novelAbuy Chapter 348 It's time to test our butt strength!
Chapter 348 It's time to test our butt strength!
Indigo power, strategic indigo power!
Rebellion now brings no benefit, only trouble. It should only be a last resort, a desperate measure when all other options are exhausted. Shao Shuyi's expression remained unchanged as his emotions gradually calmed down.
He was not alone; there were over 8,000 people on Matuosha Island, and many others in Jiangyin, Changzhou, Wuxi, Taicang, Liujiagang, and other places who were deeply connected to him. To rebel at this time would be tantamount to pushing them into a fire pit.
Furthermore, the two newly formed teams have not yet fully integrated themselves into the team, and the players' hearts are not yet fully won over.
Shao Shuyi secretly reminded himself that he should never make decisions based on personal likes or dislikes or whether he felt comfortable with them.
He stepped forward, helped Fan Ting up, and then waved for the guards to lift Meng Chaodong and place him on a reed mat to the side. Meng Chaodong's eyelids seemed to twitch slightly, but he remained "unconscious."
"What are you doing? All that drawing weapons? Put them away. Opening the door makes this place look like a den of thieves." Shao Shuyi glared at the Fu Jian and Fu Yong brothers who led the way in, thinking to himself that these two were too impulsive and couldn't be entrusted with important tasks yet; they needed to be tempered. However, their loyalty was commendable. The guards sheathed their swords and then looked expectantly at Shao Shuyi.
Shao Shuyi was inwardly annoyed, but he forced a smile and said, "It's no big deal. Someone just wants to see me. If I can't even keep my composure, how can I accomplish great things?"
After saying that, he pushed open the door and led everyone to the open space outside.
From the backyard all the way to the riverbank, porters and boatmen were everywhere, carrying goods.
Compared to when it was first established, more and more merchants are willing to use Huangtian Trading Company to transport goods, including cotton cloth, raw silk, grain, timber, bricks, tiles, stone, salt, and ironware.
Everyone has their own role to play.
Merchants chatted and laughed on the riverbank, porters toiled away in their labor, and sailors scrubbed the decks. No one realized that a possible storm was brewing.
Everything is calm, just like it has been for the past few years.
"Just because someone wants to see me doesn't mean I have to give them face. That's not reasonable." Shao Shuyi smiled and said, "I won't see them, so what? Let's see if they dare to make the decision to come and arrest me."
Upon hearing this, everyone felt that it made some sense.
Fu Jian immediately bowed and apologized, saying, "Shao She, I acted impulsively just now. I felt that things had come to this point, and the only option left was to kill the officials and rebel." "Learn from this in the future," Shao Shuyi hummed in agreement.
Despite the fact that his group is very legitimate, there are still many remnants of organized crime. The reason for this is that it is not legitimate and has many things mixed together, and its formal establishment is not thorough enough.
"Do not spread today's events," Shao Shuyi said. "Huangtian Trading Company will continue to transport goods and issue salt as usual, but payment must be made in cash. If there is no money, we will not operate. Everyone else is forbidden to go out and must come with me back to Ma Tuo Sha."
"Yes, sir!" the crowd replied in unison.
Once this matter was settled, Shao Shuyi summoned the porters Ding Ren, Zhou San'er, and Xie Lu, and said, "You've all been here for quite some time now, and you know what I do for a living. Some cases might involve me, and the authorities want to question me. But you all know very well what kind of corrupt officials they are. Once you enter the officialdom, your life or death is uncertain, so I don't want to get involved. In that case, who knows what might happen? We've met before, so if you want to leave, you can go now. I won't stop you."
At this point, Shao Shuyi carefully observed the expressions on the faces of the three men.
Ding Ren was slightly nervous, but Zhou San'er's expression remained normal.
On the contrary, the newcomer Xie Lu was the most enthusiastic, and immediately said, "Shao She, I came to follow you because I was living a miserable life. Now that I haven't gained wealth and status, how can I leave willingly? Anyway, I'm all alone, I have nothing to fear. If those corrupt officials come, I'll just deal with them."
