Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 378 Wang Cheng: The teacher died so tragically, the book club must avenge him!
"The end of summer?"

Upon hearing this name, Wang Cheng felt a chill run down his spine.

Suddenly, I remembered that the most valuable items among this spoils of war, besides the brand-new shipbuilding method and this rich territory, were the twenty-four Grand Central Committee positions that I had snatched from Jiang Jichun: [Rainwater].

The communication channels that have now been urgently activated are clearly the internal network of the "Nine-Rank Official System" parasitizing the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms".

His expression remained unchanged, but his mind was racing, assessing the risks of contacting Guishan Publishing House now:
"I was prepared to 'join in' for a long time, but I didn't expect the first contact to come so quickly."

The spiritual response of the Confucian scholar Tianban, "Buqi" (meaning "not a vessel"), comes from the second pentad of the Beginning of Autumn, "Heaven and Earth Begin to Be Solemn," which signifies that a gentleman is not a vessel.

One can serve as a leader in any field, and is not limited by legal rank, becoming any of the Grand Justices among the Twenty-Four Solar Terms.

Aside from Lichun, the leader ranked first among the twenty-four solar terms, this person's ability to obtain the position of Chushu among the numerous scholars of the Heavenly Rank indicates that his status must be extraordinary.

Especially at this crucial juncture, when Jiang Jichun had just passed away and his life-giving lamp had been extinguished, before even the imperial court had a chance to react, he sent a message ahead of time.

This person must be either Jiang Jichun's close friend at the Guishan Bookstore, or the mastermind who sent him out in the first place!

A familiar figure automatically appeared in Wang Cheng's mind—someone who appeared to be honest and upright but was actually insatiable. He felt that he was about 70% sure of Chu Shu's identity.

At the very moment he made his judgment.

A second call came from across the street at the beginning of summer:
“Rain! Since communication can be established, it proves that the Nine-Rank System has been successfully implemented. The former Rain Water Brother Jiang has passed on his title and the position of Grand Justice to his chosen successor.”

You must be a descendant of Brother Jiang or one of his disciples, right?
Don't worry, we at Guishan Bookstore are all like-minded friends. Although I was a close friend of Brother Jiang during his lifetime, I would never pry into your true identity in reality.

I just want to know if he left any last words in his title, and why he suddenly died in battle in Southeast Asia?

When Wang Cheng heard Chushu say this, he knew that the other party had never thought that someone could break through the "Nine-Rank Official Law" and intercept the title halfway, and mistakenly thought that he had inherited the position of Yushui in the lineage of Jiang Jichun.

He gave a thumbs-up to his incredibly reliable Sihai Tongbao, then handed over the remaining work to Yu Zigao and Uncle Zhang, before flashing back to the Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship.

After a brief moment of preparation, he wailed in a strained, suppressed sob:

"Waaaaah! Senior Chushu, the teacher died so tragically!"
Those Frankish people were unethical; they made peace on the surface but secretly plotted to kill the teacher, hiring two "judges" to assassinate him in the street.

The teacher was buried far from home, dying a violent death in the street. The book club must avenge him! Waaah!

Within the Kameyama Publishing House, only masks are recognized; apart from a very few open contacts, no one knows each other's identities.

【Rain Water】is essentially giving Wang Cheng a brand new disguise, similar to "Wang Fugui".

At this moment, both Wang Fugui and Wang Cheng's identities were cleverly concealed, and they used the identity of "victim's family member" to turn the tables on each other.

His voice became so distorted when he spoke that even acquaintances couldn't recognize him.

As expected, the person opposite, Chushu, who had no suspicions, was greatly alarmed upon hearing this:

"It was actually the Frankish man who killed Brother Jiang, not Wang Fugui who tricked him."

How can this be?

Shouldn't you Nestorian Christians and the Franks be fellow believers? Even if the deal fell through, why bring this upon yourselves?

Wang Cheng, pretending to be a student who had received Jiang Jichun's teachings, choked up as he recounted the whole story:

"The teacher proactively suggested peace talks, and then acted as an envoy to negotiate ashore, and so on."
They had already discussed with the governor the plan to lure Wang Fugui ashore and then kill him using a borrowed knife, but they were suddenly attacked by two Holy Cross priests and then shot to death by some of the governor's guards.
Later, Cardinal Francis Xavier of Goa arrived and attacked the treasure ship's fleet.

Senior Chushu, you may not know that the Western countries are not monolithic. I suspect that you unintentionally got involved in the conflict between the papacy and the monarchy, which is why you suffered this misfortune.

Everyone witnessed what happened, and everything I said is true.

When Wang Cheng got to this point, his words were filled with grief, indignation, and anger:

"The teacher's last words were: 'Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts; the Franks are tigers and wolves.'"

Avenge me! Avenge me! Avenge me!

