Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 194 Revenge: An Eye for an Eye (Seeking Votes)

The top floor of the flower boat's ship.

The two met secretly without hiring any beautiful women to accompany them for drinks. To maintain secrecy, they even pasted talismans on the doors and windows.

"Lord Wang, are you leaving Minzhou to take up the post of Deputy Military Commissioner in Yongzhou in the northwest?!"
How could this happen so suddenly? You've been moved from the prosperous Jiangnan region to the harsh and cold borderlands, sharing meals with those soldiers on the frontier. This is a promotion in name only, a demotion in reality!
Besides, Fengzhou Shanren is currently leading people to decipher the treasure map at Qingque Temple, and it will take several months to achieve results. How can you leave at such a crucial moment?

What did Grand Secretary Xu say?

When Xing Baichuan, the commander of Zhenhaiwei, learned that his biggest backer was about to leave Minzhou, he panicked.

Wang Bengu's expression was also somewhat unpleasant. He downed the Minzhou specialty Qinghong wine in one gulp, exhaled a breath of alcohol, and said:

"This is His Majesty's will. How dare Grand Secretary Xu make any comments on this matter?"

Our Emperor bestowed a letter of credence upon the Kingdom of Donghai, acknowledging the throne of the young Wang Cheng, and also granting him a qualification suitable for trade.

This clearly shows that he greatly admires this person.

On the other hand, our people suffered a setback. Mao Haifeng was executed, and Jiang Wenyuan, despite his meticulous planning, made a mistake, revealing the secret of the "Witchcraft Wooden Man" used to kill the Crown Prince and the Heir Apparent, which made the Emperor suspicious of the Qingliu faction.

I insisted on the national policy of prohibiting maritime trade and personally commanded the ambush and killing of the first Prince Jinghai and the Prince Caishui family, which almost led to that nobleman of the imperial family being promoted to the third rank.

It is understandable that Your Majesty has misunderstood my unwavering loyalty.

Clearly, the emperor had said a few days ago that loyalty and treachery should not be simply divided according to status, but in reality, he had become suspicious of Wang Bengu, a key figure in the righteous faction.

A check of his resume revealed even more surprising details.

The Imperial Inspector was a low-ranking official with little power, and in principle, he was replaced every year in August.

But he had been in Minzhou for a full four years! There was not a second case like him in the entire Zhao Dynasty for two hundred years.

This period coincides with the time in the last five or six years when the East China Sea dragons were extensively eliminated, transforming the area into the "Nine Dragons Spitting Pearls Formation" and providing nourishment for the Dragon's Blood.

The ruler's suspicions about him deepened even further.

This official transfer is just the beginning; the White Scale Guards may already be eyeing him.

However, Wang Bengu himself remained calm. Since even Han Wugui, the heir apparent of Guangze, could successfully clear himself of wrongdoing, he, as a frontline vanguard, was naturally prepared and would not be so easily caught out.

"But I can't help but waste a few more years of my life, alas!"

Xing Baichuan quickly poured him some wine, but in his heart he was thinking:

That's why people say he's a scholar.

Even when it was just the two of us, he never gave anyone a reason to criticize us; he was always so righteous and upright, and his actions seemed to truly stem from a sense of public duty.

Xing Baichuan only dared to think these words in his heart.

No matter how righteous a person may appear in order to cultivate a pure but impure "righteous spirit," it does not change the fact that he is a key figure in the clean stream and has connections above him.

"Compared to those geniuses and child prodigies, Wang Gong's talent was indeed not outstanding. He only rose to the third rank after passing the imperial examination at the age of thirty."

He is forty-six years old this year and is only a fifth-rank Confucian scholar. He has little potential in spiritual cultivation, but he still has a bright future in the secular officialdom.

After all, how many high-ranking deities and spirits were still alive in the entire Great Zhao Dynasty?
Most officials of the third rank or above actually held only the middle third rank in official position.

"As long as we, the Qingliu faction, follow our predetermined plan and successfully oust Yan, and elevate Grand Secretary Xu to the position of Grand Secretary, the prince will immediately rise to prominence, and incidentally, I, his former subordinate who has done countless dirty jobs for him, will also benefit from it."

