Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 73 Operation (Part 2)

With only two or three days left until the Lunar New Year, the Zheng residence in Yantietang is filled with a festive atmosphere.

Zheng Yonghe has not been seen for some time, having been recuperating at home until today when guests came to visit.

"Lord Zheng," Ye Shijian, commander of the Songjiang Jiading branch of the Caofu government, bowed respectfully.

"Zhongjie hasn't visited in a long time," Zheng Yonghe said with a smile, leading him into the study and instructing a servant to serve tea.

Zheng Guozhen, who was also sitting beside him, said, "Zhongjie has recently been reorganizing the grain transport registers of this office."

Zheng Yonghe was very pleased to hear this.

He started his career by reforming the canal registration system, freeing up a large group of impoverished seafarers and converting them into civilians. Many of the households in Taicang and Liujiagang today were seafarers in their fathers' and grandfathers' generation.

Of course, he also did many things that offended people, such as signing wealthy households, merchants, and powerful people as seafarers and relocating them to various thousand-household settlements.

To put it bluntly, without sufficient subsidies from the imperial court, local authorities had no choice but to do this in order to maintain their grain transport duties.

"How's the rectification going?" Zheng Yonghe asked with great interest.

"It's almost done in Jiading. A batch of wealthy households have been registered, and more than a hundred households have been released and transferred to Jiading Prefecture for registration as civilians," Ye Shijian said. "The progress in Songjiang Prefecture is a bit slow. There are still a few dozen households missing. We are currently checking the household registers in Huating and Shanghai counties. We won't be able to rest even during the New Year."

"Zhongjie is more diligent than you. If you have the opportunity in the future, you should go to a local military post to gain experience," Zheng Yonghe said, turning to his son.

Zheng Guozhen nodded in agreement: "Father is right."

Zheng Yonghe then looked at Ye Shijian and asked, "I heard that Lord Liu was unwell last month. Has he recovered?"

"He can get out of bed now, and he should be fine after the New Year," Ye Shijian replied.

He certainly knew the purpose of Zheng Yonghe's question.

His father's name was Ye Liangfu. He came from the Ye family of Chongming. When he was young, he married into the Liu family, the household of the Caofu Wanhu, and settled in Taicang.

My father was "sharp-witted and had an extraordinary appearance." Most importantly, he "served Yu Xi Gong (Liu Wanhu) from the beginning, enduring hardships and dangers without flinching. He served his superiors and treated his subordinates well, winning their favor." As a result, he "first served as a maritime transport official, was appointed as a deputy lieutenant of Jinyi, and was given a silver tally to transport grain as a hundred-household officer." He eventually rose to the rank of thousand-household officer of Songjiang, which "made his clan proud."

The "Lord Liu" mentioned by Zheng Yonghe was the son of Liu Wanhu, who served as a commander of the Changqiao naval forces and was stationed at Liujiagang.

His abilities were actually quite average, one could even say he was practically incompetent. As a naval commander of a thousand men, it was unacceptable that he had barely been to sea. However, he was, after all, the official commander of the naval forces within Liujiagang's territory; his official position carried considerable power.

"Thank God, things have improved." Zheng Yonghe praised, "In these turbulent times, the Liu Family Port navy can't do without Lord Liu's presence."

Ye Shijian followed up on his words, saying, "Recently, the pirates have become increasingly rampant, which is truly hateful."

Zheng Yonghe grunted and said, "I've heard that Sun Chuan, a broker in the blueware trade, sometimes helps pirates sell stolen goods. Is that true?"

Ye Shijian pondered for a moment, then said, "I've heard about it too, it should be true. However, without concrete evidence, Kunshan Prefecture..."

"It's not easy to talk to the Maritime Trade Office."

Zheng Yonghe glanced at his son.

