Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 380: Our Family
When Zhu Jing was furious at home because of his daughter's safety, Zhang Shou and Zhu Tingfang in Cangzhou also learned about Xiong Wei's assassination. It was not because they were well-informed, but because the former commander Xiong was very good at dealing with people and specially ordered people to rush to Cangzhou to deliver a letter to them.
Obviously, people still remembered the incident that happened in Rongshui Village last year, so they sent someone to give a reminder - and also to report that they were safe.
"General Xiong said that you two don't need to worry about his safety. He had been prepared. The assassin was killed by his personal soldiers before he could get five steps closer to him..." After roughly describing the course of the alleged assassination attempt, the messenger continued, "Afterwards, General Xiong sealed off the barracks and personally went down to comfort the soldiers, encouraging them to report the crime. Soon someone reported the crime."
Zhu Tingfang frowned when he heard the word "telegraph", but Zhang Shou felt that this was just what he should do. With Xiong Wei being the parachuted commander, whose previous position was not related to the navy, it would be strange if he could control the situation even if he brought some officers with him. What else could he do if he didn't try to tear open a gap in the iron-clad camp?
Sure enough, the next moment, the messenger told about the great storm in the Linhai camp: "General Xiong captured two thousand households and three hundred households in one go, and obtained solid evidence to prove that they were related to the camp storm. When I came out, General Xiong had already ordered people to prepare a prison cart to send these five prisoners to the capital."
Well, it turns out that no matter whether these people had participated in the murder of Academician Kong, Xiongwei had no intention of trying them himself, but instead prepared a prison cart to send them to the capital. According to the messenger, by the time they arrived in Cangzhou, the prison cart might have already been halfway to the capital!
Zhu Tingfang calmly sent the messenger away, but as soon as the messenger left, his expression changed immediately: "Didn't they say that the entire northern Zhili has been thoroughly investigated? How could there be fish that slipped through the net? How could someone sneak in front of the commander of the Linhai Camp and assassinate him? Is the entire Linhai Camp really rotten to the core and completely hopeless, or is Xiong Wei incompetent?"
Seeing that the usually calm and composed Brother Zhu was about to explode with anger, and seeing that Zhu Yi and the other guards who had just surrounded him had quietly retreated, and even Ah Liu had abandoned him and ran away without any loyalty, Zhang Shou could only say helplessly: "Brother Zhu, calm down first..."
Before he finished speaking, he was immediately glared at. Knowing what was going on, he could only say sincerely: "Yingying's sudden return to Beijing was a spur of the moment decision. Not to mention outsiders, even we ourselves did not know about it beforehand, so even if some of the escaped fish wanted to ambush her, it would be impossible. Of course, I hope you don't worry, the most important reason is another reason."
Zhang Shou paused, then said patiently: "Don't you think that the Linhai Camp sent the prison cart directly to the capital, which was a little too fast? The assassination may not be fake, but rather than saying that General Xiong accidentally put the person in front of him, it is better to say that he deliberately let people think there was an opportunity for assassination, and then took advantage of the situation to catch them all in one fell swoop."
He thought about it, and finally omitted a sentence - for such a blatant fishing, who would believe that Xiongwei had not consulted with some important people in the capital beforehand and had nothing to fear?
Zhu Tingfang frowned and pondered for a moment, and finally his face gradually relaxed. He was so worried that he was confused. He just thought of Zhu Ying rushing back to Beijing, and he forgot to think about the connection behind this matter. However, seeing that Zhang Shou could still analyze it carefully, he couldn't help but feel unhappy.
He immediately said firmly: "I'm not afraid of ten thousand, I'm afraid of one!"
"Yes, yes, yes." Zhang Shou nodded obediently, and then said, "I'll ask Ah Liu to go back to Beijing day and night, and I'll tell him to come back after seeing Yingying is in good spirits."
Hearing that Zhang Shou was willing to send Ah Liu, Zhu Tingfang's dissatisfaction immediately disappeared, and was replaced by an even more dissatisfied obstruction: "You only have this one useful person around you. Who else can you use after sending him out? I'd better find someone to go back to Beijing and find out more along the way!" If it's really not that dangerous, I'll also send back the silk you bought for Zhu Ying...
"Since the recent times are troubled, Master Ge, you should also stop him from escaping with a small group of people, and you should do the same!"
