"Young Master, you're finally awake." Fu Qiulu's face was filled with visible worry.
Zhu Ci did not care about his image in front of her, stretching and saying, "What time is it?"
“It is already noon.”
Zhu Ci stretched his neck and shoulders, letting out a long sigh, said, "This trip was truly exhausting; sea battles are not easy to fight."
No wonder the Sea Bandits are so rampant, yet the Garrisons remain unmoved; a single engagement could be life-threatening and might not even result in victory, potentially leading to financial losses in the end.
Fu Qiulu said with a smile, "This time, Young Master will have achieved a permanent solution; even if there are some fish that slip through the net, they likely won't dare to come and plunder us again."
Zhu Ci shook his head. "Solve it once and for all? There is no such thing in this world."
Do you really think he reformed the rockets and trained the troops just to deal with Sea Bandits? How is that any different from using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken?
The Qing Army's navy has not developed at all; one could say it doesn't exist, so there is no need to deal with it.
What he truly worried about was across the vast ocean.
This worry seemed a bit premature, after all, whether he could survive the Qing Army was a separate matter entirely, but.. what if? A foundation cannot be built in a single day.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ci was already prepared to go to the study to plan whether there was a need to renovate the seaport in Jiading.
Although he remembered that those great ports of later generations were not in Jiading, he had no other choice now, as this was the only territory that belonged to him.
Before studying the port planning, Zhu Ci first took a look at the imperial gazettes.
He was moved to laughter by anger when he looked at the first page.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Is being the Suzhou Prefect a high-risk profession now? A little cat wobbling off the boat. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 63
The contents of the official gazette were actually quite sparse; it was just as the saying goes: the fewer the words, the bigger the matter.
This matter was indeed quite significant; it stated that after the Imperial Carriage arrived in Songjiang Prefecture, upon the recommendation of the Marquis of Huating, the decision was finally made to reclaim Nanjing.
Zhu Ci glanced at the dates on it and did a quick calculation. Hmm, by the time the Imperial Court decided to reclaim Nanjing, it seemed the Qing Army had already withdrawn from the city.
This decision was truly perfectly timed.
The commander appointed to retake Nanjing was Vice Commander Liu Zhaoji, which makes it easy to imagine that Liu Zhaoji retook Nanjing without breaking a sweat.
After Nanjing was retaken, the Imperial Carriage returned to Nanjing, but the Qing Army arrived once again just as they reached the city.
This time, Zhu Yousong's escape was somewhat smoother; after all, the first time is a learning experience and the second is second nature. He was merely pursued all the way to Songjiang Prefecture by the Qing Army, before finally being repelled by the troops under the Marquis of Huating.
But this time, Zhu Yousong refused to stop in Songjiang Prefecture, instead fleeing directly toward Hangzhou Prefecture.
Zhu Ci looked at this report with suspicion for a moment; with the imperial court in such a state, how could they possibly have the time to issue reports?
Moreover, even if this were a report issued by the imperial court, they would at least have tried to beautify it.
And in this report, Zhu Yousong and all the ministers were practically exposing their most unsightly sides; this certainly didn't seem like the style of the Imperial Court.
Zhu Ci rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, decided to write a letter to Huang Chunyao to ask what the situation actually was.
These kinds of powerful aristocratic families were, if nothing else, much better than him when it came to being well-informed.
However, what surprised him was that the one who brought him the news was none other than Zhu Ying.
"Sigh, the world is in chaos." Zhu Ying looked somewhat lost.
Zhu Ci comforted him, saying, "Suzhou Prefecture is still relatively safe for now; it will be fine once the imperial court sends a new Prefect."
Zhu Ying gave a bitter smile and said, "The new Prefect.. who knows when he will arrive? I fear the Imperial Court can barely look after itself right now. With the Emperor's carriage heading to Hangzhou, Suzhou.. I fear it has already been abandoned."
Zhu Ci continued to comfort him, saying, "The Imperial Court still has the strength to strike back; I just received a news bulletin.."
"A gazette? Oh, you mean the one issued by the imperial court.." Although Zhu Ying was illiterate, he had associated with the County Magistrate and the Prefect for quite some time, so he knew quite a few things.
He said casually, "The news I received is that the official gazette seems to have been issued by the Marquis of Huating."
Ah?" Zhu Ci looked at the official report in his hands. "The Marquis of Huating issued it? Without the Imperial Court's permission?
Zhu Ying glanced around with shifty eyes, after confirming no one else was around, he whispered, "The news I have seems to say that the Marquis of Huating has lost the Emperor's favor."
Huh?
That shouldn't be the case.
Fu Cai was a very shrewd businessman who had coaxed Zhu Yousong quite well; how could he have lost the Emperor's favor?
However, Zhu Ying didn't know anything more specific; he only knew this news because he had good friends within the Marquis of Huating's fleet.
There were plenty of rumors, but none of them were reliable.
Just as Zhu Ci was contemplating whether he should cultivate his own information channels, Huang Chunyao arrived at the county magistrate's office in a frantic rush.
Something terrible has happened; the Marquis of Huating has rebelled.
Huh?
Zhu Ci's surprise this time was truly genuine; he even subconsciously stood up and repeated a sentence: "Rebellion?"
Huang Chunyao nodded solemnly, panting, "Yes, they've rebelled."
Zhu Ci opened his mouth, after a long pause, asked dryly, "Why? That shouldn't be right."
There was no such plot in the first half of the book. Oh, that's not right—the book doesn't even mention the Marquis of Huating at all.
