Aoyama

Chapter 429 Great Victory
Conferring a noble title.

The salary of three hundred shi (a unit of grain) was negligible.

But if something like today happens again, no one can bypass Emperor Ning's order to issue a warrant for a nationwide arrest, not even the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The outsider finally has a hereditary "identity" in this world.

Zhang Zhuo jokingly cupped his hands to Chen Ji and said, "Chen Ji, from now on we can't call you 'you kid' or 'that kid' anymore. We have to call you 'Man of Wuxiang County'."

"Lord Zhang is joking," Chen Ji said as he accepted the imperial edict.

Xiaoman, holding the little black cat, leaned closer with bright, incredulous eyes: "Young Master, you've been granted a title? You really have been granted a title! Now, the matchmakers who've been arranging your marriage will be wearing out the doorstep of the Chen family!"

Chen Ji glanced at her, then stopped pretending to be drunk: "You seem to care more about my marriage than I do."

Xiaoman said in a low voice, "But this salary of three hundred shi is too little. He's a nobleman, and even if it's divided up into monthly salaries, it's only twenty taels of silver. What nobleman lives such a meager life..."

The eunuch delivering the imperial decree's words immediately changed his expression and hurriedly said, "Miss, be careful what you say! You can't just spout such nonsense!"

Xiaoman noticed the eunuch was standing guard beside her, and immediately searched her sleeves for the item. However, she had left in such a hurry that she hadn't brought any money with her for the reward.

Her gaze fell on the prayer beads in the young monk's hand: "That one in your hand..."

The young monk quickly explained, "These are genuine prayer beads, not Buddhist coins."

Xiaoman responded with an "oh".

Zhang Zhuo took out a golden peanut from his sleeve and tossed it to the little eunuch: "What are you still looking at? Go do your work. You didn't hear anything just now."

The young eunuch beamed and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Thank you, Lord Zhang! Thank you, Lord Zhang!"

Zhang Zhuo turned to Chen Ji and said, "Kid, now that you've received a title, you should throw a banquet to celebrate."

Chen Ji closed the imperial edict and handed it to Xiao Man: "Before the spring hunt, His Majesty promised a county viscount and a salary of four hundred shi of grain. How come he was demoted by one rank?"

Zhang Zhuo smiled and pointed at him: "Don't act innocent after getting a good deal. Salary isn't important; the most valuable thing is the phrase 'hereditary succession.' The Ning Dynasty hasn't granted any titles to anyone outside the imperial clan for twenty-seven years. Now that we have the title of county baron, we can be promoted to county viscount, and later there will be king, duke, marquis, earl... Wouldn't it be great to be a king of a different surname?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead," Chen Ji shook his head and changed the subject: "By the way, Lord Zhang, what about Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia?"

“The two of them went to the Xu family to visit the Grand Secretary,” Zhang Zhuo sighed softly as he walked towards Qipan Street. “The Grand Secretary is seriously ill, and we don’t know how much longer he can hold on. If Xu Shu hadn’t exchanged the Daoist elixirs from Hu Junyan, he probably wouldn’t have survived last month. Now, some people hope that the Grand Secretary will pass away soon, and even some people in the Xu family are hoping for the same thing. A few days ago, the Hu family sent someone to the Imperial Observatory to ask Hu Junyan not to give the Xu family any more life-saving elixirs.”

Chen Ji asked in surprise, "Does someone in the Xu family also want the Grand Secretary dead?"

Zhang Zhuo smiled and explained, "When the Grand Secretary was alive, he could still entrust the Xu family to me to manage. But after he leaves, all the collateral branches of the Xu family will want to grab a share of the pie. At that time, the Xu family will no longer be under my control. Now I only hope that he can hold on for a while longer and wait for me, so that I can use new policies to restore this great land."

He followed Zhang Zhuo and asked curiously, "Doesn't Xu Shu, the Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat, inherit the Xu family business? He is the eldest son of the Grand Secretary. With him around, how can any of the collateral branches possibly try to take it away?"

Zhang Zhuo shook his head as he walked: "He came from the Forty-Ninth Heaven, and Grand Secretary Xu didn't want him to inherit the family business. Tell me, if you were Grand Secretary Xu, would you be close to someone who took over the body of your only son? Grand Secretary Xu originally wanted to kill him, but Xu Shu was saved by Yuanjue Temple back then, and when he woke up, he didn't hide his identity. He frankly said that he came from the Pure Glass World and borrowed the Xu family's body, which could guarantee the Xu family's prosperity for nineteen years... Only then did Grand Secretary Xu suppress his murderous intent. But from then on, the two never spoke a word to each other again. Grand Secretary Xu used me to pass on messages to Xu Shu, and Xu Shu used me to pass on messages to Grand Secretary Xu."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "What year is it now?"

