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Chapter 1095: No Recourse

Prince Rui stood fuming in the distance, a massive footprint emblazoned on his backside, secretly observing the Gao Family Village Militia loading cargo at Hanzhong Prefecture’s docks. Vast quantities of grain were being loaded onto boats, forming a flotilla ready to set off downstream.

This was the upper Han River, where the waterway was still relatively narrow. There were no large ships on the river, only small boats, meaning large amounts of grain could only be transported by sheer volume.

Gao Family Village’s advance team had, through generous payments, leased almost all available boats in the vicinity. The boatmen, delighted to have work and a hefty commission, were even happier to hear that this job would likely last a long time.

To boost the efficiency of grain transport, not only were Gao Family Village’s logistics soldiers working, but a large number of porters had also been hired, naturally at very high wages.

The porters were as gleeful as the boatmen.

Such a massive movement of provisions also required security. Many local heroes from Hanzhong Prefecture proactively volunteered their services, offering to join the transport team as guards.

Although Gao Family Village’s logistics team was perfectly capable of safeguarding the grain themselves, they still paid to hire these individuals. After all, these men were potential recruits for their reserve forces; by letting them mingle and work together, there would be opportunities to absorb them into the ranks later.

The entire city of Hanzhong was abuzz with excitement over this colossal shipping operation.

Even industries seemingly unrelated to freight transport found themselves affected, spurred into activity by the surge.

"This Prince must report this to the Emperor," Prince Rui muttered, pouting. "Assaulting a prince, it's utterly lawless! I will accuse them."

His trusted eunuch whispered beside him, "Your Highness, you mustn't."

Prince Rui questioned, "Why mustn't I? This Prince was beaten; am I not allowed to complain?"

The eunuch lowered his voice, "These are disaster relief supplies, Your Highness. As you know, the Emperor wishes to provide relief but lacks funds. The civil officials are urging him to use his personal treasury, which has given His Majesty a terrible headache. He's simply praying for private citizens to contribute. He even sells official positions to gentry willing to donate money and goods. These disaster relief supplies will surely earn His Majesty's favor. If you were to skim even a little, you'd have to worry about *them* reporting *you* to the Emperor. How could we possibly bring this matter to His Majesty's attention ourselves?"

"When His Majesty asks why they struck you, if you tell him you tried to skim from the disaster relief supplies, wouldn't he make an example of you?"

Hearing this, Prince Rui suddenly sobered: No wonder they dared lay a hand on this Prince.

His mind gradually cleared!

His greed was now overshadowed by fear. Not only had he been beaten, but he also had to worry about them filing a complaint against him with the Emperor.

Prince Rui wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. "These supplies came from Xi'an. If the local gentry want to accuse this Prince, they'll need Shaanxi Governor Sun Chuanting to assist them in submitting a memorial. Hurry to Xi'an, smooth things over with Sun Chuanting, and have him keep the gentry quiet. We can't have this reaching the capital."

The eunuch swiftly departed for Xi'an...

Prince Rui abandoned any further thought of embezzlement, but a new idea sparked in his mind: These goods would enter the Yangtze River via Hankou, which was the territory of Prince of Chu Zhu Huakui. That man was a ruthless character. He wondered if these "mighty dragons" could handle the local strongman Zhu Huakui.

A few days later, the eunuch returned to Hanzhong Prefecture and reported to Prince Rui, "Sun Chuanting has agreed to help us keep the gentry in check."

Prince Rui was overjoyed.

The eunuch added in a low voice, "But... Sun Chuanting is even greedier than us. Dammit, he demanded a thousand taels of silver as a hush fee just to help us with this. This humble servant fought tooth and nail, finally haggling him down to seven hundred taels."

Prince Rui gasped!

The sum wasn't large, and Prince Rui could afford it. But to fail in his own attempt at profit and instead be forced to pay money—for a miser, it was a devastating hit to his heart.

Gao Family Village’s treasury joyfully received seven hundred taels of silver into its account—

The colossal fleet continued downstream, bound for Hankou.

Zhu Cunji and Zhu Yujian also accompanied the fleet.

The boats traveled swiftly, hundreds of miles in a single day, and soon arrived in the Yunxiang region. With Luo Xi’s care and the foundation laid by Lu Xiangheng during his tenure, Gao Family Village encountered no obstacles and passed through easily.

Zhu Yujian, however, gazed northeastward for a long time here.

Northeast of the Yunxiang region lay Nanyang, his former fiefdom.

Looking toward Nanyang from afar now, his emotions were incredibly complex.

There was a hint of melancholy and regret, but no remorse. In fact, he felt a certain blessing in disguise. Although his journey to Shaanxi had only just begun, he had already glimpsed the wonders of the outside world. Compared to being confined to his small Nanyang, his horizons and understanding had broadened immensely.

After passing the Yunxiang region, continuing south would lead into the territory of Prince of Chu Zhu Huakui.

On the largest ship, Zhuge Wangchan was reviewing Prince of Chu Zhu Huakui's information. "This man seems a bit difficult to handle. "

Zhu Yujian, standing beside him, spoke up. "Indeed. That fellow is a truly ruthless character. Many years ago, there was a 'False Prince of Chu Case.' Some claimed Zhu Huakui wasn't the son of the previous Prince of Chu. It caused a huge commotion, but ultimately, Zhu Huakui sent men to beat Governor Zhao Kehuai of Huguang to death. Only then did the matter conclude."

Zhuge Wangchan frowned. "He dared to beat a governor to death? That’s utterly lawless!"

Zhu Yujian wore a bitter expression. "Although he is so defiant of all authority, he still sits comfortably on the throne of the Prince of Chu. While I..."

He had intended to say, "while I, devoted to the nation, was demoted to commoner," but with too many ears on board, he swallowed the words, though his heart remained deeply frustrated.

As the two spoke, a small boat approached from the front. A soldier from Gao Family Village’s "advance reconnaissance unit" stood on its bow, shouting loudly to Zhuge Wangchan, "Captain, bad news! Wuchang is plagued by bandits. The main army of the Eight Great Kings Zhang Xianzhong is wreaking havoc outside Wuchang. Both banks of the Han River are filled with refugees..."

Zhuge Wangchan was stunned at this revelation.

Zhu Cunji and Zhu Yujian were also taken aback.

A soldier asked, "Should we rescue these refugees?"

Zhuge Wangchan retorted, "Nonsense, of course we should."

The soldier replied, "But we're heading to Sichuan for disaster relief. These supplies are pre-ordered for Sichuan."

"There's no such thing as 'pre-ordered' or 'pre-destined'," Zhuge Wangchan declared. "Allocate some supplies to aid the Wuchang refugees, and continue transporting the rest to Sichuan. At the same time, notify the village to send more supplies. As long as it's to save refugees, Dao Xuan Tian Zun will bestow supplies upon us; we will never have a problem with insufficient resources."

The soldiers responded, "Understood!"

The fleet pressed on, entirely unafraid.

Before long, they reached the river near Wuchang. Both banks of the river were teeming with an endless stream of refugees, all fleeing toward Wuchang...