[R18] Will drink wine – “About Wine” Chapter 141 [English]

Chapter 136: Estrangement

Shen Zechuan spoke so confidently because Chazhou was not a place that could be conquered with strong troops.During the Yongyi period, Bodun and Duan prefectures were the most prosperous. At that time, Shen Weitong commanded the garrison of each prefecture. He had both money and soldiers, but he could not eradicate the banditry in Chazhou.Before Shen Zechuan came to Chazhou, Zhou Gui and Cizhou staff made a detailed report on Chazhou. They agreed that Chazhou could only be outsmarted.

Cai Yu is indeed not Lei Changming. The biggest difference between the Chazhou bandits and the Luoshan bandits is that the Chazhou bandits are still bandits, and the Luoshan group of parties has not only formed a territory, but also has the intention to expand outward. Lei Jingzhe, who is hiding behind Lei Changming, is obviously no longer satisfied with being a bandit. He has a heart to reborn, but Cai Yu does not.Therefore, we must fight against Luoshan and plot against Chazhou.

Luo Mu may not be as diligent and caring as Zhou Gui, but Shen Zechuan’s acquiescence to Kong Ling’s visit shows that they need Luo Mu.Luo Mu has been the capital of Chazhou for more than ten years, and no one knows the inside story of Chazhou better than he.

“Your Excellency was sent to Chazhou during the Yongyi period. During this period, he had outstanding political achievements. He once strongly advised Shen Wei to suppress the bandits. However, Shen Wei believed that Dunzhou was far away from Chazhou and was separated by Fanzhou. It was inconvenient to lead troops long distances and was expensive. The chance of winning was too small, so Shen Wei rejected your admonishment.” When Shen Wei’s name was mentioned, Shen Zechuan did not even blink, heHe said, “I think your later political views started to change from that time.”

Luo Mu waved his hand and said, “How can we talk about outstanding political achievements? That’s a promotion from fellow intellectuals. After I arrived in Chazhou, I had no political achievements to speak of. During the Yongyi period, Chazhou was famous for banditry. At that time, Qudu was considering decentralizing officials, and Shandu and I were among them. Later, when I came here, I really wanted to show off my talents, but it was too difficult.”

Luo Mu’s expression gradually darkened.

“In the first two years, I aimed at revitalizing the garrison. Although Shen Wei did not agree, he did not stop it. The Ministry of War thought it was feasible, so it increased Chazhou’s military expenditure according to my advice, so I equipped the garrison. At that time, I was very ambitious and focused on suppressing the bandits. But when we really started fighting, we found that this was not possible. The bandits in Chazhou can be traced back to before the Yongyi Year, as early as in ChazhouBefore the garrison was established, there were a group of people here who were working as bandits.At the beginning, Hezhou was not as prosperous as it is now. At that time, the Yan family was not yet prosperous. Most of the tea vendors on this road were wealthy merchants from the Thirteenth City of Juexi. The tea state bandits made a living by kidnapping these vendors. By the time the court paid attention to it, it was too late. The bandits had already taken root in tea state and developed various gangs.”

This makes Chazhou’s folk customs fierce. Compared with other places, there are not so many rules. Yellow registration is the most difficult to obtain here. Almost half of the families have been bandits. They are not considered good citizens and can only be classified as military households.At that time, the officials of the East Palace discussed this place, thinking that letting these people join the army and become regular soldiers, with military land and monthly salary, would ensure that the family could barely make ends meet, and would not become grass bandits again, doing illegal things.

However, the officials of the East Palace made a big taboo, which was to use paper tactics to apply the trap given to Zhongbo and Hezhou to Chazhou, without adapting measures to local conditions.The bandits in Chazhou became regular soldiers, but the land was not so easy to cultivate. Not long after they kept to themselves, they began to continue to be bandits while eating the army’s monthly salary.Now you don’t even need to forge the ultimatum, you can just rush out and rob someone in the name of suppressing bandits.Chasing yourself is always going in circles with the court.The decentralized state capital was unable to resist the established bandit forces. Luo Mu soon suffered a loss and was severely punished by the bandits.

Not only that, there were also bandit leaders like Cai Yu in the later period of Chazhou. They were both chivalrous and willing to donate money to support their brothers on the road. They became famous over time and were far more popular than those rigid literati. The state capital was just a fake.