Zhang Zhuo paused for a moment, then said, "The nineteenth year."

Nineteen years has passed since I said it would be nineteen.

For the past nineteen years, Grand Secretary Xu has held a firm grip on his position as the Grand Secretary, suppressing other powerful families to the point of being unable to raise their heads, and even the Liu family has been wiped out. Now that Grand Secretary Xu is gone, the Xu family's empire is on the verge of collapse.

Chen Ji probed, "Did Xu Shu mention why he came down from the Forty-Nine Heavens? And why did the other immortals from the Forty-Nine Heavens come to the mortal realm? Who lives in the Pure Glass World?"

Zhang Zhuo recalled: "He only said that the Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli was the place of Bhaisajyaguru Buddha, and he was unwilling to say anything else."

While they were pondering, the group had already arrived outside Chengtian Gate.

Looking at the empty Chessboard Street, Zhang Zhuo suddenly sighed, "Chen Ji, this capital city is like a martial arts world where swordsmen spar. No one dares to make a move, everyone is waiting for someone to reveal a weakness. The more you do, the more mistakes you make... But some things must be done by someone. During this year of dismissal, come and help me."

Chen Ji and Zhang Zhuo stood side by side outside Chengtian Gate, looking at the dimly lit gate tower of Qipan Street. One was wearing a bright red official robe, and the other was covered in blood.

The once bustling Qipan Street was now dark and silent.

In the hometown of Chenji, this place is no longer called Chengtianmen, but Tiananmen.

The Zhang family are now the people he trusts most in the world, and he wants to help Zhang Zhuo, but he has his own things to do.

Chen Ji was about to refuse, but then a thought crossed his mind: "What does Lord Zhang need to do right now?"

Zhang Zhuo slowly said, "Dredge the canal. The canal is like the spine of a dragon, and the nation's taxes must be transported to the capital via the canal. However, the canal gang has controlled the canal for a long time and has become a major threat. It has reached the point where it must be eliminated. However, the core members of the canal gang are very well hidden. I need your help to contact the Three Mountains Society and find out about the canal gang's situation."

Chen Ji pondered for a long time: "Okay."

If it were anything else, he could only refuse Zhang Zhuo. But since it involved the Grand Canal Gang, that was something he needed to investigate.
Firstly, the assassins disguised as Jie Fanwei, hidden among the boat trackers, must have come from the Canal Gang. Only the Canal Gang on both sides of the Grand Canal had the resources to raise such assassins. Secondly, Aunt Ping once said that the Tomb Dog carried twelve scrolls of scriptures to Yangzhou, where it was intercepted and killed by an official from the Hidden Python Sect, and the blood sacrifice ritual of the Five Witches' army also fell into the enemy's hands. Chen Ji also knew of a Hidden Python official connected to the Canal Gang... Bai Li's biological father, Han Tong.

Aunt Ping once said that Tibetan officials usually only tattoo pythons. Some people have tried to tattoo gods and Buddhas, but they all went crazy. However, she did not say that getting a god or Buddha tattoo would definitely make someone go crazy.

Han Tong has a Buddha tattooed on his hand.

Therefore, whether Chen Ji wanted to obtain evidence to implicate the second branch of the Chen family or to find the blood sacrifice method of the Five Witches Army, he had to investigate the Canal Gang, which coincided with Zhang Zhuo's idea.

Zhang Zhuo was slightly surprised and somewhat pleased when he heard him agree: "I didn't expect you to be like this, kid..." Xiao Man carefully reminded him: "Lord Zhang, you should call me Lord."

Zhang Zhuo and Chen Ji turned to look at Xiao Man, both amused and exasperated.

The young monk closed his eyes and said, "Amitabha..."

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from afar, rapid and powerful.

A fast horse galloped from the east, and someone shouted from a distance: "Great victory! Wang Daosheng, the General Commander of Pingdong and Vice Minister of War, led our Ning Dynasty's navy to raid Lushun Port of the Jing Dynasty, captured Yuan Cheng, the Privy Councilor of the Jing Dynasty, and will soon return to the capital!"

A fast horse galloped past the two of them, carrying the wind from afar that ruffled their clothes as it headed towards the Meridian Gate.

Chen Ji and Zhang Zhuo exchanged a glance subconsciously.

A surprise attack on Lushun Port?
Capture the Privy Councilor alive?
Wasn't Wang Daosheng leading his navy to aid Goryeo? How did he end up in Lushun and even capture a Privy Councilor?

