Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Actually, nothing happened at the Fang residence.

Some of the Fang family's servants waited quite a while before opening the courtyard gate, which was enough for Fang Guozhen and his key members to escape elsewhere. However, a mere inspector and a few servants were not enough to seal off the entire compound.

Fang Guozhen did not leave the prefecture, but instead went to a simple dock that was usually only frequented by small fishing boats. While lying low, he used messengers to gather information and remotely control the fleets under his command or influence.

After failing to find Fang Guozhen, the officials seemed slightly relieved. They didn't linger and quickly returned to report. The next few days were peaceful, unless you ignored the fact that the prefectural government began sealing off the Fang family's shops and arresting those associated with them. This continued until the afternoon of April 14th, when the Left Chancellor of the Jiangzhe Province, Duo'er, summoned the Left Chancellor Manzi and the Right Chancellor Hububuhua to the government office for questioning. The Grand Councilor Dashi Temur sat to one side, seemingly also having something to discuss.

These are basically the four people who can determine the fate of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

After everyone had arrived, they exchanged pleasantries as usual. The Left Chancellor, Duo'er, glanced at the barbarian with a hint of disdain and said, "Today we will discuss the matters of Dong Guozhen in Zhejiang and Shao Shuyi in Zhejiang."

Upon hearing this, the barbarian perked up and immediately said, "Prime Minister, I have discovered some more information today."

"That's not important," Duo'er simply waved her hand and said.

If the province really decides to take action against Shao Shuyi, it doesn't matter whether there's evidence or not. Just arrest him first, and torture him slowly. Even if he didn't do it, they can pin it on him. In the end, they'll be so confused by the interrogation that he won't object to anything.

Conversely, if the provincial authorities are hesitant to take action due to fear of repercussions, they will turn a blind eye to any amount of evidence.

this is the truth.

The barbarian understood this principle, chuckled, and put the file away.

"The Spring Festival travel rush has just ended, and the summer travel rush is about to begin." Duo'er said only, "If we don't take advantage of the southeast trade winds to transport the grain north, we don't know how many troubles we'll face later. I've summoned you all here today because I've received some bad news."

At this point, Duo'er changed the subject, looking at the barbarian and saying, "It's good that you're investigating the case in Jinling. But have you actually uncovered some details?"

Upon hearing this, the barbarian's blood boiled, and his face was full of displeasure. He said, "How could you not have investigated thoroughly? Shao Shuyi discovered Zhu Dingbo's movements and assassinated him in the night, killing several court officials in the process. Such behavior makes him a truly wicked and treacherous villain. If he is not brought to justice, more people will follow suit, and the situation will likely deteriorate greatly."

After saying that, she glared at Duo'er and said, "Before I came to Jiangnan, the Empress repeatedly told me to take this seriously. Did you not take it seriously?" Upon hearing this, Duo'er fell silent.

He was about to enter the court and really didn't want to offend the favored second empress, otherwise he would have a very difficult time whether he became the Grand Censor or the Left Chancellor of the Secretariat.

Dashi Temur coughed lightly from the side, trying to smooth things over, saying, "Barbarian, it's not that the Prime Minister doesn't want to fight, but the situation forces him to make thorough preparations before launching a swift and decisive attack."

"I've heard that so many times I'm sick of it," the barbarian said dismissively. "Do you think Shao Shuyi is a fool? When my men went to Jiangyin to summon him, he deliberately hid, saying he was out doing business. What a load of rubbish. Let me be frank, he's already making preparations."

At this point, the barbarian snorted coldly and said, "The court makes preparations, and so do the others. In the end, it's better to just arrest them now. With the country in such a state of chaos, when will we ever be ready? After the Spring Festival travel rush, there's the summer or autumn rush, and after that, it's the New Year. Soldiers won't move without rewards. After the New Year, it's the Spring Festival again. When will this ever end?"

Duo'er didn't say anything, she just sighed.

What the barbarian said isn't entirely wrong; isn't that exactly the case? You're well-prepared, and the enemy is well-prepared, but it's still not easy to fight. Hmm, perhaps the situation is even worse, namely that Shao Shuyi is even more well-prepared, while the imperial court is not as powerful as before, because now there are countless rebels in the regions, popping up in droves from who-knows-where, and the situation is truly getting worse year by year.

This will be April of the seventh year of the Zhizheng era. Can you guarantee that in October, six months later, there won't be more things taking up your energy? But Duo'er just doesn't want to take action now because he's going to court in May, and he really doesn't want any trouble to break out in the localities. Selfishly speaking, if you wait until I'm gone before you take action, whatever happens will be none of my business, but not now.

Therefore, after thinking for a moment, he said, "Let's first verify the evidence against Shao Shuyi, and then..."

He looked at the barbarian and said, "As the saying goes, 'An army marches on its stomach,' to deal with Shao Shuyi, we need to prepare money, provisions, and weapons, and figure out where to deploy troops, right?"

The barbarian sensed the relief in Duo'er's words and felt much better. He then said, "That's true. We still need to prepare some provisions and rewards. The provincial government can contribute some, Jiangyin Prefecture, Changzhou Road, and Pingjiang Road can contribute some, and the merchants in Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Liujiagang can contribute a little. That should be enough."