Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 85 Didn’t take it seriously
The group walked out of the city for more than ten miles and saw people and horses waiting there. They got off the donkeys and got on the horses and galloped towards Jinan.

A night of rain made the road muddy and difficult to walk on, so everyone had to slow down. When they were still dozens of miles away from Jinan, they saw a group of people waiting on the roadside. Chen Mo escorted one person over, and that person followed the group of people and ran towards the capital.

Jia Chuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, no matter whether it was useful or not, it was better to send some evidence back first than to just make inferences.

It has been more than a month since Zhu Zhanji came to Jinan, and he has never urged anyone, but he still wants to let his leaders see some progress.

One blacksmith might not be the main witness, but what if there were more? What if there were people from all walks of life?
Chen Mo, Gao Yuntian and Gao Yunduo were extremely tired. Except for Dong Yuanyuan, none of them slept. However, these three of them actually followed Qiao Wu on a night walk in Jinyi in the second half of the night.

During the day, Gao Yunduo took a fancy to a middle-aged blacksmith in the central blacksmith shop. The man was not tall, wore a turban, a leather apron that went below his knees, coarse arm guards and gloves, and pounded the hot iron in his hands with an expressionless face. Although Gao Yunduo only took a glance, she could feel that this man was relatively stable.

Jia Chuan had instructed her to find someone who looked hopeless and had no emotions. Only such a person could rest at night without wearing shackles. Those with bad tempers, who cursed, or who sighed were not suitable. Elderly people were also not suitable. This trip would require non-stop travel, and elderly people might not be able to withstand it. More importantly, they could not be too tall to climb onto the roof.

Gao Yunduo remembered which blacksmith shop it was, and they left the street and returned to their residence. Jia Chuan also received the news and came back, and they discussed their actions for the evening.

After midnight, Gao Yunduo and her brother appeared on the roof of the blacksmith shop, and Chen Mo and Qiao Wu were waiting for them at the street corner.

Originally, Jia Chuan wanted Chen Mo and Gao Yuntian to take action this time, but Gao Yunduo strongly objected because she was the only one who knew what the man looked like, and no matter how she described it, it would be useless, and she couldn't describe it either.

Gao Yuntian felt that there was no need to know what they looked like, so he just went to the blacksmith shop and took away whoever they were.

Gao Yunduo immediately became anxious and had an argument with Gao Yuntian. Gao Yuntian didn't want his sister to take risks, but Gao Yunduo felt that as long as they succeeded, there would be no danger. Moreover, she had the best kung fu among these people and her body was light. The blacksmith shop was not far from the palace, and there was a river at the back door. It could be seen that the palace attached great importance to this arrangement. In this kind of weather, it was difficult to go down to the river first and then climb over the wall. The only way was to go over the roof. Dong Yuanyuan could see clearly that the tiles on the roof were all new, and the sound of rain would cover them up. As long as they were not too heavy and had good kung fu, there would be no risk.

After going down to the yard, she also had to find a place for the blacksmith to rest. She was a woman, and her sudden appearance could reduce the possibility of people in the house screaming. If she was lucky enough to find the house where the man lived at the beginning, her explanation would be more convincing than that of two men. Even if she failed and was discovered, she would run faster than Gao Yuntian. Could Chen Mo do it?

Gao Yuntian was speechless when asked.

Jia Chuan didn't want Gao Yunduo to go with him from the bottom of his heart, but everything Gao Yunduo said made sense, especially since she was good at reasoning, so the chance of her bringing the person back was indeed the greatest.

There are only three possibilities for this trip. Either they are discovered and their screams attract people from the palace, and they return in failure. Or they succeed in entering the house and their repeated persuasions are useless. The people just refuse to follow them, but they will not report them, and they return in failure. Or they succeed in bringing the people back. No matter which possibility it is, it seems that she will be fine as Gao Yunduo said.

Unless everyone failed to leave the city in time and was stuck, this may have nothing to do with whether Gao Yunduo went there or not.

Although Qiao Wu has arranged the retreat route and hiding place, the people going there must be able to get down from the roof smoothly. Especially if they successfully bring back one person, they must ensure that this person can be brought to the roof and safely get down from the roof under the protection of two people. Chen Mo... is indeed not as good as Gao Yunduo. He can take care of himself and not fall down, but if there are more people, they may not be able to take care of everything. In this case, they have to rely entirely on Gao Yuntian.

