Speaking up to this point, the Governor shook his head and sighed. When Chen Ping heard this, he could no longer stand. He fell to his knees, "Governor, your excellency. It’s not that this admiral refuses to eliminate these pirates. It’s because these pirates are too crafty and sly. Every time we dispatch the entire navy to attack the pirates, they always seem to know of our moves even before we act. Hence, the pirates always manage to escape in time. This frustrates me to no end. I sincerely ask for more time, so that we can eventually wipe out all these pirates for good."
The Governor took a sip of tea and replied him coldly, "If you were capable of doing something like that, why has it taken you so long and still to no avail?"
Although his tone was plain, and his facial expression seemed calm, when Chen Ping heard this, it sounded like roars of thunder.
Hearing all these, Chen Ping didn’t dare to speak back. After all, he was a military man and understood the power and authority wielded by the Governor. The elected Governor only had a six years term, but wielded immense influence.
The Governor had arrived in Ying Prefecture and shouldered the burden of the ailing city. He built roads, relay stations, schools, revived the economy and encouraged agriculture. These were his many achievements.
At this point, he was trying to achieve three things. The first was to suppress the pirates, the second was to relieve the damage caused by these pirates, and the third was to further encourage sea trade. Only after he had achieved these feats would the later generations remember his efforts and recognize his success in office.
The only reason he was unable to achieve these three objectives were because of the damned pirates who have been attacking the harbors and sea traders. This was the fifth year after the Governor had taken office. He had one more year remaining before he had to relinquish his appointment to someone else. Although he had solved most of the pirate issue, there were still this last group of pirates who rebelled against his changes. Failing to get rid of this group would be deemed a failure at his job. Just thinking about this caused sweat to run down his back, soaking his robes.
The Governor tapped the cup in front of him, and fell deep into thought. After some time, he then spoke out, "If you cannot resolve the pirate issue, I have to speak with the Emperor and consult his advice. This would probably entail a new admiral, taking over your current position."
Hearing these words caused Chen Ping no small amount of worry. Although he was a big admiral within the navy at the fourth rank, he still felt the fear of losing his post. Beads of sweat formed around his forehead. He then sighed out before speaking, "Governor, your excellency, please give me one more chance. I can rally the troops and vanquish the pirates once and for all."
The Governor picked up the lid to his cup and placed it over his teacup. Seeing such a high ranking military official in such distress and fear satisfied him to a certain extent. When the dynasty was first established, these military men wielded the most power. Ji Bei Hou and his generals were all extremely influential in the initial years of peace. However, now that the dynasty was into its ninth year of peace and the nation was flourishing, the military men lost their use. Things had changed and were different now. Even a highly regarded admiral was kneeling down before him.
Hence, most of the academically inclined scholars who rose to high positions in court took this opportunity to suppress these military men whenever they can. In fact, the Emperor had sat back and willingly watched his military officials get oppressed.
Although these were the thoughts in his head, he revealed no hint of his thoughts. Seeing Admiral Chen kneeling down before him, sweat dripping from his forehead to the ground, he finally spoke out. "Alright, I shall give you this last chance. However, there shall be some changes. I shall send someone to oversee the entire matter and to make decisions. It will no longer be you."
Hearing these words, Chen Ping’s face turned pale as he hurriedly spoke out, "Governor your excellency, Governor your excellency, please give me another chance. I shall sweep the entire lands and uproot every last pirate."
"Look at the wretched state you are in, completely absent of the admiral demeanor you’re supposed to have. Besides, I’m not removing you from your post."
"The person I’m sending to oversee the mission is not an official. You shall still be the main person calling the shots on paper, and the reward and glory shall still be yours. The only thing is that you have to listen to this person’s instructions. If you refuse to listen to him, and the mission fails, you will have to bear full responsibility."
Hearing the Governor’s reassurances, Chen Ping then calmed himself down. As long as his post and rank weren’t being stripped, anything was fine. He then wiped the sweat from his brows and asked, "Governor your excellency, whoever you send, I shall serve him well."
