Chapter 392

He hoped Su Qiao could hurry south to Fujian to help.

It is impossible that everything said in his heart is true.

The fact that Sun Chuanting could attain the position of Grand Secretary proves he is no mediocre talent; his ability can be said to be extremely strong.

The matters mentioned in the letter, though they might be somewhat tedious and troublesome.

But they absolutely will not be beyond Sun Chuanting's ability to solve.

Therefore, the purpose of Sun Chuanting sending this letter is very simple.

The purpose is to urge Su Qiao to hurry to Quanzhou and help him share the workload.

Although Su Qiao would not truly believe it, he also knew clearly that he could not continue to travel for pleasure.

It is time to attend to official business!

"Sigh, I was born with a destiny of hard labor!"

Su Qiao sighed and said.

Liu Rushi happened to come to call Su Qiao to eat.

"Master, it is time to eat."

"Mm, let's go. We will rest for one night tonight, and tomorrow we will continue south."

Liu Rushi is very smart and guessed the situation immediately.

"Is it Grand Secretary Sun's letter urging us?"

"Yes, this old man sent a letter playing the victim, saying he is just waiting for me to save him from fire and water. I believe him? No way! The whole rotten old man is very bad!"

Su Qiao and Liu Rushi came to the hall to eat, complaining while taking a sip of soup.

"It is also possible that Grand Secretary Sun is truly under great pressure."

What Su Qiao did not know was that Liu Rushi had actually guessed the situation correctly.

Sun Chuanting is now so busy his feet hit the back of his head; Japanese pirates are not settling down, internal officials are in great chaos, and even some guard posts are openly defying orders, transforming themselves into bandits.

Just imagine, with internal troubles and external threats here, and people in the shadows of the Maritime Trade Office constantly smuggling opium into Ming territory.

Any person would be under great pressure!

This is also the reason Zhu Yuanzhang let Su Qiao go south to solve these troubles.

However, Su Qiao's plan to go south to Fujian the next day was ruined!

Deep night, Nanjingcheng was still asleep.

Outside the city, a messenger with a red flag suddenly appeared, sweating profusely and in a wretched state, shouting to wake the Duicheng Sect gate.

"Open the gate quickly, open the gate quickly, urgent military news from Suzhou Prefecture!"

Since Zhu Di, Nanjingcheng has basically been a place for resting, staying far away from the clouds of war.

It is almost the direct rear of Great Ming; one should say it has never encountered any enemy attacks.

Extremely safe!

This also led to the city guards and soldiers of the Military Command being relatively lax in guarding the city gates.

Except for being somewhat alert during shift changes, everyone else was fast asleep; no one would really take city defense to heart.

At most, they just controlled the city gates to prevent people from entering or leaving at will.

The sudden appearance of the messenger with a red flag today really shocked the gate soldiers.

"Who goes there?"

The messenger shouted several times before someone finally responded.

The messenger almost cried out; he had been traveling urgently and had basically had no rest until now.

Nanjingcheng was his destination, and he was holding his breath with all his might.

"I am an urgent messenger sent by Suzhou Prefecture; please open the gate immediately, I have urgent military news to report!"

The messenger shouted to the soldiers on the gate with a hoarse voice.

"The token!"

"Here!"

After comparing the token, everyone became alert, dared not be negligent, and quickly lowered the drawbridge and opened the city gate.

The messenger did not dismount but flew towards the city...

The officials of the Six Ministries of Nanjing, who were originally asleep, were all woken up and then gathered in the Imperial Palace's Hall of Discussion.

After the Suzhou messenger delivered the news, he was sent down to rest and recuperate his body.

And the group of officials, upon hearing the news, were somewhat dazed.

It was truly too shocking for everyone!

"Is this matter true?"

"It must be true; otherwise, would Zhang Xueceng, the Prefect of Suzhou, have the guts of a bear's heart and a leopard's liver to fool us?"

"Jingcheng must also have sent an urgent message by eight hundred li, but waiting for Jingcheng to decide would definitely be too late; this is a matter of one or two days, we must make a decision as soon as possible!"

"643 Army troop movements require the Tiger Tally; we have no way to directly mobilize the army, the Ministry of War..."

"Don't look at me, the Ministry of War has no way either!"

For a full half-hour, everyone discussed, argued, and deliberated on methods.

Yet there was absolutely no unified method.

Who could blame them for being just a small court, without an Emperor capable of making the final decision?

If something goes wrong, the person who made the decision will definitely be held accountable.

If it succeeds, there might be some merit.

But the officials present were all old hands, devoid of youthful passion.

They seek stability in all things; if they can avoid risk, they naturally refuse to get involved.

Mainly, the cost-benefit ratio seemed unprofitable to them.

Most officials in the Nanjing court were just killing time, waiting to retire.

Who would willingly get involved in something with such high risk?

If it succeeds, it's easy to talk about; if it fails, they'll be infamous for ten thousand generations!

The gambling nature is too great; no one dares to gamble.

It's better to do less, make fewer mistakes, and wait peacefully for retirement without bearing responsibility.

Naturally, after such a long time, no result had been reached; they all shifted the blame onto one another.

What should be done?

Suddenly, at this moment, Lin Fu remembered Su Qiao.

"Ah, we cannot make the decision, but the Imperial Envoy sent by Your Majesty has not yet left Jin Ling; we can find him!"

247, the Japanese pirates are coming!

Lin Fu's words made the hall fall silent for a moment.

Everyone's eyes rolled, and they all thought this was a good idea.

There's a scapegoat!

After all, Su Qiao's mission this time southward was to solve the problems of the Great Ming coastal defense garrisons.

Now that the Japanese pirates are invading the border, it is Su Qiao's responsibility!

If he doesn't go, who will?

Exactly!

The urgent intelligence sent by messenger from Zhang Xueceng was that the Japanese pirates had previously been defeated twice by Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng, almost completely annihilated, with only a few escaping.

This time, the Japanese pirates have come to take revenge.

Qi Qi Jiguang is gone, and the Qi Family Army is nearly wiped out.

Traitors within the Great Ming court gave the Japanese pirates intelligence.

Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng are not in Ningbo Prefecture or Suzhou Prefecture now; they have moved south to Fujian and are currently at Quanzhou Garrison.

The Japanese pirates immediately felt they could do it.

Suzhou Prefecture itself is rich and wealthy, and the Japanese pirates have coveted it for a long time.

They just never got the chance, and since they are bandits with few men, they dare not engage the Great Ming's large number of troops.