Chapter 928 - 770: Jumping Out of a Rock

Hu Junye firmly stated: "Within the Anti-Japanese Army, there should be a Seeking Dao Realm Official."

Chen Yu turned his head to look: "Hmm?"

Hu Junye spoke slowly: "In Zheng Jiye’s Anti-Japanese Army, the old are very old, the young are very young, and there are only twenty-two able-bodied men. In contrast, the Wokou are all young and strong, and every sixty Wokou are led by a servant, who are all Innate Realm Officials. Among those 261 heads, there must be at least four officials. If they were to fight hand-to-hand, it would be necessary to have a Seeking Dao Realm Official in command, otherwise the morale of the troops would easily collapse."

Chen Yu replied nonchalantly: "It seems the Hu Family is quite familiar with the Wokou?"

Hu Junye calmly picked up his teacup: "We have been guarding the border for the court for hundreds of years, and the sea bandits are also foreign invaders, so naturally, we need to understand them. This is merely fulfilling our duties."

Chen Yu smiled: "If it is a Seeking Dao Realm Official, then they should be a well-known figure in the Jianghu."

He turned his head towards Fang Zhongqing: "What does that Zheng Jiye look like?"

Fang Zhongqing hesitated: "That Zheng Jiye always wears a bamboo hat, so his appearance is unclear... The strange thing is, although his voice sounds young, and his chin is slender, there are still five middle-aged men who call him adoptive father."

Chen Yu raised an eyebrow, changing his sitting position: "Call him adoptive father? How old are those men? What are their names?"

Fang Zhongqing recalled: "Those men are about thirty-six or thirty-seven years old, the leader is a bit older. I don’t remember their names, but I had my servants keep an eye on them. Please ask the lord to have them come in and report."

Chen Yu waved his hand.

A moment later, a servant of the Fang Family stood outside the door: "To report to the lords, the leader’s adoptive son is named Ah Xing. I heard that this person, during the suppression of the Wokou in Jingjiang County, could wield a house beam over ten feet long as a lance, showing ferocious prowess. It was this man who cut down generals and seized flags, leading to the Wokou’s defeat."

Hu Junye replied calmly: "Seeking Dao Realm."

Chen Yu wondered aloud: "Ah Xing... does he not even have a surname? What does this person look like?"

The Fang Family servant recalled: "With elongated eyes, his gaze is somber when not smiling, and he carries a certain unruliness of the Jianghu. He has a straight nose, thin lips, and keeps a small goatee."

Chen Yu looked towards Hu Junye: "There are only a few Seeking Dao Realm figures in the Jianghu, has Mr. Hu ever heard of this person?"

Hu Junye shook his head: "No. Some Seeking Dao Realm officials are kept and never revealed, outsiders have no way of knowing..."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the faces of the store managers of the Eight Great Merchants: "I fear the Eight Great Merchants may have more than a handful of Seeking Dao Realm officials in their employ."

The store managers all lowered their heads.

Chen Yu then asked the Fang Family servant: "What about the other adoptive sons? What are their names and what do they look like?"

The Fang Family servant continued to recall: "Another one in charge is named Jiang Chai, with a handsome face, thick eyebrows, and big eyes. It was this person who infiltrated our Guangling County to gather intelligence, even figuring out who the Fang Family recruited. The others are named Ah Xi, Li Si, and Zhou Chang, with ordinary appearances. When mixed in a crowd, I didn’t remember them."

Chen Yu mused: "Ah Xing, Ah Xi, these two intentionally hide their surnames, it seems as if knowing their surnames would reveal their origins... Even their adoptive sons are Seeking Dao Realm officials, so this adoptive father must be some extraordinary figure, at least a Seeking Dao Realm official, right?"

Hu Junye remained silent.

Chen Yu laughed: "This group seems to have sprung from a crack in a rock? Two Seeking Dao Realm officials, three or five Innate Realm officials, hiding in the little Jingjiang County... If someone told me there was a Divine Dao Realm Grandmaster there I’d believe it. Previously, I thought they were people of the Zhang Family, but the Zhang Family’s foundation is shallow, where would they find so many Seeking Dao Realm officials at once?"

