My life skills in Daming Liver.

Chapter 323 Hu Zongxian Offers Advice to Zheng Guoqu
When they entered the boundary of Suzhou Mansion, Tan Lun and Gao Hanwen suddenly found that the barriers were reduced a lot.

I came across a customs checkpoint by chance. In addition to the goods that need to go through the tax-paying channel for customs clearance, if you only carry a small amount of luggage, you don't need to check at all, and you can pass quickly.

Tan Lun and Gao Hanwen looked at each other, and both saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

It stands to reason that it is now a time of war, but the two sides don't look like they are at war at all. They saw truckloads of goods moving towards Nanjing. Those who didn't know it thought that Suzhou Mansion was still under the control of the Ming court.

"Brother Zili, where are we going in Suzhou Mansion?"

Tan Lun had already figured out where to go on the way, and he immediately said: "Go find Wang Shizhen!"

It was only then that Gao Hanwen remembered that Wang Shizhen, the master of literary circles today, is currently in mourning in his hometown, Taicang County, Suzhou.

Wang Shizhen's father, Wang Yan, was ordered to be executed by the emperor because of the frame-up by Yan Song, Yan Shifan and his son. Wang Shizhen was disheartened by the court, resigned from office, and returned to his hometown in Suzhou with his father's body in his arms.

Tan Lun said: "Wang Yuanmei and I were Jinshi scholars in a different subject. We were both officials in the Hanlin Academy at that time, so we have a friendship in the same academy."

"Wang Yuanmei's father is Zhongliang, who was murdered by the court. He must also deeply hate him when he resigns and returns home."

"Let's go find him to settle down first and then wait and see how the situation changes."

Even Tan Lun, who is so loyal to the country, will be arrested by the court instead.

He also thought about the courtesy he received from his colleagues around him when he took office in Hangzhou, and then thought about the cold reception he received from those people after he was released to Nanjing.

Gao Hanwen has now completely despaired of the court.

The two simply set off directly towards Taicang County, and soon arrived in Taicang County.

After all, it was wartime, and the soldiers guarding the gate still asked the two to wait outside the city, and then sent someone to report to the Wang family.

However, neither Tan Lun nor Gao Hanwen were exploited by the soldiers. When the Wang family sent someone to act as guarantee, they were released directly into the city.

Tan Lun became even more silent now. Nanjing and Suzhou are so close to each other, and the military discipline on both sides is as high as heaven. Is it possible for the Ming court to win?
The Wang family was originally a big family in Taicang, and Wang Shizhen had three scholars in one school, which was originally the most prominent family in Taicang City.

Wang Shizhen's younger brother, Wang Shimao, became a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing, but his father, Wang Yan, was beheaded in Beijing's West Market for disobeying Yansong and his son.

The two brothers wept and mourned each other, and returned home with the funeral, but the officials and gentry in Taicang County were afraid of Yan Song's power at that time, so no one came to express their condolences.

Brother Wang Shizhen saw through the coldness and warmth of human beings, so they simply dismissed the slaves, and found a remote place in Taicang City to live in, to keep filial piety for their father.

The ones who greeted Tan Lun were Wang Shizhen's younger brother Wang Shimao and an old manager.

After returning to Taicang, Wang Shizhen burned the family servant's deed, but the old steward watched Wang Shizhen grow up and had a deep affection for the Wang family, so he voluntarily stayed to help the two brothers.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Wang Shimao led Tan Lun and Gao Hanwen to the new residence of the Wang brothers.

Seeing Wang Shizhen in filial piety, Tan Lun said silently:

"Brother Wang, I was not able to burn a stick of incense in the mourning hall of the old man that day. How shameful is Tan!"

Wang Shizhen's expression was very calm and said: "After my father was imprisoned, brother Zili also tried his best to rescue him. At that time, brother Zili was serving the court outside the capital."

Speaking of his father's unjust murder, Wang Shimao who was on the side wiped his tears again.

