Chapter 927 - 769: Chen Yu

"Since when did the Anti-Japanese Army become so formidable? I remember it’s mostly comprised of children and old men. Can these people actually defeat the Wokou? I’ve heard the Wokou are quite fierce."

"This just proves Zheng Jiye is a once-in-a-century military talent. Otherwise, how could he defeat the Wokou?"

"Who is Zheng Jiye? I’ve never heard of him before."

"Perhaps he’s a talented individual who’s been overlooked for a long time. It’s just that the Ministry of War and the Central Army Commander’s Mansion have failed to recognize him. Otherwise, how could the Wokou be so arrogant? In my opinion, they should give Zheng Jiye more troops to directly attack Japan!"

Fang Zhongqing sat in the sedan chair, holding the newspaper with trembling hands, listening to the heated discussions of the passersby.

He had seen newspapers before; his home even had the Meihua Crossing Morning News brought back from the Imperial Capital by a scholar who failed the exams. The Fang family had even followed the newspaper’s advice to dig several wells and used the Water Dragon Car to irrigate the fields.

At that time, he praised the Marquis of Wuxiang as a person with vision, with limitless potential, and commended the newspaper as a product of transformation. He said Jinling should have such a thing too.

Unexpectedly, when someone in Jinling started publishing a newspaper, the first to suffer was the Fang family.

Fang Zhongqing muttered to himself, "Is it a coincidence, or an inside-outside collusion? How could they just happen to praise Zheng Jiye to the skies at this time... Quick, hurry to the government office!"

The sedan chair moved away, and the newspaper vendor stuffed the paper into his bag, cautiously following the sedan chair.

After turning two street corners and passing by Sanshan Street, Er Tong was leaning against the door frame under the eaves of the bookstore, leisurely stuffing tobacco into his pipe.

The man approached Er Tong and whispered, "Brother Er Tong, the old man in the sedan ahead looked at the newspaper and immediately went to the government office. He should be the one you’ve asked us to keep an eye on."

Er Tong’s eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he tossed his smoking pipe to the man, "Alright, you show some cleverness. Go inside and take a rest. I’ll head out for a bit."

He followed the sedan chair all the way to the government office, only to see Fang Zhongqing tremblingly walk up the stone steps, cupping his hands to the gatekeeper, "Please report to the Chief. An old humble man seeks an audience with the Minister."

But the gatekeeper returned the salute with cupped hands, "Old Master Fang, the esteemed guests are discussing important matters inside the government office. Please wait at the gatehouse for a moment."

Fang Zhongqing said urgently, "What I have to say is extremely urgent..."

The gatekeeper interrupted in a low voice, "Old Master Fang, it’s not that I won’t let you in, it’s just that today’s guests in the government office are too prominent. Even the Duke of England and Feng Daban have been brought to sit in." If I let you in, I’m afraid both you and I would end up in trouble.

Fang Zhongqing stood frozen in place, "The Duke of England?"

This government office was not the Yingtian Prefecture Office; it wasn’t even initially a government office, but the Duke of England Mansion.

The capital city has six ministries.

Above the six ministries, there is also a "Southern Zhili Defender" and a "Southern Zhili Guard Eunuch."

Among them, the "Southern Zhili Defender" has always been hereditary, led by the Duke of England, nominally overseeing the forty-two garrisons in Southern Zhili, old Imperial City defenses, Jiang defense foundation, and commands the Jinling Central Army Governor’s Mansion.

The "Guard Eunuch" leads a Jiefan Guard Camp, monitors the Southern Zhili nobles, civil and military officials, and directly reports confidentially to Emperor Ning.

Originally, these two were the most powerful governors in Southern Zhili, until during Xuanzong’s reign when the Duke Huai committed treason, and all the Duke Mansion’s powers fell overnight.

At that time, the Minister of the Ministry of War took the opportunity to take over the Duke of England Mansion by using the rationale of "facilitating reports to the Southern Zhili Defender on public affairs," leaving only a small two-yard courtyard for the Duke of England within the mansion, gradually turning the Duke of England Mansion into the government office of the Ministry of War.

At that time, the Duke of England repeatedly petitioned to impeach the Minister of the Ministry of War for his reckless behavior. However, instead of punishing the Minister of the Ministry of War, the court appointed him as the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, in charge of the military and political affairs in Southern Zhili, effectively making the Ministry of War the first real-power government office in Southern Zhili.

Nonetheless, the Duke of England remains the nominal Defender. Whenever major matters are discussed, he must be present.

Fang Zhongqing asked quietly, "What is the background of today’s guests at the government office?"

The gatekeeper shook his head, "I didn’t dare ask. I only heard the Chief of Staff addressing one of the younger ones as ’Mr. Chen,’ and another as ’Mr. Hu.’

Fang Zhongqing muttered to himself, "The Chen family and the Hu family have sent someone."

...

...

After about an hour, a civil servant hurriedly walked out the door, loudly asking, "Has anyone from the Fang family, Li family, or Wang family from Guangling County arrived?"

Fang Zhongqing stepped out of the gatehouse and hesitated, "I am Fang Zhongqing from the Fang family in Guangling County, who is looking for me?"

The civil servant spotted him, "It’s just as Mr. Xiao Chen predicted you would come, follow me, the ministers have questions for you."

"Mr. Xiao Chen?" Fang Zhongqing felt confused as he walked inside, from afar seeing over ten people waiting silently outside the door.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the Store Managers from the Eight Great Merchants.

His heart tightened, and as he looked toward the main hall, he saw a room full of officials in red official robes sitting on both sides. On usual days, Jinling couldn’t gather so many officials dressed in red even throughout the year.

