Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 271: A Cup of Wine to Release Vigilance

After Lu Wenzhao left the Central Office, Liu Zuyao, with little else to do, returned to his seat. He swallowed pieces of sweet, greasy pastry with bitter tea, thinking it was lunch. He sighed as he ate, as if what he swallowed wasn't a snack, but the bitterness of life.

Knock, knock, knock. Someone knocked on the half-open door.

"Come in." Liu Zuyao still had something in his mouth. When he opened his mouth, the residue popped out from between his teeth.

What surprised Liu Zuyao was that the person who came in was actually a captain of the Jinyiwei. He thought this group of people never knocked on the door.

"Captain Liu." The captain came to Liu Zuyao and bowed.

"Does the superior have any instructions?" Liu Zuyao forced a not-so-clean smile.

"The captain and the governor invite you and the other four captains to have lunch at Jinmen Tower," said the captain.

"Now?" Liu Zuyao was almost full.

"Of course we're having lunch now. Are we going to eat it tonight?" The captain waved his hand and said with a smile, "Please."

"Why?" In an instant, all sorts of negative speculations flooded into Liu Zuyao's mind like a tide. His heartbeat began to accelerate, and his breathing became rapid.

Could this be some kind of Hongmen Feast? Liu Zuyao thought.

"You asked that question." Although the captain smiled warmly, he did not give Liu Zuyao the option to refuse. "Please, the sedan chair is ready for you."

"Okay." Liu Zuyao took a sip of tea, rinsed his entire mouth, and then swallowed the mouthwash.

--------

Jinmenlou is a restaurant located next to the Tianjin Drum Tower. The restaurant is three stories high and is almost level with the tower's piers.

When Liu Zuyao arrived, the Drum Tower had just struck the 12:45 mark of noon. The resounding bell, emanating from the highest point in central Tianjin and radiating outward in all directions, sent a shudder through his heart. Until then, Liu Zuyao had never realized that this bell, to which he had long been accustomed, could be so solemn.

The four-man sedan chair carrying Liu Zuyao landed at the entrance of Jinmen Tower. The guard captain, who had just finished his shift, stepped forward and lifted the curtain for him. Liu Zuyao stepped out of the sedan chair and found that Jinmen Tower was already protected by the Beijing soldiers brought by Sun Chengzong.

Liu Zuyao recognized the "leader" at the door and immediately stepped forward to greet him. However, before Liu Zuyao could bow, the man bowed first. "Mao Yuanyi greets Captain Liu."

"You're too polite, Mao Zanhua." Mao Yuanyi currently has neither fame nor official position. He is just an aide-de-camp and looks very young, but Liu Zuyao still dare not neglect him in the slightest.

"Mao Zanhua. Are everyone else here?" Liu Zuyao asked with a smile.

"Not yet. You're the first one." Mao Yuanyi waved his hand towards the Jinmen Tower and said, "Sun Youqian, Lu Fuqian, and Lu Zhushi are all upstairs. Please come in quickly."

"Why did Sun Youchen invite us to this meal?" Liu Zuyao took out a fifty-liang silver note from his sleeve, then grabbed Mao Yuanyi's hand and tried to stuff the note into Mao Yuanyi's palm. Liu Zuyao knew that this was dangerous, but he had no other choice.

"Instead of asking me here, why not go up and ask him?" Mao Yuanyi twisted the banknote and stuffed it back into Liu Zuyao's sleeve with even more skill.

"Ouch!" Mao Yuanyi refused to accept the bribe, which made Liu Zuyao even more uncomfortable.

While the two were arguing, another sedan chair with four bearers arrived at the foot of Jinmen Tower. When the sedan chair landed and the person stepped out, Mao Yuanyi's attention was immediately drawn to it.

"I am Mao Yuanyi, a painter under Sun Youqian. May I ask which captain you are from?" Mao Yuanyi bowed.

"I'm Huang Yuhua, the former captain of the Qianhu Division." Huang Yuhua and Liu Zuyao weren't related by blood, but the same bitter look on their faces made Mao Yuanyi feel that the two men were a bit too similar. To prevent another show of dexterity, Mao Yuanyi took a half step back from the two men and waved his hand, saying, "Please go upstairs and take your seats."

The two still didn't know whether they were the dishes on the table or the people sitting next to the table, but at this time they could only smile bitterly at each other and go upstairs silently.

Liu Zuyao made his way up to the third floor of the restaurant. He saw Tianjin Governor Sun Chengzong seated in the main seat facing south. To his left and right sat Jinyiwei Deputy Captain Lu Wenzhao and the Ministry of Revenue's Director of Grain Lu Shanji. Although Lu Shanji had been transferred to Tianjin to work alongside Sun Chengzong, he remained affiliated with the Ministry of Revenue, effectively a central government official.

