Chapter 115: King Zhou's Banquet Huai'an is in distress

Before leaving Wuzhi, Lu Chengxiang asked Wei Xiang and Lin Feng to send people to the mouth of the Qinshui River to wait for Yan Boju and their horses. When Wei Xiang and Lin Feng heard that Yan Boju was coming, they didn't dare to slack off. Wei Xiang said: "Mr. Lu, rest assured, we must prepare a good wine and wait for Uncle Yan." ”

"Haha! You also found out Mr. Yan's temper? Lu Chengxiang asked.

"Haha! We don't want to be scolded by him! Lin Feng said with a smile.

"Actually, he's a bad mouth, and he's not bad. If they come first, tell him. After we finished unloading the goods in Kaifeng, the boat came back to take them across the Yellow River. We built all the horse pens in Kaifeng first. "It's strange to say that Lu Chengxiang and Yan Boju, two people with a big difference in temperament, are also the most temperamental.

King Zhou, who got the news that Zhang Zhimu was about to arrive in advance, asked Princess Anping to wait to pick up Zhang Zhimu at the Kaifeng dock, and to take Zhang Zhimu to the palace as soon as he arrived.

The wharf is very lively, and almost all the employees of the branch of the kiln gang in Kaifeng come to the wharf. After the war, they all wanted to see Zhang Zhimu, as if only by seeing Zhang Zhimu with their own eyes could they be sure that the battle that made them worry about their hearts was really over.

When the fleet was firmly parked on the Kaifeng wharf, Zhang Zhimu saw that his employees were standing far away, and there were only a few people in front of the wharf, and they hadn't figured out what was going on. Xiao Hongyu, who squeezed to the side, shouted: "It's Princess Anping who is here!" ”

Only then did Zhang Zhimu understand that it was Princess Anping who was on the dock, and his employees couldn't come.

Zhang Zhimu abandoned the ship and boarded the dock, first saluted Princess Anping, and said, "Thank you Princess Anping for coming to the dock to pick me up!" ”

"Zhang Dongjia is here, do I dare not come to pick it up. What's more, when my father heard that you were coming, he was so anxious that he had to let me take you directly to the palace. Princess Anping joked while searching for Yang Yulin, who had always followed Zhang Zhimu, with her eyes, and asked, "Hey! Why didn't you see Sister Yulin? ”

"Looks like you're not picking me up?" Zhang Zhimu joked.

At this time, Xiao Hongyu who came down stepped forward and said, "This time I'm here to replace Yulin!" ”

Princess Anping, Xiao Hongyu and Yang Yulin were already good friends when they were in Yaogang. Seeing Xiao Hongyu, Princess Anping was very happy, but when she heard Xiao Hongyu say that she was replacing Yang Yulin this time, Princess Anping said: "I think Sister Yulin really didn't come this time, otherwise no one would dare to replace Sister Yulin." Hehe! ”

Princess Anping asked Zhang Zhimu: "Zhang Dongjia, why didn't Sister Yulin come this time?" ”

"You ask her, shall you?" Zhang Zhimu pointed to Xiao Hongyu and said.

Xiao Hongyu was in Princess Anping's ear, and after saying a few words, Princess Anping said, "Ah! He said: "It seems that this time Zhang Dongjia is finally free?" ”

"Free?" Zhang Zhimu didn't understand what Princess Anping meant all of a sudden.

As a result, Xiao Hongyu and Princess Anping almost laughed and bent over, and now Zhang Zhimu knew that he was surrounded by these two people.

Princess Anping, who had laughed enough, said: "Please, Zhang Dongjia, my father can wait for you in the palace!" ”

"Okay, but I'm going to say hi to my staff before I go with you. They waited for me over there for so long, and they couldn't talk about it if they didn't go over to see me. With that, Zhang Zhimu walked towards his colleagues in Kaifeng Branch. As he walked, Zhang Zhimu waved to them and said, "Thank you all!" Everyone's worked hard. ”

The employees of Kaifeng Branch were cheering.

Coming to them, Zhang Zhimu said, "Thank you for coming to pick me up." Some time ago, we Yaogang people had a battle with Li Zicheng, and everyone must be very worried. Now I solemnly tell you that we Yaogang people have won. Li Zicheng's Dashun army has been beaten out of Shanxi. ”

The employees of Kaifeng branch cheered again.