Zheng Guozhen understood and laughed, "Zhongjie, you may not know this, but a seaman named Shao Shuyi intercepted a ship at sea that was selling stolen goods. At that time, Shao Shuyi led a dozen or so righteous men to board the ship and fight to the death, defeating the bandits and capturing the ship. The bandit leader, Sun Chong, is the nephew of Sun Chuan, a broker in the Qingqi trade. He has already been captured and will be handed over to the authorities soon."

Ye Shijian was surprised, thinking to himself that the name Shao Shuyi sounded familiar, as if Rong Fu had mentioned it before.

Those whom Rongfu praised should be fine.

So he replied, "As the saying goes, a strong wind reveals the strength of the grass, and a turbulent storm reveals the loyalty of the minister. In this degenerate age, it is unexpected that there are still such loyal and righteous people. Why don't the authorities commend them? As for the treacherous Sun Chuan, there is no need to say more. After investigation, he can be punished according to the law to set an example for others."

Zheng Yonghe and his son Zheng Guozhen exchanged a glance, both seeing satisfaction in each other's eyes.

Ye Shijian is a shrewd businessman; all his efforts in helping him and smoothing things over with the Suzhou Canal Transport Commissioner have paid off. Now all that's needed is for the Central Secretariat to loosen its grip. A trip to Dadu next year should bring things to a head.

After he becomes the deputy commander of ten thousand households, as long as he is not heartless, he will give the Zheng family some help, which is enough.

The group then drank tea and chatted about interesting anecdotes from the Cao Mansion, creating a pleasant atmosphere.

At noon, Ye Shijian stayed at Zheng's residence for lunch and returned home when he was satisfied.

******

December 29th, sunny.

On this day, Sun Chuan, unusually leaving his residence, went to the rear office of Kunshan Prefecture to privately meet with the prefect Liu Yexian.

This man was a Mongol. Although his education level was average, he had passed the imperial examination on the "Right List" (also known as the "Mongol and Semu List"), while the Left List was the "Han and Southern List".

Liu has been an official for over ten years. Before, he served as an official in Yunnan, where life was extremely difficult and there wasn't much opportunity to make a living. Now, he has been appointed as an official in Kunshan Prefecture, the most prosperous prefecture under the jurisdiction of Pingjiang Road. This is truly not an easy task for him.

At forty, he is at the age of "struggle," always eager to make money.

When I saw Sun Chuan today, I knew why he had come, and I greeted him with a smile and led him into the living room.

After serving the tea, he impatiently dismissed all the servants, saying, "You still have the heart to go out?"

Sun Chuan smiled awkwardly and said, "I've heard some things and I'm feeling a bit emotional."

"You're quite quick-witted," Liu Yexian said. "The warrant was issued just yesterday, and that Wang Wu was taken back to the prefectural office, and you're already here today. It's still thirty li by boat from Taicang to Liujiagang, how did you get here so fast?"

Sun Chuan did not answer directly, but only asked, "What crime has Wang Wu committed?"

Liu Yexian looked at Sun Chuan as if he were sizing up a fat sheep, and after a long while he said, "He harbored and sold stolen goods. However, he is an accomplice, and can be sentenced to imprisonment or exile. Zhou Ziliang is the principal offender, and deserves the death penalty."

Sun Chuan felt uneasy and asked, "Wang Wu is such a scoundrel, utterly shameless. It's not surprising that he often makes baseless accusations to lessen his punishment. But—"

Liu Yexian laughed heartily, his fat face jiggling, his squinting eyes fixed on Sun Chuan, seemingly plotting something.

Sun Chuan was displeased, thinking to himself that the Mongol official was really crude and didn't know how to be tactful, which made him feel embarrassed.

However, circumstances dictate that since he needed Liu Yexian's help, he had no choice but to patiently curry favor with him.

"Zhou Ziliang hasn't shown his face for a long time. Rumors say he's dead, but we don't know where he died," Liu Yexian said. "But that's not important. Zhou Ziliang's vast wealth and beautiful wives have already attracted the attention of many. Darughachi Buhua Gong has just arrived and is struggling to find property, so he's very interested in the Zhou family's paddy fields. As for me, my family is all in Dadu, and I only care about wealth and beautiful women."

