Chapter 323 Meeting Zhu Yuanzhang for the first time
The night is already deep.
The bright moon is like water, and the white moonlight shines down, as if it has covered the earth with a layer of frost.
There was silence outside the dormitory, except for the occasional chirping of insects and frogs.
The guard who was guarding outside the palace was feeling sleepy and yawned when he suddenly heard a loud cry of a baby inside the palace.
"Wow wow wow!"
The guard suddenly woke up and quietly turned his head, only to hear the princess's voice.
"Your Majesty, why are you teaching your children such things!"
In the hall, Qin Lingjun complained, and hurriedly put her hand to the crying Sixian's mouth, gently patting her mouth back and forth.
"Wow, wow, wow, hee hee!"
The cries suddenly stopped, sometimes small and sometimes loud, and Si Xian burst into tears and laughed, having a great time.
It turns out that Zhang Yangquan recently used this method to amuse his children, and both Xiao Sixian and Xiao Siye liked it very much. They always asked adults to pat their mouths with their hands.
Even the servants and maids like to tease the two babies like this.
Qin Lingjun always felt that it was not appropriate, and was afraid that she would teach the children bad things, so she forbade people to pat the two babies on the mouth, and she never played with them in this way.
As a result, tonight Sixian desperately grabbed her mother's hand and pushed it straight to her mouth. Qin Lingjun refused to cooperate. Sixian burst into tears in anger.
Qin Lingjun couldn't resist crying and had to compromise, but she complained about Zhang Yangquan.
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "You don't have to worry too much. If your children are young now, they like to play like this. When they grow up, if you want to play with them like this, they may not like it!"
While the two couples were talking, a personal guard came to report, cupping his hands and saying: "Your Majesty, Lu Zhen wants to see you!"
Zhang Yangquan frowned and said, "Are you talking about Zhang Shicheng's general Lu Zhen?"
The guard replied: "Exactly."
Zhang Yangquan nodded, said hello to Qin Lingjun, handed Xiao Siye into the hands of the nanny, left the dormitory, and went straight to the study. Then someone invited Lu Zhen over from the side hall.
"Foreign Minister Lu Zhen, pay homage to His Royal Highness the King of Chu!"
Zhang Yangquan raised his hand and said: "General Lu, there is no need to be polite. Why did King Cheng ask you to come to me?"
Lu Zhen said: "My king is in Jiangdu Mansion. He hopes to go to Baobao Lake with His Royal Highness the King of Chu tomorrow to enjoy the performances of the two dance masters!"
Zhang Yangquan was slightly shocked, but his face remained calm.
"You said Prince Cheng is in Jiangdu Mansion?"
"Exactly, my king is here for Miss Ge Xiao'e."
Zhang Yangquan was silent for a long time and said: "Let me think about this for a while. You can go back first. I will send someone to give King Cheng an answer tomorrow!"
Lu Zhen said hurriedly: "My king also hopes that His Royal Highness the King of Chu can invite Marshal Zhu to go with him tomorrow!"
Zhang Yangquan said: "I understand what King Cheng means, please step aside first."
Lu Zhen didn't dare to say anything anymore and resigned.
As soon as he left, Zhang Yangquan asked his bodyguard to call Geng Si over.
Two quarters of an hour later, Geng Si arrived at the palace.
"Your Majesty, Geng Si, pays homage to your Majesty!"
Zhang Yangquan raised his hand and said: "Without courtesy. General Geng, I asked you to investigate Zhang Shicheng's collusion with the Yuan army. Do you have any clues?"
Geng Si hurriedly said: "Back to the king, according to my secret investigation, there are currently two factions within the Gaoyou Army. One supports the surrender to the Yuan Dynasty, headed by Zhang Shixin. The other opposes, headed by Zhang Shide and Lu Zhen."
"What is Zhang Shicheng's attitude?"
Geng Sidao: "It seems that he hasn't made up his mind yet, but recently he often transports salt from Gaoyou Prefecture to Xuzhou to sell!"
Zhang Yangquan raised his eyebrows.
The rebel army and the Yuan army have always been incompatible and never conducted trade. Zhang Shicheng's behavior obviously means that his relationship with the Yuan army is no longer as hostile as before.
Geng Si thought for a while and said: "My subordinates feel that this does not mean anything. Zhang Shicheng and Zhao Jun have used their power to become a fire and water, and the two have banned trade. The price of salt in Jiangdu is extremely low, and he can hardly transport it to us to sell it."
Can’t make money!”
Zhang Yangquan's heart moved and he said: "There must be a shortage of salt in Xuzhou, right?"
Geng Sidao: "Yes, since Mao Gui occupied Shandong, the price of salt in Xuzhou has skyrocketed. Zhang Shicheng can make a lot of money by transporting the salt there and selling it!"
Zhang Yangquan said "hmm" and suddenly said: "Do you know Ge Xiao'e?"
Geng Si was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "I've heard that this woman was originally a talented person from Emperor Yuan. She later escaped from Dadu and went to Sizhou, Gaoyou Prefecture, and recently Jiangdu Prefecture!"
