After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Black Tiger Mountain is steep and precipitous, towering thousands of feet high. It is located at the intersection of three counties, with well-developed transportation networks, and is backed by the vast Yunze Lake.

With waterways connecting to the Yangtze River in the north and land routes linking to Suzhou and Hangzhou in the south, its location is truly superb, a place blessed with natural advantages and outstanding natural beauty.

With convenient access by both land and water, and the vast marshes providing easy hiding places, people from all walks of life, including notorious thieves and bandits, gathered here.

In this chaotic place, many outsiders rely on their formidable skills to fight each other endlessly, hoping to make a name for themselves, raise the banner of "acting on behalf of Heaven," recruit bandits, and establish themselves as kings of the mountains!

The three counties surrounding Black Tiger Mountain were greatly disturbed, and the three garrisons launched several expeditions, but all returned empty-handed.

Among them, Jiulinwei is located in the northeast, Yushuiwei in the southwest, and Dingjiangwei in the southeast... The soldiers of the garrisons are corrupt and incompetent, but the area is adjacent to the Yangtze River and its location is similar to Liaodong in the former Liang Dynasty, so the court has been constantly rectifying it.

Therefore, the military strength of the garrison troops in this area is several times stronger than that in the inland areas.

In addition, about a hundred miles north of Black Tiger Mountain, there is a garrison that can be called a border army, stationed on the north side of Yunze Lake, called Yunhu Camp. This camp is equipped with both land and water forces, and has a commander of tens of thousands of troops. It is one of the important towns of Daliang for defending against the Northern Dynasty crossing the river.

Fan Shiwei, the general of Yunhu Battalion, joined the army at the age of sixteen. Now forty years old, he is resourceful and good at taking care of his soldiers. During his more than twenty years of military service, he has won many military achievements.

General Fan was illiterate, yet he held the rank of third grade and enjoyed great favor. In the eighth year of the Tianqi reign, favored by the emperor, General Fan was recommended by Chief Minister Qin to be the General Who Pacifies the Bandits, stationed at Yunhu Camp, and placed under the command of the Governor of Liangjiang.

Dingjiangwei had a small troop strength to begin with, and it was located in Daze County, which was closest to Heihu Mountain, so the pressure of defense was the heaviest.

Black Tiger Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack; it can be described as a place where one man can hold off ten thousand!

In recent years, Dingjiangwei has launched the most campaigns against the Black Tiger bandits among the three counties, but each campaign has ended in failure with heavy losses.

As night fell, the clatter of horses' hooves came from the south.

The Yushuiwei Yamen (government office) was located in the county seat of Yushui County.

When Ning Nan arrived in the county town with a group of Imperial Guards, it was already past midnight. The city gates were closed. They showed their Imperial Guard badges and verified the documents before the heavy city gates were opened.

The night was deep. Ning Nan and the others raised their torches, slowed down, and walked through the main streets of the county town.

The garrison headquarters was brightly lit, and the garrison commander even went to a restaurant in the county to prepare a banquet, which was served in exquisite sandalwood food boxes and delivered one by one.

The commander of Yushuiwei was named Liu Datong. His ancestors followed the founding emperor in conquering the country, fighting in the south and north for many years. They were granted the title of commander based on their military achievements, and the Liu family has held the title of commander ever since.

At the banquet, Ning Nanchao, with a large beard, toasted Liu Datong and said with a smile, "I am but a commoner, and I am truly grateful for the hospitality shown to me by Commander Liu today."

Liu Datong laughed heartily, raised his glass in a toast, and said, "Brother Ning, you are too kind. Brother Ning has been favored by the Grand Tutor and hired as a staff member. He has been in charge of the Black Tiger Mountain bandit suppression campaign and has achieved great success in one battle, annihilating Xiao Chun's bandits. He is truly a young hero!"

"Brother is so envious!" Liu Datong said with a radiant face, downing his Shaoxing red wine in one gulp.

At this moment, a deputy commander with a hooked nose nearby also laughed and said, "Exactly! You know, this Xiao Chun is a failed scholar, but the formidable second-in-command of the Black Tiger bandit stronghold. He fought his way in and out of several local garrisons several times without suffering a scratch, while we suffered heavy losses. But unexpectedly... this bandit couldn't even last a single round against Young Master Ning... Tsk tsk tsk... Young Master is truly amazing! Come, come! We, Chen and the others, are a few years older than Young Master, and we are ashamed, ashamed... Come! Let's toast Young Master!"

After saying that, the hook-nosed man made arrangements, calling on the other deputy commanders and several centurions who were accompanying him to raise their glasses together. Everyone laughed and raised their glasses to toast Ning Nan.

