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

Xu Tai was startled when he heard this. Guo Ning and Ma Cong were responsible for investigating the surrounding area and clearing the warehouse respectively. If something went wrong, it would be a huge blow both emotionally and professionally.

"My Lord, how about we withdraw our troops now? The Jiangyin Guards led by Zhang Qi are stationed in Lianghuai, so there shouldn't be too many casualties. If we can recruit enough troops, they will be a force that cannot be ignored. Even a thousand men can change the situation of the war."

After thinking about it, Zhu Tan felt that what Xu Tai said made sense. If there were only more than a thousand people, it would also be a big deal.

"Let's go to Baitan. It's quite prosperous over there now. There are a lot of people, and there's also Zhang Ju."

Zhu Tan followed Xu Tai's instructions, and the two of them determined the direction and walked to the Baitan Salt Land, more than a hundred kilometers away.

However, due to the terrain, they did not find any signs of flooding.

Even more fortunately, they met Chen Chun and Da Kui, who were purchasing goods at the Baitan Salt Field.

These two people did not know Zhu Tan, but they remembered Xu Tai, and they were sent by Xu Tai to help.

"Uncle, what happened?" Da Kui asked hurriedly.

Xu Tai could still vaguely remember the appearance of Chen Chun and Da Kui, so he asked Chen Chun if he wanted to buy a donkey.

With money, Chen Chun and Da Kui got a donkey, which was their best means of transportation. Otherwise, they would have been exhausted to death just by walking to Baitan.

Without much hesitation, the two of them handed their donkeys to Zhu Tan and Xu Tai.

Of course Zhu Tan would not refuse, and told the two of them that when they arrived at the Baitan Salt Field later, they would not only be able to get the donkey back, but would also receive an extra reward.

Thanks to the means of transportation, Zhu Tan and Xu Tai arrived at the Baitan Salt Land at noon that day.

Zhang Ju was patrolling nearby. After receiving the news, he quickly mobilized more than 370 soldiers.

Their army is not large, but they are all former armies and after training, their combat effectiveness is still very strong.

"Zhang Ju, you stay here. Also, have all the people from the salt and fisheries go to the mouth of the Huai River and rescue all those trapped here. Each person rescued will be rewarded with ten taels."

Zhang Ju nodded, "My Lord, don't worry, I'll go and prepare, and save as many as I can."

Zhu Tan said a few words of encouragement to the soldiers in Jiangyin City, and then led more than 400 people back to Huai'an Prefecture City.

The southerners thought differently from the northerners. They made a small boat with some materials near the Huai River and easily integrated it into the main channel of the Huai River.

When he returned again, Zhu Tan saw that the water level of the Huai River had returned to about three inches before the rise. However, the situation near the city did not get better. There were floods everywhere, and people and animals were drowned everywhere.

The people who were causing trouble on the boat just now have now disappeared. Zhu Tan has no time to take care of them. The most important thing now is to rescue them.

Xu Tai disagreed, saying that it was precisely in this special environment that he could take advantage of the opportunity and catch the enemy off guard.

Zhu Tan found it difficult to pretend to understand something he did not understand, so he broke up with Xu Tai. He went out of his way to look for someone, and Xu Tai chased after him.

Zhu Tan first went to the government office, only to see that the mansion had already collapsed and the ground was littered with corpses. Some people had drowned, while others had been injured by sharp weapons.

The first thing Zhu Tan discovered was a pile of corpses. It was the governor Liao Feng, whose head was almost chopped off, and it was obvious that he had been murdered.

Among the accounts that Zhu Tan obtained from the Bai family, the largest amount was bribes to the Governor Liao Feng. However, he also knew that Liao Feng was not alone and he had even deeper connections in the capital. But once Liao Feng died, he no longer had any clues.

The hairstyles that were later discovered were all from officials in Lianghuai, which confirmed that this was a premeditated murder that left no trace.

Zhu Tan felt that the mastermind behind this was a fool. There is no wall that is impenetrable. No matter how deep you hide, you will eventually be discovered if you follow the salt line.

While Zhu Tan was looking for people, he was also saving people. He finally opened a city gate to drain the flood, causing the river water to gradually decrease.

At noon, the most surprising thing was that they found Ma Cong still alive.

Ma Cong was not far from Zhu Tan at this time, but the flood came too suddenly and he had no time to greet Zhu Tan.

Ma Cong was lucky. He was rolled into the corral immediately and then hugged the neck of a cow, which allowed him to survive the most critical moment.

Ma Cong pretended to be dead and escaped assassination attempts again and again.

