Chapter 421

Under Liu Rushi's service, he finally changed into the solemn court robes.

Hmm, although Su Qiao holds no official post in the court.

However, this time as an Imperial Envoy representing the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Youjian, Su Qiao's official robe is a bright red crimson robe.

The carriage stopped at the entrance of the Fuyade Sect of Fuzhou Prefecture.

Su Qiao lifted the carriage curtain, stepped onto the stool, and climbed down.

"The Imperial Envoy has arrived—"

The shout woke up Sun Chuanting and the others who were waiting inside the Fuyade Sect.

They quickly rushed out from inside to welcome him.

"We, your subordinates, greet the Imperial Envoy!"

"You are too polite, my lords, please rise. This official has brought Your Majesty's Imperial Edict this time; let us read it together to determine what everyone must do next."

After entering the main hall, Su Qiao spoke to the crowd.

No one had any objections.

Su Qiao picked up the imperial yellow edict and opened it.

Whether it was Sun Chuanting or the officials of the Fuzhou Prefecture Fuyade Sect, they all hurriedly kowtowed to listen respectfully.

This was not the first time Su Qiao had read out an Imperial Edict.

Moreover, the content of the edict was not long.

So, he finished reading it decisively in just over ten breaths.

The group of officials, like coral, accepted the edict and thanked for the grace before standing up.

The atmosphere became lively and relaxed again.

"Mr. Su, ah no, Lord Su, this is the Prefect of Fuzhou, Lord Liu Minghe!"

"This is the Vice Prefect of Fuzhou Prefecture, Lord Zhao Hui!"

"This is the Assistant Prefect of Fuzhou, Lord He Yunyi!"

Sun Chuanting personally introduced the crowd of officials of Fuzhou Prefecture to Su Qiao.

After all, Su Qiao would be busy within Fujian Province next.

Whether it was the coastal defense garrisons or the investigation of the Quanzhou Prefecture Maritime Trade Office, in the end, one could not avoid the officials of Fuzhou Prefecture.

There would be many more opportunities to interact afterwards.

Su Qiao, with a smile on his face, greeted them one by one.

Although Su Qiao had briefly met them at the welcome banquet last night, he hadn't remembered much at all.

Only today, as the official division of administrative affairs, did Su Qiao deepen his impression of them.

After everyone sat down in the main hall, Sun Chuanting asked Su Qiao: "Lord Su, do you plan to handle the garrison problem first, or the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Office problem first?"

Do not look at the Imperial Edict which says Su Qiao came to Fujian to help Sun Chuanting.

In fact, that is only on the surface!

Sun Chuanting knows how much Zhu Youjian relies on Su Qiao.

If he really took it seriously, he would have climbed to this position for nothing.

Su Qiao thought for a moment and said: "Grand Secretary Sun should not have investigated the Maritime Trade Office yet; just right, I will handle the Maritime Trade Office problem."

He did not say he would go handle the garrison problem.

According to reason, it would be better to handle the garrison problem first.

Because once the soldiers and generals are handled well, there will be manpower to investigate the Maritime Trade Office problem.

One could say it would achieve twice the result with half the effort!

But he cannot be not "sensible"!

Do not look at the fact that he is the Imperial Envoy, but Sun Chuanting and the others have been busy with the garrisons for several months.

If he interferes as soon as he arrives, is he here to steal credit?

It would cause displeasure and dislike! Three.

275, The Gentry of Eight Min!

Originally, the news of Su Qiao's arrival in Fuzhou had not been publicized.

But after the Imperial Edict was read out publicly yesterday, overnight, this news spread like a gust of wind, quickly spreading throughout the entire Fuzhou City.

The great and small wealthy families in Fuzhou City, as well as the common people and officials, basically all knew that an Imperial Envoy from the court had arrived.

However, compared to the court officials focusing on this matter.

In Fuzhou City, the few powerful families that dealt with court officials most frequently were equally more concerned.

Regarding the newly arrived Imperial Envoy—Su Qiao—they wished to find out what time Su Qiao went to the toilet.

In Fuzhou City, these powerful families were the Lu family, the Wang family, the Qian family, and the Sun family.

Their families were all very wealthy; each family had several sea ships smuggling overseas.

Each time, they could bring the family profits of no less than one hundred thousand taels.

If they were merely wealthy, it would be one thing.

The number of Retainers in their respective families was also not small; counting the servants within the manors, there were over a thousand people.

They truly did not yield much to the wealthy families in Jingcheng.

Their visible businesses also had a significant influence in Fuzhou City.

For example, the Sun family's restaurant, the Lu family's cloth shop, the Qian family's pawnshop and inn, plus the dock business, and the Wang family's broker agency, and so on.

All of them were businesses that earned a fortune daily, enjoying high prestige in Fuzhou City.

At this moment, the heads of these four families had gathered together, holding a meeting at the Lu family's residence.

In the dim and quiet study of the Lu family, several family heads sat there.

The atmosphere in the room was somewhat eerie; for most of the day, everyone kept drinking tea without anyone speaking a word.

The Lu family head, with a serious expression, wore a brocade robe and sat in the place of honor, his brows and eyes carrying a cold, sinister look.

He held a green porcelain tea bowl, blowing away the steam while taking a sip of tea.

The corner of his eye swept over the faces of the remaining three family heads.

The Sun family head wore a green brocade robe, his belly protruding, with layers of fat on his face, revealing two triangular eyes that were almost squeezed shut.

At this moment, he seemed unable to sit still, constantly squirming on the chair; he would look at the Qian family head, then at the Wang family head, appearing as if he wanted to speak but held back, making others anxious on his behalf.

After another quarter-hour passed, he truly could not hold back any longer, so he spoke first:

"Brother Lu, the mission the Sect gave us is to strike against this newly arrived Imperial Envoy, yet they only gave us a little over a month; the time is too tight. Do you have any method?"

Once the Sun family head, Sun Yaoqing, spoke, the Wang and Qian families immediately chimed in agreement.

"That's right. Little brother heard that the Sect members have attacked multiple times before, yet all failed; it is clear this Imperial Envoy is not simple."

"Yes, yes. Although we do not understand why we must capture this Su Qiao, the time is indeed very tight; we must think of a way."

Normally, among the four family heads, everyone took the Lu family as the lead.

One reason was that the Lu family's operations were large enough, far bigger in scale than the other families.

The other reason was that the Lu family head held a higher status within the Bai Lianjiao and was more popular than them.

Naturally, everyone else took the Lu family as their leader.

Facing their questions, the Lu family head, Lu Hong, coughed lightly twice. "I will not hide it from you all: before that Su Qiao arrived in Fuzhou, I also sent my subordinates to act once, but it still failed; not a single person escaped. It is said they fell into an official army trap and were wiped out entirely."

"Ah?"

Upon hearing this, the other three family heads were all startled.

They had also heard of the incident where Su Qiao encountered fierce bandits before arriving in Fuzhou.

After all, each of the families had its own intelligence channels; it was easy to find out such things.

The only thing they did not expect was that this matter was done by the Lu family head.

"Hmm, I admit I underestimated him a bit. Now, to deal with him, we must plan more thoroughly; otherwise, it is easy to fail and arouse the opponent's vigilance."

The Sun family head and the others exchanged glances, all thinking that Lu Hong had merely stated the obvious.

Who does not know that one must plan thoroughly? Otherwise, the entire family will die.

Forget about the idea of fleeing a thousand li after a single failed strike.