Chapter 971 - 810: Weathering the Storm Together

Who is the Chief of the Anti-Japanese Army?

This matter perplexes not only Prince Fu but also the entire Southern Zhili; no one is without suspicion.

Zhang Xia couldn’t answer Prince Fu because the person in question was not supposed to be alive.

Seeing Zhang Xia silent, Prince Fu immediately laughed and said, "Such a person is like a needle in a cloth bag; they can never truly be hidden. But if my sister-in-law chooses not to speak, no matter; it’s like a story in a tale, only at the last moment do we learn the real answer, which is the most interesting part."

He shifted the topic: "I’ve heard about the Anti-Japanese Army winning two consecutive battles; the tea houses are all talking about it now... But what’s the situation at Dinghai Port? I haven’t heard yet."

Zhang Xia shook her head: "I don’t know either; it must have happened in recent days and hasn’t reached Jinling yet."

Prince Fu looked at Xu Chuanyin: "You tell us."

Feeling interested, he found a chair and sat down, signaling Zhou Kuang to fetch some tea.

Xu Chuanyin wanted to call for the Xu Family servants to pour tea, but Prince Fu stopped him: "I don’t drink tea made by others; just speak. Let Elder Xu Chongyi hear about what’s happened at Songjiang Port too."

Xu Chuanyin responded affirmatively, reflecting on the Anti-Japanese Army, feeling a mix of emotions.

He recalled: "After the Anti-Japanese Army left Jingjiang County, they went straight to Dinghai Port, intercepting merchant ships near the port. Each ship going out to sea directly collided with the Anti-Japanese Army’s blade."

Prince Fu pondered: "Sea trade is something no one minds until someone does, and once someone takes it seriously, catching it is a serious crime. But the Anti-Japanese Army just killed pirates, and now whoever they strike becomes pirates..."

Xu Chuanyin smiled bitterly: "Who says otherwise."

Prince Fu raised his head to look at Xu Chuanyin: "So your merchant ships were caught by them as leverage, forcing you to join Xu Jianzheng? With Dinghai Port taken, I suppose you wouldn’t let it go so easily."

Xu Chuanyin laughed awkwardly: "No, no, I handed everything to that lord, who would dare make things difficult? It’s just that the Yang family’s fleet had their silver seized and felt dissatisfied, so they sent death soldiers on iron armor ships to crash into them. But unexpectedly, the Anti-Japanese Army took Matsubara Clan’s gunpowder, and just a few shots scattered the Yang family’s death soldiers."

Prince Fu uttered a sound of realization: "The Yang family..."

As Xu Chuanyin spoke, he became more spirited: "Later, the Anti-Japanese Army seized merchant ships protected by the big pirate Wang Zhi, who came with nearly a hundred warships to Dinghai Port, with an overwhelming momentum."

Prince Fu pondered: "Wang Zhi, that Five Peaks Ship Master, did they fight?"

Xu Chuanyin shook his head: "Guess what? They didn’t fight at all! Wang Zhi, alone, holding a jar of wine, boarded the Anti-Japanese Army’s ship; nobody knows what they talked about on the ship. Wang Zhi turned back and left, and the next day, sealed Songjiang Port, with over fifty large ships currently stationed outside Songjiang Port."

Xiao Man murmured: "Again with the Yang family, again with Wang Zhi, doesn’t seem to have much to do with you huh?"

Xu Chuanyin replied shamelessly: "To this young lady, I’m just an honest businessman; whatever the court tells us to do, we do..."

Xiao Man rolled her eyes.

Prince Fu thought aloud: "Wang Zhi counts as quite a character, daring to board alone. Delightful, this story is delightful. Zhou Kuang, don’t bother with the tea, bring me some wine."

Zhou Kuang lowered his head, eyes looking at his nose, nose looking at his heart: "There isn’t any."

Prince Fu glared at him, turned to Xu Chuanyin: "What happened next? What did the Anti-Japanese Army do after taking Dinghai Port?"