Zhuang An, the Minister of Revenue, pondered: "Could it be that Xu Shu invited them from the Yuanjue Temple as helpers?"

Chen Yu shook his head: "The monks from the Yuanjue Temple, once they break their vows, must disperse their power. Nowadays, you can’t find a proper official in the entire temple, where would they get helpers?"

"This..." A room full of Red-robed Officials could not figure out the true nature of the Anti-Japanese Army.

At this moment, Fang Zhongqing nervously asked: "Lords, my family’s children have been taken by villains, how should we handle this?"

Chen Yu stroked the red official robe on his body, laughingly teasing: "Elder Fang of the Fang Family, you were also once an official, now that Zheng Jiye holds great public support, what do you think should be done with him? You can’t just dismiss him right after a promotion, can you?"

Opposite, Wang Changzhen, the Minister of War, spoke slowly: "Just promote him one more level, make him Commander of One Guard."

Chen Yu shook his head: "Promotions beyond the rank of a thousand households require submission to the Capital City Ministry of War and need Mr. Wang’s approval from the Ministry of War. The back and forth process could take a month, by then who knows what chaos Jiangnan will be in. Besides, you need a reason to motivate a promotion, and he currently has no new merits."

Wang Changzhen continued: "Actually, if he’s just a small-time official, being demoted wouldn’t be a big deal. Even if the public discusses it for a few days, it won’t matter much."

Chen Yu teased: "Lord Wang, how many people would have died in Jingjiang County if it weren’t for the Anti-Japanese Army? We didn’t come to Jiangnan to harm the locals, your Central Army Commander’s Mansion doesn’t handle the Wokou, now that someone does, it’s a good thing."

Wang Changzhen’s expression turned solemn, correcting: "Mr. Xiao Chen, it’s not that we don’t want to manage, it’s just that Ning Dynasty’s coastline is too long to effectively oversee. My Central Army Commander’s Mansion has only twelve thousand soldiers and doesn’t have enough troops for the coast."

Agreeing with Wang Changzhen, the Vice Minister of the Capital Department of War also earnestly added: "Mr. Xiao Chen, not to mention the Matsubara Clan, just when Wang Zhi slaughtered the entire Yu Yao Xie Family, there were already seven to eight thousand troops. Now, he even dares to build camps on the shore as strongholds, with the bandits possibly numbering over ten thousand. If we head south to resist the Wokou, and one day seven to eight thousand Wokou invade Jinling, who would bear that responsibility?"

Wang Changzhen replied slowly, "Mr. Xiao Chen does not understand our difficulties. We have petitioned the court to deploy the Ganzhou Wolf Soldiers and the Hu-Guang Native Troops to join us in besieging the pirates, but the court has not yet responded."

Chen Yu smiled, "Jiangnan is a rotten account, and at present, it is naturally difficult to calculate it clearly. Let’s set this aside and talk about the Anti-Japanese Army."

Hu Junye suddenly said, "Send a supervisor there, just to keep them in check and prevent any reckless actions."

Wang Changzhen hesitated for a moment, "Your Excellency is wise, but who should be sent?"

Chen Yu laughed heartily, "Supervisors are either eunuchs or Imperial Censors. Mr. Hu is suggesting to send me away from Jinling?"

Hu Junye remained expressionless, "It is the best way."

Chen Yu was silent for a moment. Then he began to smile, "No problem, I will make the trip... Now that we’ve finished talking about the Anti-Japanese Army, let’s discuss the county magistrate and the County Chief from Jingjiang County who fled to Jinling. As the parents of Jingjiang County, they fled during battle; how should they be dealt with?"

Wang Changzhen reminded, "The county magistrate belongs to the Xu Family..."