Zhang Zhimu said: "While I want to report good news to you, I also want to thank you. When you lost contact with your family, you continued to work hard at your post despite the pressure. What I want to say is that we also have a share of the credit for the victory we achieved in Yaogang in Shanxi. Because of you, the products produced by our kiln can be turned into food for the kiln people and bullets for war. Therefore, the victory of our Yaogang people in Shanxi is the victory of all of us. It's just that everyone in our kiln gang has a different division of labor, some work here, and some work there. But it was our work of solidarity that ensured our final victory. If you want to talk about credit, I think I have to give credit to all of you. ”

Zhang Zhimu made a very incendiary speech, which made the kiln gang people present very excited.

After speaking, Zhang Zhimu and the leaders of the kiln gang, after shaking hands with everyone in the past, lined up on the dock to take pictures together. But it took a lot of effort to make everyone understand what was going on, and the photo was finished.

Princess Anping didn't know what was going on with the camera, but after Xiao Hongyu's repeated explanations, Princess Anping probably understood. Then listening to Xiao Hongyu, he pulled Zhang Zhimu to take a group photo together.

After some tossing, Zhang Zhimu, Ouyang He, and Li Mao went to follow Princess Anping to see King Zhou.

Xiao Hongyu and Princess Anping made an appointment to go to the palace together tomorrow.

On the way to the palace, Princess Anping, Xiao Hongyu and Zhang Zhimu took the same car. Princess Anping in the car said: "Zhang Dongjia, I can see how powerful you are this time." So many people who have abandoned their homes and businesses are here to work for you kiln workers, and your few words will make them grateful to Dade willingly. No wonder your kilns are so powerful. ”

"You mean, I said the results of our kiln. After that, I didn't do anything, I just talked here every day. Zhang Zhimu said this deliberately.

"You're deliberately interrupting. I'm boasting about your ability to seduce, don't be unappreciative. "Princess Anping's mouth is not forgiving.

Hearing the news that Zhang Zhimu was coming, King Zhou couldn't wait to see him. Although Fan Chengkun had already told him the general situation of the battle between Yaogang and Li Zicheng last time, there were some things that could only be said by Zhang Zhimu.

As soon as Zhang Zhimu, Li Mao, and Ouyang He followed Princess Anping to the palace, King Zhou directly let them to the secret room.

After everyone was polite, Princess Anping invited the people who served the tea out. Zhang Zhimu first said: "King Zhou, everything is fine with your guests in our kiln, you don't have to worry about it. ”

The guest Zhang Zhimu said was his son, and King Zhou understood, "Zhang Dongjia, I'm not worried about this matter at all. I'm absolutely relieved that they're in your kiln. I don't really understand why you stopped when the momentum was high. Don't let Li Zicheng recover. ”

Zhang Zhimu took a lot of effort to make King Zhou understand what the kiln gang thought was doing this.

King Zhou said: "I see that you have occupied Wuzhi, and this move is good. It is not only a transportation hub, but also a land of abundant products. It also lifted the threat posed to Beijing by the thieves from Luoyang through Luoshui to Wuzhi. If we have something to do with Kaifeng, we can also support nearby. I was worried that if the thieves couldn't go north, they would come back to open the seal. It seems unlikely that this is the case now. ”

"Yes, I originally thought that if Li Zicheng opened the seal again, we would take over Kaifeng. Now Li Zicheng will also understand that we Yaogang people will never let Kaifeng be taken. But we can't afford to guard against their sneak attacks. I want to tell you this time as well. We are going to arrange some more people on Wuluo Island as a move to take the lead. Once something happens here, that place can react nearby. Zhang Zhimu said.

It seems that King Zhou did not give it for nothing, "I know that you have seven or eight hundred people on Wuluo Island. But that little bit of people is not very useful, the number of people is too small. ”

"It seems that King Zhou's intelligence is very accurate." Zhang Zhimu said: "Where are we going to send another regiment. With our current combat strength, it is also possible for this regiment to capture Yangzhou when necessary. But we don't want to make a big deal about it. ”

"Hmmm! In this way, you can also threaten the entire Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the imperial court will not dare to turn against you easily. That was the lifeblood of the imperial court. All the grain and silver had to enter Beijing from here. This move is a bit ruthless. King Zhou saw it very clearly.

