Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 199: Assuming office as the Chief Water Official, and being bestowed with the Divided Light Sword

Judging from the tone of voice, it was the Imperial Inspector Li Hu who spoke first, followed by the Governor of Minzhou, You Zhende, who chimed in, seemingly fair but actually biased.
"Lord Yu, please don't blame Imperial Censor Li for speaking so bluntly."

The naval headquarters was only eighty li away from Huanyou Town and Qingque Temple, so it was really hard to believe that they failed to detect the incursion of several thousand pirates.

You say it's the work of an enemy from outside the wall, but even a dignified third-rank official in life can't keep it away from ghosts and gods. How can I, an official, report this to the court?

The local gentry and believers suffered heavy casualties; as their officials, we must give them an explanation, mustn't we?"

The governor of a prefecture, You Zhen, was only a fourth-rank scholar, and the imperial inspector was only a fifth-rank official, yet they dared to threaten and clamor in front of a living ghost of the third rank.

Besides the excellent tradition of using civil officials to control the military that began in the Song Dynasty, the key reason was that Yu Zhifu had no powerful backers in the central government.

Throughout his life, he has experienced many ups and downs in his official career, suffering seven humiliations, four demotions, and one imprisonment. He has also been cheated out of his military achievements and has been implicated in countless other incidents, including victories that resulted in his being accused of wrongdoing.

Most of those who impeached him were civil officials such as the governor and the imperial censor who had cooperated with him.

Now, Qingliu has prepared a contingency plan to replicate the "Death of Prince Jinghai" assassination of Da Zhao Xinyu.

Yu Zhifu, the highly respected commander-in-chief in charge of defending against Japanese pirates, was not one of them. It would be best if they could move him away in advance.

Although they knew that Yu Zhifu was now the highest military commander of a prefecture and a living god of the third rank, shouldering the great responsibility of resisting Japanese pirates in several coastal prefectures, and that it would be difficult to find a replacement in a short period of time.

Don't even mention that the lives of dozens of gentry from the Guishan Book Society wouldn't be enough to bring him down; even if you added the lives of a governor and an imperial censor, it would still be a struggle.

But as long as we can find their Achilles' heel and keep Yu Zhifu busy dealing with the attacks from the court, preventing him from causing trouble for them, that will be a victory.

Yu Zhifu ignored Wang Cheng, who had already reached the door, took a sip of the tea he had brewed, and said unhurriedly:
"Your Excellency, during the reign of Emperor Taizu, a coastal defense line was built from Penglai County, Qingzhou, in the north, to Yahai County, Qiongzhou, in the south."

At that time, the mountains and seas were protected by spells at night, and the beacon towers of various guards illuminated the area for thousands of miles, making the coastal defense line an impenetrable fortress.

You should know better than anyone what the Twenty-Four Guards are like now.

It's not a problem to closely monitor the coastal defense line, but this would require more than sixty coastal fortresses and garrisons, dozens of naval forces, and three Zhenhai Towers to assist in the defense.

There are also tens of thousands of water spirits [Bai Shui Lang] and countless flying guardian spirits patrolling the sea frontier day and night.

This requires a nation that is united and prosperous, like the Spring and Autumn Period.

But all of that is gone now!

Since this matter has been brought up again today, I would also like to ask why your provisions and salaries have not been disbursed yet, given that the court has already agreed to my proposal to recruit Tanka sailors into the navy through a conscription system.
If Censor Li wants to impeach me for failing to properly supervise the enemy, then I will also impeach the Governor for neglecting military affairs.

When You Zhen heard that he wanted provisions and pay, the veins on his forehead throbbed involuntarily.

He had also heard the saying in the army that "the Zhao army is invincible when it is not fully paid, but when it is fully paid."

But ever since the court stopped competing with the people for profit, exempted the gentry from mining taxes, and further reduced commercial taxes, the tax base has been shaken to its core. Where will he get the money to recruit soldiers for the navy?

You Zhende does know where the money is, but if he dares to ask for it, his accomplices will kill him!

I thought to myself:

"I heard that twelve years ago, in the 28th year of Shaozhi, Xu Gelao's student Zhang Taiyue once submitted a memorial entitled 'On Current Affairs'."

He pointed out five ailments plaguing the court: "blood stagnation, bloating, and paralysis," and expressed his intention to reform the court to the emperor, which caused a stir in the court and among the people.