After a pause, he said: "By the way, according to my information, Zhang Shixin was very obsessed with this woman and once killed his wife for her!"
Zhang Yangquan frowned and said: "Killing my wife? What happened?"
Geng Sidao: "It is said that Zhang Shixin was obsessed with Ge Xiao'e's colorful feather dress dance and forced his wife to dance. Later, he thought his wife was not good at dancing and killed her!"
Zhang Yangquan changed his expression and said: "Killing his wife just for a dance? Is this person crazy?"
Geng Si said: "According to the news I heard, Ge Xiao'e's colorful feather dance seems to have magical power, and is called the 'Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dance' in most cities. Many people are crazy and obsessed with this dance. As long as Ge Xiao'e goes wherever
, they will follow wherever they go!"
Zhang Yangquan touched his chin and said: "I remember you just said that Zhang Shixin in the Gaoyou Army supports the faction that surrenders to the Yuan Dynasty!"
"Yes!"
"Then his attitude of supporting the Yuan Dynasty was before Ge Xiao'e arrived in Gaoyou City, or after?"
Geng Si was stunned for a moment and said, "Did the king doubt Ge Xiao'e before?"
Zhang Yangquan said lightly: "I'm just a little curious as to why Zhang Shicheng invited me to accompany him to watch this girl's dance!"
Geng Si changed his expression and said, "Is Zhang Shicheng in Jiangdu Mansion?"
Zhang Yangquan nodded and told what happened when Lu Zhen came over just now.
After listening to this, Geng Si pondered for a while and said: "Your Majesty, this matter is indeed somewhat suspicious. You'd better not go!"
Zhang Yangquan raised his eyebrows and said: "This is our territory, there is nothing to worry about."
Geng Si did not dare to persuade her any more and resigned. After leaving the palace, he immediately returned to the Military Intelligence Agency and sent people to keep an eye on Ge Xiao'e. He also sent people to stay at Baobao Lake in advance.
Early the next morning, Zhu Yuanzhang finally came to ask for an audience.
Zhang Yangquan met him in the lobby and ordered him to serve tea. He showed great respect for him in his words and deeds.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt even more that Zhang Yangquan wanted to conquer him, so he bowed his hand to him.
"His Royal Highness the King of Chu is a model for rebels in the world. It is really a blessing for Zhu to meet you today! I wanted to be close to His Highness for a few more days, but I have important things to do at home, so I can only bid farewell to His Highness!"
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "Zhu Shuai is also someone I admire. I am very happy to meet you today. Is it because Zhu Shuai is in such a hurry to leave because he thinks that I, the host, do not treat guests well?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said hurriedly: "There are really important things at home. Chen Youliang has been eyeing me. Zhu was worried that he was not at home, so he took the opportunity to attack!"
Zhang Yangquan said calmly: "Chen Youliang is an unjust murderer and there is nothing to worry about. If he dares to take the opportunity to make a sneak attack, I will never sit idly by and watch!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang was about to say more, Zhang Yangquan waved his hand and said: "King Cheng is also in the city. How about the three of us get drunk together tonight. After two days, I will personally send Zhu Shuai back to Huizhou. How about that?"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked: "Zhang Shicheng is also in Jiangdu Mansion?"
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "Not only is he in Jiangdu Mansion, Zhao Junyong is also in Jiangdu Mansion. I just happened to invite him over, and the four of us will get together."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself: "Zhao Junyong and Zhang Shicheng are both princes of the same party, how could they appear together in Jiangdu Mansion? There must be a reason behind this, I need to find out!"
He had no intention of leaving in the first place. He deliberately mentioned leaving just now, but he was retreating in order to advance and let Zhang Yangquan speak out to recruit him so that he could start his plan.
Seeing what the other party said, he just followed the trend and said: "Since His Royal Highness the King of Chu warmly invites you, Zhu will be disrespectful to refuse!"
Naturally, we would not choose to do such a romantic thing as lake dancing during the day.
At dusk, the shore of the lake is already crowded with spectators watching the fighting dance.
Baobao Lake is connected to the Grand Canal. Upstream to the north is the famous Daming Temple. The lake goes south along the Daming Temple and divides into two branches at Xichuntai.
At this time, the visitors were all located at Xichuntai, divided into two groups, one in the west. These people were all supporters of Ge Xiao'e, and most of them were from the north.
The other group is located in the east, all of them are people from Jiangnan. Although they have heard of Ge Xiao'e's name, as people from the south, they naturally support the local dancers in Jiangnan.
On the lake, two boats are sailing towards the lake shore.
The two boats are very unique in shape. There is a wide platform at the top of the two boats, and there is a circular platform around the platform.
At that time, the dancers will stand on the platform to perform their dances, and the spectators will stand on the platform to watch. They can not only see the dance of their own dancers, but also the dance of the opposite boat.
There is also a turret in each corner of the two boats. The turret is higher than the stage, and each has a private room inside with a wide view.
This is a VIP room. As long as guests sit in the private room, they can watch the dance from a high position without having to huddle with others.
After the two boats docked, the two groups of spectators boarded the boats. The boats did not stop for long and immediately sailed towards the center of the lake.