"The chief envoy of the lower government passed through Fan Cheng and went to see the prince.'

The princes of the Ming Dynasty were "ranked as the emperor". When meeting the prince regardless of his rank in the court, he was required to bow down and pay homage four times.

In addition to his status as Zhang Ji's staff, Fan Cheng also served as the Chief Secretary of Shandong Province from the sixth rank, so he called himself a lower official.

Zhu Zhaohui was impatient this time and waited for Fan Cheng to finish his four bows. After only one bow, he said impatiently: "I have seen Fan many times before. There is no need for so many bows. If you have anything to report, please report it quickly." Bar!"

"Yes, I will obey your orders."

Fan Cheng quickly stood up, not daring to show any signs of neglect.

The reputation of the King of Lu in Shandong is not good. The former King of Lu Huang, Zhu Tan, committed all kinds of evil in the feudal country. This can be seen from the posthumous title of "Huang", which is a very bad posthumous title.

Zhu Tan and Princess Lu Tang were obsessed with alchemy. In order to obtain the medicine, they kidnapped a large number of civilian and military children into the palace and castrated them to create the legendary gold and stone elixir.

Over the past few years, thousands of children have been castrated in Shandong, and the only punishment they received was to be taken back to Nanjing to undergo "condemnation".

The so-called "Kun punishment" actually means shaving off the prisoner's hair and beard, which may be somewhat insulting to those who want to shave their faces. For a eunuch like Zhu Tan, it is not even painful or itchy.

From this point, we can also see the cruelty and absurdity of the Ming Dynasty princes in the local area, as well as the emperor's shielding of the clan and relatives. Zhu Zhaohui's more than 40 years of career as King of Lu gave him far greater control over the power of life and death in the feudal country. As for the late king Zhu Tan, as long as he does not openly commit rebellion, no matter how outrageous he does, the court will most likely not pursue him.

The attributes of an "outlaw maniac" made Shandong officials tremble with fear when facing Lu King Zhu Zhaohui, and Fan Cheng was no exception.

"Your Majesty, the account book used for reconciliation between Ma Shenzheng and the palace has been lost recently. Futai suspects that it was obtained by Shen Yichen."

Fan Cheng knew that King Lu didn't like literate convolutions, so he used the most concise language to describe what happened.

"What do you do with a bunch of trash?"

Upon hearing Fan Cheng's report, Zhu Zhaohui stood up angrily and startled his concubine Fu.

The princes of the Ming Dynasty could do almost anything to bring harm to one party without restraint, and the punishment they received was nothing more than reprimand and grounding from the court. The only forbidden area that could not be touched was having close contacts with local officials and being suspected of treason!

The account books reconciled between Prince Lu's Mansion and the Chief Secretary were items within the restricted area. Ma Huiguo was able to throw away even this without reporting it to himself.

"Please, Your Majesty, please calm down."

Fan Cheng didn't dare to say anything more, so he could only reply with a symbolic nonsense.

"Are you sure that the account book is in Shen Yichen's hands?'

Zhu Zhaohui asked with a serious face, the censor of Qiandu is not a small role, even as the prince of the Ming Dynasty, he cannot control his life and death.

"Futai tested Shen Yichen today. The suspicion is very high. It can basically be concluded."

Zhang Ji has a different relationship with Ma Huiguo. Zhu Zhaohui still trusts his ability. Otherwise, he would not have used the relationship between the DPRK and China to make him jump from a seventh-level censor to a governor on the main side.

"Then what does Shen Yichen want to do after getting the ledger? Is it the emperor's instruction?"

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhaohui's face finally showed a look of fear.

Over the years, I have done a lot of things that went against the rules. Especially when I bullied Zhu Qizhen when he was young, he arrogantly used the prince's decree and went beyond the imperial decree to go to the Ministry of Rites to get the princess' honor guard.

Although Zhu Qizhen only held officials from the Ministry of Rites to account in this matter, and did not go into details about his transgression. However, the power of God is unpredictable. Who knows whether he was worried about it and was waiting to punish him after he took office?

"I don't know, my subordinate.

Fan Cheng still dared to speculate on Shen Yichen's motives. Now that King Lu had brought the emperor in, he didn't dare to talk nonsense. Seeing Fan Cheng avoid talking, Zhu Zhaohui's face was a little gloomy, but he also understood that the emperor Don't lie about things.