Shao Shuyi gave him an approving look and said, "Brilliant!"
Wednesday followed closely, saying, "Shao She, I was actually a little unhappy that you chose my elder brother last time you selected soldiers. But since he is more skilled than me, I couldn't say anything. Today, I am willing to stand with Shao She and let you see my abilities."
Shao Shuyi stepped forward, took his hand, and said, "As the saying goes, a strong wind reveals the strength of the grass. I misjudged you before. I never expected that you, San'er, are also a loyal and righteous hero. From this day forward, I will never dare to underestimate you."
Zhou San'er was overjoyed upon hearing this, saying, "Even if we run away now, we might be caught and tortured again. It's better to take a gamble now. Shao She, I believe in you. Everything you've done before has been successful."
Shao Shuyi patted him affectionately on the shoulder, then looked at Ding Ren.
Ding Ren hesitated slightly before asking, "Shao She, even if we don't go to the government office, it should... be alright, right?"
"What if something happens?" Shao Shuyi asked.
Ding Ren's face paled, and he stammered, "Perhaps we can just send a gift and get away with it."
"That's my business." Shao Shuyi looked at him and asked, "What do you plan to do if the gift doesn't work out?"
Ding Ren stammered, unsure how to answer.
Shao Shuyi stopped asking questions; he already understood the other party's attitude.
This person previously trained the boatmen diligently and was quite meticulous in his work, performing well in all aspects. However, ultimately, his opportunistic nature outweighed his talent. It's not that such a person is unusable. In fact, as a regime grows stronger, opportunists become incredibly numerous; without rigorous testing, you might not even be able to spot them. It's just that such individuals cannot be entrusted with important responsibilities as core members.
It's normal; people will always fall behind as they walk.
First there was Wu Heizi, now there's Ding Ren, and there will be others to come.
On Wednesday, he was somewhat dissatisfied with Ding Ren and wanted to say something, but Shao Shuyi stopped him.
Xie Lu looked at the other person with an understanding yet disdainful gaze.
He's just a lowly boatman, practically penniless. If he doesn't even dare to risk his life, he'll never amount to anything.
After explaining things to the three people, Shao Shuyi instructed them to continue the freight business as usual, awaiting his next orders.
A moment later, Chen Li, the chief of the warehouse, ran over and whispered, "Shao She, Clerk Meng has woken up."
Shao Shuyi nodded and went back into the warehouse.
"Shao She, you just now..." Meng Chaodong glanced outside and, seeing no signs of a large-scale mobilization of troops, breathed a sigh of relief. He earnestly advised, "Shao She, don't act rashly. There's still a chance to delay and turn things around."
"Oh? Tell me about it." Shao Shuyi sat down and ordered the guards to brew tea.
Meng Chaodong glanced at Fan Ting, then leaned closer to Shao Shuyi and whispered, "He's just the Left Chancellor. If his men come to question you, just don't go. He has no right to use troops."
"Is the Left Chancellor a barbarian? I heard he's one of Empress Qi's men, so his words should carry a lot of weight," Shao Shuyi said.
"That's true, but ultimately, there are still three people ahead of him in the queue: Right Chancellor Hububuhua, Grand Councilor Dashitemüer, and Left Chancellor Duoerzhi. Without their approval, there's no way we'll mobilize troops." At this critical moment, Meng Chaodong began a brainstorming session. Based on his decades of experience navigating the officialdom, he analyzed for Shao Shuyi like a strategist: "Last year, there were continuous major battles, costing countless amounts of money and grain. This spring, we spent a large sum on water transport fees, barely managing to get the Spring Festival ferry fleet to depart. Now there's the Cai Luantou Rebellion, with three Wanhu Prefectures directly stationed in Wen, the Qixian Wanhu Prefecture in Qingyuan guarding the prefectures and counties, and the coastal Wanhu Prefectures patrolling the sea frontier. All of this costs money. The province is actually dirt poor and simply can't afford it."