Zhang Shou had long seen through the other side of his future brother-in-law's cold (tsundere) appearance, so he naturally agreed with a smile. As for Ge Yong, after he went to see the Cangzhou Iron Lion and was disappointed, he stopped going out and suddenly got into a fight with analytic geometry.
Seeing that the matter had been agreed upon, he was about to leave with an excuse, but Zhu Tingfang suddenly stopped him and asked after a moment's hesitation, "How confident are you about the Cangzhou Port matter, from money and food to manpower?"
Zhang Shou was at a loss for words. How could he answer this? If he said he had no confidence at all, would he be beaten to death by Zhu Tingfang? However, this matter had nothing to do with him. He was in front of Ge Yong before, just because Ge Yong asked him, so he seriously analyzed the feasibility from all aspects. How could he be blamed on him?
He thought about it, and then said evasively: "Brother Zhu, you should ask Commander Du about this, right?"
"Du Heng was born in the navy. Now he is in the Ruiqi Camp. Although it is a favor, it is like a seabird with a broken wing or a sea fish out of water. It can't last long. He is naturally very interested in moving the town to Cangzhou. Moreover, the Linhai Camp has too many problems. He is willing to train a new navy. However, he only knows how to train soldiers and boats, and nothing else."
Zhu Tingfang looked at Zhang Shou calmly and said directly, "I am better at military strategy, and although my political strategy is also OK, I have little exposure to the people's livelihood since I was a child, so it is impossible for me to be comprehensive. Since Master Ge said that you have an idea, then I hope you can... help me."
When Zhu Tingfang said the three words "help me", he finally felt relieved. It was not difficult for him to admit that his future brother-in-law was very capable, but it was difficult for him to admit that his future brother-in-law was better than him in some areas other than mathematics, as he had always been striving to excel in all aspects. It was even more difficult to admit that he still needed his future brother-in-law's help in some areas, otherwise he would have no idea where to start!
But since he wanted to do something, he knew that everyone had their own expertise, so he didn't plan to take on everything by himself and run into obstacles everywhere.
"I didn't mention the relocation of Linhai Camp to you before, because it was just a concept discussed by the emperor and me. In fact, it was not limited to Cangzhou at first, but a place in the eastern coastal areas near the capital. But there is a prerequisite, it cannot be outside the northern Zhili. Therefore, it can only be selected from Yongping Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture. As for Lutai in Shuntian Prefecture, it is too close to Tianjin and is not considered."
Zhu Tingfang took out a notebook from his bosom and handed it to Zhang Shou: "This is a copy of my memorials. You may want to take a look first."
Is this really... impossible to escape?
Zhang Shou sighed inwardly. However, it was rare for his future brother-in-law to ask for help in such a good manner, so he finally accepted it, but said very cautiously: "I just said that casually in front of the teacher before. I can't guarantee how it will work in practice. I have to go back and think about it carefully."
"If you agree right away, then it means I have made a mistake!" Zhu Tingfang finally smiled and said calmly, "Now these cases have basically been concluded. I have reported the verdicts of those corrupt officials and the fact that I killed Xu Cheng. After the court responds, I will deal with Xian Yunhe and the others and will not try them anymore."
This time Zhang Shou answered very straightforwardly: "This is your responsibility, and I have no objection."
When he nodded and left, he heard Zhu Tingfang's voice behind him when he reached the door: "Han Changli once said that no one is born knowing, so who can be without doubts? Although you are called the last disciple of Master Ge, you are self-taught in a small village. Although there are many geniuses in this world, such as the one in Wang Jinggong's "Shang Zhongyong", I know that you are different."
"I don't care who your master is. As long as you are sincere to Yingying and fulfill your duties to the court, I will treat you as one of my own. Even if someone finds all kinds of excuses to slander you, you don't have to worry!"
"Thank you, Brother Zhu!"
Zhang Shou chuckled, then turned slightly to greet him with a smile. When he left the house, he could only sigh inwardly, thinking of Zhu Tingfang's belief that he was born with knowledge, and guessing that he had another teacher. He was young, had little experience, and came from the countryside - these three points converged on him. Even if he didn't want to be particularly high-profile, once he did something unexpected and succeeded, he would still attract attention.
Since people think that he has a fictitious master, let them think so!
