Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Jiang Guanbao broke out in a cold sweat at the question and repeatedly said, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare."

After a pause, Jiang Guanbao continued, "I think that with such a big incident in Jiangbei, the officials' shock and anger might affect Ma Tuosha. At this time, it's best to lie low for a while and wait until things calm down before making further plans."

Shao Shuyi neither agreed nor disagreed, and simply continued walking forward.

Jiang Guanbao followed closely, continuing, "Now, several batches of raw silk have been transported from Ma Tuan Sha to Liujiagang, and the people are overjoyed, completely devoted to you, Cao She. We should cherish this excellent situation. Many things cannot be rushed; a gradual approach is the best strategy." Shao Shuyi stopped, looking at Jiang Guanbao with a half-smile, and asked, "What do you know?"

Jiang Guanbao's face paled. He glanced at Tie Niu, who was standing beside Shao Shuyi, swallowed hard, and said, "Cao She, I swear to God, I have no ulterior motives." "Oh? Is that so?"

"Cao She, spare her."

"How can you be so cowardly?" Shao Shuyi grabbed Jiang Guanbao, who was about to kneel, and said helplessly, "Did I say anything? We're all brothers, why are you acting like this!"

Jiang Guanbao straightened up, wiped his sweat, and said, "Cao She, you've done something really great. It's understandable that I'm afraid."

"What did you figure out?" Shao Shuyi asked for the second time.

Jiang Guanbao lowered his head and only said three words: "Wu Dalang".

Shao Shuyi remained silent for a long time.

Jiang Guanbao glanced at him and said, "This matter is too big. The government acted very quickly. Within ten days, even the horse herder Xiao Sha received the news. So... so I think Cao She would be better off traveling around, enjoying music and plays for a while. It would be better for everyone."

Shao Shuyi asked curiously, "In recent years, there have been more than just one or two rebels, and quite a few have captured county towns and prefecture cities. Why is it like this?" "Most of them are in the south," Jiang Guanbao said. "In the north in recent years, apart from the Huihui bandits plundering prefectures and counties, there have only been wild Jurchens and Guo Huonichi killing officials and rebelling. The others are nothing to brag about, just bandits."

"Should we be considered bandits for breaching the salt fields?"

"It's a matter of ambiguity," Jiang Guanbao said immediately. "If we let it go like this, like with Guo Huoni Chi, the imperial court won't be able to catch the ringleader. Under pressure, if the officials in the prefectures and counties don't want to lose their jobs, they'll have no choice but to close the case as soon as possible, so..."

Shao Shuyi understood, and then asked, "So local officials just fool the Central Secretariat like this?"

"It's not about fooling around, the higher-ups are just pushing too hard," Jiang Guanbao said. "The bandit leader has disappeared, his fate unknown, so he's dead. If the court isn't satisfied, we'll just capture one of the bandit leaders, and that should satisfy them, right? As long as no one from the capital has been sent to oversee the suppression and pacification efforts, even if it's just a provincial governor sending a left or right vice minister, there's still a chance to turn things around."

That Wu Dalang broke through Lüsi Saltworks and left quickly. It could easily be said that everyone at Lüsi Saltworks fought desperately against the bandits, with twenty people, including the Assistant Director, Supervisor, and Clerk, dying in battle, ultimately forcing the bandits to flee. Anyway, no one from Dadu or Bianliang was sent down to investigate, so how it was written was simply a matter of the pens of the lower ranks.

In this matter, the first reaction of the Transport Commissioner of Lianghuai and the Chief Administrator of Yangzhou was to cover up the scandal, to downplay the incident, and to let it go. Even if Bianliang found out, it wouldn't be a big deal. They had many connections in the province; they could find someone, send some gifts, and it would be over. At most, Bianliang would send someone to reorganize the defenses. The punishment would be severe but lenient; Commander Lü Sichang would be imprisoned, and even the judge of Tongzhou might not be implicated.

"You mean, Bianliang will send people down again?" Shao Shuyi asked.

"That's the one who came down to collect money," Jiang Guanbao said. "When something happens in the local area, everyone involved, from the Yangzhou Circuit Chief Administrator down, has to give him money, or they'll be impeached. The Censorate and the Bureau of Investigation and Inspection will probably also send people down to collect money. When something like this happens, their eyes turn red with greed, not because they're trying to suppress the bandits, but because they see a good opportunity to collect money."

Shao Shuyi laughed heartily.

Tie Niu's eyes widened as if to say, "How can an official be so shameless?"

Despite their differing stances, in his view, when a major banditry broke out in the locality, killing officials and looting, shouldn't all the officials involved be investigated and punished to serve as a warning to others? How did it become a lucrative opportunity for them?

With the Yangzhou Circuit and the Lianghuai Transport Commission in such a state, how much focus do they have left on military affairs? If the bandits come again, they'll suffer another loss—isn't that ridiculous? No one could answer Tie Niu's question. In reality, the officials weren't that stupid; they were simply wicked. They could clearly see the pros and cons, but the system and the prevailing atmosphere forced them to act this way. Their primary task wasn't suppressing bandits, but protecting themselves—and it wasn't just them; the officials of the provinces, the censors, and the Censors' Offices were no different.

"You're very clever, and your information network on the island is excellent. You can see the whole picture from a small part. Impressive!" Shao Shuyi patted Jiang Guanbao on the shoulder and said, "It's a pity you're too timid, but that's fine too. Work hard. I'll add four more people to the patrol office to make a team. Li Fu will be in charge of this team, and he'll train them himself. You don't need to worry about them. If anyone from above comes down to inspect, you can command them. If there are any troublesome bandits that the other members of the patrol office can't handle, you can ask Li Fu for help."

"Yes, sir." Jiang Guanbao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are there many bandits heading south recently?" Shao Shuyi asked again.

"It was alright a while ago, but there have been more these past few days. They're all coming from Muma Xiaosha," Jiang Guanbao replied.

"I will talk to Li Fu," Shao Shuyi nodded and said.

The Ma Tuo Sha Patrol Office, including Jiang Guanbao, only had nine people left, some of whom were on sick leave and receiving salaries without working, making it extremely difficult to investigate cases. Mu Ma Xiao Sha and Ma Tuo Sha were separated by a narrow river. For many bandits who couldn't stay in the Jiangbei Province of Henan, crossing this narrow waterway to Ma Tuo Sha meant entering another province, greatly increasing their safety.

Therefore, the pressure on public security is definitely increasing.

Just yesterday, Shao Shuyi handed over the embroidered flag to Li Fu—he had chosen not a ferocious beast, but a crane.

Thus, Li Fu became the third person after Gao Daqiang and Wu Heizi to have a banner, commanding the Zhao brothers, Guo Xian, Su Shuisheng, Wu Jian, Wu Shangyuan, Jiang Sanbao, Wei Erdi, Liu Jiu, as well as two of Ji Wu's subordinates and two salt workers from Tongzhou.

After much deliberation, Gao Daqiang agreed to move his family to Ma Tuosha.

Wu Heizi was not so happy. He still felt more comfortable being a wealthy man in Taicang. In his words, it was not convenient to play with women in Matuosha. All he could see were stupid village women with waists thicker than water buckets.

There's nothing we can do; everyone has their own ambitions.

After much deliberation, Shao Shuyi decided to retain Gao Daqiang's "Fierce Tiger Down the Mountain" flag and have him lead the team. In addition to the three veteran members who were willing to settle in Matuosha, he would also add two more members, Ji Wu, five salt workers from Tongzhou, and three salt workers from Huai'an Road.

In this way, the two teams of twenty-eight men were complete, and all of them settled in Matuosha without any worries, allowing them to focus on training and be ready to attack at any time. Wu Heizi's bear flag was temporarily withdrawn, but it would not be given to anyone else in the short term.