"I, Liu Yaozu, pay my respects to Sun Youqian, the land envoy. I also pay my respects to Lu Zhushi." Liu Zuyao chose his words carefully and performed the ceremony according to the etiquette.

"I, Huang Yuhua, pay my respects to Sun Youqian, land envoy. I also pay my respects to Lu, the chief." Huang Yuhua imitated him and recognized both Sun Chengzong and Lu Shanji in one breath.

"Greetings, Captain Liu. Captain Huang." The three men rose and saluted, each with a different attitude. The Governor was kind and tolerant, the Imperial Guard remained arrogant, and the head of the Ministry of Revenue was filled with undisguised disdain.

"Please take a seat, both of you." Sun Chengzong waved his hand.

"Yes." Liu Zuyao and Huang Yuhua sat in their corresponding seats according to Sun Chengzong's instructions.

Liu Zuyao's seat was by the window, and if he just leaned slightly to the side, he could take in the entire street. However, Liu Zuyao obviously didn't have the leisure to do so, so he just sat there with his body restrained and his eyes fixed straight ahead.

A quarter of an hour later, the remaining three captains gradually arrived, and Mao Yuanyi also accompanied the last captain upstairs and sat between Lu Shanji and Liu Zuyao.

"Since everyone is here, let's serve the food." Sun Chengzong glanced at the waiter who was waiting at the door, not even daring to breathe. The waiter immediately called out in his ancestral accent: "Serve the food!"

Following this summons, the stew, already prepared, was immediately taken out of its warm steamer by waiters and placed on the large round table on the third floor. Next, a jar of warmed fine wine was brought upstairs, divided into nine jugs in front of everyone, and placed in front of each official.

After the food and wine were served, Sun Chengzong raised his glass and said, "Thank you all for your presence and for drinking with me. Please!" "Thank you, Sun Youchen!" Everyone present accompanied Sun Chengzong and drank the wine in the glass.

"Everyone, please feel free to do as you please." After finishing the toast, Sun Chengzong really started to eat.

The five captains looked at each other, waiting for the others to take the lead. Finally, the four captains in the front, back, left, and right all turned their attention to Liu Zuyao. There was no other way, because Liu Zuyao was the only one who had met Sun Chengzong before this drinking party.

"Sun Youchen, you've come a long way, and you've made a great effort. We should have been the hosts, but we didn't expect you to be the first to pay." Liu Zuyao filled his empty glass, stood up, and said respectfully, "Please allow me to toast you."

"Captain Liu, you have worked hard to defend the city." Sun Chengzong raised his wine glass slightly towards Liu Zuyao and took a small sip.

"This is my humble job. How dare I complain about the hardship?" Liu Zuyao lowered his body and drank the wine in the glass tactfully.

Sun Chengzong looked around at the four thousand households in front, behind, left, and right, and raised his glass again, the same glass of wine. But this time he didn't even take a sip.

The four thousand households drank the wine respectfully, finishing it in one gulp, without any sign of dissatisfaction at all.

After the last glass was put down, Sun Chengzong spoke again: "Before coming here, I heard from Deputy Captain Lu that Captain Liu has a concubine named Shen. Is that true?"

Liu Zuyao looked at Lu Wenzhao in surprise and quickly clarified, "I did. I divorced him a long time ago."

"Wow! Was it a long time ago?" Lu Wenzhao licked the soy sauce on his lips. But to Liu Zuyao, Lu Wenzhao looked like a cannibalistic demon licking blood. "Why do I remember divorcing you recently?"

"I, this..." Liu Zuyao had taken a daughter of the Shen clan as his concubine in order to curry favor with the head of this guard. However, after the Jinyiwei captured Shen Caiyu's family, he immediately divorced this concubine, whom he neither liked nor had any children. He was afraid of having any connection with the Shen family again.

The other four captains held their breath, their eyes fixed on Sun Chengzong's expression. If Sun Chengzong treated Liu Zuyao as a chicken to scare the monkeys, and them as the monkeys, then Liu Zuyao would be fine. Being a dog for the Commander-in-Chief was fine, and being a dog for the Governor was fine, too.

But the fear is that Sun Chengzong isn't using this case as an example to scare the monkeys, but is instead colluding with the Imperial Guards to escalate the situation. While the Four Thousand Households weren't married into the Shen family, they did have connections, both large and small, with the other officials currently imprisoned in the Zhenfu Division's prison.

"I think you have all read the notice posted by Captain Liu." Every time Sun Chengzong spoke, his eyes would scan everyone's faces.

