Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 78 Three Enclaves
Yang Hui was pinned to the ground, unable to move. He only had a tough mouth, shouting at Lin Ruo: "How dare you, as a compiler of the Imperial Academy, attack an official appointed by the imperial court. The crime is even more serious according to the law. If you still want to live, let me go immediately."

"Who attacked whom, they were officials appointed by the imperial court?" Lin Ruo used a little more force and questioned Yang Hui.

"As the governor of Cangzhou, you secretly attacked the diplomatic mission. You are openly defying the imperial order. It will be no problem to plunder your clan."

Yang Hui shouted in a very gentle voice: "Do you have evidence? You are slandering me! This is a deliberate frame-up. I will sue the court."

Lin Ruo sneered, looking at the Grand Commander of Cangzhou as if he were a fool, and said, "No one in the delegation knew about what happened last night, and I didn't arrest the three assassins for interrogation, so you think there is no evidence? This is ridiculous."

"I wanted to give you a chance to explain, but it seems that's unnecessary."

Lin Ruo took out a letter sealed with wax from his arms and placed it in front of Yang Hui so that he could see it clearly.

Isn't this the letter I just wrote and kept in the study... Yang Hui's heart began to beat violently and he was speechless.

Lin Ruo grasped this point and said in a cold voice: "You are going to confess yourself, or I will read the contents of the letter and report it to the court, and then punish you."

After a long silence, Yang Hui calmed down his anger and said in a humble manner: "Please forgive me, this is just a misunderstanding. I will tell you everything."

"This misunderstanding almost turned into a beautiful confiscation of property because of you. How dare the Qin family use you?" Lin Ruo cursed.

Yang Hui begged for mercy: "I have always been loyal to the court and have no second thoughts."

"Stop talking nonsense and speak quickly." Lin Ruo hit Yang Hui's face with the letter.

Yang Hui was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "Your Excellency the General Envoy should know that there are many vassal states between Northern Qi and my Qing Kingdom. Due to some reasons, the war between the vassal states has never stopped."

"what reason?"

Lin Ruo relaxed a little, and Yang Hui began to breathe. He continued, "There is a neutral land in the territory of the vassal states near Northern Qi. This land is adjacent to the world's largest seaport, Dongyi City, in the east. It is a transit station for merchants. Some time ago, General Qin Xiao took advantage of the power of the vassal states to capture it and it became an enclave of our Qing State."

"So you want to monopolize this enclave, do trade, collect commercial taxes, and control business dealings in the north?" Lin Ruo speculated reasonably.

Yang Hui looked embarrassed and said in a panic, "General Envoy, this is not nonsense. General Qin has been loyal to His Majesty from beginning to end."

"You mean, His Majesty also knows about this?"

Yang Hui nodded repeatedly and said, "I have informed His Majesty a long time ago, but His Majesty's attitude towards this enclave has always been ambiguous and he has not given a definite opinion, so General Qin Xiao does not know how to deal with it."

Emperor Qing is like this. He always likes to let his subjects guess what he says.

I think it's because of the concern about the combined forces of Dongyi City and Northern Qi that they have never clearly expressed their control over this enclave, but they are also secretly reluctant to let go of this enclave.

Yang Hui explained the whole story: "This enclave was originally a neutral commercial transit zone. Now it has fallen into the hands of our Qing Kingdom. Northern Qi is naturally unwilling, so it has been inciting its subordinate vassal states to resist, and it is bound to make General Qin give it up. That is why the war has continued until now."

"Is there no movement in Dongyi City?" Lin Ruo thought for a moment and asked.

"There is no movement in Dongyi City for the time being, but they certainly don't want this neutral land to be constrained by our Qing Kingdom. I'm afraid there will be movement in the future." Yang Hui sighed.

"General Qin believes that this matter must be resolved as soon as possible, but His Majesty said that we should see what happens and that the interests of the country should be the top priority. I thought that maybe the delegation had some information about the disposal of this enclave, so I wanted to investigate."

The entire delegation had no idea about the enclave. It seemed that Emperor Qing wanted the Qin family to resolve the issue secretly, which meant that the matter would not be brought to the table for negotiations.

Emperor Qing's opinion was undoubtedly to let the Qin family seize the property if they could, and then let it go if that didn't work. It was impossible for him to be so generous and let it go right from the beginning.

Dongyi City has always monopolized business, who wouldn’t want to come in and get a piece of the pie?

Northern Qi and Qing had a stipulation that small neutral countries on the border were not allowed to get involved in politics. Now that Qing had violated the stipulation, it would inevitably damage its reputation.

So the delegation didn’t know, and Emperor Qing didn’t want more people to know.

Yang Hui, this idiot, actually thought that the delegation would bring a case on how to deal with the enclave. Emperor Qing deliberately concealed the news, and he did not dare to ask the delegation openly, so he could only do it secretly.

Such a hurry shows that the competition for the enclave has entered a white-hot stage.

"What's the current situation?" Lin Ruo asked.

Yang Hui said honestly, "Because the enclave is close to Northern Qi, our Qing Kingdom is at a disadvantage in the war between the vassal states. General Qin has been considering whether to restart the war and let the Qing army intervene directly to control the enclave, but there has been no response from His Majesty from the beginning."