"Our branches in Yangzhou and Huai'an are so important to us. We have to be prepared to make sure that our interests are not encroached upon by them, in case the court turns against us one day. There is a power here that can make those who covet us a little more restrained. This is also a last resort. If we develop to Henan, this is also a step ahead. Zhang Zhimu said.

"It seems that Zhang Dongjia thinks about things very comprehensively. That's fine. However, now that you have reined in your edge, when do you want to send troops again? Where is the next step? King Zhou asked.

"We haven't figured out when we're going to send troops. But our next target is Shaanxi. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Haven't you heard that whoever wins the Central Plains wins the world?" King Zhou asked.

"Li Zicheng has won the Central Plains. Has he won the world? Zhang Zhimu looked at King Zhou and asked rhetorically.

"Ou! Ha ha! It also depends on who gets the Central Plains! King Zhou said with a smile. There's one more thing, haven't you thought about it? Zhang Xianzhong and Zuo Liangyu both hope that you can give the thief a little bit of power, because they are both opponents. But when you hit the thieves hard, their minds will change, and they don't want a force that is more difficult to deal with than the thieves. I'm a little worried that they'll end up banding together against you, or stealthily. It's not impossible, you can't help but guard against it. ”

"What the prince said is that we have to take this matter seriously. Before we started the war, Li Mao also went to see Zuo Liangyu and Zhang Xianzhong, and they both said at that time that when the war started, they would do it behind Li Zicheng, but they didn't do it. It seems that they are still very scheming. Otherwise, it would not become a generation of heroes. They won't be united just yet. Li Zicheng can't beat us, and after he recovers, he will definitely not be idle, and he will definitely do something to the two of them. I think only when he subdues one side can it be possible to unite the other. However, we will not stop doing our work during this time. Zhang Zhimu said.

Knowing that Zhang Zhimu and they thought about things very thoughtfully, King Zhou was in a very good mood, leaving Zhang Zhimu and they had a drunk in the palace. When Princess Anping sent Zhang Zhimu to them, she said, "It's been a long time since I've seen my father so happy." ”

"We are also very happy to talk to King Zhou. By the way, what Yulin brought you, I'll have someone send it to you tomorrow. Yulin said, let you practice cycling well, and when you get to the kiln, she will take you to ride a bicycle to go shopping. Zhang Zhimu said.

"What bike?" Princess Anping knew that there was something new in the kiln.

"Forget it, Xiao Hongyu didn't make an appointment with you to meet tomorrow, you can let Xiao Hongyu teach you to ride a bicycle." Zhang Zhimu said.

When he got up the next morning, after Zhang Zhimu washed his face, he felt that his mind was much clearer due to excessive drinking. He was happy in his heart, now King Zhou was already firmly standing with him, and King Zhou used to say things to himself alone, but last night, King Zhou's words were all said in front of Li Mao and Ouyang He. It shows that King Zhou has no scruples.

While eating breakfast, Lu Chengxiang came over and said to Zhang Zhimu: "Our Wang Jingyu here has learned that there are many people who buy horses here, and if there are good horses, they basically buy them without much price." The same is true of what they learned from Xuzhou. It seems that Li Zicheng's movements are not slow, and they have already begun to buy horses. I estimate that the 10,000 war horses we arrived here may be similar in Kaifeng and Xuzhou. ”

Zhang Zhimu is still very impressed by Wang Jingyu, the manager of Kaifeng Branch, who is a very shrewd and assertive person.

"Mr. Lu, no matter how many horses there are, don't enter the horse market all at once. Anyone who buys a horse, when he sees that he has bought too many horses, will not sell, and will definitely look at the market. Li Mao is an expert in selling horses, he reminded Lu Chengxiang.

If ordinary people reminded Lu Chengxiang how to do business, Lu Chengxiang would definitely be dissatisfied. However, although Li Mao's understanding of horses is not as good as Yan Boju, his understanding of the horse business is definitely not much worse than that of Yan Boju. So Lu Chengxiang still cares about Li Mao's opinion.

