The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is one of the longest, most extensive and oldest canals in the world.It is 1794 kilometers from Beijing to the Qiantang River, and it has been excavated for more than 2000 years.From the gradual rise of the Spring and Autumn Period, to the construction of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, and finally to the maturity of the Yuan Dynasty.Transportation in ancient times was inconvenient. If large-scale goods, especially large quantities of grain and other goods from the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, were to be transported to the capital by land, it would not only delay time, but also waste a lot of manpower and material resources.Although this canal has been full of blood and tears since it was dug for 2000 years, it also has countless people alive!

Of course, these are not what Zhang Fan should be concerned about today. He is now sitting on the commander-in-chief of the three-story treasure ship, and the other ships accompanying him use this ship as the flagship.Although this ship is consistent with the layout of the treasure ships recorded in Zheng He's sea charts, but in order to accommodate other ships on the canal, it is only [-] feet long and [-] feet wide, and its size is smaller than the smallest treasure ships that go to sea. lock up.There is one difference, this treasure ship has a lot fewer masts than those that go to sea. After all, the ships in the canal are not just driven by the wind, and when the ship was built, it was also designed so that the people who wear it can clearly see the scenery on both sides of the river. .

Zhang Fan sat in the handsome seat, looking at the endless river in front of him, he felt a little buoyant.He would sit here for a while every day, enjoying the feeling of sitting here, it's not that he's flirtatious, or wants to show off, it's just that sitting here really makes people feel like scolding Fang Qiu.

But this kind of good mood didn't last long, as long as Zhang Fan had Yingyue by his side, he would always feel uneasy.

"Brother Fan, go back quickly." Yingyue sat on the side and kept pulling Zhang Fan's sleeves and said, "It's summer now, people who are exposed to the sun are so uncomfortable!" The little girl has fair skin, Naturally, I don't like the sun exposure.

Zhang Fan wanted to sit still and ignore her, but the more he ignored her, Yingyue worked harder.till the end……

"I said, Yue'er, don't pull it! It's a good robe, the sleeves are almost torn off by you!" Zhang Fan raised his hands helplessly, looking at the sleeves that were still connected by a few threads. , said.

"Brother Fan, you ignored Yingyue!" Yingyue said aggrievedly, but there was a trace of grievance in her mischievous eyes, it was clearly a smirk that succeeded in trickery.

Zhang Fan saw it, but he really couldn't say anything about her, and asked, "I said, Yue'er, if you don't like being here and go back to the cabin by yourself, why do you have to drag me?"

"How can I do that!" Yingyue said with a natural look, "I am your 'personal maid' now, and I will be with Brother Fan no matter what."

"Is there a personal maid who forced the master?" Zhang Fan said helplessly in his heart, but he didn't dare to say it out, fearing that Yingyue would think of some bad idea again.

Back in Zhang Fan's main cabin, just after entering the door, Wang Meng sent a message.Although Yingyue was very mischievous on weekdays, once Zhang Fan had any official business, she would never disturb him.

Zhang Fan looked at the news on the note in his hand, it said something about Liaodong.As we all know, from the Jiajing to Wanli periods, there were two great generals in the Ming Dynasty, the so-called "Qi Jiguang in the southeast and Li Chengliang in the northeast".

Li Chengliang's great ancestor, Li Yingzi, was attached to the Ming court in North Korea and was named the commander of Tieling Guard. Since then, the Li family has moved to Tieling.This Li Chengliang is also born with courage and perseverance, and has great talents.But because of the poverty of the family, the 40-year-old student took over the job.At the beginning, he was just a general in danger, but he was a soldier who made many military exploits. In the first year of Longqing, he became the deputy commander-in-chief and assisted in the defense of Liaoyang.

From the late Jiajing period to the current Longqing period, the Tatars invaded Liaodong many times, and three generals of the Ming Dynasty died in battle within ten years.Now Li Chengliang is serving as the Liaodong governor, and stationed in Guangning, recruiting athletes from all over the world to fight against the invasion of Mongolia and Jurchen ministries, and to boost the morale of the army.Now the harassment from Mongolia has disappeared, but the disturbance from Jurchen's ministries is still going on.

Zhang Fan didn't care about the battle situation, he believed in Li Chengliang's ability.He only cares about the situation of two people, one is Li Chengliang himself, and the other is Nurhachi.Thinking of that ten-year-old boy with a thick head and a thick head, with pigtails on the back of his head, relying on a copy of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and thirteen pairs of broken armor left by his ancestors, and finally won the Qing Taizu in the whole world, Zhang Fan didn't know what to do with him .The situation in Liaodong, Jurchen and Daming is very bad.Nurhaci's grandfather, Wang Gao, led Jianzhou Youweidu Governor, commanded Jianzhou Jurchen, and his son Atai Department has been trying to expand his power.Li Chengliang suppressed him in many ways, and the war was even more imminent.Jue Chang'an is the chief of the Zuowei Branch of Jianzhou, and he took his two sons out to avoid disaster, but now that he returns to the ministry, he can no longer stay out of it.

Now Jue Chang'an has seen the situation and knows that there is Li Chengliang in Liaodong. If there is a conflict, Jianzhou Jurchen will cease to exist.He recommended himself to Li Chengliang and took the initiative to lobby Wang Gao, but Wang Gao did not agree with him, and instead he was almost killed.

Zhang Fan's history is not very good, but he learned something in middle school, and he knew that the reason why Nurhachi raised the army was to avenge his father.Soon after, when the Liaodong war broke out, Jue Changan and Takshi would be accidentally killed by the Ming army when they were guides for the Ming army.Zhang Fan has no way to stop all of this now. Could it be that he sent someone to protect the three grandparents?