Xu Chuanyin answered: "Reporting to Your Highness, the Anti-Japanese Army has great ambition; he caught merchant ships going to Japan but didn’t kill them, instead fined them five percent of pure profit, and then continued to let sea trade proceed..."

Prince Fu was shocked.

Everyone present was astute; just from this sentence, it was clear that the Anti-Japanese Army was not playing small games; their plan was to replace tax with fines to open the sea ban for the court!

Prince Fu stood up and paced back and forth twice and suddenly asked: "What’s the annual profit of five percent from Dinghai Port?"

Xu Chuanyin whispered: "Three million taels. Including Songjiang Port, it’s five million taels."

Everyone in the hall was surprised again.

Prince Fu laughed heartily to himself: "Five million taels, my Nine Border combined yearly pay is only three hundred twenty thousand taels. Previously, there were always people saying the court treated the border army poorly, but where would the court find so much silver? Now there is."

He looked at Mrs. Zhang and Zhang Xia: "A few days ago, I was guessing, the Emperor luring several families to vie for Jiangnan with the position of Grand Secretary. But when will that end? The Emperor must have an account: whoever can raise enough silver can become Grand Secretary. I guessed it would be five million taels..."

Zhou Kuang quietly reminded: "Your Highness, don’t speculate about the Emperor’s intent."

Prince Fu gave him a sidelong glance: "Don’t dampen my spirits."

Zhou Kuang pouted.

The next moment, Prince Fu solemnly, earnestly clasped his hands to Mrs. Zhang and Zhang Xia and said: "Congratulations, Vice Minister Zhang will become Grand Secretary Zhang."

The Shi’en Hall suddenly fell silent.

Everyone in the hall looked at each other in confusion; has the contest for Grand Secretary ended?

Rumors abound that the contest for Grand Secretary would be a deadly struggle, but no one expected that the person from the Anti-Japanese Army, without even entering Jinling City, merely at Dinghai Port helped Zhang Zhuo defeat everyone.

At this moment, Xu Chongyi could no longer stay, clasped his hands and excused himself: "Your Highness, I have a gravely ill wife at home who I must return to care for."

Prince Fu said meaningfully, "Go, and see if you can hold onto your Songjiang Port."

As Xu Chongyi led the people of the Jinling Xu Family away hurriedly, Prince Fu looked cheerfully at Zhang Xia, "Sister-in-law, is there anything else unresolved here? If not, I plan to visit Dinghai Port to see some excitement."

Zhang Xia spoke, "Your Highness, there is one more thing."

Prince Fu made a slight sound of surprise, "What else is there?"

Zhang Xia clasped his hands and said, "Your Highness’s southern tour as the imperial envoy is to inspect the summer taxes and autumn grains. Coincidentally, the Xu Family’s clan fields are all here. After I finish tallying the accounts, please oversee the measurement of the fields, starting with the Xu Family."

Prince Fu was silent for a moment and said meaningfully, "That’s a lot of land. I’m worried about not being able to collect taxes to report back to His Majesty; completing this means I can report back, though the Xu Family may not fare well... Are you really willing?"

Mrs. Zhang stood up and bowed, "My husband works tirelessly in the Wenhua Palace every day, with only the reform in mind. This is a matter of life and death for thousands of people and cannot be delayed."

Prince Fu restrained his smile, bowed to Mrs. Zhang, and sincerely said, "Mr. Zhang has high moral integrity. From now on, I will be in the same boat with Mr. Zhang."

Xu Chuanyin’s heart was moved. The Quasi-Heir and the Cabinet Minister in the same boat? In this Ning Dynasty, besides His Majesty, is there an even greater support?

While thinking, Prince Fu bid farewell to Mrs. Zhang, "Lady, please rest; I will ride swiftly to Dinghai Port to see the excitement."

With that, he walked away with long strides, without any hesitation. Xu Chuanyin hurried to follow, but was separated by Zhou Kuang and other attendants by five steps.

