Taiheiki

Chapter 139: Chasing the Envoy

"I also heard from one of my subordinates that your goods must be stored with local merchants before they can be sold. Payments are often delayed for a long time, or even non-existent. You've gone to the authorities to file a complaint, but no one has paid. Is this true?"

Bafa's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected Wei Cong to ask such a question so quickly and directly. He quickly said, "It's true!"

"Hmm!" Wei Cong jots down a few more details. "Then there must be many other business disputes? Most of them won't get satisfactory answers, right?"

"This..." Baffa hesitated for a moment and answered carefully, "Merchants are all about profit, and disputes between buyers and sellers are common. It's not always the local merchants who are in the wrong!"

"A powerful dragon cannot defeat a local snake. You outsiders have come from far away, so you're probably going to suffer more, right?" Wei Cong put down his quill and smiled. "You merchants brave the dangers of the sea, traveling across the oceans, bringing goods from various countries and paying taxes. This is truly beneficial to the national economy and people's livelihood. We, the Han people, will definitely protect your rightful interests and give you justice! How about this, I've written down all the things you said, and I'll reply within five days!"

"Thank you, Captain!" Bafa hurriedly bowed his head and kowtowed twice. He stood up and found Wei Cong had started writing again, ignoring him. He wondered if this was the end of it. This couldn't be right. Wasn't this Captain asking for a favor from me?
Wei Cong wrote for a while, then looked up and saw Bafa still standing there. He asked, "What's wrong? Do you have anything else to do?"

"No, no!" Bafa hastily denied it. He pulled out a piece of silk paper from his sleeve and said, "I heard that the army under the command of the captain has a lot of expenses, so I prepared a few gifts to offer to you for your amusement. I hope you will accept them!" After that, he pulled out a piece of silk paper from his sleeve and presented it with both hands. Wei Cong took the gift list from the guard and glanced at it: "20 stones of pepper, 30 stones of sumac, 20 catties of agarwood, 1 catty of ambergris, 10 pairs of rhinoceros horns, 2 boxes of tortoise shells, 100 pairs of high-quality ivory—" Seeing this, Wei Cong couldn't help but laugh: "Bafa, this is not just a small gift! You have spent a lot of money on this trip!"

"I wouldn't dare! Although these things are not cheap, they are nothing compared to the kindness you, Captain, have shown us!"

"My kindness to you?" Wei Cong laughed. "I've only been in Panyu for a few days, and this is my first time meeting you. How can I talk about kindness? What you said just now is quite right. I am currently deploying troops, and the expenses are indeed complicated and there are many places to spend money. But although these things you gave me are precious, they cannot be eaten when they are hungry or clothed when they are cold, and they cannot be distributed to my soldiers. If I want to exchange them for money, Jiaozhou will be at war soon, and with the chaos and chaos, it will be difficult to sell them at a high price. Unless I need to please the nobles in Luoyang in the future, then I will need them. So you should take them back first, and it won't be too late to come to you when I need them!"

Bafa looked at the man in front of him in surprise. He had been heartbroken at the thought of spending so much money when he arrived. Knowing Han officials, he knew they would accept the generous gift, no matter what they said. But Captain Wei, despite admitting he was short of money, still refused the gift. (Although he said he would come back if needed, the problem was that he could be anywhere in the world at that time, so where would Wei Cong go to ask for it?)
"Take it back!" Wei Cong laughed. "If you really want to thank me, collect some more seeds, saplings, breeding stock, stallions, etc. from overseas for me. I'm in great need of these. If you can send them to me, I will definitely reward you handsomely!"

"Yes, yes, I'll remember that!" Bafa nodded hurriedly. "Seeds and seedlings are simple, but I don't know if they'll survive in a new location. As for breeding stock and stallions, Nanyang is too far from here, and I'm afraid they won't survive!"

"How about this! I'll tell you two things. If you bring them here, I'll make you the head of the future Fanfang. Overseas merchants will live there, and you'll be able to decide minor internal matters. But if there's a major matter or a dispute with Han merchants, you can be present at the trial. If you find any injustice, you can impeach the Han officials to me. How do you do that?"

Bafa was shocked when he heard this and asked hurriedly, "What does the captain want?"

"One is cotton!" Wei Cong said. "Its flowers are white and can be spun into yarn and woven into cloth. It's soft and comfortable to wear. Did you know?"