Firstly, recruitment was still underway, and secondly, if they were to go out to work in the future, they could call back their "old buddies" from Taicang and Liujiagang, including Wu Heizi. After all, they still made a living in Taicang, mainly working for the Shengye Trading Company's transport department, so their relationship was still quite close. After the plan was finalized, Shao Shuyi, just as Jiang Guanbao had advised, inquired about outside news while lying low on Matuosha Island. From the tenth day of the month to the end, he didn't leave Matuosha at all. He spent his days either training the fourteen-man Gao team in battle formations and skills at the martial arts training ground in the backyard of Chongsheng Temple, or visiting the patrol office and taking Li Fu's fourteen-man team to the wilderness for a thorough training session.

On the last day of May, Kong Tie led six boats to Ma Tuo Sha and went ashore.

"We've heard the news in Taicang." Kong Tie took the tea from Shao Shuyi, his dark face expressionless, as if he were talking about something completely unrelated. "But it's mostly just rumors."

"What kind of rumors?" Shao Shuyi asked curiously.

"The salt smugglers are all cursing. Tongzhou is under strict control now, and it's not easy to get salt anymore. Especially the local tycoons in Tongzhou, who have deep connections with the patrol office and the salt fields. In the past, they could take salt at will after paying tribute, but that's no longer possible. The salt field commander has been imprisoned and sentenced to death, and several officials have also been arrested and punished. The new ones are all newcomers, and they don't listen to reason at all."

Shao Shuyi laughed, a hint of schadenfreude in his voice. He'd ruined the whole environment.

However, he also felt a bit "wronged". He said, "I also want to offer tribute, but I don't have the connections. Can you blame me?"

"Bandits from Jiangbei have fled south, and they are all saying that Tongzhou and even the entire Yangzhou Road can no longer stay because the investigation is too strict. Some people have even heard about you, Brother Shao, and said they want to come and seek refuge with you."

"Should I come and seek refuge with you?" Shao Shuyi asked hesitantly.

"I'm going to seek refuge with Brother Shao, not Brother Wu, nor Brother Cao," Kong Tie said, glancing at him.

Shao Shuyi was slightly relieved and said, "We can try to take some in, but we need to be careful in our selection. The people we take in should be put in the transport room first, and let them help transport goods. We'll see what their temperament is like and whether they are willing to be managed."

Kong Tie nodded and added, "I'll leave this to Liu Huipeng."

"Can he do it well?" Shao Shuyi asked in surprise.

"He traveled around Jiangbei for a few months and has some understanding of the local customs and culture. He's quite worldly and eloquent. I think he's alright." "Okay, use the person you've chosen." Shao Shuyi thought to himself that he couldn't do everything himself, and even those under him who had become managers couldn't do everything themselves. They would gradually have their own teams, and he should let them handle things when necessary.

"There's no official news yet," Kong Tie continued. "Qi Le, the clerk in the prefectural government, took the money and hosted a banquet for his colleagues. They're all used to dealing with paperwork, and during the conversation, he subtly mentioned the matter of Lü Sichang. Everyone was surprised, but it's clear that they haven't received any official documents from above yet."

Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "I knew it! The Yuan Dynasty doesn't get things done that efficiently. If it doesn't drag on for months, what kind of government is it?"

"It's not a particularly big deal." Kong Tie stared at Shao Shuyi and said seriously, "Xiao Hu, you should lay low for a while and not make any rash moves."

Hearing the nickname "Little Tiger," Shao Shuyi felt a warmth in his heart. Nowadays, few people dare to call him that, not even the outspoken Wang Huadu.

Old Kong really cares about him.

"I understand," Shao Shuyi said. "For the next few months, I won't go anywhere, but I'll just train the troops, build granaries, and cultivate the land. When I get tired, I'll go to Jiangyin to indulge in pleasure, entertain a few actors, and amuse myself."

Kong Tie hummed in agreement and said nothing more.

"Be careful on your way to Jiangxi," Shao Shuyi warned again. "The harvest in the north is getting worse and worse. Bandits are like crops growing in the field, one after another, and you can't get rid of them all. Don't be careless."

"Okay." After finishing his tea, Kong Tie got up to take his leave.