First Minister of Ming Dynasty

Facing Zhu Chongba's questioning, the people of Haozhou quickly figured it out.

"Okay, let's listen to Mr. Zhu!"

"Young Master Zhu, you must guard Haozhou, and don't let Gouzi Yuan come in!"

With the support of the people, Zhu Chongba became more confident, and turned to look at the grain merchant surnamed Jiang and the other four grain merchants.The faces of these people changed again and again.

They all understood what Lao Zhu meant, this guy was going to rob them of their food supply, and he was still in a bad position.

What should I do?

Those people all looked at the grain merchant surnamed Jiang, and said to themselves that you are the most confident old man, with hands and eyes open to the sky, so please speak for the big guy!

The Jiang surnamed grain merchant gritted his teeth, "Master Zhu, are you trying to take away all the old man's property?"

"No!" Zhu Chongba said decisively: "It's just a temporary loan. When the Yuan Tartars leave, the food will be returned to you, and the food will be replenished to you."

"Hahaha!" The grain merchant surnamed Jiang suddenly laughed, "This old man is not a three-year-old child! Zhu Chongba, this old man knows what you are! You are a young monk from Huangjue Temple! You suddenly climbed up to Gao Zhier, forgetting yourself, How dare you bully this old man! Let me tell you, someone has already gone to see the commander-in-chief. I lent him a hundred carts of grain back then.

He mentioned the young monk of Huangjue Temple, Zhu Chongba frowned again and again, but finally suppressed it.

"If you say that, you must be unwilling to cooperate?"

The grain merchant surnamed Jiang gritted his teeth and said, "You guys are bullying too much, I can't agree to it!"

Zhu Chongba asked again, "Controlling food is a military order!"

"Military order? This old man is not in the army..."

Food, surnamed Jiang, wanted to talk, but Zhu Chongba suddenly pulled out his saber, and said decisively: "Military orders must be obeyed by the whole city, no one is an exception! Disobeying military orders has only one end, and that is death!"

While speaking, Zhu Chongba swung his knife violently, and a gray head fell to the ground... Zhang Ximeng in the crowd was so frightened that he hurriedly closed his eyes, and blocked Mu Ying's eyes.

The crowd was silent for a short time, and then thunderous applause broke out, and the cheers were louder and louder.Profiteers are damned!And at this moment, Guo Zixing and his son Guo Tianxu rushed over, and all they saw was a dead body, three feet bright red...

Chapter 8 Zhu Gongzi who is full of Haozhou

Guo Zixing rushed to the spot and saw that the corpse of the grain merchant surnamed Jiang had been separated and lying on the stage, he was so frightened that he quickly climbed up with all his hands and feet, and rushed to the front, ignoring the blood stains, he hugged the gray head in his arms and shouted loudly. cry.

His crying surprised many people, including Zhang Ximeng below. What's going on?Is what this old grain merchant said true?Is his relationship with Guo Zixing really close?

Zhang Ximeng listened intently, and sure enough there were people in the crowd who knew the details.

Guo Zixing was born in a powerful family. He has known the grain merchant named Jiang for more than ten years, and he has even received favors from him.Every New Year's day, Guo Zixing would visit to thank him, very respectful.

Later, Guo Zixing contacted Sun Deya and others to form an army and captured Haozhou. The grain merchant surnamed Jiang gave Guo Zixing a hundred carts of grain, which helped Guo Zixing gain a firm foothold.

It stands to reason that this person is Guo Zixing's great benefactor, why didn't he find an official position in the Red Turban Army?

It turned out that this grain merchant surnamed Jiang had a nephew who was an official in the Yuan court. He also intentionally distanced himself from Guo Zixing, but he did not abandon the family business, so it was just so ambiguous.

As a result, after playing around, Zhu Chongba arrested the man and beheaded him in public.

Now things get serious.

Guo Tianxu saw his father crying, he jumped three feet high in anger.

"Zhu Chongba, how dare you kill people casually?"

With a sullen face, Zhu Chongba said coldly: "Follow the military order, not kill people casually!"

"What military order? Why doesn't my father know?"

"The commander-in-chief asked us to requisition the grain and grass in the city, so we are of course following orders." Zhu Chongba responded to Guo Tianxu neither humble nor overbearing.

Guo Tianxu became impatient, "I told you to requisition food and grass, didn't I tell you to kill people? You are so daring!"

Zhu Chongba looked serious and wanted to speak, when suddenly Guo Zixing got up from the stage, with tears in his eyes, glaring at Zhu Chongba.

"How courageous! Brother Jiang is a good friend of this handsome, he is kind to this handsome, who gave you the courage to dare to kill him?"

Guo Zixing reprimanded loudly.

Zhu Chongba was taken aback for a moment, he naturally didn't dare to be rude to the commander in chief, but it didn't make sense for the commander in chief to ask the teacher for a crime.

