Chapter 148: Prime Minister’s Response and the Return of Mr. Wu’s Mentor
Chapter 148: Prime Minister’s Response and the Return of Mr. Wu (Subscription Request)
Jiangning Prefecture, the seaport of Wuzhong County.
Five small red boats were quietly docked.
The small boat is only relative to the large sea boats that cannot enter the port and are anchored at the pier. In fact, compared with ordinary fishing boats, the red boat is four or five times larger.
They were the guards of the large ocean ship, and the hull was wrapped in iron sheets, making it extremely solid.
This is also the legacy that the Red Flower Society inherited from the Lotus Sect.
Both the escort ships and the sea vessels were quite old. Fortunately, with the financial support of Xu Qing, these ships were refurbished and repaired.
The sailors on the ship were all old men from the Lotus Sect and had rich maritime experience.
However, relying solely on the ships at hand, their power at sea is still relatively weak, and it is difficult to launch a large-scale naval battle.
The weak maritime power basically relies on King Lin, which is one of Xu Qing’s major shortcomings at present.
He also had this consideration in mind when he went out to sea this time.
Of course, the Xuantian Treasure House was a great temptation to him.
Otherwise, Xu Qing would not have taken a certain degree of risk to go out to sea.
Moreover, the general location where Liubo Mountain appears at this time of year is in the sea area close to the land.
Relatively speaking, it is much safer than ocean voyages.
Now Xu Qing is going to take this group of men and set off to Dongdao first.
The materials and personnel on the ship had all been reviewed by Su Lianqing, and were registered as civilian merchant ships and escort ships.
These people had been warned by Su Lianqing in advance not to reveal the affairs of the Red Flower Society in front of the lady.
The Red Flower Society inherited the organizational structure of the Lotus Sect and undoubtedly has better discipline in this regard.
In addition, Xu Qing also brought Han Tai and an unexpected guest.
Mr. Lei from Jiangning Prefecture.
When he learned that Xu Qing was going to sea, he begged again and again, wanting to go along and see for himself.
Considering that Mr. Lei had made great contributions in the land survey and was very appreciative, and was a friend of Xu Jieyuan, Xu Qing still agreed to the task.
As for Feng Wu, after she came out, she was also dressed in men's clothes.
Besides, we are all half-world people, so there is nothing special to pay attention to.
In addition, Su Lianqing used the art of soul disguise to disguise herself as an old man with considerable prestige among the crew and blended into the ship. After all, many things needed to be coordinated through her.
Mr. Lei came up with three guards.
His martial arts skills were not bad, only slightly inferior to those of Lin Tianwang before he started practicing martial arts. These three guards were not weaker than Wang Huwei in terms of strength.
If you really encounter any problems at sea, it can also be a good helper.
As the ship set sail, Xu Qing discovered something.
As the distance from the land gets farther and farther.
The original green color of the snake-shaped luck on his body was gradually fading. At the same time, the black energy of the little luck snake increased slightly, but not to a very dangerous level.
He used his spirit to observe Mr. Lei and found that the dynasty's luck in the other party was visibly dissipating.
However, since the Juren did not serve as a formal official, he had relatively little dynasty luck.
Moreover, Xu Qing had previously discovered that if an official left his jurisdiction without being ordered to do so, the dynasty's luck would quickly fade away.
Of course, if one is born as a Jinshi or Juren, one can still retain the original part of the dynasty's fortune.
However, the dynasty fortune brought by this identity is much less than that brought by official positions and assignments.
"When I was in Jiangning Prefecture, my luck was stronger. When I came to Yingtian Prefecture, it was not weakened much because I cultivated the Blue Dragon Seven Constellations Hidden Veins in Yingtian Prefecture and absorbed dragon energy, which replenished some of my luck." Xu Qing thought to himself, "All this luck is ultimately dependent on the Dayu Dynasty as its foundation, so it will quickly dissipate if it leaves the ruling area of the Dayu Dynasty. But I am a master of martial arts and soul, and I have my own luck. So my luck faded, but the degree of weakening is much lower than that of Mr. Lei."
Although Mr. Lei is also a powerful warrior, his overall strength is far from comparable to Xu Qing.
Xu Qing also knew that his control over Jiangning Prefecture was getting deeper and deeper, which in itself enhanced his luck.
This is the case even for him who controls a single prefecture, let alone the emperor who controls the entire nine provinces.
