Qing Yao

Chapter 179 You are Zhao Youlu? Attack!

Zhao An wasn't there to join in the fun; he wanted to find out what was going on.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners Army, the central army, had four generals as commanders-in-chief in the southeast. The first was the Jiangning General, the second was the Hangzhou General, the third was the Fuzhou General, and the fourth was the Guangzhou General.

Each of the four generals-in-chief possessed a Manchu city, under the command of varying numbers of Eight Banner soldiers.

The four Manchu cities were also fortresses used by the Qing government to colonize the southeast and monitor Han officials and people. The Eight Banners soldiers stationed there were similar to the Japanese squadrons that Zhao An had stationed in the bunkers and watchtowers in his previous life.

The Green Standard Army was essentially a puppet army.

The commander-in-chief of the Central Army was a very important figure. However, when such a big figure was crossing the river, he was involved in a "car accident" and almost drowned in the Yangtze River. Do you think this commander-in-chief could swallow this insult?

If they hear that the Yangzhou section of the Grand Canal is paralyzed, they'll definitely become suspicious. If they find out something and spread rumors to the old man, the canal gang will be in big trouble.

Therefore, Zhao An definitely had to go and check on things. If Commander-in-Chief Kui was alright, that would be best; if something was wrong, he would have to find a solution as soon as possible.

If the salt official can go, can the school official go?

Theoretically, there is no problem; there are no restrictions on rank or unit when welcoming past high-ranking officials.

This can be interpreted as Zhao An, the director of the Yangzhou Education Bureau, hearing that a general from the Central Military Commission had arrived, specially representing the Yangzhou education community to warmly welcome him.

He gave the general of the Central Army a lot of face.

Although the academic officials had no real power, they were very prestigious and respected.

Military leaders have always enjoyed associating with people in the education sector, exchanging compliments and praise.

In his previous life, during the Republic of China era, whenever warlords arrived in a new place, the first thing they would do was meet with the local educators. They would eagerly offer to fund schools, spending money without batting an eye.

The problem is that Zhao An was dressed in plain clothes, so it didn't seem appropriate for him to go like that.

Director Wu suggested that Committee Member Zhao quickly go back and change into his official robes, otherwise it would be somewhat improper.

There wasn't enough time, so Zhao An said he would stay behind the salt official's procession and not join in the fun.

After thinking about it, Wu, the head of the department, felt that it wouldn't have much of an impact. The Fuzhou General was a first-rank official, and in the Yangzhou area, the only people who could talk to him were the third-rank Salt Commissioner, the fourth-rank Prefect, and the third-rank Assistant Magistrate.

Everyone else has to stand aside.

Although Commissioner Zhao was an educational supervisor appointed by the imperial court, he was only a seventh-rank official and, according to officialdom rules, was not qualified to speak directly with the general.

Unless the General specifically requests to speak with Committee Member Zhao.

There was no need to hire a separate car; Zhao An simply hitched a ride with Manager Wu.

The welcoming location was the South Gate of Yangzhou. When Zhao An and Wu arrived, many units had already sent people to the city gate. They immediately saw Prefect Fang of Yangzhou chatting with Master Zhao in the Tongcan Office.

After arriving, the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai, Akedang'a, and the Deputy Commissioner, Ma Weijun, had a brief conversation. Then, Akedang'a smiled and went over to greet the Prefect and the Assistant Commissioner.

Among the crowd was an acquaintance of Zhao An—Zheng Bowen, the salt commissioner who had taken 10,000 taels of silver from him.

Zheng Bowen also noticed Zhao An and came over with a smile to greet him: "Lord Zhao, you're here too? Why aren't you wearing your official robes?"

"Since Lord Zheng is here, how could I not come? I heard that Lord Kui was coming, and I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time to change."

Zhao An greeted Zheng Bowen with a broad smile. Since Kuilon had not yet arrived, they chatted idly about this and that, and naturally the topic of the canal came up.

To Zhao An's surprise, this salt inspector was actually quite sympathetic to the canal transport workers, believing that the canal transport office bore a great responsibility and should "reflect on its own actions." "I'll observe for a few more days. If the canal workers in Huai'an still cannot be appeased, I will have to submit a memorial on this matter."

