Chapter 592: Lobbyists |
The autumn sky is high and the air is crisp.
The Reed Marshes beside the Altar of Mountains and Rivers stretched for several li. After entering autumn, the reed catkins turned completely white. When the wind blew, the entire expanse of reeds would fall low like golden ocean waves, and then stand up again, emitting a grand and continuous rustling sound.
That sound was Neither Hasty nor Slow, as if someone between heaven and earth was calmly turning pages and sheets of paper.
Further away, the clamor on Zhengyang Gate Avenue could faintly be heard. That was the commotion of the Annan envoys leaving the capital: banners, drum music, horse hooves, armor, and the spectating commoners.
The envoy procession, escorted by the Feather Forest Army, passed through Zhengyang Gate Avenue, left the capital city via the Gate of Eternal Stability, and headed south all the way. Those sounds passed through the Reed Marshes, crunched and kneaded by the wind, leaving only a faint buzzing, like matters of another world.
It had nothing to do with Chen Ji anymore.
Beside the Reed Marshes, a narrow wooden dock extended into the lake. The wooden planks had seen many years and days, emitting slight creaking sounds when stepped upon.
At the end of the dock, two rattan chairs were placed side by side. Chen Ji and Brother Pao each held a bamboo pole, the fishing lines drooping into the water, perfectly still.
Chen Ji leaned back in the rattan chair with his eyes closed, not knowing whether he was awake or asleep.
Brother Pao tilted his head to glance at him and didn't speak either, just putting his Tobacco Pipe back into his mouth and continuing to stare at the water surface.
On the shore behind them, Xiaoman had early on gathered stones to build a fire pit and lit a bonfire, just waiting for the two to catch fish to fetch local materials and grill fish to eat. But she waited left and right and didn't see any fish hooked.
She squatted beside the fire pit, propping her chin with one hand and using a wooden stick to stir the firewood with the other, saying out of sheer boredom: "Can the two of them actually catch any fish?"
Er Dao remained silent, only focusing on adding firewood to the fire pit.
Xiaoman shouted toward the end of the wooden bridge dock: "Can you guys catch fish today? I've already got the fire going well. If you can't catch any, having someone go buy a few is also fine."
The voice spread out in the Reed Marshes, startling a few water birds taking flight.
Brother Pao stood up and walked toward the shore: "Keep your voice down, the boss is asleep."
Xiaoman lowered her voice and said suspiciously: "Has Brother Pao really gone fishing before?"
Brother Pao laughed out of anger: "What kind of talk is this? When I was young in my hometown, I carried a bamboo pole to the riverbank every day. How could I have not fished?"
Xiaoman became even more doubtful: "Then how come you haven't managed to hook even a single one?"
Brother Pao had just opened his mouth when Er Dao suddenly interjected: "The bait is no good."
Brother Pao choked on a sentence in his throat. Just as he was about to open his mouth to explain again, Er Dao suddenly said again: "The fishing pole is too short."
"..."
"The weather is bad, the fish aren't opening their mouths."
"..."
"There are no fish here, they've been fished to exhaustion by others."
"..."
"Too many small miscellaneous fish, the hook can't reach the bottom."
Brother Pao let out a breath of frustration, saying crossly: "Why are you stealing my lines?"
Xiaoman covered her mouth and laughed, laughing so hard her shoulders shook repeatedly.
Right at this moment, two figures walked over along the edge of the Reed Marshes in the distance. Brother Pao squatted his eyes to look; a man and a woman, both draped in black clothes, their steps composed.
Yun Yang, Jiao Tu.
Brother Pao sighed, knocking his Tobacco Pipe on the sole of his shoe: "Truly not letting someone have a moment of peace."
He tucked his smoking pipe onto his waist, lifting his feet to meet the two. Over there, more than ten Stick Bearers from the martial gang had already silently emerged from the reed clumps, blocking in front of the two to form a human wall.
Jiao Tu stopped in her tracks. She swept a glance over the Stick Bearers forming the human wall, and then her gaze passed over the Stick Bearers' shoulders to look toward that expanse of golden yellow Reed Marshes.
She only saw Chen Ji sitting all alone at the end of the wooden bridge dock. The sunlight shone on him, the rustling sound of the reeds surrounding him; the clamor in the distance having nothing to do with him.