"I saw it. I saw it." The thousand households all echoed and laughed. The notice could reassure the people, but it couldn't reassure them. Furthermore, the notice left a loophole for "aiding and abetting the tyrant and harming the people." Who knew what the phrase "aiding and abetting the tyrant and harming the people" actually meant? The governor and the imperial envoy could just get some readily available evidence, then casually accuse you of aiding and abetting the tyrant and harming the people.

"I'm glad you saw it. During these extraordinary times, we still need everyone's dedication." Sun Chengzong smiled and nodded, turning around and holding Lu Wenzhao's shoulders, as if to persuade him. "Marriage is a common thing, and there's nothing wrong with it. Besides, it's all in the past. Listen to me, Sun. Let's just let it go. Don't mention it again. Okay?"

"Hmph. Just consider it because of Master Sun's face." Lu Wenzhao snorted and glanced at Liu Zuyao.

Liu Zuyao bowed repeatedly, his face still embarrassed, but his heartbeat slowed down a few beats.

After this, the atmosphere became slightly more harmonious. No more serious business was discussed at the table, as if Sun Chengzong had invited them over simply for a meal. Only after three rounds of drinks and the lingering sound of the next bell faded did Sun Chengzong, satiated by the food and drink, put down his chopsticks.

"There's an old story here, brought up by digging up old accounts. I, Sun, would like to discuss it." The five captains present had been watching Sun Chengzong's movements. When they saw him put down his chopsticks, they swallowed their food and wine and waited silently.

Sun Chengzong didn't order the crowds to be cleared, and the streets remained bustling. But the private room where they were gathered seemed to possess a magical power that silenced the clamor. The clamor of the market flowed in and out, but like the crowds passing through the Drum Tower's doorway, they passed by without lingering. Therefore, although Sun Chengzong's voice was low, not a single word was missed.

"Sun has checked the registers and discovered that many of your troops have returned from the dead, crawling out of their graves every year to claim their rations." Checking the registers wasn't quick; this was just something Sun Chengzong made up. But then again, there was no need to investigate the issue of unpaid soldiers. Simply dragging the soldiers from the Qianhu Division to the training grounds and counting them would reveal the exact number of unpaid soldiers in each division.

The thousand households immediately became restless. For a moment, expressions of astonishment, fear, shrinking, and pleading instinctively appeared on their faces.

Sun Chengzong glanced at the faces of the thousand households, and felt more confident. At least there was no anger or even murderous intent in the eyes of these people. If there was, he would ask the king to order the flag bearers to use knives to kill people. Sun Chengzong did not want to kill anyone. Killing was easy. The restaurant was full of Jinyiwei and Beijing soldiers. A simple "Come here" was enough. But Sun Chengzong did not want to kill anyone. Killing would affect the future work, and it would be difficult to write memorials. After all, Tianjin was not a war zone like Liaodong. Killing people as soon as he went out would only make the emperor think that he was incompetent and only knew how to use a knife.

"Haha." Sun Chengzong smiled lightly and said, "Although I have been teaching in various places for many years, I also have military experience. I understand the difficulties you are facing."

At this time, Lu Wenzhao asked, "Has Sun Youchen ever held a military post?"

"It's not a military position," Sun Chengzong said. "More than twenty years ago, my employer, Fang Peiwo, was the governor of Datong. I followed him there to teach, so I have some understanding of military affairs and border affairs. The emperor must have known this, so he sent me to Tianjin."

"I see."

Sun Chengzong put on a sympathetic look and grasped Lu Wenzhao's shoulder again, as if speaking specifically to the Imperial Guards. "You all have low incomes. To make ends meet, you have to bribe officials and take a small salary. It's unavoidable. I understand, but I have no intention of delving into this. I'm digging up old scores to investigate the case brought up by the Divine Governor, not to implicate others. Whether it's the Thousand Households Office or the Hundred Households Office, they all take a small cut. Let those officials in the Governor's Office, who take the lion's share, shoulder the blame."

"." Lu Wenzhao did not respond, but just closed his eyes and nodded silently.

"Governor Sun has a keen eye and a deep understanding of justice. We are deeply impressed." The thousand households finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I've been a teacher for most of my life, never dreaming I'd be able to govern a region one day. But now that I've left the Imperial Palace, I must live up to the Emperor's trust." Sun Chengzong put away his smile. "All five commanders, listen to my orders!"

The thousand households all stood up and assumed a posture of listening attentively.

"Return to each camp and gather all your troops, horses and weapons! Gather at the Acropolis training ground at noon tomorrow. This governor will select strong men to form a banner." Sun Chengzong ordered.

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)