chapter 14 – entering the flock

The door of the study was tightly closed, like the mouths of benevolent men who never refused to open in the face of torture.

Party primrose wave and other beloved of the governor were being tortured in the back garden, only their mouths had long been stuffed with stinking rags, so they did not let out miserable cries.

Hong Changqing vigilantly watched the darkness around him, leading the several magistrates sent over by the governor of Jiaozhou to scatter around the study, preventing anyone from approaching that room.

The study fell into a deathly silence, not knowing what Fan Xian and Xu Maocai had said, discussed, reckoned, and argued about in there.

Looking in through the faint candlelight, one could see the heavier and heavier expressions of these two and the hint of coldness in their eyes.

Fan Xian slightly lowered his head, the shadows on either side of the bridge of his nose very conspicuous, and he said softly, “This matter ends here, right here.”

Xu Maocai thought for a moment and nodded, “Yes, my lord.”

The conversation between the two about that year and beyond came to an end for the time being, and Xu Maocai, while forcibly suppressing his excitement, returned to the calmness he had felt over the years, changing his address from young master to lord. He was aware of how treacherous his conversation with Fan Xian was, and if another person knew what he had said to Fan Xian, he would surely die, and Fan Xian would surely not have a good time either.

“Let’s talk about future matters later.” Fan Xian said calmly, “What about this issue at the moment?”

Xu Maocai had been in the Jiaozhou naval division for twenty years, and from being a soldier at the bottom of the hierarchy, Xu Maocai had made his way up to become an important general, and naturally, he had a prestige and network that was difficult for others to reach. Fan Xian’s handling of the Jiaozhou Naval Division would be much simpler if he had his help.

“I will go and contact the people in the army.” Xu Mocai said after some thought, “If Your Excellency needs someone to step in, I can try.”

Fan Xian frowned as he thought about it, if he was able to take in a large number of middle and lower ranked officers in the Marine Division, it would naturally go much smoother, and since that old Qin family general refused to come forward, and Xu Mocai was willing to come out and help himself, he thought that the effect would be similar. But after thinking for a while, he shook his head and said, “You don’t want to come out personally.”

Xu Maocai looked at Fan Xian with some surprise.

Fan Xian said, “I don’t want anyone to be able to detect a hint of a problem …… You are, after all, the person who came out of the Quanzhou Marine Division, and since you’ve been at peace all these years, you won’t come out today.”

Not a critical moment, this Fan Xian in the military chess piece naturally can not be exposed, just deal with Jiaozhou water division such a deformed arm, he will not use his own good not easy to pick up on the side of the road in the sharp-edged chopper.

“But …… the middle and lower levels of the army you help me think of a way.” Fan Xian continued, “Influence some of the people you can influence, at least let them be at peace, after dawn we are going to go to the water division to proclaim the decree, I don’t want tens of thousands of soldiers to all come to besiege me by then.”

Xu Mocai smiled, saluted and said, “Don’t worry, my lord, in fact, this evening, I felt that you seem to be thinking about this matter too hard.”

“Oh, how so?” Fan Xian raised an eyebrow and came to be interested.

“You underestimated the army’s loyalty to the court, and underestimated His Majesty’s influence on the soldiers.” Xu Maocai said calmly, “Perhaps Chang Kun can control a part of the army, perhaps his beloved can incite the soldiers who don’t know the truth to make a scene …… But the state of affairs now is that Chang Kun is dead, and the party primrose wave and a few others have been captured by you and put in prison, regardless of whether the soldiers or the people, if they have the guts to make a move on the Qinzhi to make a move, it is certain that someone will need to take the lead.”

Xu Mocai concluded, “If the sheep dare to rise up against the wolf, there must be a wolf hiding in the middle of the flock.”

Fan Xian’s eyes lit up and he looked at Xu Maocai for a long time without speaking. It was only at this moment that he realized that this lucky child left behind by his mother back then really did have a few insights when it came to looking at things.

“But I’m a wolf from out of town.” He said with a smile, “These old wolves in the Water Division love their feathers again.”

Xu Maocai said lightly, “You escort them to go, they have to go …… also don’t need them to say anything, as long as one stop to the camp, the sailor officers and soldiers will naturally know their position, if there is still a disturbance in the army, your honor may as well kill a kill.”

