I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 205 Someone wants to kill officials and hijack the ship

At the canal dock in Zhangjiagou Town, north of Gaoyou Prefecture, three official ships were quietly parked in the night.

The mast, bow and stern, and the hanging lanterns cast a dim light, which rose and fell with the waves on the water, outlining the shape of the ship vaguely.

Boundless darkness surrounded the three official ships, as if it would swallow them up in the next moment.

In the distant river branch, two small boats floated out quietly and then stopped in the dark. The people on the boats lay on the deck, looking at the three official ships in the distance.

"Have you checked it out?"

A burly man asked softly the thin and capable man next to him.

"Boss, I have checked it out. The people sitting in the official ship in front are the world-famous Hai Rui, the Lord of the Sea, and the newly appointed Governor of the Grand Canal, whose surname is Wang."

"Three official ships, and the other one?"

"He used to be the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing, his surname was Xu."

"The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue's assistant minister? No wonder, this Xu guy might know their details, so he panicked and asked us brothers to kill people and hijack the ship to eliminate future troubles."

"Boss, this deal can't be done."

"How can I not do that?"

"It's Hai Qingtian on the boat."

"So what if Hai Qingtian? Did he avenge the injustice of your three generations of ancestors? Or did he guarantee the prosperity and wealth of your three generations of descendants?"

A man slowly climbed up from behind. He was short and stocky, with a face full of flesh and a scar.

The big boss looked over and whispered, "The second boss is here too. Lao Wu said that Hai Qingtian is sitting on the boat ahead. Do you think we can do this business?"

The scarred second in command said in a muffled voice: "Hai Qingtian? Which deity? I only know the God of Wealth Zhao Gongming."

The big boss felt relieved, knowing that the second in command, who was the most ruthless and had the most trusted friends in the gang, was on his side, so the matter was settled.

Lao Wu was still trying to persuade him, "Boss, if we really kill officials and rob ships, there will be no place for us in the world."

"Stupid! If you had the money, you could go somewhere else and buy a household registration certificate, change your name, become a rich man, and live a happy life!" The eldest boss ridiculed the fifth brother.

Lao Wu wanted to say more, but the scar-faced second in command kicked him from behind and glared at him fiercely. Under the pressure of his power, he dared not say another word.

The first boss saw this, chuckled, turned to the second boss and said, "Second boss, take your men aboard and kill all the officials later. I'll give you 10% of the reward money."

"Hmm." The second in command snorted.

"All crows are black, and there is no good official. The so-called "Hai Qing Tian" is just a creation of those literati. If there were really good officials in this world, brothers would not have ended up like this."

The boss continued to brainwash the second in command.

He lay on the deck, looked at the sky, and listened attentively to the sound of clappers coming from afar.

"It's three o'clock in the morning, let's do it!"

"Yes!"

In just a quarter of an hour, twenty or thirty small boats emerged from the darkness, like water insects on the water at night, clinging to the surface of the water and quietly surrounding the three government ships.

Nanjing City, Duke Wei’s Mansion.

An old servant holding a lantern led the way, leading a scholar along the winding corridor to the door of a study.

"Young Master, Mr. Liang is here." The old servant reported outside the door.

"Please come in."

The door was pushed open, and there were more than a dozen candles lit inside, making it as bright as day.

Sitting behind the desk was a man with a white face and long beard, about forty years old. He was Xu Bangrui, the son of Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, the Prince's Grand Tutor, the Minister of the Central Government, and the Garrison Commander of Nanjing. "Young Master, I am sorry for disturbing you so late at night!"

"It's okay! Shi Qing's late night visit must be for something important." Xu Bangrui waved his hand to signal the old servant to leave and invited the scholar to sit down.

The scholar was less than thirty years old, with bright eyes and willow-shaped eyebrows, and a sense of elegance combined with a touch of heroism. He was none other than Liang She, the "white glove" sent to Yangzhou by the Duke of Wei's mansion, whose courtesy name was Shiqing.

