My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 781 The prince gets married

"Master, it's time to eat!"

Xu Yue brought the two portions of rice to Du Zhu and said.

"Fish again?"

Duzhu smelled the familiar smell and felt sourness rising in his stomach. He never thought that one day he would feel nauseated after eating meat.

"Just be content. At least you can eat something that's hot in your mouth. No matter how unpalatable the fish is, it's still much better than dry food."

Xu Yue said very satisfied.

Because the space on the ship is limited and the fuel carried is not much, we can only eat dry food most of the time on the ship. We can only eat one hot meal the next day, and every hot meal must include fish. After all, fish is basically not available on this sea. Just don’t need money.

"These profiteers, in order to get a few more people, filled the boat, so there was no place to put fuel. Otherwise, they would at least be guaranteed to have a hot meal every day."

Duzhu said angrily.

When they boarded the ship, the merchant promised to have hot food every day. However, this rule only lasted for a few days, and then it became one hot food every two days. In this vast sea, they had no place to reason. No one, just at the mercy of others.

"This is not bad. I heard that some unscrupulous businessmen deceived people onto the ship and only provided them with dry food from beginning to end. By the end of the meal, the immigrants had sores in their mouths. Let's just be satisfied with hot meals. "

Xu Yue persuaded again, and stuffed Duzhu's hot meal into his hand.

Although Duzhu complained, he still took the big bowl and saw that the bowl was filled with hot soup made from large pieces of fish. There were a few pitiful bean sprouts floating on the soup. This was the only vegetable that could be eaten on the ship. .

He took the pancakes that were used as dry food, tore them into pieces and soaked them in the soup. Duzhu ate them loudly.

Although I have long been tired of eating fish, to be honest, the taste of this soup is still good. Firstly, the fish has little fishy smell. Secondly, there is enough salt in the soup. Finally, the fish has no spines, which makes it very refreshing to eat.

After finishing the meal, Xu Yue returned the bowls and chopsticks, and then she accompanied her master in a daze in the cabin. Not only did the master and apprentice live in the ship, there were also six or seven companions, some old and some young, but the oldest One, no more than forty years old.

"The port has arrived, everyone can come out and have fun!"

With a shout from outside the cabin, everyone was shocked and immediately stood up. Then the cabin door was opened and everyone rushed onto the deck.

In the direction of the ship's bow, a piece of black land appeared on the sea level, and various ships could be seen everywhere on the surrounding sea.

Master Duzhu and his apprentice stood on the deck, feeling refreshed physically and mentally while enjoying the refreshing sea breeze. Normally, they only had half an hour to go out to relax, and most of the other time they could only stay in the cabin, and only when they arrived at the port. Only then will all of them be allowed to come to the deck to move around, but they will not be able to get off the ship.

This fleet of immigrants slowly sailed into the port of Malacca. The port also sent ships to guide them to park at their respective berths. Then officials boarded the ship to count the number of immigrants.

As long as these immigrants enter the ports of the Han Dynasty, they are not required to collect taxes, and they can also carry a certain amount of goods on board. It is precisely because of these discounts that those merchants are so active in encouraging the people of the Ming Dynasty to immigrate.

However, after the officials who boarded the ship counted the number of immigrants, they did not leave immediately. Instead, they called everyone and announced: "Dear people of the future Han Dynasty, you are so lucky. Today is the day when His Royal Highness the King of Yue accepts his concubine. The people are celebrating together, and someone will bring a wedding banquet later, you are in for a treat!"

When they heard that there was a free banquet, everyone cheered happily, and some clever ones even wished the prince, whom he had never met, a happy wedding and many children. Anyway, a few auspicious words cost nothing.

Sure enough, not long after the officials left, teams of people brought wine and food to the ship. Not only their ship, but all ships arriving at the port would receive such a reception. After all, this was a royal wedding, and the scale was far larger than ordinary ones. human imagination.

Master Duzhu and his disciples did not expect that they would eat the food of the Han Dynasty's royal family before they even arrived at Han Dynasty.

Of course, the wine and food delivered to the ship are definitely not as luxurious as those in the palace, but the chicken, duck, fish and meat are still very complete. For people like Duzhu who have been sailing on the sea for so long, being able to eat such sumptuous food and wine is like a dream. Same.

At the same time, the Palace of the King of Yue was also decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and all the prominent people in Manlajiagang came. After all, His Highness the King of Yue was not only the fourth son of the Han Emperor, but also the first governor of Manlajiagang. , If they want to hang out in the port in the future, they must look at the face of His Highness the Governor.

Zhu Zhanluo, who was dressed in a wedding dress, looked at the guests in the hall. Although he had a smile on his face, he felt helpless in his heart.

Everyone knows that he is marrying the princess today, but in fact, few people know that he is actually marrying a side concubine. As for the main concubine, Queen Wei has already decided for him, but she is far away in Ming Dynasty, and it is estimated that it will take half a year. Came to Malacca Port to marry him.

"Your Highness, today is your special day, and everyone is watching you!" At this moment, an official next to him came up and reminded him in a low voice.

