Qing Yao

Chapter 384 Sorry, the master is not here.
Changfu was indeed unable to give his nephew an accurate answer. Although he was a close attendant of the Imperial Household Department at the time, he was not a eunuch who spent every day with the emperor. He only knew the general outline of some things, but not the specific details.

The useful information she provided to her nephew was that the emperor had visited commoners many times during his southern tours and often went on incognito visits. Empress Nara was deposed because the emperor wanted to take a pregnant commoner into the palace as a concubine. She remonstrated with him by committing suicide. Later, Empress Nara was imprisoned and died, and the palace servants and eunuchs around her were also beaten to death.

Changfu didn't know the fate of the pregnant woman, but if she really gave birth to a dragon prince, she would be about twenty-three or twenty-four years old this year, which would match the information about Zhao Youlu provided by his nephew.

In short, Changfu's attitude was that since there were many rumors circulating about this matter in the official circles of Liangjiang, based on the principle that there is no smoke without fire, his nephew should believe that such a thing had happened.

Even if you don't believe it, you should remain neutral and observe. Never try to find out the truth, and certainly don't question the matter.

Even if the rumors are false, the fact that Zhao Youlu is favored is true!
The question is, why did the emperor promote a ninth-rank scholar to a second-rank provincial governor in just one year?

This is a question that requires serious consideration.

Is there some unknown inside story behind this?
The matter also involves Heshen, the most favored official in the court, so there is no need to question or even offend Zhao Youlu.

If it's true, given his status as a prince, there's even less reason to offend him.

"It's better to believe it exists than not to believe it doesn't," was Changfu's advice to his nephew.

As for whether his nephew should curry favor with Zhao Youlu, Changfu offered no opinion.

After all, he was far away in Guangdong, unfamiliar with the officialdom of Liangjiang, and had no influence whatsoever.

But this put his nephew in a difficult position.

"Sir, no news is good news."

The steward, who had served him for many years, offered his opinion. Since the uncle did not deny the rumors about Zhao Youlu's background, it meant that the uncle at least did not doubt the matter.

Since that's the case, sir, there's no need for you to be "cautious" anymore.

Nowadays, which official in the Liangjiang region doesn't try to curry favor with that Prince Zhao?
General Jiangning has dispatched Eight Banner soldiers to escort Prince Zhao's wife to Anqing!
Since a general of such high rank has made his stance clear, what is there for the master to worry about?

The steward's suggestion made Lord A no longer hesitate. He had already given "Brother Zhao" over 500,000 taels worth of goods and gifts, and he couldn't let this investment in their relationship go to waste.

He decided to increase his investment to try and get "Brother Zhao" to treat him differently.

At present, not only were staff members coordinated on the matter of 100,000 salt permits, but also, on the grounds that "salt bandits endanger the production and sales of Huai salt," a formal document was sent to the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner's Office requesting the dispatch of troops to assist in sealing off the border between Jiangsu and Anhui, with all military expenses to be borne by the Salt Administration Office.

Of course, the salt merchants would have to pay for this expense afterward.

Who can blame them when the suppression of salt bandits is essentially just "working" for the salt merchants?

The intervention of the Governor-General's Office prompted the Green Standard Army garrisons in Xuzhou, Huai'an, and Yangzhou to mobilize. The Salt Administration Office, which was essentially a cash cow, turned to the Grand Canal Governor-General for help. In accordance with the principle of integrating canal transport and salt administration, and since he didn't have to pay any money, the Grand Canal Governor-General readily dispatched his canal transport vanguard to "join the battle."

For a time, checkpoints were set up at major transportation routes and waterways bordering Anhui in northern Jiangsu, and suspicious persons were interrogated rigorously. Green Standard Army soldiers patrolled the provincial border day and night, fearing that salt bandits from Anhui might sneak into their own defense zone.

The warships of the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner's Office directly controlled key waterways such as Hongze Lake and Gaoyou Lake, thus spreading an invisible net across the border between Jiangsu and Anhui.

A few days later, several groups of salt bandits who were trying to flee eastward from Fengyang and Sizhou into Jiangsu to avoid trouble ran right into this inescapable net.