The Privy Councilor of the Jing Dynasty was in charge of the Military Command, Military Intelligence, and Armaments Department. Only the Grand Councilor of the Secretariat and the Emperor of the Jing Dynasty could control him.

This was a truly important figure in the Jing Dynasty, yet he was captured alive by Wang Daosheng. And how was Wang Daosheng able to escape unscathed after capturing Yuan Cheng?

A great victory.

It was indeed a great victory.

Zhang Zhuo turned around and went to a tavern on Qipan Street, banging on the closed door: "Open the door, open the door quickly!"

He clapped his hands for about half an incense stick's time, when the waiter inside, cursing, removed the door panel: "Didn't you see we're closed... sir!"

The waiter, seeing the red-robed official outside the door, immediately became trembling with fear: "What brings you here, sir?"

Zhang Zhuo walked into the shop, took a jar of wine and gulped it down: "How exhilarating! Our Ning Dynasty soldiers stormed into Lushun Port and captured a high-ranking official of the Jing Dynasty. No one has ever done this before, and no one will ever do it again!"

He pulled the waiter along, saying, "Come on, come on, have a bowl too!"

Chessboard Street gradually became lively again. Shops that had closed earlier lowered their doors and rushed over upon hearing the commotion: "Is the great victory you mentioned earlier true?"

Zhang Zhuo laughed heartily: "How could it be fake? Of course it's real!"

He tossed a handful of golden peanuts at the waiter: "Here's your money for the wine. Whoever comes to your shop for a drink today, I'll pay for it!"

The shopkeepers and waiters outside the tavern hurriedly ran away, knocking on doors and calling for people, and more and more people gathered inside the tavern.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ji finally understood what it meant to spread the word.

This great victory is indeed something for the entire Ning Dynasty to rejoice over, but Chen Ji was unsure whether he should be happy or worried.

He stood outside the tavern, turned to look at Xiaoman: "Our coachman went on the spring hunt with me before, but I was chased and we got separated. Has he returned to the Chen family?"

Xiaoman looked bewildered: "No, if you hadn't mentioned him, I would have almost forgotten about him..."

Chen Ji's heart sank.

Si Cao Gui disappeared, disappearing once again into the sea of ​​people.

At this moment, Zhang Zhuo walked out of the tavern carrying two bowls of wine, handing one of them to Chen Ji: "Your teacher has returned in triumph, how can you, as his disciple, not be happy?"

Chen Ji smiled and downed his drink in one gulp: "Happy."

But as he drank, Zhang Zhuo's joy faded, and he frowned.

Chen Ji asked calmly, "Lord Zhang, what's wrong?"

Zhang Zhuo said in a deep voice, "After your teacher returns, I'm afraid there will be some more twists and turns."

Chen Ji asked in confusion, "What does Lord Zhang mean by this?"

Zhang Zhuo drank the wine in his bowl and sighed, "His Majesty promoted him to the position of General of Pingdong, a second-rank official, holding the seal of the General of Pingdong and commanding the Ningchao Navy, and also gave him the title of Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. Furthermore, he was exceptionally granted the title of Grand Master of the Palace, the Gold Medal of Loyalty and Bravery, and the right to execute first and report later in any matter... His honors and favors are too great."

"Oh?"

Zhang Zhuo slowly said, "His Majesty gave him 40,000 naval troops and bestowed upon him so many titles, which means he didn't think he would be able to return... Now that he has returned, how should the court reward him? If I were him, I would have to tarnish my reputation on the way back, either by killing prisoners or embezzling military funds, so that His Majesty could give me an opportunity to demote him. But Wang Daosheng will not do that; he wants to be a saint."

But this vast Ning Dynasty could not accommodate a literary sage.

Chen Ji pondered for a moment: "I'll do this..."

The next moment, Zhang Zhuo's expression changed again: "This is bad. Yuan Cheng has been captured and brought back. Lu Jin will have the opportunity to be promoted to Privy Councilor. This person is much more troublesome than Yuan Cheng and is also the most steadfast advocate of war in the Jing Dynasty."

Chen Ji casually asked, "How troublesome is Lu Jin that Lord Zhang is so worried about him?"

Zhang Zhu shook his head: "You don't understand. This person has a huge influence in the Jing Dynasty army and is extremely skilled in strategy and patience. Behind the great victories of the Jing Dynasty's southward campaign over the years, there is always his shadow. You should all go back and rest for now. I need to go to the palace to see the Emperor now!"

After saying this, Zhang Zhuo dropped his wine bowl, turned around and ran towards the Meridian Gate, not even caring about his manners.

(End of this chapter)