The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 236 Stocking up on food and iron
For the next three days, Zhu Xiu used various excuses to run to the Kuayuan where the sisters of the Fu family lived, and took the opportunity to show off in front of Fu Jinhuan, which made her disgusted.

A delicious roast lamb didn't change Fu Jinhuan's opinion of him.

Zhu Xiu was very happy with it. He had no other thoughts, just to annoy Mrs. Fu and admire a vivid picture of a beautiful woman's anger.

Since that conversation, Shi Kuangwei never asked about the Fu family's affairs and allowed Zhu Xiu to do whatever he wanted.

After all, although Zhu Xiaozi was a bit shameless, he had nothing to say to the historians.

Shi Kuangwei kidnapped Zhu Xiu to Jingzhou because he wanted to use his talents to help him eradicate the Xue family and rectify the Zhangyi army.

Then the power of the Zhangyi Army was handed over to Zhu Xiu. First, due to interests, Zhu Xiu and the historians already had a shared weal and woe relationship.

The second is to believe in Zhu Xiu's character, and will not act like a villain who crosses rivers and demolishes bridges.

Zhu Xiu relied on the Zhang Yi Army to gain momentum, and the Zhang Yi Army grew stronger under the leadership of Zhu Xiu, and they had a mutually reinforcing relationship.

As the successive leader of the Zhangyi Army, Shi Jia's strength is the strength of the Shi Jia, and Shi Kuangwei is naturally happy to see its success.

In fact, Lao Shi was very clear-minded. What he pursued was not for the Shi family to permanently inherit the position of Changyi Army Jiedushi and become a hereditary and irreplaceable vassal town.

He only hopes that his son and daughter can find support in the troubled times, so that even if he is gone one day, Shi Xiangwen and Shi Lingyan will not be unable to survive in this world.

Shi Kuangwei once believed that Wei Hu was the best person to protect the historian until he met Zhu Xiu in Cangzhou.

Although Zhu Xiaozi acted a little shamelessly, his character was still guaranteed. Lao Shi could rest assured that Zhang Yijun and his children were entrusted to him.

Of course, it would be best if Zhu Xiu could marry Shi Lingyan and completely integrate with the Shi family without distinguishing each other.

Guo Wei suddenly appeared and wanted to help Zhu Xiu arrange Fu's marriage. Shi Kuangwei was very annoyed at first, as if a cooked duck had flown away.

If you, Privy Councilor Guo, are not in charge of important military affairs for the officials in Kaifeng, why are you worrying about Mr. Zhu getting a wife?

You are in Kaifeng, but you have to arrange a marriage between Jingzhou and Yanzhou, which are two to three thousand miles apart. Don't you, Privy Guo, stretch your hand too far?

Skuangwei was smoldering in his heart. He was the one who fell in love with Zhu Xiaozi first. No matter how powerful Guo Shumi was, he had to pay attention to first-come-first-come-first-served. The act of snatching someone's son-in-law is really dishonest.

Fortunately, Zhu Xiu clarified and expressed his feelings in time, and Shi Kuangwei felt a little relieved.

The Fu family has a prominent family, but it is not easy to climb high.

Comparing Zhu Xiu and Fu Jinhuan, the difference in family background is thousands of miles. If they get married, their wife's family will be powerful and they will inevitably be manipulated by the Fu family, and their life may not be too happy.

I would rather be a chicken head than a phoenix tail, I think Zhu Xiaozi understands.

Lao Shi thought he had seen through Zhu Xiu's true thoughts in rejecting Fu.

The slight turmoil caused by Fu Jinhuan's arrival was quietly resolved in this way.

On this day at the Jiedu Mansion, Zhu Xiu got up early and prepared to rush to the cross-yard where the Fu family sisters lived to say good morning. She checked in in front of Fu Jinhuan as usual and wandered around until she made Xiao Nizi angry to the point of explosion. Sneak away wisely.

This activity has become Zhu Xiu's daily task in recent days.

After washing, Zhu Xiu cut her hands, hummed a light tune, and walked along the corridor to the courtyard.

Yan Ping was waiting in the corridor, bowed and clasped his fists and said: "To inform you, Young Envoy, Wu Dazhuan rushed back from Yong County, Qizhou and asked to see Young Envoy. He is now waiting in the official chamber."

"Wu Dachuan is back?" Zhu Xiu was stunned, and then patted his forehead, thinking about half a month ago, he sent a message to Yong County, asking Wu Dachuan to take the time to return to Anding.