He could only call out from behind the attendants, "Your Highness, I have a prepared treasure ship, perfect for women to tour Jiangnan’s scenery on the Jingjiang River. There’s a whole room of Jiangnan storytelling scripts on board for entertainment... On the way, I can tell you about the Anti-Japanese Army affairs which I’ve gathered a lot of information about."

Prince Fu stopped and turned his head, looking at Xu Chuanyin with a half-smile, "That sounds good."

Xu Chuanyin was overjoyed and followed the team out.

As they were leaving, Qi Zhaoning couldn’t help but frequently look back at Zhang Xia in Shi’en Hall, only to see him dressed in white, with long hair tied with a hemp rope.

Having just taken down the Xu Family, yet there was no joy on his face.

...

...

Shi’en Hall quickly became empty, as if the dust had settled.

Mrs. Zhang let out a long sigh, finally easing her tensed shoulders.

For the past half month, she was tense every day, suffering from insomnia every night, and although she had not moved much, her waist and back were sore.

Mrs. Zhang sighed, "I thought the Xu Family’s matter had no more turning points, but suddenly it took an unexpected turn, winning inexplicably..."

Xiao Man stepped forward to knead Mrs. Zhang’s shoulders, smiling as she said, "Madam, it was the young master who put in great effort. He surely guessed you couldn’t eat or sleep well, hence he worked so diligently."

Mrs. Zhang sighed, "Xiao Man, your mouth... Winning instead left my heart feeling empty, not knowing what to do next."

She turned and asked Li Si, "How did you manage to invite Prince Fu?"

Li Si smiled as he explained, "Reporting to the old Madam, my adoptive father sent me to Suzhou to seek out Prince Fu, without saying anything else, just mentioning the Zhang Family was in trouble, to see if he would come. I suppose my adoptive father wasn’t sure either, just wanted to try and see who was a friend and who was a foe."

Xiao Man’s eyes sparkled, "This Prince Fu isn’t too bad; he came immediately upon hearing the Zhang Family was in trouble. But if he hadn’t come, what would your adoptive father have done?"

Li Si stroked his goatee, "My adoptive father merely said that if Prince Fu didn’t come, he would delay for a few more days. I originally planned to burn Shi’en Hall too, but now it saves me the trouble. Also, I suspect this step of my foster father’s wasn’t a mere move on the chessboard."

Xiao Man was puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Li Si lowered his head in contemplation, "My adoptive father never tests people’s hearts lightly, not even us Five Tigers have been tested. He’s so cautiously testing Prince Fu now, surely there are big plans in the future requiring Prince Fu’s involvement, but as to what those plans are, I can’t guess."

At this time, Xu Shu, sitting in the hall, stretched lazily, "Oh, has everyone left?"

Mrs. Zhang glanced askance at him, "Was pretending to sleep all morning fun?"

Xu Shu hurriedly explained, "Sister, you know I’m a monk, I can’t argue with them on these mundane matters, it would deteriorate my cultivation."

Mrs. Zhang gave a cold laugh, "I’m hungry, go prepare the meals."

Xu Shu grinned happily, "Sure, everything will be to your taste!"

Xiao Man went to pull Zhang Xia, "Sister Axia, now that the dust has settled, shall we go visit the Xu Family Mansion? I haven’t thoroughly gone through it... Eh, why do you look so worried?"

As the words fell, there was the sound of running footsteps from outside the hall.

Thirty-two ran in from outside, panting as he said, "The Ministry of War withheld Jingjiang’s victory report from being sent to the Imperial Capital, and also suppressed the matters of Dinghai Port, saying that it was Wang Changzhen’s order."

Zhang Xia suddenly said, "As expected."

Xiao Man was puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Xia said in a deep voice, "The dust hasn’t settled yet; Xu Chongyi and Hu Junye won’t give up easily. The affairs of Songjiang Port and Dinghai Port will surely be further entangled, they are bound to take desperate measures."