“Kill to establish authority?” Fan Xian frowned, “What I’m afraid of is startling a mutiny, the smell of blood is very pungent, it’s easy to make people’s brains foggy.”

Xu Mocai looked at him and smiled, saying in a harmonious voice, “My lord, the smell of blood also makes it easy for people to become timid, especially the lower classes who are not very bold to begin with.”

This was said plainly, but with a hint of eccentricity and resentment, so it must be that when the Ye family and the Quanzhou sailors were cleansed twenty years ago, this one had watched too many timid people who were too frightened by the blood to be silenced and dare not move.

Fan Xian thought about it and nodded.

Xu Mocai saw that the worry between his brows still hadn’t been dispelled, and knew what he was worried about, and after a moment’s thought, he said tentatively, “Even if I don’t step forward today, I can still try it afterward.”

Try what? Naturally, it was to try to put the Jiaozhou naval division in Fan Xian’s hands. With Xu Maocai’s seniority and status, as long as he excelled in the court’s investigation of the Jiaozhou naval division case, and his loyalty to His Majesty appeared to be pure, even if Fan Xian did not help him, he would have a great opportunity to be promoted to the rank of governor of the naval division.

For Xu Mocai, this offer was not for the sake of his own career, but rather with the idea that he could help Fan Xian gain a powerful boost.

However, Fan Xian simply shook his head.

“I knew about you too late.” He said, “That’s why there were no arrangements made beforehand, the aftermath of the Jiaozhou sailor’s affair Kyoto side has long been finalized, ten days later, there will be people from the Privy Council who will take over, and as for you …… I will think of a way to keep you out of the way and still stay in Jiaozhou, but there is no way to take the position of the governor. ”

Xu Mocai nodded, knowing that regarding the subsequent arrangements for the sailors, the palace must have already made up its mind, and since Fan Xian didn’t know about his origins, of course he hadn’t made any arrangements beforehand.

“The next governor is?”

“Qin Yi.” Fan Xian slowly said, “Qin Heng’s cousin.”

Qin Heng was the current Governor of Kyoto, the leading figure of the second generation of the old Qin family, and he had a fairly cordial relationship with Fan Xian when he was in the capital.

However, Xu Maocai’s face was a little odd when he heard this name.

“What’s wrong?” Fan Xian saw his concern and asked curiously.

“Why would His Majesty allow someone from the old Qin family to take over?” Xu Mocai frowned and said, “Even if the Ye family has fallen out of favor now, there are more than just two families in the army, and there are still a few generals in the Western Expeditionary Army who have never had a suitable position.”

“I don’t really understand either.” Fan Xian smiled and replied, but in his heart, he was thinking that for such an important place as Jiaozhou, the emperor must have chosen his own inner circle to hold it, to avoid things like Chang Kun from happening again.

Xu Mocai looked at Fan Xian in desire to speak, and only after a long time did he resolve to say, “The old Qin family is not simple.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have proof, but I always felt that the old Qin family is not simple.” Xu Maocai frowned and said, “You also know that the one who is listed third in the navy is a member of the Qin family, and Chang Kun has done so much tampering in the navy and led thousands of soldiers southward, so how could it be possible to hide it from him …… Why has he never reported it to the dynasty? If he told the old Qin family and the old Qin family didn’t tell His Majesty …… this matter is a bit odd.”

Fan Xian quieted down, scrutinizing the details in his mind, then said, “That’s why you need to stay in Jiaozhou and keep an eye on that Lord Governor who’s coming right away. I believe that the old Qin family will not betray His Majesty, because no matter which way you look at it, it’s something that won’t do any good.”

Xu Maocai thought to himself that this was indeed the case. The Grand Palace is now in charge of the Forbidden Army, the Ye family was scolded by His Majesty and did not dare to utter a word, so they had to cower in Dingzhou to raise their horses, and in the entire Qing military, the one with the most powerful voice nowadays is naturally the Old Qin family, and it is simply not possible for them to gain a higher status and honor if they betrayed His Majesty.

Political choices were the same as doing business, no one was willing to do anything without benefits.

“You go do your work.” Fan Xian said with a gentle smile, “Pay attention to your safety. In the days to come, as long as I don’t actively seek you out, you should not do anything for me.”

Xu Mocai smiled back and walked over to him and knelt down, kowtowing respectfully without saying anything more as he turned to leave.

