novelAbuy Chapter 310 Techniques
Chapter 310 Techniques
On October 17, an official boat docked at a small pier at the northwest end of Matuosha.
After getting ashore, Zhu Daocun took a special look around.
This dock is really small.
Dozens of miscellaneous trees were nailed into the mudflats, with only half of them exposed at high tide, their black water stains rising high above the stakes.
Several thick cables were tightly tied to the head of the stake, and a plank lay askew on it. The plank was half-dry with wet mud, bearing several deep and shallow footprints, as well as round marks made by the end of a bamboo pole.
Simple and crude, nothing special!
Dao Cun's wife, Fei, was the second to disembark. After looking around as well, she couldn't help but say, "It has a very natural and wild charm."
In her eyes, an old boat was parked on the shore, its hull filled with shallow water reflecting the scattered clouds.
The moss on the side of the boat was half withered, with a few curled fallen leaves clinging to it.
At the end of the dock are stone steps, with a few clumps of thin grass sprouting from the cracks and swaying in the wind.
The distant fishing boats cast faint shadows, as if embedded between the gray sky and water.
Empty and silent, it displays its unique beauty in a place where no one cares, yet it seems to carry a touch of melancholy.
Ge Daji was the third to disembark.
To be honest, he didn't see anything "rustic" about this place. Unlike the large dock on Yaqian Street, this small dock was almost exclusively used by the Shao family. Boats frequently docked, loaded with unknown contraband, and frequently left, engaged in some unknown illegal activities. Beautiful scenery? He couldn't appreciate it at all. He was now only worried about how to fulfill the instructions of the Darughachi and the Prefect, and how to resolve the imminent crisis—if something serious really happened, did they think he, Ge, would be able to escape unscathed?
Three people, three different states of mind.
More than a dozen people disembarked from the boat one after another. The leader was Chen Zi, the patrol inspector of Chengjiang, who was in charge of the safety of the three. Shi Wulang and Zhang Baiwu, the hunchbacked archer who was skilled in shooting, were also among them.
After receiving Zhu Daocun's permission, Chen Zi selected two people to go and announce the news.
A few moments later, a few people emerged from behind the reeds not far away.
"Gao Yue greets all officials. Please follow me," Gao Yue said, bowing.
He was followed by four or five men who looked like farmers.
Some people held sickles in their hands and had bundles of dry grass tucked under their arms.
A man carrying a shoulder pole had a fierce-looking face.
Some people were carrying rakes, with black mud still clinging to the rake nails.
Needless to say, these were all people working nearby who came along temporarily to embolden Gao Yue, the scholar.
Zhu Daocun had come less often, and he was somewhat surprised to see this. It seemed that the local people were in cahoots with Shao Shuyi.
Ge Daji was already used to this and reminded everyone to follow.
The group took a few steps. A northwest wind blew, bending large swathes of reeds down, their withered brown spikes rustling against the sand, revealing a two-story wooden building behind it. On the roof of the building was a lookout, where a big child with a childlike expression stood, gazing at the distant river.
There was a ditch on each of the east and west sides of the building, and a group of teenagers were standing on the side, carefully cleaning the silt and weeds in the ditch.
A horse-drawn carriage was parked in front of the gate, and a young man in black was harnessing the horse so that it could get off the carriage and walk a few steps to stretch its legs.
Two elderly women sat by the wall, basking in the sun and speaking in their Taicang accent. Their hands were busy, seemingly preparing fresh fish to be salted.
Upon arriving at the building, Gao Yue gestured for everyone to stop for the time being, and then went inside to report.
Soon, Madam Liu came out, first bowed to everyone, then took Madam Fei's hand and said with a smile, "Knowing last night that you were coming, I came from Chong Sheng Temple early this morning to wait for you."
"Where's your child? Bring him here so I can see him." Mrs. Fei was also very happy to see her good friend, her face beaming with joy.
"She's asleep inside," said Madam Liu. "Come on, let's be quiet and leave this place to the men."
Ms. Fei glanced at her husband.
Zhu Daocun waved his hand, indicating that she should do as she pleased. His purpose in bringing her here was not entirely pure.
Liu and Fei then left together, their laughter echoing all the way.
Gao Yue also came out quickly and said "Please".
The group then went inside together.
Shao Shuyi, who had been sitting behind his desk writing something, stood up, straightened his clothes, went to the door to greet Zhu and Ge, and then instructed the waiter on duty to bring over the brewed tea.
"You two officials have come in such a hurry, is there something on your minds in the prefecture?" Shao Shuyi asked after they were seated.
Zhu Daocun remained silent, lost in thought.
Seeing this, Ge Daji had no choice but to step forward. He subconsciously lowered his voice and said, "Cao She, the advance party of the Prince of Zhennan has arrived. Yesterday's arrival included a Sima named Halabuhua and a Fuwei named Boyan, neither of them are to be trifled with."
He paused, seemingly considering what to say and what not to say, "They mentioned your name."
Shao Shuyi remained expressionless and simply uttered an "oh".
"The Darughachi and the Prefect have been discussing this for a long time, and they sent me to ask Cao She's opinion." The tea was served, and Ge Daji got up to take it, but didn't drink it. He just held it to warm his hands and continued, "The Prince of Zhennan will arrive at the beginning of next month, and he may want to see you then. If Cao She feels it's inconvenient, the prefecture can help you by saying that you went out to collect debts and are not in Jiangyin."
This was said subtly, but the meaning was clear: to lay low and avoid the limelight.
