Chapter 325: Fire in the backyard

Cui Wangshu remained calm, "When I came, I saw that the water channels along the way were being built. Is it to deal with the successive years of drought? My Cui family has some accumulation in water conservancy, perhaps I can provide some help!"

This was another bigger cooperation bait thrown out by Cui Wangshu, pointing directly at what Beijiang needed now.

Jiang Jinshi's attitude, however, didn't waver in the slightest, "Miss Cui's kindness, I accept it! The construction of the water channels in Beijiang is the effort of local craftsmen and officials, and it is currently manageable!"

Rejected again, Cui Wangshu was not discouraged, because she believed that it was because Jiang Jinshi hadn't seen all the chips she possessed, otherwise he would definitely not be able to refuse her.

And what Jiang Jinshi said about staying in Beijiang for a few more days was just to let her see the strength of Beijiang, so as to increase the intensity of cooperation.

Both of them were thinking their own thoughts, and their thinking wasn't on the same line.

Afterward, Cui Wangshu said goodbye and took two people to wander around Guangwu City. Since Jiang Jinshi asked her to wander for a few more days, she would carefully look at the current situation in Beijiang.

At night, after Cui Wangshu bathed and changed clothes, she didn't rest, but summoned the two most capable stewards of this trip to discuss in the study.

"How is the inventory of goods?"

"Back to Miss, the people receiving in Beijiang are extremely neat, the number and quality have been verified correctly, and the delivery documents have been signed. The other party gave a few extra carts of medicinal materials and furs unique to the North, which are worth a lot, saying 'Miss Cui has had a hard journey, just a token of our appreciation'." A steward replied respectfully.

Cui Wangshu lowered her voice: "Can you find out anything else? About that Jiang Jinshi, about the Ming Army, about the real grain storage and military strength in Beijiang now?"

The matter was of great importance, and the steward also responded in a low voice: "Miss, the mouth of Beijiang is very tight. Ordinary people only know that the 'Lord' leads everyone to live a good life, and they know nothing about the specific details.

But a few things can be confirmed! First, the Ming Army trains extremely strictly, and there are 'ideological classes' every day, the content is unknown, but the military discipline is far better than ordinary official troops. Second, the academy in Guangwu Prefecture has opened, recruiting children of commoners, teaching literacy, arithmetic, and the principles of agriculture and industry, and the tuition is extremely low or even none.

Third, the official system in Beijiang seems to be different from the Imperial Court, the hierarchy is concise, things are handled extremely fast, and... there is almost no wind of corruption."

The military strength of Beijiang is scattered in six prefectures. Unless Jiang Jinshi orders them to gather, the number is simply impossible to determine.

And grain storage is even more of a mystery. Except for Jiang Jinshi and Li Xinyue, no one knows how much grain the Ming Army has in its hands.

Cui Wangshu listened quietly, constantly thinking about the situation in Beijiang in her mind.

No corruption? Concise and efficient? Educating commoners? Every point is contrary to the governance methods of the Da Qian dynasty and various aristocratic families.

So... Jiang Jinshi doesn't want to cooperate with aristocratic families?

Just thinking of this, Cui Wangshu immediately shook her head and denied it.

Impossible! Not cooperating with aristocratic families is equivalent to standing on the opposite side. It's fine in this Beijiang land, but if there is a bigger plan, it's almost impossible.

So Jiang Jinshi must have a deeper plan. The information she has now is not much, and she needs to find out more before making a judgment.

In the following days, Cui Wangshu experienced the local customs of Beijiang, but she didn't find out any more news. Helplessly, Cui Wangshu could only return to Yangzhou with the goods.

Fortunately, this time was not entirely without gain. At the very least, she knew that Beijiang was no longer the barren land it used to be.

All of this proved that Jiang Jinshi, the master of Beijiang, was not an ordinary person. After Cui Wangshu returned home this time, she had to think carefully about the road ahead.

She didn't have that many resources in her hands, and it wasn't enough to bet on both sides, so betting on one side was the best, and Jiang Jinshi also showed that he had this potential.

Jiang Qingyan also left with the goods. She could never rest assured about Fu Ruyan, so no matter what, she had to support Fu Ruyan first.

Beijiang temporarily returned to tranquility, but outside Beijiang, the situation was changing at every moment.

At this moment, in the Si Residence in the capital, the study was brightly lit.

Si Gui's face was livid, "Trash! A bunch of trash!"

"The people monitoring the backyard are all his people? Since when? Are your eyes blind?!"

The kneeling guard's voice trembled: "Master, calm your anger! Wushuang Young Master... he is meticulous and has superb means. When those people were bought, this subordinate truly doesn't know!"

Si Gui's chest heaved violently, but a chill kept surging out.

What does this mean? It means that if Si Wushuang wanted to, he could know every secret of this Prime Minister's residence backyard, and could easily transmit or intercept any news!

It even means that he had been preparing for this day for a long time!

"Where did he go?" Si Gui forced himself to calm down. The urgent matter was to find Si Wushuang, otherwise, this son of his would definitely take action against him.

"Judging from the sporadic clues, perhaps... went to the North."

The guard bit the bullet and replied. In fact, he didn't know where Si Wushuang was at all, and even the direction was nonsense, because the Si Family had no deployment in Beijiang, so it was impossible to verify, so it was best to use it as an excuse!

North? Si Gui thought calmly, Western Liang is at war, why did he go North?

Longxi? No, the Si Family's power there is not strong. Could it be... Beijiang?

Associating it with the interest Yan Chonggu suddenly showed in Beijiang in the

Si Wushuang, could he have gone to the Northern Frontier?

What did he go there to do? To defect to that master of the Northern Frontier, Jiang Jinshi? Or... to represent the Si family and conduct some kind of contact he was unaware of?

"Find him!" Si Gui roared, "Use every resource, search in secret, and you must bring him back to me! I want to see him alive, and if he is dead... I want to see his corpse!"

He absolutely would not allow any factor outside his control to exist, especially one that could endanger his standing.

"And another thing!" Si Gui added: "Strengthen the collection of intelligence on the Northern Frontier. I want to know every movement in the Northern Frontier in greater detail! Tell our people in Jiangnan to keep a close watch on the Yan Family and see what they are really plotting!"

"Yes!" The guard accepted the order and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Inside the study, only Si Gui remained. He was silent, a strong sense of unease rising in his heart.

He had held great power for less than a year; the danger in Western Liang remained unresolved, and news from the Northern Frontier came frequently, appearing somewhat restless.

In the imperial court, he did not know what the Yan Family was plotting, and now his own backyard had caught fire...

As the days passed, Si Gui still had not received any news regarding Si Wushuang.

As for that old fox Yan Chonggu, ever since he mentioned the Northern Frontier matter last time, he had made no further moves, nor did he press the issue, as if he had forgotten about it entirely.

In reality, the Yan Family had learned of the appearance of those "rare goods" in the south and knew that this piece of fat meat, the Northern Frontier, would eventually be targeted by others, so they prepared to change their strategy and temporarily focus their efforts on Western Liang.