Wang Shizhen pulled Tan Lun and said: "I saw the news in "Jing Shibao" today, and the two of my brothers were sweating for brother Zili! Fortunately, brother Zili left well! You stay at my house! Wait and watch Nanjing situation."

Tan Lun and Gao Hanwen immediately said, "That's too much trouble!"

Tan Lun and Wang Shizhen had an old friendship, and now Tan Lun's experience is very similar to that of Wang Ying, and the relationship between the two is naturally closer.

Brother Wang Shizhen was not allowed to drink during his mourning period, but a dinner was held for them.

Although the house is dilapidated, Wang Shizhen is the current Wenzong, proficient in all kinds of poems and songs, and is good at writing operas and composing music, and calligraphy is also a must.

The stereotyped essays written by Wang Shizhen back then were all printed and published by booksellers as model essays, so naturally it was impossible that they would not be able to eat.

When Tan Lun and Gao Hanwen were in Nanjing, their future was uncertain, they had little income, and their food was very simple.

The two picked up the chopsticks, and Gao Hanwen's eyes shed tears.

Wang Shimao looked at the two of them and said, "If you ask me, you two should not return home that day!"

His elder brother Wang Shizhen served as an official for the imperial court for several years. Wang Shimao had just been admitted to Jinshi, and his father had committed crimes before he was awarded an official. Therefore, Wang Shimao didn't eat the imperial rations all day, so naturally he felt even more resentful towards the Ming court.

"Respectful!"

Wang Shizhen called his brother's cousin, and Wang Shimao shut his mouth.

Wang Shizhen said to Tan Lun again: "It will be great if you can escape from Nanjing. As long as you remain useful, there will always be a time when the clouds will clear and the sun will shine."

Gao Hanwen wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and nodded heavily.

Tan Lun lowered his head and then raised his head and said: "After today, the relationship between Tan and Ming Ting has been severed. Today, I would like to thank brother Yuanmei for taking me in. After a few days, when the situation is clear, Tan will go to Hangzhou to pick up his family members, and go to Fuzhou to find Su. Metropolitan Governor!"

Gao Hanwen looked at Tan Lun in surprise. You must know that Tan Lun was a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty before, and he insisted on leaving Zhejiang despite Su Ze's personal persuasion.

Brother Wang Shizhen was not surprised at all. Wang Shizhen said:
"Brother Zili, let's stay here first, we'll talk about the situation in Nanjing later."

Sure enough, on September [-], the imperial guards arrived in Nanjing with the imperial edict, only to learn that Tan Lun had escaped.

The leading prince of Dongchang was very angry, but he couldn't reprimand the officials in Nanjing.

Isn’t it as fast as Su Ze’s newspapers?So who does it depend on?

The ministers in Nanjing saw the news in the anti-thief newspaper, did they not directly arrest Tan Lun?
The prince could only call for martial law in the entire city of Nanjing, and then ordered an investigation into the accomplices who assisted Tan Lun in escaping.

But Eunuch Wang investigated for a long time, and the result was even more embarrassing.

Tan Lun ran away after seeing the news on the "Warning World Daily" by himself. When Tan Lun ran away, the court did not remove his official status. He even walked from the main gate of Nanjing City in a grand manner, and he passed customs along the way. record of.

In other words, Tan Lun, the important criminal who the emperor personally ordered to arrest, actually walked out of Nanjing City in a fair and honest manner.

The prince is numb, isn't it too difficult to be the Dongchang banner this year?

Then we went to investigate Tan Lun's associates in Nanjing. After Tan Lun entered Nanjing, he went to Zhao Zhenji to deliver the memorial, and then rented with Gao Hanwen. There was no record of contact with other people at all.

Is this arresting Zhao Zhenji?
The emperor didn’t even let him be arrested!
Without the decree of the imperial court, the prince and his father-in-law would not dare to touch a cabinet official like Zhao Zhenji!