Zhu Daocun nodded slightly to the side, as if endorsing Ge Daji's words.
Shao Shuyi also picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip. The tea was loose-leaf tea from Wuxi, neither good nor bad; Zhu Daocun and Ge Daji wouldn't have asked him to bring out Dragon and Phoenix Tuancha (a type of compressed tea) to serve them.
"Ge Tikong, is this the governor's intention, or the Darughachi's?" he asked, putting down his teacup.
"Yes, we have them all."
Shao Shuyi remained silent for a moment.
Outside the small wooden building, Bian Yuanheng was patrolling with several men. His leather boots made a dull sound as they stepped on the blue bricks, adding an extra layer of tension to the atmosphere inside.
"If I really hide..." Shao Shuyi stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open. A cold wind rushed in, making the account books rustle. "The Prince of Zhennan can't find anyone, and in his rage, he has implicated the whole state. Can the Darughachi and the Prefect handle this?" he asked.
Ge Daji opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally tentatively asked, "If that's the case, does Cao She wish to pay homage to the Prince of Zhennan?"
Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "I just think this might not be a good solution. I can hide, but the state can't do nothing." "Cao She's intention..." Ge Daji was somewhat puzzled.
Shao Shuyi turned around and stood by the window, half of his face backlit, making his expression unreadable. He said, "If I'm in Jiangyin, he'll probably come looking for me for money; if I'm not in Jiangyin, he'll still come looking for me, and I might not be able to avoid paying. Does the whole prefecture have to foot the bill? I can't avoid it. Since I can't avoid it, I might as well take the initiative."
"initiative?"
"That's right." Shao Shuyi sat back down and said, "The Prince of Zhennan extorted bribes all the way, and the people could not bear the oppression, which led to a popular uprising. As long as things get big, the higher-ups will find out, and someone will naturally deal with Boluobuhua."
"No!" Zhu Daocun hurriedly put down his teacup and said, "How can you control a popular uprising like this? If it expands, even the government offices might be demolished. No, absolutely not!"
Shao Shuyi glanced at him and said, "Master Zhu is mistaken. People who have been oppressed for years will naturally be unable to control their anger, but what about those hooligans who have been hanging around the streets for years? If I tell them to go east, they won't dare to go west, otherwise I'll settle accounts with them one by one later."
Zhu Daocun stood there, stunned.
Ge Daji stared wide-eyed, speechless for a long time. Cao Luo, that bastard, really had guts. It seemed that in his heart, there was no one he was afraid of, and nothing he wouldn't dare to do.
"What? Scared?" Shao Shuyi sneered, "Being scared is useless. I was originally planning to pay a few hundred ingots to avoid trouble, but they have too big an appetite and actually want to hold me hostage and squeeze out every last penny. What else can I say?"
"The Prince of Zhennan did not intend to detain him," Ge Daji said, stopping halfway through his sentence.
Cao Luo was a commoner. Once he was summoned to the Prince of Zhennan, his life and death would be in the hands of others. Couldn't they do whatever they wanted to him? What he said wasn't actually wrong.
"The prefecture shouldn't spoil him too much," Shao Shuyi continued. "If you're weak and easily bullied, you'll be bullied to death. Surely Ge Tikong understands this? The only way to truly frighten the Prince of Zhennan and make him back down is to make him feel threatened and voluntarily give up extortion. Furthermore—" Shao Shuyi glanced at Ge Daji and Zhu Daocun, and said, "It doesn't necessarily have to be a peasant uprising in Jiangyin Prefecture. Wujin, Jinling, Changzhou—where can't it happen?"
"Shao She, are you saying we should send people to cause trouble in Changzhou?" Ge Daji pondered for a moment, seemingly finding the idea quite good, and then asked. "If something happens on someone else's turf, naturally the local officials will be punished, and it has nothing to do with Jiangyin," Shao Shuyi said. "But the prefecture will be spared a disaster, isn't that good?"
"Absolutely not!" Zhu Daocun said again, "The Prince of Zhennan is so noble. If anything happens to him, the court will surely issue an edict to investigate thoroughly. At that time, Changzhou and Jiangyin will be turned upside down, and nothing will be hidden."
"Then let him not die," Shao Shuyi said. "As long as he's alive, there's still a chance to turn things around, and we can still talk. However, in order to curb his arrogance, a 'popular uprising' is necessary."
Ge Daji and Zhu Daocun exchanged a glance.
Ge Daji felt that Cao Luo's plan actually made some sense and wasn't complicated to implement, but as he said before, Cao Luo dared to provoke them, while they didn't. "If you two have nothing else to do, you can go back and report," Shao Shuyi added. "I will select men today to infiltrate Changzhou and act according to the situation." In conclusion, he said, "I want to see if this Prince of Zhennan is truly capable. I'll play along with him for the next few days and see if he still has any other ideas."
"Cao She, don't act rashly yet," Ge Daji said with a wry smile. "I'll return to the prefectural office and report before making any further plans."
"This is not a good idea." Zhu Daocun said with a stern face and a serious tone, "It's better to be safe than sorry. If there are ambitious people hiding among the rebels, it may be difficult to control the situation."
Shao Shuyi was too lazy to pay them any attention. Given the character of Kuolijisi and Zhang Yang, they were unlikely to agree. As for the "ambitious ones" that Zhu Daocun mentioned, there might be some, but they wouldn't cause any real trouble, because everyone around him was one of his own, and no one would be swayed by him.
Ultimately, you have to do some things yourself.