Chapter 664 The Extraordinary Person
On the night of the Lantern Festival, besides Li San Niang and Mr. Bu Ke discussing the opium, there were also two people, a man and a woman, who hadn't seen each other for several years, discussing the same matter in the imperial city of Chang'an.
Inside the side hall of Taiji Palace, Xuande Hall.
Emperor Wu and Du Qinghui sat facing each other on a wide, low couch, separated by a small table. Surprisingly, the atmosphere between them was not tense at all.
Not only was there no tension, but there was even a sense of mutual respect between heroes.
Wang Da Dang carried the teapot closer and gently replaced the teapot on the table, which had gone cold during Emperor Wu and Du Qinghui's conversation, with the newly brewed teapot.
That wasn't all. Wang Da Dang even replaced the teacups in front of the two of them, which had gone cold, and poured them back with steaming hot tea.
"I don't know if your timeline is the same as mine, where we almost lost our country and our race because of this."
"If this thing hadn't first appeared at the docks in Changle County, Fuzhou, I wouldn't have known about it so quickly."
Emperor Wu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then looked at Du Qinghui with a puzzled expression.
Du Qinghui also picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then briefly explained to Emperor Wu how he knew.
It turned out that, because of Emperor Wu's edict before the new year to open up trade routes to expand the land Silk Road and to continue to expand maritime trade and fully open up the maritime Silk Road, Du Qinghui, along with his trusted advisor Lü Yunting and hundreds of soldiers, traveled down the river from Changzhou to Fuzhou to see the four-story Fuzhou ship under construction.
Du Qinghui was in charge of the highest administrative position in the entire Jiangnan East Circuit, from civil to military affairs. Therefore, the group arrived at the Fuzhou Wharf smoothly.
Upon arriving at the dock, Du Qinghui naturally disembarked to see the vibrant and prosperous scene of the dock.
It was Du Qinghui's decision that led him to the unexpected discovery that some sailors who had finished unloading their cargo were using opium on the dock.
"At first I didn't take it seriously, I just thought it was tobacco from a foreign land, used to relieve the sailors' fatigue."
That day, a southwest wind was blowing, and the smell of the sailor inhaling opium drifted on the wind right up to me.
Emperor Wu lowered his head, looking at the teacup in his hand, and listened attentively to Du Qinghui's words without saying a word.
When Emperor Wu saw that Du Qinghui had stopped, he looked up at him.
Du Qinghui looked somewhat sad, so Emperor Wu did not urge him. After waiting a few breaths, when Du Qinghui had calmed down, Emperor Wu said with a hint of ruthlessness, "I told you before, in my time, my country almost perished because of this thing, so I am most familiar with its taste."
After arresting the sailor, and indeed everyone on his ship, and interrogating and torturing them, I still couldn't find the source of this thing!
"How so?"
"The owner of this group was just a local powerful family. I naturally investigated the Chen family afterwards. Although they had some tricks up their sleeves, they were just trying to make money and did not collude with outsiders."
Emperor Wu nodded, offering no comment on Du Qinghui's claim that he was the local tyrant of Jiangnan East, nor did he dwell on the matter.
Emperor Wu instead asked, "If it's not collusion with foreign enemies, then it must be an invasion by foreign enemies."
So, where did these people get this opium?
Du Qinghui frowned, looked up at Emperor Wu's eyes, and said very seriously, "In the end, we only found out that they obtained it at a dock in Southeast Asia."
It was said that a local merchant who frequently traded with them gave it to them, saying that it was like areca nut, a good stimulant, and so he gave some to the captain and sailors.
Emperor Wu nodded. "So, this lead has gone cold."
If there really was someone behind it all, even if you had immediately sent people to Southeast Asia to find that merchant, you would not have been able to find him, or the merchant would have just happened to die in an accident.
Not to mention, the voyage was now subject to weather changes, and there was no longer enough time to sail to Southeast Asia to verify the information.
Emperor Wu was absolutely right. Du Qinghui said to Emperor Wu with certainty, "So, what I said before was correct!"
At this time and in this world, besides the Tang Dynasty, there must also be extraordinary people like us in other countries!
It's even quite possible that the foreign extraordinary individuals, like those in the Tang Dynasty, numbered in the dozens!
Emperor Wu did not directly respond to Du Qinghui's question, but instead asked him, "Could you tell me about the beginning and end of the Opium War in your time and space?"
Du Qinghui fell silent.
It is a history filled with the blood, tears, and lives of tens of thousands of people, and it is too heavy to bear.
After waiting for a few breaths without hearing Du Qinghui's voice, Empress Wu looked up at Du Qinghui with slight surprise.
She looked at Du Qinghui's forced composure, sighed, and didn't press the matter further.
Emperor Wu toyed with the teacup in his hand and slowly said to Du Qinghui, "In my time and space, we have not fallen into national extinction because of such things."
However, I understand what you've been through, and you can't take it too seriously.
The Imperial Guard and the spies of the Bad People had actually discovered this thing in Chang'an City half a year ago.
Du Qinghui suddenly looked up at Emperor Wu. He really didn't expect that Emperor Wu had discovered the opium matter earlier than him.
At the same time, Du Qinghui also understood that Emperor Wu's clear and explicit statement to him was, firstly, a response to the intelligence he had previously provided; and secondly, a warning.
This means that although you control Jiangnan East Road, the Tang Dynasty centered on Chang'an is still under my control.
You have soldiers and men, and so do I.
"At first, it was just a few men who went to the border with the manager to deliver goods who got involved with this stuff and became addicted."
These guys actually stole from the manager's house just to get their hands on this stuff.
A theft is not as noteworthy as the fact that it attracts the attention of spies from the criminal underworld.
Later, these men were imprisoned in the Jingzhao Prefecture jail and their drug addiction flared up. The situation was extremely suspicious, and a spy planted by the Bad Guys in the jail discovered this and reported it, which finally attracted the Bad Guys' attention.
Emperor Wu turned around and gave Wang Da Dang, who was standing by the low couch, a look before turning back to Du Qinghui and saying, "Afterwards, the Bad People carefully investigated and found five more similar cases in the 108 wards of Chang'an City."
After a while, Wang Dang came forward with a tray and took down two bowls of soup noodles with more soup than noodles from the tray.
Emperor Wu picked up his chopsticks and said, "We've been chatting for a long time, and I'm hungry. Let's eat, and we'll talk after we finish."
Du Qinghui's face remained expressionless, but inwardly he was thinking, "What are you showing off for? You're the emperor, and you can eat hot soup dumplings at the fourth watch of the night? You're amazing."
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