Chen Yu smiled insincerely, "Even if his father were the King himself, it wouldn’t matter. Before I leave Jinling today, I will write a secret report to the Imperial Capital. It would be wise to confine those two in jail and await their punishment."

After speaking, he gestured to the silent middle-aged scholar behind him, "Uncle Xu, would you accompany me to Jingjiang County?"

Chen Xu slightly bowed, "Alright."

The two swaggered off, as Hu Junye watched Chen Yu’s silhouette disappear outside the gate. He turned to Fang Zhongqing and said coldly, "Each of your families will donate twenty thousand taels of silver and get your children employed at the Central Army Commander’s Mansion."

It was not a question.

It was undeniable.

Fang Zhongqing and others immediately grew tense and dry-mouthed. Twenty thousand taels of silver? Even the life of the eldest grandson is not worth that much.

A member of the Wang Family asked boldly, "Your Excellency, we cannot manage to gather so much current silver at once, could there be some flexibility?"

Hu Junye waved his hand, "Consider it yourselves at home."

Fang Zhongqing sighed inwardly and slowly retreated from the government office.

Hu Junye waved to the Minister of War and others, "You too can disperse."

As soon as the words fell, the Duke of England picked up the cricket jar and left, while Feng Daban got up and strode away silently, not wanting to linger.

As the Eight Great Merchants’ Store Managers were about to leave, they heard Hu Junye coldly say, "Stay."

The Eight Store Managers halted in their tracks. After everyone else had left the main hall, Hu Junye slowly stepped out of the shadow, towering over them, "So-called Eight Great Merchants are nothing more than a group of mere merchants, thinking of themselves as the local emperors of Jiangnan. The fact that when I come to Jinling, they just send their Shopkeepers."

The Store Manager of the Qian Family laughed apologetically, "Mr. Hu, it is not that the Landlord does not come, but that the court’s salt tax is pressing, and the Landlord is settling accounts in Suzhou."

Hu Junye sneered, "Do you think I am unaware of his whereabouts? Tell each of your Landlords that if I don’t see them the next time, they need not travel north. The caravans of the Eight Great Merchants will not make it past Taihang Mountain—I, Hu Junye, said it."

The Store Managers all bowed, "We will certainly convey this to the Landlords... Moreover, we have each prepared an ice tribute, which should have already been delivered to Mr. Hu’s residence, a token of no deep meaning."

Hu Junye’s expression softened, "Go now."

The Store Managers hurriedly withdrew, but were stopped by Hu Junye’s voice again, "The Wang Family, stay."

The Wang Family’s Store Manager’s face changed, having no choice but to stand still.

After the hall was empty with only two people remaining, Hu Junye calmly said, "Does your Wang Family have any dealings with the Matsubara Clan pirates?"

The Wang Family’s Store Manager hurriedly said, "Mr. Hu, do not believe the rumors. My Wang Family has no connections with the pirates?"

Hu Junye stared at the old man in front of him, "Then how did your Wang Family produce a total of one hundred and sixty thousand bolts of silk last September, handed eighty thousand to the Weaving Bureau, and where were the remaining eighty thousand bolts sold?"

The Wang Family’s Store Manager counted on his fingers, "To report to Mr. Hu, forty thousand bolts were sold to Southern Ocean Siam, twenty thousand to Yunzhou, and another twenty thousand to Jiaozhi."

Standing with hands behind his back, Hu Junye said, "Your Wang Family knows in your heart where you actually sold them. Tell your Shopkeeper that if I become Cabinet Minister, the first thing I will do is lift the maritime ban in Jiangnan. Then you won’t have to clandestinely do business with the pirates. At that time, the sea route permits will be issued to only four families, and it’s hard to say if the Wang Family will be included."

The Wang Family’s Store Manager cautiously asked, "What does Mr. Hu want my Wang Family to do?"

Hu Junye said emotionlessly, "Have your Landlords contact the Matsubara Clan, send pirates to Jingjiang County, and kill Chen Yu and the Anti-Japanese Army."