However, seven years ago, when Zhang Taiyue's future seemed bright, he suddenly claimed to be ill and took leave. He spent three years traveling around to observe the people's conditions. Four years ago, he disappeared without a trace and there has been no news of him since. Even Grand Secretary Xu did not know his whereabouts.

Some say he died of illness, some say he traveled the mountains and rivers and no longer cared about worldly affairs, and some even claim to have seen him board a merchant ship bound for Southeast Asia.

In short, apart from Zhang Taiyue, no one else in the Great Zhao court had the will or the ability to reform!

Even the Han family doesn't cherish their own empire. If we, their subjects, don't eat or take anything, we'll end up in someone else's stomach sooner or later.

Even assuming the worst, what benefit would there be in saving the Han family's empire? Would they want to become the next Yu Qian, the Junior Guardian of the Han Dynasty?

At this moment, You Zhende also noticed "Wang Fugui" standing outside the door waiting.

This "ghostly figure" was a key part of the plan; he had seen the portrait before and recognized him at a glance.

The originally highly secretive plan to decipher Zheng He's treasure maps inexplicably failed miserably, resulting in the deaths of more than half of the team members and the loss of more than two-thirds of the maps.

Regret now is useless; the most urgent task is to seize the time to make amends. So, the topic shifted:
"Lord Yu, the newly appointed Water Conservancy Official of the Imperial Court has arrived."

"Why don't we summon this rising star of the Twenty-Four Guards first, and discuss our matter later?"

Yu Zhifu originally wanted to summon Wang Cheng alone and explain the pros and cons to him.

Although it's somewhat unfortunate that representatives of the two "pure stream" factions are present today, there's no need to deliberately avoid them.

Soon, Wang Cheng, dressed in an imperial robe with a qilin design, stood below the hall.

You Zhen, with a forced smile that suggested he had been through much of the political arena, addressed Wang Cheng in a friendly manner:
"Wang Qianhu is indeed a young hero."

I've called you here today because I have some incredibly good news to share.

Lord Wang Bengu is about to take up his post in Yongzhou. His last memorial before leaving office is to commend you and suggest that the court reinstate the Han Dynasty official position of "Commander of Waterways" and appoint you to that position.

They were of the fifth rank, and their duties included managing the officials of the waterways, communicating with water spirits, dragons, and local deities, protecting river navigation, controlling water monsters, and bringing rain to relieve droughts.

"Now that the southeast is in turmoil, you, as the Chief of the Waterways, will be in charge of coordinating the Generals of Zhenhai and Daohai who have been recruited by the court, and ordering them to cooperate with the government troops in fighting pirates." Wang Cheng has made great contributions in Yingzhou, and even the emperor has recognized his achievements. Naturally, the local authorities have to show their appreciation, and promoting one or two of them is only to be expected.

However, his "listening to thunder" clearly detected a hint of schadenfreude in the eyes of the governor and the newly appointed imperial inspector beside him.

Wang Cheng didn't need to go back and carefully examine Wang Bengu's memories; a smart person would realize the problem simply by looking at the nature of the official position.

"To praise someone to death!"

"So that's why they were so kind as to promote me; they were waiting for this!"

This water official was destined to be caught in the middle, suffering from both the imperial court and various pirate groups.

No one has done this before, so it's impossible to compare the good and bad. If you do it well, it's your duty; if you don't, both sides will hold you accountable.

With a simple "I had no idea, it was all done by temporary workers," they completely absolved themselves of any responsibility.

This position of Du Shui Guan, which was once under the command of the Shui Heng Du Wei, was not permanent. It was only a temporary assignment to deal with the situation along the coast. In the end, wasn't he just a temporary worker?
Although Yu Zhifu in the hall was unaware of the sinister intentions of the Guishan Academy, he had already personally experienced the nature of civil officials.

The old general is already in his sixties. He has experienced the ups and downs of his official career. What hasn't he seen and experienced?
He was knowledgeable about everything, but he could never change his upright nature and was unwilling to flatter officials, which caused him to suffer many hidden losses.

Naturally, he knew all too well how formidable those civil officials, including Emperor Shaozhi, were—unpredictable in their actions and masters of shifting blame.

When Yu Zhifu saw that Wang Cheng's face was not filled with elation at his promotion, but rather with deep thought, he knew that this young man had also figured out the key to success.

He took out a military treatise and suddenly spoke:

"Commander Wang, here is a copy of my book, 'The Sword Manual,' which records some of my insights on military strategy, staff techniques, and swordsmanship."