For two days, Xiao Huasheng was busy with two things at once. On one hand, Jiang Dashao, with a bit of flattery and a bit of fear, asked him to contact a few easy-to-talk-to spinning workers and small machine owners to discuss matters of cooperation with the workshop; on the other hand, Zhu Er chased after him with a big smile on his face, asking him to introduce a few cotton farmers so that he could ask for advice on cotton planting, and he even went to the cotton fields to ask questions in person.
He was already not used to the two young masters who usually disdained to talk about workers and farmers' affairs suddenly becoming so diligent. And when all the martial arts schools in Cangzhou City began to clean out those vagrants, and beat and locked up those caught, the public security and atmosphere in the entire Cangzhou City improved greatly, he was not used to running around without encountering any troublemakers or coveters.
However, because there were many elite children from various martial arts families among the patrolling guards, he no longer had to worry about being hit by black bricks or flying clubs when walking at night. This was an unexpected surprise. You know, although his uncle and uncle Yunhe were both good at martial arts, he had a poor talent since childhood and could not practice martial arts, which had been bothering him for a long time.
That night, when Xiao Huasheng finally found time to return to Lao Xianyu's shop on Shuishi Street, he discovered that the person moving the door to close the shop when all other shops were closed was actually a young monk. Recognizing that it was the young monk Guan Tao who had returned from Maliu Mountain with Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, he was stunned for a moment, then stared at him and asked, "Why haven't you gone home yet?"
The young monk Guan Tao was slightly stunned, and then he said honestly: "The old donor won't let me go back."
"Who is Tan Yue?" Peanut was confused. "How can he control whether you come back or not?"
"I told you to read two more books, but even the donors don't know where you have read these books!"
Old Salted Fish heard the noise and came out, stretched out his foot and kicked at Little Peanut, but when he saw Little Peanut dodge swiftly, he angrily scolded, "Tanyue is a term used in Buddhist temples, which means donor. If you don't even understand this, don't say I raised you when you go out! There are a bunch of monks without ordination certificates in the Canghai Lower Temple, but they raised Guantao, an outlier who knows the scriptures. I don't know how your uncle Canghai taught him."
Peanut glanced at the silly Guan Tao with some hostility, and then muttered in a low voice: "If he likes to chant, he should go to Wanghai Temple. Why did he come to Cangzhou?"
"Because this kid has been farming since he was young, unlike me who is just a boastful braggart." Old Salted Fish was not afraid to reveal his true identity, and he touched Guan Tao's bald head with a smile, and then said, "Besides, this kid is very much loved by Miss Zhu, who even asked me to take him to the capital in the future and find an imperially built ancient temple to register him. Of course I have to keep him!"
Peanut's face suddenly turned even worse. When he thought about how when he followed Xian Yunhe to live, Old Salted Fish always thought children were troublesome, so he repeatedly declined his suggestions to marry a wife or adopt a child from the same clan. Now he actually kept this little monk by his side, he felt a sense of crisis.
But before he could figure out what was going on with the jealous feeling he had for the first time in his life, he was dragged into the room by the old man: "You're already quarreling with Guan Tao as soon as you get here. You don't even have the sense of being the older brother! Dr. Zhang is here and he's even asking about your whereabouts. Go see him and stop talking nonsense here."
Peanut was shocked, and hurriedly followed Old Salted Fish inside. After passing the shop in front that smelled strongly of salted fish, he arrived at the back yard, where he saw Ah Liu sitting on the wall beside him, looking bored, while Zhang Shou was standing in the yard, with his left hand behind his back, and his right index finger and thumb seemed to be holding something, examining it carefully in the moonlight.
Under the moonlight, he looked elegant and refined in a green robe and a Confucian scarf. Xiao Huasheng even thought that if he held a book in his hand, he would be just like the immortal in the poems who wanted to ride the wind to return home!
Just as he was staring at the other person with some longing, Zhang Shou seemed to notice something and suddenly turned around and said to him with a smile: "Little Peanut, you have worked hard these past few days. Have you finished the work on both sides?"
Little Peanut then saw clearly that what Zhang Shou was holding was a cotton seed. Although this immediately lowered Zhang Shou's style, he quickly put away his distracting thoughts and said respectfully: "I have already brought the people to them. Master Jiang and Master Zhu have a good reputation these days, so there shouldn't be a big conflict. I won't be needed next time."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but smile happily: "That's great, I still have some things to do next. Although Ah Liu is capable, he can't compare to you when it comes to being a local tyrant. Just follow me!"