In Gao Yunduo's words: "The ground is slippery in the rain, and the roof is even slipperier! If your footing is not stable, all your efforts will be wasted."

What finally made Jia Chuan make up his mind was Dong Yuanyuan's words: "If I wasn't afraid that I would be too heavy and fall through the roof, I would have gone with my sister. What's there to argue about? Whoever can do the job better can do it."

……

Zhu Zhanji said that Jia Chuan was his lucky general. Jia Chuan felt that he was just lucky on the way from Huangluling to Bazhou, but on this rainy night, Jia Chuan felt that even the sky was helping him.

This street was not far from the palace, and since they were doing this secretly, there were people watching during the day, and patrols were especially focused after curfew at night. In the second half of the night, the rain got heavier, and the temperature was like winter. Patrols were usually slack, let alone such bad weather, which gave the few people the opportunity to reach the street corner almost unhindered.

If the weather helped, it would only be half the battle. Who knew that the brother and sister would have so much luck from the moment they landed in the yard.

The two of them first thought about which house to start looking. There were four houses in the yard. If all of them had bolts on their doors, Gao Yuntian would have to use the skill of picking out the bolts from the door cracks that he had just learned from Qiao Wu in the past two days.

As luck would have it, in the second half of the night, some people in one of the rooms were still awake and were lamenting their misfortunes. When they were excited, someone cursed the King of Han. Someone quickly opened the door to see if anyone was eavesdropping, and saw Gao Yunduo standing at the door.

Gao Yuntian heard the noise and dodged to the side.

Just as Gao Yunduo said, the person inside opened the door and saw a man in black clothes, with long hair tied up high, and a delicate face with heroic and watery look. He didn't scream, but was also quite scared. Gao Yunduo made a gesture to him to keep quiet, and then motioned him to go into the house to talk.

The man actually did it.

After entering the house, Gao Yunduo calmly explained her purpose: "...The court knows that you were all forced into submission, so I need someone to return to Beijing with me and tell the emperor everything that happened here. This will firstly expose the King of Han's crimes, and secondly, help clear your names in the future."

There were four people in the house, and one of them happened to be the one Gao Yunduo liked. It was at this time that Gao Yunduo realized that one of the four rooms in the backyard was where the guard of the palace lived.

Gao Yunduo couldn't help feeling a little scared, so much so that she forgot about her brother who was still outside in the rain. If someone guarding the palace came out to release the water at this moment, and the Thunder God combined it with a "crack" of lightning and thunder, that person would see a murderous shadow in black standing upright by the wall and would immediately report to his ancestors.

Gao Yunduo hadn't misjudged the man. When she explained her purpose, he agreed without hesitation. But what would the people left behind do? Tomorrow morning, it would be discovered that someone was missing from the house, and the people left behind would likely be tortured.

Gao Yunduo said, "We'll open the door to the front hall, and then you'll leave it ajar. In the morning, when someone calls you, pretend to be asleep and be woken up. Just say you don't know what happened last night. You're all useful to them, so they won't dare hurt you and delay the delivery. And seeing the door to the front hall open will definitely divert their attention, and they might even think there's a traitor."

In the evening, Jia Chuan and Gao Yunduo rehearsed this persuasion several times. They expressed their own opinions and supplemented each other.

Among them, Jia Chuan mentioned a key point: those who stay should not be allowed to think that leaving is escaping from life and going to enjoy happiness. On the contrary, it should be made clear that leaving is more dangerous.

So Gao Yunduo immediately said that those who left had to go to the capital and be interrogated by all parties. Among them would definitely be the King of Han's people, and there would inevitably be danger, but this was the only way to rescue everyone here.

Gao Yunduo followed Jia Chuan's instructions and stopped there, leaving room for the three people's imagination.

Fortunately, the man Gao Yunduo had her eye on showed no fear, willing to risk his own life to expose the King of Han's crimes. The others were incredibly grateful, and all felt Gao Yunduo's words made perfect sense. Losing one person was no big deal for them. If they could have escaped, why would they have only lost one?
Otherwise, Jia Chuan felt that everyone was blessing him. He knew that he needed to understand everything clearly in advance before doing anything in Le'an, but the conditions did not allow it. They had no way to go into the backyard in advance to find out the situation inside, and it was even more impossible to explain it to the blacksmith in advance. But they had to be quick when doing it. Once they took action, the next gathering place would be outside the city.

