novelSusiti Chapter 309 Laying the Groundwork
Chapter 309 Laying the Groundwork
On October 16, the Taijia canal ship quietly arrived at Huangtian Port.
The hold was full of sawdust, obviously because a cargo trip had just been completed and had not been cleaned up before a second trip was made.
Kong Tie, who usually oversaw transportation affairs in Taicang, made a rare appearance at Huangtian Port. As soon as he landed, he immediately ordered the boatmen to unload the various goods covered with red cloth from the hold.
The boatmen moved very gently, as if afraid of bumping or damaging something, which clearly indicated that it was a valuable item.
Meanwhile, outside the Chaozong Gate in the south of Jiangyin City, Darughachi Korigisi, Prefect Zhang Yang, Assistant Prefect Zhu Daocun, and more than ten other officials stood respectfully at attention.
Before long, the vanguard of the Prince of Zhennan's entourage arrived.
Three people arrived, each riding a horse, accompanied by more than twenty guards, with curved swords at their waists and arrogant expressions.
The leader was named Harabuhua, a fifth-rank official in the royal palace's military command. He was a burly man with a fierce face and a voice as loud as thunder. Without even dismounting, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Who is the Darughachi here? Come out and speak!"
Korigis hurriedly came out to greet him, saying, "This is your humble servant."
Harabuhua, seated on horseback, carefully examined the carriage before speaking in a deep voice, "Your Majesty will arrive at the beginning of next month. He must be weary from his journey. You must prepare the carriage first. It must be spacious, bright, and clean. Replace all the bedding with new ones, and provide tea, fruit, and other refreshments. And one more thing..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Korigis and Zhang Yang, a half-smile playing on his lips. "His Majesty's favorite food is mutton, but it has to be the kind from the Shangdu grasslands. You probably won't find any here. However, the lake sheep from Jiangnan will do. Prepare a few more. By the way, they must be castrated sheep, without any gamey smell; His Majesty is picky." Korigis quickly agreed, but inwardly he was thinking: We haven't even met the main character yet, and these scouts are already this troublesome. Moreover, the Prince of Zhennan isn't arriving until the beginning of next month, which is more than half a month away. Yet he's already sent people to pave the way. What is he planning?
Behind Harabuhua was a lean Mongol man in his thirties, with a short mustache and small but piercing eyes. He rode forward a few steps, cupped his hands to Khorijs, and said in fluent Chinese, "I am Bayan, the tutor of the Prince's Palace. Please forgive my bluntness, Sima."
After a pause, he continued, "I've heard of a man in Jiangyin named Cao Luo. Have you heard of him?"
Koligis's heart skipped a beat, but he forced a smile and said, "I've heard of him. He's a merchant who deals in freight and grain, and he's quite well-known in the state."
"A merchant?" Bayan's lips curled slightly upward. "I heard he has several hundred men under his command, and he even wiped out the bandits on the canal?"
The prefect Zhang Yang's heart tightened. With such a shrewd and arrogant figure in his jurisdiction, even resorting to violence, both he and the Darughachi were in trouble. He stepped forward and said, "That was Cao Luo, who assisted the government in suppressing the bandits. After the Prince of Zhennan wiped out the Huashan bandits, the Grand Canal was greatly improved, and this man also contributed his modest efforts." Bayan gave an "oh," and didn't ask any further questions. He simply took a piece of paper from his sleeve and beckoned to Korigis.
Koligis quickly stepped forward.
Bayan handed over the paper, saying, "This is the list compiled by His Majesty. Please prepare accordingly. If there is anything lacking, we will add more later." Korigis took it with both hands, unfolded it, and looked at it. His expression remained unchanged, but his heart was in turmoil.
The list read: 500 shi of japonica rice, 500 shi of fragrant glutinous rice, 500 shi of wheat flour, 20 jin of top-quality tea, 100 bolts of silk, 300 bolts of fine silk, 50 sheep, 30 pigs, 100 jars of fine wine...
Finally, a line of smaller print was added: "Five thousand ingots of miscellaneous paper money, for unforeseen needs."
Good heavens! Five thousand ingots for "miscellaneous use"? Why don't you just rob someone?
Zhang Yang leaned over for a look, and suddenly everything went black before his eyes, and his throat tightened.
Seeing the two of them looking like this, Harabuhua sneered and said, "What, you think it's too much? His Majesty has traveled all the way with thousands of guards and attendants. We can't let them go hungry, can we? Besides, these aren't freebies. The court will allocate them later."
"The imperial court has allocated it..." Zhang Yang had heard this phrase so many times that he was sick of it, but he had never actually seen it.
Bayan seemed to sense his concerns and waved his hand, saying, "Prefect Zhang, there's no need to worry. Your Majesty knows the difficulties in the region. Some things don't necessarily have to come from the government. If the wealthy households in the prefecture can offer some tribute, Your Majesty will appreciate it. For example, Cao Luo—some say he's the richest man in Jiangyin, so wealthy he's practically rolling in money. His house is overflowing with rare treasures and silks. Shouldn't he contribute some?"
Kolijis and Zhang Yang exchanged another glance, both reading a hint of helplessness and a hidden unease in each other's eyes.
What does "voluntarily offering" mean? Isn't this just openly letting the government extort money from wealthy families?
Furthermore, who the hell dared to speak nonsense in the ear of the Prince of Zhennan? They have no sense of propriety whatsoever!
Harabuhua patted the curved sword at his waist and laughed, "Don't the barbarians have a saying, 'Losing money is a way to avoid disaster'? If the king is happy, everyone is fine. If the king is unhappy, hehe..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but his rough laughter echoed through the empty fields, sending chills down one's spine.
Bayan coughed and tried to smooth things over, saying, "Hala Sima, don't frighten the two officials."
