Chapter 127: The Fires of War Reignite

"Assistant Regional Commander, based on the captives' confessions, we have basically confirmed the identity of this group of pirates.

It turns out they were called the Skeleton Bandits, but two months ago they changed their name to the Qunying Society.

Their leader is a scholar, nicknamed 'The Eagle' by the underworld.

He likes his subordinates to address him as 'Shipmaster,' and no one knows his true identity.

It is said that this man joined the group last year and, relying on astonishing strategic planning, rose to power rapidly.

Previously, they were active in the Yellow Sea, mainly robbing ships traveling to and from Japan, and occasionally raiding ships bound for Goguryeo.

Some time ago, they committed a major crime in Shandong, which drew the encirclement and suppression of the Shandong Navy, so they chose to head south to lie low.

While docking for supplies, they accidentally encountered a salt transport ship and were overcome by greed.

After looting the salt field, for some unknown reason, The Eagle abandoned his usual caution and suddenly ordered an attack on South Tongzhou.

......"

Hearing the report from Jail Warden Yu Zhihua, Li Mu instantly realized something was wrong.

There are names that can be misnamed, but there are no nicknames that are misapplied.

The underworld nicknamed him 'The Eagle'; the leader of this pirate group is definitely no ordinary character.

For a smart man to suddenly do something stupid, there must be a reason behind it.

Since they chose to head south to lie low, they should have acted with discretion instead of recklessly attacking a prefecture capital.

Seeing the salt transport ship and being overcome by greed, choosing to pull a temporary job is entirely understandable.

However, given the style of pirates, looting those ships would have been the end of it.

Landing to rob a salt field was already crossing the line, and attacking a prefecture city was practically courting death.

Having angered the imperial court, a small group of pirates like them would definitely not have a good end.

"He likes to be called 'Shipmaster'—could this man be a descendant of the Five Peaks Shipmaster?

Or is it simply an adoration for that pirate king, wanting to take him as a role model?"

Li Mu's question could not be answered by anyone.

Creatures like pirates have always been a mixed bag, and their thinking cannot be measured by common sense.

An 'Eagle' with foresight running off to do a short-sighted, death-courting business.

It seems inconceivable, but when applied to pirates, that is not necessarily the case.

"Assistant Regional Commander, perhaps it has to do with the situation in the imperial court.

Referencing historical experience, as long as someone in the court proposes opening the sea ban, the coastal regions will become troubled."

Lan Linjie said cryptically.

Where there is an anomaly, there must be a demon.

Problems that cannot be explained by common sense can only be explained by interests.

Opening the sea ban breaks the monopoly on maritime trade held by vested interest groups; they will certainly take action.

Either direct control or indirect influence.

More than half of the pirates active overseas have connections to noble families engaged in maritime trade.

Keeping so many lackeys outside, besides using them to strike at competitors, is also to deter the imperial court.

As long as the imperial court wants to open the sea ban, the pirates will become active, spreading the smoke of war throughout the coastal provinces.

"Unlikely!

As far as I know, on the issue of opening the sea ban, neither the Cabinet nor the Six Ministries have expressed a stance.

The calls for opening the sea have only remained among the middle and lower-level officials.

Similar probing behaviors happen every year; there is no need to make such a fierce reaction.

Even if these people were truly manipulating things from behind the scenes, they could just create a stir in the coastal areas as a demonstration; there was no need to attack South Tongzhou.

If these pirates were like before, robbing and running, we would never have caught them.

In the same amount of time, they could have committed several major crimes, and the kind with little risk at that.

Whether it is economic gain or the political impact caused, both are much greater than being limited to one place.

Judging from the interrogation results, most of the pirates within the group opposed attacking South Tongzhou; it looks more like the pirate leader's personal stubbornness.

For a wise person to commit a death-courting act, the most common reason can only be hatred.

From a chronological perspective, before the South Tongzhou official took office, this guy The Eagle had already become a pirate.

The local commoners had long been ravaged by the rebel army.

The probability of the local official acting perversely and inviting retaliation is not high.