"You go back and tell Zhang Ji and let him figure out what Shen Yichen wants to do. If there is no emperor's instruction behind it, then Shandong will be the place where this son will be buried!"

Zhu Zhaohui's expression was stern, even when faced with an imperial envoy like Shen Yichen, he had murderous intentions.

After all, as long as there is no imperial power behind him, Zhu Zhaohui has ten thousand ways to let Shen Yichen die quietly in his own territory.

On the contrary, if it was really Emperor Zhu Qizhen who ordered the investigation of him, then Zhu Zhaohui would have to plead guilty as soon as possible and accept the punishment honestly.

"Your Majesty understands.

After Fan Cheng accepted the order, he immediately turned around and exited the palace. He had already understood what King Lu meant.

Looking at Fan Cheng's back in the distance, Mrs. Fu, Prince Lu's favorite concubine, said: "My lord, please calm down. Shandong is your turf after all. Shen Yichen won't be around for long."

"snort.'

Zhu Zhaohui snorted coldly and eased the anger in his heart.

Over the years, he had been keeping his word in the feudal country, and no local official could dare to disobey him. But then came Shen Yichen, who was always against him, and did not take the title of prince seriously at all.

Zhu Zhaohui had previously chosen to remain silent because of his status as a censor assigned abroad. Unexpectedly, Shen Yichen was so aggressive that he even touched the account books.

If this kid continues to indulge like this, he may become a serious problem for himself!

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhaohui picked up the ink pen from the desk and wrote in his own handwriting the "crimes" of Shen Yichen, preparing to impeach the emperor and have him recalled to Beijing.

After all, he had no choice but to resort to the help of important foreign ministers like the Censor of Qiandu. Zhu Zhaohui was not yet so arrogant.

On the other side, Shen Yichen, after completing his inspection of the river work, returned to the temporary station in Zhangqiu Town under the reluctant eyes of the migrant workers.

The news that Wang Zhidao, a major salt merchant in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, had reached a deal with Shen Yichen, soon attracted several big merchants who were watching behind the scenes. They all showed up to Zhangqiu Town to prepare to buy shops in front of Shen Yichen.

In fact, shops, warehouses and the like are just a cover for big merchants. What really makes them tempted is the salt import and tariff agreement reached between Shen Yichen and Wang Zhidao.

There is never too much money, especially when Shen Yichen spends money like water. Since someone is willing to come and give money to his door, he will naturally accept anyone who comes. Relying on the empty promises of salt and tariffs, Shen Yichen Chen once again made a profit of nearly 200,000 taels of silver and rice.

Under the dim oil lamp in the study, Shen Yichen was happily counting the money orders from the commercial bank, with a smile like a money man on his face. "Mr. Bian, the receipt of these few coins will be enough even if there is no subsequent income from the banknotes and the salt field. Support until next fall.

"Proprietor, are there any income from Chaoguan and Saltworks now?"

Facing Shen Yichen's appearance, Bian He couldn't help but laugh or cry.

All the commercial and trade agreements signed so far are essentially selling Shen Yichen's credit. None of the two "collaterals", namely the bank deposit and the salt farm, have been taken away.

If something went wrong, Bian He couldn't imagine how it would end.

"There will always be one, Mr. Bian, you must have never heard of this famous saying.

“Whose famous quote?’

"No matter how bold a person is and how productive the land is, he or she doesn't even have the ambition to take over the salt fields and banknotes. What's the difference between that and salted fish?" Has anyone ever said this?

Bian He is in a state of complete confusion. He may be far inferior to Shen Yichen in terms of fame, but he still has the status of a scholar. Would the sages say such famous words?

"This subordinate has indeed never heard of it."

Bian He reluctantly admitted that he guessed that this was what Shen Yichen was lying about.

"By the way, proprietor, Governor Zhang Ji has not left. He found a manor outside the city to stay in. I don't know what he has planned."

Zhangqiu Town was flooded by the Yellow River, and all the houses in the town were in ruins. Naturally, Governor Zhang Ji could not see such ruins.

On the contrary, there are many high-lying areas outside the city, and some large courtyards have not been damaged. Zhang Ji has not yet figured out Shen Yichen's motives, so he naturally has to stay and continue to test.

