lovenovelstory Chapter 261 The Reclusive Thief Shao
Chapter 261 The Reclusive Thief Shao
Chapter 261 The Reclusive Shao (Part 2)
For Shao Shuyi, the entire Matuosha area was a "safe zone".
Therefore, when he arrived at Yaqian Street, he had fewer than ten attendants with him.
The meeting place was set at the Jinsha Inn, the only inn on Yaqian Street.
Upon receiving the news, Jiang Guanbao rushed over. After arriving at the only courtyard-style guest room, he paused for a moment and said, "Cao She, you have more guards now."
"Jiang Guanbao, you come here and instead of asking about business, why are you staring at Brother Shao's guards?" Wang Huadu said with a grin as he sat down next to Shao Shuyi.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Guanbao was startled and said, "Brother Shao—Brother Cao is an important figure. It is only natural that he would be concerned about assassination attempts and thus expand his guard. This is also my way of showing concern."
"Alright." Shao Shuyi patted Wang Huadu's hand and said, "Master Jiang—"
"I'm not fit to be an official," Jiang Guanbao said with a smile, taking a small stool and sitting down below Shao Shuyi.
"Who is looking for me in Jiangyin?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"So many people," Jiang Guanbao said, counting them off one by one. "On the second day of the first lunar month, Judge Ma Yuanchong sent someone to find me, saying he wanted to see you, Cao She. On Renri (the seventh day of the first lunar month), the prefect also wanted to see you and asked me to pass on a message. On the eighth day, Ge Tikong found me and said you should show your face to put everyone at ease. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month—"
Shao Shuyi listened calmly and without any urgency.
In fact, Yu Yuan, Yang Jin, and Jiang Guanbao were already acting as agents in dealing with the government, while Jiang Cheng and Wang Xing were acting as assistants, handling a whole host of specific matters.
Rather than the specific content, such as just a meeting, he was too lazy to pay attention. He only had Yu Yuan spread the word that Cao She was personally cultivating the land at Ma Tuo Sha—clearing wasteland for everyone—and that they would talk about it after the second day of the second lunar month.
Now that the second day of the second lunar month has passed, more people are looking for him again.
"Alright, it's time to show our faces." After listening, Shao Shuyi made a decision and said, "Let's forget about Chong Sheng Temple and just stay at the newly expanded Jinsha Inn."
"Okay, sure." Jiang Guanbao was overjoyed and immediately agreed.
He knew that the Golden Sands Inn and Cao House were connected.
This was originally a small inn in the style of a large dormitory. As business gradually improved, Cao She persuaded the owner to renovate it before the New Year, but the owner did not have the money. So Cao She asked Wu Mazi, a retired employee who was injured, to invest in the project. In addition to the dormitory, eight guest rooms and a separate courtyard were added, which was barely acceptable. It is not surprising that it is now being used as a place for receiving guests.
Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Jiang Guanbao bowed and took his leave.
"Wait a minute," Shao Shuyi called out to him, asking, "I heard that on the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, the prefecture gave you twenty ingots of paper money and sixty shi of grain?"
"Yes," Jiang Guanbao replied. "Meng Chaodong, an official from the Ministry of Justice, personally escorted the boat here, instructing us to train diligently and not to slack off. He also wanted to see you at the time."
"Why are you suddenly distributing money and grain?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"Reporting to Cao She, this is simply a reissue of the long-overdue grain and paper money; not a single coin or grain of rice was added," Jiang Guanbao quickly replied.
Shao Shuyi looked at him, both amused and annoyed, and said, "I didn't ask you for money, why are you panicking? Has the money been distributed yet?"
"The grain has been stored in the granary for daily consumption. The money is locked in the box, waiting for Cao She to come and distribute it," Jiang Guanbao said.
Shao Shuyi gave him an approving look and said, "I'll go to the patrol and inspection department in a bit."
After saying that, he thought for a moment and then asked, "The patrol headquarters still has eight archers, right?"
"Yes," Jiang Guanbao said. "There were originally nine, but one died last winter. Including Li Guanren's group, there are a total of twenty-two archers."
Why is the state distributing money and grain?