Senior Chushu, whether it was the church or the governor who ordered it, the red-haired devil killing the teacher, the deputy envoy, is a declaration of war against Dazhao!
I suggest we start by retaliating against them in Macau, which they've occupied, and give them a good beating!

He also sent over the final image of Jiang Jichun's death. The sight of his mutilated limbs riddled with bullet holes, a horrific scene that would make anyone who saw it want to write seven "horrible" characters.

Seeing this scene, even though he had previously monopolized maritime trade and frequently dealt with the Frankish people from the East and West, and their relationships had been fairly pleasant, he couldn't help but frown deeply.
"Could it be that these people were two-faced before, all respectful in the Great Zhao, but immediately revealed their true colors when they came to their own territory?"

Were they worried we were eyeing their colonies, or that the Holy Cross Church couldn't tolerate heresy, so they struck first and eliminated Jiang Jichun, the most powerful figure among them?

The saying goes, "Three men can make a tiger," meaning that anyone who has been abroad would say that the combination of the Franks and the Church of the Holy Cross is a pack of wolves and tigers.

Previously, Prince Jinghai Wang Cheng said so, and Commander of Zhenhai Guard Wang Fugui said so, and now even "our own people" Jiang Jichun and his apprentice are saying so.

One person saying something might be a misunderstanding, but what if two or three people say it? Then it must be the truth!
The heat of the Beginning of Autumn also brings a bit more anger:
"Although the silver brought by the Francois from the New World is very tempting, it is an important source of wealth for us gentry and upright people."

But this time, the one who died was not a traitorous overseas citizen, but one of only twenty-four Grand Secretaries.

If this is not handled properly, and people of the same kind feel aggrieved, who knows what other officials might do?

For now, let's suspend trade and send a high-ranking, living deity to find the Franks and the Church of the Holy Cross, question them about why they killed the envoy without authorization, and demand compensation.

Then the new rainwater can go along with it.

If any further problems arise, don't blame us for being impolite.

The Three Wu and One Zong Emperors once suppressed Buddhism, and now we are not incapable of suppressing any religion!
"Franks aren't the only foreigners who can do business; there are also those from the Netherlands and Britannia. Without Butcher Zhang, we wouldn't need to eat hairy pork."

After explaining his meaning to the new [Rain Water].

Wang Cheng reluctantly agreed, but inwardly he was overjoyed.

"Come, come, hurry up! My master's wife is waiting to reopen the business."

At this moment, Chushu had no idea that the outcome was already predetermined the instant she made this decision.

It's not that good things are going to happen, it's that good people are going to be found. Once this meat bun is thrown away, it's not so easy to pick it up again.

As for what the new envoy, who only wanted to call the police at this moment, thought? Tsk, who cares?
It's no wonder that Chushu was so careless, mainly because in order for someone to be selected by the Nine-Rank System of Officials, in addition to belonging to the class of landowners and gentry, there was actually another hidden requirement.

That is, in order to ensure that all members have the same goal, the candidates' own convictions must be contrary to the imperial power!

The same applies to the upright scholars, the Prince of Yi of the Han imperial family, the Marquis of Wuding, a meritorious nobleman who shared the fate of the country, and the ambitious and treacherous merchants of the Zhang family.

Wang Cheng's obsession is precisely this:

"I do not desire titles and honors; I only wish for peace on the seas! Whoever prevents me from calming the seas and lifting the bans, I will pacify them!"

After seizing the highest legal position of economic power and the Five Emperors' Golden Sword, he set his sights on the supreme economic authority.

Conflict with traditional monarchy was only a matter of time.

However, besides wanting to overthrow the imperial power, Lord Wang also wanted to take the lives of these gentry as well.

"Rain, give me an address and I will give you the supplementary volume of 'The Biography of Empress Wu Zetian and Ruyi Jun.' Don't forget to attend the regular gathering held in the book's world next month."

I will introduce you to other high-ranking officials then.

After leaving his last words, Chushu hung up the phone.

Wang Cheng then suppressed his anger and chuckled:
"I was merely acting as a envoy to spread the word, under the guise of searching for elixirs for the emperor, and yet I attracted both open and covert attacks from the Guishan Academy."

If it were someone else, without as many trump cards and backup plans as I do, they might have already killed them.

Next, I will use the tiger skin of the Great Zhao to sit in the position of Governor-General of the Southern Seas.

It is entirely conceivable that the government and the public, especially the gentry and powerful families who monopolize overseas trade upstream, will regard me as their number one enemy!
Everyone, from top to bottom, will surely want to get rid of me as soon as possible, and then replace me with their own agent to seize this enormous wealth.

Therefore, I must create a new enemy for them and then use their strength against them in order to achieve my goal.

The Francois and the Church of the Holy Cross are the perfect candidates!
With me, Master Wang, joining the Guishan Bookstore, your good days are far from over.

(End of this chapter)