Chapter Seventy-Six: The Decree of Kaifeng

Back in the store, Zhang Zhimu asked Lu Qi and Lin Xinmin to buy pigs, preferably piglets, and also buy sows and a small number of boars, which were used as breeding pigs. Then buy chickens, ducks, geese, the more the better, these are used to go back to make seeds, it is good to be able to load a boat, all of them are packed in cages, and they must be guaranteed to arrive home alive. Zhang Zhimu knew that the people in Shanxi who had been in drought for so many years could not survive, and there were not many pigs and chickens left, and if he wanted to develop the breeding industry, he had to bring some seeds back.

At this moment, the store in Xuzhou was lively, and the cries of chickens, ducks, geese and pigs were everywhere. Lu Qi, Lin Xinmin and others were busy, looking for someone to weave cages for chickens, ducks and geese, and nailing large wooden cages to pigs, otherwise after getting on the boat, the pigs ran out of the boat and would be messed up. Grain and other goods are to be loaded onto ships as well. Lu Qi and Lin Xinmin finally got a boatload of living creatures before the arrival of Huai'an's grain ship. All ready, Zhang Zhimu suddenly remembered one thing, and asked Lu Qi and Lin Xinmin to quickly process a batch of dry food and pickles, and unloaded a lot of salted duck eggs for people to cook.

When Huai'an's fleet arrived, Zhang Zhimu called Mu Yi and his two generals together, Lu Qi and Lin Xinmin. Zhang Zhimu said to Mu Yi and the others: "Now, your affairs have been stable. Find a way to inform your family of the news that you are still alive. You can't write a letter, so as not to fall into the trap. Do you have any marks that your family knows? We're going to send a clever guy to quietly get in touch with someone reliable in your family. so that they can be reassured. If you are willing to go to Shanxi, you can pick up Shanxi. The three of them were very excited, and Mu Yi said, "We have been ready for this for a long time. All three of them told them where they lived, who they needed to contact and what they could believe. Lu Qi wrote them all down and said, "After the fleet leaves, the first thing to do is to arrange someone to do this." The three of them got up to thank them, and Lu Qi said, "It's all a family matter, you're welcome." The three of them were very touched by what the family said.

In this way, the ships of Huai'an and Xuzhou combined, the whole caravan had more than 400 large and small ships, and the coast was several miles long.

Everyone arrived, and Zhang Zhimu said to everyone: "Tomorrow morning, I will go for a day and go to Kaifeng." Because Zhizhou said that the king of Zhou in Kaifeng must let me go to Kaifeng. He will give me a decree. If our more than 400 ships stop there and delay things, why don't I go first. You are a day late, and your fleet has arrived when I have finished my business. I followed and left. Zhang Zhimu asked the dry food and pickles and duck eggs to be distributed to each boat, telling everyone that now that the water level of the Yellow River is higher, there are many places for our boat to be pulled by the slender man. Every time we met a slender man, we gave each slender man a dry food, pickles and duck eggs, which were all for the slender man, and the people on the boat should not eat these if they could cook for themselves.

Zhang Zhimu took a command ship, and Yang Fan rushed to Kaifeng. Zhang Zhimu didn't know that his plan had been disrupted again.

Before the boat arrived at the wharf, I saw flags waving on the wharf, and people were crowded. Zhang Zhimu and others watched the excitement on the bow of the boat, and Yang Yulin said: "What is the excitement for us to catch up." ”

When the boat was still some distance away from the dock, someone on the shore shouted: "Is it the boat of Zhang Dong's family in Yaogang?" Answer: "Yes." "As a result, there were people on the shore running in the direction of the dock. The person who interrogated on the shore said: "Zhang Dongjia, King Zhou Chitose is picking you up at the pier!" ”

When Zhang Zhimu heard that this time the pomp was big, he thought that the prince was very good, and then he was sad again. Seeing that the prince is a thousand years old, he wants to kowtow, and he doesn't want others to kowtow to him. I am even more reluctant to kowtow to others. Zhang Zhimu asked Chen Yufeng, "Do you want to kowtow when you see the prince, can you not kowtow?" "I'm afraid not, if you don't kowtow, you have to hit the board." Chen Yufeng said with a smile.

At this time, Zhang Zhimu's mood was called entanglement.

But the ship was already on the dock. As soon as the springboard is put on, the drums are playing. Just look at the clothes and know that the middle-aged man with big ears on the dock is King Zhou. Zhang Zhimu frowned. hurriedly walked onto the springboard, but before he arrived at the dock, on the springboard, he gave a deep salute and shouted in the tone of the TV series: "Xiurong businessman Zhang Zhimu visits the prince, the prince is a thousand years old, a thousand years old." Because you can't kneel on the gangplank, Shi Li also swayed. That week, the king looked at it and thought, don't you fall, how can you salute like this. Hurriedly stepped forward and said, "No courtesy, no courtesy!" Flatten down. Chen Yufeng and Yang Yulin waited for the Coke to go bad, thinking that this person was really clever. If you don't want to bow down, come to this ghost job.