Lin Ruo understood and said angrily: His Majesty obviously wants you to use the means of the vassal states to take over the enclave. If you can't take it, then give it up as soon as possible. You actually want to use the border troops. Don't you want to keep your head?"

"If General Qin had the same idea as you..."

Before Lin Ruo finished speaking, Yang Hui replied, "General Qin doesn't share the same idea as me, but this enclave is in imminent danger and is likely to be lost."

"It's a good thing that it's gone, so it doesn't harm people." Lin Ruo thought to himself. Because of a piece of enclave, the vassal states were in chaos and many people were harmed.

Yang Hui said fearfully, "Envoy Lin, please do not tell anyone else, let alone General Qin. If General Qin knows that the secret has been leaked, I will be in trouble."

"Okay."

... "Do you understand?" Lin Ruo took out the Grand Marshal's Mansion and repeated the entire matter verbatim to Wang Qinian who was waiting outside.

"So Lord Yang has this in mind. What he did today was to keep the delegation for a day or two longer so that he can explore further."

Wang Qinian breathed a sigh of relief: "I saw him confronting you today, and I thought he was hostile to the delegation."

"He has no hostility towards the delegation, but he is definitely hostile towards me."

"Hehe, Sir, now that you have taken the position of Chief Envoy, I don't know how many officials in the capital are hostile to you and think that you are not worthy of the title. I guess Sir Yang thinks so too." Wang Qinian couldn't help but tease.

"If the imperial court supports taking over that enclave, then as the governor of the border, he will definitely get a piece of the pie in the future northern border business. A person who holds such thoughts is really stupid and evil." This was the first time that Lin Ruo couldn't help but scold someone like this.

Wang Qinian nodded, and he naturally stood on the side of the truce: "Dongyi City is the place where the ninth-rank forces in the world are most concentrated, and that great master is even more famous. It is normal for Your Majesty to be a little wary, so it is better not to start a war."

"I just don't know what General Qin thinks about this." Wang Qinian thought.

Lin Ruo said firmly: “What he can’t fight, he will have to spit out in the end.

"Sir, are you still on the road this morning?"

"It depends on whether they can get up."

……

Raindrops slowly fell from the sky, dripping into the guild hall. It was already daybreak, and the guild hall was bustling with noise and activity.

"It's time to get going, my lord."

There were knocks on the door and Lin Ruo opened the door with sleepy eyes.

Xin Qiwu stood at the door, smiling politely, pointing with one hand: "Your Excellency has dark circles under your eyes. You wouldn't have…"

"What happened last night?" Lin Ruo asked puzzled.

"Your Excellency was drunk and unconscious last night, so he probably didn't know." Xin Qiwu approached with ill intentions, "Last night, the Grand Commander sent many singing girls."

Lin Ruo pretended to be surprised and looked up: "Lord Xin wouldn't..."

"That's impossible." Xin Qiwu stopped smiling and looked at Lin Ruo seriously. "We are going north for an important matter. How can we waste it on this? Didn't you see that I was very restrained in drinking last night? On normal days, no one can stand in front of me."

"Let's go, sir. The delegation is ready and can set off at any time."

"Didn't Lord Xin want to stay a few more days?"

"One day is enough. Besides, Commander Yang is a bit too polite, which is weird. It's better not to stay too long." Xin Qiwu thought.

Since the delegation decided to set off, Lin Ruo naturally had no objection.

Soon, the delegation set out from the guild hall and drove out of Cangzhou City. Yang Hui came to see them off with an asymmetrical face with half of his face swollen.

This time, there were many more people heading north, and the Cangzhou Army had nearly a hundred cavalrymen escorting them. After taking the official road for more than a day, the delegation had almost reached the border area.

Looking out from the curtain, Lin Ruo looked at the densely populated town area ahead, then turned back to take a look at the map.

Wuduhe Town is a remote town located at the border between Qing State and Northern Qi. It originally belonged exclusively to Northern Qi, but because of last year's war, this area almost entirely fell into the hands of Qing State.

The Qing Kingdom has stationed troops here, and the border line is to the north of the town.

Northern Qi was not located in the north of Qing State, but more accurately was located in the northeast of Qing State.

The current fighting is mainly limited to the princes of various countries south of Wudu River. After passing Wudu Town, you still have to go some distance south.

The carriage drove into Wudu Town, and all the cavalry from Cangzhou City retreated, and the local garrison escorted the carriage instead.

"Sir, we can reach the military camp before sunset." Wang Qinian said after negotiating with the garrison.

Lin Ruo nodded absentmindedly, looking at the situation in the town. Due to the war, the town now looked very decadent and desolate, dilapidated, with broken walls and few intact houses.

Even with the help of garrison troops in repairing the buildings, it would still take a long transition period.

Moreover, under the current circumstances, hunger is the biggest problem of the town. Agricultural operations have been destroyed, and the Qing garrison does not seem to provide them with enough food.

The townspeople watched the delegation pass by numbly, with no emotion on their faces. If they had any emotion, it would have been disgust and pain.

They will not have any feelings towards Qing Kingdom because Qing Kingdom was an invader and they are subjects of Northern Qi, and this will not change for a long time.

"There is still some food left in the carriage. Leave it all here."

(End of this chapter)