An official looked up at the sky and said in a cold voice: "Since Governor Fang has humiliated and imprisoned Guan Yi and forced Bi Yuan to death, the next step will be to point the spearhead at us! Just watch? You can, but I can't!"
Everyone looked at the official, who was none other than Yan Wu, the prefect of Taihe Prefecture.
Everyone looked at Yan Wu, each with their own thoughts. Before Fang Yun arrived in Xiangzhou, the Fuxing Society's anti-Qing incident occurred in Taihe Prefecture, but in the end someone framed the Fuxing Society and made all its members prisoners. Later, Fang Yun stepped in and cleared the name of the Fuxing Society members.
Although Fang Yun did not point out that Yan Wu, the Qing official, was adding fuel to the flames, everyone in the officialdom could see clearly that Fang Yun was gradually solving problems with those Qing officials with serious problems. Yan Wu was definitely one of the Qing officials most likely to be targeted by Fang Yun in the next few months.
At this moment, Yan Wu finally couldn't hold back any longer and was ready to fight to the death rather than sit and wait for death.
Nie Changju remained calm and said, "The battle for Xiangzhou will last for a long time. It may take at least ten years, or even hundreds of years to decide the winner. Why should Prefect Yan be in such a hurry? What's more, there has been a great opportunity all these years."
Many officials nodded slightly. Nie Changju had made it clear that the main strategy of the Qing officials was to slowly engage in internal friction with the officials of Jing State within Xiangzhou, and wait for the rise of Qing State to take back Xiangzhou. The so-called great opportunity, among the Qing officials, specifically refers to the death of Saint Chen Guanhai, and the ancestor's move to incorporate part of Jing State into Qing State. At that time, Xiangzhou will naturally belong to Qing State again.
Most of the Qing officials supported Nie Changju in their hearts. It would be best to act according to the plan. There was no need to break up with Fang Yun in advance. If Fang Yun escaped, launching a purge would ruin the officials' morale and cause setbacks in the holy path. It would be an unwise move.
Yan Wu smiled coldly and said, "You underestimated Governor Fang. Who would have thought that he would shock the Jiao King who was helpless in Xiangzhou right after he took office? Who would have thought that he could fight against the Criminal Court without any injury? Who would have thought that he would capture Guan Yi and Bi Yuan in succession? Who would have thought that he would force the Xuanwu Army to kneel down and admit their mistakes? Judging from his words and deeds, the next step must be to launch a large-scale purge of Xiangzhou. We must go all out in today's Mid-Autumn Literary Festival, otherwise we will become a stepping stone for his literary fame!"
Nie Changju, who always behaved elegantly, just smiled and said, "Prefect Yan, I know you are very anxious these days, but there is no need to boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige. The Mid-Autumn Festival Literary Festival is a gathering of wind and clouds, and the result is unknown. In terms of the competition for literary fame in recent years, Zhang Mingzhou has been on par with Governor Fang. After all, Governor Fang has been in decline in recent years and has rarely published works. On the contrary, Zhang Mingzhou has risen against the trend and has become stronger with age. I think it is not our turn to take action before the two of them decide the winner."
Yan Wu shook his head and said, "May I ask Nie Sizheng, how likely is it that Zhang Mingzhou will beat Fang Yun?"
Nie Changju was stunned, thought for a long time, and said, "Zhang Mingzhou has mastered the topic of the essay competition. In my opinion, Zhang Mingzhou has at least a 60% chance of winning, and even a 70% chance is not an exaggeration."
"Oh, I thought it was a 100% chance of winning! Since Zhang Mingzhou only has a 60% chance of winning, shouldn't we pave the way for Zhang Mingzhou before he arrives? Shouldn't we build momentum for Zhang Mingzhou? Shouldn't we increase Zhang Mingzhou's chances of winning to 70% or even 80%?" Yan Wudao.
"Prefect Yan is right. Relying on Governor Fang, Jing Guan is now aggressive. If we don't take action early, we will most likely be liquidated. In my opinion, once we know that Zhang Longxiang is about to ascend Yueyang Tower, we will attack in advance to confuse Fang Yun's mind. With Zhang Mingzhou's intelligence, he is more likely to defeat Governor Fang."
"We have all seen what kind of person Fang Xusheng is. Even if we don't talk about his talent, just discussing his ability to respond to situations and plan, he is definitely better than all of us. If he is honed a little, he will be no worse than the great military strategists and capable ministers of all dynasties. With the power of Jingguo, they probably already know what we are going to do today. Instead of plotting secretly, it is better to cooperate with Zhang Mingzhou as Prefect Yan said and disrupt Governor Fang."
Some officials nodded slightly. In fact, from the very beginning, they never thought that they could completely hide the truth from Fang Yun or Jing Guo. It was not surprising that there were spies from Jing Guo among these officials.
Yan Wu bowed to everyone and thanked them, and continued: "Thank you all for speaking out for justice. In fact, we all know in our hearts that no matter what, we officials cannot become the power to control the situation. The only ones who can really make Governor Fang a laughing stock are Zhang Mingzhou, Liu Shan, Qing Jun and the holy families. Instead of acting according to the original plan, we might as well act in advance and catch Fang Yun off guard! Moreover, this is no longer a conspiracy. Even if Fang Yun knows, he can't do anything to us! Unless he doesn't let us Qing officials participate in the Yueyang Tower Literary Meeting. Of course, we really hope he does so."
"I support Prefect Yan! If Prefect Yan comes forward, I will follow him!"
"Well said! I have the blood of Qing State, and I have long hated the affairs of Xiangzhou. Let's have a good fight today. If I win, I will take a step forward. If I lose, the worst that can happen is that I will go to Qing State to teach!"
"I have been patient with Jing Guan for many days, how can I tolerate him again today?"
"Let's let the world see the true faces of Jing Guan and Fang Yun in advance, so that he can lose face before he even wins the literary competition!"
“Besides, the Ge family should have already made their move. We can’t be worse than those businessmen!”
"right!"
Nie Changju looked at these officials helplessly. Rather than being brave, these officials were frightened by Fang Yun's methods. They were afraid that Fang Yun would start to settle accounts after suppressing Zhang Longxiang. However, as the leader of Qing officials, Nie Changju was very close to the people of Qing. He knew that there would be more big shots coming, so there was no need for Qing officials to confront Fang Yun in advance.
After thinking for a long time, Nie Changju said, "I think it would be better to change the original plan a little bit. When Prefect Yan and some people confirm that Zhang Mingzhou has arrived, they will directly attack and disturb Governor Fang's mind. After that, I will decide when to proceed."
"Thank you Nie Sizheng for your help!" Yan Wu expressed his sincere gratitude.
"It's okay. Let's go to the east city gate. The city is very crowded today. It would be disrespectful if we go too late." Nie Changju said.
"Yes, sir!" Many officials immediately calmed down and everyone was very serious.
Nie Changju walked towards the main gate, saying as he walked, "Come on, join me in welcoming Lord Qing."
The expressions of these officials were full of solemnity. If you didn't look at their official uniforms, you would definitely mistake them for officials from the Qing Kingdom.
Baling City has four streets leading to the four city gates in the east, west, south and north respectively. These are also the four largest streets in the entire Baling City. These four streets and the banks of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River outside Yueyang Tower are the most prosperous places in Baling City.
At this moment, a team of more than three thousand people was walking on East City Street towards the East City Gate.
.(To be continued.)