As Zheng Bowen spoke, he suddenly remembered that Zhao An had been appointed as an educational inspector by the imperial court, so he asked with a smile, "What does Lord Zhao think of this matter?"

Zhao An naturally leaned towards the canal gang and gave a long explanation, arguing that the livelihoods of millions of canal workers depended on the canal, which was the economic lifeline of the Qing Dynasty's north-south transportation and the livelihoods of millions of people in the capital. How could it be easily "paralyzed"?

The reason why such a thing happened in the Yangzhou section was simply because the canal transport authorities were too ruthless and aroused the resistance of the canal gangs.

For the sake of local stability and national economic considerations, the canal transport authorities must take appeasement measures rather than resorting to a hardline approach, as that could easily lead to an uncontrollable situation.

Great minds think alike!

Seeing that Zhao An shared the same idea, Zheng Bowen meant that if the canal could not resume traffic in a few days, then he, as the Salt Commissioner, would submit a memorial together with the Education Commissioner to impeach the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner.

Zhao An was overjoyed and immediately replied, "That's only right!"

Salt officials and educational officials who have nothing to do with the Grand Canal transport will all file a complaint against your Grand Canal Transport Office, let's see how your Grand Canal Transport Office explains itself.

Somehow the conversation turned to Yangzhou's "slender horses" (a euphemism for prostitutes), and just then, someone ahead relayed that the General of Fuzhou would be arriving soon.

Sure enough, a group of soldiers appeared from the south shortly afterward.

The procession was very grand, with one Eight Banners captain, two lieutenants, four captains and four cavalrymen, 48 cavalrymen, 120 Green Standard Army soldiers, and some civilian staff. The whole team consisted of about 200 people.

Within Fujian Province, a general's travels were equivalent to those of a governor-general, with at least a thousand people accompanying him.

That is, he was ordered to return to the capital for questioning, hence the simple and unpretentious procession.

Zhao An and Zheng Bowen both chose to step back and avoid competing with the salt commissioner and the prefect.

When the general's carriage arrived, Akdang Atong, Fang Weidian, and others, who had been waiting anxiously, stepped forward to pay their respects to the Fuzhou general. Zhao An, on the other hand, could not see clearly from afar and did not know whether the commander-in-chief was a black whirlwind like Li Kui or a smiling tiger.

The people around me didn't mention the Commander-in-Chief falling into the water, but some said that the Governor-General would be coming to preside over the provincial examination the day after tomorrow.

Because he wasn't wearing official robes, many officials didn't recognize Zhao An, the newly appointed supervisor of education, and simply mistook him for an attendant of some official.

After exchanging pleasantries with the general, the officials in charge of salt administration, prefect, and councilor of Yangzhou escorted him into the city.

The restaurant was chosen by the prefect, since the prefect was the de facto owner of Yangzhou.

The group walked over chatting and laughing, and it was then that Zhao An could see the face of Commander-in-Chief Kui clearly.

He's comparable to Li Kui, dark-skinned and fat, with two big bags under his eyes, looking like he'd overslept.

Seeing that Commander-in-Chief Kui was in a good mood, Zhao An breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Commander-in-Chief Kui would start cursing Yangzhou for being incompetent and useless as soon as he got off the car, causing trouble among the local gentry and the canal gangs.

He wanted to sneak away when he had nothing to do, but the prefect spotted him in the crowd at a glance. He was taken aback because he wondered why Professor Zhao was dressed in civilian clothes.

Without thinking much about it, he smiled and waved to Zhao An, saying, "Lord Zhao, why don't you come and pay your respects to the General?"

Helpless, Zhao An had no choice but to squeeze through the crowd, step forward, and kowtow to Commander-in-Chief Kui with a flick of his sleeve: "Your humble servant, Zhao Youlu, Professor of Yangzhou Prefectural School, greets General Kui!"

"Ah, you're a professor? Alright, alright, please don't stand on ceremony."

The commander-in-chief, in high spirits, was delighted to hear that the local education official was also present. He raised his hand to signal the other party to get up quickly, but then his heart skipped a beat, and his good smile instantly turned into a furious outburst: "You are Zhao Youlu! You bastard, come here, hold down this sycophantic dog official and beat him!"

(End of this chapter)