It can be said that the existence of the emperor itself is a natural suppression to all spiritual masters. It is estimated that ghost immortals will find it difficult to exert much strength in front of the emperor.
From this perspective, the emperor's greatest weakness is his physical body.
Birth, aging, sickness and death are inevitable, and there are probably some obstacles for the royal family to practice Taoism.
Otherwise, with the emperor's resources, everyone could cultivate their spirit and soul and then feed back into martial arts, and live a long life.
Of course, the emperor’s short life cannot be analyzed solely from the perspective of whether he was in good health.
Dissolve in water, burn in fire, take the wrong medicine...
After all, flesh and blood has many weaknesses.
In addition, the resources controlled by the emperor are enough to make any practitioner jealous, so in every dynasty, there have been masters of Taoism and Buddhism who have been circling around the emperor.
The same is true for martial arts grandmasters.
As they got further away from the land, the green color of Xu Qing's lucky snake became lighter and lighter, and its size also shrank accordingly. Overall, it was still within Xu Qing's acceptable range.
If he were to sail on an ocean voyage, the size would probably be much smaller.
In addition, the current weak naval power of the Dayu Dynasty is also the reason why Xu Qing's luck has been reduced.
Senior officials like Lord Liang naturally know something about this.
No wonder when he heard about the pirate rebellion, he was quick to sense the coming of the storm and fled back to the capital.
He probably knew that if the sea became too chaotic, it would be very dangerous for him to return by sea.
Currently in the East China Sea, apart from the real pirates, there are mainly two forces.
The northern part of the East China Sea is mainly populated by the Haisha Gang, while the southern part is populated by the Giant Whale Gang.
Further south is the Dongming Gang, a group of Japanese pirates.
The real Japanese in it are mostly the losers of Fuso Island, who left the main island in disgrace, so they dare not go too north or too close to the mainland, so they naturally continue to develop southward.
Now there are also many traces of Japanese pirates in Lingnan.
Moreover, these Japanese pirates were also used by the big smuggling families along the coast.
Overall, the Dongming Gang is very powerful, but too scattered.
The Giant Whale Gang is deeply involved with the four major families headed by the Duke of Wei's Mansion, and now it is flirting with many small and medium-sized gentry and nobles.
The Haisha Gang appears to have a close relationship with Duke Wei, but in reality their background is very mysterious.
But what Feng Wu reminded him of made Xu Qing suspect that the Haisha Gang was related to Prince Yu. As for some of the pirates of the Dongming Gang, they were also somewhat involved with Prince Yu in some unclear way.
Right now, King Lin is being attacked from both the north and south by the Haisha Gang and the Giant Whale Gang, and his range of activities is severely restricted.
Moreover, after King Lin swept this sea area, other merchant ships chose to take a detour and accept the protection of the Giant Whale Gang and the Sea Sand Gang.
If Xu Qing hadn't supported him on the shore, Lao Lin would never have been able to wade through the muddy waters of the sea.
Of course, when King Lin first appeared in the East China Sea, he enjoyed a glorious period for some time.
As for now, it has attracted the attention of the Giant Whale Gang and the Sea Sand Gang, and it can be said that it is difficult to move forward.
Xu Qing was somewhat happy about this.
Lao Lin is too arrogant.
Need to press it.
Alas, he also hates being oppressed by others, but he can't help but oppress others.
Human nature is mean!
This is also determined by the stance.
Although Xu Qing and Lin Tianwang are in a cooperative relationship, both sides will subconsciously fight for the dominant position. However, Lin Tianwang is currently at a disadvantage.
Xu Qing certainly did not doubt his personal relationship with King Lin.
But on the other hand, if King Lin was much stronger than him, Xu Qing had no doubt that King Lin would force him to join his gang and make him his military advisor and second in command.
The boat set out early in the morning and arrived at Dongdao Island, which was run by King Lin, in the evening.
...
...
King Lin got the news early and waited at the right time.
When he saw Xu Qing and Feng Wu, he hurried over to greet them.
He didn't really care about Feng Wu's outfit, and tactfully didn't mention Su Lianqing. Men naturally have a tacit understanding in this regard.
Although Xu Qing and Su Lianqing do not have the kind of relationship that outsiders imagine.
But Su Lianqing is much more important than a lover.
She is Xu Qing's shadow in the dark and also a pair of eyes.
When they finished their greetings, Mr. Lei asked, "Old Lin, you don't even say hello to me?"