When Luo Mu said this, Shen Zechuan roughly understood why Shen Wei refused to send troops.

Because Shen Wei didn’t dare.

Shen Wei was named King of Jianxing. It was just a nice name. After all, he was no different from decentralized officials like Luo Mu. He was also an outsider.He initially neither agreed nor opposed Luo Mu’s proposition, but was just waiting and watching. If Luo Mu succeeded, then he could imitate the cat, and if Luo Mu failed, he could hold him accountable.He was unwilling to take the risk to offend the bandits in Chazhou, because he knew very well that compared to Luo Mu, people like Cai Yu were the “parental officials” of Chazhou.

“But times have changed,” Shen Zechuan’s voice was slightly hoarse, he coughed a few times, and then said, “Cai Yu is now eating the dividends given by the Yan family, earning blood and tears, and he, the bandits who have become powerful, make money from refugees. In the tea state, there is no need to worry about food and clothing, but outside they are starving and dying. As time goes by, the common people will also become resentful.”

“To be honest,” Luo Mu weighed the importance and said cautiously, “after Zhongbo’s defeat, Chazhou’s food supply shrunk to a pitiful amount. At the beginning, the cabinet vacated the state granaries to Juexi in the name of disaster relief. Logically speaking, this matter had to be signed with Zhongbo. But Shen Wei died, and the capital has not sent a person in charge. The six states are in charge of their own affairs. It is difficult to make ends meet and there is no energy.Of course, we can’t afford to pursue the issue of Qedu’s lack of food.In recent years, more and more good families have taken the risk. They are all hungry and have no way to survive, so they can only become grass bandits.The bandits headed by Cai Yu in Chazhou were willing to help the poor people at first, but then the Yan family in Hezhou also took the bait, hoping to use Cai Yu’s power to squeeze out the Xi family’s business in Zhongbo, and to do this.They joined forces and made a lot of money. Cai Yu had a mountain of gold and silver. He was getting older and liked to be flattered by others. He gradually lost his previous chivalrous heart, so he demolished the porridge sheds and grain shops outside and settled down to be the emperor of Chazhou. There were complaints everywhere in Chazhou. He was no longer what he used to be.”

However, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Cai Yu’s power still exists in the southern part of Zhongbo and Hezhou, and Yan Heru’s “grandpa” when he calls him is also full of weight.The few small gangs and factions that Luo Mu privately funded are unlikely to succeed, and he can only worry about the current situation of Chazhou’s lack of food.

There was a brief silence in the house, with guli incense exposed in the half-open window, and the rain and dew had not yet dried.The sky was overcast, a long time had passed, and Luo Mu didn’t have much time to stay here.

Even though the window was open, Shen Zechuan still felt stuffy, and the tea cup under his fingertips was cold, but he said something contradictory to just now: “If Cai Yu is still wary, he should understand that the so-called complaints are just a sneaky trick of his gang. As his brother-in-law, you can remind him in this regard.”

Luo Mu was slightly startled, not understanding what he meant.

Shen Zechuan picked up the tea lid as white as jade and said: “Lei Changming is dead. Cai Yu is a famous bandit. This is a good time for him to be very high-spirited. Whether it is for Chazhou or the Yan family, he will not allow others to take a spoonful of the pie. Moreover, when people are in their twilight years, what they fear most is that they will not be as good as before. If he thinks that the current public anger is caused by the younger generations, he will definitely not let them go.”

Only then did Luo Mu understand. He couldn’t help but secretly said, “How cruel.”

Shen Zechuan wanted Cai Yu to regard the public grievances as gang fighting, instigated by deliberate people.Once Cai Yu thinks this way, he will intensify his efforts to suppress the little bandits in order to hold on to the money he has.The little bandits were already dissatisfied, and if they were suppressed by Cai Yu, their three points of dissatisfaction would turn into seven points. As long as the two sides have accumulated hatred, it will be difficult for them to join forces again, and they may even confront each other tit for tat.

“The small gangs that your Excellency has secretly funded before can be put to use. When they are all beaten painfully and severely by Cai Yu, you will lend a helping hand to them and give them generous food so that they can gather together and become brothers in need.” Shen Zechuan finished his tea and signaled Qiao Tianya to fall again.He looked at Luo Mu and said: “Small and grouped, they naturally become powerful. This is like a group of jackals hunting. What we have to do is not to confront each other head-on, but to add fuel to the flames.”