"Jiangsu and Zhejiang are known for their wealth, how could they be poor?" Shao Shuyi asked with a smile.
"Shao Shemo, don't joke," Meng Chaodong said helplessly. "The taxes from Jiangzhe have all been plundered by Dadu. How much is left? Even the money for war is scraped together from all sides. Let me be frank, unless taxes are increased or levies are imposed, it will be difficult to mobilize many troops."
"What if troops are transferred from other provinces?" Shao Shuyi asked again. "Previously, three provinces joined forces to suppress the bandits of Huashan, and later two provinces joined forces to attack the rioters in Tingzhou. How can we be sure that troops from other provinces won't come?"
"Those places are even poorer than Jiangsu and Zhejiang..." Meng Chaodong said with a wry smile, "Besides, their own territory isn't peaceful either."
Then, Meng Chaodong counted on his fingers one by one to Shao Shuyi: "Shao She, you may not know this, but last December, bandits rose up in Shandong and Henan, forcing the imperial court to mobilize troops to suppress them. Even the Left and Right Asu Guards were mobilized."
Shao Shuyi nodded slightly.
He wasn't entirely unaware of this matter; Cheng Ji had mentioned it to him before, saying that the Crossroads Army was to be redeployed to assist in the defense of Zhenzhou and Chuzhou because the Zhenzhou Wanhu Prefecture was going north to suppress bandits. Now it seemed that the banditry had grown larger and more serious, to the point that even the Left and Right Asu Guards had been mobilized.
"Wei" and "Wanhufu" are actually very similar.
The Left and Right Asu Guards, Wu Guards, Longzhen Guards, Tangwu Guards, and Guichi Guards each had their own garrison cities and thousand-household garrisons. Their main responsibility was to suppress local strife, and they were essentially the same as the garrison troops in the south.
In the eyes of the Yuan court, these northern garrison soldiers were their core military force.
The soldiers of the Left and Right Asu Guards came from the area north of the Caucasus and the lower Don River. After their tribes were conquered by the Mongols, they migrated eastward and participated in the campaign against the Song Dynasty. The people of the north commonly called them "Blue-eyed Huihui" or "Green-eyed Huihui"—which is true. Although most of the Asu soldiers were Greek Orthodox Christians, in the eyes of the people of the Yuan Dynasty, all religions, including Judaism and Eastern Orthodoxy, were "Huihui," with at most a distinction added, such as "Zhugu Huihui" or "Blue-hat Huihui" (Jews).
The Left and Right Asuwei were stationed in the Gubeikou and Datong area. Why were they being transferred south? Just how badly had banditry broken out in Shandong and Henan?
"Shao She, are you listening?" Meng Chaodong asked, glancing over furtively.
"I'm listening, please continue." Shao Shuyi nodded.
"Last month, the bandit Wu Tianbao attacked Yuanzhou. The imperial court specially dispatched a high-ranking official to Huguang to reorganize the military," Meng Chaodong continued. "This bandit force is formidable, and it seems unlikely to be wiped out in a short time. Relying solely on Huguang will not suffice; the imperial court will definitely request reinforcements from Jiangxi. If that fails as well, they may have to mobilize the garrison troops of Jiangzhe. At that time..."
Meng Chaodong blinked, but didn't continue.
Shao Shuyi understood.
As expected, strategic power is still essential! The saying goes, "The first to rebel will be condemned, and the last to rise will be blessed." Although this saying was meant to fool the common people into not rebelling, it still had some truth to it at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.
After a moment of silence, Shao Shuyi, the clerk, said, "Go back and tell them that I'm currently doing business outside and won't be coming back. If you want to see me, wait a while."
Meng Chaodong was taken aback, then replied with a "yes".