Chapter 75: Taihu Bandits

At sunset, the officials under Suzhou's administration finally assembled.

Although those in the city had arrived early, the magistrates and deputy magistrates from the surrounding counties, being farther away, could not help but be late even when riding horses.

The commander of the Taihu Water Camp, who was outside the city, also arrived quite late.

The Great Song maintained a navy; camps of naval soldiers were established on major lakes such as Taihu, Poyang, and Dongting, and also along the coast, but the naval organization on the seacoast was of a higher rank than those on these lakes.

At this time, within the Department Magistrate's main hall, red candles burned high, illuminating everything so brightly it was like daytime.

Zhao Ti's gaze swept across the two sides from his chair; civil officials on the left, military on the right, each with a different expression.

The first on the left was the Suzhou Vice Prefect, whose face showed joy; the prefect and the vice prefect had always been at odds, for the vice prefect held the power to supervise local affairs and could directly report to the Emperor, so the prefect had to be on guard, and moreover, this Suzhou Vice Prefect was a member of the New Faction.

The first on the right was the Suzhou Military Commander, with a dark complexion and a beard, looking somewhat dazed, forcing a smile at the corners of his mouth, clearly not someone accustomed to flattery in his daily life.

As for the Transport Commissioner, the Prison Warden, the Granary Manager, the Judicial Assistant, and others, their expressions varied, but most were cautious, staring straight ahead, daring not to make the slightest improper move.

Zhao Ti glanced around and said indifferently, "Bandits have proliferated under Suzhou's administration; Wang Zhongwan neglected to investigate or question, allowing them to run rampant, and has already been thrown by this Prince into the great prison. Do you have anything to say?"

The officials had known the news more or less beforehand, but hearing these words now, their hearts still sank.

Although Suzhou was not a capital city, it was incredibly prosperous, with canal and water transport; the Department Magistrate held a fourth-rank official position, equivalent in grade to the capitals of some remote military circuits.

More importantly, Wang Zhongwan was the son of Wang Gui, the three-time Prime Minister; although Wang Gui had died a few years ago, many in his family held official posts, and his students and former subordinates were everywhere, yet the Prince of Yan moved against him as soon as he decided to.

There was no room for compromise in this matter; it was said the man was carried out of the yamen and thrown out, then had his official hat knocked off in the street before being directly escorted to the great prison.

The Prince of Yan was of the New Faction, while Wang Zhongwan was of the Old Faction; at this moment, everyone thought only of the two words: factional strife.

Factional strife was a matter of life and death; not only must one topple the opponent, but one must also brand and exile the opponent's male descendants and force the women into the Imperial Music Bureau; one would not rest until the opponent was completely stripped of any power to recover.

Zhao Ti looked at the crowd, reading their intentions from their faces, and sneered, "None of you have anything to say?"

The civil officials remained silent; whether true or false, this matter was the Department Magistrate's burden to bear, unrelated to their own official duties.

The Military Commander on the right, however, truly could not hold back; he opened his mouth, then finally stood up carefully to bow and said, "Your Highness, this humble official has served in Suzhou for many years and has never, never seen any major bandits?"

As soon as he spoke these words, everyone around was startled, thinking this fool was about to lose his post; being driven out of the Military Command was a small matter, but being thrown into prison was a grave one, and since he was not of the Old Faction, why involve himself in such a matter!

Zhao Ti looked at him and said, "Commander Sun, speak your mind."

This commander surnamed Sun was named Sun Tong; he had held this position for many years without promotion. Since military officials found promotion difficult anyway, and the number of local military posts was limited, with the higher-level Military Commanders being few and far between—one radish, one hole—his somewhat simple and honest nature made it even harder for him to rise.

Sun Tong actually regretted standing up the moment he did, but now he was in a predicament he could not escape, so he had to pluck up his courage and say, "Your Highness, this humble official has been in Suzhou for quite some time; during the day, soldiers have cooperated with the prefectural yamen to catch thieves; there are indeed bandits from the Jianghu and villains from the markets, but I have never seen any bandits entrenched and growing in power on the ground..."

