King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

After returning home, Zhu Tan told his wife and other ladies that he was going on a long journey. These days, many people have never even left the county town unless it is necessary, let alone the village.

Shen Qionglian heard that Zhu Tan had other intentions, so she said, "If you want to go back to Jinling, you might as well come to the Shen family. The Shen family is originally from Jinling, so they must be familiar with it. Maybe they can even find the descendants of that shipyard."

Ye Luzhu was stunned. "Build a ship? Just find a craftsman!"

"That's true. However, since the Three Treasures were abolished, the Ming Dynasty has begun a maritime ban. Many goods have disappeared inexplicably, and the craftsmen have fled in all directions. It is difficult to find them again."

Shen Qionglian had been in the palace for such a long time, so she naturally understood this truth.

Zhu Tan nodded in response. He had not planned to bring his wife with him. Even if they took a boat, they might not be able to adapt to the climate here!
"I'm not here, Yuexian, you can do whatever you want. If there is anything, you can decide it yourself."

Ma Yuexian smiled and nodded. Although she was the legitimate daughter of the family, she did not want to cause trouble to others. After all, it was just a title. In serious situations, her husband had to call her sister-in-law.

Chu Tian didn't care much about family affairs. Ma Yuexian was a reserved woman, Shen Qionglian was a mature woman, Ye Luzhu was a very smart woman. As for the others, even Mancang, that rough guy, was good at talking.

Zhang Wei and his team can handle the outside matters. Ye Luzhu was difficult to deal with before, but Shen Qionglian was subdued in a few moves, so he is still very confident in his house.

Then, Zhu Tan frequently visited his friends, from Ma Wensheng, to Sikou, and then to the students who failed the exam.

Ma Wensheng strongly agreed with Zhu Tan going out for a walk. The old man had already understood that Zhu Youtang was protecting him.

"The atmosphere in the capital has been very bad these days. First, Liu Daxia stabbed you in the back by mentioning the imperial guards. Second, because of the year of the imperial inspection, there are all kinds of complicated situations. The reason you were impeached was entirely because you were used by someone."

Zhu Tan was stunned, "Are you talking about Xie Qian?"

Zhu Tan couldn't imagine that Xie Qian, who followed a quick-talking artist, could be the mastermind behind this.

Ma Wensheng didn't know that his grandson-in-law was more sensitive to policies than Xie Qian.

"No one who can sit in the position of Grand Secretary is an easy person to deal with. This time, Xie Qian was just using someone else's knife to kill someone. You were only slightly injured. As for the nobles, even if there is no solid evidence, they will suspect that you did it. You have to be more careful. They have assassinated me before, so they can do anything."

Zhu Tan chuckled, feeling that both he and his opponent were very cruel and had destroyed all humanity!

"I have already made arrangements with Xu Tai. My father-in-law will also arrange for some of our people to serve in the Governor's Office. We must not allow them to continue to oppress us."

Ma Wensheng nodded. A street fight was unlikely to happen, but it was still better to be cautious. Zhu Tan was right to be prepared.

Zhu Tan wanted to leave, but he couldn't act alone. Xu Guangzuo and Guo Ning wanted to go with him, but were rejected by Zhu Tan.

Guo Ning had a mission, and he was also in charge of the Jinyiwei. Guo Ning was his half-brother, so he could not be absent.

The Dingguo Duke family had good relations with princes and nobles and were well-informed. Xu Guangzuo also played a crucial role in this regard.

In this way, Zhu Tan finally headed towards the port of Tongzhou with only Jia Zhang, twenty servants, and fifty imperial guards.

Zhu Tan was an official appointed by the imperial court, also known as an imperial envoy. As the salt envoy, he had a record in the Ministry of Revenue, but it was not a clerical document.

That’s why they have such a rule that only official ships are used.

Zhu Tan tied his imperial seal to his belt as a jade pendant and got on board. He felt a little cold, so he buried his head in the cabin and refused to go out.

Zhu Tan was afraid of being beaten, so he had already made arrangements with Ma Cong and Xu Tai in order to lure them into the trap.

They followed for hundreds of kilometers and didn't find anything unusual, so they separated at the shore.

Zhu Tan himself did not expect that although he escaped the disaster, he could not escape the pursuit of others. He was indeed targeted by someone, but not by the person he imagined.

Yang Hu and Qi Yanming did a big thing in the capital. They killed all the people in Shouning Marquis' Mansion, allowing them to thrive among the bandits.

