After hearing this, the governor closed the book and threw it to one side with an expressionless face: "Since the Japanese policy was launched, the Japanese pirates have been weakened day by day, Yingzhou's financial resources have greatly increased, and your naval forces have not allocated a cent of their money. Not less, but up to now, the Japanese pirates have not been eradicated, and the people along the coast are still being invaded by the Japanese pirates, which makes me heartbroken and heartbroken."
When the governor said this, he shook his head and sighed. When Chen Ping heard this, he could no longer stand and knelt down: "Mr. Governor, it's not that the generals are unwilling to destroy them. It's just that these Japanese pirates are cunning. Every time we want to dispatch water, When the army wiped them out, everyone reported the news, so they fled immediately, it is really hateful, please forgive me for a while, and they will be wiped out in the end."
The governor took a sip of tea and said coldly: "If you are really capable, how can the disaster of Japanese pirates be delayed until now?"
His words were calm and his expression was relatively calm, but to Chen Ping's ears, it was like a thunderbolt.
He didn't dare to argue for a while. Although Chen Ping was a soldier, he actually understood some key points. The governor had great power and his term rarely exceeded six years since ancient times.
When the governor came to Yingzhou, he built roads, built inns, established schools, provided relief, and encouraged farmers to grow mulberry trees. These were political achievements rather than meritorious deeds.
Now we have done three major things, the first is to reduce the town, the second is to control the Japanese, and the third is to control the shipping industry. All of them can be remembered for future generations, and they can be called meritorious services.
But these three items are a bit unsatisfactory. The imperfection is that there are some die-hard Japanese pirates who raid the coast from time to time. It is the fifth year that the governor has been in Yingzhou, and he may be transferred next year. He is unable to suppress the Japanese pirates and cannot make the governor complete his merits and achieve self-fulfillment. Blaming it on the governor, his back was wet with cold sweat for a while.
The governor tapped the cup, his hands were well maintained, and he seemed to be deep in thought. After a while, he said: "If you can't deal with the Japanese pirates, I think the only way is to report to Your Majesty and send someone again, but your position as general will have to be moved."
Hearing these words, Chen Ping, who was a naval general and a fourth-rank official, was covered in cold sweat and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He couldn't bear it anymore and kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, Governor, please give me back to the end of the war." If there is an opportunity, I can issue a military order and I will definitely wipe out all these Japanese pirates."
The governor played with the lid of the teacup and watched as the rebellious general surrendered. He suddenly felt extremely satisfied. At the beginning of the founding of the country, the military was very powerful. Not to mention the Marquis of Jibei, even this man was unconvinced. But now that the time has come In the ninth year of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the civil society gradually flourished and the martial arts gradually became restrained. The situation was completely different. Even such generals had no choice but to bow their knees in front of him.
Therefore, the civil servants almost unanimously suppressed the military men, while the emperor was optimistic about the success.
Although he thought so, his face was expressionless. When he saw Chen Ping kneeling in front of him, cold sweat dripping from his forehead and dripping on the ground, leaving some sweat marks, the governor said: "Okay, I will give you this opportunity, but I have to delegate again." One person, the person in charge, can’t be you.”
After listening to the Governor's words, Chen Ping's face turned pale and he quickly said: "Your Majesty Governor, Your Majesty Governor, please give me another chance. I will definitely be fooled by this."
"What do you look like now? Do you have the decency of a general? I'm not stripping you of your position."
"The person I appointed does not have an official position. You are the general in name and you deserve the credit. However, you must obey orders. If you are unwilling to obey and fail to suppress the Japanese, you will have to shoulder the responsibility."
After listening to the Governor's words, Chen Ping breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he was not transferred or dismissed, everything would be fine. He timidly wiped his sweat and asked, "My Lord Governor, whoever you appoint will be treated well by the general."
"No need, I only appointed this person to be responsible for the big plans. This person is considered talented. If it weren't for a coincidence, I wouldn't be able to invite him." The governor said, stroking his beard.
"Sir, who is he?" Chen Ping asked.
"Pei Ziyun."
Chen Ping suddenly had doubts. This man was a man of literature. How could he lead an army? He saw the governor waving his hand: "When I go back this time, I will report the names of all the naval captains."
"Yes, Lord Governor, this is easy. There is one in the Yamen. I will send the list immediately." Chen Ping had no choice but to swallow all his words. Seeing that the Governor was speechless, Chen Ping left as ordered.
Seeing Chen Ping go out, the governor turned to the steward: "After the list is sent, make a copy and send it to the Fu Mansion and give it to Pei Ziyun."
"yes!"
Seeing the steward go out, the governor stared at the window without saying a word and silently strategizing. Needless to say, Pei Ziyun's literary talent and poetry were almost unparalleled in the world. He personally experienced the policy of pacifying the Japanese in political discussions. He even heard about the rumors with the prince, but whether he could fight , I can’t tell.
However, it is a foregone conclusion that he will be transferred next year. If the navy can completely encircle and exterminate the Japanese pirates, it will be flawless. Maybe he will be awarded a title based on his merits.
If he can't win, Chen Ping will still be the commander. Since it is his responsibility, he can justifiably convict Chen Ping.
At this point, most of Yingzhou's military power collapsed and returned to the imperial court.
Jibei Marquis Mansion·Study
There were soldiers standing in front of the study. Shen Zhi was sorting documents in front of the case. An oil lamp was lit, and the light had two wicks. It was very bright. Shen Zhi read them one by one, briefly summarized the contents, wrote a small signature, and Glue carefully on the back.
After finishing one post, I rubbed my eyes and face, and woke up. At this time, a voice came from the door, and a man bowed: "Mr. Shen, there is a secret report."