"There’s no need to serve him. The person I’m thinking of will help to plan the entire mission. He is extremely talented, and has knowledge in such matters, along with having extremely good fortunes. If not, I wouldn’t have thought of asking him this." The Governor said as he stroked his beard.
"Your excellency, who is it?" Chen Ping asked.
"Pei Zi Yun."
Chen Ping was somewhat suspicious. From what he knew, this Pei Zi Yun was a literary genius. How would he know how to lead and command troops? He then looked up to see the Governor waving his hands, "When you return this time, hand me the name list of all the military officers in the navy."
"Yes, your excellency. That would be easy. There’s a name list in the office. I shall retrieve it and deliver it now." Chen Ping seemed to have swallowed all his words and said these instead. Seeing that the Governor had no objections, he hurriedly went off.
Seeing that Chen Ping had left, the Governor turned around and instructed his butler, "After the name list has been handed over to us, pass it to Pei Zi Yun."
"Yes!"
The butler then turned away to run his errand. The Governor looked out of the window and remained silent as he fell deep in thought. He knew that Pei Zi Yun was unrivalled when it came to literary works. Even when it came to delivering plans and policies, he was equally adept. He even heard of rumors stating how Pei Zi Yun assisted the Crown Prince in planning for his throne. However, as for planning for wars, he was unsure of Pei Zi Yun’s ability.
However, he was due to handover his appointment next year. If the navy was able to completely destroy and uproot the remaining pirates, it would be an extremely fruitful was to end his career. He might even be conferred a title as a Count.
Even if they failed, he could place all the blame on Chen Ping and punish him accordingly to absolve himself of any blame.
At this current point, most of the military forces in Ying Prefecture had been broken down and deployed in other areas as per the request of the imperial court.
Ji Bei Hou’s Mansion, Study room
There was a soldier standing in the study room, as Shen Zhi stood before the shelves, arranging his books. A single lamp with two candles were burning brightly, illuminating the entire room. Shen Zhi then looked through a book and summarized the contents on a piece of paper as he pasted the summarized version to the back of the book.
After pasting the document to the back of the book, he rubbed his eyes and wiped his cheeks, trying to lose the fatigue that was creeping it. At this point, there was some movement at the door, and he saw someone bowing from the side of his glance. "Mister Shen, I have a report."
A report at this time could only mean that it was not good news. He frowned and called out for the messenger, "Come in!"
A black robed person then walked in and handed over a letter. The minute he took the letter in his hands, he glanced down at the seal on the letter and frowned once again.
He opened the letter and started reading the contents, noticing that his hands were trembling slightly. All of a sudden, he slammed his hands down onto the table and shouted out, "Damn it! The Governor is pushing us to a corner!"
He then walked out of the study hurriedly.
His footsteps were hasty and urgent as he walked past the countless armed guards who stood along the corridors unmoving with their blades hanging from their waste. Without stopping to look at them, he kept walking on towards a yard. Before long, he could hear someone speaking, and realized that it was Ji Bei Hou. He then called out from outside, "Master Hou, I have something urgent to report."
The voices within the room ceased immediately before Ji Bei Hou replied, "Enter!"
"Yes!" Shen Zhi walked into the room and glanced around the room. He then bowed to Ji Bei Hou, "Master Hou, the Governor has decided to use Pei Zi Yun to deal with the pirates."
"That’s all we know for now."
As soon as Shen Zhi finished speaking, he handed the report over. Ji Bei Hou received it and read it several times before he raged out, "What a bastard. He really wishes to end my life once and for all."
As he spoke, a bitter look was revealed on his expression. When it came to military authority, prestige, reputation, capability and relationships he was way ahead of the Governor. Just the fact that this report came from a spy he had planted within the Governor’s mansion was a clear testament that he was much better liked by the people than the Governor. However, this news was a clear blow to his plans.
It was only because the Governor had increased authority granted by the imperial court that he could act so openly.
Ji Bei Hou remained silent for a long time as he spoke out, "I didn’t expect the Governor to take the Crown Prince’s side after all this time. