The four people discussed for a while and finally finalized the plan to recruit and surrender the Chaohu Navy. Lao Zhang took this proposal and prepared to submit it.
But Gong Bosui was curious and asked, "Are you planning to dedicate it to General Zhu..."
Lao Zhang chuckled, "If you can't get there, who doesn't know that under the superiors, all writing matters must be handed over to Mr. Zhang first... But now that Mr. Zhang is not here, it should be handed over to Mr. Jia. I also want to tell them
Please tell me, old gentleman, please do your best and don’t delay me.”
Gong Bo was stunned again, "I saw a young man who spoke sharply. He forced Zhang Shicheng to hand me over. This man is..."
"Oh! He is Mr. Zhang, his name is Zhang Ximeng, and he is currently an experience officer."
"Wait!" Gong Bosui frowned even more, "Why is he called this?"
Timur also said: "Yes, why does it sound familiar to me?"
Xuexue snorted coldly: "Doesn't this sound familiar? Didn't Zhang Yanghao, who died from exhaustion back then, have the same nickname as Ximeng?"
"ah!"
Gong Bo was shocked and said, "Is this Mr. Zhang related to Mr. Yunzhuang?"
Lao Zhang smiled and said, "He is Mr. Yunzhuang's great-nephew. I don't know if he is a relative. Anyway, he must be a member of the Zhang family."
"How could it be?" Gong Bosui was shocked. When he was in Dadu, he participated in the revision of the Three Histories and once advised the reopening of the imperial examination. Zhang Yanghao was responsible for both of these matters. The old gentleman was not only profound in knowledge, but also a mentor to the younger generations.
Very good for these late-borns.
Gong Bosui was so impressed.
Lao Zhang laughed and said: "Senior Gong, you only know how to ask Mr. Zhang, why don't you ask Mr. Jia?"
"Mr. Jia... can't it be?" Gong Bo then felt like he was going to faint.
Lao Zhang sneered and said: "Now there are three civil servant leaders under my lord, counselor Li Shanchang, who was the former scribe of Chuzhou, and Jia Lu, who joined the army, is the original Zhongshu Zuocheng, minister of the Ministry of Industry, and general river defense envoy. As for the experience of the Department of Experience,
That is Mr. Zhang Ximeng and Zhang Xiao, who was born in the Zhang family."
Hearing this, the three of them were all confused.
Gong Bo was shocked. He seemed to understand why Zhu Jiajun didn't kill him! It turned out that even Jia Lu was still alive? And he also became a high official under Zhu Yuanzhang?
This is too ridiculous!
This man just felt that his outlook was shattered. He had to calm down for a while. If he couldn't do it anymore, his heart wouldn't be able to bear it if he continued to be stimulated.
Timur was startled for a moment, and then he burst out laughing, laughing so hard that he laughed so hard. Xuexue was so frightened that she ran away. Couldn't this guy be suffering from stranguria?
After Timur was captured, he had been uncooperative, seeking death and going on a hunger strike. He had not inquired about Zhu Jiajun's situation, nor did he know the origins of Zhang Ximeng and others.
Now he knows that there is a high-ranking official of the Yuan Dynasty, a small official of the Yuan Dynasty, and a queen from a famous family of the Yuan Dynasty. Now they are added to the four of them. It is really wonderful, wonderful!
"Such a big imperial court, with killings coming from outside, there will be endless killings at once! You must commit suicide and destroy yourself before you are completely defeated!" Ye Xian Timur sneered and said: "If you can kill my brother, I can destroy Yuan Yuan."
Ting! Lao Zhang, please tell Jia Lu, even if you let me be a groom, I will work for Zhu Yuanzhang!"
Lao Zhang was also dumbfounded. This man really hated him so much!
"Don't be too busy. I want to talk to the higher-ups. It's best to think of a way to bring your family members here to avoid being angered and punished... But having said that, Yuan Ting is also a bastard. Mr. Jia is also a bastard.
It’s been a long time since we surrendered, and our family members have all been picked up. Why is there still no movement? Are we all confused?”
First, Timur gritted his teeth and said, "If they knew better, they wouldn't have deposed my brother... By the way, Lao Zhang, can you tell me, my family's life and death does not matter, the key is my two nephews, I
My brother is afraid that he will not survive, so there is no reason to save him. If my two nephews can be saved, I will thank him Zhu Yuanzhang even after I die!"
Lao Zhang thought for a while and had no choice but to say: "I will try my best to submit it, but you have to think clearly. If you join the Zhu Jiajun, you will have to be an ordinary person. Can your nephew be willing?"
First, Timur gritted his teeth and roared: "I don't care if they want it or not! After all, they can't work for the enemy who killed their father, right?"
It really makes sense and cannot be refuted.