As for Wang Bengu's true colors and the Guishan Book Society behind the Qingliu faction, will they not be exposed?

He also thought it was impossible.

The book club has a talisman to keep its members silent, preventing anyone from voluntarily revealing secrets.

Even if Xing Baichuan was just an outer member, he only knew the name and power of Guishan Academy, but not its true origins or the great feats of exterminating ten clans.

If that's the case, how could the ruler of the state, who doesn't even dare to leave the Western Garden of the Buddhist temple, possibly know?

The emperor is in the open, while they are in the shadows; there will be many more opportunities for them to make their move in the future.

However, he also had his own concerns:
"Lord Wang, what will I do if you leave?"
Yan Dang has successfully pacified the pirates, and now the ships of the General of the Sea and the General of the Sea can enter and leave the port openly.

Our highly profitable smuggling business has been severely affected; even the tributes received by the garrison are much less than before. This can't go on."

Wang Bengu peeled a large shrimp, about the length of his forearm, dipped it in sauce, and popped it into his mouth, also reassuring Xing Baichuan.

"Don't be impatient. Even if Yan's faction succeeds in this, we are not without ways to remedy the situation."

Offering high-ranking official positions and generous salaries to divide the bandits and using bandits to control bandits is indeed the most beneficial way to maintain stability along the coast.

However, all of this depends on the fact that the pirates who were recruited can actually cooperate.

Think about how Prince Jinghai died and how Hu Ruzhen was brought down. We, the Qingliu faction, can simply repeat the same methods now.

Those lowly water collectors and officials only knew the benefits of being granted amnesty; how could they know how treacherous the officialdom truly was? Even murder doesn't necessarily require a knife.

Xing Baichuan seemed to be deep in thought:
"You mean we're going to turn our backs on you?"

Wang Bengu sneered:
“Pirates are emerging one after another in the East China Sea, and the Twenty-Four Guards are useless. If the court were to recruit them all, wouldn’t the government become a den of pirates?”

The bookstore's upper echelons have already devised a plan: recruit some, attack others, kill some, then surround and slaughter the rest! Within a year, they guarantee complete restoration to their former glory.

Meimei took a sip of the green wine and continued:
"No matter how unruly a pirate you are, once you enter the officialdom, you are voluntarily walking into a cage. You will no longer be facing an enemy, but the rules and laws of the dynasty."

Having faced setbacks at every turn, wouldn't it be easy to force them into a rebellion? They've taken so many benefits from our Qingliu faction; in the end, they'll have to give them all back.

Now it's Xing Baichuan's turn, and he continues with great enthusiasm:
"Just like the folk tale of the Monkey King making havoc in the Heavenly Palace, the monkey accepted the offer of amnesty and fell into someone else's trap. He was clearly being mocked but didn't even realize it."

By controlling the cargo and the port, we gain the upper hand. It won't take much trouble; we can simply make things difficult for their cargo ships at the port and treat their people differently. Even if we can't force them to rebel, we can subtly escalate the conflict and force them to attack the government troops.

Then, they would find some excuse to lure those so-called 'generals' ashore and kill them, and then take in the remaining henchmen as their dogs.

If they're blind to the danger, I'll slaughter their entire family, just like I did with the Wang family who collected water back then.

The two colluded and exchanged a knowing smile.

They were well aware that the imperial court had only managed to salvage a sliver of its credibility by relying on Luo Wenlong's delegation to help the Donghai Kingdom execute the traitor Mao Haifeng.

If they continue to act recklessly like this, the credibility of the imperial court will surely collapse completely.

No matter how generous the conditions were, no one believed the lies of the Great Zhao court anymore.

This time, their target was not pirates, but the "reputation" of the Great Zhao.

There's a limit to how many times they can do it, but not a third or fourth time. From now on, their smuggling business will surely be a thing of the past.

Of course, the East China Sea will also become even more chaotic!

Xing Baichuan looked at Wang Bengu with a face full of respect, and a hint of fear that even he himself did not realize.

When scholars do bad things, they can be truly wicked and vicious.