Zhao Ti stared at him for a few breaths and said indifferently, "Have you also gone to suppress the bandits on Taihu?"

"Ah..." Sun Tong was stunned upon hearing this, his expression immediately becoming awkward; he realized the matter was about Taihu after all and secretly cursed his own rashness, fearing punishment now, for there were indeed bandits on Taihu, yet he had never gone up to suppress them.

The Taihu Water Camp was directly subordinate to the Circuit-level Commander and managed jointly by the circuit and the prefecture, not under his command.

In this place, water bandits had always been as numerous as cow hairs; some fishermen were fierce, acting as common people when fishing, but turning into water bandits when not fishing, and they had never been completely cleared away.

Taihu covered an area of over two thousand square kilometers, with a shoreline of about four hundred kilometers; the west featured rolling hills and mountains, while the east was a plain crisscrossed by waterways, with nearly a hundred large islands and countless small ones.

Taihu had numerous river ports and estuaries; the named rivers entering and exiting numbered more than fifty.

To completely eradicate water bandits in such a place was actually harder than climbing to the sky, far beyond what the Ghost Ghost Fanlou could compare to; once the Ghost Ghost Fanlou was destroyed, as long as people were stationed day and night to guard the water entrances, with strict and unyielding defense forbidding entry, it would almost never reignite.

Yet the area of Taihu was countless times larger than the Ghost Ghost Fanlou, countless times bigger, and it was open to the sky, making it impossible to watch or guard; not only was complete eradication impossible, but even if one expended boundless effort to clear it once, the next wave would return before long.

"Your Highness, this humble official, this humble official..." Sun Tong stammered, not knowing what to say.

Zhao Ti pressed down his hand; Sun Tong felt as if granted a great reprieve, trembling as he sat back in his chair, sweat dripping from his forehead with a pitter-patter.

The commander of the Taihu Water Camp behind him then grinned nervously, quickly standing up, thinking, "This is truly trouble falling from the sky while sitting at home; how could the Taihu water bandits possibly be completely eradicated? Let alone his five hundred men scattered across the lake where they couldn't even see a water star, even five thousand or fifty thousand would be useless; those bandits can run, soldiers cannot stay on the water forever, and once they leave, the bandits return."

"Commander Jiang, are there bandits on Taihu?" Zhao Ti asked.

"Replying to Your Highness, this... yes, there are," the Water Camp commander said in fear and trembling.

"How long has it been?" Zhao Ti asked with a blank expression.

"Your Highness... this, this has been for a long time," the Water Camp commander pondered; he himself was not of the Old Faction, and at his rank, being a military officer, he was not even qualified to join the Old Faction if he wanted to; even through dynastic changes, the Taihu water bandits had never been completely eradicated, so why was he being questioned for this now?

All the other officials changed color, falling silent as crickets in an instant; wherever there was water, be it the Yellow River or the Yangtze, where were there no bandits? If lake bandits were used as a pretext, then this matter would be unsolvable, meaning one could pick and choose whom to target at will; it would align with the law and leave the accused speechless; the Prince of Yan was indeed brilliant.

"But, but Your Highness..." The Water Camp commander, seeing everyone's expressions, suddenly shivered; these civil officials were full of malice, and since their faces had turned green, something terrible must be happening; losing one's post was a small matter, but one must not lose one's head.

"But Your Highness, the water bandits on Taihu, the water bandits on Taihu cannot be eradicated..." the Water Camp commander could only argue; he was not a civil official, and for civil officials, mistakes usually resulted in demotion, but for military officials, it could mean a grave crime.

"This Prince knows!" Zhao Ti interrupted him and said, "Taihu has always been plagued by banditry and is difficult to pacify."

"Ah?" The Water Camp commander immediately froze, and everyone else froze as well.

"This Prince speaks of those who have entrenched themselves for many years, grown powerful, roamed the Jianghu, and harbored ambitious and treacherous hearts," Zhao Ti said calmly.

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances; the Water Camp commander was stunned for a moment, then suddenly seemed to remember something, and his face turned grim.

"This Prince asks you: in the Taihu waterways, deep within the reeds, there is a Yanzi Wu Canhe Manor; do you know it?"