We have to run. Haishou said we have to save our lives first.

But the process was so smooth. When Jia Chuan, who was waiting at Qiao Wu's other house not far from the city gate, was about to lose his temper when he heard Dong Yuanyuan's snoring in the next room, several people came back with the blacksmith.

……

But no matter how tired they were at the moment, because the road was difficult to travel in the rain, they were unable to enter the city before the Jinan city gate closed. They could only spend one night outside the city and did not dare to stay in the post station.

Zhang Zheng met Jia Chuan early the next morning.

Just like last time, everyone else went back home to catch up on some sleep. Jia Chuan went to the Censorate alone. Zhang Zheng did not return home last night and waited in the yamen.

When the two met, Zhang Zheng walked up and patted Jia Chuan on the shoulder.

This behavior of touching the tiger's butt and then running away is really worrying.

Zhang Zheng prepared the porridge noodles in advance. Jia Chuan said, "I'll tell you more after I finish eating." Then he began to eat it voraciously.

After Jia Chuan finished eating, he told him about the process of the operation. Of course, this plan was handed over to Zhang Zheng two days ago, but it was short in words. Zhang Zheng didn't know where to start if he wanted to raise any objections. When he received the next news, he was asked to arrange people to wait on the road. Once the operation was successful, they would be sent to the capital immediately.

Zhang Zheng felt like he was just following orders, but he was not unhappy. It was so much easier to get things done with a partner who had his own ideas!
"...The reason I need to send the blacksmith to the capital immediately is because I suspect there's a secret passage leading to the palace on the street where the blacksmith shop is located."

Zhang Zheng listened carefully.

"Blacksmith shops have a lot of daily needs, need to clean up, and have a lot of waste thrown away. But we've been walking around that street for a few days and haven't seen any carriages going in or out, nor have we seen people going to those blacksmith shops to order anything. No one dares to approach the blacksmith shops when we pass through that street, yet they work non-stop day and night. Where are the things they produce?"

Zhang Zheng nodded and said, "He must have entered the palace. The fact that the Prince of Han privately manufactured weapons seems to have been made public. The late emperor knew about it, and the emperor knew it even more. The Prince of Han may have known that even if they knew, they couldn't do anything to him, so he was so unscrupulous." "You can't say he's unscrupulous. It's really hard to deal with what he does in the palace. Whether it's the late emperor or the emperor, unless they directly order a confiscation of his property, the Prince of Han would have to be unaware of it in advance and come to the door suddenly. Let's not analyze why the emperor couldn't do this. Let's just talk about this blacksmith shop on the street. I think the Prince of Han was anxious, but the palace couldn't make it in a short time, so he set up a stall outside. Maybe there were more than one place. He may have felt that he was very cautious, and this caution was considered to be giving face to the emperor, but in fact it can't withstand investigation."

“Who dares to check?”

"Yes, but he has tried his best to cover it up. Few people in Le'an go out, and the Le'an government dares not say a word. If this news wants to spread to the capital, it will probably take some time."

Zhang Zheng said, "Qiao Wu said that this street was closed for more than half a year last year and reopened after the New Year this year. Last year, he wanted to inquire about what was going on with this street, but not only him, but even the county government couldn't explain clearly, saying only that the shops were being renovated. Of course, everyone knew that it was the Prince of Han's Mansion that was doing the work..."

Jia Chuan nodded and said, "The difficulty is that although this street is not long, there are many kinds of shops, and you can't enter and exit freely. It is said that when it was first opened after the New Year, the security was even stricter, and Qiao Wu's people didn't dare to take risks. That's what the Han Palace servant I arrested last time said. Starting in May this year, the management of this street has been quite lax."

Zhang Zheng said, "Last time we discussed this matter. The King of Han must have lost a lot of men and needed to be redeployed. But one blacksmith isn't enough to prove anything, let alone force the King of Han to start a rebellion early. What do you want to do next?"