At this time, Xuexue actually said: "What about me, what should I do with my family? Can they be rescued too?"
Gong Bo then said hurriedly: "Your family members are all in Dadu, so it may not be convenient. Besides, you don't care. On the contrary, it may be more convenient for me."
The two people actually started to argue, and Lao Zhang couldn't help but want to laugh. These are the officials of the Yuan Dynasty. No matter how long it takes, they will never forget the good tradition of internal fighting.
"I'll think of a way, but it's not a big problem in Beijing. There are still people in the capital!"
"What?"
These people collapsed again. The Yuan Dynasty has been penetrated into a sieve. How come there are even people in Dadu!
Gong Bo was stunned for a while and suddenly said: "I, I understand, are they plotting against the Prime Minister?"
This sentence even stunned Timur.
Is it really Zhu Yuanzhang's plan that will bring disaster?
After a while, Timur himself shook his head and smiled wryly at himself, "The two armies were fighting, openly and secretly, but it was nothing. Besides, as my brother, I was actually plotted to be dismissed from office by the enemy? After all,
It’s still the fault of the foolish king and the traitorous ministers! Not only are they bad, but they are also as stupid as pigs!”
Now, Timur has identified Yuan Ting first, and they are so irreconcilable that it is useless to say anything else.
Lao Zhang sent it up with suggestions, and it was in Jia Lu's hands that night.
The old man has been worrying about this matter... Zhu Yuanzhang had long wanted to cross the Yangtze River, capture Jiqing, and use it as a base. However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not have a navy in his hands.
After fishing from Haozhou to Chuzhou, we only had a few small fishing boats.
The recent capture of Yangzhou only resulted in some flat-bottomed grain transport ships and sand ships. The large ships that could be used for fighting were all in the hands of the Yangtze River Navy.
Without ships, it is absolutely impossible to cross the river to fight.
No matter how brave a person is, he cannot fly across the river!
Chaohu Navy is really a good choice.
It's just that this Chaohu navy belongs to Tianwan's subordinates, so it's not easy to get it.
There are two leaders of the Chaohu Navy, both of whom are common men. One is called Shuangdao Zhao Pusheng, and the other is called Li Pusheng, nicknamed Li Pa Tou.
Needless to say, both of them are disciples of Monk Peng.
I have to say a few more words, Monk Peng and Peng Yingyu are really the ancestors of all the rebel armies.
He spread the White Lotus Sect very early on. Han Shantong advocated the coming of King Ming. He advocated the rebirth of Maitreya, saying that as long as Maitreya Buddha comes, he will bring a great bright world.
As for who is Maitreya Buddha, Monk Peng chose the tactic of leaning back!
His first uprising can even be traced back to the fourth year of Zhizheng, but that uprising was very unsuccessful and Lao Peng's good disciple Zhou Ziwang died.
Peng Yingyu tried her best to escape, but he still preached in various places, cultivated anti-Yuan forces, and gave all his disciples a common character, which roughly means "clouds and cranes rise in the sky, dragons soar across the sea" in a certain society...
These disciples formed the backbone of the Southern faction's anti-Yuan faction, known as the Peng Party.
There are some who are relatively good at it, such as Zou Pusheng, Ding Pulang and others, and there are also some who are not so good, such as Zhao Pusheng and Li Pusheng from Chaohu.
Of course, there is something even worse, that is Zhou Huiniang’s third uncle Jiang Puxin.
But no matter what the current situation is, very few of the Peng party surrendered to the Yuan court. They either sacrificed their lives for righteousness, such as Kuang Putian and others, or they joined Zhu Yuanzhang, founded the Ming Dynasty, and made great military exploits.
Most people are upright and strong-willed men.
What is more tragic is that Monk Peng was killed by the Yuan army more than a year ago. This old rebel leader, in addition to cultivating a lot of talents for the anti-Yuan army, had a very miserable end.
Moreover, after Peng Yingyu's death, the Peng party he had worked so hard to cultivate also fell into division, which was really a pity.
Zhao Pusheng and Li Pusheng, who are sitting in Chaohu, their biggest enemy is not the Yuan army, but Zuo Junbi, who is also a member of the Peng party!
Zuo Junbi was not given the name Pu, but he was indeed a member of Peng Dang, and he was also a disciple of Monk Peng, but he started relatively late.
After the Red Army uprising, Zuo Junbi captured Luzhou and became a powerful commander.
Zhao Pusheng and others set out from Chaohu and once captured Tongling, Chizhou, Anqing and other places, which was considered a great success and their reputation spread far and wide.
As a result, they were in the same situation as Liu Futong. They had smooth sailing in the early stage, but faced Yuan Ting's counterattack, they quickly lost the land they occupied and had to retreat to Chaohu.
