Prime Minister

Chapter 122, Section 121: [Telepathic Connection]

Today, Shen Garden is especially festive because the head of the family, Shen Bingwen, has finally returned home after being away for nearly two months.

During his absence, the managers and supervisors of the Du family and Guangtai Company felt that they lacked a backbone. Although it did not affect the normal operation of the business, they inevitably hesitated and were timid when faced with major decisions. This shows Shen Bingwen's status in their hearts.

Shen Bingwen was 43 years old at the time, and his life story was quite legendary.

Twenty years ago, Shen Bingwen's father passed away due to illness, and he was appointed to take over the Shen family in a time of crisis. Taking advantage of this, the major clans of Yangzhou launched a siege against Guangtai. In this desperate situation, Shen Bingwen tenaciously held on for nearly five years until Xue Mingzhang took office as the prefect of Yangzhou. The two hit it off immediately, thus beginning a powerful alliance that the Yangzhou clans could not bear to look back on.

Today, Guangtai Company is involved in four major industries: textile dyeing, money exchange, canal transport, and salt administration. It is no longer in the precarious situation it once was, surrounded by wolves and in turmoil. As long as it does not provoke the top few powerful figures in the capital, it is difficult for the Yangzhou gentry to threaten the safety of the Shen family.

In the afternoon, Shen Bingwen, who had just finished meeting with several managers, arrived at the East Garden of Shen Garden, the small courtyard where Shen Qingluan lived.

The maids bowed to the master of the house, and Shen Bingwen nodded slightly before heading straight to the study in the east wing.

"Greetings to Daddy."

Upon receiving the news, Shen Qingluan hurriedly came out to greet them.

"I didn't know what to say in front of your mother before."

Shen Bingwen gestured for his daughter to sit down and said gently, "Luan'er, you've lost some weight recently, but your energy and spirit are still good."

He has the demeanor of a refined gentleman, and even though he is over forty, he still exudes an air of magnanimity and composure, which is quite different from many businessmen who are obsessed with money.

In fact, if the Shen family hadn't suffered a misfortune back then, Shen Bingwen would have had a chance to pass the provincial examination. Unfortunately, fate was unkind, and he was forced to shoulder the heavy responsibility of preserving the family business. After that, he had no chance to continue participating in the imperial examination.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingluan raised her hand to touch her cheek and asked, "Father, have I really lost weight?"

"Ah."

Shen Bingwen nodded and said, "It's probably because he's been thinking too much."

Shen Qingluan understood her father's unspoken meaning, and she immediately felt a little shy. She coughed lightly and said, "That's because Father will be gone for a month or two without telling Mother what important matter he has to do. Of course, I will be very worried about Father."

"I see."

Shen Bingwen suddenly realized, and said with a half-smile, "I thought Luan'er was worried that Xue Tongzhi wouldn't be able to handle the wolves and tigers of Yangzhou."

"How could Father think like that?"

Shen Qingluan protested, "Of course, your daughter cares about you the most!"

Shen Bingwen stopped joking and nodded, saying, "Alright, Father believes you. Luan'er, your mother just told me that the Xue family's son is handsome and has a bright future, and our two families are old friends who know each other well. Since he is not yet engaged, he would be a good match for you. Your mother asked me to find some time to visit the Xue family's son and sound him out. What do you think?"

"Well... of course, a daughter's marriage should be decided by her parents. How is it any of my business to have a say?"

Suppressing her excitement, Shen Qingluan continued, "But Brother Xue left the prefectural city the day before yesterday. This time, he is going to lead the officials of the prefectural government to inspect various counties and take care of some long-standing official business. It will probably take two or three months to complete the round trip. Father's return was not very timely; we could have seen him a couple of days earlier."

Shen Bingwen sighed, "It is indeed a pity. I was preparing to return home as soon as I received your mother's letter, but the matter in Hangzhou was still unresolved, so I had to delay for a few days."

Shen Qingluan was quite curious about this, so she asked, "Father, what exactly is the purpose of your trip to Hangzhou this time?"

Shen Bingwen picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said softly, "Let's discuss the matter of going to sea."

"Go to sea?"

Shen Qingluan was taken aback.

The policy of maritime prohibition in the Great Yan Dynasty has existed for a long time, but it was not so strict during the Taihe era. The naval authorities mostly turned a blind eye to private merchants going out to sea, and even sent warships to escort merchant ships in the near sea to prevent pirates and Japanese pirates from attacking, in exchange for payment.

"Business has become increasingly difficult in recent years."

Shen Bingwen slowly said, "Although Guangtai has established itself in Jiangnan, the competition it faces is becoming increasingly fierce, and it will inevitably fall into difficulties if this continues. The reason I went to Hangzhou this time was to discuss with several tea merchants, porcelain merchants and cloth merchants the matter of going overseas and expanding trade routes. The reason I previously allowed you to go north to the capital and open cloth shops and money shops in the capital was also due to this consideration."

Shen Qingluan frowned slightly and said, "But I've heard that the sea is very dangerous right now, and going out to sea is very risky."

"It's natural."

Shen Bingwen never looked down on Shen Qingluan because she was a girl. Especially in recent years, her horizons have broadened rapidly, and he was willing to share some insights with her. Therefore, he said, "Going to sea is an inevitable trend. However, everything from merchant ships to guards needs to be planned carefully. So this time, I only reached a preliminary agreement with those people. There are still many details to discuss."

Shen Qingluan did not express much opinion on this. At present, going to sea was only a vague concept for her, and she did not know the inside story.

She suddenly remembered something and said with a slightly eager tone, "Father, before Brother Xue left the prefectural city, he sent a letter through his attendant. He said that he was busy with official duties and could not stay, so he wrote a letter by hand and asked me to pass it on to you."