He could only vent his anger on the returned officials who stayed in Nanjing and did not run away. He only heard screams from time to time in the prison of the Nanjing Criminal Department. The prince finally gathered a list of names and ordered the Jin Yiwei to go. Continue to arrest other officials on the list.

A prison suddenly appeared in Nanjing. Anyone who had anything to do with officials who had returned from Zhejiang would be arrested and imprisoned by the Jin Yiwei.

The most miserable one was the Nanjing household department. Although Zhao Zhenji couldn't move, Fang Wanghai, the father-in-law of the big traitor Su Ze, was the servant of the Nanjing household department in charge of the transfer department.

Wang Gonggong and his men almost captured the Nanjing household department, so that even Zhao Zhenji couldn't sit still.

The imperial court's order to Zhao Zhenji was to let the Nanjing Ministry of Households build water transport ships to ensure that this year's grain can be delivered to the capital.

Now the Nanjing Household Department has no way to maintain its operation. Zhao Zhenji ran to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice and made a fuss for a while, finally bailing out several key men.

But soon, Zhao Zhenji's Nanjing household department will not have to be busy.

"Warning World" once again published the fastest front-line news, Lin Liangjun's second brigade has captured Jiujiang City!The Yangtze River waterway has been blocked!
Zhao Zhenji almost fainted when he saw the news. He quickly sent his men to the Nanjing Ministry of War to inquire about the situation. However, the left-behind officials from the Nanjing Ministry of War took the "Warning World Newspaper" and told Zhao Zhenji's men:
"Since it was published in the "Warning News", it is most likely true."

Zhao Zhenji's subordinates were surprised: "Is there no news from the front line? Isn't Zhang Butang in Huizhou Prefecture?"

The official of the Ministry of War said: "It is true that Zhang Butang is in Huizhou, but Zhang Butang can't find out the news in Jiangxi. The news on "Jing Shi Bao" is faster."

"When our Ministry of War gets the "Warning World News", we will rush to Huizhou Prefecture and report it to Zhang Butang."

The household official was shocked. He pointed at the other party and said, "You inquired about the military situation through the rebel army's newspapers, and then sent them to Zhang Butang on the front line?"

After the other party nodded, the household official felt dizzy. Is this world too magical, or is he unable to keep up with the times?

The Ministry of Revenue official quickly went back to tell Zhao Zhenji the news. Zhao Zhenji looked at the water transportation chart for a long time, and then said:
"It's over! The autumn grain in Huguang won't arrive this year."

Zhao Zhenji said to himself: "The autumn grain in Huizhou Prefecture cannot be moved. It is the military ration left for Nanjing's left and right guards."

"I ordered that this year's grain in Jiangbei be collected immediately! Harvest twice as much as last year! Immediately ship after harvesting. Be sure to send a batch of grain to the capital!"

Before Zhao Zhenji could enjoy the joy of defeating Tan Lun, he waited for his own end.

He is good at trying to figure out the will of the emperor and the cabinet, and he knows that his most important task now is to send Gang Liang to Beijing.

Only when the food arrives can the imperial court mobilize the troops from all sides to go south, and the imperial court can recapture the Fujian, Zhejiang and Susong prefectures.

There are 10,000+ elites in the Nine Frontiers, and Su Ze has only a few troops in his hands. It is difficult to control Fujian and Zhejiang. Originally, Zhao Zhenji did not think that the court would fail.

However, the fall of Jiujiang caused Zhao Zhenji to fall into panic.

Zhao Zhenji looked at the map. If the food from Huguang could not be transported, he would have to rely on food from Jiangbei and Shandong.

The Jiangbei region is also an important production area. Huai'an, Taizhou, and Yangzhou are all water towns. If the food here can be successfully transported to the capital, it should be possible to mobilize some of the elites from the Nine Borders to go south, right?
However, Jiangbei has been infested by Japanese pirates in recent years, and later the Huaihe River was dug up to fight against Japanese pirates, and the Lixiahe area was severely affected.