The business is important, Zhu Xiu nodded, turned around, and headed for the official room, Yan Ping followed closely behind.

Zhu Xiu turned around and glanced sideways, snorted coldly: "Come closer, I have something to ask you. You are so far away, are you afraid that I won't hit you?"

Yan Ping laughed dryly and said with a sad face: "Even if I get a slap in the face, I am willing to take it. But the young commander has not scolded me for several days in a row, so I don't know what I am doing."

Zhu Xiu smiled and said, "You know you made a mistake."

Yan Ping knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists and said, "That day, Marshal Shijie cornered me in the stable and asked me about Madam Fu Er's true purpose of coming to Jingzhou. I had no choice but to tell the truth. The young envoy had warned me before, not to Revealing this matter is a derogatory job, leaking secrets, and violating the prohibition, please punish me young envoy!"

Zhu Xiu said calmly: "This matter is indeed regarded as your violation of the order, and you will be fined for two months. After a while, you will go to the reformation site to dig stones for one month."

Yan Ping waited for a while and found that there was nothing to say. He raised his head and glanced quickly. He saw Zhu Xiu looking at him with a half-smile but not a smile, and hurriedly lowered his head.

"Young Master, if you have any punishment, please tell me!"

Zhu Xiu shook his head: "No, that's all."

Yan Ping was so surprised that he couldn't speak with his lips pursed.

The punishment for violating the ban is quite severe. Compared with it, Zhu Xiu's decision to deduct money and serve is not worth mentioning at all.

As a result, Yan Ping became flustered, wondering what Zhu Xiu would do with him.

Yan Ping knelt on his knees and kowtowed: "Bizi violated the prohibition. No matter what the young envoy does, I don't dare to complain! I only ask that after the punishment, the young envoy will continue to keep me by your side and don't drive me away." ."

Zhu Xiu smiled and bent down to hold his arm.

Yan Ping was stunned and stood up hesitantly.

"In terms of disciplinary regulations, you did violate the confidentiality ban. But in terms of the matter itself, you did nothing wrong. On the contrary, if you are not merciful at all and don't even buy the old commander's account, I'm afraid I won't dare Keep you by my side."

"Young Envoy" Yan Ping's face was filled with emotion.

Zhu Xiu said in a deep voice: "You and Chen An are both orphans of Zhang Yijun, and you survived because of the kindness of the Shi family since childhood.

Although you have followed me now, I still hope that you can keep in mind the kindness of the old commander and the Shi family, and don’t forget that whether it is Shi Jieshuai or me, the old commander or the commander-in-chief, we are all part of the Changyi Army. Member!

In the Changyi Army, there is absolutely no distinction between the factions of the old commander and the commander-in-chief!No one should have the idea of ​​choosing sides, let alone think that I, Zhu Xiu, will replace the historians! "

Yan Ping was startled, understood Zhu Xiu's meaning, and hurriedly clasped his fists together and said, "Thank you, Young Envoy, for your generosity! Please rest assured, Young Envoy, in my humble heart, the old commander and Young Envoy are one, and there is no distinction between them!"

"As long as you understand!" Zhu Xiu nodded, "After Wei Hu's death, there were a lot of rumors among the Ya army, which caused the morale of the army to fluctuate and private discussions. You can do some research and find out a few typical examples of spreading rumors. , punish him well and serve as a warning to others!"

"I humbly obey the order!" Yan Ping bowed and accepted the order.

After Wei Hu's death, I don't know when the Yajun began to spread rumors that Zhu Xiu had sidelined the old commander and wanted to replace Shi Jia as the leader of the Changyi Army.

There are also rumors claiming that the Changyi Army is currently divided into two, the old faction headed by Shi Jieshuai, and the young faction headed by Young Envoy Jun Zhuxiu.

The contradiction between the two factions is sharp and the divisions are clear. If you accidentally choose the wrong side and stand on the wrong team, I am afraid that you will inevitably be purged in the future.

These rumors started in the Yajun military camp, gradually spread throughout Yacheng, and finally spread to the entire county.

Zhu Xiu was very angry when he found out. This was clearly someone who was deliberately sowing discord and trying to artificially create a situation where there were many internal conflicts in the Changyi Army and there was incompatibility between the commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief.

This is an attempt to break into the fortress from within!

People who spread rumors have extremely sinister intentions.

Moreover, these rumors all happened after Wei Hu died and fell into the city.