King Lin snorted: "You kid didn't come to see me, so you let me greet you first. I gave you face?"
Lei Juren's face darkened and he said, "When you needed me, you called me brother. Now that you don't need me anymore, you're not my brother?"
King Lin's face twitched, "You are being sarcastic in front of my brother Gongming, right?"
Feng Wu pursed her lips and smiled.
Xu Qing smiled and said, "Master Lei, Brother, let's go in and talk first."
Got inside.
Lin Tianwang asked Lei Juren again, "Why did you come to see me?"
"I want to practice dirty tricks." Mr. Lei stated his intention directly.
King Lin glanced at him and shook his head, saying, "You are too old. Even if you realize this realm, it will not greatly improve your strength."
Mr. Lei: "Just asking if you can help?"
Lin Tianwang: "Whatever you want to ask, I can teach you, but I have to say this: if you can't make any progress, don't blame me."
Mr. Lei: "I still believe you on this point."
King Lin's question and answer were very particular, so as to prevent Xu Qing from misunderstanding that he and Mr. Lei were secretly colluding.
Mr. Lei also took the opportunity to explain to Xu Qing the reason why he came to Dongdao.
Don't underestimate them because they are warriors. They are actually veterans. They are never confused about big things, but they can pretend to be confused about small things.
Xu Qing let them act. After all, the fact that he was willing to explain it in this way represented his attitude.
Of course, Xu Qing is now more confident about King Lin.
Because he was on East Island, the little snake's luck actually increased significantly.
This shows that he did occupy a part of the power of East Island.
King Lin did not become alienated from him.
Next is the welcoming banquet.
King Lin called Gao Gongyuan.
Su Lie was indeed professional in his work and got the man out. However, according to the documents of the Three Law Courts, Gao Gongyuan had indeed been sentenced to immediate execution and there was no such person in the world anymore.
Of course, this process is not simple, and Su Lianqing also cooperates.
In addition, in order to avoid causing trouble, Gao Gongyuan disfigured himself and even used Danxi Weng's medicine to damage his throat and change his voice.
Xu Qing could only sigh inwardly.
Those who can make a living on the sea are indeed ruthless people.
Of course Xu Qing was not in a hurry to take Gao Gongyuan away to find Liubo Mountain.
Because there is a key issue that must be resolved.
That is to deal with the threats from the Giant Whale Gang and the Sea Sand Gang. Otherwise, if the treasure house is opened in the vast ocean, it will be easy for others to do harm to them.
As the wine was flowing, Xu Qing asked, "Brother, do you have a plan for this battle with the Giant Whale Gang and the Sea Sand Gang?"
Lin Tianwang said, "If it weren't for Brother Gongming's help in getting this person, I would have been in trouble this time."
As he spoke, he pointed at Gao Gongyuan and continued, "Tell me about the arrangements of the Giant Whale Gang." Gao Gongyuan then told me about the arrangements of the Giant Whale Gang.
Patrolling at sea and blocking shipping routes are not easy tasks.
This not only places extremely high demands on the seagoing vessel, but also requires a close understanding of the weather.
Therefore, the routes of the Giant Whale Gang's cruises on the sea are very fixed.
Of course, King Lin and his crew's ships also have to set out according to the weather, and the same goes for Xu Qing and his crew's ships.
Otherwise, if a storm occurs, there is a risk of the entire ship being sunk.
Especially when it comes to weather in offshore waters, people often pay attention to wind and tides.
There is a lot of knowledge involved here.
Gao Gongyuan is a great expert in this field.
He talked about it with great enthusiasm, and when he got to the key points, his face lit up with excitement and he showed a strong sense of confidence.
Xu Qing had to admit that everyone was the protagonist of his or her own story in his or her own area of expertise.
Xu Qing listened very attentively, and immediately entered a state of absolute concentration. He asked questions from time to time and combined them with some navigation knowledge in his memory.
In fact, he had skipped over a lot of knowledge before, but he didn't understand it.
Now with Gao Gongyuan explaining with his rich experience, Xu Qing, in a state of absolute concentration, immediately gained a lot and was able to apply what he had learned to other situations.
This surprised King Lin and the others.
As for Gao Gongyuan, he was shocked.
Because there are some details that cannot be asked unless you are a professional veteran sailor.
He had to admit that Xu Qing's ability to maneuver in Nanzhili at such a young age showed that his natural wisdom was indeed not an exaggeration.
If an ordinary person asked, Gao Gongyuan would be more or less secretive.
