I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 546: Hai Rui Plays Military Tactics Again

Everyone looked at Hai Rui in surprise.

Master, are we short of money?
Why would you want to get involved in a fraud gang and become an accomplice to the evildoers?
Hai Rui said calmly, "I have to go to Nanjing first."

Shu Youliang knew Hai Rui's thoughts best and couldn't help but mutter, "Master, you said you wouldn't play the art of war, but now you want to play it again. Are you planning to follow this group southward and conceal your true intentions?"

Everyone suddenly understood.

So that's how it is. This Buddhist Lahu group was beating drums and gongs along the way, making a huge noise, but who would have thought that the newly appointed Jiangsu governor, the world-famous Hai Qingtian, was actually mixed in with them.

Without anyone noticing, he followed us all the way south to Nanjing City.

Now the officials and gentry of Jiangnan were all in a state of panic, staring at the canal with wide eyes. Among all the places along the canal, only the governor of Zhili, Hu Rugong, generously invited the master to a meal in Tianjin.

He is an old minister of the emperor's palace, and he behaves uprightly, so he is not afraid at all.

It’s different in other places in Shandong and Jiangsu, where people are worried.

People from all walks of life tried their best to find out the news about the master, but who knew that the master sneaked all the way to Nanjing!
Hai Rui stroked his beard and said calmly, "I may as well be frank with you all. This time I am going south on the orders of the Emperor, and Nanjing is very important.

Therefore, I have to go to Nanjing first to find out the situation. Then I will find a way to go to Suzhou. Finally, I will go to Yangzhou to take up my post. "

Zhang Dao and the other three were all members of the Jinyiwei Military Academy who were assigned to protect Hai Rui. They were carefully selected and were loyal and reliable. Hai Rui's life and safety were in their hands, so there was nothing he couldn't speak frankly about.

After hearing what Hai Rui said, Zhang Dao and the other three didn't care. They just followed the master wherever he went.

Shu Youliang started to mutter again, "If someone wants to be the governor, he would wish he could grow wings and fly to the post so that he can open the door and receive tributes.

Master, you are so good, you just wander around slowly first, and then go to take up your post after finishing your work. You are really patient. "

"What's there to be impatient about? In the emperor's new official system, the governor is nominally the head of a province, but in fact he has two responsibilities. One is to lead the national policies and strategies of the cabinet and divide them into local implementation measures; the other is to supervise the three departments and counties of the province to abide by the law and implement the government according to the order.

The focus is on general supervision, not being a close official, nor sitting in the government office to deal with complicated matters. The governor will be acting as the governor for the time being, and I will not worry about it. I will first go on a private visit in disguise to find out the truth about Jiangsu, and then I can deal with them. "

After Hai Rui finished explaining, he turned around and asked, "Brother Xiao Fang, is there any chance of joining this Buddhist Lahu Society?"

Fang Zhiyuan thought for a moment, "Master, according to the rules of the underworld, Lahu will recruit new members as it goes along. One is to boost its momentum, and the other is that there are different local bosses in different places, and they need help to open up connections.

Master, I can go and try to negotiate. But before we talk, we have to first determine our identities so that we can tell them the details. "

"Brother Xiao Fang has thought it through very carefully. You have the most experience in this area, so you can start by telling me the rules."

"Master, you must hide among us and not attract attention, so you can't show up in person."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Master, you will be a legal advisor, the kind who can read and write letters; Brother Shu, you will be the accountant; Brother Zhang, you will be the head; Brother Zhao, Brother Shiqiu and I will just be the lackeys."

Fang Zhiyuan thought for a while and said, "Let's just say that everyone was originally a bachelor in Shanghai."

Shu Youliang asked curiously, "Single?"

Fang Zhiyuan explained: "Brother Shu, bachelors are just naked gangsters, which are the street thugs in the former Song Dynasty. They are just a few rogues who make a living by extorting money. Most of them are single men without wives, so they are called bachelors.

Some of them make a living from the government, bribe government officials, and specialize in litigation for others. This kind of people are called all-knowing ghosts; some of them only eat idle meals, make groundless accusations, look for other people's affairs, stir up trouble, and form gangs to cause trouble. This kind of bachelor is called headless ghosts; some of them act as middlemen, specializing in extorting prisoners and merchants, and even robbing on the road. They are called daytime ghosts.

The leader of the bachelors is called "Ba Gun Tou", the legal advisor is called "Sa Mo Pan Guan", the accountant is called "Caishen", the alert person who explores the way is called "Zhuan Cang Shu", and the person who can keep the place under control is called "Diao Jing Hu".