Liang She said anxiously, "Young Master, Han Youmao has bribed a group of salt pirates with a large sum of money, intending to ambush the official ship in Zhangjiagou."

Xu Bangrui stood up suddenly and shouted, "What! He wants to kill officials and hijack the ship! How audacious!"

Liang She became even more anxious, "Young Master, Han Youmao is desperate. It doesn't matter if he is anxious, but he is going to ruin everyone's good fortune."

Xu Bangrui calmed down, "Shi Qing, don't worry. This may not be a bad thing."

Liang She was stunned and looked up at Xu Bangrui not far away, trying to see the young master's true thoughts from his face, but he did not speak for a while.

The expression on Xu Bangrui's face wavered in the flickering candlelight. After a while, he asked anxiously, "Shi Qing, do you think that when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cleans up the Lianghuai salt administration, he will be pointing to Nanjing?"

"Young Master, why do you say that?"

"Shi Qing, to be honest, there were rumors in Nanjing last year that the late emperor wanted to abolish Nanzhili and set up three divisions and governors like other places."

Liang She was shocked. "Young Master, where did this rumor come from?"

"No one knows where it came from. Some say it was spread by the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department in the Western Garden, some say it was spread by a certain cabinet minister, and some say it was spread by the emperor's close ministers in the palace.

No matter what, it is not groundless. It's just that the late emperor was in poor health last year and didn't have the energy to do such a big thing. Now that the emperor has ascended the throne, he has entrusted all military and national affairs to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

We who are far away in Nanjing have a hard time understanding the temperament of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Moreover, these nobles in Nanjing are quite far away, and we have no say in the Cabinet or the Imperial Court."

Liang She somewhat understood Xu Bangrui's concerns.

Once the Nanzhili system is abolished and replaced by the Sansi, not only the six ministries, the Censorate, the Hanlin Academy and other government offices in Nanjing will be affected, but the nobles who have lived in Nanjing for generations will also be the most affected.

One of the biggest roles they played in staying in Nanjing was to control the southeast for the Zhu family.

It is far from the capital and the center of power, but one advantage is that the emperor is far away and you can be free and at ease.

By abolishing Nanzhili, the imperial court would most likely move the nobles in Nanjing to Beijing.

Having lived in Nanjing for generations and with their industrial roots in Nanzhili, who would be willing to abandon their ancestral property and run to Beijing, a city where they are unfamiliar with the place?

Therefore, rather than inspecting the salt administration, the Nanjing nobles headed by Duke Wei were more worried that the court would use the investigation of the salt administration as a starting point, follow the clues to uncover a large number of malpractices, and then use this as a reason to abolish Nanzhili.

"Young Master, if Hai Gangfeng and his three companions were robbed and killed in Nanzhili, things would be even more troublesome." Liang She answered carefully.

Xu Bangrui's face changed, and he slammed the table hard, "Shi Qing, even if they know, what does it matter? We are too far away to do anything! We and Yangzhou are just using each other. Now they can't wait to jump out and hit the tip of the knife. The most important thing for us now is to sever our relationship."

Liang She thought for a moment and said, "Young Master, there is a battalion of river defense divisions near Guazhou."

Xu Bangrui blinked his eyes and said, "This battalion of soldiers is under the control of Wu Shilai, the Right Censor-in-Chief of Nanjing and the Admiral of Caojiang."

"Young Master, I heard that you once did a great favor to Censor Wu?"

"Thank you for saving my life." Xu Bangrui leaned back in his chair and muttered, "There are pirates who are robbing and killing government ships on the canal. It is the responsibility of the Imperial Censor Caojiang to suppress the pirates and clean up the area."

In the capital city, the morning sun slowly rose in the sky. Zhu Yijun completed his daily morning exercises, took a shower, changed his clothes, and walked to the Ziguang Pavilion.

He sat down in the back hall and Fang Liang came in to report.

"Your Highness, Ye Mengxiong and Pang Shangpeng are coming in with their signs."

Zhu Yijun threw the memorial in his hand onto the table and said, "Okay, please come in, gentlemen."

(End of this chapter)