On the contrary, the remnants of the salt merchant group wiped out by the imperial court are more suspicious of committing the crime.

Forget it, everything will naturally have an answer once we catch the pirate leader.

Send someone to notify the South Tongzhou officials, saying that the pirate invasion was intended to retaliate against them, and ask them what major things they have done recently!"

Li Mu shook his head and said.

Rather than internal friction, it is better to trouble others.

Throwing the problem to South Tongzhou, knowing they are being targeted by pirates, those local officials will naturally work hard to investigate.

Jiangnan Navy Bureau.

"What?"

"Let us find someone to take the responsibility and perform meritorious service to atone for crimes.

This is impossible!

Absolutely impossible!"

Duan Ganhong flatly refused.

Plans cannot keep up with changes; he originally wanted to use the pirate invasion to play a game of chess against the Nanjing Ministry of War, but he never expected it to collapse.

The victory of the Yangzhou Camp on the battlefield caused the Yangzhou Prefecture to lose its reliance on them.

The internal factional struggle of the civil official group suddenly pushed them to the forefront.

Grand Secretary Xu's faction hoped they would stand up and bite the Nanjing Ministry of War, while the Nanjing Ministry of War wanted them to take the responsibility voluntarily.

As an old fox who has been in officialdom for many years, Duan Ganhong knows very well how dangerous the political struggle is at this time.

Once arrangements are made for someone to take the responsibility, then everything that happened before will become the responsibility of the Jiangnan Navy Bureau.

Such a big scapegoat is not something the people below can carry, and in the end, it will mostly fall on him.

Even if he could really atone for his crimes, he would still lose a layer of skin afterwards.

What he fears most is the escalation of infighting in the civil official camp; the big shots of the Nanjing Ministry of War are too busy to care for themselves and have no intention of saving him.

Losing his official position is the lightest outcome; if things go wrong, he might even go for a walk in the imperial prison.

Standing with Grand Secretary Xu's faction and biting the Nanjing Ministry of War is also not an option.

Not to mention how hateful this practice of biting back at superiors is in officialdom.

Just in the days of working together in the past, he has countless handles that have fallen into the hands of the Nanjing Ministry of War.

They could completely get rid of him before they fall.

"Official Duan, don't be in such a hurry to refuse.

The Yangzhou Prefecture has already submitted a memorial to the imperial court, impeaching the Jiangnan Navy Bureau for inaction.

They are Grand Secretary Xu's people; the Nanjing Six Ministries do not have the ability to suppress the matter.

If nothing unexpected happens, the imperial court will mostly send people to investigate.

This accident was indeed caused by the arrears in military pay.

But does your Jiangnan Navy Bureau have no responsibility at all?

Don't tell me that all your warships are under maintenance.

According to the Great Yu Law, the maintenance of navy warships is carried out in rotation.

Even if some warships are affected, you can still send troops to clean up this group of pirates.

The problem is that you had no action before, and after the incident, you still did not take action at the first opportunity.

Even after receiving the mobilization silver, you still did not take military action.

The current Emperor is not easy to fool.

Once the imperial envoy finds out something, I'm afraid your head, Official Duan, will be hard to keep!"

Yin Dengjia warned unceremoniously.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the Jiangnan Navy Bureau's delay is dissatisfaction with their behavior of delaying military pay.

If the Yangzhou Camp's military action failed, everyone could only rely on the Jiangnan Navy to clean up the mess.

For the sake of the big picture, all parties could only coax them.

Then the problems on the Jiangnan Navy were not issues at all.

Unfortunately, their judgment was wrong; not only was their reliance gone, but they were also held by the handle.

"Official Yin, I am not scared either.

If the imperial court wants to send someone to investigate, then let them investigate.

The Jiangnan Navy Bureau does have problems, but compared to some people, these are not issues at all.

Even if the imperial court wants to liquidate, I will not be lonely on the road to the Yellow Springs!"

Duan Ganhong said coldly.

Failing to coax him into taking the blame, they want to use threats to force him to be a scapegoat.

