Chapter 182: The Eighth Wise King, King Wu of Suzhou

On April 7, the new army left Haizhou and continued to move south.

If they encountered mountain bandits or Japanese pirates along the way, Wei Yuan would take strong measures to suppress them and leave no one alive.

Although doing so would encounter a lot of resistance.

For example, those mountain bandits or Japanese pirates who wanted to surrender to the court had no way out and could only fight to the end.

It would add a lot of unnecessary trouble to the new army.

However, Wei Yuan's trip was to tell the world clearly that the army of the Great Zhou would not be in cahoots with the Japanese pirates.

If anyone wanted to collude with the Japanese pirates, they would end up dead.

In this way, it would be prevented that after his triumphant return, if the Japanese pirates reproduced again, no one would send them money and women.

In time, it would be difficult for the Japanese pirates to grow stronger.

During the march, people reported to Wei Yuan from time to time about the pirates in various prefectures.

"According to the news from the Imperial City Department, the mountain bandits and pirates in Chuzhou, Yangzhou, and Suzhou have begun to move to the sea. This is to avoid the sharp edge of our enemy army."

Yangzhou in the previous life was not close to the sea.

But Yangzhou in this life has a larger area, and some of its cities and counties are close to the sea.

The situation in Suzhou is the same.

However, no matter what, Yangzhou and Suzhou are both important towns, and the number of pirates is very small. Even if there are, there are only a dozen.

Because the court will not allow pirates to appear in such places.

As for the mountain bandits, they are some small-scale thieves' dens, and the local police can go there to deal with them.

It's just that considering that the existence of those thieves' dens is not enough to affect the situation in Yangzhou and Suzhou, the local government turned a blind eye.

After all, even if it is just a small thief's den, sending people to encircle and suppress it will also cost a price.

"If we encounter bandits along the way, let some soldiers in the army lead the troops to suppress them."

"We have been delayed in Haizhou for several days. We must rush to Liangzhe as soon as possible."

Wei Yuan gave instructions to Yang Huairen.

The latter clasped his fists and said, "Yes."

"General Wei, there is one more thing. The officials of Suzhou have jointly sent a letter, wanting you to stay in Suzhou for a few days."

"Do you think you should respond to them?"

Wei Yuan said, "Tell the governor of Suzhou that I appreciate his kindness."

"But I have the emperor's order and cannot delay my journey."

Yang Huairen hesitated to speak.

Wei Yuan frowned and said, "What's wrong?"

Yang Huairen said, "After the Eighth Sage King, King Wu Zhao Yunliang also wants to see you."

Zhao Yunliang?

According to seniority, he is Zhao Zhen's younger brother.

The Eighth Sage King is a brother of Zhao Zhen's father, Zhou Zhenzong, and is the eighth son of Zhou Taizong.

Because this person has a good reputation, he is called the 'Eighth Sage King' by the people.

His son, Zhao Yunliang, was named "King of Wu" by Zhao Zhen ten years ago, and his territory was Suzhou.

When Zhao Zhen had not yet given birth to Zhao Xi, he had planned to make Zhao Yunliang's offspring the king and then order him to come to the capital.

But Zhao Yunliang's offspring was relatively young, and secondly, it was not in accordance with the etiquette.

After all, Zhao Yunliang was not dead yet, and Zhao Zhen could not directly snatch his legitimate son and recognize him as his son, and his legitimate son had no extraordinary achievements, so it was difficult to make him king.

Therefore, this idea was abandoned.

But no matter what, Zhao Zhen thought that the grandson of the Eighth Sage King was not bad.

The son of the Eighth Sage King was even better.

Although Suzhou had a governor, the actual head of the family was the King of Wu.

Over the years, the King of Wu had governed Suzhou in an orderly manner. Whether the court was short of money or food, Suzhou was always the first to come forward to help.

Therefore, it was normal for Zhao Zhen to have a good impression of this line of the royal family.

"King Wu wants to see me? What did he say?" Wei Yuan asked. It is possible not to give face to the officials of Suzhou, but the face of King Wu should be given. After all, King Wu's influence is not only in Suzhou. People like Han Da Xianggong also respect this old prince. Once Fu Yanguo was demoted to Jiangnan and was warmly received by King Wu. After Fu Yanguo got drunk, he said that King Wu was the magic needle that stabilized the sea. With King Wu in Suzhou and Hangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou will not be in chaos. Wei Yuan did not believe that a talented and capable person who governed the country would talk nonsense because of drunkenness. It can be seen that King Wu is indeed capable. "King Wu sent his personal guards to deliver a letter. This letter has not been read by me yet. Please read it." After saying that, Yang Huairen took out a letter from his arms. Wei Yuan opened it and saw that the content of the letter was also very simple. First, he praised himself generously, and then said that he was a hero of the time, and that the King of Wu had long intended to make his acquaintance with him.

Moreover, he agreed on the meeting place and location.

It was near Taihu Lake.

Interestingly, the King of Wu clearly stated in the letter that he hoped Wei Yuan would go alone.