But Xu Qing is different. It can be said that Xu Qing is the savior of his entire family, and his family is now exiled to Lingnan, which is also the territory of Xu Qing's brother-in-law.
The significance is self-evident.
Besides, given Xu Qing's status, even if he learned these things, it would not affect Gao Gongyuan's value.
As for Xu Qing himself, firstly, he is somewhat studious, and secondly, knowing the information in advance is a good precaution even if it cannot be used.
He has always been like this, trying to control his destiny as much as possible.
...
...
Capital city, Yanyue Hall.
"Prime Minister, this is an urgent report from Jiangning."
The intelligence now transmitted back by Jiangning Prefecture even has a higher priority than Yingtian Prefecture.
Moreover, unlike the general 800-mile express mail, the secret letter from Jiangning Prefecture has a special secret channel and can be sent back and forth within one day.
Because the emperor is truly supporting the Prime Minister's reform with all his strength, there are now many extraordinary people in Yanyue Hall.
The emperor had no choice but to do so. The Great Yu Dynasty had been established for more than 200 years, and it was inevitable that it would end.
If you don't change the law, you will die.
There is still a glimmer of hope for reform.
Moreover, in pursuit of immortality, the emperor has bound himself to the dragon vein of the Dayu Dynasty. If the Dayu Dynasty falls apart, the emperor will be doomed and will not even have an afterlife.
This also forced the old emperor to fight hard in order to survive.
In fact, this was also the choice made by the old emperor himself.
Before he extracted the dragon vein and integrated it into himself, the master of Chaotian Temple had already explained the pros and cons to him very clearly.
The emperor still chose this path.
Because even if there is an afterlife, he will have no memory of this life, and he can no longer be the emperor. Instead of that, it is better to live a life of passion and fight for his life against heaven.
In fact, this was not his first attempt at reform.
It has been done once before.
As a result, only a small part of it was successful, and the situation in the world still became worse and worse.
He had played badly before, but finally, in his later years, he was ready to strike back again.
The emperor has the dignity of an emperor and cannot bow to fate so easily.
The Prime Minister's will is more resolute and fearless than that of the Emperor.
There are even rumors that the Prime Minister is the reincarnation of the prime ministers of the previous dynasty, such as Wang Jinggong and Tuotuo...
However, in terms of personal enjoyment, the Prime Minister was more like Li Linfu.
Some people commented that although Xu Qing was young, he was at the end of his rope and was doing evil things.
When the Prime Minister does things, he actually doesn't care about the future or what will happen after his death.
Moreover, both of them are iconic figures who achieved success at a young age.
Currently in Yanyue Hall, many people have discovered that the Prime Minister pays special attention to Xu Qing.
Therefore, there are vague rumors that Xu Qing is the illegitimate son of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister didn't care about these rumors at all. He picked up the information from Jiangning Prefecture and first looked at the recent land survey in Jiangning Prefecture, the changes in Tianji Academy and Jinguang Temple...
He looked at each thing after another, and finally his eyes fell on Xu Qing's going out to sea.
He stroked his beard and said, "Send someone to summon Magistrate Wu of Jinyang Prefecture to see me."
...
...
It's freezing cold.
When Magistrate Wu heard that it was the Prime Minister who summoned him, he had no choice but to crawl out of his warm and soft bed.
In order to make friends with the dignitaries in Beijing, he bought several skinny horses these days and even went to inspect the goods himself.
As a result, one cannot help but feel a little weak.
When I got outside, my feet started shivering in the cold wind.
But since the Prime Minister summoned me, how could I not go?
Prefect Wu had no choice but to mount a fast horse, take the token, and follow the messenger to the capital quickly.
We rushed all the way to Yanyue Hall.
When Prefect Wu met the Prime Minister.
A maid had already served hot soup, which smelled of ginseng.
After drinking it, I couldn't help feeling warm inside.
The Prime Minister is so considerate to others!
"Prefect Wu, I heard that when you were the inspector of Nanzhili, you wiped out many pirates. You are truly a capable official."
"Prince, I am unworthy of this position."
The Prime Minister smiled and said, "The court has restored the Jinghai Guard since last year. Now the pirates in the East China Sea are becoming more and more rampant. I plan to promote you to the position of Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and lead 3,000 Jinghai Guards to inspect the prefectures and cities along the southeast coast."
Prefect Wu is now a junior fourth rank official, and the Right Censor-in-Chief is a senior fourth rank official.