"Don't worry about him. He's just waiting for King Lu's order to attack me."

Shen Yichen replied calmly and did not take the threats from Zhang Ji and King Lu seriously.

After the conversation between the two parties in the morning, Shen Yichen realized the flaw. After all, when he was short of money before, he was urging the Chief Secretary officials to collect debts every day. Logically speaking, when he heard that the account books were missing, his first reaction should be to demand money. Instead of rushing to inspect the river embankment.

But it doesn’t matter if you know it. This kind of thing cannot be hidden for a long time. After all, he is the only foreign official in the entire Shandong territory.

The account book had been lost sooner or later, and it happened to be lost in Yanggu County where he left the town. If there was no suspicion on him, then the Shandong Chief Secretary officials would really be a bunch of pigs.

The showdown was something Shen Yichen had been mentally prepared for a long time ago. He wanted to see how rampant Lu Wang Zhu Zhaohui could be. Since he regarded all the people in Shandong as stupid dogs, he should treat them equally if he had the guts, and treat himself as the emperor of the capital. Give it a try!

"Master, if King Lu feels threatened and makes up his mind to take action, he cannot take it lightly.

Shen Yichen was born with no sense of awe for the royal relatives. He had no choice but to follow the rules of the times. If he didn't abide by them, he would lose his head. But Bian He had a kind of awe in his bones when facing his status as a prince.

The Prince of Ming Dynasty was by no means an idle person. Even the title of Censor of Qiandu could not protect him when he made up his mind. Shen Yichen had to take it seriously.

Looking at Bian He's serious look, Shen Yichen smiled and replied: "Mr. Bian, don't worry, I don't have nine lives, so I have to be careful.

"I have arranged for Cang Huotou and others to monitor Zhang Ji. In addition, the Jinan Guards from Yanggu County, the Royal Guards, and Wu Dong have also sent close associates to keep an eye on their movements to ensure nothing goes wrong."

When it comes to preparation, Shen Yichen is definitely not inferior to Zhang Ji and King Lu.

You must know that from the moment he set foot on the border of Shandong, Shen Yichen deeply realized that controlling the water by himself meant that there was an irreconcilable conflict between him and King Lu, and he was destined to be an enemy.

From the beginning to the end, he was mentally and emotionally prepared, and even went one step further to take the initiative.

Perhaps this is something that King Lu and Zhang Ji never expected. An official who parachuted into Shandong to control the floods actually regarded himself as an enemy from the beginning!

"The proprietor has no plans left, but his subordinates are overly worried."

Bian He breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, it was still in line with Shen Yichen's usual rough and fine style.

"Mr. Bian, please don't give me a high hat. King Lu's affairs are not fundamental, but water control is."

Shen Yichen replied with a smile, and then changed the topic to the right track.

"Today I inspected the river work. The drainage of the tributaries of the river is progressing smoothly. I was wondering if I could speed up the progress and build the four embankments of Yao, Lu, Ge and Yue at the same time in dangerous areas. Before the spring flood season comes, we can introduce clear river water to dredge the river bottom. Silt!'

According to the current progress of the project and the subsequent arrival of additional civilian personnel, Shen Yichen estimates that the breach of the embankment will be completely blocked by mid-January of the 11th year of Orthodoxy.

But the root cause of the Yellow River's flooding is that the accumulated sediment has turned the river into a suspended river above the ground. This is why Shen Yichen agreed to Chen Tao's crazy strategy of "confining water to attack the sand, accumulating clear water and brushing away the yellow".

After the spring flood season comes, a large amount of sediment will be carried down from the upstream, causing more and more silt to accumulate, and the flood control pressure on the river embankments will also increase.

If we can take advantage of the dry season and introduce clear river water in advance to flush sand, it may have the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort. After all, the less water in the Yellow River and the greater the amount of clear river water, the more efficiently the sediment content in the river can be reduced.

In this way, by completing the water confinement and sand attack in advance, the pressure on the river will be greatly reduced when the flood season comes. Maybe the Yellow River will rarely avoid floods in the coming year!

Of course, concentrating water to attack sand and clearing the sand in advance means that Shen Yichen has to complete the reinforcement of hundreds of miles of dangerous sections of the river in less than three months. Otherwise, it will be self-defeating and artificially create a huge flood peak. .
To be continued...