He could only bow down and say: "As for the commander in chief, this person is unwilling to cooperate with the military order. Food is a matter of life and death for the people in the city, so how can he allow nonsense! I have no choice but to kill this person. If the commander wants to blame, I am willing to take the blame! "

Saying that, Zhu Chongba knelt down on both knees, holding down all the words in his heart, waiting to be dealt with!

The few grain merchants escorted along with the Jiang surnamed grain merchant escaped from death, but now they found a backer, and they all knelt down and wept bitterly.

"Marshal, Mr. Jiang was killed innocently, I beg you to be the master!" They cried with snot and tears, and walked around the gate of hell, full of grievances in their stomachs.

Seeing this, Guo Zixing was furious. He also knew these people. This Zhu Chongba had caused such a big disaster. What should he do?

"The commander asked you to collect military rations. You, you have to be kind, easy to talk and negotiate, how can you kill people directly? It really pissed me off!"

Zhu Chongba knelt down, becoming more and more silent.

At this time, it is easy to talk and discuss, who will agree?

Seeing that Zhu Chongba didn't speak, Guo Tianxu was overjoyed, thinking that he had nothing to say, he hurriedly said: "Father, Zhu Chongba killed innocent people indiscriminately and broke the hearts of the people in the city, he should be killed!"

He still can't forget the matter of Mrs. Ma, so how can such a flowery beauty take advantage of Zhu Chongba, a reckless man?What a waste!

Guo Zixing glared at Zhu Chongba, unable to make a decision for a while, the whole scene fell into a stalemate...

Zhang Ximeng saw it clearly in the crowd, and was anxious in his heart.

If Zhu Zhongba paid for his life, Guo Zixing would not be able to do it, but he would definitely suffer.

Seeing it, Zhang Ximeng felt anxious, but he couldn't stand up and speak for Zhu Chongba, his anxious eyes rolled around. Suddenly, Zhang Ximeng found that the people were filled with righteous indignation, their eyes widened, and they were very dissatisfied.

Zhang Ximeng suddenly came up with an idea, and now he needs a leader.

He didn't care about the dirt on the ground, he fell directly on the ground and shouted loudly: "Mr. Zhu is wronged!"

A voice awakened countless people.

That's right, at first everyone came to watch the excitement, and they didn't care who died or who lived.

But when Zhu Chongba proposed to give the big guy a cheap food, the people were moved and thought he was a good person.After Zhu Zhongba killed the grain merchant surnamed Jiang, the people admired him even more, thinking that he was a man of great deeds and courage.

A profiteer deserves death!

Now it is discovered that the commander-in-chief wants to punish this person, what is this?Turn black and white?

When the common people quit, they also knelt down and cried out for Zhu Chongba.

Zhang Ximeng, who was hiding in the crowd, became even more energetic, yelling vigorously and crazily following the rhythm.

"Young Master Zhu is wronged!"

"What's wrong with killing a profiteer?"

"Young master Zhu has done nothing wrong!"

"The commander-in-chief can't wrong a good person!"

……

Among the crowd, shouts came and went, and more and more people knelt down to intercede for Zhu Chongba.

"Good kill, people are happy!"

"Master Zhu is doing well!"

Thousands of people, a large black crowd, voiced their grievances for Zhu Chongba in unison, and the momentum was terrifying.

Standing on the stage, Guo's father and son, as well as those grain merchants, had a creepy feeling... When did this Zhu, who was surnamed Zhu, gain such prestige?

"Father commander, Zhu Chongba is coercing troublesome people, he, he is planning to do something wrong!" Guo Tianxu leaned into Guo Zixing's ear and continued to attack Zhu Chongba.

Guo Zixing's face was gloomy, he was much more angry than before, and the flesh at the corner of his mouth trembled slightly!If it was an act just now, now he is really involved in the play, such a Zhu Chongba, I can't deal with him easily.

After a long time, Guo Zixing slowly said to his son, "Go to Jiang's house and bury him first."

Guo Tianxu hesitated for a while, but he could only be aggrieved, he waved to the staff, held his head, and carried the corpse down.

Guo Zixing finally turned to Zhu Chongba, and said in a cold voice: "You acted so boldly, go back and think about your mistakes behind closed doors!"

Zhu Chongba was not severely punished, and the crowd erupted into earth-shattering cheers immediately. Guo Zixing's old face became more and more ugly, so he could only leave in a hurry.

Zhu Chongba returned to the small courtyard amidst cheers, but he couldn't be happy, the sudden arrival of the commander was puzzling.

At this moment, Mrs. Ma also got the news. Seeing her husband's depression, after knowing the reason, Mrs. Ma also became angry.

"Chongba, I'll go to see my godmother and ask her to ask the commander-in-chief, why should she wholeheartedly be good for the commander-in-chief and Haozhou, and she ended up like this!"