It took a lot of effort this year to ease things up a bit. If food is forcibly collected, there will be starvation everywhere again.

Even his subordinates couldn't see it anymore. The household official said:
"Zhao Butang, this year the imperial court only allowed the counties in the north of the Yangtze River to reduce taxes, and now they have to double the tax. What if there is a civil uprising?"

Zhao Zhenji closed her eyes and said: "For the sake of the court, I can only suffer the common people!"

"I wrote a warrant, in order to prevent being attacked by Soviet thieves, let the Jiangbei guards assist the Yamen to collect food."

"In addition, another [-] craftsmen will be sent to Nanjing, Yang, and Zhenfu, and the manufacture of ships will be accelerated in Yangzhou. The grain from Jiangbei must be sent to the capital!"

Zhao Zhenji, who has always cherished feathers, finally panicked, and the dilapidated machine in Nanjing Hubu finally started to work.

At this time, on the wharf in Fuzhou, Su Ze was leading his subordinates to wait for the official ship to dock.

Seeing Hu Zongxian with all the white hair, Xu Wei who stood behind Su Ze was stunned for a moment. After seeing Hu Zongxian for a few months, Hu Zongxian turned out to be much older.

"Hu Gong!"

Su Ze stepped forward in person, grabbed Hu Zongxian by the arm, and dragged him down the pier together.

Hu Zongxian did not expect Su Ze to be so enthusiastic. Su Ze pulled him into the carriage. Xu Wei saluted Hu Zongxian and said:
"Hu Butang."

Hu Zongxian waved his hand and said: "Now there is no Hu Butang, the imperial court has removed my reputation."

Hu Zongxian looked at Su Ze and said, "Governor, Hu stayed in Zhejiang for a while because of this matter."

After finishing speaking, Hu Zongxian took out a silk painting from his clothes, and Su Ze took it carefully. It turned out to be a detailed hydrographic map of Zhejiang mountains and rivers.

Hu Zongxian said: "There are many floods in Zhejiang. Last year, nine counties in northern Zhejiang were flooded, and countless embankments were destroyed and fields flooded."

"Although there are human disasters involved, it is also related to the frequent floods in Zhejiang."

"In addition to floods, Zhejiang also has wind disasters (typhoons) and pond disasters (tsunamis). This picture is based on Hu's collection of suggestions from officials who know water in Zhejiang, asking the governor to repair the water system in Zhejiang to save the people from floods. !”

Looking at the various marks on the silk, Su Ze smiled and said, "Mr. Hu has really worked hard for the people! Today is a banquet, Su must treat Mr. Hu well!"

But Xu Wei, who was sitting in the car at the same time, turned pale.

When the car arrived at the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, Hu Zongxian was welcomed into the mansion. Xu Wei pulled Su Ze alone and said:

"Great Governor! Hu Gong is probably still thinking about Daming, and he has bad intentions in presenting this hydrological map!"

Su Ze said with a smile: "Master Wen thinks Hu Gong wants to be Zheng Guo? Offer advice to Zheng Guoqu?"

Xu Wei nodded quickly.

Su Ze said: "Zheng Guo built the Zheng Guo Canal, and the canal was built, but it was Han Yan's life for a few years, but Qin built it for thousands of years."

"From then on, Guanzhong has gained enough footholds, and there is the foundation for Qin to unite the world."

"The construction of canals by Zheng Guo is also beneficial to the people. Since Mr. Hu is for the people, then Su is also willing to build water conservancy for the people."

Xu Wei said: "Grand Governor! Jiangxi is still fighting fiercely. The elites from the nine sides will definitely go south next year. Now is not the time to repair water conservancy!"

But Su Ze said: "Don't worry, Chief Wen, I also know that water control is not an overnight project, let me take a look at the hydrological map first, and pick some easy-to-repair ones to try first."

"It seems that Mr. Hu is still unwilling to serve me as an official, so that's fine, let him build water conservancy for the people of Zhejiang."

(End of this chapter)