Many of the messages are mixed with half truth and falsehood, making it even harder for people to distinguish truth from truth.The promoters behind this were also shrewd, and the time when the rumors appeared happened to be after Wei Hu's death, when the hearts of Zhangyi soldiers were at their most volatile.

The target of the rumors was also quite precise, directly dividing Zhu Xiu and Shi Kuangwei into opposites, causing panic and creating a crisis of splitting of the Changyi Army.

Zhu Xiu had already considered this man behind the scenes.

Apart from Houzan who ran away to Pizhou in despair, he really couldn't think of anyone else who would be so eager to create a rift within the Changyi Army.

Taking this opportunity to let Yan Ping investigate, it can also be regarded as a formal response to this rumor storm, so as to shock Xiaoxiao and calm public opinion.

~~~
In the official office, Wu Dachuan waited for a long time.

Zhu Xiu pushed the door open and said with a loud laugh: "Our Jingzhou Cannon King, Fur King, and Sugar King are here!"

Wu Dazhuan hurriedly stood up and walked quickly to the hall, bowed deeply and said, "Greetings to the Young Envoy!"

Zhu Xiu sat down and said with a smile: "Wu Caibing is exempt from the gift. Please sit down."

Wu Da signed a thank you and sat down beside him. He lowered his eyebrows and looked very respectful.

Wu Dazhuan is the apparent big shopkeeper of Guanghe Shanghui. Within the Changyi Army, only a very few people know that he is an official and businessman supported by the Changyi Army and is the chief purchaser.

Wu Dachuan was responsible for supplying a large amount of saltpeter, sulfur, pig iron and other goods that the Changyi Army needed.

He was also responsible for selling the grain, mulberry and hemp produced in Jingzhou to other states.

Even part of Jingzhou white salt was shipped to Qizhou by Wu Da and sold under the name of official salt.

Qingshiling cement ash workshop, Pingliang smelting workshop, and Kongtongshan firearms workshop often make earth-shattering noises due to rock blasting.

And because Guanghe Shanghui was responsible for transporting the raw materials for preparing gunpowder, Zhu Xiu made fun of Wu Dazhuan as the king of gunpowder.

At first, this nickname was only known to a few people in the Changyi Army. Later, somehow, it spread more and more widely and became one of Wu Dachuan's public labels.

Rumors circulating in the streets also claimed that Wu Daguan's members were also present in the workshops in Qingshiling and other places. Wu Daguan also had a share of the credit for the earth-shattering sound of cannons exploding mountains, and the title of King of Artillery was worthy of his name.

The Wu family had been engaged in fur business before. After the establishment of Guanghe Commercial Hui, the fur business took advantage of the east wind and took advantage of the trend. It was also managed by Wu Dachuan and became one of the characteristics of Guanghe Commercial Hui.

Guanghe Shanghui is most famous for its most popular Guanghe sugar series products.

At the beginning, Zhu Xiu taught Wu Dachuan the method of drenching yellow mud with water and asked him to find reliable people, break down the process steps, and teach several people respectively as the initial technical team of Guanghe Shanghui.

Wu Dazhuan lived up to his high expectations. In a short period of time, he quickly opened the Guanghe Shanghui stall. Guanghe Candy became famous in Yong County, Qizhou, and then opened branches in Chang'an, Luoyang, Kaifeng, and Yecheng. , grandly launches Guanghe Sugar high-end candy and snacks series products.

Thanks to the help of the Zangfeng Battalion, Guanghe Business Exchange successfully opened branches in several important cities. Wu Dazhuan also rushed back from Luoyang not long ago.

"This is the account book details of various places, compiled in half a year. Please take a look at it."

Wu Dazhuan respectfully presented a thick account book.

Zhu Xiu took it, turned it over, put it aside, and said with a smile, "I'll leave it to Pei Jin later."

All records of large transaction receipts and expenditures are filed with Du Branch Officer Pei Jin. As long as the two-phase verification is basically correct, it means that Guanghe Commercial Exchange's operations are operating normally.

Of course, in the era of handwriting calculations, it is impossible to record all income and expenditure items, and there is no need to worry about some scattered and small expenditures, as long as there are generally no errors.

Zhu Xiu took a sip of tea and said, "How is the situation over in Qizhou?"

Wu Dachuan replied: "In the southwest, Zhao Hui, the envoy of the Fengxiang Army to recruit envoys, guarded Sanguan, and defeated the Shu army in Baoji Mountain.

