Zhu Mo thought of the burly men from earlier, who seemed more like people who made a living from the water. He suddenly asked,
"Brother Zhang, to tell you the truth, I don't think those people were like village farmers. Instead, they were like people who make a living from the water. Take the leader, for instance, bare-chested with a slick of water rust on him. How could he be a farmer? What do you think?"
Zhang Laoda nodded and said,
"Scholar Zhu has sharp eyes… I could tell he wasn't! As for the leader, I vaguely recall him looking like a thug kept by the grain chief, probably a down-and-out who made his living on the Grand Canal!"
Xu Wei also came to his senses and asked in surprise,
"Zixuan, you mean they were after you? Then who could have instigated it?"
Zhu Mo smiled and did not answer.
Xu Wei, a man of exceptional talent, suddenly blurted out, "Is it those people from Zhoushan?"
"Mm,"
Zhu Mo nodded. "I suspect so, but I'm not yet certain…"
After they landed, the two men, having narrowly escaped death, felt as if they had just woken from a dream. As Xu Wei was about to leave,
Zhu Mo bowed deeply to him and said sincerely, "Brother Wenchang, we hit it off from the moment we met, and now the Great Ming is at a point where change is inevitable. You must come and help me!"
Xu Wei's life had been fraught with hardship. Now forty, he had seen the world's decline and longed for change. However, after seven or eight years serving under Hu Zongxian, he had ended up in such a predicament, leaving him deeply unfulfilled. Thinking of Zhu Mo's systematic approach to reform, he recognized him as an extraordinary figure. With no further hesitation,
He returned the bow and said,
"Zixuan, I will do as you command. As long as it can save the Great Ming and its people, I will spare no effort, even to the point of laying down my life!"
"Good!"
Zhu Mo had met many scholars of the Jiajing era. Li Zhi was a thinker, Lu Kun a sage, He Xinyin an unparalleled recluse, while most others were Neo-Confucian scholars. But this Xu Wei, he could be considered a genius, likely to play a significant role in the future. What was more admirable was that this man was unpretentious and lacked many of the affectations of the literati, making it easy for him to grasp the theories of the enlightened rule of Yao and Shun and the cycles of order and chaos.
...
Back at the lodgings,
The more Zhu Mo thought about it, the more he felt a chill. Since arriving in the Great Ming, he had never encountered such a threat to his life. Had he been the target of an assassination attempt? His first thought was that the prisoners from Zhoushan had been driven to desperation, especially those men in bamboo hats, who looked like Japanese pirates.
How could he tolerate this?
Moreover, if this matter was not investigated, he would inevitably face danger again sooner or later.
The next day,
He did nothing else but accompany Xu Wei to Guanyin Temple to find the Wu Ming and Wu Liang brothers. Then, they went together to the Grand Canal transfer point.
He recalled that the first time he came to Jiangnan, in order to deal with Yan Maoqing, he had used the more than one million taels of silver he had embezzled. Wu Ming had found a small gang leader on the Grand Canal named Lu Hao. He figured that by finding this person, he might uncover some clues.
Soon,
Wu Ming, familiar with the area, found Lu Hao in a village by the Grand Canal.
It had been a year since they last met, and Jiangnan had undergone earth-shattering changes. In a common courtyard, Lu Hao, who was cooling himself, was stunned to see his former benefactor. He immediately knelt down, his voice filled with emotion,
"Young Master Zhu! Why have you come to my place?"
His words were filled with excitement, as if Zhu Mo's visit to his home was akin to a divine being descending from heaven.
Zhu Mo liked these loyal and rough men. He helped Lu Hao up and smiled, "Old Lu, have you been doing well this past year? You've put on some weight! Hahaha…"
Lu Hao said bashfully, "Young Master Zhu is joking. It's hard to explain…"
The group sat down and chatted for a while.
Lu Hao explained his reason for being idle at home, stating that the Grand Canal was now controlled by powerful families involved in the grain transport, making it even harder to get by than before. These influential families had gathered a large number of down-and-outs, forming gangs and easily defeating them, the local powers. Seeing that he couldn't win, and worried about retaliation for having slapped Yan Maoqing at the time, Lu Hao simply went into hiding. This had been going on for over half a year.
Zhu Mo asked about the leader named Wang from last night, and also about the few strange men in bamboo hats. Lu Hao's face immediately changed, and he lowered his voice,
"Young Master Zhu, we who make a living on the Grand Canal are very wary of strangers. To tell you the truth, since Young Master Zhu besieged Zhoushan, many Japanese smugglers have been appearing in this area from time to time. In my opinion, those people you mentioned in bamboo hats are likely Japanese pirates who came to buy grain."
"En, en,"
Zhu Mo felt he was on the right track and asked again, "What about that leader named Wang? Could you help me investigate? If you find anything, go to Guanyin Temple and find Old Wu, alright?"
Seeing his lack of airs, Lu Hao was suddenly greatly encouraged that such a person sought his help. He said firmly, "Young Master Zhu, rest assured. We have many people, we'll be able to find out!"
...
On the way back,
Wu Ming and Wu Liang, concerned for Zhu Mo's safety, immediately found many people to pose as various individuals and followed him day and night. Zhu Mo also feared being killed, so he moved to live in the backyard of Guanyin Temple and brought a ten-man firearms squad to accompany him daily.
One afternoon, in the Hall of Poets,
Zhu Mo recalled Lu Hao's words about the grain transport issues and suddenly felt a sense of unease. He pulled Xu Wei to sit down and discuss, saying, "Brother Wenchang, why do I always feel that the chaos in the grain transport is not simple? Could something untoward happen? What do you think?"
Xu Wei, who had been in charge of military provisions at Hu Zongxian's command, felt the same way. Moreover, he understood the realities of Jiangnan better. After a moment of thought, he said,
"Zixuan, are you suggesting that the father and son are planning to make trouble with the grain?"
"Mm,"
Zhu Mo then asked him about matters concerning the Ministry of Revenue and military provisions. Xu Wei had an excellent memory and recalled many details clearly. The more Zhu Mo listened, the more alarmed he became—
The grain transport supplied the capital and the nine garrisons. From recent understanding, this lifeline had long been controlled by the Yan family. The grain chiefs and distributors who handled the grain for the Grand Canal Guard actually had the Yan family's associates in Jiangnan behind them. Although many of these officials had been dismissed, they still influenced the gentry and officials even after stepping down.
Furthermore, the so-called Grand Canal Guard had long since broken away from the garrison system and had effectively become a unique entity under the Ministry of Revenue. As for the Ministry of Revenue, the current Minister, Ma Kun, was a classmate of Xu Jie and both had passed the imperial examinations in the second year of Jiajing. They were close friends and had no connection with the Yan family. However, the current Vice Minister of Revenue, Gao Yao, was recommended by Yan Shifan.
This meant that, in reality, the Great Ming's grain transport was directly controlled by the Yan family. The primary supply of grain was for the capital's garrison of hundreds of thousands, followed by the capital's citizens and officials, and the Forbidden City, and then the nine garrisons. Thus, if the Yan family were to act ruthlessly and cause trouble with the grain transport, the capital and its hundreds of thousands of garrison soldiers would starve within months.
At this thought,
He said solemnly, "Brother Wenchang, you are familiar with grain policies. I think we need to come up with a strategy quickly, so that the grain transport is not held in other people's hands… Hmm, Governor Zhang Han was once in charge of grain transport for a period. You should draft a strategy and present it to him, how about it?"
Xu Wei said with a serious expression, "Alright! I will attend to it immediately!"