"Could it be that Suzhou's taxation is so heavy that the people are having trouble making a living?" Zhu Su asked curiously.
"Although this is not the case for the time being, the rumor that His Majesty is angry with the people and joins the bandits is spreading among the people. The people of Suzhou are already in danger."
"Therefore, I have the courage to ask His Highness to say a few kind words to Your Majesty..."
Wei Guan cupped his hands and said to Zhu Su. The words were extremely sincere.
"Haha, let's talk about this later, then..." Zhu Su lowered his head and took a sip of his drink.
"Prefect Wei, why don't you continue? There is a third difficult problem, I wonder what it is?"
Although I admire Wei Guan's heart in praying for the people, he also sympathizes with the people of Suzhou. But after all, I don’t know the inside story of this policy, and Zhu Su will not speak to Lao Zhu rashly.
Moreover, he did not remember any major troubles in Suzhou during the Hongwu and even Yongle reigns.
Seeing Zhu Su avoiding talking, Wei Guan sighed. He also knew that without Prince Zhu Biao coming, his plan would have been aborted. He had no choice but to continue: "This third difficult matter is indistinguishable from the first two."
"It's called 'bandit trouble'."
"Bandit trouble?" Zhu Su frowned.
"Since Magistrate Wei calls it a disaster, it must have a great impact. I wonder where this 'bandit' came from?"
As mentioned before, history books do not record any major chaos in Suzhou in the past few decades, but Wei Guan said that there were "bandit troubles". Could it be because of the butterfly effect caused by himself? Zhu Su couldn't help but sit up straight.
"There are two types of bandits. One is the Taihu water bandits entrenched in Taihu Lake." Wei Guandao. "The other place is the Japanese bandits coming from the sea!"
"There are actually Japanese pirates in Suzhou!" Not to mention Zhu Su frowning, Chang Mao, who was listening quietly on the side, couldn't help but interject at this time.
"Suzhou is located on the coast, so Japanese bandits are naturally rampant." Wei Guan said.
"Even in this small day, disaster has reached the land of Su Song!" Speaking of Japanese pirates, Zhu Su couldn't help but grit his teeth out of national sentiment. I saw everyone looking at me with doubts, as if they didn't understand what a "little day" was. Zhu Su then waved his hand and said, "Let's continue, what about this Japanese pirate?"
"It's just killing people and stealing goods, so what else can you do?" Wei Guan said with a wry smile. "However, all the cities along the coast of the Ming Dynasty were troubled by Japanese bandits. This is quite expected. But in the past few months, bandits from Taihu Lake suddenly appeared and they were in trouble."
"Compared to the Japanese bandits, the water bandits are more serious troubles. Taking advantage of the Taihu Lake floods and people's panic, these water bandits frequently attack granaries and attack and kill tax collectors. They are really the biggest problem for me, Su Song!"
"Some water pirates are not like those Japanese pirates who can't hit them in one hit and slip away far to the sea."
"There is also a guard station in Suzhou. If we mobilize soldiers and warships to defeat them, it will be over. What is there to say!"
Chang Mao said disdainfully.
"Mr. Chang Guo doesn't know anything. This Taihu water bandit is different from other bandits."
"Why didn't the Suzhou Guards mobilize soldiers into Taihu Lake to suppress it? It's just that this water bandit appears and disappears. The warship has been wandering around Taihu Lake for several days, and after careful searches of islands, not a single bandit has been found..."
"It happened that when the troops were sent out, the water in Taihu Lake was rising. Before the Suzhou Guards could engage in battle with the enemy, a boatload of soldiers were killed..."
"Never seen it?" Zhu Su asked curiously. Chang Mao also laughed: "Could it be that these water bandits are all the shrimp soldiers and crab generals under the Dragon Prince, and they all disappeared into the water?"
"If it really is a shrimp and a crab general, it would be easier to deal with..." Wei Guan smiled bitterly. "But now there are rumors in Suzhou city that those water bandits are the ghosts of the army commanded by King Cheng, and they are coming to seek bad luck for our Ming Dynasty."
"This rumor has spread so widely among the people that everyone is frightened."
"In fact, even Commander Yang of the Suzhou Guard did not dare to send troops to quell the bandits anymore."
"Fart!" Chang Mao shouted. "A mere rumor has made a general of the Yiwei army afraid to send troops?"
"Absurd." Zhu Su also showed cold eyes. "The dignified commander of the guard abandoned his own defense line because he was afraid of the words of ghosts and gods."
"Can't even you, the prefect of Suzhou, move him?"
"According to the country's dynasty system, although the veteran is the prefect, he has no right to mobilize the guards of the prefecture." Wei Guandao. "Normally, I can only urge him a little bit."
"Commander Yang, however, said that he had lost nearly a hundred soldiers before sending out troops. He said that the losses were heavy, and he had no intention of fighting before he sent out troops. But he had lost his troops before and had no gains. How could the Ministry of Revenue approve the pension?"
Mingwei system: There are 5,600 people for the guards, 1,120 people for the 1,000 households, and 102 people for the 100 households. There are five thousand troops under his command, one thousand households for one thousand households, one hundred households for one hundred households, fifty general banners, and ten small banners... At this time, the system of the guard station has not been corrupted, and there should be no shortage of personnel. In other words, Commander Yang There are at least 5,600 soldiers under his command.
Nearly a hundred soldiers were killed, but their strength was not greatly damaged, and there were no enemies chasing them. Among these hundreds of soldiers, there must be many wounded and few killed.
You actually use this kind of excuse to evade your own responsibilities?
"I have no choice but to collect money from wealthy households in Suzhou to supplement the pension of the Suzhou guards..." Wei Guan continued, looking at Zhu Su carefully.
Zhu Su was stunned and suddenly realized, wasn't this so-called Master Ru, the censor of the river patrol, the same Ru Taisu who had attacked him in front of the palace and was then demoted? I forgot that this guy also came to Suzhou to be a censor patrolling the river. It's not like enemies don't get together.
And he thought of something else. Earlier, Xiangdeng came to report that the Shen family's glass business in Suzhou had been intercepted. It seemed that Naru Taisu was raising so-called "pensions" to deliberately provide small shoes for Suzhou businessmen!
This prefect of Wei, these words are paving the way for Ru Taisu's behavior.
"I understand." Zhu Su nodded. If there was a reason for the incident, he would not really do anything to Ru Taisu. After all, this person is the eldest brother Zhu Biao's loyal friend, and now he is the river patrol censor. If he wants to complete his mission, he cannot avoid cooperating with him. Seeing Zhu Su nodding in agreement, Wei Guan also breathed a sigh of relief.
The banquet is now over, everything that needs to be eaten is eaten, and everything that needs to be said is almost finished. Zhu Su stood up and prepared to leave. The city of Suzhou had undergone changes that were different from those in history, so he could no longer just muddle through. If there really is any instability caused by fanning your wings, you should think of ways to eliminate it before it happens, both emotionally and rationally.
Although Zhu Su only wanted to be free in this world, he also did not want to increase his karma and sins in this world.
Being in the middle of the situation, he has no reason to stay out of it. Moreover, Beijing is currently in a state of instability. If chaos breaks out in Suzhou, a trivial matter may turn into a big deal and even get out of hand.
If it really comes to that point, countless people will suffer because of Zhu Su's inaction. Zhu Su should naturally do his best.
(End of chapter)