I saw that this official was about thirty years old, with a white face and short beard, and a tall and straight figure. He looked very talented.

"Thank you Liu Changshi for reminding me, I understand!"

Zhu Zhanluo took a deep breath, and then showed a brighter smile.

The white-faced middle-aged man next to him is named Liu Wenqi, who is also the long history of the Yue Palace. Although he is young, he has been an official for many years and has achieved considerable political achievements in the local area. He is smart and capable, so he was sent to Zhu Zhanhe by Zhu Zhanhe. , to help him handle the military and political affairs of Manchuria Port.

In fact, it had been less than three months since Zhu Zhanluo came to Manlajia Port. The reason why he was so anxious to accept the concubine was Liu Wenqi's initiative, because this concubine was born in the Shi family of Old Port, that is, the original promulgator of Old Port To comfort the granddaughter of Shi Jinqing.

At first, Shi Jinqing took refuge with Zhu Gaoxu and became an official of the Han Dynasty. Later, he moved from the old port to Manlajia Port. Manlajia Port could reach its current scale because of the hard work of the Shi family, so Shi Jinqing was also named the Marquis of Dongping.

Shi Jinqing passed away a few years ago, and the title was inherited by his son Shi Jisun, but Shi Jisun had no talent, so all the affairs of the Shi family fell into the hands of Shi Jinqing's daughter, Shi Erniang. This made Shi Jisun very dissatisfied, so he and his sister often fought. The Shi family It also caused division.

Although Shi Erniang was a woman, she was quite talented. Even though she failed to inherit the title, she was appointed the ambassador of the old port by the Han Dynasty and was in charge of the affairs of the old port. She was also the first female official of the Han Dynasty to have local power.

The woman Zhu Zhanlu married this time was Shi Jisun's daughter, and this was completely a political marriage, because Liu Wenqi suggested to him that if he wanted to quickly take charge of Manlajia Port, he must strengthen his ties with the local wealthy families.

The Shi family is not only in charge of Old Port, but also has great influence in Manlajia, so it is a good way to win over each other through marriage.

Shi Jisun also agreed very much with this marriage, because he could not compete with his sister, so now he only had an empty title. The real power of the Shi family was all in the hands of Shi Erniang, so he needed to bring in a strong foreign aid, and Who could be more suitable than the emperor's son?

So Zhu Zhanluo and Shi Jisun hit it off almost immediately, and they reached this political marriage in just a few months. Although they were just concubines, Shi Jisun was still very happy. After all, the concubines were also concubines. To put it bluntly, If Zhu Zhanluo's main concubine dies, the side concubine will immediately become the main concubine.

Zhu Zhanluo knew very well that this political marriage would be a great help to him, but after all, he was still young and it was his first time to do such a thing, so he was still a little uncomfortable mentally and the smile on his face was a little forced.

Fortunately, Zhu Zhanluo's status was noble. Even at the wedding, no one else dared to be presumptuous. Zhu Zhanluo only had to meet a few important people and then clink glasses. It was already quite a show of respect. The rest of the guests naturally had Liu Wenqi helped him entertain.

On the third day after the wedding, Zhu Zhanluo summoned his father-in-law Shi Jisun in the palace.

"I will pay my respects to the prince!"

Shi Jisun was about forty years old, and he looked quite talented, but he had no abilities, otherwise he would not have had the power of the Shi family taken away by his sister.

"Father-in-law, there is no need to be so polite. From now on we are all a family, so there is no need to be so polite!"

Zhu Zhanguo laughed and personally stepped forward to help Shiji Sundao up.

For Zhu Zhanluo, although Shi Jisun was mediocre, the prestige of the Shi family was real. Therefore, accepting the daughter of the Shi family as a concubine would allow him to use the power of the Shi family to control the entire Manlajia Empire as quickly as possible. Hong Kong, and even extended its influence to the old port.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

When Shi Jisun saw that Zhu Zhanluo was so polite to him, he couldn't help but show a bit of joy on his face. Although he was granted the title of Marquis, everyone knew that he was a Marquis in name only. On the contrary, his sister, although she did not have a title, was more noble than him. scenery.

"Father-in-law, I called you here this time because I want to discuss with you the renovation of the port!"

Zhu Zhanluo said directly to Shi Jisun.

The Port of Malacca is an important maritime transportation thoroughfare. There are frequent ships coming and going every day, and the port is also very prosperous. However, some of the facilities in the port are old. For example, the port is in disrepair, and some have been eroded by sea water and need to be renovated. , and this will also be the first major event for Zhu Zhanyu after taking office.

"I heard Liu Changshi say this, but the port is the foundation of Manlajia. All parties have great interests in the port. It is not an easy task to get everyone to agree to repair the port. ah!"

Shi Jisun said solemnly.

Manlajia is very far away from the Han Dynasty. At first, it was through infiltration that it controlled the port bit by bit. This also resulted in the internal forces of Manlajia not being cleaned up and the forces of all parties being mixed. Even if Zhu Zhanyu served as the governor as a prince, he would not be able to control the port. Dare to mess around.

(End of this chapter)