The two men had already shaken hands and were in a good mood, and soon their group exceeded 1500 people.

They felt that their careers were getting better and better! As soon as they finished speaking, they were told that they had made a mistake.

It was the emperor's uncle who killed them, not the emperor's uncle, which greatly damaged their reputation in the underworld, so they have been planning to target Chu Tian.

He originally wanted to use the same method, but after going through the new city management department, he no longer had the qualifications to commit the crime, so he had to continue to wait outside the mansion of Marquis Jianchang and find out the whereabouts of Chu Tian.

Now they finally have a good opportunity. Zhu Tan is going on a long journey, so they certainly can't miss it.

Qi Yanming was also a smart man. He thought that the Marquis of Jianchang was powerful and he could not attack near the capital. The ministers in the court usually came by water. Therefore, he greeted the robbers who made a living on the water and agreed that they would start to act after they crossed the river. The best way was to attack near the river.

Why? In response to Yang Hu's question, Qi Yanming just laughed.

"When he leaves the city, he should have a lot of money on him. Besides, when he goes to the south this time, it is inevitable that some officials will come to greet him and give him some gifts. So, we can stay for a few more days and let him make more money."

When Yang Hu heard this, he was also stunned, and then he laughed.

But they were all wrong. Zhu Tan was only interested in getting there as quickly as possible and didn't care about the officials' comments at all, so he didn't go ashore along the way.

Qi Yanming and others could no longer bear it, and immediately notified their companions in the water to take action together.

The pirates naturally had their own methods, so they chose a narrow river channel and happened to meet another officer's ship.

At this time, more than 800 people including Yang Hu and Qi Yanming rushed out from the shore, creating a considerable momentum.

Zhu Tan was originally on guard against this fire, but the fire was so terrible that the explosives on Zhu Tan's ship were ignited.

The fire did not cause any big commotion, but instead burned more and more fiercely. Not only was their own ship burned to ashes, but another government ship was also burned.

Jia Zhang chopped a smoking piece of wood in half with his sword, "Uncle, we can't stay on this boat any longer. Move to the middle of the river and leave immediately!"

Zhu Tan was extremely upset. Looking at the situation around him, his heart suddenly sank.

The number of people on the other side is more than ten times theirs.

"Enter from the right." Zhu Tan said, and then jumped into the river first.

It was early spring and the river water was extremely cold. Zhu Tan was almost convulsing from the cold and was about to sink into the river.

Flapping his wings quickly, Zhu Tan headed towards the shore on the right, where there were relatively fewer enemies.

At this time, on the two official boats, some people were resisting and some were falling into the water, which also took away a lot of Zhu Tan's energy.

With a loud bang, just when Chu Mu was three meters away from the coast, his ship exploded and broke into pieces, and more than 20 pirates on the ship were also blown to pieces.

This sudden change stunned everyone on the battlefield. Neither Yang Hu nor Qi Yanming had expected this.

"What are you waiting for? Come on, kill those who want to go ashore!" Qi Yanming shouted viciously.

In less than ten seconds, the robbers rushed over again. They even took out some wooden spears and killed some of the escapees. Zhu Tan saw all this and did not dare to go to the shore. He had to endure the bone-chilling cold and went downstream.

Fortunately, he was not hurt when he rowed past the wreck, but his arm had been grabbed.

"Let go!" He shouted, and shouted. Zhu Tan shouted and shook him hard, but it was useless. His opponent was too strong and his mind was in a state of half-awake and half-asleep, just like holding on to a life-saving straw!
Fortunately, the sea water suddenly became turbulent at this time, and Zhu Tan didn't need to exert any strength at all. She didn't care about the people chasing her and just ran away first.

Following the current, Zhu Tan felt that he had been floating for half an hour. He was already more than 30 kilometers away from the place where he was attacked and could go ashore.

There was no way out. If he continued to float down, he would be dead.

After finding a relatively quiet place, Zhu Tan used all his strength and the person holding his arm also climbed up.

Zhu Tan didn't care that he was soaked all over and he looked up to the sky and gasped for breath. After a long while, he finally calmed down.

This time, he saw a beautiful girl around twenty years old.

Zhu Tan also understood that he was not completely safe yet. The most important thing at this moment was to escape far away and seek help from nearby prefectures and counties.

"Ouch! Get up! Stop pretending. I want to escape!" Zhu Tan struggled to break free from his arms.

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Perhaps because of the pain, the woman finally woke up and took Zhu Tan's arm off hers.