After the initial attack on Prince Jinghai, Xing Baichuan felt uneasy, so he consulted a very famous fortune teller. The divination result was: "A hero will rise up with his sword, and another ten years of calamity will befall the common people."

In the next ten years, the Japanese pirates will cause chaos along the coast, resulting in countless deaths and injuries. Who would have thought that the mastermind behind this would be the upright censor with a good reputation among the people?

Wang Bengu and Xing Baichuan clinked their glasses and shook their heads regretfully.

"The chaos in the East China Sea has caused great suffering to the people, and I am deeply saddened by it."

But for the sake of the nation and the interests of all people, these are necessary sacrifices. Let the coastal people suffer for now; I will bear the blame.

Xing Baichuan nodded in agreement, then suddenly remembered someone else:
"Your Highness, that troublemaker Wang Fugui? He was bestowed with a unicorn robe by the Emperor and granted a hereditary title of Thousand-Household Officer. He's even more difficult to deal with than before."

Upon hearing this, Wang Bengu burst into laughter:
"In my opinion, he is easier to deal with."

Let Wang Fugui be proud for a while. I have already submitted a memorial to 'recognize his merits' and reinstate the old Han Dynasty official position: Director of Waterways, and specifically named him to take the position.

This official position had other names throughout history, such as Water Balance Magistrate and Grand Boat Minister, and was a fifth-rank official position.

During the Han Dynasty, some officials in charge of water management were subordinate to the "Water Balance Commandant" and others were subordinate to the "Water Management Envoy".

Their duties include managing water officials, protecting river navigation, controlling water monsters, summoning wind and clouds, and bringing rain to relieve drought.

Then this boy will be put in charge of dealing with the pirates who have been recruited.

Putting aside whether those unruly pirates would listen to him, they might also accidentally use him as a test subject for their cannons.

If we were to act covertly, this water official, who would be exposed in the open, would definitely attract all our firepower and be regarded as an enemy by those pirates!

They all wished they could kill him as soon as possible.

I've heard that there's a saying in the land of Changbai Mountains and Heilongjiang River: "A stubborn person becomes stuck at both ends," which perfectly describes his new official position.

In this way, one can use another to do one's dirty work and resolve the dilemma!

It shouldn't be long before the General Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Pirates, Yu Zhifu, summons this guy. Just wait and see what happens, hahaha!

Xing Baichuan felt reassured and repeatedly toasted Wang Bengu:

"Brilliant! Your Highness is truly brilliant!"
This farewell feast must be enjoyed to the fullest. After the meal, I've also prepared a pair of sixteen-year-old Yangzhou "slender horses" for you—rarely seen twins.

They eagerly awaited the moment, longing to witness the grandeur of royalty.

They were extremely relieved that the wicked old man was on their side, so they didn't have to fend off his vicious schemes.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and someone called out from outside:
"Commander, I have something to report. It just happened at your residence outside."

His voice was somewhat low, as if it was something he found difficult to say.

Xing Baichuan's face darkened, and he apologized to Wang Bengu:
"Lord Wang, I'll be right back."

"Go."

Wang Bengu poured himself a drink and waited and waited, but Xing Baichuan did not return. The dishes on the table slowly grew cold.

Even after years of living a life of luxury, he realized that something was wrong.

He called out to his attendants twice, but received no response.

He pushed open the door and stepped out of the cabin.

But the flower boat had changed dramatically. Colorful flags fluttered on each mast, bearing the inscriptions: "Inspecting the Emperor on Behalf of Heaven," "Protecting the Territory and Securing the People," and "Favorable Weather and Abundant Harvests."

The bow and sides of the ship were decorated with various weapons such as golden maces, silver maces, spears, knives, swords, and halberds, while hundreds of paper effigies of various servants and soldiers were neatly arranged on the deck.

Even the dancers and servants on the pleasure boats have been replaced by paper effigies at some point.

This is clearly a ship—a royal escort ship!!!
A figure that would be etched in his memory sat upright on a gilded throne placed on the aft deck, dressed in a black python robe symbolizing royalty.

He slowly raised his head, revealing a pair of eerie square coin-shaped eyes in his sockets.

"Wang Bengu, you owe me my life!"

(End of this chapter)