Over time, the strength of Zhao Pusheng and others was greatly reduced. Compared with Zuo Junbi, who occupied Luzhou in the north, he was at a disadvantage.
Moreover, their navy was restricted by the water area and could not come and go freely, so they were at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Zuo Junbi.
"If they were powerful, they wouldn't surrender and take over!"
Jia Lu repeatedly thought about how to conquer the Chaohu Navy, but he only had the power to make suggestions at most, and the only one who could really make decisions was Zhu Yuanzhang. As for Zhang Ximeng, he could be almost half of the family, but no more.
Unfortunately, these two people are not in Chuzhou. Do we still need this old guy to go see them?
While Jia Lu was thinking about it, good news came. Zhang Ximeng and Zhang Shicheng had finally completed the negotiations and could return immediately.
In the letter sent back, Zhang Ximeng wrote some general conditions. After Jia Lu read it, he couldn't help but admire him. This guy obviously had no soldiers or generals, but he tricked Zhang Shicheng into this. What a talent!
First, Zhang Shicheng agreed to fight against the Yuan Dynasty together.
This is also the thing that Lao Zhang cares about least. If you fight against Yuan today, you can change your mind tomorrow. How can I be bound by mere words?
It's just that Zhang Shicheng can think of this, and there is no reason why Zhang Ximeng can't think of it.
Therefore, after agreeing to fight against the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Ximeng asked Zhang Shicheng to admit that Zhu Yuanzhang was the leader... Shouldn't we fight against the Yuan Dynasty? At the very least, we should distinguish between a general marshal and a deputy marshal!
This suddenly hit Zhang Shicheng's Achilles' heel.
Because as long as he admits this, he is a head shorter than Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhang Ximeng did not force him to take the title of King Cheng, nor did he ask him to disband the Great Zhou Kingdom. Anyway, you can do whatever you want. In the land of Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers, our Zhu Jiajun is the boss!
This alone had a huge impact. Zhang Shicheng did not want to agree to it, but Zhu Yuanzhang knocked him out of the shadows with a battle, so he could only agree.
The next step was to establish the Salt Affairs Department, with a 70-70 split between the two sides, and Zhang Shicheng became a beggar on his knees.
Zhang Ximeng not only lost face, but also lost face.
There are other matters such as commerce, trade, taxation, etc., but they were only agreed upon in general terms without going into details... In fact, there was no way to go into details. Under Zhu Yuanzhang, the management was on the right track, but Zhang Shicheng was in a mess.
No matter how much we talk, it's meaningless.
Therefore, it was only agreed that goods coming out of Huaixi and entering under Zhang Shicheng's rule would not be taxed...
Of course, Zhang Ximeng did not just take advantage, but also gave Zhang Shicheng a little sweetener, that is, from now on, Huaixi will provide Zhang Shicheng with some grain aid every year, but Zhang Shicheng must purchase the grain at 20% higher than the market price.
When Zhang Shicheng heard about the food, he immediately became energetic. Let alone 20%, even double it would be fine!
The land of Huaidong, which had just been ravaged by hundreds of thousands of Yuan troops, was extremely short of food, and Gaoyou City was about to eat people.
Zhu Jiajun was able to give them some food, and finally his heart was not completely dark.
I can still get along with this friend!
Zhang Shicheng was overjoyed, but in the end both parties had to formally sign a covenant, drink blood together, and make sacrifices to heaven and earth. Only then could the ceremony be completed.
Zhang Ximeng was very sorry to tell Shi Naian.
"I'm sorry. Just yesterday, there was a sudden military situation. My lord has already led the troops and left."
"What?" Shi Naian was shocked. Why did he leave? What about this covenant?
"Mr. Shi, don't worry. We keep what we say and our covenant remains. I have arranged for five thousand shi of grain to be transported from Yangzhou. If King Cheng needs to send troops to assist, I will notify you."
After Zhang Ximeng finished speaking, he ordered contact and encirclement, set up camp, and returned to Yangzhou in batches... He walked so neatly.
At the top of Gaoyou City, Zhang Shicheng looked at the direction in which Zhu Jiajun was hurried away, and suddenly figured out something!
"Liar! Big liar! Zhu Chongba has obviously left long ago! They are so shameless!"
At this moment, Zhang Shide, Zhang Shixin and others suddenly realized that they had been besieged by a group of captives and soldiers for several days!
What a shame!
"Your Highness, we can't bear it anymore, let us kill him!" Everyone was filled with indignation.
Zhang Shicheng gritted his teeth, clenched and relaxed his fists several times, and finally sighed helplessly, "We have no food!"
This sentence was so heartbreaking that Zhang Shicheng almost burst into tears. He could only let Zhang Ximeng take advantage of him and leave calmly.