Looking at the figure of this general in his early forties as he left, Fan Xian held his hands behind his back and narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew that the other party had kowtowed willingly, and even thought that he must have been overjoyed. What happened twenty years ago fell twenty years later, life did not have a few twenty years, but this person had been waiting for so long, it was really not easy.

A hint of indifferent white floated in the distant sky, and Fan Xian squinted his eyes as he watched, his mind drifting off somewhere, his brows furrowed extremely tightly. He felt an extra trace of pressure on his heart, and an extra trace of excitement. Rebellion was something he would never do, just like what Ye Qingmei had said in her letter back then. Reign over the world? She didn’t care to do it, and Fan Xian didn’t like to play this kind of game, but in the years to come, there were always many meaningful things to do besides rebelling.

Such as living well, such as letting the one who had just left live well, such as letting some people live unhappily.

At this time there was no hustle and bustle in the Governor’s Mansion, only a serenity surrounding it, many people were not asleep, and the day had just broken.

When the morning light grew, the closed Jiaozhou city gates were slowly pulled open, the state troops that had been tightly blockaded for a whole night wearily closed ranks and stood breathlessly on both sides of the city gate hole, sending that line of procession marching out of the city of Jiaozhou with their gazes, heading towards the not-so-distant sailor’s camp.

In the center of the procession was Fan Xian, riding on a horse, he had already changed into his official uniform, unusually flashy and majestic. Hong Changqing on his left was holding the Emperor’s imperial sword with a cold face, and the officials of the Supervisory Yuan on his right were holding the golden-colored imperial decree.

In front, there is an opening official carrying a sign and panting, and then there is a cranked driving cloud golden umbrella.

Jiaozhou side do not know where to get out of a silk and bamboo band, blowing and beating, gongs and drums, lively and unceasing.

It was a somewhat simple Qinzhi honor guard. Fan Xian coldly watched, heart can not help but feel funny, that Jiaozhou governor really have two brushes, but half the night work, actually came up with so many things, just how this silk and bamboo class body powder flavor so heavy? Could it be borrowed from the green house?

He has always stayed in Suzhou, did not think that he would come to use at the beach. But since it is to go to the water division to declare the decree, set up this kind of row to always benefit, just Fan Xian some for Wu Gefei worry, this kind of false, will not let the old bachelor in Kyoto unhappy?

The officials of Jiaozhou and the uncriminalized navy generals honestly followed Fan Xian, and from their expressions alone, it was impossible to tell whether they were happy or sad, but after a night of tossing and turning, not many of them were in good spirits.

The citizens of Jiaozhou, who had risen in the morning at the breakfast stalls, had vaguely learned of last night’s events, and had flocked outside the city gates to gaze at the scene, the bold citizens pointing at the imperial guard’s ceremonial chariot, spreading the rumor that the handsome girl-like young dignitary on the high-horse was rumored to be the young Lord Fan.

Fan Xian’s reputation among the people was simply too loud.

On the other hand, the reputation of the Jiaozhou sailors in the city was really not much better.

I don’t know who started it, but the thousands of people inside and outside the city gates made a shout and wished Lord Chin’s wellbeing, and then knelt down, saluting differently.

Fan Xian was stunned, looking at the blackened heads, he could not help but be in a trance. Thinking of the words Xu Mocai said in the early hours of the morning, he realized that the people at the bottom of the society did have a kind of instinctive fear and respect for the angels on high.

This realization did not make Fan Xian comfortable, and he subconsciously glanced at Xu Maocai.

Xu Maocai feigned a fawning smile.

As a last resort, Fan Xian waved his hand to stop the forward movement of the procession, heaped up a gentle smile on his face, dismounted from his horse amidst the arching guards of the officials, and gently stepped in front of the people outside of the line, gently returned the salute, and extremely courteously helped up a few of the elderly, and then after exchanging pleasantries, and saying a few sentences about Saint Anne and Heavenly Shun and other such nonsense, he got back on his horse, and fired up his procession.

Above the playground of the marine division, Fan Xian sat calmly on a chair, looking down at the officers and soldiers on a high platform. The soldiers’ faces were different, either agitated or indignant or fearful, but their eyes were flickering as they looked at Lord Qin and the officials on the stage.

Most of the sailor officers and soldiers already know what happened last night, just because time is too tight, so those Changkun in the middle generals in the heart of the camp, and did not have the opportunity to stir up the emotions of the whole camp, but only with a way to the soldiers intend to enter the state to save people, just that the team suddenly disappeared into the darkness.