"Oh?"

Shen Bingwen immediately became interested and asked, "Where is the letter?"

Shen Qingluan got up and took out a sealed letter with intact sealing wax from a hidden compartment under the bookshelf, then turned and handed it to her father. Shen Bingwen read it carefully, then handed it to Shen Qingluan, saying, "Take a look too."

Shen Qingluan was naturally very curious, after all these years, Xue Huai had only written her one letter after leaving the capital this time.

Previously, because Xue Huai had specified that the letter should be given to Shen Bingwen, she had no choice but to refrain from opening it.

Without further hesitation, she took back the letter and began to read it.

In his letter, Xue Huai did not mention any secret matters, but only briefly recounted his experiences after arriving in Yangzhou and the subsequent arrangements.

Shen Bingwen observed his daughter's reaction and smiled, "Do you think his letter was unnecessary?"

"of course not."

Shen Qingluan shook her head, read it again, and asked in confusion, "Father, what is the deeper meaning behind Brother Xue's letter?"

"If Brother Xianzhi could see the changes in Xue Huai now, he would surely be very pleased."

Xianzhi was Xue Mingzhang's courtesy name. At this moment, a hint of melancholy appeared in Shen Bingwen's eyes as he sighed, "Seven years ago, my brother Xianzhi passed away suddenly. I traveled thousands of miles to the capital just to see him off on his final journey. At that time, although Xue Huai was still young, he had already shown his upright character, which made me somewhat worried."

Shen Qingluan understood why her father was worried.

Initially, she was delighted with Xue Huai's achievements, but then came a series of bad news. Due to the lack of Xue Mingzhang's guidance and advice, Xue Huai, who was new to officialdom, encountered setbacks everywhere. Moreover, he did not know how to restrain his sharpness and be tactful, which made his situation more and more difficult.

Shen Bingwen took the letter back and said with satisfaction, "Fortunately, he has finally understood the principle that the strong are easily broken. His progress over the past six months has been obvious to all, especially his performance after taking office in Yangzhou. It can be described as handling heavy tasks with ease and leisure. Luan'er, did you see the deeper meaning behind his move of going with the flow this time?"

Shen Qingluan had thought about this privately for a long time, after all, this was a problem that Xue Huai had to solve. At this moment, she said very decisively, "I have thought about it. Brother Xue has three purposes for this move. First, to resolve the difficulties caused by the officials under the prefecture. Second, to divide the local officials in Yangzhou. Third, to temporarily ignore the disputes in the prefecture and to use swift and decisive measures to clean up the atmosphere of the officialdom in various counties, such as what he did in the Jiangdu County government a few days ago."

Seeing her father's approving expression, she continued, "At this moment, the Liu, Wang, Zheng, Bai and other families must be extremely anxious. They cannot stop Brother Xue from continuing to clean up the grassroots forces in various counties, and can only watch helplessly."

"well said."

Shen Bingwen smiled and said, "However, you still missed one thing."

Shen Qingluan said earnestly, "Please give me your guidance, Father."

"You previously told Xue Huai that the root of Yangzhou's long-standing problems lies with the Liu family. Although Xue Huai's current actions may make them uncomfortable, they cannot shake the foundation of the Liu family. At most, they are just making a show of force, right?"

"Yes."

"Since Xue Huai agrees with your view that if he doesn't act now, he'll target the Liu family, so isn't his current focus on spending a lot of time and energy inspecting various counties a misdirection? Moreover, his swift and decisive actions will inevitably force the Liu family to expedite the resolution of their own vulnerabilities. When Xue Huai returns to the prefectural city, he will face even more cautious and flawless local powerful clans. How will he deal with them then?"

Shen Bingwen put down the letter and patiently asked, "Given Xue Huai's current level of shrewdness, he couldn't possibly be unaware of this. Why would he still do this?"

Shen Qingluan recalled the contents of the letter and suddenly noticed something strange about a few paragraphs. She said with a slight excitement, "Brother Xue is using a feint to cover up his true intentions!"

Shen Bingwen asked with satisfaction, "Where is the light? Where is the darkness?"

Shen Qingluan said, "Brother Xue's departure from the prefectural city to inspect various places will make the officials and gentry of the prefectural city think that he will not take action for the time being. In fact, Brother Xue is putting himself in the open, while letting our Shen family continue to collect evidence in the dark. When he returns to the prefectural city, we can join forces to deal with these opponents! Father, am I right?"

"That's right."

Shen Bingwen said meaningfully, "Although I am very close to Brother Xianzhi, I have never met Xue Huai. The fact that he entrusted such an important matter to our Shen family shows that he treats you differently from others."

Shen Qingluan was both happy and embarrassed upon hearing this, and said softly, "Father, Brother Xue trusts our Shen family because of this."

Shen Bingwen smiled without saying a word, but sighed softly in his heart.

Does Xue Huai trust the Shen family? That should be true, otherwise he wouldn't have revealed his plans.

However, he did not make it clear in the letter, but used such veiled and suggestive language. In Shen Bingwen's view, Xue Huai did this for two reasons. First, he wanted to test his ability, and he did not reveal everything just because of his friendship with Xue Mingzhang. Second, his trust in the Shen family was not without reservation, or rather, this son of an old friend could not completely trust anyone.

Shen Bingwen was not displeased by Xue Huai's probing; he had been secretly observing Xue Huai as well.

In retrospect, this young magistrate has proven to be even more outstanding than he had anticipated.

With this kind of mindset, he will be able to go further and achieve greater things in the future.

At this moment, Shen Qingluan asked expectantly, "Father, should our Shen family intervene?"

"of course."

Shen Bingwen smiled gently, but his smile held a hidden glint of dread: "It's time to settle some scores."

(End of this chapter)