Jiao Tu suddenly let out a light laugh: "Lord Chen now actually has somewhat of the meaning of a powerful minister out of office. I heard that Brother Pao previously went to Panjiayuan to buy some Official Path Gateways for the Stick Bearers under him? What's the use of those unpresentable Gateways? With Brother Pao leading the Red Gate into our Secret Spy Division, presumably the Inner Chancellor is also willing to pick some Official Path Gateways from the Trouble-Resolving Tower to bestow down. Quite a few illustriously famous Official Path Gateways in The Jianghu have left their roots and foundation in our Trouble-Resolving Tower."
Brother Pao笑了笑 (smiled): "Lord Jiao Tu is quite well-informed. The human heart in this Jianghu is sinister. For small-scale minor scuffles like ours, putting together some Official Path Gateways to protect ourselves is enough. We don't expect to be able to do any great things."
Jiao Tu covered her mouth and chuckled lightly: "Brother Pao is joking. What Lord Chen does are all Earth-Shaking great matters. Following him, even if you want to have small-scale minor scuffles, it won't do. However, Brother Pao better have the brothers under you make way. What we need to discuss with Lord Chen, you guys cannot listen."
Brother Pao said methodically: "The boss is asleep, you guys just wait."
Yun Yang raised his eyebrows: "Putting on airs greater than the Inner Chancellor. Those who don't know would think he has become the master of the Trouble-Resolving Tower. Move aside quickly, otherwise..."
Right at this moment, Chen Ji's voice rang out from the end of the dock: "Brother Pao, let them come over."
Brother Pao waved his hand to the Stick Bearers, creating a path. Jiao Tu was not angered either. While passing by Brother Pao, she tapped Brother Pao's shoulder hollow with her finger: "We are all on the same side. This slave girl almost drank the cross-cupped wine (nuptial cup) with your boss."
Yun Yang frowned and said: "When did this happen?"
Jiao Tu rolled her eyes: "That time in Luo City, have you forgotten?"
She stepped onto the wooden bridge and arrived behind Chen Ji: "Lord Chen has such an elegant mood. The capital city is already a chaotic pot of porridge, and you still have the mind to come fishing?"
Chen Ji leaned against the rattan chair and casually asked: "How is it chaotic?"
Jiao Tu sat down on the rattan chair beside him, crossing her legs: "Lord Chen is pretending not to know? Lord Bing Hu suddenly appeared in the capital city, took Han Tong away from the Inner Prison, and not only this, this Lord Bing Hu was also able to send the Canal Transport Guild bandits out from the Anding Gate during the Curfew. Five Wards Military and Police Department Deputy Commander Lin Yanchu also hung up his seal and resigned his Official Position because of this... This slave girl remembers that Lin Yanchu was once a Feather Forest Army soldier under Lord Chen's command. Lord Chen has good calculations, having buried a chess piece for last night so early on."
Chen Ji's expression didn't change: "Lin Yanchu once betrayed me in public, it is obvious to all. How can you say he is my person?"
Jiao Tu turned sideways, pressing her body against the armrest of the rattan chair, using her finger to gently stroke across Chen Ji's shoulder: "Now Lord Chen is plugging your ears while stealing a bell (deceiving yourself). As long as it's a smart person, they could all see who sent Han Tong away last night. The Lord doesn't think that just by covering a piece of cloth over your face you can deceive the people of the world, right..."
When the finger stroked to Chen Ji's arm, Yun Yang reached out from behind, pulling Jiao Tu's hand away: "If you want to talk business, talk business. What are you getting all handsy for."
Jiao Tu rolled her eyes, sat upright and said: "When did Lord Chen become Bing Hu?"
Chen Ji calmly looked at the lake surface: "Did you come today just to coax words out of me?"
Seeing he was unwilling to chat about this matter, Jiao Tu immediately smiled: "It doesn't matter if the Lord doesn't want to say. This slave girl and Yun Yang came today to pay our respects to the boss (bai matou). Let's not talk about others for now, but the two of us have been running east and west for the Lord for a long time. Outside Chongli Pass, the Imperial Music Bureau... Lord, does this slave girl count as the number one trusted confidant under your command?"
Chen Ji glanced at her, not saying a word.