Fang Zhongqing arrived at the entrance of the main hall and said in a low voice, "The third year of Jia Ning, Minister of the Imperial Sacrificial Worship, Fang Zhongqing, pays respect to the esteemed gentlemen."

But no one inside the hall paid him any attention.

The Duke of England, in his late twenties, was lying at the main desk, playing with a grass stalk in the pottery jar with a cricket.

On the right side of the hall, two rows of Taishi Chairs were lined up. The chief on the right was an unfamiliar middle-aged man with a peacock embroidery on his chest, of the Standard Third Rank. The second on the right was the Minister of the Ministry of War in the Capital, with a golden pheasant embroidery, of the Second Grade Product.

Looking further to the left, the chief was a young man wearing a red official robe, with the Cloud Goose Embroidery on his chest, a mere Fourth-Rank official, yet seated before Zhuang An, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the Capital.

Behind the young man stood a middle-aged scholar with an air of composure, hands folded.

Besides these two rows of civil servants, a tall, white-faced, beardless middle-aged man sat in a corner with his eyes closed, resting.

At this moment, the young man was holding a copy of the Wuxiang Morning News, reading it with interest.

A moment later, he folded the newspaper and exclaimed, "Ever since the Meihua Crossing Morning News was taken over by the Ritual Supervision, it hasn’t been as good. I didn’t expect to see an unadulterated version in Jinling. Mr. Hu, would you like to see it? It’s quite interesting."

The Standard Third Rank civil servant opposite replied indifferently, "I’ve read it."

The young man turned his head towards the corner: "Would you like to see it, Feng Daban?"

The tall, white-faced, beardless middle-aged man in the corner opened his eyes and replied warmly, "Mr. Xiao Chen, I read it first thing at dawn at 5 to 7 AM, it’s indeed interesting."

The young man smiled, placed the newspaper on the tea table by his side, and turned to look at Fang Zhongqing outside the door: "You must be Fang Zhongqing?"

Fang Zhongqing hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "I am he."

The young man took a sip from a tea cup and then curiously asked, "Let Chen guess why you’re in such a hurry to Jinling... After you obtained the position of Common Households, did the Anti-Japanese Army recruit their men and then take your grandson and the recruits along with them?"

Fang Zhongqing was startled: "How did you know, my lord?"

The young man laughed heartily, putting down the tea cup: "Did you really think the world drops pies from the sky? I guess you came to ask the Minister of War to dismiss Zheng Jiye, but as soon as you entered Jinling, you heard that Zheng Jiye was elevated to a mythical status, and the people almost erected steles and shrines for him, leaving you unsure what to do."

Fang Zhongqing hesitated: "...Indeed."

The young man tapped the armrest of the Taishi Chair with his fingers: "Did the Anti-Japanese Army ask you for money and grain?"

Fang Zhongqing hurriedly replied: "They did, a hundred and twenty stones of brown rice each month..."

The young man was uninterested in hearing the accounts and immediately interrupted: "Did the other party try to sow discord between the Fang, Wang, and Li families?"

Fang Zhongqing was again taken aback: "That’s right, Zheng Jiye is insidious, forcing my Fang family to catch the Li family, and then the Li family and my Fang family to catch the Wang family."

At this point, two more people hurried to the main hall doorway, gasping for breath.

The young man looked up: "The Li and Wang families of Guangling County?"

The two hurriedly confirmed, and the members of the Li, Wang, and Fang families exchanged glances before lowering their heads again.

The young man smiled and said, "You old folks, how can you lose composure after being provoked a bit?"

A representative of the Wang family couldn’t help asking respectfully, "Who is this gentleman?"

The young man smiled: "I am Chen Yu, Right Assistant Minister of the Imperial Supervision Office, ordered to oversee the taxation of salt and grain."

The Wang, Li, and Fang families immediately understood.

They had heard of Chen Yu long ago, but he had been stationed in Yangzhou overseeing the salt tax and didn’t often frequent Jinling, so they hadn’t met him.

Recently, they’d heard that the Marquis Wu Xiang of the Chen family died, and this person was summoned back to the Imperial Capital, adopted into the main household. Unexpectedly, he returned to Jinling and was promoted to the Fourth-Rank Imperial Censor.

He was said to be only in his twenties, the speed of his promotion was indeed rapid.

Chen Yu stood up and stretched lazily: "An over-river dragon came to Southern Zhili, causing great unrest in Guangling and Jingjiang with just one move; the visitor is not good-natured."

He turned to the crowd: "A small Anti-Japanese Army of over two hundred killed the Wokou in droves; if there are not a dozen Innate Officials among them, it would not be possible. In this vast Ning Dynasty, those who can deploy over ten Innate Officials to remote areas for a minor strategy are few and far between. Who do you think it would be?"

The Duke of England still lay on the desk playing with the cricket, Feng Daban closed his eyes again, and the Minister of War Wang Changzhen and Minister of Revenue Zhuang An all looked up at the house beam.

Chen Yu laughed heartily and looked at the middle-aged man opposite: "Mr. Hu Junye, Mr. Hu, what do you think?"

Hu Junye calmly said: "If it’s not your Chen family and not my Hu family, then it can only be the Zhang family. Xu Shu went south with the spirit, and Zhang Xia was on the ship but then disappeared."

Chen Yu stroked his chin: "Ah, it’s my sister-in-law... Ha, she compiled the Meihua Crossing Morning News, and the Wuxiang Morning News does seem like her work. The person in Jinling City is her, and the one stirring trouble in the Anti-Japanese Army, who could it be? It can’t be my cousin who left more than three months ago."