"It seems that the King of Wu has guessed that I will not meet the officials of Suzhou."

"He did not stop the officials from sending a joint letter, but instead sent his personal guards alone, so that I could not refuse his invitation."

After hearing what Wei Yuan said, Yang Huairen asked:

"Are you going to the King of Wu or not?"

Wei Yuan put the letter sent by the King of Wu in his arms, intending to keep it well, as it might be of great use in the future.

Then he asked:

"When Fan Chunren went to Liangzhe, did the King of Wu see him?"

Yang Huairen shook his head and said, "The guards you assigned to Fan Chunren guarded him day and night."

"I heard from their letter that Fan Chunren only saw the local governor in Suzhou."

"As for the King of Wu, he claimed to be sick in the mansion."

Wei Yuan smiled, "The King of Wu did not see Fan Chunren, but saw me because we have military power."

"Although Fan Chunren is the Southeast Economic Envoy, he is in charge of the national policy of maritime transport."

"But as long as we are in the Southeast for one day, maritime transport matters cannot bypass us."

"The King of Wu knows this, so he wants to see me."

To be frank, if Wei Yuan wants to undermine Fan Chunren's power, it is just a matter of a word.

Officials in the southeast of Liangzhe knew very well who to listen to.

Otherwise, how could the Japanese pirates at sea be pacified without commanding the army? How could sea transportation be unimpeded?

As long as Wei Yuan dragged on for ten days or eight months, those who wanted to do sea transportation business would suffer more losses, or even be on the verge of bankruptcy because of the unsale of the stockpiled goods.

Yang Huairen said: "You mean, the King of Wu also wants to do sea transportation business?"

Wei Yuan smiled and said: "Otherwise, he is a prince who lives in a corner and doesn't need to meet with me, the commander of the new army."

It is a taboo for the princes to collude with the army.

Wei Yuan did not choose to burn the letter sent by the King of Wu, which was equivalent to catching a little tail of him.

How could the King of Wu not know?

Even so, he still wanted to meet, which means that there was a huge interest tempting him to meet Wei Yuan.

Yang Huairen frowned and said, "From what Wei said, you want to meet the King of Wu?"

Wei Yuan nodded, "Yes, why not? I just want to complete the play."

"The King of Wu is sick in the palace, so I can't show any clues."

"I will go to Taihu Lake to meet the King of Wu first. During the days when I am away, the army will march at a normal speed."

"Chai Gong and I are similar in physique. Let Chai Gong wear my armor and sit in the carriage. He will patrol the camp every night without any mistakes."

Yang Huairen clasped his fists solemnly, "Yes."

One day later.

Wei Yuan rushed to the vicinity of Taihu Lake.

According to the place agreed with the King of Wu.

Wei Yuan found a house near Taihu Lake, which was not large in scale and similar to a farmyard.

But if someone could buy such a house near Taihu Lake, even if it was small and simple, the identity of its owner must be very important.

Wei Yuan walked all the way here, but he didn't see many pedestrians, not even a boat.

And he felt vaguely that there were many eyes staring at him.

According to normal logic, at least a few brothel boats can be seen here, and the lights are bright at night.

But there is nothing, it is extremely quiet.

Wei Yuan had just arrived here, and an old man leading a cow slowly walked over and bowed to Wei Yuan:

"Excuse me, are you General Wei?"

Wei Yuan nodded.

The old man pointed in a direction and said, "The owner has been waiting for you by the lake for a long time."

Wei Yuan nodded slightly and saw that there was indeed an old man wearing a bamboo hat and fishing leisurely by the lake.

He walked forward and walked for about a cup of tea, and he was behind the old man.

Wei Yuan just stood quietly and watched the movement on the lake without saying a word.

The old man didn't either.

After an unknown amount of time, Wei Yuan saw movement on the lake and whispered, "The fish has taken the bait."

The old man did not raise his pole, "In General Wei's opinion, who is the fish and who is the bait?"

Wei Yuan sighed, "Dealing with people like you is troublesome. You have to guess riddles all the time. Who is the fish and who is the bait? Does it matter?"

The King of Wu was stunned. After a short while, the fish that was about to take the bait ran away, and there was no movement on the lake.

He put away the pole and stood up, and saw that the fish food on the hook had been eaten up by the fish.

Wei Yuan looked at him and said with a smile: "You, the rod holder, seem to be affected?"

"If you are a person who fishes all year round, you won't let a fish get off the hook."

"Did my arrival surprise you?"

The King of Wu turned slowly, like an ordinary old farmer. He looked at Wei Yuan and said with a smile:

"The water of Taihu Lake has been muddy by the fish. I lost a fish, but there is another one. In short, as long as the water is still muddy, I can always catch fish."

"As soon as General Wei arrived at the lake, the lake surface was stirred up. It seems that there are many fish, all scrambling to bite the fish food on my hook."

"If I were the fish, I would naturally be willing to take the risk to have a full meal. It just depends on whether the real rod holder is willing to be distracted."