Before the humble post left, I heard that Meng Chang, the lord of Shu, had sent an envoy to contact Zhao Jieshuai, willing to suspend his troops to make peace.

Generally speaking, the crisis in Qizhou has been resolved. "

"Mr. Zhao is always getting stronger and stronger, he is awesome!" Zhu Xiu praised with a smile.

Meng Chang of the Later Shu Dynasty originally wanted to take advantage of Li Shouzhen's troubles to send troops to harass Qizhou to see if there was any money to be made.

Now that the Guanzhong rebellion has subsided, and the Shu army suffered another defeat at Baoji Mountain, they will definitely take this opportunity to withdraw their troops and will not want to fight Fengxiang army to the end.

Zhu Xiu asked in detail about the business status of Guanghe Shanghui, mainly about news from Qizhou and Chang'an. As for Kaifeng, there was a secret report from Ma Qing through the channel of Shenghe Mansion.

Wu Dachuan responded one by one, and his answers were fluent. All the details of Guanghe Commercial Exchange were imprinted in his mind.

Zhu Xiu was quite satisfied with him. This guy did have a shrewd mind.

He was also entrusted with sending people south to investigate the identities of Xu Xuan and Li Congjia.

Qizhou is an important trade road connecting Guanzhong and Hanzhong. There are many business travelers traveling from south to north. The power of Zangfeng camp cannot reach Jiangning for the time being, and it can only rely on these traders traveling north and south to get information.

"I'm calling you back this time. First, I haven't seen you for more than half a year. I want to see if you are okay.

Second, there is something important to explain. "Zhu Xiu said with a smile.

Wu Dazhuan said with sincerity and fear: "Thank you very much, Young Envoy, for your concern. Everything is going well for me. The Wu family has Young Envoy taking care of me, and I have no worries for my future."

Whatever orders the Young Envoy has, I will do my best to fulfill them. "

Zhu Xiu tapped his fingers on the table and said in a deep voice: "From now on, all grain sales in Jingzhou will be stopped. You, Wen Zhongping, Song Shen, and Pei Jin must work together to ensure that the official warehouse is full and the military grain reserves are not low. At 30 shi!”

Wu Dazhuan was startled and quickly calculated in his mind. According to his understanding, the current ration reserves of the Changyi Army were far from the number given by the Young Master. There was at least a gap of [-] dan.

Wu Dazhuan thought for a moment, then raised his hand and said, "Young Envoy, do you want Guanghe Shanghui to expand the amount of grain purchased?"

Zhu Xiudao: "The flow of large quantities of grain is too sensitive, and I'm afraid it will attract a lot of suspicion. You should remember to be cautious about this matter. Jingzhou's harvest this year is not as good as last year's. During the flood season, the Jing River swelled, and several resettlement areas were affected. Less food relief.

However, compared with previous years, it was still a bumper year.After the autumn harvest is over and the harvest reports from each county are reported, I have roughly estimated that I can ensure that the official warehouses everywhere are full, and that I can also allocate [-] to [-] shi as military rations.

You have to find a way to gather another [-] shi of grain before planting next spring, which can be purchased through various channels. "

Wu Dachuan nodded and said, "I humbly obey the orders."

Zhu Xiu added: "You can put aside the food issue for the time being. There is still plenty of time. Your most important task now is to increase the pig iron stockpile. I will send an additional team to Baili City to be responsible for escorting the iron materials. "

Wu Dazhuan said in surprise: "May I ask the young envoy, how much does it cost?"

Zhu Xiu shook his head: "As much as you want, the more, the better."

Wu Dachuan was even more surprised. He stocked up on food and iron. This was to increase the intensity of making weapons and armor. Are you ready for war?

Most of the iron materials circulating in Qizhou and Jingzhou come from Sichuan and Sichuan areas such as Hanzhong, Qiongzhou, and Bazhou.

After the relationship between Shu and the Kaifeng court was reconciled and the trade routes were opened to resume trade, Wu Dachuan would find a way to increase the amount of iron he purchased.

It's just that Zhu Xiu was hoarding food and iron, and was preparing for war at full speed, which made Wu Dachuan feel uneasy.

Seeing Zhu Xiu's indifferent expression, playing with the bowl and sipping tea, with no intention of explaining the reason to him, Wu Dazhuan could only smile bitterly in his heart, bowed and saluted, "I humbly obey the orders of the Young Envoy!"

(End of this chapter)