Ma Cong thought he was safe, so he rode his ox back to the city, but he met Zhu Tan on the way.

Zhu Tan was really relieved. If Ma Cong was killed, he didn't know how to explain to Ma Wensheng and Ma Yuexian. They were there to help them. If they died, even their relatives would be blamed!
"My Lord!" Ma Cong was a little excited after escaping a dangerous situation. He shouted loudly, but his words were incoherent.

Zhu Tan had to persuade Ma Cong with all his might before he calmed him down.

Later, he received good news that Guo Ning was still alive and had witnessed with his own eyes the Huaihe River embankment being dug up. This was the most important evidence.

Zhu Tan had long expected something like this to happen, so he was not surprised. Instead, he focused his attention on disaster relief. Because there were too many casualties and almost all the officials in Lianghuai were killed, he had to shoulder his responsibilities.

When the flood returned to normal, the rescue work organized by Zhu Tan began to proceed in an orderly manner. Some temporary cooking teams and salt teams were also put to use and saved many people.

Chu Xian stayed in Huai'an Prefecture for two days and unexpectedly found an unexpected person there, who was Zhang Yuanying, the granddaughter of Duke Yingguo Zhang Mao.

Zhang Yuanying was really pitiful. She stayed in the water for a whole day and was about to become a floating corpse.

But even so, even though they were rescued by Zhu Tan's men, they were still indignant!
"I don't need you to save me. What kindness do you have? If you have the guts, kill me."

How could Zhu Tan indulge her? She slapped Zhang Yuanying in the face, twisting her entire face. If she hadn't saved Zhang Yuanying, she would have slapped her to death with so many people around.

This slap left Zhang Yuanying speechless. His face was swollen. What else could he say?
Zhu Tan also asked Zhang Yuanying and found out that Zhang Yuanying did have bad intentions and came here specifically to deal with him.

Unfortunately, Zhang Yuanying was not so lucky and was almost eaten by a turtle. Now both of them are grasshoppers in the same boat.

Zhu Tan beat Zhang Yuanying severely and felt very happy. After discussing with Ma Cong, the two of them wrote a letter together, roughly describing the matter, and then rushed to the capital.

However, they had no solid evidence and could not determine who the murderer was, so they had to wait for Guo Ning and Xu Tai to investigate. After Guo Ning escaped, he immediately mobilized the Southern Pacification Division and the Imperial Guards, and quickly blocked the road to the north, hoping to find the culprit.

"Not enough food? You can go buy some. It's almost April, and the harvest season is coming soon. If there's no food, everyone will starve."

"It doesn't matter how high it is. If it's not enough, we can deduct some of the grain. If there is any problem, I will be responsible."

"Money? We can get some from the salt. There's still a lot in the local warehouse. Give it all to me. Eat as much as you can. Eat as much as you can."

Zhu Tan spoke a little dryly. Disaster relief was a laborious task in itself, especially now that almost all officials in Lianghuai had been cleared out, and all matters had to be inquired and arranged, which was really too tiring.

After much persuasion, the two complaining servants were finally sent away. Ma Cong pushed the door open and walked in with some papers in his hands.

"We have roughly estimated that according to our records in Huai'an Prefecture, more than 47,000 people have died, more than 8,000 houses have collapsed, and nearly 140,000 people have been left homeless."

"How despicable! Because of your selfishness, you have caused so many people to become homeless. Being tortured to death is considered a mercy."

Ma Cong also thought so. He seldom dealt with people in society. This time, he finally knew what real society was.

"What we need most is money, food, and manpower. The dead must be buried as soon as possible to avoid causing an epidemic."

Zhu Tan nodded and said, "I asked them to do their best. We have never been officials, so we can only do it according to our own wishes."

"Your Majesty, what you said is not right! Your Majesty has done the most you can." Ma Cong was really shocked by Zhu Tan's reaction. Zhu Tan was very thoughtful and he did a good job in this regard.

Zhu Tan thought that these documentaries were not a waste of time, especially since the gardeners' summaries of these things were very detailed. He could completely follow their ideas, and as long as he didn't write nonsense, he could write well.

Under the governance of Zhu Tan, Ma Cong and others, Huai'an Prefecture and various counties quickly stabilized the situation, and there were no large-scale mass conflicts or deaths.

Zhu Tan finally breathed a sigh of relief, but Zhang Yuanying was captured and started to make trouble.

"What is she shouting about? Aren't you worried that I will chop her down with my sword?" Zhu Tan came to check in person after receiving the report from his subordinates.

"Your Excellency, she begged you to release the person, saying that she wanted to return to the capital, and that if you didn't release the person, don't blame us for being rude."