"You must be talking about 'Gibbe'!" Baffa thought for a moment and said with a smile, "That's not difficult. Next time, I'll have someone bring some seeds, along with planting instructions and spinning and weaving tools. How about that?"

"Good!" Wei Cong nodded in satisfaction. No wonder this businessman could make a fortune; he was very efficient in his work. "The second type is horses. Have you heard of Arabian horses? That place is west of Sindhu. It's all desert, and the locals, mostly merchants, roam the desert on camels all day. The horses they ride have slender limbs and small ears. They are handsome and powerful. If you can send me a few of these uncastrated young stallions, I will reward you handsomely. Of course, I heard that Sindhu also has many fine horses. If you can send me a good stallion, I will reward you as well!"

"I'll remember this!" Bafa wasn't particularly familiar with horses, but finding them wasn't difficult if one was willing to spend the money. After all, Pizong, as a hub for maritime trade along the Indian and Pacific Oceans, possessed a wealth of treasures. With luck, one wouldn't even need to bring them from their origins; they could find them in the stables of local nobles. Collecting and breeding fine horses was a hobby of nearly every ancient aristocracy. If they could trade a few fine horses for good connections to a prominent figure like Wei Cong, those Nanyang nobles would surely be willing to part with them.

"That's it!" Wei Cong smiled and stood up. "You can see it all. I'm very busy here, so I won't keep you any longer. Regarding the matter you mentioned just now, I will definitely respond in two or three days at the least, and five or six days at the most! Please!"

Seeing Wei Cong actually stand up to see him off, Bafa hurriedly thanked him. Wei Cong escorted him out the door, then returned to his seat, let out a long sigh, checked the note he had just written, and shouted, "Come here, give this to Huang Changshi and tell him to do it as soon as possible!"

"Here!"

After seeing Baffa off, Wei Cong stretched and looked at the hourglass beside him. He found that it was time for lunch. He was about to ask what to eat for lunch when he saw Liu Jiu rushing in from outside.

"Captain, something happened!"

"what's up?"

"Our boat was hijacked!" Liu Jiu lowered his voice and said, "In the past two days, three boats sailed from Nanxiong along the Zhenshui River and then into the Beijiang River. When they passed through Zhongsu County, they were attacked by thieves. One boat was hijacked!"

"Are there any dead?" "Only two of the nine people on the boat escaped, and the remaining seven are now unknown whether they are alive or dead!"

"What's on board?" Wei Cong asked. "There are weapons, some copper coins, and some letters for the soldiers!"

"Hmm!" Wei Cong didn't speak immediately. He stood up, paced back and forth twice in the room, and suddenly stopped. "Apprehending thieves and allowing the people to live and work in peace is the duty of county officials everywhere. Right now, people's hearts are shaken, thieves are everywhere, and the people are suffering. I order each county to report a detailed list of thieves with more than 20 people in their county. In addition, select elite officers from the army to serve as pursuit envoys in each county. They will patrol and investigate the counties. If there are any treacherous and evil people, they will be eliminated. We must restore peace to Nanhai County!"

"Yes!" Liu Jiu responded. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Wei Cong's voice: "First, report all the powerful clans and wealthy people in each county. Take this opportunity to have them send the hostages to Panyu. Anyone who disobeys will be a traitor and will be executed!"

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"The Pursuit Envoy? What kind of official is this?" Liu An looked at Liu Jiu in front of him in some confusion. He certainly knew that the man in front of him was the confidant of Captain Wei, but with his experience as a ranger in Zhuo County and a thief in Gan County, he had never heard of an official called the Pursuit Envoy.

"He's an official who specializes in arresting thieves and evildoers!" Liu Jiu explained.

"But, but there is no such official in the county government?" Liu An asked.

"The pursuit envoys are not under the jurisdiction of the county government. They are sent by our captain!" Liu Jiu was quite patient. "Your mission is to capture all the thieves who are blindly robbing our warships. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed!"

"What if we discover that those thieves are connected to someone else?" Liu An asked. "You know, these thieves are usually connected to the local wealthy and powerful!"

"Kill them all!" Liu Jiu sneered, "Anyone who dares to rob our ships is rebelling against the imperial army. They are traitors and must be killed! Even if the county magistrate dares to stand in our way, he will die!"