Secret reports usually do no good. Shen Zhi frowned and said, "Come in!"
A man in black came in and handed over an envelope. Shen passed the envelope directly, then looked at the secret seal on the cover and frowned.
I opened the letter and read it briefly. I was shocked. I slapped my hand on the table and cursed angrily: "Damn it, the governor is pushing people too hard!"
After saying that, he hurriedly entered.
At key points along the way, there were armored soldiers standing upright, holding swords and swords at their waists, not squinting, and the atmosphere was strict. When they reached a courtyard, they walked in directly and heard human voices. It was the Marquis of Jibei who was talking on the steps. : "Master Hou, I have something important to report."
The sounds inside immediately stopped, and a voice came after a moment: "Come in."
"Yes!" Shen Zhi entered the room, glanced at him, and saluted the Marquis of Jibei: "Master Marquis, the governor suddenly activated Pei Ziyun to deal with the Japanese."
"Here are the details."
After Shen Zhi finished speaking, he handed over the information. The Marquis of Jibei reached out to take it and read it. After just a few glances, he became furious: "What an old traitor! He wants to drive me away and kill me!"
As he spoke, there was bitterness in his mouth again. When it came to military power, reputation, talent, and preparedness, he was far above the governor. Apart from anything else, in the current situation, the people he placed in the governor's mansion could still keep secrets. The intelligence sent up was proof, but even so, he was weakened step by step.
It is because the governor has the power of the court and is doing evil things.
The Marquis of Jibei raised his face and thought for a long time, then said: "I didn't expect that the Governor, Ju was leaning towards the Crown Prince and wanted to go against King Lu. Shen Zhi, what do you think?"
Shen Zhi listened to this and said: "Master Marquis, rather than saying that the governor is biased towards the prince, it is better to say that the governor is biased towards the court. The overall situation of the court is to promote civility and suppress military power. The governor is a civil servant, and he feels the same way. No matter who he surrenders to, he will find ways to undermine him." Suppress the general."
"The governor may not be aware of the relationship between the Japanese pirates and us, but this does not prevent the governor from cutting off all military power in Yingzhou that is thorny both internally and externally."
"Although we were broken into pieces and gained a lot of wealth, our direct force was still weakened. By controlling some of the Japanese pirates, our people were preserved among them. If we really wanted to kill them all, the Marquis killed one. Hands on."
"The most shocking thing is that if the governor directly appoints another general, the responsibility will be borne by the governor himself, but in name the general is still Chen Ping, and Pei Ziyun is just the counselor. If it fails, most of the responsibility will still be Chen Ping, and the governor can even justifiably capture Chen Ping. .”
"Although Chen Ping will not actively get close to the Marquis, let alone one of his own, once he takes over, the entire Yingzhou military power will only belong to the Marquis, and he will be completely isolated and helpless."
"The lips are dead and the teeth are cold. The Governor's move is very cruel to us." Shen Zhi is a close confidant and can't play tricks, so he analyzed it straightforwardly.
After hearing this, the Marquis of Jibei turned pale and was silent for a while: "Then is it right for us to move closer to King Lu now?"
"That's right. King Lu is different from the imperial court. King Lu is not a prince. He wants to seize the throne. His last resort is to resort to military dissent, so he is determined to win over the towns."
The Marquis of Jibei nodded, thought for a long time, and suddenly smiled: "Mr. Shen, go and see Ang'er. He has been staying at home these days, and his personality has become much gloomier. However, he is not a poisonous husband, and he is so violent. Being angry is not necessarily a bad thing, why don't you ask Ang'er what he thinks?"
"If you have any ideas, you might be able to leave some things to him."
"Yes!" Shen Zhi couldn't help but sigh after listening to the words of the Marquis of Jibei. He was originally a young master, but half of his face was ruined, one eye was blind, and he became a human being and a ghost. How could he return to his original state?
Shen Zhi walked through several corridors, reached a place, and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" said the guard inside the door, seemingly drunk.
Pushing the door open and entering the room, there were several wine bottles on the table, smelling of alcohol. Wei Ang's hair was disheveled, he was already a little drunk, and he was burping.
"Where is Oriole?" Shen Zhi asked with a frown as he entered the room. In the past, Xiao Cui was always taking care of Wei Ang, and he didn't want to be missing today.
Wei Ang laughed bitterly after hearing this and said, "She was sent out by me. What future does a young man like me, who is half blind and whose appearance is ruined, have."
Seeing Wei Ang's appearance, Shen Zhi suddenly felt a pain in his heart. This was also his student for several years. He was a handsome gentleman, and he just felt sad to have turned into this.
Oriole is Wei Ang's maid. Something happened to Wei Ang, and he burst into tears and became seriously ill. At this time, he was released. Wei Ang probably didn't want people close to him to see her like this. Who knows what happened inside? Made it clear again.
"The Marquis asked me to ask questions. You can take a look before talking." Shen Zhi handed over the information.
Wei Ang shook his head, cheered up, took the information, read it for a while, and said: "Haha, the Governor has a good plan. Is he going to cut off one of his father's arms again, or is Pei Ziyun going to execute it? This junior brother still has They are really against our Marquis Mansion at every turn."
Shen Zhi was surprised and delighted when he heard this. What surprised him was that Wei Ang had disheveled hair, pale face, and an eye patch. He looked like a one-eyed dragon, and his scars were even more ferocious. Although he was smiling, he looked sinister and terrifying.
Fortunately, just by looking at the intelligence, I immediately made a clear target. The Third Young Master has made great progress.
(End of chapter)