Shu Youliang was happy: "Zhang Dao, you are the stick head. Master, you are the ink-sprinkling judge. I am the God of Wealth. Fang Zhiyuan, you are the hamster, Zhao Kuan and Wang Shiqiu, you two are the tigers with hanging eyes, all complete.

Xiao Fangzi, what is the difference between this bachelor and Lahu? "

"Brother Shu, there are relatively few bachelors, so they mainly use force, plus some fraud and threats, and they mostly cause trouble in one place. The Lahu Society is a group with clear division of labor, and they travel to many places. They mainly use fraud, and force is only a supplementary means."

"I see." Hai Rui nodded. "Brother Fang, now that we have determined our identities, do we have a chance to join the Lahu Society?"

"There is a chance!" Fang Zhiyuan replied, "The Lahu Society often recruits some bachelors as thugs or helpers. We said that we followed a Lahu Society to the capital to do business, but the business went bad and we were arrested by the government, so we all fled."

Wang Shiqiu looked rude but was very considerate. He asked, "We said we were bachelors from Shanghai, but the accent is wrong."

Fang Zhiyuan smiled and said, "There are local ruffians among the bachelors, but in prosperous places like Shanghai, Suzhou, and Guangzhou, bachelors come from all over the world, so accents are not a problem.

If we say that they are bachelors from Shanghai, but we say that they have a Shanghai accent, it would be wrong. Bachelors from Songjiang Prefecture usually hang out in Suzhou and Changzhou. Bachelors from Suzhou and Changzhou mostly hang out in Nanjing and Yangzhou. But bachelors in Shanghai are the most diverse.

Fang Zhiyuan thought for a moment and then said, "I have roughly figured out who the leader of this Buddhist Lahu Society is. But he is not easy to approach. But he has two confidants who often come out to socialize.

Later, Brother Zhao and Shi Qiu will seize the opportunity and wait for one of their confidants to come out and take care of a few thugs on the ground in front of him to show their strength. Then I will go and talk to them, and the chances will be even greater. "

Hai Rui admired in his heart that each of his guards was a talented person!

"Okay, let's do it! From now on, everyone from me down will listen to Brother Xiao Fang's orders and make sure to infiltrate this Buddhist Lahu Society."

"Yes!"

Early in the morning of the fourth day, Monk Xiu De's luxurious boat slowly started and left Linqing Wharf.

Four passenger ships of different sizes followed behind, with a flag with an image of Vairocana Buddha painted on it raised on the mast of each ship. One of the ships was the passenger ship chartered by Hai Rui.

Yesterday afternoon, Manager Li from the Lahu Association came out to do some shopping. On Tongchuan Street, Wang Shiqiu and Zhao Kuan beat up seven or eight burly men, leaving them lying on the ground in fear.

Manager Li's eyes lit up, but he didn't step forward to say hello easily.

Fang Zhiyuan stepped forward and apologized to the surrounding shops and pedestrians who had been "disturbed" according to the rules of the underworld.

The jargon-filled speech made Manager Li's eyes shine brighter.

They are all children of the world.

When he finished his work and went to a teahouse to rest, he found that these people had been sitting there drinking tea and seemed to be arguing about something. Manager Li was moved and sat beside them to listen to a few words. It turned out that these bachelors followed others to the capital to do business, but the business failed. They were unwilling to go back without making any money, so they started arguing.

Manager Li was very happy as he was short of manpower.

This business made a lot of money, but the security force was very weak, which was worrying.

These people were invited by their peers to do business in the capital, so they must be good people. It would be great if they could be hired as guards. So Manager Li invited them and promised them a good reward.

Fang Zhiyuan and the other two hesitated for a while, then called out Zhang Dao, the stick leader, and directly stated that there were also an Ink Judge and a God of Wealth in the team, and they were out here to make a fortune together, and they couldn't be left alone and go back with empty bags.

If you want to treat, treat six people together.

There are not many loyal people in the underworld these days, but he could still meet a group of them in Linqing. Manager Li readily agreed. He took Zhang Dao, the stick leader, and Fang Zhiyuan, the hamster, back to see the leader, asked a few questions, and then decided to accept them into the group.

Hai Rui and his entourage followed this Buddhist Lahu Society and traveled south along the canal, visiting Liaocheng, Jining, Xuzhou, and Huai'an, staying in each place for three or four days.

Accompanied by the chief and the steward, the great monk Xiu De went out for social events and begging for alms.

Zhang Dao and his men took turns guarding the dozens of boxes in the cabin. Accompanied by two guards in shifts, Hai Rui and Shu Youliang, under the banner of Xiu De's followers, visited the local people to inquire about their feelings.

We passed through Yangzhou that day, but did not enter the city. We stayed at the dock for one night and left the next day.