When he came to the dock, King Zhou came up and took Zhang Zhimu's hand and said, "You are the great benefactor of our Kaifeng people." You see that our Kaifeng people know that you are coming, and Allure has come out to welcome you. No matter what the purpose of saving Kaifeng was at the beginning, at this moment, Zhang Zhimu was indeed moved and didn't know what to say. said directly: "The prince is too favoritous, and the Kaifeng people are too partial to me." Zhang Zhimu and King Zhou waved to the people around him. The two held hands and came to the car. Chen Yufeng and others were also picked up in other cars, and they came to Kaifeng City together and entered the palace.

Along the way, people kept waving to them. This is a glory that Zhang Zhimu has never enjoyed. He knew that these people were spontaneously welcoming him. is different from the welcome scene in the previous life, which was organized to put on a show, it was shouting a warm welcome in the mouth, and thinking in my heart that you would be killed by a collision. But the eyes of these welcoming people revealed sincere gratitude to the benefactor who saved their lives. King Zhou knew that Zhang Zhimu was in Kaifeng for the first time, and he kept introducing the ancient city of Kaifeng along the way. This Song Dynasty called Tokyo Bianliang Kaifeng, once the ancient capital of the Seven Dynasties, at this time there were 300,000 people in the city, is a great big city. Because during the Ming Dynasty, the total population was only more than 70 million. Even in the previous life, Kaifeng had a population of 800,000. Zhang Zhimu is very pleased, because of his efforts at a critical time, this ancient city has not been submerged in more than ten meters of Yellow River sediment, Tokyo Bianliang still maintains his former style, although it has been damaged by war for a long time, but Kaifeng people have begun to heal the wounds of war. The traces of the battlefield inside and outside the city have begun to slowly fade.

When he arrived at the palace, Zhang Zhimu still had no choice but to kowtow. The king of Zhou passed on the holy decree on behalf of the king. Now Zhang Zhimu can't kowtow. The head of the palace read aloud: "Under the holy decree, Zhang Zhimu listens to the announcement." "Zhang Zhimu had no choice but to kneel." Under the holy decree, the emperor said: 'Zhang Zhimu, a businessman from Shanxi, at the critical moment of Kaifeng, fought righteousness and squandered wealth, bravely fought thieves, relieved the siege of Kaifeng, solved difficulties for the imperial court, and shared worries for me. When I heard the news, I was very happy and relieved. In order to reward the righteous deeds, a bronze medal will be given, and the tax amount for doing business will be halved for two years, and it will be convenient for all parts of the Ming Dynasty system. Chin this. 'Zhang Yishi takes the order! Zhang Zhimu took the holy decree, thinking that this kneeling could still be earned, if this holy decree was in the previous life, it would be an antique, and it would be worth a lot of money.

After receiving the decree, the feast began. King Zhou pulled Zhang Zhimu to sit beside him and said, "Someone." "Someone came and handed a box of rosewood to Zhang Zhimu." This is a jade unicorn, rewarded to Zhang Yishi. Zhang Zhimu hurriedly thanked him. King Zhou said: "Just after the war, Kaifeng used silver everywhere. I will not be able to reward you. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "When Kaifeng was in danger, Lord Wang, you were able to take out the silver in the palace to support the defense of the city, which moved us so much." We can't help Kaifeng heal the wounds, how dare we accept the reward at this time. ”

King Zhou was very generous and said: "If you don't contribute money and efforts, all this silver may be thieves." You don't know, when I got your letter, I couldn't believe it was true. But so few of you have done it. until grain was brought into the city, and the gates were sealed. I'm still standing on the tower and can't believe it's true. As soon as these life-saving foods arrived, the people of Kaifeng City were saved. I knew Kaifeng was also saved. Sure enough, five days later, all the thieves withdrew overnight. At this time, what I want to see most is you, and it is you that we 300,000 people in Kaifeng want to see the most. ”

The two talked for a long time during the banquet, and Zhang Zhimu put forward two suggestions, saying: "The thieves retreated this time, and they will come again, next time we must avoid the Yellow River embankment bursting, as long as the Yellow River embankment is kept, Kaifeng will be easy to defend; The second is that after we leave, we will leave behind twenty muskets, and once a thief attacks the city, we can shoot the leader of the thieves first, so that the thieves will be in chaos. We also have ** bow thunder, leave some left, King Zhou can send someone to imitate. Samples can be sent to Beijing for the imperial court to copy, and this thing is very useful to retreat from the enemy. King Zhou listened and nodded repeatedly. At this time, a eunuch muttered a few words in King Zhou's ear. King Zhou said: "There is one thing, I want you to say, our merchants in Kaifeng, let me tell you that the grain you sent into the city last time, you can't let you spend your own silver, this silver is paid to you by the merchants of Kaifeng, according to the market price at that time." You can break through the siege and send food in the war, which has made the Kaifeng people grateful. Zhang Yishi also saved some face for Kaifeng merchants. Zhang Zhimu said: "This is absolutely impossible, I said that to give it to Kaifeng people is to give it to Kaifeng people." After the war in Kaifeng, all industries were waiting to be prospered, and silver was urgently needed. I will never take it. ”