Turning to Korigis, he smiled slightly and said, "In short, I'll leave the welcoming arrangements to you two. His Majesty will be arriving soon, so please make preparations as soon as possible."
After saying that, he paused again, as if he remembered something, and said, "By the way, make arrangements for Cao Luo. The King would like to meet him." "Meet him?" Zhang Yang was taken aback.
"Your Majesty has heard of his success in eliminating the bandits on the canal and wishes to see what kind of person he is," Bayan said calmly, but his eyes held a deeper meaning. "Furthermore, Your Majesty is currently short of funds; perhaps we could make a friend?"
These words were spoken subtly, but everyone present understood: the Prince of Zhennan had his eye on Cao Luo, this lucrative prize.
Koligis nodded obsequiously, but in his heart he was making plans.
Cao Luo, or rather Shao Shuyi's, hundreds of men were no pushovers. If the Prince of Zhennan really wanted to touch him, it wouldn't be easy. But he dared not say this aloud, and could only smile bitterly to himself.
The advance party soon rested at the post station.
Zhang Yang personally settled Halabuhua, Bayan, and the others in, and only after finishing everything did he walk out of the post station. He sighed softly to Korigis, "Jiangyin has suffered a calamity..."
Korigis, equally preoccupied, asked after a moment, "Do you think Cao Luo is willing to see the Prince of Zhennan?"
Zhang Yang shook his head and said, "It's hard to say, but I don't think he would. This person values his life very much."
Koligis understood this principle, sighed deeply, and said, "This is how Cai Luantou rebelled."
Zhang Yang was speechless.
The censor forced the state officials to summon Cai Luantou to the governor's mansion for questioning. Luantou was terrified, so he simply shut the door and beat the dog, killing all the officials and clerks who came to the door, and raised the flag of rebellion.
After the incident escalated, the censor dared not speak. Officials from the prefecture and Hangzhou sent messengers to offer words of appeasement, but the rebels remained resolute and refused to listen. The matter has not yet been quelled.
Thinking about this, Zhang Yang felt a surge of resentment.
These high-ranking censors and officials of the princes' mansions are so out of touch with reality; they have no idea what the situation is like in the local areas. Or perhaps they do know, but they are too arrogant and unwilling to lower their guard, causing trouble recklessly.
The local officials in the state were getting along fine with Tsai before, weren't they? You just had to push them to the brink.
The people rebelled, and the censor just walked away, with the Grand Censor and the Vice Censor-in-Chief protecting him. The local officials, however, were in deep trouble, perhaps even mortgaging themselves! The faces of Halabuhua and Boyan just now have already explained everything.
Even after the Huashan bandit incident, they still refused to repent. Perhaps they didn't intend to do anything to Cao Luo, but simply wanted to summon him before the Prince of Zhennan, give him a warning, intimidate him, and extort some money. But the problem is...
"I'm afraid Cao Luo really won't go. If the Prince of Zhennan can't come down then, alas." Kuolijisi was worried and had already begun to consider whether to send his family to Hangzhou.
"My lord, this matter needs to be handled carefully; we can't just watch it deteriorate." Zhang Yang took a deep breath and said, "If we do nothing, and the two sides break off relations, Cao Luo openly rebels, even marching to the Prince of Zhennan's palace, and something unspeakable happens, our heads will be in danger." Hearing the words "heads in danger," Korigis broke out in a cold sweat, swallowed hard, and asked, "How many men does Cao Luo have?"
Zhang Yang thought for a moment and said, "Several hundred people is probably an exaggeration, but there are definitely more than a hundred people."
"Can we fight?"
"I don't think he's any worse than Zhu Dingbo's remnants," Zhang Yang said. "Bi Si plundered along the river, and the garrison of Changzhou's Wanhu Prefecture suffered a major defeat and retreated in fear. Cao Luo, however, easily wiped them out. His fighting strength is obvious at a glance. The Prince of Zhennan has only a thousand or so followers, at least half of whom are servants. Facing Cao Luo's hundred elite troops, they would probably collapse at the first touch."
"Where is the interpreter Han army?" Korigis asked through gritted teeth.
"The Han soldiers who interpret for the emperor are not what they used to be," Zhang Yang sighed. "They used to be households with tens of thousands of households, but now they are households with less than ten thousand households. They only have a few hundred soldiers, and I doubt they are very capable of fighting. As for the remaining households that serve as military households, forget about them; all they know how to do is farm."
Koligis nodded dejectedly.
For a fleeting moment, he wondered if he could use the power of the Prince of Zhennan to eliminate Cao Luo and restore peace to Jiangyin Prefecture. But upon rational thought, he realized that it was impossible with the strength of Jiangyin Prefecture alone, unless he could get the Prince of Zhennan to mobilize garrison troops from other areas.
The suppression of the Huashan bandits took several months and cost countless sums of money and provisions. It was only with great difficulty that the bandits were finally subdued. The soldiers were exhausted and had not received any rewards, so they were already full of complaints. How could they possibly mobilize troops now? Even if they were mobilized, they would probably lose even more face.
After composing himself, Korigis instructed, "Send Zhu Daocun and Ge Daji to see Cao Luo. Ask him if he is willing to see the Prince of Zhennan."
"My lord, you can't even ask this!" Zhang Yang exclaimed in alarm. "What if Cao Luo misunderstands? Wouldn't that lead to a major disaster?"
Koligis waved his hand and said, "How could I not know? I'll just ask him tactfully. If he doesn't want to, then forget it. Let him hide for a while and not stay in Jiangyin. When the Prince of Zhennan comes, we'll just say he's gone out to do business and won't be back for a while. That's all we can do. Let's leave it to fate."
"Leave it to fate..." Zhang Yang said with a bitter smile, chewing on these four words.