The salt merchants were astonished to find that the Jiangsu Green Standard Army, which used to be able to get away with just a little money, was now acting like a completely different world. Not only were the inspections unusually strict, but any resistance was met with violence.

Behind them were arrests and encirclements by the Anhui Green Standard Army, and in front of them was a blockade by the Jiangsu Green Standard Army. Some salt smugglers chose to join forces with their bosses for mutual support.

These are the dim-witted ones. Because the crackdown in Anhui is too severe for them, what's the difference between going back and banding together and waiting to die? The bright ones choose to break through the checkpoints. As long as they break through the blockade of the Jiangsu pro-independence forces, northern Jiangsu is so big, they can just find a beach or mudflat to hide on, and even the King of Heaven himself wouldn't be able to find them.

The attempts to break through checkpoints and counter-break through them led to a series of small-scale skirmishes along the provincial border. The salt bandits who tried to cross were either killed or wounded, and the remaining forces could only retreat in disarray back into Anhui Province, where they were met by Anhui soldiers who had already laid a trap.

In Fengyang, Zhao An personally oversaw the operation. Based on intelligence gathered from the previous "fake salt bandit" operation and reports from the people, he dispatched troops to raid several secret outposts of the salt bandits.

Due to the lack of information, the salt merchants were completely unprepared for the government troops' actions; two groups were even surrounded in their sleep. Those who resisted were killed on the spot, while those who surrendered were bound, detained, and interrogated separately.

Zhao An directly ordered that all captured bandit leaders be executed on the spot, and their heads be displayed in various counties as a warning to others.

It wasn't that Zhao An wanted to kill so many people, but rather that the minor leaders among the salt bandits were local tyrants, essentially mini-bosses of the grain transport gang.

These people have a lot of influence in the local area, and if they are not eliminated, there will be endless trouble in the future.

As the crackdown intensified across the country, the number of bandit leaders' heads hanging at the city gates increased, which was quite frightening. This frightened many salt merchants, causing them to either surrender voluntarily or, persuaded by their relatives, become collaborators with the government troops.

Under Zhao An's command, the Fu Biao and some elite Green Standard Army troops shrank the living space of the salt bandits. Reliable intelligence indicated that the two bandits, Xie and Yang, were hiding in Jiushan, southeast of Fengyang.

The terrain here is quite complex. Although the mountains are not high, there are many hills, which are easy to hide in and easy to ambush.

At the current pace, Jiushan will be surrounded within half a month at the latest.

Given that the main force of the salt bandits possessed considerable weaponry and had experience in successfully defeating government troops, Zhao An placed particular emphasis on the general offensive that would take place in half a month, and had been discussing with relevant generals how to capture Jiushan in recent days.

The group led by Zuo Ling Ba Liu arrived in Fengyang today. After inquiring about the location of the acting governor's residence, they rode over. Upon dismounting, they saw an official dressed in the robes of a sixth-rank official looking dejected as he came out of the residence.

After coming out, the official did not leave, but stood at the gate of the headquarters, sighing and looking miserable.

Eighty-six didn't recognize the official. After handing over his "calling card" to identify himself at the gatehouse, he casually asked the officer on duty, "Who is that outside?"

The officer on duty was a battalion commander. He glanced casually at the official outside who refused to leave and said, "Your Excellency, this man is the clerk of the Education Bureau."

"The Education Bureau?"

Eighty-six people were curious about what the education officials were doing at the headquarters.

The sergeant informed them that he had come to see Lord Zhao, but he did not see him.

Eighty-six was taken aback: "Isn't Lord Zhao here?"

The captain replied, "Lord Zhao is here."

Now, Eighty-Six was even more surprised. Lord Zhao was at the headquarters, so why couldn't this official be seen outside?

The captain didn't want to say much, but seeing that the man in front of him was an officer from the Eight Banners, he whispered, "To be honest, sir, the orders from above are that Zhao is present when people from other government offices come, but he is not present when people from the Education Commissioner's Office come."

After saying that, I was quite puzzled.

Why is Lord Zhao getting so angry with the education authorities?

(End of this chapter)