Shen Tingyang and the men of the Shachuan Gang shed their last drop of blood for the Ming Dynasty, and their heroic deeds will be remembered forever!

But Zhao Hao's mission is to prevent them from sacrificing their lives for their country.

A good man should soar thousands of miles like an eagle, travel across the four seas, and achieve unparalleled achievements! How could he die in vain under the butcher's knife of the barbarians?

The upcoming sea transportation of grain will be the starting point for changing all this.

This time, Zhao Hao will definitely not let others do it, and will not allow any mistakes!

That's why Zhao Hao came to Suzhou, that's why he sent Jin Xuezeng to Chongming, that's why he tried every means to recruit retired soldiers from the Qi family army, that's why he generously used shares to win over the Jiangnan nobles.

Everything is for the purpose of successfully reaching the sea!

Without the support of overseas interests, reforming the Ming Dynasty, which was plagued by chronic diseases, would be a cruel zero-sum game.

~~

Zhao Hao chatted with his disciples for a whole night. The next day, he declined the two kings' enthusiastic invitation and left Taicang.

Dad is still waiting for his life-saving food...

Before leaving, Wang Mengxiang told him that he had ordered the managers to make every effort to raise grain.

Although Taicang is known as the Golden Granary and is the granary of the entire Suzhou, it is difficult to get so much grain at once, except for the grain reserved for self-use.

Zhao Hao relieved the pressure on the two kings and told them to give as much as they could first. As long as it could help Kunshan survive the spring famine, the remaining food could arrive after the summer harvest.

Of course, summer grain cannot be sold at the price of two taels of silver per stone...

Wang Mengxiang and Wang Shimao breathed a sigh of relief and patted their chests to assure him that they would do their best to raise grain.

"At worst, I can just take the silver and go to Huguang to buy it. Does the Dongting Chamber of Commerce also want to impose an embargo on Taicang?" Wang Mengxiang was full of pride. It was just feeding the victims of half a county. He really didn't take it as a big deal.

"Then they have to block the Yangtze River shipping first." Wang Shimao also laughed and sneered.

"They can't do it." Zhao Hao smiled and shook his head. Censor Cao Jiang is his dear Uncle Wu.

The three of them laughed out loud and agreed to meet again in Kunshan another day. Zhao Hao and Hua Shuyang then boarded the passenger ship and waved goodbye to the two kings.

Watching Zhao Hao's boat sailing away on the river, Wang Shimao took the umbrella and signaled the people around him to retreat.

"Uncle, when we were chatting in Yanshan Garden last night, Mr. Zhao seemed very interested in the Xiang family and the things that happened in the first month of the year." Then he whispered to Wang Mengxiang, "Did he guess something?"

"It should be." Wang Mengxiang nodded and smiled indifferently, "But it's normal. His grandfather was the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue Minister for many years, and he was also the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Commissioner before. I'm afraid he has already figured out all our affairs."

"Ah." Wang Shimao was surprised at first, but then he smiled and said, "I was wondering how Mr. Zhao, who is only in his teens, could have made such a big name. It turns out that Mr. Zhao, the old minister, was behind it."

With such restrictions, he felt that the pressure Zhao Hao put on him was much less.

Otherwise, if you are led by a teenager, you will always feel frustrated that you have lived a dog's life at your age.

"That's right." Wang Mengxiang nodded and chuckled, "I heard that Mr. Zhao went to Beijing in March. I'm afraid that everything today was arranged by him personally at that time."

He changed the subject and said sincerely, "But Young Master Zhao is so young and yet he can stand on his own. He is unrivaled."

"Yeah." Wang Shimao nodded. Alas, even with the restrictions, it was still very frustrating.

Then he changed the subject and said:

"So from your perspective, uncle, what does the Zhao family think?"

"What else can you think of?" Wang Mengxiang smiled and said, "Those Huizhou salt merchants in Jiangbei have been coveting our nine great families in Jiangnan for a long time. Now that they see the Lu family has failed and the other families are in chaos, they certainly want to test whether there is any chance to intervene."

"The person behind Mr. Zhao is a salt merchant from Huizhou?" Wang Shimao was surprised again. Although he took over the family business reluctantly, he had never been interested in it. He relied on Wang Mengxiang's advice and several cousins ​​to run the business.

"Of course." Wang Mengxiang smiled faintly and said, "When the Yangzhou Salt Industry Conference nominated him to serve as the arbitrator last year, I felt it was a bit strange. What did the salt merchants like about him? Or did Minister Zhao have something on them?"

He sighed and said, "Now I know that they have set their sights on our vacant seat and want the Zhao family to take it for them."

"These salt merchants, isn't it enough for them to make money just from selling salt?" Wang Shimao said with some envy and jealousy, "They really want this position, let's swap. We get the iron rice bowl of the chief salt merchant, and they get to do this fearful business."

Wang Mengxiang looked at him helplessly and thought to himself, if you become a salt merchant, who will our family live with?

Among the nine major families in Jiangnan, there is the Wang family, but it is not Wang Xijue’s family, but Wang Shizhen’s family.

Wang Mengxiang is spending money and trying to get close to Wang Shizhen's family. Isn't he just trying to get a seat at that position and have a say?

In fact, the share given to the Wang family over the years has made the Zhouqiao Wang family account for 70% without them noticing. But they gave too much, and the Pailou Wang family couldn't say anything.

"Then what should we do?" Wang Shimao asked softly.

"In theory, it's a good thing to have one more family in the Nine Families." Wang Mengxiang smiled faintly and said, "But before that, they have to prove themselves and be qualified to sit in that position."

Wang Mengxiang looked at the muddy river water rolling eastward and merging into the mighty Yangtze River, and said with a self-deprecating smile: "Besides, this matter is not something we can decide."

It was as difficult as ascending to heaven to sit on the seat of the Nine Great Families. His family had not yet been able to join the game, and could only follow behind Wang Shizhen's family.

If Wang Shizhen's family regains its glory one day, they might not want to take them out to play.

"That's right." Wang Shimao nodded in agreement and said, "All eight families must agree. They have a mortal enemy with the Xu family, so I'm afraid they won't be able to enter this door no matter what."

"That's not something we should worry about." Wang Mengxiang smiled and said, "But those three grandparents and grandchildren are all tough guys, they will definitely make some waves."

"Next time Young Master Zhao brings up this matter, you might as well have a deeper conversation with him." He then reminded Wang Shimao, "There is no need for us to be bad guys in vain. It is still necessary to maintain a good relationship with the Zhao family."

"I understand. Next time I will take the initiative to talk to him." Wang Shimao nodded.

"No hurry, wait until they take the initiative to speak." Wang Mengxiang shook his head and smiled, "The Zhao family has not even taken root in Jiangnan. If they want to engage in maritime trade, they must practice internal skills for at least ten years first."

"Yeah." Wang Shimao nodded and said nothing more.

Wang Shimao was also a Jinshi who passed the imperial examinations twice, but because his father was executed, he returned home without being appointed as an official, so he lacked the necessary experience.

But after the family's decline in fortunes over the years, and having experienced so much grief, sorrow, and disaster, my guesses about people's minds are actually not as bad as they appear.

He is just used to hiding his shortcomings.

He had already seen that Wang Mengxiang had some selfish motives - the vacant position might have been coveted by the Wang family of Zhouqiao.

How can squeezing into someone else's chair be as comfortable as sitting alone?

It’s just that I don’t have the strength to do it at the moment.

That’s why Wang Mengxiang wanted to wait and see, and wait for a few years until his eldest son could make a name for himself in the government.

It's human nature and there's nothing wrong with it.

ps. Chapter 3 will be gone today.