Ma’s godmother is Guo Zixing’s wife, Mrs. Zhang. Although a woman has a boudoir name, outsiders rarely know it. called.For example, the Zhu Ma family and the Guo Zhang family do not record the name of Empress Ma in the official history. Ma Xiuying is a folklore and originally originated from the stage.The same is true for Sun Quan's younger sister, Sun Shangxiang, who also came here in the same way, and there is something even more interesting, Diao Chan reported her family name on the stage, saying that her family name is Diao, her name is Chan, and her name is maid... Listen, is this still a personal name?

Seeing his wife fighting for him, Zhu Chongba was moved, but he didn't want to make trouble.

"Sister, don't worry, the commander just asked us to think about it behind closed doors. It's just right, let's go to study and calm down." Zhu Chongba suddenly remembered.

"By the way, why didn't you see Mr. Xiao?"

Ma Shi was also taken aback, that's right, where did Zhang Ximeng go?

"I guess he's probably gone out for a walk. With his cleverness, he won't suffer."

Zhu Chongba thought about it, so he simply went to the east wing, which was Zhang Ximeng's study.After Lao Zhu came over, he first flipped through the book, still restless in his heart, picked up the pen again, and wrote for a while.

Needless to say, gradually, my heart calmed down.

After writing on eight sheets of paper, Zhu Chongba put down the brush in his hand, stretched his waist, and turned his head to see that Zhang Ximeng was standing at the door.

"Engong is really self-cultivated, which is admirable!"

Zhang Ximeng smiled and praised, could it be that this is the legendary favor or humiliation?

Old Zhu's face turned red, he paused, and then said: "Sir, there are some things I can only tell you. Last night, the commander-in-chief actually told us, let us punish a few severely, don't be soft. No see People like Blood will not be afraid!"

Zhang Ximeng frowned, but it wasn't that unexpected, and it even felt like it was true!

Lao Zhu is ruthless enough, but the current Lao Zhu is just Guo Zixing's chief of nine husbands, without authorization from above, would he dare to kill a wealthy businessman with great influence in the street?

That's not called killing decisively, it's called reckless!

It is only reasonable for Guo Zixing to give him instructions and he obeys the orders.

It's just that since Guo Zixing asked Zhu Chongba to do it, why did he cry and punish him?

"Xiao Mister, could it be that we have made a mistake? The commander told us to beat people, but not to kill people."

Zhang Ximeng shook his head slightly, he probably guessed what Guo Zixing was thinking.

"The commander-in-chief is a local tyrant in Haozhou. He has inextricably linked with these people. He wanted to strike, but he couldn't be criticized by others, so he had to come so long ago. Of course he won't kill benefactor, but I Guess he will be fined heavily, and he can't escape if he hits the board."

Zhu Chongba was stunned!

Doing this is indeed in line with Guo Zixing's usual behavior, but those people complained, so he can only let himself come back and think about his mistakes.

In fact, he also felt it, so in front of so many people, he just distinguished a few words, and then remained silent, without shaking Guo Zixing out.It's just that so many people behind Zhu Chongba spoke for Zhu Chongba, which made things exceed expectations.It's also because Guo Zixing underestimated the common people's hatred for profiteers.

Although the people above play tricks, the people below should cooperate, but are we just a monkey in the hands of your Marshal Guo?

"Engong, are you not fair?" Zhang Ximeng smiled.

Zhu Chongba was stunned and said: "The commander-in-chief has thoughts of the commander-in-chief, let's listen to the commander-in-chief!"

Zhang Ximeng smiled, "It's true that superiors use power to control others... It's just that Marshal Guo's status is too low!"

Zhu Chongba was startled, "Sir, what do you mean by that?"

"Grandfather, the few remaining grain merchants just sent a thousand shi of grain to the young marshal." Zhang Ximeng told the news he had inquired on the street.

Zhu Chongba was stunned for a while, and finally understood that Guo Zixing was showing it to those grain merchants.As long as they hand over some food, Guo Zixing doesn't pay attention to the common people.

Grassroots, it doesn't matter!

"Is this food not counted as military food, nor is it distributed to the people in the city?"

Zhang Ximeng shook his head.

Zhu Zhongba's face was flushed red, it didn't matter if he became a monkey, but it seemed too bullying just to satisfy Guo Tianxu's personal purse!Lao Zhu became angry from being wronged. Guo Zixing did things unfairly!

Zhang Ximeng saw it, and said with a smile: "Don't be angry, Mr. Zhu. I spent the golden beans rewarded by Mr. Zhu just now. At this time, everyone in the city should be spreading the praise of Mr. Zhu's reputation of eliminating profiteers with an iron fist!"

You want food, I want people's hearts, everyone gets what they need!

Zhu Chongba was stunned for a moment, this is to use public opinion to suppress Guo Zixing, can it work?

Chapter 9 On the Weakness of Landlords