Chapter 487 Emergency Response

Xiao Xia came to the General Manager's Mansion, sat down in his official room, and drank a sip of tea. It was still a while before noon, so he immediately ordered Du Ruhui, "Go and invite Jin Wangfu and Liu Changshi!"

Prince of Jin Xiao Xia and Prince of Qi Yang Xia both had two sets of official positions, one was the Prince's Palace, and the other was the General Manager's Palace. The two sets of official positions of Prince of Qi Yang Xia were separate and belonged to two different groups of people.

However, Xiao Xia's two sets of official positions were held by the same group of people. For example, Gao Jiong was both the Minister of the Executive Office of the Jiangnan Dao General Administration and the Tutor of Prince Jin. The same was true for Liu Wenjing, who was both the Minister of the Executive Office and the Chief Clerk of the Prince Jin's Palace.

Soon, Gao Jiong and Liu Wenjing hurried over.

"When did His Highness come back?" the two asked in surprise.

Xiao Xia nodded, "I just came back, Mr. Gao, is the canal survey finished?"

Gao Jiong laughed and said, "It's not that fast. They just took a quick look around first, and then Li Chun brought his men back to Jingkou to investigate slowly. It will take at least two months."

"Can Gao Gong contact them?"

"Yes, we have contact information, you can contact us at any time!"

Xiao Xia immediately said, "Mr. Gao informed them not to go to Yuhang County. The canal survey will be temporarily terminated in Wu County."

Gao Ying was startled. "Why?"

"I got news that the powerful people in the southeast of Jiangdong are very likely to rebel again. It's not safe there, so I told them to stop in Wujun."

"what!"

Gao Jiong and Liu Wenjing were both startled. Gao Jiong said quickly, "I'll send someone to inform them right away."

Gao Jiong was very worried about the safety of Li Chun and others, so he left in a hurry.

Xiao Xia asked Liu Wenjing again, "I am very worried about the taxes in the south. Is there any news about taxes in Kuaiji County and Yuhang County?"

Liu Wenjing shook her head. "Not yet, but we can send a pigeon letter to ask."

Xiao Xia ordered: "Go and inquire now, and inquire in all the counties in Jiangnan Road."

"As ordered!"

Liu Wenjing also left in a hurry.

Xiao Xia then wrote another memorial to the emperor, reporting the news that the Shanyue warlords might rebel, hoping that the court could provide him with certain resources.

After writing the letter, Xiao Xia ordered his men, "Go find Li Luming right away!"

Not long after, Li Luming hurried over and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

Xiao Xia suddenly realized why she was not surprised by Lu Xieting's height. He had someone like him around him!
The elder sister Li Luming in front of him was taller than Lu Xieting, at least over 1.8 meters. It seemed that several female guards in his house were very tall. No wonder!

But now is not the time to talk about private matters. Xiao Xia handed a warrant to Li Luming, which was an order for her to send people to the southern counties of Jiangdong to gather intelligence.

Li Luming took the warrant, read it once, and nodded, "I will arrange it right away!"

Xiao Xia instructed her again, "Discuss carefully, send the right people, keep it as secret as possible, and notify me immediately if there is any news!"

"Follow the order!"

In the afternoon, Xiao Xia summoned all senior officials to discuss the two major crises at hand, one was the charity granary crisis, and the other was the Shanyue rebellion crisis.

Gao Jiong said slowly, "After Envoy Zhang came back from Danyang County, we discussed the issue of charity granaries. Currently, the charity granaries in various counties of Jiangdu County are full of problems and the difference is relatively large. According to your highness's deployment, we set up 30 investigation teams to rush to various counties to secretly investigate the situation of charity granaries and start minting coins at the same time. Once the problem is solved, we will completely close the charity granaries." Xiao Xia nodded, "The idea is right. After the charity granaries are investigated, we will think of countermeasures together. There is no need to rush for the problems that have accumulated for more than ten years. The real urgent thing is the rebellion of the Shanyue tyrants. This rebellion is supported by the Long nobles behind the scenes. The situation is even more serious. We must not underestimate it!"

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief. They all found the Guanlong nobles actually supporting the rebellion of the Shanyue tyrants?

Gao Jiong was also surprised and asked, "How did Your Highness know that the Guanlong nobles were behind the rebellion of the Shanyue tyrants?"