"Let's wait for news from Qiao Wu first. Let's see if the loss of a blacksmith can attract the attention of the King of Han. If he's still being kept in the dark by his servants, I'll go find Zhu Zhanqi again. This guy might be trying to set a trap for me and capture me for credit. I'm thinking of using him to deal with a few of the Han Palace's servants. During this time, I'll have Qiao Wu figure out the secret route from the blacksmith shop to the Han Palace, as well as the Crown Prince's travel schedule..."

"Are you worried that the King of Han doesn't know you've been to Le'an?"

Jia Chuan smirked and said, "I'm going to wait for the snow. Only then can I see through the wheel tracks how many times the manor is entering and leaving every day, who can enter, and where these people come from. Then I can figure out how to arrange for someone to go in and see where to start. But that's all for the future. So I'll send a blacksmith to the emperor first, so he doesn't rush me. This matter can't be rushed. This year is still the first year of Hongxi, and next year is the first year of Xuande. The reign title hasn't even changed yet..."

"Is that something you can say?!" Zhang Zheng said anxiously.

"I'm just telling you this. What I mean is that the King of Han can be impatient, but the Emperor must remain calm. The King of Han must not be ready yet, and is even far from being ready. Otherwise, with his temper, he would have almost accepted it and would not have waited until this moment."

Zhang Zheng pondered for a moment and said, "The King of Han knew that the late emperor was watching him, so... but no one could have imagined that the late emperor would pass away so suddenly."

"The King of Han knew how to deal with the late emperor, but he may not know how to deal with the emperor. By the time he figures it out, I'll be almost there too."

There was one more thing Jia Chuan didn't say. When it came to the rebellion of the princes, both Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Gaoxu had experience. Zhu Gaoxu also had practical experience, but because of his temperament, he might not have really understood the intentions of some of his father's tactics back then. Zhu Zhanji was different. He had time to study and was personally trained by the person involved, so Zhu Zhanji knew what stage Zhu Gaoxu was at the moment. He was not in a hurry and naturally would not urge Jia Chuan.

……

Jia Chuan spoke with confidence, but when he woke up from his sleep, he couldn't help but sigh.

He was a little excited before going to bed, and the blacksmith's rescue was very successful. He felt that there was a bright future ahead, and he couldn't wait to ride out of the city to Le'an to fight again!

But after a good night's sleep, when the blood flow in all directions returned to normal, he realized that the road ahead was long and full of pitfalls.

Destroying the secret passages in the palace, assassinating the prince, and killing a few servants of the Han Palace all need to be done at about the same time, so as to draw all the attention of the Han Palace to the city. In this way, fewer people will pay attention to what happens in the manor. But are these things so easy to do?
It’s already cold today, is it still far from snowing?

The maid in the backyard sewed a few thick blue-gray straight-stitched shirts for Jia Chuan. After putting them on, he felt indeed warmer. He found that most of the clothes he wore this year were made of cotton. Before, when he was in the Inspection Office, he mainly wore linen clothes. He didn't know whether it was because of his wealth or because cotton planting had become more popular.

When Jia Chuan woke up, it was already dark.

Now they could eat as much meat as they wanted, and the weather was cold, so Jia Chuan didn't give any instructions. The dinner in the yard was a feast of fish and meat. Dong Yuanyuan ran around the yard happily, like a child who was looking forward to New Year's Eve.

Old Zheng's face was full of wrinkles from laughing. He had some wine to drink.

The Gao siblings were also very happy. Ever since their parents passed away, they had lived cautiously. To be more precise, it was the same when their father was alive. When had they ever had a moment like this? Especially that night when they "stealed" in the rain, it finally made them realize the usefulness of martial arts.

Chen Mo was also very happy. The young man who once wanted to slay a dragon had been holding it in for so many years and finally did something that made him happy. How could it not be worth having a few drinks?

Jia Chuan wanted to be happy, but he couldn't be happy. He had boasted, but how could he put it into practice? How could he take each step to avoid stepping on landmines?

Zhu Gaoxu must have his own rhythm. Disrupting his rhythm also requires saving his life... life? Has no one come here to check on him for so long? Do they really not take him seriously?
Or are you very busy and don't have time for the moment?