No, tell them you know they're going to die?Zhang Fan had no choice but to send people in Liaodong to protect them secretly. "Maybe, I can find a way to recruit Nurhachi, but what should I do?" Zhang Fan thought to himself.After a while, he thought of a solution, but he hesitated in his heart. After all, if he did this, it would be against the harmony of heaven, but Zhang Fan made up his mind.This may be a helpless move in his position as the commander of Jinyiwei, or a sinister expression.But it's still early days, and we have to think about it in the long run.

The sections of the canal are quite long, and Zhang Fan's boat is big. Fortunately, it's not the dry season in summer, otherwise it would be very difficult for such a big boat.The ship traveled all the way, passed Tianjin, Hebei, and Shandong, and it took half a month to arrive in Jiangsu.On the way, the ship only stopped to replenish some things when needed. With Zhang Fan's identity, the officials along the way tried their best to flatter him, giving away whatever was useful and what was expensive.Zhang Fan did not refuse anyone who came, and all his subordinates ordered people to put all the gifts in one cabin, and the person who gave the gifts was also registered in the register, so he didn't ask any more questions.He didn't necessarily want to trouble these people, he just wanted to be more careful.

The fleet passed Xuzhou and entered Jiangsu, and it took a few days to pass Huaiyin and Huai'an before entering Huaishui.Zhang Fan looked to the west, and there was his previous home there, but now it looked like a plain.Sigh, maybe I will never see my parents in the previous life again.

After crossing the Huaihe River, on the second day, Zhang Fan arrived at the first stop of his trip, which was also the most important and the most overwhelming stop - Yangzhou, this thousand-year-old city with his hometown in this life!

As soon as the ship arrived, officials from Yangzhou Prefecture had already been waiting here.The prefect Wang Dezhao and his subordinate Tongzhi and others greeted Zhang Fan as soon as he got off the boat, and they were very flattering.

"Master Zhang, this inspection on behalf of the Son of Heaven must be very tiring after sitting on the boat for so many days. Come to the pavilion to rest quickly, and have prepared water and wine." Wang Dezhao said very flatteringly, his small eyes narrowed even more Only one seam remains.

"That's it, Mr. Magistrate." Zhang Fan said, and followed him into the pavilion.Yingyue got off the boat together behind Zhang Fan, everyone just thought she was Zhang Fan's maid and didn't ask any questions.It's just that when Yingyue walked into the pavilion, she thought about looking at the crowd outside.Zhang Fan and the officials of Yiying Yangzhou Mansion were having a "happy" conversation, but they didn't notice it, but Wang Meng looked in the direction Yingyue was looking at and stopped asking.

The pavilion has long been guarded by the guards brought by Zhang Fan, and water and wine have already been prepared on the stone table.Zhang Fan drank the glass of wine in the welcome of everyone.Just as I was about to speak, a few people came in.

Zhang Fan looked at these people, they didn't look like officials, but they were dressed in brocade clothes, all of them were very expensive, he couldn't help being a little puzzled, and looked at Wang Dezhao.

Wang Dezhao immediately explained Zhang Fan's doubts: "My lord, these are rich local businessmen who came to greet you and admire your demeanor."

As soon as he said that, Zhang Fan understood.Now that Hai Rui is carrying out the "rectification movement" here, although these rich and powerful businessmen in Yangzhou are not those who occupy land, they are all in danger, and they must be planning to buy peace through their own way.Thinking of this, Zhang Fan couldn't help laughing. These people didn't know how much favor they had given Wang Dezhao to be able to stand here, and they didn't think about who they were, bribing the commander of Jinyiwei!

Zhang Fan remained calm, and talked to these people in an official tone, and stopped talking after drinking a glass of wine.Suddenly, Zhang Fan thought of his purpose of coming to Yangzhou, and asked Wang Dezhao, "Prefect Wang, is there a big family in Yangzhou that is in the jade business?"

Wang Dezhao thought for a while and said quickly: "My lord, there are not many big families in the jade business in Yangzhou. I don't know which one my lord is talking about?"

"That family has the same surname as my official's, and the contemporary family's head is named Zhang Yufang." Zhang Fan said.

"Yes, this is my largest jade business in Yangzhou." Wang Dezhao said hastily.He didn't expect Zhang Fan to have any relationship with Zhang Yufang. After all, Zhang Fan was born in the Northwest, which is well known throughout the court.

"Then, is he here?" Zhang Fan asked.

Wang Dezhao looked troubled, this piece of Yufang was quite tough, and he didn't pay much attention to himself since he took office. This time Hai Rui thoroughly investigated Haoqiang, and Wang Dezhao also made a fool of himself, accusing Zhang Jiaan of colluding with Haoqiang. Now Zhang Fan asked How could he say that.Said: "This piece of Yufang is quite arrogant, and he never buys the government's account. Now he is not here." He sued Zhang Yufang first, "My lord and him..."

"Hehe, I have something to do with that Zhang Yufang." Zhang Fan could vaguely guess what he was thinking, but he didn't say anything, but said, "That Zhang Yufang is my uncle."

When Wang Dezhao heard this, his face froze, but the heat of early summer in the south of the Yangtze River made him feel chilly on his back.After a while, Wang Dezhao came back to his senses and immediately said flatteringly: "Forgive me for my incompetence, I will send someone to invite you." Then, he will send someone to Zhang's house, and of course, he must apologize.

But Zhang Fan immediately stopped him, and said: "The magistrate doesn't have to be like this, I want to come to visit in person, but I just arrived here, there is little dust, so going like this is quite impolite. It's not early today. Alright, let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

"Yes, yes." Wang Dezhao answered quickly.But he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, it seemed that there was still time to make some preparations.