Huai'an is more than 300 miles away from Nanjing and is the northern gateway of Nanjing.

The Governor-General of the Grand Canal in the Ming Dynasty was mainly responsible for transporting grain from the south to the north and supplying food to the capital and the northern border troops.

After the early branch transportation and exchange transportation, the long-distance transportation method became the final method of grain transport.

To put it simply, the long transportation method means that after farmers harvest the grain, they only need to pile the grain in the fields, and the soldiers in charge of transportation will take the initiative to come to the fields to collect the grain.

After the grain is harvested, it will be transported to the canal dock and sent to Beijing via the canal.

As the governor-general of the grain transport system, Zhu Guobi had thousands of soldiers under his command.

If the grain transport teams and coolies are included, the number of people may even exceed 10,000.

After learning that Zhu Gui was the messenger of Zhu Guobi, the governor of the Grand Canal, Liu Kongzhao's brows relaxed and he smiled: "So you are the messenger of Funing Marquis. Nice to meet you."

Zhu Gui bowed in return and personally invited Liu Kongzhao to take his seat.

After they took their seats, Xu Hongji looked at Liu Kongzhao first.

Zhao Zhilong and Zhu Gui also stared at him, as if they wanted to ask something.

Liu Kongzhao raised the corner of his mouth, picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip.

Under Xu Hongji's impatient eyes, he said, "Don't worry, I have introduced Qian Qianyi to the prince as planned."

“Well done!”

"Let's offer a drink to Lord Chengyi!" Zhao Zhilong picked up the teacup and stood up first.

Zhu Gui stood up with a confused look on his face, and then congratulated Liu Kongzhao.

After drinking the tea, everyone sat down again.

Xu Hongji smiled and said, "Sincere Earl succeeded in his risky attempt. Our future life will be better."

"Not necessarily!" Liu Kongzhao was worried.

Zhu Gui felt like a country bumpkin who couldn't understand anything.

He wanted to ask but didn't dare to, so he could only sit in the chair and listen attentively, not missing a single word.

Liu Kongzhao began to analyze the situation.

"We all have real power. In order to prevent the Beijing gang from seizing power, we accepted the Donglin Party's request and joined forces with them to fight against the Beijing gang."

"After Qian Qianyi joins the game, the Donglin Party will fight head-on with the Beijing gang to seize power. We will hide in the dark and wait for the opportunity to observe."

"Who do you want to win?"

Xu Hongji smiled contemptuously: "It would be best if both sides suffer losses!"

Liu Kongzhao shook his head slowly: "No, even if they both lose, we nobles can only take over the military power temporarily and cannot control the six ministries."

"Even if you control the six ministries, once the war in the north stops, all power will have to be handed back!"

Xu Hongji shook his head: "The war in the north will not stop for a while, let's not think about that for now."

"Good!" Liu Kongzhao continued to analyze, "I hope the Nanjing Donglin Party will gain the upper hand."

"Why?" Zhao Zhilong asked.

"Because we can defeat them easily!" Liu Kongzhao looked confident of victory.

"Qian Qianyi donated money to get close to the prince. In name, he was Shi Kefa's staff, but in reality, he was the prince's staff."

"Who is Qian Qianyi?"

"The one who was stripped of his title by His Majesty!"

"If your majesty learns that Qian Qianyi, who was stripped of his title, has become the crown prince's aide, he will surely be furious. Qian Qianyi, Shi Kefa and other Donglin Party members will be implicated."

"This way, we can reap the benefits."

As the others nodded, Xu Hongji asked, "You are the one who colluded with this matter. If anything happens to Qian Qianyi, you will also be implicated."

Liu Kongzhao smiled confidently: "It is true that Zhu passed the message to Qian Qianyi. However, I did not have any selfish motives, and at the same time I helped the prince a lot! If I was really implicated, would he watch me die without helping me?"

Xu Hongji frowned and thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "Given the character of the prince, he would not stand by and watch someone die. What I am worried about is...what if the prince himself cannot save himself?"

"What?" Liu Kongzhao was startled by this sentence and stood up immediately.

Zhao Zhilong and Zhu Gui were equally frightened. They leaned back in their chairs, dumbfounded.

"Why do you say that, Duke Wei?" Liu Kongzhao's forehead began to sweat.

His original intention was to disrupt the court in Nanjing, causing officials in Beijing and Nanjing to fight with each other, and for these nobles to reap the benefits.

He didn't want to drag the prince into the water!

The prince is Chongzhen's Achilles' heel and cannot be touched.

On the contrary, he intended to help the prince do some practical things and make a good impression on the prince and Chongzhen.

Even if Chongzhen did not intend to use him, he would still reap benefits when the crown prince ascended the throne in the future.

Xu Hongji said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty has always been suspicious. What would your Majesty think if the Crown Prince appointed officials he dismissed during his time as regent?"

"What?" Liu Kongzhao, Zhao Zhilong and Zhu Gui asked at the same time.

"Princelings!"

The three of them gasped at the same time, their eyes filled with shock!

Xu Hongji kept saying, "There are many political parties in the Ming Dynasty, the Eunuch Party, the Donglin Party, the Jin Party, the Qi Party, the Chu Party... Isn't it too much to have another Prince Party?"

"The Crown Prince is sitting alone in Nanjing. He has all the power and soldiers he wants! Your Majesty will definitely feel a sense of crisis! Once a sense of crisis arises, the Crown Prince will be in trouble."

Zhao Zhilong was the first to react and retorted, "But... the prince is the heir to the throne... there is no need to do this! The prince understands this, and your majesty will surely understand it as well."

Xu Hongji shook his head. "Power is addictive! Once you experience the feeling of power, you will fall into it and cannot extricate yourself."

"Your Majesty was born a prince. Before he became emperor, he had no desires or ambitions. After he became emperor, he wanted to control everyone."

“This is the devil of power!”

"Your Majesty may not understand the Crown Prince, but he understands power!"

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