat, and there are roads.
The shameful thoughts that freeze to death..."
After finishing speaking, he took a deep look at Zhuang Ming.
Zhuang Ming looked calm and did not respond.
King Chen then withdrew his gaze and sighed: "My prayers for blessings are just my efforts, but the victims of the disaster in the Northern Territory need relief... Now that the court's disaster relief funds have not arrived, I have the audacity to hold a banquet, which is actually for the Northern Territory."
Fundraising for disaster victims.”
After he finished speaking, he threw the wine glass, made a big salute, and bowed down.
"For the victims of the disaster in the Northern Territory, I am so shameless and ask you to donate generously!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Everyone looked at each other, and the scene was silent for a while.
Zhuang Ming reached into his sleeves and gently stroked the baby dragon's head, his eyes slightly focused.
At this moment, he heard the scholar in the corner murmuring.
"This guy's face looks the same as usual, with a greedy look between his eyebrows. He looks like he's desperate for money."
"I bet three copper coins that this shameless king with a different surname is the disaster victim in the Northern Territory that he calls himself."
"This guy must be doing it in the name of soliciting donations, but in fact he is trying to make money."
"The money raised today will definitely go into his pocket."
"The more I think about it, the more I'm right. It must be like this. It's a pity that no one has accepted the bet, otherwise I can bet on another pair of underwear."