Liu An, who had been a knight-errant and a thief official, immediately understood that after Wei Cong, the hungry tiger, had established a firm foothold in Panyu, he would finally start wielding his sharp claws and stirring up a bloody storm. What should he do?
"What's wrong? Don't you understand yet?"

"I understand, I understand!" Liu An immediately heard the dissatisfaction in his boss's words and quickly responded, "Then how many troops should I bring?"

"Didn't you have over a hundred men when you joined the army? Take your team with you! First, go to the Zhongsu County Office and give our lieutenant's letter to the County Magistrate, then get to work! If the County Magistrate makes any moves, report back to Panyu immediately!"

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Panyu City.

Shi Wu's arm injury recovered quickly. Only seven or eight days had passed since Wei Cong's doctor came to treat him, and his arrow wound had almost healed. Although he was very reluctant, he had to admit that the doctor was very good at treating arrow wounds.

Like most young people, Shi Wu was restless. Before Wei Cong arrived, he was full of energy. Besides studying with Kong Gui and studying the Five Classics, his life was very colorful, with flying eagles, riding horses, and traveling to Qin and Chu palaces. But Wei Cong's arrival changed all that. Although he did not leave Panyu and return home like other young scholars, his heart had already left Panyu City and moved to the entire Lingnan area.

In his view, Wei Cong, no matter what he said, was nothing more than a traitor seeking to take advantage of the imperial court's inattention to Lingnan. Sooner or later, he would be beheaded in Luoyang or hung at the Northern Palace. His teacher, blinded by his own greed, refused to challenge him initially, sternly rejecting his offer and risking his life. Later, under Wei Cong's inducement, he made a bet that if Wei Cong captured Jiaozhou within three months, he would be appointed Governor of Jiaozhou and Lieutenant Protector of the South China Sea. If Wei Cong were to fail, his every word and action would become ironclad evidence for the censors' impeachment. While his life might be at risk, his reputation would be tarnished, and his family's reputation would be tarnished. At that point, his former students, who had studied under him, would likely be implicated as well.

The only way to avoid this dire situation was to secretly contact the heroes of Jiaozhou, seeking an opportunity to turn the tables and eliminate the traitor Wei Cong. This would render the actions of the teacher and Wei Cong merely a form of humiliation and hypocrisy. Therefore, Shi Wu would regularly travel throughout Panyu, gathering intelligence on Wei Cong's military strength. He would secretly send this intelligence back to his two brothers in Guangxin, informing them of their remaining home and urging them to gather their forces to defeat Wei Cong. The Shi family of Jiaozhou, originally from Lu, fled to Jiaozhou in the late Western Han Dynasty to escape the rebellion of Wang Mang. By the time of Shi Wu, the Shi family was already in its seventh generation, having grown into one of Jiaozhou's most prominent aristocratic families. His family was brimming with talent, especially his two brothers, Shi Xie and Shi Yineng, who were renowned and considered leaders among the young Jiaozhou aristocracy.

That evening, Shi Wu stayed in a tavern not far from the south city pier as usual, from where he could overlook all the people entering Panyu from the water gate. He was waiting for a messenger from Longchuan. A few days ago, he sent a letter to a close friend in the local area, persuading him to gather his family soldiers to drive out the county magistrate who had surrendered to Wei Cong and to start an uprising. In the letter, he encouraged his friend: as long as the flag is raised, there will be righteous men following, and Wei Cong will certainly lead the troops to suppress it. Then he would start an uprising in Panyu, making it impossible for the leader and the tail to take care of each other, and killing the Wei thief would be easy!

Just as Shi Wu was imagining the realization of his plan, the emperor's praise, his recruitment to Luoyang as a palace attendant, his daily commutes between the Shangshutai and Lanting, his interactions with the world's leading figures, and a bright future ahead of him, a distant commotion interrupted his dream. He stood up and looked into the distance, seeing smoke and dust rising. Damn it! This was the army; only the army could raise such dust. Shi Wu subconsciously clenched his fist, completely ignoring the sharp pain in his arm wound.

"Hurry, hurry! Don't panic! Maintain formation!" Liu Fang ignored the stinging pain from his chapped lips and shouted to his men behind him, "Be careful! Don't make it too bumpy! Otherwise, the wounded won't be able to bear it!"

(End of this chapter)