Zhu Tan was both angry and amused when she heard this. "Doesn't she understand a sentence? A phoenix that has lost its feathers is not even as good as a chick. Why is she pretending to be a rich lady?"

As Zhu Tan spoke, he pushed open the door and saw Zhang Yuanying tied up.

These are real chains. Zhang Yuanying's hands are locked with chains. Even if he turns into a bull, he cannot escape.

"How brave! If you let me go, I will make you pay the price."

Zhu Tan glared at him and said, "There has to be a limit to being willful. Aren't you worried that I'll get upset and bury you alive?"

"Come on if you have the guts. Do you think I'm afraid of you? Anyway, if I really die, you won't have a good ending either."

"So, have you ever considered letting me be of some use to you before I die?"

As Zhu Tan was speaking, he suddenly stretched out his hand and crushed a ball with such force that it almost broke it. Although it didn't look like a basketball, it looked like a bowling ball. It was really incredible!
Zhang Yuanying's face was full of bitterness. She was not afraid of death and pain, but she could not bear such humiliation.

Zhu Tan touched it, then lifted Zhang Yuanying's chin and asked her to look at him.

"Don't think that I won't kill you just because someone sees you. There are so many ways to make someone disappear. If you don't believe me, wait until I kill you. The Duke of England and your father will be grateful to me."

Zhang Yuanying shook her head but said nothing. She was afraid of everything. She was especially afraid of being raped by Zhu Tan before she died. That would be a fate worse than death.

If Zhu Tan knew what Zhang Yuanying was thinking, he would definitely say, "You worry too much. He can't even get his own girl, and you still want to mess around with other girls. It's just a daydream.

However, Zhang Yuanying pissed off Chu Xi.

When Zhu Tan asked her why she became like this, Zhang Yuanying immediately became furious and kept on talking, saying that Zhu Tan's dog had a good life and that she was escaped by Zhu Tan in the capital.

Zhu Tan also thought of the grievances he had suffered along the way. He was furious and became bolder. He used both hands to beat Zhang Yuanying severely. He also used the most insulting means to tell him everything he had done, except the things he had not actually done.

Zhu Tan had exposed all his dark sides. Everyone has an inhuman side. This beating, with a hint of ambiguity, was so bad that Zhang Yuanying didn't have much energy to speak anymore.

Zhu Tan walked out of the room, feeling even more relieved. He then shook his head. He didn't think he had a genetic predisposition to domestic violence. How did he become like this? Perhaps Zhang Yuanying just deserved to be punished!
The reason why Zhang Yuanying was not killed was because Yueyang discovered that Zhang Yuanying and several other young masters of noble families were victims of this turmoil.

As he did not know the identity of the enemy, Zhu Tan felt that he had to unite and tied all the princes and nobles led by the Duke of England to his chariot to help him lighten the burden.

They are all victims, Cao Da and the others also fell into the water, don't you princes and nobles have an explanation? Therefore, she must cooperate with him to do this.

Tang Zheng didn't care much about Zhang Yuanying's fate, because he believed that if he couldn't defeat Zhang Yuanying in the next few days, he would be a complete loser.

Zhu Tan has already told Ma Cong about this, and Ma Cong advocates uniting the powerful people in the capital to jointly suppress the person behind the scenes.

Once they knew who did it, the people behind the scenes would have no power to resist in front of the emperor's uncle and those nobles.

The efforts of Guo Ning and Xu Tai did not have much effect, but instead allowed the merchants to restore some contact.

When Bai Wuyou knew that Marquis Jianchang was still alive, he immediately pushed the responsibility onto him and expressed his loyalty to him. He not only told him the news that Liu Jishan had colluded with the son-in-law You Tai and Zhang Yuanying, but also revealed the mastermind behind the incident, who was the Minister of Justice Qin Hong.

Bai Wuyou's claim was not without basis. He had solid evidence in his hands that part of the bribe money fell into Qin Hong's hands, and the person who gave him the news was none other than his former rival, a big salt peddler among the Shanxi merchants.

Zhu Tan thought the same thing, and only regretted that he could not leave and had to wait for the emperor's reply. Although Bai Wuyou and other merchants were not killed, they also had to be given some compensation.

Bai Wuyou was also a smart man. After knowing Zhu Tan's intention, he took out more than 300,000 taels, purchased a batch of grain, and sent it to Huai'an Prefecture, hoping to use Zhu Tan's solid bond to make plans for the future.

Seeing Bai Wuyou being so considerate, Zhu Tan couldn't help but sigh. No wonder these gloves are so useful. They are so comfortable to use! (End of this chapter)