Zhang Zhimu basically doesn't care much about business matters now, and says: "These things, Mr. Lu, you can look at them." ”

Li Mao said: "It would be best if these 10,000 horses could be sold in Kaifeng and Xuzhou. When I arrived in Yangzhou, I immediately contacted the Eight Kings and Zuo Liangyu's people to see how many horses they could book? When there are no horses, it is better to sell horses. Ha ha! ”

"After we finished unloading the ship, we will return to Qinshui today to pick up Mr. Yan and them. It is estimated that they will not reach the mouth of the Qinshui River today, and they should arrive tomorrow. Will you stay in Kaifeng for a few days or go to Xuzhou first? Lu Chengxiang asked.

"I think Li Gongzi and I will take people directly to Huai'an and get to Yangzhou. When we came back, I went back to Xuzhou to see them. Mr. Lu, after you finish dealing with the matter here, pass by Xuzhou, and then go to Yangzhou. I won't stay in Kaifeng for long. Whether they arrive or not, we will leave early tomorrow morning, and you will distribute the fleet. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Alright! I'll arrange it. Lu Chengxiang agreed.

Although Xiao Hongyu and Princess Anping haven't had enough fun, Zhang Zhimu is leaving, and she still wants to go with Zhang Zhimu. Although Princess Anping persuaded her: "You can play here for a few more days, and you can go with Mr. Lu again." But Xiao Hongyu still insisted on going with Zhang Zhimu and them.

Princess Anping whispered to Xiao Hongyu: "You just die, with Sister Yulin here, you have no chance." ”

Xiao Hongyu deliberately stiffened her face and said, "Go, don't talk nonsense." I'm homesick. I'm in a hurry to go back and see. Don't worry, when I come back, I will come to see you and bring you good things back. Why don't you follow me for a while and come back? ”

"Oops! You didn't say it sooner. I'm not going to rush to my father now. Princess Anping said.

Zhang Zhimu and they left Kaifeng without stopping, and followed the Yellow River, day and night, for more than two days, and arrived in Huai'an on the afternoon of the third day. Standing on the boat, Zhang Zhimu looked at Huai'an, which was getting closer and closer, and said to Ouyang He beside him: "Mr. Ouyang He, I still like Huai'an at night." ”

Ouyang He said: "The night in Huai'an is intoxicating. However, Mr. Zhang, the closer I get to Huai'an, I don't know why I'm a little nervous. Now we are facing Li Zicheng knows that he can't take advantage of us on the battlefield, as well as Zhang Xianzhong's Eight Kings and Zuo Liangyu, they will all regard us as the most threatening opponents. And we are far away from the kiln for a long time, so that they have the opportunity to work against us. I don't think these people will let go of such an opportunity, if we will try our luck too. So we have to be careful. The most important thing is that this time Mr. Chen and Yulin were not there, only Li Jing followed. ”

"yes, we were careful. Let them rent an inn for the night, otherwise we would rather stay on a warship. Definitely don't give them a chance. But don't forget, we still have Li Yunhe, a general this time, don't look at him, he has been engaged in production for the past few years, he is also a master. Otherwise, Uncle Chen would not have taken a fancy to him. Zhang Zhimu understood that what Ouyang He said made sense.

When the boat docked, Ouyang He told Li Mao about his concerns, and Li Mao also felt that he should be careful. He immediately asked the people on the dock to inform the manager of the Huai'an branch to come over. As soon as the manager of the Huai'an branch heard that Zhang Zhimu had arrived, he immediately rushed to the dock. After meeting Zhang Zhimu and others, the manager of the Huai'an branch immediately returned to Huai'an City and contacted the inn where Zhang Zhimu stayed last time. Because it was a good feeling that Zhang Zhimu stayed there last time.

Not long after, the manager of the Huai'an branch rushed back to the dock and said that the inn had been chartered.

Zhang Zhimu saw that it was still early, so he was on the dock and watched the people of the Huai'an branch unloading for a while. In particular, Li Yunhezai looked at it carefully, and measured the approximate size of the dock with a ruler. Because Li Yunhe wants to build a conveyor belt device here to automatically load and unload bulk grain.