"It is said that a high-ranking official is inspecting the area."
"What high-ranking official?"
Jiang Guanbao recalled for a moment and said, "I heard it from Chen Zi, the patrol inspector of Chengjiang. He said that before the new year, the emperor appointed several high-ranking officials to inspect the country and revitalize it."
Officials who commit crimes will be suspended from their posts pending investigation if they are of the fourth rank or above, and will be executed immediately if they are of the fifth rank or below.
Hubuddin, the Left Vice Minister of Jiangxi Province, and He Zhili, the Minister of Personnel, were ordered to inspect the eastern part of Zhejiang Province. Now that preparations are almost complete, they have already inspected Raozhou, Huizhou, and Chizhou, causing a great deal of anxiety in the local area.
Judge Ma was extremely anxious. He wanted to restore order, but feared causing trouble. So he obtained some grain and money, distributed it to various places, and instructed the patrol officers to train diligently to keep the area under control and prevent any incidents.
"How long will Hubuding and He Zhili be on their inspection tour?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"I reckon it'll take at least half a year."
"That long?"
"How can you leave without thoroughly cleaning up the place?" Jiang Guanbao said with a smirk.
Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "Tell Judge Ma that many Huai bandits have come to Ma Tuosha, and the area is in turmoil. Please replenish the number of archers to thirty. I'll send Wu Song to help you, and that will make thirty-two. Don't worry, it won't exceed that number; Jiang Sanbao and Wu Shangyuan will be transferred. Hmm, the original clerk is still recuperating, right? Good, then let him stay recuperating and not come back. I'll assign you another clerk to manage equipment and supplies, so you won't be overwhelmed."
Jiang Guanbao listened, numb for a moment, and only asked, "May I ask who the new clerk is?"
"That is Gao Wang, the eldest son of Master Gao."
"From Gao Jian's family?"
"Exactly."
Jiang Guanbao breathed a sigh of relief. These were his own people, thank goodness.
"Don't worry, this will also benefit you," Shao Shuyi added. "I recently acquired twenty new sets of leather armor, and I'll prioritize giving them to Wu Song. The eight veteran archers of the patrol office will each receive one. In this way, these armored soldiers can be stationed in such a small place as Matuosha without worry."
"Cao She is right," Jiang Guanbao said, looking jubilant.
The Ma Tuo Sha Patrol Office was thus emptied out from the inside out. Even the grain, money, and equipment issued by the imperial court were managed by a special accountant (official), and were personally controlled and distributed by Shao Shuyi.
"Alright, that's all. You can leave now," Shao Shuyi said, waving his hand.
Jiang Guanbao bowed and took his leave.
Shao Shuyi returned to Chong Sheng Temple and began training the more than twenty new recruits he had selected at the end of last year.
These are the two newly formed teams. If last year was still in the planning stage, this year is the official formation.
The two squad leaders were respectively handed over to Wu Shangyuan, a swordsman and shieldman, and Jiang Sanbao, a spearman, who had performed well in previous battles. They were then drawn from the Ma Tuo Sha Patrol Office and each was given a flag.
The two teams were mainly composed of boatmen, supplemented by less than ten seafarers from the Shengye Trading Company's transport department, local farmers from Ma Tuosha, and refugees from the Huai River region.
These 28 new recruits will be temporarily trained by Liang Tai for a period of three months.
Three months later, although they still cannot fight on the front lines, they can still perform some second-line missions.
As the army expanded and its strength increased, so did the financial pressure, since there were many other expenses besides maintaining the army.
On the tenth day of the second month, Shao Shuyi returned to Jinsha Inn and met Ge Daji, the clerk of the Jiangyin Prefecture, Meng Chaodong, the criminal affairs officer, and Chen Zi, the patrol inspector of Chengjiang, in the courtyard of the Jia-class building.
The three were all old acquaintances, so they didn't stand on ceremony and started talking about business in the courtyard.
"Should I call you Cao She or Shao She?" Ge Daji asked with a wry smile.
"Either is fine," Shao Shuyi said with a laugh.
Ge Daji wasn't surprised. He even thought that Shao Shuyi might be using an alias, perhaps impersonating some dead seafarer.