Everyone was very confused, so Fang Zhiyuan went to find Manager Li to find out the whole story.

"Yangzhou City is now the seat of the three Jiangsu departments and the governor's office. I heard that the emperor sent Hai Qingtian to be the governor of Jiangsu. The officials and gentry in Yangzhou City were like ants on a hot pot, at a loss, and they had no time to hold a Buddhist meeting.

Besides, the one who came was Hai Rui, the great Lord Hai! Yangzhou City has become a place of trouble and great danger. How dare we stay here for long? The sooner we leave, the better off we will be. "

That's what happened.

In the evening, Fang Zhiyuan accompanied Shu Youliang, hired a carriage, and took five boxes of old clothes to the clothing store to sell them.

The owner of the clothing store was amazed when he saw five boxes full of old clothes. He picked up one at random and found it had patches all over it. Some even had a pungent smell of mold. They were genuine old clothes.

The shopkeeper was dumbfounded.

"Excuse me, where did you get these five boxes of used clothes?"

"The capital." Shu Youliang said carelessly, "We heard in the capital that the emperor sent Hai Qingtian to be the governor of Jiangsu. We estimated that the price of used clothes in Jiangsu would increase, so we collected these old clothes and took them south with us to earn some money as an errand boy."

The shopkeeper couldn't help but give Shu Youliang a thumbs up, "Brother, you are really good at doing business! Fortunately, you don't do business in Yangzhou, otherwise my small business would definitely be squeezed out by you."

"Hey, no problem. Do you want to keep these clothes?"

"Yes, now in Yangzhou, Changzhou, Suzhou, and Songjiang, officials and gentry are all buying old clothes. The price changes every day. Our store has bought all of them and will give you this price."

The shopkeeper and Shu Youliang rolled up their sleeves, gestured with their right hands inside their sleeves for a while, and finally agreed on the price.

Shu Youliang took fifty silver dollars and two fifty-dollar bank drafts and returned to the ship happily.

"Master, next time you change places to be the governor, you must tell me in advance so that I can prepare another batch of goods in advance. Five boxes of old clothes sold for 150 silver dollars, which is six or seven times the profit.

How many times in a lifetime can you come across such huge profits! I am so happy to see the funds being mobilized!"

Hai Rui looked at his money-obsessed face, shook his head, and was too lazy to say anything.

The next morning, the five ships of the Lahuhui set sail from Yangzhou, arrived at Guazhou, and then went upstream to Nanjing City.

After entering Nanjing City, the leader found three secluded courtyards and let everyone stay there. He took a few confidants and led more than 20 thugs, including Wang Shiqiu and Fang Zhiyuan, and escorted more than 40 boxes, and went straight to Tianjie Courtyard to divide the money with the monks.

The deal was done, and everyone relaxed and waited to divide the money.

Many people sneaked out quietly. Some ran to the nearby Wuding Bridge East to play in brothels; some went to nearby gambling houses to gamble.

There were not many people left in the yard. They sat in groups of three or four, drinking and playing dice.

Hai Rui walked from one courtyard to another with his hands behind his back. Everyone who saw him greeted him politely.

"Mr. Hu, taking a walk!"

This old man has a good handwriting and excellent writing style, and he is obviously an old scholar. If you ask him to help write a letter home, he will never refuse and write it immediately, with rich and moving words.

Sometimes conflicts arise among us, for example when playing cards or dice and there is a misunderstanding. Seeing that he is old, we would casually ask him to judge the matter. Unexpectedly, he would patiently ask us the whole story, and then seriously judge the right and wrong, and his arguments would convince us.

So when people have some conflicts, they all go to him to judge.

After getting along for a while, the people of Lahu Society respected him very much.

Hai Rui walked to a corner of the yard, where only Xiu De was sitting.

He took off his monk's robes, put on a blue robe, and wore a silk scarf.

"Mr. Hu!" Xiu De said with a bow.

Hai Rui walked over with a smile, sat down on the stool next to him, looked at Xiu De and said, "Want to chat for a while?"

"Okay, Mr. Hu, what shall we talk about?"

"Let's talk about you, a young talent from Suzhou, who was full of confidence and wanted to show his talents in the Southern Examination in the first year of Longqing. However, he did not follow the hint and gave gifts to his fellow examiners, which resulted in him failing the exam. In the end, he became Xiude monk, doing this kind of fraud and deception."

The flesh on Xiu De's face couldn't help but tremble a few times.

He stared at Hai Rui with a flickering gaze, and suddenly heaved a long sigh, saying quietly, "It really is Hai Qingtian, with eyes as sharp as lightning and as clear as seeing fire."

(End of this chapter)