Zhao Hao took the fragrant tea offered by Jin Xuezeng, took a sip and asked, "What's the news about the withdrawal of Chongming County?"

"No new news." Jin Xuezeng replied hurriedly: "I heard that the prefect suddenly changed his attitude and firmly opposed the abolition of the county."

"Hahaha." Zhao Hao couldn't help but laugh: "Our Lord of the Mansion is very vindictive."

Last time, a servant of the Xu family was disrespectful to Prefect Cai, so Cai Guoxi beat him up and drove him out of the prefecture, which brought shame to the Xu family.

Although the Xu family did not retaliate immediately, they still held a grudge.

As a result, the month before last, when Prefect Cai went to Songjiang to pay a visit to the Deputy Commissioner of Salt Transport, he was surrounded by more than a dozen large boats of Xu's servants when he returned. They made noises, cursed and provoked him wantonly, leaving Cai Guoxi in a dilemma and completely humiliated.

In the end, it was Songjiang prefect Zhong Zhenji who arrived, rescued him, and escorted him out of the prefecture. Only then did Prefect Cai flee back to Suzhou in disgrace.

Although Xu Fan sent someone to apologize, Prefect Cai believed that it was Xu Fan who ordered people to retaliate against him. So he launched a counter-retaliation and clearly opposed Xu's operation of "withdrawing Chongming County".

~~

When the two disciples learned that the feud between Prefect Cai and the Xu family was caused by Zhao Hao's instigation of Liu Zhengqi's rebellion and his clever strategy of sowing discord,

I couldn't help but admire him and pay him the highest respect:

"Master is really far-sighted and can achieve great results with little effort."

"This little trick of sowing discord not only destroyed the relationship between the prefect and the Xu family, but also added obstacles to the Xu family's plot."

"The main reason is that they took too big a step and inevitably got hurt." Zhao Hao sneered and said:

"Chongming is the gateway to the Yangtze River. How can the court give it up so easily? It was easy to deal with when Lord Xu was in office. He exaggerated the situation in Chongming, so it was done. But Lord Xu stepped down so suddenly that things were left unfinished halfway through. How could it be so frustrating?"

"Hahaha." The two disciples quickly flattered him again, "Isn't it because of the great power of Master and Grandmaster that Elder Xu was allowed to retire early?"

"You said that as if I was targeting Elder Xu." Young Master Zhao felt a little embarrassed by the compliment and said, "I was passive..."

After that, he asked again: "What is the attitude of the Sand Ship Gang?"

“It’s not optimistic.” Jin Xuezeng sighed, “Although they have lived in Chongming for generations and are certainly reluctant to leave their hometown, the sandbars have been collapsing more and more in recent years. Yaoliusha and Dongsha no longer exist, and less than half of Chongming’s population remains.”

"The remaining people are naturally worried. What if Sansha collapses?" Yu Shensi also said with a bitter face: "Plus the Xu family is fanning the flames, so the noise of moving away is still very loud."

"What is the attitude of Gang Leader Guo?" Zhao Hao asked again.

"Guo Donglin has never made a direct statement, but his brother Guo Qilin has been spreading alarmist rhetoric everywhere, saying that Sansha will sink ten feet today and eight feet tomorrow, and it will sink soon. By then, the entire Sand Boat Gang will have no way out." Jin Xuezeng snorted angrily:

"I think he is Guo Donglin's mouthpiece, otherwise why would he allow his brother to spread rumors and cause trouble all day long?"

Just now when Zhao Hao was looking through the "Record of Selecting Generals", he discovered that after Guo Donglin became the deputy gang leader, he brought all his brothers and relatives to the island and placed them in the Sand Ship Gang.

After he became the gang leader, he directly promoted his brothers to be his right-hand men and openly appointed people based on personal connections.

"How do you know all these things?" Zhao Hao was impressed by his disciples' ability to gather intelligence, which saved him a lot of trouble.

"Hey, Master, we have nothing to do on the island all day, but we can't just sit there and do nothing." Jin Xuezeng couldn't help but say proudly, "We remember Master's teachings, 'come from the people, go to the people', bend down and listen carefully to the people's voices, and there will be no news that we can't find out."

"Uh, I don't think that's what I meant..." Mr. Zhao twitched his lips twice. This young couple is really talented, as they have implemented the mass line in such a weird way.

Then he asked, "What does Mrs. Shen think?"

"She is very sensible. She never interferes in the gang's affairs and has never expressed her opinion on this matter." Yu Shensi pondered and said:

"But it is said that when Shen Shuo was here, he was a staunch supporter of staying on the island. He even said something like 'the gang will stay if the island survives, but will be disbanded if the island is trapped'. So many people who supported staying on the island were trying to win her over, hoping that she could speak for them."

"I think we should give them a hand and let them leave as soon as possible." Jin Xuezeng suggested with a smile: "Then we can move to Sansha and build a county town. Wouldn't that be great?"

"You are short-sighted!" Zhao Hao spat at the seventh disciple and said, "Even if I sell you, you are not as valuable as the Sand Ship Gang. Do you understand?"

"Oh." The two disciples suddenly realized, "So the master is interested in their boat."

"The five hundred sand ships are secondary. The key is the three thousand sailors!" Young Master Zhao drooled and said with both hands: "I want them all!"

In the Age of Discovery, how valuable were skilled sailors?

That’s 3,000 sailors who have been sailing for half their lives!

For Mr. Zhao, who is so poor that he only has money left, is there a more suitable team to start his business with?

This is simply a super gift package given to him by God to help him step into the ocean!

As the saying goes, "Don't take on a job if you don't have the skills", if he doesn't recruit these people for his own use, how could he dare to plan to transport grain by sea next year?

Make sure not a single one is left, eat them all.

The two disciples finally understood that their master wanted to subdue the Sand Ship Gang.

"Master is Master. We are still on the first floor, but you are already on the fifth floor." Jin Xuezeng was busy flattering his senior brother.

"If we make the Sand Boat Gang our own, won't that solve the dilemma?" Yu Shensi also said with admiration: "Master is Master, you are so great and unfathomable."

Although this flattery was not as sincere and genuine as Wu Yang's, it was just as shameless and made Master Zhao feel a long-lost sense of comfort.

He stretched out his finger, gently hooked Lieyang and Dayang's noses and said, "I just found out."

"Then Master, what should we do?" Eryang looked at Zhao Hao anxiously.

"We have enough cards, but to win beautifully requires patience and skills." The young man stood up and walked towards the palace entrance with his hands behind his back. "I have a feeling that the button is on Madam Shen."

"I'll just wander around for the next two days. When Doctor Li comes, I'll contact Madam Shen and see if I can use her for my own benefit."

"Yes, Master." Jin Xuezeng and the other two quickly stood up and followed.

I saw Master Zhao looking at the sunset outside the palace with deep eyes, and couldn't help but sigh:

"I'll go, it's getting dark."

"Ah, Master, let's continue with our dinner," Jin Xuezeng suggested.

"Good idea." Zhao Hao nodded, then kicked him on the butt.

"What a bullshit! Are you going to starve me to death?!"

ps. Chapter 2 is so itchy.