Moreover, at the local level, the main power of the Inspector-General was impeachment, and when the Right Censor-in-Chief inspected local areas, he could directly investigate the illegal behavior of local officials.
Have certain law enforcement powers.
Moreover, after reaching this point, Magistrate Wu's future promotions and appointments will come into the sight of the cabinet leaders and the six ministers.
Belongs to the sequence of quasi-senior officials in the quasi-imperial court.
Prefect Wu had never expected that he would have such a fortuitous encounter after only being in Jinyang Prefecture for such a short time.
Even if there is smoke coming out of the ancestral graves, the promotion won’t be so fast.
He instinctively felt that there was a trap, but he didn't dare to refuse.
The Prime Minister was very understanding and said, "When you arrive in the southeast, you must learn about the local situation in detail. The strength of 3,000 Jinghai Guards is not enough to dominate the East China Sea and the South China Sea, but it is enough to deal with small groups of pirates. And there are guard commanders who are good at naval warfare to help you command, so you don't have to worry about the problem of ability. In addition, when you arrive at the local area, contact local figures such as Feng Xifeng and Xu Qing to understand the local situation."
Prefect Wu immediately understood that the Prime Minister wanted him to cooperate with Xu Qing and others to clear out the pirates along the coast of the East China Sea.
This burden is indeed heavy.
Among the Giant Whale Gang, Sea Sand Gang, and Dongming Gang, which one is easy to mess with?
But with Xu Qing's help, it is not impossible to accomplish it.
"I will do my best to share your majesty's worries." Prefect Wu bowed hurriedly.
The Prime Minister said: "This expedition of the Jinghai Guard is just the beginning of the court's efforts to eliminate pirates. You don't have to bear too much psychological burden. As long as you serve the court wholeheartedly, if there are any inevitable mistakes, I will bear the responsibility for you."
Prefect Wu quickly thanked the Prime Minister.
Afterwards, the Prime Minister asked Magistrate Wu to go to the guild hall to wait for news.
For this kind of thing, even though he has made the decision, he must follow the necessary procedures.
In addition, Jinghaiwei was actually prepared a long time ago.
Xun'an Feng now had the additional duties of Military Inspector and the Imperial Censor of Jiangdu, responsible for the defense of the Yangtze River.
The southeastern coastal defense is now in the hands of Lord Wu.
Lord Wu knew that the Prime Minister valued his relationship with Xu Qing and wanted to use him to cooperate with Xu Qing to clear out the pirates in the southeast.
Now for the appetizers.
Once we have figured out the details of the pirates in the southeast, that will be the time for the Jinghaiwei army to truly go out.
And Patrolman Feng's reorganization of the river defense was also a precise attack on the land-based supplies that the pirates relied on.
In comparison, the land survey in Yingtian Prefecture was actually a cover-up and insignificant.
Lord Wu is sitting at home, and officials are coming from heaven.
Others compete on connections and background, but he competes on disciples!
However, once one climbs up, all relationships, no matter how far away, will move up automatically.
As soon as Lord Wu returned to the guild hall, his fellow villager, Minister Zhang, a minor official in the Ministry of Personnel, sent someone to invite him over.
After he arrived, he learned from his fellow villagers that the Prime Minister had already informed the Ministry of Personnel and all procedures were to be expedited and simplified.
Moreover, this time, Minister Zhang's attitude towards Lord Wu was even more cordial, much more cordial than when they were both juren.
Lord Wu had to thank his good disciple for helping him regain the friendship that had disappeared for many years.
Although there is still a big gap in rank between Lord Wu and Minister Zhang, and their powers are also much different, these are not enough to become an obstacle to their friendship.
The two fellow villagers got drunk and reminisced about their youth.
Finally, we said goodbye reluctantly.
Lord Wu left the Minister's Mansion feeling refreshed.
In fact, over the past six months, some ignorant petty bureaucrats have been secretly saying something sour about him, saying that he was just lucky and destined to be the Prime Minister's lackey.
Now he wants those who look down on him to see that his ascension to the highest level is beyond the reach of you dogs.
Let you dogs be envious and jealous!
As Gongming said:
Don’t laugh at the fact that youth has no roots.
The good wind carries me to the blue clouds with its power.
Nanzhili, your Master Wu is back!
Although it was a bitterly cold winter, Lord Wu felt as warm as spring in his heart.
(End of this chapter)