This matter is troublesome, so don't waste your time. You can't possibly go against Lord Buhua and all the officials in the prefecture, can you? Lord Buhua takes it first, then I take it, and then the others can follow suit.

The Zhou family is definitely doomed; you can't save them. Besides, they're not even your relatives, are they? What? Has the Zhou family gotten hold of something on you?

"You jest, sir," Sun Chuan said with a wry smile. "I heard that Wang Wu was a close follower of Zhou Ziliang. He had disappeared before, and everyone thought he was dead. Where did he suddenly appear from?"

"It's alright to tell you. Zheng Gong, the deputy commander of the grain transport office, sent men to escort him. The authorities issued a warrant for his arrest," Liu Yexian said. "I interrogated him briefly last night, and this fellow told me quite a lot."

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuan immediately understood that the Zheng family had made their move.

But he still had many questions, so he asked, "Where did the Zheng family get this person from?"

"You really want to hear it?" Liu Yexian brought his large, round face close to Sun Chuan's and asked.

"Please enlighten me, sir," Sun Chuan said, bowing slightly.

"Wang Wu claimed that he was captured by Zheng's henchmen, and Zhou Ziliang was also killed by them," Liu Yexian said. "However, Zheng said that Wang Wu embezzled the ship repair funds and fled after the incident, but was captured by Shao Shuyi, the accountant of the Qingqi Shop and a righteous man."

"Zheng is lying," Sun Chuan said decisively.

Liu Ye shook his head and said, "A rogue and a loyal minister, whose words carry more weight?"

Sun Chuan was speechless.

"You've lost your composure," Liu Yexian said, clicking his tongue. "Why are you doing this? What good does it do to go against the Zheng family? To tell you the truth, Wang Wu did indeed implicate you, mentioning Zhou Ziliang as someone who transported stolen goods for you, but I'm not entirely convinced. There are people in the prefecture speaking up for you, after all, they're just scoundrels, so it's quite possible they're making baseless accusations, but..."

At this point, Sun Chuan understood: he needed money.

"I've long heard that you have a fondness for rare and precious items. What a coincidence! I happen to have some ivory artifacts at home. I'll bring them over tomorrow for you to appraise," Sun Chuan said with a smile, having calmed himself down.

Liu Yexian smiled but remained silent.

Sun Chuan sighed inwardly; this was a bit too much. Just as he was about to raise the stakes further, Liu Yexian spoke up.

"I bought some maids in the winter, but they are uncouth and difficult to train," Liu Yexian said. "How about having your wife come and help discipline them and teach them some manners?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuan felt a surge of anger, and his face flushed red.

Liu Yexian looked at him quietly.

The color slowly faded from Sun Chuan's face. After taking a deep breath, he said, "Some time ago, my son went to Suzhou. The Assistant Magistrate of Pingjiang Road (the Assistant Magistrate's Chief Supervisor) Lian Gong invited him to sit down, and they had a very pleasant conversation—"

Liu Yexian's expression changed.

However, he was also a man who could easily let go of things and was shameless, so he quickly laughed and said, "Ah, it's just a small matter, how could I trouble your wife? You didn't know—"

This time, it was Sun Chuan's turn to quietly watch him.

Liu Yexian's eyes flickered slightly as he asked, "Lord Lian comes from a distinguished family; how did you come to know your son?"

"The Lian family has businesses dealing in foreign trade, so—" Sun Chuan stopped mid-sentence.

Liu Yexian suddenly realized. These merchants are really good at scheming! The Lian family has many members, and it's not surprising that some of them are greedy for money and have gotten involved with Sun Chuan.

Liu Yexian felt a slight regret; this time, he couldn't control Sun Chuan. What a pity, what a pity for that ripe beauty.

Sun Chuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that this matter had been barely suppressed.

But he was still somewhat uneasy, because the cargo fleet had not yet returned, and they were already late.

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