Zhang Zhimu knew that if Fang Cai was not in a hurry, the little eunuch would not look for King Zhou. He said: "King Zhou has urgent matters, although it is convenient." King Zhou was also an anxious man, and said: "It's not urgent, you know, Kaifeng has been besieged for too long, although after the siege was lifted, the court transferred some food in, Kaifeng is still short of food." When they heard that you had bought some grain in the south, they wanted me to tell you if you could sell some grain in Kaifeng, and we would buy some at the price of Kaifeng. I know that you bought this grain at the risk of death, and Shanxi is even more short of grain, so I can't open this mouthful. If you don't ask, I really won't be able to open this mouth. Zhang Zhimu thought about it, if Kaifeng had no food, he still couldn't keep it, and he could leave some if he wanted to. said: "You're welcome, I can leave some food, but Shanxi is really short of food." Can't leave too much. Is it okay to leave 50,000 stone of rice? King Zhou didn't expect that Zhang Zhimu would leave so much grain at once. took Zhang Zhimu's hand and said, "I thank you for the people of Kaifeng." King Zhou was shocked here, and a post-life dressed person not far behind him was also shocked. He had heard about Zhang Zhimu for a long time, and today he finally met this hero. When others saw the prince, they all nodded their heads. But this person, dignified, extraordinary, chatting and laughing with the prince, is a real husband. This person dressed up in later life is Princess Anping, the prince's favorite daughter.

When the fleet arrived the next day, it had to stop at Kaifeng for another day. On this day, Kaifeng is like a festival, and there is an endless stream of people who come to visit Zhang Zhimu, either businessmen and celebrities or some Shanxi guild hall. However, I have also made a lot of friends in the business world. The final result was that Zhang Zhimu sold 50,000 stone of rice at a price lower than the market price in Kaifeng at a price of three taels per stone. Kaifeng people really love and hate, and they can resist desperately when someone besieges the city. When I saw Zhang Zhimu, I was grateful to tears, and they all said that they wanted to build a monument to remember, but Zhang Zhimu said that it was absolutely impossible.

When Zhang Zhimu's fleet left Kaifeng City, under the leadership of King Zhou, the Kaifeng people were sent by 10,000 people.

Looking at the crowd on the dock in the distance, Zhang Zhimu couldn't calm down for a long time. I thought that history had finally left its original track here, and it had turned a corner here. This bought me time, although I formed a bond with King Chuang, but as long as the Ming Dynasty is still there, they will be in front of me.

It turned out that Zhang Zhimu felt that his fleet was too many ships, and only after coming to the main channel of the Yellow River did he know that his boat was far behind. The boats up and down the Yellow River, one after another, are almost impossible to see. I was thinking in my heart, when there was a war in the past, what did the people on this ship do to make a living? Once this route is opened, how many people have brought life.

Due to the high water level of the Yellow River, there are some places where slender men are needed to pull boats. Looking at the rows of slender men on the shore, Zhang Zhimu was a little sad. None of the dry food pickles and duck eggs they were given had anything to eat, and they were all hidden on their bodies. I can't bear to see that there are women with children on their backs, and they are also pulling fibers. Some can see that the family is pulling fiber, and the naked children are still walking. When they were about to break up, Zhang Zhimu asked them to leave more food. Then he tore off a little bit of cloth and put it over the child.

Standing on the boat, Zhang Zhimu said: "The same people, can these people not hate us who wear gold and jade?" ”

"They have no love and no hate!"

Zhang Zhimu turned his head and saw that it was Xiao Hongyu who spoke, and he didn't know when Xiao Hongyu was standing beside him. Seeing Zhang Zhimu looking at her, she didn't evade, a pair of very bright eyes, not just beautiful, Zhang Zhimu felt that there was content in those eyes. Zhang Zhimu had a feeling of electric shock in his heart, and hurriedly looked away. Without looking, Zhang Zhimu felt that Xiao Hongyu must have laughed when he saw him like this. It was the first time the two of them had spoken together. Many years later, when they were alone together, Xiao Hongyu said that Zhang Zhimu was blushing at that time. Zhang Zhimu will also insist that there is no designation. This public case, without the presence of the three parties, can only be a headless public case.

However, Zhang Zhimu's words to Xiao Hongyu were still very deep. These porters have degenerated to the point where they are like livestock. As long as you have food to eat and can live, you will continue to pull the fiber, and when you can't pull it, you won't be able to pull it. The banks of the river are the last places to take refuge.

"They have no love and no hate!" This sentence is very insightful. It seems that this little red jade is not simple.