The second best pot of food in the world was indeed delicious, but Fu Xiaoguan found it bland.
After returning to the Wanzhong Inn, he couldn't sleep for a long time.
Official administration, official administration!
He now had great doubts about the Imperial Court. This Zhou Tongtong... seemed like a toad that would only move when pinched.
If he hadn't come to Nanping County today, would he have told me about the problem in Nanping County?
Does he know or not?
If they didn't know, then the Censorate was derelict in its duty. If they knew but didn't report it...
Fu Xiaoguan took a deep breath. When the fat man handed over the imperial power, he said that there were three people in the Wu Dynasty who were worthy of absolute trust. The first one was Zhou Tongtong, and the other two were the former left and right prime ministers.
He could clearly see the loyalty of Zhuo Yixing and Nangong Yiyu to him, but he couldn't see Zhou Tongtong so clearly.
Even if you say he has no ability, he has thoroughly investigated the corruption case in Daling River and has solid evidence.
If he is capable, why is there a Siyang County ahead and now he happens to meet a Nanping County?
Is this a coincidence?
Of course, he passed through dozens of counties and prefectures along the way, and overall the administration was relatively clean, but there were always such bad apples that made him feel uncomfortable.
Am I too obsessed with perfection?
The cool breeze from Qushui River blew, and Fu Xiaoguan stood quietly in front of the window. Dong Shulan hugged his waist from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder.
"I still remember when the Yu Dynasty investigated corruption in disaster relief, my father once said that it seemed grand and impressive, that many officials were taken down and many heads chopped off, but as long as there were officials and there was profit, this kind of thing was impossible to stop."
"That's human nature. Some people become officials for their ideals and ambitions, while others do it just for the money. Don't worry about such a small matter. Go to bed early after your hard journey."
A carrier pigeon flew in in the dark night and landed on Fu Xiaoguan's shoulder.
He took off the pigeon's leg ring, took out a small piece of paper, looked at it, curled the corners of his mouth, released the pigeon, and lit the paper in the candlelight until it turned to ashes.
He sighed and smiled, "You're right, I was thinking too much. Go to sleep."
…
The Chen clan compound in Fengyang County, Nan Cangbai Prefecture.
The old patriarch, Chen Dongsheng, was in his study, reading the news from the Yu Dynasty. The old housekeeper knocked on the door and walked in, whispering in Chen Dongsheng's ear, "The Third Young Master's men are here to see you."
Chen Dongsheng put down the letter, was silent for a moment, and nodded.
Not long after, the old butler brought in a man in black, who retreated and closed the door.
The man in black bowed to Chen Dongsheng and said slowly, "The young emperor has arrived in Wuyuan Prefecture and is only ten days' journey from Wuyuan City. The Third Young Master is asking you to leave the Wu Dynasty today and take the Lü family's ship to the Yu Dynasty."
Chen Dongsheng frowned slightly, "So... the Third Young Master has been targeted by the Little Emperor?"
"Yes, this time the young emperor has targeted too many people. I'm afraid the entire Wuyuan Prefecture's officialdom will be in great turmoil."
"What's the attitude of that person from the Zhou family?"
"The Zhou family believes that the young emperor is becoming increasingly powerful. If we wait any longer, we might not have another chance."
Chen Dongsheng stood up and walked back and forth in the study three times. "The young emperor has two Saint-level masters, Jia Nanxing and Bei Wangchuan, and a top-grade master, Ning Siyan, by his side. What are the Third Young Master's plans?"
"This matter will not be accomplished overnight. The Third Young Master needs time. Tomorrow, the Little Emperor will return to Guanyun City, and Wuyuan Prefecture will be temporarily safe. At the beginning of January, the Third Young Master recalled Zheng Zihui from the First Army of the Chi Le Chuan Divine Sword. Zheng Zihui is now under the command of General Feng Xianchu of the Yi Kingdom, responsible for training 100,000 new troops."
"Also, in order to paralyze the young emperor, the three great families have been cooperating with him in carrying out the Jingzhe Project in an orderly manner. The incident happened suddenly, and we don't know how the young emperor learned about the river workers' embezzlement. However, the third young master has a plan. First, we will kill a river governor to reassure the young emperor. Everything else will be settled by the end of the year."
The three great families of the Wu Dynasty were highly valued by Emperor Yuan of the Yu Dynasty. They had already taken root and their respective industries were on the right track.
But are they really willing to be driven by the little emperor and leave their homes?
No one was willing, not even Chen Dongsheng, and even less so was Zhou Huairen, the patriarch of the Zhou family.
On the surface, they catered to Fu Xiaoguan's economic policy towards the Yu Dynasty, but secretly, under the planning of Xianyunshanren, they set up a counterattack - activating the power of the three major families in the Wu Dynasty, uniting the Yi Kingdom and the Yu Dynasty, and when the time is ripe, jointly participating in the plan to attack Wu!
This obviously conforms to the interests of the three major clans as well as the Yi State and the Yu Dynasty. The Yu Dynasty wanted a declining Wu Dynasty, the Yi State wanted the lost six southwestern provinces, and the three major clans wanted a three-part Wu Dynasty.
Xianyunshanren formulated the Spring Thunder Plan in addition to Fu Xiaoguan's Jingzhe Plan. He was waiting for the new army of the Yi Kingdom to form combat effectiveness and for the Emperor of the Yu Dynasty, Yu Wendao, to make a decision.
Once these two conditions are met, the last condition left is for Fu Xiaoguan to go to sea - doesn't he want to go to sea very much?
When he left Wu Dynasty and went to sea, he took with him at least 100,000 navy members and 50,000 marines.
At the beginning of this year, he made the absurd policy of reducing the military by one million. Now the main military force of the Wu Dynasty comes from the three Divine Sword Armies of the Army. Among them, the First Army has been stationed in the Chi Lechuan Autonomous Region for a long time, and Chen Po's Third Army has been transferred to Siyang County. The real guard army of the Wu Dynasty is only He Sandao's Divine Sword Second Army of 100,000 people.
The Fourth Divine Sword Army formed by Wei Wubing in April still had a year to go before it could become combat-ready, which was almost negligible.
"Instead of starting such a big war, why not assassinate the little emperor?"
"My Lord, the Zhou family member said that assassination attempts must not be made."
"Why?"
"Because the Taoist temple's master is so elusive, he might be watching Fu Xiaoguan from somewhere."
Chen Dongsheng frowned again, "Does this master care so much about the life and death of his closed disciple?"
The man in black bowed and replied, "That person from the Zhou family said... the young emperor's mother, Xu Yunqing, is not only alive, but also a Saint. Su Changsheng owes Xu Yunqing his life, and our retired emperor owes her a lifetime of gratitude. Therefore... this strategy can only be an open one. Any conspiracy would be very likely to be discovered by Xu Yunqing and others."
Chen Dongsheng took a deep breath. Could it be that Empress Xiao had not poisoned Xu Yunqing to death back then?
"Then why will the young emperor return to Guanyun City tomorrow? If he insists on going to Wuyuan City, how should we respond?"
"Your Majesty, the young emperor's Consort Chunxiu, Consort Hua Zhang Pei'er, and Consort Su Su are about to give birth. Tomorrow morning, someone will deliver this news to the young emperor. Given the young emperor's temperament, he will definitely return immediately."
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