After looking at the wharf, Zhang Zhimu and the others came to the freight yard they bought in Huai'an last time. Jiang Feng, the shopkeeper of the freight yard, saw Zhang Zhimu coming, and hurriedly said, "Oh, I didn't expect Mr. Zhang to arrive today." Come inside for tea! ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Shopkeeper Jiang, I heard Li Gongzi say that after we took over this freight yard, you managed this place very well." We have a lot of food coming in and out of here every year, and nothing goes wrong. The yard is also well managed. I want to thank you! ”

"Gee, that's not to be. What I do is what I do and what I should do. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "We won't go in to drink tea, you can lead us around the freight yard." ”

Jiang Feng led Zhang Zhimu and a group of them around the freight yard. Sure enough, Jiang Feng managed this place in an orderly manner. Zhang Zhimu: They were very happy to see it.

After looking at the freight yard, Zhang Zhimu met the employees of the freight yard again. The staff all said that we are now kiln workers, and our wages have also risen, and we are more energetic in our work. Zhang Zhimu was very satisfied with their work, praised them, and introduced them to the situation of Li Zicheng in the kiln gang, as well as a recent development. And tell them that if there is a chance to arrange separately in the future, everyone will go to the kiln to see. Zhang Zhimu's words aroused everyone's great interest, and their yearning for the kiln gang was easily visible.

However, Zhang Zhimu asked Li Mao, Jiang Feng and the manager of the Huai'an branch, "I think there are many wharves in Huai'an, and I can't even count them, but there are too few wharves that can park large sea ships." As soon as our grain ship came, it was not one, and the time for unloading grain was extremely delayed. One is whether we can buy a deep-water pier of our own; Or can we buy a dock and convert it into a deep-water pier ourselves. Because this time Li Yunhe also came. We have established a conveyor belt device for automatic loading and unloading of bulk grain at the Yaogang wharf. With such a device, it is too convenient to load and unload grain. If we can have our own wharf, we can also build such automatic loading and unloading devices in Huai'an. ”

After Zhang Zhimu's words were asked, Li Mao said: "Mr. Zhang, we haven't thought about this question of yours before. Let's ask if anyone is willing to sell deep-water docks. ”

Li Yunhe said: "If we don't have our own wharf, we can only load the loading and unloading equipment every time we use it, and then unload it and transport it away when it is used up." That's just a lot of trouble. ”

Jiang Feng said: "Let's ask about this." Now the business on the dock is not very good, and the deep-water dock does not come by ship a few times a year, if it weren't for our ship, they would basically use it as an ordinary dock. I can't make much money a year, so talk to them about someone who might be willing to sell. Even if these deep-water docks are not sold, ordinary docks should be able to be bought, and we can rebuild them. ”

"Okay, I'll wait for you to inquire about it." Zhang Zhimu said.

By the time Zhang Zhimu and the others came to the inn, the inn had already arranged for all the guests to leave. The entire inn was chartered by Zhang Zhimu and them.

Zhang Zhimu stayed in the same room he lived in last time. Zhang Zhimu had just finished washing his face in the room. Someone came to report and said, "The prefect has sent someone." ”

Zhang Zhimu had no choice but to come to the guest hall to meet the visitor. It turned out that the prefect sent a letter to ask Zhang Zhimu to go to the prefect tomorrow. Zhang Zhimu thought to himself, the last time he came to Huai'an, he didn't see the prefect invited, but today this is the case. No, he politely promised to visit the prefect tomorrow.

Zhang Zhimu and the others sent away the prefect, so they discussed with Ouyang He and Lu Bingyi about where to eat tonight. He didn't pay attention, Li Jing had already called Li Yunhe to drink Li Mao.

Li Jing said to Li Yunhe and Li Mao: "You two need to be a little more energetic tonight. Mr. Ouyang reminded me to pay attention. I really felt something was wrong today. To say that we have chartered this inn, the owner should be happy. Because the inn is generally not full and full, the charter store must be counted as full. Because it is necessary to arrange the original guests, the bag shop is finished, and other guests cannot come to the door immediately, so the general bag shop has to count a little more silver. In particular, our kiln gang people can charter their shop, which is also an opportunity for them to elevate themselves. Their boss doesn't just barely squeeze out a smile. So I felt something was wrong. ”

-------------

Five-line scores, oscillating circuits, caesarean sections. Guo Shoujing made alloy cannons, and Guan Hanqing created "Journey to the West". --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".