Once he agrees, life and death will be unpredictable.

At this moment, he is betting that he is just a fish caught in the fire, not the primary target of others.

"Official Duan, don't be anxious; we didn't ask you to take the blame.

The Jiangnan Navy has already set out; if you can catch the pirate leader.

And help the victims recover their losses, there is still room for the matter to be saved.

If it really doesn't work, you can find a loser, convict him of colluding with pirates to destroy warships, and let him commit suicide out of fear of punishment.

I have given you the idea anyway; whether to do it or not, Official Duan can ponder it himself.

Don't forget that the victim this time has an extraordinary identity.

In case they think Official Duan has old ties with the Seven Great Families of Lianghuai and is dissatisfied with the imperial court's behavior, deliberately sitting by and watching their salt fields being attacked.

The consequences will not be something we can control!"

Yin Dengjia's threat caused Duan Ganhong's face to change drastically.

Just thinking about playing chess with the civil officials, he actually ignored the identity of the salt field owner; this is undoubtedly the biggest failure.

Thinking of the Yangzhou Camp's rapid action, Duan Ganhong was so angry he wanted to curse.

This is not suppressing pirates at all; it is clearly a big show for the powerful in the court.

With a positive example to set it off, it is hard for the Jiangnan Navy, which has been slow to take action, not to be envied and hated.

Making up for the victims' losses is easy to say, but the problem is whether you can afford to pay.

There is no need to doubt the destructive power of pirates; after being ravaged by them like this, don't think about restoring production in a short time.

With the huge profits of the salt industry, the daily income is not a small number.

"Hehe......

Official Yin, since you know that the owner of the salt field is extraordinary, why is our money still being delayed?

Is it that I, Duan, have old ties with the Lianghuai noble families, or is it that you people in the Ministry of War have ties with them? I'm afraid this question needs to be investigated carefully.

It is said that Lianghuai salt merchants bribe Nanjing every year!

You must know that when suppressing the Seven Great Families rebel army before, you were constantly shirking, and even spared no effort to offend Grand Secretary Xu."

Duan Ganhong's words directly poked through the window paper.

The Nanjing Ministry of War is holding his handle, and he is also holding the handle of a group of officials in the Ministry of War.

The current situation is that both sides are holding a pile of charges against each other.

Once it makes a scene, both sides will likely perish together.

At this moment, Yin Dengjia no longer has the previous composure.

He thought this was a soft persimmon, but he didn't expect it to be an old fox.

He used all the means of coercion and inducement, but the other party just wouldn't take the bait.

"Regional Commander, emergency order from the Ministry of War!"

Master Wang's voice broke the stalemate in the room.

According to convention, the Nanjing Ministry of War's order would add a prefix; if it didn't, it would be the Capital Ministry of War.

Passing the order directly to the Jiangnan Navy without going through the Nanjing Ministry of War must mean something big has happened.

"Bring it here!"

Duan Ganhong responded casually.

After opening the official document, Duan Ganhong, whose face was originally livid, suddenly showed a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"The Great War in Liaodong has broken out; the imperial court wants my Jiangnan Navy to escort grain and fodder to the Liaodong Regional Military Commission.

Official Yin, the war on the front line is urgent.

I have to go prepare immediately, excuse me!"

After speaking, Duan Ganhong turned and left directly.

For him, this war came too timely.

Mixing in officialdom, the most feared thing is having no value.

It has been less than a year since the last great war; even if the imperial court is trying its best to prepare, the strategic materials stored on the front line are still insufficient.

The fires of war were suddenly ignited, and the value of the navy was reflected.

Whether it is harassing the enemy's rear or transporting grain and fodder to the front-line army, the navy is needed.

The war on the front line is urgent; the imperial court needs the navy to maintain stability, and in a short time, it will certainly not move him, this navy regional commander.

At worst, work harder when performing tasks and strive to make a few small achievements on the Liaodong front line.

Once he becomes a hero, the previous things will not be issues.

In essence, in this storm, he is just a loser caught in the fire.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 128 =====