So at this time, the sailor officers and soldiers were a bit scared, not knowing why the court would suddenly send a Qinzhi adult over, and also not understanding why Changkun Tidu and the party bias generals were not on the stage, could it be that the rumors in the army were true?

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at the heads of the people gathered under the stage, realizing that they were so black and pressurized that they were actually lined up all the way to the edge of the harbor.

Only at this point did he feel a hint of fear. He had seen the forbidden army before, and the black cavalry was around from time to time, but suddenly seeing tens of thousands of soldiers standing neatly in front of him, this was the only time he felt that sense of oppression brought about by numbers. If these 10,000 soldiers were all one’s enemies, then one would not be able to sit on this stage.

Fan Xian mockingly curled up the corner of his lips and smiled, and did not really listen carefully to the third general of the navy, thinking that his luck was really good, and actually found Xu Mocai inside the navy, and looking at the mood of the soldiers on the stage, although slightly unstable, but there should not be any major problems, thinking that Xu Mocai must have done a lot of work under the radar after the wee hours of the morning.

And Chang Kun has died, the party primrose wave has been ambushed, no one to take the lead, these soldiers again have blood, but also how. Xu Mocai was right, he had overestimated the perilousness of the situation.

Fan Xian touched the thin paper in his pocket, this is the confession written by the generals involved in the East China Sea, Dang Snapdragon is indeed a hard item, even if he was knocked unconscious, he still refused to open his mouth, however, the army is not all this kind of tough guy, under the torture of the Supervisory Yuan to force confessions, finally there are people still confessed.

With the confession, there will be a righteous name, Fan Xian is no longer worried about anything, listening to the general’s speech with interest.

This general is the one from the old Qin family, he was not willing to take the lead, but Fan Xian listened to Xu Maocai’s suggestion and didn’t give him a chance at all. He simply tore his face off and asked him to give a lecture with a smile on his face, and at the same time, he also handed over to him the difficult task of announcing the Party Snapdragon’s sins.

As expected of Fan Xian, when the general spoke of Dang Snapdragon’s three major offenses of colluding with foreign enemies, fornicating with sea bandits, and transferring troops in violation of orders, the officers and soldiers on the stage all stirred, especially the mid-level school officials who were not quite so good at it.

Fan Xian looked at this scene, slowly left his chair, walked to the front of the stage, looked at the tens of thousands of officials and soldiers under the stage, and said gently, “This official is Fan Xian, and has come here by decree.”

He was not an immortal, and did not have the ability to plunge the entire court into silence with his eyes, but his words were interspersed with a trace of the overbearing true qi from his own body, which spread out swiftly, curling up to resound throughout the entire playground, causing those officials and soldiers to freeze for a moment.

In this gap, Fan Xian opened his name: “Governor Chang Kun Chang adults, assassinated last night.”

The stage was in an uproar, full of incredulous murmurs and shocked voices.

The governor of Jiaozhou, Wu Gefei, glanced worriedly at the young Lord Fan in front of the stage, who at first did not agree that the whole army should be assembled to proclaim the decree, and that they should be divided into battalions, so he did not know what the young Lord Fan was thinking.

Fan Xian looked at the officers and soldiers on the stage and slowly said, “Governor Chang has been stationed in Jiaozhou for many years, guarding the side for the country, willing to be in a difficult place, and is indeed a pillar of the country, and whenever His Majesty discusses it, he will praise Governor Chang for his achievements in the country, and his loyalty and righteousness is commendable.”

The few three people on the stage who knew the inside story were silent, they had long received the results that Fan Xian had announced on behalf of the court, while the rest of the officials and generals were dumbfounded when they heard this, wasn’t Lord Fan here to check on Chang Tidus?

The officials and soldiers under the stage also gradually quieted down, looking at the stage with confusion, none of them understood what Lord Qinzai said.

With a trace of heaviness on his face, Fan Xian said quietly, “The heavens have no eyes, and I didn’t realize that Chang Tidu had died at an early age……. What poor and vicious people would dare to commit such evil deeds!”

His voice gradually higher to come, full of anger, eyes are also full of fierce meaning, seems to want to find out from the tens of thousands of officials and soldiers under the stage that the so-called real culprits to come.