These days, few people who "do great things" use their real names.
Zhu Ding's original name was Zhu Dingyi, Wang Zongsan's original name was Wang Huai'er, and Chen Xianwu didn't even have the surname Chen.
These are all minor matters.
Ge Daji gathered his thoughts and asked, "Has Cao She been staying at Ma Tuo Sha lately?"
Shao Shuyi hummed in agreement.
Ge Daji was somewhat skeptical, but didn't know how to ask.
Shao Shuyi's face showed a perfect moment of embarrassment. He leaned close to Ge Daji's ear and whispered a few words.
Upon hearing this, Ge Daji's expression immediately became quite interesting.
Meng Chaodong and Chen Zi both looked over.
Ge Daji looked at the two of them, then at Shao Shuyi.
"It doesn't matter, people will find out sooner or later," Shao Shuyi said with a wry smile.
Ge Daji then said to the two, "Madam Fei, the wife of Tongzhi Zhu, has a close friend, Madam Liu, who is now pregnant with Cao She's child and is seven months along. This is Cao She's first child, so he is very concerned and stays by her side constantly."
The two suddenly realized.
After this incident, the three of them seemed much more relaxed.
Ge Daji breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'll let Cao She know. I was ordered by Lord Kuolijisi and Lord Zhang to ask this question."
"What exactly happened?" Shao Shuyi asked, puzzled.
A hint of unease crept across Ge Daji's face as he exclaimed, "A major incident has occurred in Jinling—"
Next, Ge Daji "led the discussion," while Meng Chaodong and Chen Zi "supplemented" the discussion. The three of them recounted in detail what had happened in the month and a half since December of last year.
Shao Shuyi, as the "screenwriter," naturally knew most of it, but Ge Daji and others also added some details he was unaware of—
After Zhu Dingbo's (Zhu Chen's) remaining followers scattered, a man named Miao Renfeng went home to avoid trouble.
Some people advised him to flee, but he refused to listen. He even tried to visit officials and take over part of Zhu Chen's property. In the end, he met a tragic end: he was killed and his family was exiled.
Hu Si fled west into Taiping Road, where he was reported by local salt merchants. The "Ten Thousand Households Garrison of Taiping Road and Huai'an Prefecture" urgently dispatched troops to surround and arrest him. In the middle of the first month, the two sides clashed once, and the government troops suffered a "minor setback." However, Hu Si only had a dozen or so men with him, and dared not confront the government directly. He then ran around aimlessly, causing turmoil in Taiping Road and creating panic among the people.
Zhu Mantun and Zhu Sanshan were nowhere to be found.
The government is sending people to investigate, focusing on Jurong, Lishui, Liyang, and the entire Zhenjiang area, because they both fled eastward.
There are many rumors circulating. Some say they have become bandits in the mountains, some say they are thieves on the river, some say they have gone to Huainan, and some say they have gone to sea. In short, there are many conflicting opinions and no consensus can be reached.
As for the Zhu family, unsurprisingly, their property was confiscated.
The fields, houses, shops, and wealth were all divided up by corrupt officials. There were even rumors that the officials in Jinling had left the largest share of the wealth to the upcoming Hudu Ding and He Zhili in order to escape punishment.
That's all the information that's been received in Jiangyin's official circles.
After listening quietly, Shao Shuyi looked at the three men and asked, "Will Zhu Dingbo's remaining followers take this opportunity to cause trouble?"
The three men exchanged glances, and finally Ge Daji stepped forward and said, "This is precisely why we have come here. Something has happened in Changzhou; remnants of Dingbo's faction are causing trouble, and the prefect has invited Cao She to the prefectural office for a meeting."
"I'm not going," Shao Shuyi refused decisively. "If you want to talk business, you can come to my place. Besides, I won't go abroad to suppress bandits; I only wish to keep Jiangyin peaceful. Please have Officer Ge take these words back to the prefectural government."
Ge Daji sighed, stood up and said, "Alright, I'll go back and report right away."
The once-powerful provincial prosecutor has now become a mere errand boy. But such is the way things are; there is no other way. What can be done?
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