"Yuan Wenzhen has been active in the southern part of Jiangdong for the past few months. You don't think he's just selling salt!"

At this time, Liu Wenjing asked: "Even if the Guanlong nobles are supporting the Shanyue tyrants behind the scenes, how do you think they support them?"

Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and said, "The Shanyue tyrants control a large population and wealth. What they lack is weapons and armor. I think the Guanlong nobles will sell some of their armor and weapons to them by water, and they will also make some themselves. The other is military instructors. The Guanlong nobles have many warriors with strong martial arts skills. They may send warriors to the southeast of Jiangdong to train soldiers. I want to intercept them on the Yangtze River to see if I can stop the Guanlong nobles' support ships."

Gao Jiong pondered for a moment and said, "Your Highness's top priority should be to send people to investigate the rebellion of the Shanyue tyrants. If it is serious, we will have to consider evacuating officials."

"I have arranged to gather intelligence this morning. Now we need to do several things. First, the General Administration Office must immediately switch to a wartime state and start storing various war materials. Second, immediately requisition official ships from all over the country to Jiangdu, and large ships with a capacity of 10,000 tons are also needed. Third, prepare to evacuate officials and their families from the six southern counties in an orderly manner. Fourth, immediately begin recruiting 30,000 naval forces, not only from Jiangnan Road, but also from Lianghu Road. Fifth, request support from the court. In addition, the fact that the Guanlong nobles support the Shanyue tyrants is limited to those of us present here. It cannot be spread outside, and it cannot be told to the court. I don't have solid evidence and don't want to escalate the situation."

In the afternoon, Xiao Xia returned to the mansion, but unexpectedly saw Lu Xieting accompanying Xiaoqing for a walk in the mansion, followed by a midwife.

Xiao Xia already knew that Xiaoqing was pregnant when she returned. Princess Cui Yu asked Luo Shixin to deliver a letter home to her husband.

At this time, Cui Yu came up happily holding his son. Xiao Xia took the son and kissed the child's little face twice. As a result, the son was scared and burst into tears. Xiao Xia had no choice but to return the son to his wife.

"How is Xie Ting?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile.

"I think she's pretty good, has a good personality, is relatively honest, looks good, and her husband has good taste."

"Do you think she's tall?"

"It's not bad! There are several female guards in the mansion who are taller than her. I don't think it's strange. Xie Ting said that she was discriminated against in Wujun. I guess it's the difference in concepts between the north and the south. Southerners don't like people like her, but northerners can accept her and even welcome her, especially military families. They want to ensure that their offspring are tall, so they will deliberately choose tall women as wives."

Xiao Xia nodded. "I have agreed with the Lu family to let Xie Ting live in our house for two or three months and teach you to play the piano so that you can get to know each other better. I will send her back in the summer and then send a ship to marry her. The man's family attaches great importance to ceremonies, and I have agreed to their request."

Cui Yu smiled slightly and said, "They want to marry her in a formal ceremony, at least that's the way it is in the ceremony. It doesn't really matter. When your husband marries her, you can bring Xiaoqing with you. I promised Xiaoqing that I would give her a wedding ceremony."

"absolutely okay!"

At this time, the housekeeper came over and bowed, "Madam, dinner is ready!"

"I see. Go and invite them both to the dining hall."

Xiao Xia and his wife walked towards the dining hall.

At night, the busy surface of the Yangtze River becomes quiet and most ships come to shore. The wind and waves are strong at night, visibility is poor, and it is unsafe. Except for a few large ships sailing, other ships are generally not visible.

At two o'clock in the morning, three cargo ships with a capacity of 2,000 dan each quietly sailed into the area under the jurisdiction of Jiangdu County. The river was very quiet, and only the sound of the oars of the large ships could be heard.

The ship was fully loaded with cargo. Not only was the cargo hold full, but the deck was also piled up like a small mountain and covered with oilcloth. A man in his thirties looked worried and looked at the river from time to time.

They have already reached Jiangdu, which is also the place he is most worried about. If he is not careful, his life will be in danger!

The boatman saw the man's worry and laughed, "Don't worry, Mr. Chen. Last year, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin ordered the cancellation of all checkpoints. I have made many trips and have never encountered any interception."

As soon as the boatman finished speaking, a dozen patrol boats suddenly appeared in the darkness.

(End of this chapter)

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