The people in the yard, regardless of gender, were all sitting in the hall of the main house in the front yard, talking about their experiences of this trip one after another. Old Zheng listened with a smile. Gao Yuntian and Chen Mo occasionally disagreed on some points and would argue for a few words. Jia Chuan drank one cup after another amid the noise.

……

At the same time, Zhu Gaoxu's study in the Prince of Han's Mansion was also brightly lit. There were military generals, counselors, and several of his sons present to listen.

It’s not that they knew that a blacksmith was missing. Meetings like this are held almost every day.

Everyone took great pains to extinguish Zhu Gaoxu's anger for not being able to kill Zhu Zhanji halfway, but another flame of anger in Zhu Gaoxu was growing. He wanted to follow his father's example and rebel directly!
Everyone patiently analyzed the differences between the past and the present, and advised him to take it step by step.

This was the main topic in this study over the three months since Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne. As for the various conditions required for rebellion, he would mention them in passing, but the main focus was on stabilizing Zhu Gaoxu's emotions.

As the weather turned cold, Zhu Gaoxu's enthusiasm also cooled down, and he was finally able to discuss important matters with everyone.

Zhu Gaoxu knew that the most convenient way to seize power was to have support in the capital. As long as he took the capital, other places would not be a problem.

How to take over the capital?

He thought of a person, Zhang Fu, the former prince of the Han Palace.

Zhang Fu was the son of Hejian King Zhang Yu. In his early years, Zhang Fu followed his father to participate in the Jingnan Campaign. The father and son repeatedly made outstanding achievements, but Zhang Yu eventually died on the battlefield.

After Taizong ascended the throne, he appointed Zhang Fu as Marquis of Xincheng. Later, in the sixth year of Yongle, Zhang Fu was named Duke of Yingzhou for his great victory in the Annan rebellion. Later, during the Yongle period, Zhang Fu quelled the Jiaozhi rebellion three times and fought with Emperor Taizong in the northern desert many times. It was not until Emperor Renzong ascended the throne that he was transferred back to the capital and took charge of the affairs of the Central Army Governor's Office.

The Central Military Governor's Office is responsible for the management of military power in the capital and some garrisons. If we can win this person over, how difficult will it be to take over the capital?

Zhu Gaoxu has been trying to win over court officials in recent years, but he has never dared to try Zhang Fu.

The two of them knew each other during the Jingnan Campaign and had a friendship of fighting side by side. Later, Zhang Fu was appointed as the Prince's Tutor in the Prince of Han's Palace. Although it was an honorary title and this position was mostly held concurrently by important officials of the court, it also showed that Zhu Gaoxu and Zhang Fu had a good relationship.

Because of this relationship, Zhu Gaoxu also understood Zhang Fu. He knew that Zhang Fu was not only courageous but also strong-willed and would not be easily won over. However, he also knew that if he could recruit this man to his side, then the throne...

The people in the study kept talking about the benefits of recruiting Zhang Fu and constantly reminding Zhu Gaoxu of the relationship between him and Zhang Fu. If Jia Chuan were here at this time, he would ask:
"You're the only ones who know about Zhang Fu's relationship with the King of Han, but the Emperor doesn't? Even if he knows, he still dares to use Zhang Fu so highly? Doesn't that mean there's trust between the Emperor and Zhang Fu? Zhang Fu currently has both the title and the official position. Just ask, who else in the court can match him? Why would he risk joining you in a rebellion? Does he think his past struggles weren't exciting enough and he's thinking of taking a roller coaster ride in his later years? Or taking his entire clan with him?"

Of course, if Jia Chuan could really attend the meeting, he would want to know more about what the King of Han thought of him.

This meeting set a goal, which was to find a way to recruit Zhang Fu. At the end, the attendees actually mentioned Jia Chuan, but Zhu Gaoxu just waved his hand and said, "He's just a clown. Let's keep an eye on him first. Once he reaches Le'an, we can deal with him later."

Even though Zhu Zhanji was building up momentum for Jia Chuan in the capital and his assassinations had failed time and again, Zhu Gaoxu still didn't take Jia Chuan seriously. Jia Chuan's previous caution was all a waste of time.

Zhu Gaoxu was a rebellious person. The more he felt that Zhu Zhanji wanted to draw his attention to someone or something, the more he didn't want to pay attention to it. Even if someone reminded him, he would still be stubborn.

……

(End of this chapter)