Chapter 221: The Wind Rises (IX)

Chapter 221: The Wind Rises (IX)

Previously, Tongzhou's tax reduction policy had only attracted small peddlers looking to make a quick profit.

Now, wealthy merchants outside Tongzhou who had been taking a wait-and-see approach, seeing the city's commerce flourishing day by day, gradually began to stir with interest.

Everything was unfolding just as Le Wuya had written in his inscription to Qi Hongzhuang: "One flower does not make a spring."

Qi Hongzhuang and "Tonglu Snow" were the shining example and the gold-standard name that Tongzhou had put forward.

Tongzhou's spring, after a long succession of spring rains, finally arrived.

...

Ever since Luan Yuqiao failed in his contest of wits with Qi Hongzhuang and was driven out of Tongzhou, all his resources—looms, grey cloth, and everything else—had been swallowed up wholesale by Qi Hongzhuang, who accepted everything without hesitation.

She had always been known for her generosity. With those skilled and competent shopkeepers who had once served under Luan Yuqiao, she not only didn't make things hard for them but let them keep running their old shops, even raising their pay to keep them happy.

However, while dispensing generous favors and earning a reputation for kindness, Qi Hongzhuang also quietly worked her own people into those businesses.

She first sent trusted aides to take over critical positions like the accounting offices, then sent a group of skilled technical workers who slipped into various shops posing as apprentices.

They brought in know-how from second-tier brands like "Fugui Flower" and "Sanse Spring," while also shamelessly learning all the core dyeing techniques of the "Jade Bridge Brand."

Meanwhile, she also reshuffled the shopkeepers at several key establishments, keeping them busy with bookkeeping and petty squabbles so they couldn't stick their noses in.

Of course, the takeover was not entirely smooth sailing.

One shopkeeper got too clever for his own good, sending his lackeys to secretly learn the formula for "Tonglu Snow."

Qi Hongzhuang traced it back to him, caught him, and showed no mercy whatsoever—she expelled him in no uncertain terms and ruthlessly cut off every way he could make a living in Tongzhou's textile business.

In her own words: "Folks, in Tongzhou's cloth market, it's either him or me—one of us has to go."

She said this half-jokingly at the Tongzhou Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Others didn't know her, but Le Wuya had personally read the case files about how she avenged her mother.

She'd always been like that—if she hated someone, she wanted them dead.

With this combination of carrot and stick, her position as the head of Tongzhou's textile trade was solidly locked in.

Le Wuya joked with her: "Anyone who comes for your position will have to challenge you."

"Let them come. Whether they want war or peace, I'll take them on—until I win." She was as calm as ever. "In any case, I won't let Prefect Wenren down."

Le Wuya looked away and suddenly smiled for no reason at all.

Qi Hongzhuang raised an eyebrow: "What's making Your Excellency smile?"

Le Wuya rubbed his nose.

Nothing much, really.

He was just thinking about someone who'd told him there was no debt of gratitude between them—only affection.

The more he thought about it, the more Le Wuya liked that phrase.

Since that person said there was no debt of gratitude, then it must be a debt of affection.

And Le Wuya's specialty was owing debts and never paying them back.

He wondered where Xiaoliu got the nerve to lend him affection—was it

not knowing his place?

Or was it all part of a plan?

The more he thought about it, the funnier it seemed.

Just as Le Wuya was in high spirits, swaggering off all pleased with himself, he saw Hua Rong rushing over.

Before Le Wuya could even ask, Hua Rong blurted out in one breath: "Your Excellency, on our merchant ship's return voyage, we encountered Japanese pirates in the Pingshui section on the border between Tongzhou and Binzhou. It was hairy, but we came out fine—killed fourteen, captured seventeen. The local county magistrate sent a messenger right away; Assistant Prefect Mu has already headed out with his men and wants to borrow a squad of your garrison troops to escort the prisoners!"

Qi Hongzhuang frowned slightly.

For a group of over thirty pirates to have gotten together despite Le Wuya's crackdowns, they must have been well prepared.

She asked: "How are our people on the ship?"

"Don't worry, ma'am." After answering Qi Hongzhuang, Hua Rong turned to Le Wuya. "Our garrison soldiers were well prepared, in full gear—only minor cuts and bruises. However, two workers who didn't know what was going on panicked when the commotion broke out on deck and jumped into the water. The spring water's cold, so they caught a chill and ran fevers. Brother Zhong has now anchored the ship in port and sent for a doctor to treat them—nothing serious, I assure you!"

As he spoke, Hua Rong, sweating a little from the run, looked up at Le Wuya and beamed brightly.

"What are you so pleased about?" Le Wuya reached out and flicked him on the forehead. "No keeping me in suspense—spit it out!"

But deep down, he already had a hunch.

In the past, Hua Rong had never called Zhong Piaoping "Brother Zhong" before.

Sure enough, Hua Rong declared loudly: "It was Brother Zhong! It was all thanks to Brother Zhong's plan that we wiped out those pirates!"

...