Ning Nan's smile remained unchanged. He glanced at the other person and respectfully returned the toast.

Setting down his wine cup, as a maidservant approached to refill it, Ning Nan shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Commander Liu and Deputy Commander Chen are too kind... I was too young, and those scoundrels were despicable. Previously, I was too idealistic, and my strategies were riddled with errors. If it weren't for the strong assistance of Commander Qin and Commander Shangguan of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Grand Tutor's strategic planning, and the Emperor's boundless blessings in sending Wang Daban... I would have been nothing more than a Zhao Kuo who only knew how to talk the talk, making myself a laughingstock..."

Embroidered Uniform Guard, Grand Tutor, Emperor... In the spirit of "might as well use someone else's name," he casually mentioned them all.

"Hey, hey, hey! Brother Ning, you're too modest..." Liu Datong feigned displeasure, frowned, snatched the wine cup from the maid's hand, and personally poured wine for Ning Nan... Ning Nan immediately raised his hand, smiling and saying, "No, no, I dare not..."

The banquet was lively, and the two chatted about all sorts of things. They were so close that they almost became sworn brothers, but Liu Datong never got to the point... For example, how many soldiers did Yu Shuiwei plan to send to Black Tiger Mountain?

Ning Nan wasn't in a hurry. With a warm smile, he chatted with the other party about local customs and gossip.

Although his face was flushed, his alcohol tolerance had improved a lot since his last drunken night at Yanchun Pavilion. He had drunk quite a bit this time and seemed drunk, but his mind was still quite clear.

This situation was somewhat expected... A few days ago, Chao Qin Yuanyao said that he hoped the powerful figure behind Zhu Yuanwai could persuade the Southern Liang court to send a general or eunuch as an inspector to coordinate the surrounding county governments and garrisons to jointly suppress the bandits.

Later, he observed that Xiuxiu, a member of the Imperial Guard, had become a leading lady in an opera troupe, and he also observed the habits of Qin Yuanyao, Old Man Xu, and others... He guessed that Qin Yuanyao must have an official identity like an Imperial Guard, while Master Zhu must be a member of the imperial family... Later, this was indeed confirmed, and his confidence grew even stronger.

The reason why they openly and secretly hoped that the court would send a general or eunuch down was very simple: as long as the money was sorted out, the general and eunuch would be easy to fool. With a large share of the money to be shared, the other party would naturally be motivated, and there wouldn't be many troubles.

But civil officials are a different story… Once you reach the third rank, there aren’t many pedantic ones, so you don’t have to worry about them constantly spouting sage quotes… But every civil official is too shrewd. To fool them, you have to figure out their various factions in court, and these vested interests are incredibly complicated… But if you don’t clarify things, they might oppose some of your plans because of some vested interest… Ugh, what a headache…

Even with Master Zhu as his backer, he was still just a commoner.

Zhu Yuanwai's status as a member of the imperial family was effective against military officers and eunuchs, but not against civil officials who had risen through the civil service examinations. These civil officials were all shrewd individuals who had emerged from countless battles, and while they appeared very noble on the surface, they might disregard the facts and only consider their own stance, taking pride in opposing Zhu Yuanwai... Sigh... This is not a good thing at all.

It's just a pity...

The official dispatched by the imperial court this time was indeed a civil official.

—Gu Xichuan, the Grand Tutor who was in charge of teaching Emperor Tianqi in his early years and is now in charge of teaching Prince Xin, was appointed by the court as the Governor of Yunhu Lake and was ordered to tour Yunze Lake and supervise the suppression of the Black Tiger Stronghold.

Wang Xianyue, a close attendant of the emperor, served as the emperor's military supervisor and supervised the army together with Governor Gu.

The two men arrived in Yushui three days ago and stayed at the county government office.

With Zhu Yuanwai's help, Ning Nan became a staff member of Grand Tutor Gu Xichuan. This made it much more legitimate for him to do many things... However, with this civil official above him, whom he had never met, Ning Nan was still a little uneasy, worried that this person was too aloof or something... In short, he was worried that the other party would disagree with his plans for various reasons.

But whether it was because Master Zhu had such strong connections or something else, this Imperial Tutor hadn't objected to his plan for several days! He had always supported him and hadn't secretly sabotaged him... This was truly... too much face for him!

Inside, the candlelight flickered, while outside, the bright moon climbed past its zenith, and the darkness of the night deepened.

The banquet, in which the host and guests enjoyed themselves immensely, continued until the early hours of the morning. Just as everyone was in high spirits, the Grand Tutor sent someone over, saying that a carriage had been dispatched to invite Young Master Ning to the county office for a chat.