Wei An knew that he didn't understand yet, so he said directly: "Because there has been a change in Zhejiang, the Governor of Zhejiang has a capable general under his command, and the Governor of Zhejiang himself is also a person who is very good at using political tactics. These days, they have been winning battles against the Japanese pirates, all because they are good at using pirates."
Although Tan Xi is smart, he is not very clear about the situation in the court. It is very difficult to know these things. Many people who have worked in the court for more than ten or twenty years cannot tell who belongs to which faction and who serves whom.
Since he had never been an official in the court, he had no idea.
After hearing what Wei An said, he glanced at Shen Chen and said, "What does this have to do with us asking Luo Yuan not to join Mao Xiaofeng?"
Shen Chen smiled and said, "It is related. Mao Xiaofeng is a man who only responds to hard things and not soft things. At this time, he is actually going against the imperial court and sending arms to the Daimyo of Satsuma in Japan. He is nakedly standing against the imperial court. Such a person is probably finished with this matter. If Luo Yuan surrenders to them, I am afraid that they will be wiped out by the imperial court before the matter is done. But it is different in the mountains. Several leaders in the mountains are extremely cunning and have a keen sense of smell. Recently, they have been avoiding robbery and plundering along the coast. They can be used."
Tan Xi suddenly realized what was going on, and immediately agreed, "In that case, rest assured, young lady, I will go back and think of a way to connect the two without leaving any trace."
Wei An hummed, and gave an extra reminder: "Hurry up, if Luo Yuan stays in Fujian any longer, there will be too many variables. A few days ago, Liu Biping didn't take Luo Yuan's matter too seriously because he wanted to deal with me and the Marquis. But now that the Marquis and I have arrived in Rongcheng, it's different. People like Liu Biping may use Luo Yuan again and kill us and put the blame on Luo Yuan. He can do this. You must arrange for Luo Yuan to go out to sea as soon as possible. Also, pay a large sum of money to bribe his middleman, and make sure he can get in touch with Luo Yuan, otherwise the good show will not be able to be performed later."
Shen Chen told Tan Xi that Wei An was going to use the child to make Luo Yuan turn against them, and said, "You have to remember this. At a critical moment, Luo Yuan might be our lifesaver."
Tan Xi was terrified when he heard this, and as soon as Shen Chen finished speaking, he quickly responded with a "yes".
Wei An then asked him: "Have you been in the crowd all day today?"
Tan Xi nodded: "We have always been here. We have been here since your ship had an accident."
"Then is there any way to find the people who are fanning the flames and inciting the people to say that I am a witch and that the Marquis is a plague god?" Wei An narrowed his eyes: "These people must be hired by someone. If we find them, it will be easy to follow the clues and find the cause."
Tan Xi thought for a moment before saying, "This is a little difficult. After all, there were so many people at the time. They were mixed in with the common people, and it was difficult for us to distinguish them. But..."
He paused, then said, "But the one who held this sacrifice was the Chen family, one of the four great families. I also heard that something strange happened to the Chen family today."
What a coincidence, when something strange happened, another strange thing happened
Shen Chen looked at Wei An and asked him to explain more clearly.
"Today, the second branch of the Chen family quarreled with the first branch. The first branch said that the second branch was making trouble, and the second branch said that the first branch was not good. Anyway, the two branches didn't know what was going on, and they fought each other to no avail." Tan Xi found it funny when talking about this matter, and couldn't help but beaming with joy: "Originally, this matter would not have been spread outside, but perhaps because of the mistake in the sacrifice today, the two branches didn't care about their face and quarreled in the street. After the quarrel, they almost fought. A large number of servants surrounded them but couldn't cover it up, and the news was still leaked out."
Wei An thought for a moment: "Do you know why?"
Tan Xi said, "Every year, organizing the sacrifice is a big event, and it is usually done by the clan leader. This year is no exception. The eldest branch is the clan leader, and I heard that the incident happened because the clan leader accused the second branch of doing something wrong."
There is some connection between these two things.
Wei An hummed and glanced at Shen Chen: "You can start working on your side. If I'm not mistaken, the third branch knows something about this, and it must be involved in something bad, otherwise the first branch wouldn't have bothered to quarrel in front of so many people. It seems that not only are the four major families not united, but even the family members themselves are not united. This is good."
Of course it’s good. Disunity creates loopholes, and it’s easier to deal with them.
Shen Chen also laughed. Seeing Wei An's serious expression like a little fox, his smile became more doting and natural. If possible, he hoped that Wei An would always be like this calm and confident fox who calculated others. At least this was much better than being calculated by others.
He hummed and said, "I'll spread the word that we're going to start building the Maritime Customs Office and we need to choose a site."
Once the site is chosen using the territories of the four major families, it will be impossible to exclude these people, and they will definitely have to share something.
The four major families are all shrewd people. They must know that Shen Chen’s move is to show goodwill to them and to hint to them that they can also have a share of the pie from the Maritime Customs.
They will definitely flock here then.
And when the time comes, it will be a big question as to who to choose.
Wei An understood what he meant as soon as he heard it. He smiled with his eyes slightly curved, and then agreed. Seeing that it was getting late, he told Tan Xi to go back first: "Be careful in what you do. This is not like the capital. If you are discovered, you may even lose your life. You should be more cautious."
Tan Xi agreed and asked her not to worry: "We know what's going on. We are pretending to be merchants. Don't worry. Recently, many merchants from other places have come here because of the opening of the Maritime Customs Office. We are mixed in with them. Although our accents are different, we have not aroused suspicion. We will be careful."
Wei An hummed and told him to go back earlier: "Be careful on the road. There must be many spies in the post station now. Are you sure you won't be discovered?"
Tan Xi smiled and said, "We received your letter early in the morning and knew that you would definitely stay at the post house, so we took on some work at the post house early on. It has become a routine to come here every three or four days. Today I came to see you and the Marquis, and Zhao Qi and the others went to find the post house chief. It will not arouse suspicion, so don't worry."
They have always been thorough in their work, so Wei An was relieved: "In that case, then go back earlier. When you pass on the news next time, we can discuss it here and see if we can find another way to pass it on."
After all, Tan Xi and his men were disguised as businessmen, so it would be unreasonable for them to take on too many jobs at the post station.