"Save me!" The woman opened her eyes, looked at Zhu Tan, and said in a pleading tone.

Zhu Tan just thought that this woman had a beautiful face, but when she opened her eyes, he was shocked.

The woman's eyes were much larger than those of an average person, and in this case, their beauty was enhanced even more.

No matter how beautiful someone is, it is not as important as their life. Zhu Tan erased this inappropriate thought from his mind.

"Go and hide for a while, and ask for help from others tomorrow. I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave now."

"I don't know the way, and I don't understand the local language. Please let me go!"

As Zhu Tan spoke, he stood up, straightened his clothes, and was about to escape.

"No, don't kill me, don't kill me." The woman cried and saw Zhu Tan coming back. She suddenly felt motivated to live.

Zhu Tan walked forward, covered the woman's mouth, and said, "Don't make any noise, there's a thief behind you."

Zhu Tan was not a kind-hearted person, but just from a distance he was certain that the bandits had arrived.

Zhu Tan covered the woman's mouth with his hand and looked around, but did not dare to take the main road. He just walked towards the barren forest.

At the same time, he was also blaming himself for being too impulsive. Could these people really be robbers? If not, then if he went to the prefecture and county to mobilize people, he would fall into their trap.

Zhu Tan believed that his judgment was correct. He had missed the best opportunity to ask for help. By the time they went deep into the forest, it was already late at night.

Thank you Mr. De and Mr. Bear Grylls. Zhu Tan is no stranger to survival in the wild. He first made a fire by drilling wood in a place sheltered from the wind on three sides to dry his clothes.

The woman looked at her in surprise, but eventually she was shivering with cold and moved closer to the campfire. However, she did not dare to look directly at Zhu Tan, who had already taken off all his clothes.

"What's your name?" Zhu Tan asked.

The woman’s expression moved, but she was afraid of angering Chu Tianxian, so she threw her to the ground and murmured, “My name is Shanshan.”

"That's a bit of an inappropriate name. Where do you live?"

"The capital is prosperous, so where is the young master?" Shanshan asked back.

"Maybe. I am also from Beijing. Look at your appearance. Are you married?"

From then on, Shanshan became taciturn. Zhu Tan asked her ten questions and she would only respond to half of them, which made Chu Mu lose interest in talking to her.

After his clothes dried, Zhu Tan took out a medicine bag from his sleeve.

"Help me take care of my wound first. I'll go out to eat first."

Shanshan took a breath of cold air, and it turned out that it was Zhu Tan who took off his pants.

"What are you still standing there for? Aren't you helping your sister drown? Hurry up, or you won't have any food to eat."

Shanshan wanted to say that was another matter, but she accidentally saw the scar on Tang Xi's butt.

She was really hungry, so she gritted her teeth and applied ointment on Zhu Tan's body.

"Be careful, apply it on the wound, and apply it evenly."

Shanshan's face flushed with shame, her mind went blank, and she did as she was told like a wooden man. Her temper became more and more intense, and by the time Zhu Tan finished speaking, she was almost wiping the front.

Zhu Tan stood up and told Shan Shan to bring the firewood and spread it out to burn, as they had to sleep in this pile of ashes tonight!

They were gone for more than an hour. Shanshan thought Zhu Tan had escaped alone and no one paid any attention to him. She felt a little nervous and looked left and right.

The occasional bird calls and roars of wild beasts at night made her even more frightened, especially the footsteps behind her.

"Zhu Tan, it's me." Zhu Tan told Shan Shan his real name.

Shanshan instinctively touched her chest, only to see Zhu Tan holding something in his hand. The corner of his clothes was torn, and it seemed that he was wrapping something.

"I'm lucky today. I got two poisonous snakes, a bag of earthworms, and a pheasant."

Zhu Tan took out his spoils and showed them to Shan Shan. He felt uncomfortable all over and his whole body was covered with goosebumps.

"Then, what is that?"

"This is the real prey, just wait!"

In order to find these little pheasants, Chu Mu also spent a lot of effort. First, he cleaned up the little pheasants, then took the fat from the chickens, and then put the wrapped insects on a stone and fried them.

As for the chicken and the snake, they were strung together.

In the absence of salt, Zhu Tan took some medicinal herbs he knew and mixed them together to make him look more real.

"Do you want some?" Zhu Tan put the fried golden bug into his mouth, making a crisp sound with a hint of chicken flavor, and then asked Shan Shan. (End of this chapter)