In particular, the essential technique of the Hundred-Step Flying Sword, the Dividing Light Sword, also known as the Sword Light Splitting Technique, is worth a look. I will give it to you today.”

A book floated lightly into Wang Cheng's hands.

The latter took it, and after just one glance at the cover, which was handwritten by a living ghost, he immediately recognized the value of the book.

"The essence of military strategy originates from the number 'five,' just as the human body has five limbs. Even if one leads a million troops, one can still act as if one were a single person."

In a five-man formation, three men form the regular formation and two form the irregular formation; in a ten-man formation, seven men form the regular formation and three form the irregular formation; in an eight-man formation, the four corners form the regular formation and the four directions form the irregular formation.
Those skilled in combat possess an endless variety of limbs that can bend and stretch, thus their movements can be either orthodox or unorthodox; suddenly orthodox movements can be followed by unorthodox ones, and orthodox movements can be gathered while unorthodox ones disperse; and suddenly orthodox movements can be dispersed while unorthodox ones gather.

Although it is only one chapter in the "Sword Classic", it not only contains Yu Zhifu's secret military strategy book "Millions as One", but also has a simple and brutal effect of military formation, which is to gather the masses.

With the combined strength of countless ants, and with everyone working together, even Mount Tai can be moved!

It also records the key to evolving swordsmanship from military strategy, with the highest level being able to split the sword light into nine, making it invincible in battle.

The item is definitely a good one, but Wang Cheng also has doubts. Even if Lao Yu thinks highly of him, how can such a treasure be given away so easily? Shouldn't it be kept as a family heirloom?
The old general sighed softly:
"I ask the floating clouds, but they remain silent; for whom do they go east, for whom do they go west? The traces of human life are similar to those of the clouds, yet they cannot help the people who suffer in their own confusion."

No need to overthink it; we are both from Minzhou and are old friends of the Lu family.

"From now on, I will dedicate myself to doing practical things for the people of Dazhao, and that will be enough to fulfill my duty as a father."

Back then, he was falsely accused and imprisoned. He was only released thanks to his friend Lu Wenfu, the commander of the White Scale Guard, who bribed the young Grand Secretary and asked Chief Minister Yan for help. Otherwise, he would have been killed.

He had a life-or-death bond with the Lu family.

Wang Cheng's sponsor is Lu Yi, the current head of the Lu family and a commander, and his direct superior is the famous Lu Yunchen, the eldest grandson of the third generation of the Lu family, also known as "Ghost God Jealousy".

Yu Zhifu naturally held him in high regard, regarding him as his own junior.

In fact, at Wang Cheng's current level, he was also legally qualified to receive the imperial court's secret military documents, but he was not a fifth-rank official and did not yet have any temple soldiers or ghost soldiers under his command.

Wang Cheng, not expecting such an unexpected gain, bowed deeply to Yu Zhifu with a solemn expression:
"I dare not refuse the gift from my elders; I am ashamed to accept it."

You Zhende and Li Hu didn't care; their backup plans had nothing to do with their individual martial prowess.

The more Yu Zhifu valued Wang Fugui, the happier they were, as they could drag him down with them later.

Little did they know that Wang Cheng, though outwardly reluctant to accept the new official position, was secretly overjoyed.

"Wang Bengu is such a good person."

I initially felt I'd lost out by only getting a small amount of cultivation from you.

Unexpectedly, even at the very end, you didn't forget to prepare a big gift for me.

The imperial court is unlikely to reopen the position of "Water Balance Commandant," but this "Captain of Waterways" position is enough to keep me well-off. Thank you, Lord Wang, for giving me such a high-ranking official post.

Soon, a Shaoxing clerk delivered a new official document and imperial edict to him.

There was also a brand-new fifth-rank bronze seal specially made for this official position, which was 2.4 inches square and 4.5 inches thick (the circumference of a ritual vessel is 2.2 centimeters).

Although the official seal is small, it feels incredibly heavy when held in one's hand.

From then on, Wang Cheng became the hereditary commander of the Baoshan Thousand-Household Office, the commander of the 500-man naval force, and the chief naval officer of Minzhou, thus becoming a true prefectural official.

The unresolved official aura hanging over their heads finally dissipated.

His perception of the Qi of the Water Official Dao Heavenly Life Water Golden Toad suddenly jumped to a higher level.

Most importantly, with the blessing of this official position, the slow progress of the fusion between the [Four Seas Exorcising Evil Talisman] and the [Golden Toad Suppressing Treasure Talisman] suddenly doubled!
(End of this chapter)