Luo Mu felt chilled when he heard that he could make Cai Yu destroy the Great Wall with just a few hints to Cai Yu.It is not unusual to create a divorce plan, but Shen Zechuan has only been in Chazhou for one night, and he was able to figure out the details of Cai Yu and Chazhou so clearly that Luo Mu couldn’t help but think of Shen Zechuan’s original identity – Jin Yiwei.

“After Cai Yu is taken away, we can discuss the grain business between the two states in detail.” Shen Zechuan said calmly, “Your Majesty’s experience of enduring humiliation will be a good story in Tea State in the future. Keeping the people full is your most prominent political achievement. Even if it is taken from other states, you will still be an admirable parent official. Mr. Luo, good go.”

* * *

Soon after Luo Mu left, it started to rain again.

Shen Zechuan took the car back to the courtyard. When he came down, he saw Qiao Tianya wearing a large cloak between his arms and said, “It’s still hot in July, so I wouldn’t wear this… Why did you even wear this?”

Qiao Tianya held an umbrella and said, “I didn’t think it was Master’s special instruction.”

Shen Zechuan walked in. This yard was bought by Ge Qingqing, who was far away in Juexi, under the guise of doing business. It was not big and very old.There was water on the front porch, and not many flowers or plants were planted in the yard.

“I wasted my time after arriving at Zhongbo and made Master worried. When I get back, don’t mention his illness to him.” Shen Zechuan said, looking back half-way, and smiled at Kong Ling, “Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Cheng Feng.”

Kong Ling quickly said he didn’t dare.

“I was sitting in the house just now, watching the nine-mile incense planted by the window, green and green after the rain, which moistens my eyes.” Shen Zechuan said casually, “I will plant some in the house when I go back.”

As soon as they walked up the steps, they saw Fei Sheng, who was waiting inside, coming out.He didn’t dare to be careless about the task. He greeted Shen Zechuan with a smile and said, “The master is finally back.”

Shen Zechuan said: “It seems there is good news to report?”

“My master is wise,” Fei Sheng opened the curtain for Shen Zechuan from the front, “Before I left, I received something sent by the Marquis. I knew it was an important thing, so I didn’t dare to stop while speeding on the road, so I delivered it to my master in a hurry.”

This man liked to flatter him when he spoke. Qiao Tianya heard it funny and laughed out loud from behind, so he followed him in and joked: “When Fei Lao comes on the eleventh day, I find it interesting, interesting and a lot of fun.”

Shen Zechuan took off his outer robe and said, “Let me take a look.”

Fei Sheng ignored Qiao Tianya, took the things from his subordinates, and presented them to Shen Zechuan.When Shen Zechuan touched the skin, it was still cold.

“The Marquis sent someone back to the house, and specifically asked for ice. We don’t have ice at home, so we borrowed it from Mrs. Zhou. Unfortunately, it wasn’t covered on the road, and it melted before we got very far.”

Shen Zechuan was curious, but he didn’t show his face in front of everyone.He pinched the skin with his fingertips, and found that it contained something watery. Before he could even open it, he was hit by the sour smell.

Qiao Tianya was not far away. He smelled it and said, “Isn’t this just milk?”

“That can’t be true,” Fei Sheng said in confusion. “Why did the Marquis come all the way to have someone deliver milk? You can’t drink it after the night.”

The hes said and looked at Shen Zechuan. Shen Zechuan didn’t mind the taste, and the corners of his lips were slightly raised. He noticed that the hes were looking at him, so he glanced at him and said, “What?”

Who dares to say anything?

Shen Zechuan closed the lid and opened another box. As expected, there was rough tea inside.He stood for a moment and sighed slightly, feeling that he really understood Xiao Chiye very well.

To others, milk is the same everywhere, but to Xiao Chiye, the milk from Libei is from Libei, and it cannot be replaced by milk from anywhere else.He spared his mouthful, knowing that he would not let it go, but still wanted someone to bring it to Shen Zechuan.

If I catch up, can I still drink it?All good food and drink must be tasted together.

This is what Xiao Chiye thinks. Others don’t understand, but Shen Zechuan understands it best.