Chapter 293

In fact, it would be most appropriate for Wei Xikang to bring everyone, after all, his knowledge was broader.

But because of his status as the Crown Prince, Jiang Jinshi had no doubt that he wouldn't live for five days after leaving Beijiang, or he would be captured by those with ulterior motives.

Finding an inn that looked pretty good, the innkeeper's face bloomed with joy for their group of more than thirty people.

"You guests have a good eye, this is one of the best inns in Yangzhou City."

Jiang Jinshi took out a ten-tael silver ingot and placed it on the table. "Innkeeper, take good care of our goods and horses, and serve a few tables of good dishes!"

Seeing the silver, the innkeeper lowered his posture even more.

"Got it! Please come in, guests, we have top-quality forage here, and we will never let the horses go hungry!"

Bai Ting came to Jiang Jinshi's side and lowered his voice. "Big Brother, do you need to leave a few brothers to look after the goods?"

"No need! Everyone has worked hard during this period, let them rest well!"

Jiang Jinshi wasn't worried about the goods. Yangzhou City was such a large city, and there were many merchants coming and going, and the city was still in an orderly manner, which showed that there was absolutely no problem with management, and there shouldn't be any black shops.

Huang Yan stepped forward to look left and right, and also lowered his voice to talk. "Old Bai, don't worry, this isn't our place, where bandits are rampant!"

Bai Ting frowned. "That's not right, where are there still mountain bandits in our place now?"

Since the Ming Army unified Beijiang, all the former mountain bandits had "turned over a new leaf" and joined the Ming Army one after another. Managing them was also very easy, and there were no thorns at all.

Huang Yan was behind Jiang Jinshi, gesturing to Bai Ting to look forward with his chin. "Isn't this the biggest bandit leader?"

"You, you!" Bai Ting smiled and shook his head. Fortunately, although Huang Yan liked to joke, he still had a sense of proportion, and these words didn't let others hear them.

Jiang Jinshi led a few people to the inn room to discuss. "Old Bai, go find someone first."

While speaking, Jiang Jinshi took out a few slips of paper from his waist. This was what Wang Hou told him, the post stations that the Ming Army could contact in the south.

Wang Hou wanted to go south with Jiang Jinshi, but he had to guard the center of the information network. Besides him and Tang Xiao Yu, no one else could do this job, and Tang Xiao Yu was far away in the capital, so he could only give up the idea of going south.

Jiang Jinshi wanted to inquire about some news, naturally, it was more credible to ask his own people, so he arranged for Bai Ting to go out and find someone.

Bai Ting bowed, then hurried out the door.

By the time the inn served a table full of dishes, Bai Ting had brought someone back.

The person looked ordinary, without any stunning features. At first glance, he was no different from the waiter in the inn.

But it was precisely such an inconspicuous person who could be competent for such a job!

"Greetings, Commander! I am Shen San under Captain Wang's command."

"No need for courtesy!" Jiang Jinshi raised his hand. "Sit down, let's talk while we eat."

"Eh!" Shen San's expression was somewhat excited. This table of people were all top-notch figures in the Ming Army. Being able to sit at a table with them, it was hard not to control his emotions.

"I don't know what the commander and the adults want to know?" Although Shen San sat down, he was still somewhat restrained and didn't use his chopsticks.

Huang Yan poured tea for everyone one by one, and also poured a cup for Shen San. Jiang Jinshi took the teacup and said: "We just arrived in Yangzhou, has there been any major event in Yangzhou recently?"

Shen San thought carefully for a while before answering slowly. "Returning to the commander, the most worth mentioning in Yangzhou recently is the Yangzhou Poetry Gathering!"

"What's worth paying attention to about a poetry gathering?" Bai Ting took a sip of tea.

Shen San replied respectfully: "This poetry gathering is not ordinary, and it involves a lot behind it."

"Tell me in detail!" Jiang Jinshi narrowed his eyes.

"Now it is the season of the imperial examination, and the chief examiner is from the Si family!" Shen San lowered his voice and continued. "The Si family is naturally the family behind Prime Minister Si in the Imperial Court. Currently, these scholar-gentry families are headed by the Si family, so..."

"So there will be cheating in this imperial examination!" Yan Wu frowned tightly, his tone extremely unhappy.

Shen San nodded and shook his head. "Calling it cheating is not enough to describe it. Now it is secretly said that the Si family wants whoever to pass, whoever can pass!"

"What does this have to do with the poetry gathering?" Huang Yan felt that the topic was a bit off. They couldn't manage the imperial examination now, and Beijiang wasn't even in the scope of the imperial examination.

Shen San explained patiently. "This has to mention another situation I discovered, which is that these scholar-gentry families are not as united as they appear on the surface."

"Oh?" Jiang Jinshi was even more interested in this news. "Is it uneven distribution of benefits?"

"Commander is wise!" Shen San continued excitedly. "Everyone originally thought that the scholar-gentry families were an iron plate, but who would have thought that after Si Gui, the head of the Si family, did those things in the capital, he changed his attitude and prioritized all benefits to himself.

People from other families look at it, and they can only eat the 'leftovers' of the Si family, so they are definitely unhappy in their hearts, but they can't openly fall out, so they fight each other in private."

"How did you discover it?" Jiang Jinshi was curious. Logically speaking, such a situation should not be known to outsiders.

Especially the one in the Imperial Palace, Jiang Jinshi didn't believe that the other party would willingly be a puppet. He wished that the scholar-gentry families would have gaps between each other, so that he could have a chance to break through the cage.

Shen San smiled awkwardly. "Actually, this is not a secret. Now people from various families have had multiple conflicts in order to compete for benefits. People in places like Jiangnan, Luoyang, and Yangzhou all know about it. After all, their forces are mainly circling in these places."

"It seems that the situation is even worse than I imagined!" Jiang Jinshi didn't understand. The contradictions between them were known to everyone, but because of the things in the Imperial Court, they had to stand together. Isn't this awkward?

"Speaking back to the poetry gathering mentioned earlier, this poetry gathering looks like it was organized by these talents for entertainment, but the person behind it is the Cui family, and the purpose is to select excellent talents to join the Cui family and go to the imperial examination."

Yan Wu asked: "Isn't this contradictory? With the Si family's current status, it is indeed up to them who passes, so what is the purpose of the Cui family holding this poetry gathering?"

Yan Wu's idea was very simple. Since this matter was decided by the Si family, what was the point of the Cui family doing this?

But these families wouldn't do anything meaningless, so there must be a hidden story behind this.

Shen San hesitated and said, "I did hear some news about this, but it's not necessarily accurate."

"It doesn't matter, tell me! Just treat it as a chat!" Jiang Jinshi had no interest in the imperial examination, and it didn't have much to do with Beijiang, but this poetry gathering could be seen, and maybe he could find suitable candidates.