Before setting out, Zhong Piaoping had already discussed matters with Le Wuya.

The outbound voyage selling cloth would likely be smooth sailing and uneventful.

Because even if the pirates seized the goods, they would have no way to sell the stolen merchandise.

If danger were to occur, it would most likely happen on the return trip, after "Tonglu Snow" had sold out and the ship was laden with wealth.

However, even during the outbound journey, Zhong Piaoping had kept his eyes open.

His restless nature kicking in, while wandering the deck silently in the dead of night, he had twice spotted a crew member gazing into the distance and recording the shipping route. He quietly noted this in his mind but said nothing.

The Qi family fleet was on its maiden voyage and didn't yet have a seasoned crew of their own, so they could only hire boatmen and fishermen with extensive experience in river and sea navigation.

These people had been recruited from all directions, were unfamiliar to them, and were the most likely to harbor bad elements.

Zhong Piaoping began silently tailing the suspicious crew member named Lao Hei.

Soon, he discovered that Lao Hei and another crew member, Zhang San, were fellow townsmen—their accents were clearly identical, most likely from the same village—yet they pretended to be strangers in public, even squatting apart when eating, as if afraid others would know they were acquainted.

Zhong Piaoping made a mental note of both men and thereafter observed them day and night without raising the alarm.

Heaven rewards the diligent.

On the return voyage, while Lao Hei was chatting and joking with the other crew members, Zhong Piaoping slipped into the lower berth where the junior crew slept for the umpteenth time and found a letter hidden inside his pillow.

Upon opening it, Zhong Piaoping's heart jolted.

The two of them really were moles!

They had agreed with the Japanese pirates that once the ship reached the old harbor dock south of the old beacon tower at the junction of the Ping River stretch between Tongzhou and Binzhou, they would send a signal, scuttle the ship, and murder and rob!

Letter in hand, Zhong Piaoping's face went pale.

At the ship's current speed, they'd hit the Ping River stretch by tonight!

He had only half a day to deal with this crisis!

In that short window, Zhong Piaoping showed incredible quick thinking.

The Qi family fleet's maiden voyage was run with extremely strict internal discipline. Even when docked, crew weren't allowed to leave the harbor on their own; they could only grab a few trinkets at the pier and head right back.

So, messages could only be smuggled in secretly.

From what he'd seen, Lao Hei often went ashore to pick up little things like tobacco and fruit.

So Zhong Piaoping figured Lao Hei was probably the go-between.

But Lao Hei couldn't read.

Zhang San, on the other hand, played the part of a model crewman.

He'd had two years of private schooling and had a bit of book smarts.

Last night, Lao Hei had gone ashore and come back with some local goods.

The letter hadn't been there when Zhong Piaoping checked under the pillow the day before, so it was almost certainly smuggled aboard after he left the ship yesterday.

So far, Lao Hei and Zhang San had been keeping to themselves and hadn't had a chance to meet up.

...Screw it, I'll take the gamble!

Without wasting a second, Zhong Piaoping pulled a charcoal pencil and thin paper from his coat and, in the cramped, dim lower hold, hastily forged a replacement letter.

He'd never done anything like this before.

He worried Lao Hei might come back any second. He worried the two had already met and passed info when he wasn't looking. He even worried the guy who'd handed Lao Hei the letter had already told him the attack spot in that quick exchange. So his hands were shaking the whole time he wrote.

He had to grab his right wrist with his left hand just to stop the trembling.

Luckily, even in that panic, he managed to roughly copy the original handwriting.

He switched the attack spot to the north side of the beacon tower on the Ping River stretch.

After stashing the letter back where it was, Zhong Piaoping casually chatted with the captain and asked him to change course and anchor at the new harbor north of the beacon tower on the Ping River stretch, since it was closer to Yi County in Tongzhou. He said he needed to get off the ship to run an errand for the Prefect.

Since north or south made no difference to him, and Zhong Piaoping was Prefect Wenren's man, the captain didn't suspect a thing and was happy to oblige.

What happened next went off without a hitch.

Lao Hei and Zhang San, seeing the ship head into the north side of the beacon tower on the Ping River, figured their plan was working. They'd barely fired the signal flare into the sky when the garrison soldiers, who'd been lying in wait, pounced on them.

Busted, with the goods on them!

The old beacon tower sat at the fork of two waterways, and the two spots weren't far apart.

The bandits, hidden in the reeds with fast boats at the ready, saw the ship was off course and the signal flare wasn't where it was supposed to be. The leader, smelling trouble, immediately ordered a retreat.

That retreat was the end of them.

Zhong Piaoping ordered a centipede boat to guard the main ship against a sneak attack.

The other three covered warships came rowing hard, sliding out of the dark like ghosts.

The moment they met, the lead warship had three big, dark, bowl-sized cannon muzzles aimed from its bow.

Since the bandits had no fight in them and were getting ready to pull back, they'd even stowed their crossbows. They were totally unprepared for the ambush.

One volley, and three enemy ships went down!