Moreover, the book never mentioned the Qing Army launching a sudden raid on Nanjing, let alone doing it twice; the Qing Army's intentions are truly baffling.
After sitting down, Huang Chunyao said, "It seems that from the very beginning, the Marquis of Huating has been constantly advising to retake the Capital, the Imperial Court has been in constant dispute, while His Majesty.. remains indecisive."
Zhu Ci said directly, "Just say he was scared witless and didn't dare to go back."
Huang Chunyao was instantly struck with alarm: "This.. you can't just say things like that."
Zhu Ci glanced at Zhu Ying and found that Zhu Ying's expression was as if he had seen a ghost.
Tsk, the fear of the Emperor and the nobility has truly seeped into the very bones of people in this era; even someone like Zhu Ying would be afraid of the Emperor.
He coughed lightly. "I know His Majesty better than you do, so there isn't much I can't say. Forget it, let's not talk about this. What happened next?"
Huang Chunyao glanced at him and continued, "It wasn't until the Tartars retreated that the court finally decided to return. However, just as we reached the gates of the Capital, the Tartars attacked again. This time, their target was not the Capital, but the Imperial Carriage. The Imperial Carriage issued an edict for the Marquis of Huating to act as the rearguard. After receiving the order, the Marquis of Huating indeed held back the Tartars. After a stalemate lasting several days, the Tartars retreated. Then, the Marquis of Huating rebelled. It is said that.. the Imperial Court was worried he would use his military power to build his own influence and was withholding his rations.."
“Ha.” Zhu Ci let out a short laugh upon hearing this. “That is exactly the kind of thing they are capable of doing.”
He truly had no words for this group of people. At a time like this, they were still engaged in internal strife, having previously driven Zuo Liangyu to rebellion by withholding his pay and rations, now driving the Marquis of Huating to rebellion as well.
The main thing is, do these people actually have brains? Have they forgotten what Fu relied on to build his foundation?
His family started out as grain merchants; did he lack grain? Why was he able to support so many soldiers? It was because he had grain!
Huang Chunyao and Zhu Ying exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat out of place.
The two of them were from different circles and looked down on each other.. well, Zhu Ying's disdain might have also carried various shades of envy, jealousy, resentment.
Sitting together like this at this moment was truly awkward.
After Zhu Ci finished speaking, he glanced at the two of them and asked, "The Imperial Court likely won't be able to attend to Suzhou Prefecture; what are your thoughts?"
Huang Chunyao's mind instantly raced. If no one was around.. then.. could he take things a step further?
He was, after all, a jinshi, it was only because his views differed from those of the officials in the imperial court that he had chosen not to serve in office back then.
He had many friends and relatives, his reputation was quite significant. When it came to governing a country, he was certainly capable; besides, even if he weren't, there was still Hou Dongzeng.
However, he did not rush to speak, but instead looked toward Zhu Ying.
As soon as Zhu Ying saw Huang Chunyao's expression, he knew what he was thinking. Theoretically speaking, if it were an election, Huang Chunyao and the people around him would indeed have a significant chance of winning.
But the problem was, if these people took power, what benefit could he possibly gain?
Either he would be the next Suzhou Prefect, or he would be the first one to be made an example of.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ying immediately looked at Zhu Ci and asked, "Why was Young Master Xi not around a few days ago?"
Zhu Ci glanced at Zhu Ying and replied understandingly, "It's nothing, I just took some people out to sea to suppress the Sea Bandits. I've been drifting for nearly half a month and I'm exhausted, only to return and hear that something major has happened."
Huang Chunyao froze for a moment: "Suppressing bandits? Sea Bandits?"
Zhu Ying smiled and said, "If they need to go out to sea, they must be Sea Bandits. No wonder I heard news of the Young Master buying ships a while ago; it turns out it was to go out to sea to suppress the bandits. It seems he has returned in great victory, which is worth celebrating!"
Huang Chunyao began to re-examine this Young Master Xi; he had heard before that this Young Master Xi was recruiting soldiers and horses, but he hadn't taken it to heart.
Just a thousand Retainers. Among these local gentry and powerful families, which one doesn't have several hundred Retainers? Moreover, they are all loyal and have served their families for a long time.
He just didn't expect that this Young Master Xi would actually lead people out to suppress bandits like that? Those were Sea Bandits, not something one could fight just by having a boat!
As Huang Chunyao was thinking about these things, Zhu Ying asked, "When will the Young Master head out to sea again? Can you take me along to see for myself?"
Zhu Ci waved his hand. "No trips for a while. Most of the Sea Bandits have been suppressed, the few that remain are likely terrified. I've traveled around the nearby islands and seen no sign of them; they've probably fled, so there's no need to go again."
Huh?
Zhu Ying and Huang Chunyao performed a sudden duet.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: You want to be the Suzhou Prefect? Hehe, have you seen these rockets? A cat with one paw on the launcher, smiling mischievously. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 64
Zhu Ci said nonchalantly, "Since we've already gone out to sea, it wouldn't be worth it to just finish off one wave; that's not cost-effective enough."
Zhu Ying couldn't help but swallow hard. "You.. you did this.. how.. how did you do it?"
Zhu Ci leaned back, his expression carrying a hint of arrogance and pride: "The Crown Prince previously gave me a special mandate, allowing me to personally recruit retainers to suppress bandits, even granted me special permission to manufacture firearms."
Huang Chunyao's expression changed involuntarily upon hearing the words "firearms," and he lowered his voice to ask, "Does Young Master Xi have firearms?"
Zhu Ci said casually, "It's nothing special, just something to make do with."