Jiao Tu said sternly: "After the Curfew last night, the matter of the Secret Spy Division letting Han Tong go can no longer be covered up. Deep in the night, a bunch of imperial censors were kneeling outside the Meridian Gate, the Memorials to the Throne impeaching the Directorate of Ceremonial falling like snowflakes. Does the Lord know that along the canal transport route, there are one hundred and seventy-two docks, and every single one has Han Tong's people? The transport boats running on the canal, the Boat Trackers, the dockworkers, over a hundred thousand mouths, recognize Han Tong's Official Seal, not the Imperial Court's Official Credential."
Yun Yang stood behind the two, hands tucked in his sleeves, saying coldly: "They wouldn't dare to openly rebel, but the Canal Transport Guild has many ghost tricks. Putting rotten boats across the shoals to prevent official boats from docking, delaying the sailing times, dispatching water ghosts to chisel and break official boats... If the canal transport is in chaos, the first to suffer disaster is the capital city. The capital city has a population of one million, and seventy percent of the grain and rice consumed daily is transported from the south via the canal. Once the canal transport is cut off, within three months, the grain prices in the capital city will turn somersaults and soar."
Jiao Tu supplemented from the side: "Next is the tax silver from the south. The salt taxes from Lianghuai, the textile manufacturing from Jiangnan, the grain and taxes from Huguang, all have to travel the canal to enter the capital. Once the canal transport is cut off, the Imperial Court's silver won't come in, the Border Army's military pay can't be issued, and the soldiers at Chongli Pass will have to drink the northwest wind (go hungry)... Lord, letting Han Tong go leaves endless troubles for the future."
Yun Yang's voice became even colder: "This release allowed a heaven-shattering great chaos to escape. Now the Imperial Court is already arguing so loudly the sky is turning over. Some say to immediately dispatch troops to wipe out the Canal Transport Guild, some say to offer amnesty and enlistment, and some say to hold you accountable. Jiao Tu, at this time he is already Unable to Save Oneself. Once the Canal Transport Guild rebels, he will only end up with a sentence of Immediate Decapitation. What are we coming to pay respects to his dock for?"
Jiao Tu didn't even turn her head, only tossing two words at him: "Shut your mouth."
She turned her head, looking fixedly at Chen Ji: "The Lord probably doesn't know yet, His Majesty was also greatly enraged because of this. At the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), he demoted the Inner Chancellor to Divine Palace Directorate Superintendent and dispatched him to Changping to guard the Imperial Tombs. The current Seal-Holding Grand Eunuch is Wu Xiu. Presumably, right now, the Inner Chancellor's carriage and horses have already exited Anding Gate."
The fishing pole in Chen Ji's hand finally moved for a bit.
He looked down at the water surface; the fishing line was perfectly still. It turned out it was just blown by the wind.
No wonder there was a secret spy coming to Liquor Alley this morning to demand he Check-In. It turned out the Directorate of Ceremonial had already changed its banner. That Inner Chancellor sitting withered in the Trouble-Resolving Tower was actually exiled to guard the tombs?
Chen Ji always felt something wasn't quite right.
Jiao Tu continued saying: "Now both the Secret Spy Division and the Trouble-Resolving Guard are under the sole jurisdiction of Wu Xiu. Not only that, His Majesty also transferred Li Dongyan from Taiyuan Prefecture to enter the capital and promoted him to Trouble-Resolving Guard Commander."
Chen Ji was puzzled: "Li Dongyan?"
Jiao Tu explained: "Li Dongyan was demoted to Taiyuan for contradicting the Inner Chancellor. It hasn't even been a year, and Lin Chaoqing just took over his position. This person is a tough stubble. Born from a humble background, his family's condition declined. He forcefully castrated himself, and then bribed the then-Directorate of Imperial Horses Superintendent to send him into the palace. He entered the palace at sixteen, was transferred into the Trouble-Resolving Guard at twenty, and this year he is thirty-two and is already in the Path-Seeking Realm. Back in the day, what we found most annoying was him. With him watching, the Secret Spy Division truly couldn't fish up even a tiny bit of profit."
Chen Ji was thoughtful: "The two of you, coming here today, what exactly is it for?"
Jiao Tu said sincerely: "Lord Wu Xiu dispatched the two of us to come ask the Lord if you still want the businesses of the Salt Certificates and the Morning Newspaper. As long as you nod your head, he can let you continue managing these two livelihoods. You also don't need to do any extra things, you only need to go Check-In and listen to assignments every day."
Chen Ji slowly closed his eyes and leaned back in the rattan chair: "I don't want them." (End of Chapter)