Seeing the carnage, these bandits—fishermen and smugglers in peacetime, pirates when times got tough—started wailing and screaming, their morale completely shattered.

The cannonball was packed with iron shards—a truly nasty piece of work.

Anyone at the center of the blast didn't stand a chance, and the ones caught by the shards were either dead or wounded, dropping in droves, thrashing and screaming in the river. Their fighting strength was cut in half in an instant.

As the boats closed in, the garrison soldiers calmly swapped cannons for bows and rounded up the whole demoralized bunch.

Under the beacon tower, the river ran red!

...

Three days later, Zhong Piaoping escorted a big haul of silver back to Tongzhou.

After a few days away, he'd gotten even darker, like a sleek, glossy black fish.

Zhong Piaoping was one of the few friends Yuan Zijin had made in Nanting, so he didn't care about the tan and lunged in for a hug.

But as he got closer, Yuan Zijin saw the patchy sunburn all over his skin.

The redness had faded, but some spots were pale and peeling, looking pretty rough.

Knowing he didn't know his own strength, Yuan Zijin didn't dare touch him, afraid he'd hurt him or accidentally rip off the newly healed skin. To show how worried he was, he could only pace around him in a panic.

Zhong Piaoping stood in front of Le Wuya, head hung like a kid caught doing something wrong: "Sir, I'm back."

Le Wuya grinned and asked for the details: "To fire those cannons, you'd have to know how far off the enemy was. How'd you know the pirates would be waiting there?"

Zhong Piaoping handed over a stack of papers.

They were covered in detailed sketches of the terrain, waterways, and river channels from Tongzhou Harbor all the way downstream.

He must not have left the deck once to have mapped the terrain that carefully.

...No wonder he got so fried.

Zhong Piaoping answered: "South of the old beacon tower on the Ping River stretch, there's a huge patch of reeds, perfect for hiding small boats."

Le Wuya didn't say another word and just clapped him on the shoulder: "Good man. You didn't embarrass us."

Zhong Piaoping hadn't even reacted, but Yuan Zijin winced hard, grabbed Le Wuya's hand and flung it away, then held a protective hand over Zhong Piaoping's neck: "Look at him, his skin's peeling from the sun! And you're still slapping him around! He's a hero—have you got no heart?!"

Zhong Piaoping turned his head a little and looked at Yuan Zijin's hand.

He still had that refined, spoiled-young-master look, and no matter how Le Wuya worked him like a dog or a bear, he never seemed to get a tan.

That pale, snowy wrist draped over his shoulder brought a sharp, vivid thrill like nothing else.

Yuan Zijin had a rough idea of the whole story behind his fight against the Japanese pirates, and cocked his head, asking Zhong Piaoping with curiosity, "You pulled off all that on your own—weren't you scared?"

Zhong Piaoping looked away and went quiet for a beat.

Scared?

He probably was.

But when he'd dragged his parents' bodies through wind and snow, trudging all the way back to Nanting on foot, he knew fear was pointless.

Some things just had to be done.

With that thought, he nodded and answered honestly, "I was scared."

Hearing that, Yuan Zijin couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for him. "If you were scared, why didn't you tell our folks? Wouldn't it've been nice to have backup? Why'd you wait till the last day to say something?"

"There was no proof before," Zhong Piaoping said offhandedly. "I know how I come across to the garrison soldiers. I never had much clout to begin with. If I couldn't land a sure hit, everyone would just figure I was up to no good, deliberately stirring the pot—and it'd tip off the enemy. After that, getting the troops to move again would've been tough."

Zhong Piaoping's read on things was spot-on.

When Le Wuya had sent Zhong Piaoping to escort the ships, plenty of garrison soldiers, though they kept quiet, were secretly unimpressed.

Because Zhong Piaoping came off as shifty and skittish—he had about seventy percent of a hero's looks, but only half of a hero's guts.

After this, not one of Tongzhou's five hundred garrison soldiers would dare to disrespect Zhong Piaoping again.

Lord Wenren sure as hell didn't keep any dead weight on his payroll!

Seeing Le Wuya standing there with his arms crossed and a grin, Zhong Piaoping asked, "Sir, now that we've won this great victory, those pirates aren't just going to let this go, are they?"

"Of course not." Le Wuya gazed at the bright sky and sun, a smile curling at the corners of his lips. "...Speaking of which, if I calculate the days, 'that' news should be arriving soon."

...And his words turned out to be spot-on.

The very next day after Zhong Piaoping returned to Tongzhou, a sensational piece of gossip spread through the city like wildfire:

Zhang Yue, the former Minister of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, had abused his authority, harmed the people, flaunted his power, and indulged in corruption and treachery. It was rumored that during his tenure as Assistant Prefect of Huangzhou, he had exploited his position to extort wealth from the populace, and even fabricated false cases, falsely accusing merchants of counterfeiting, resulting in the deaths of over sixty innocent civilians under severe torture.

Now that the truth had come to light, Zhang Yue had been stripped of his position and thrown into prison!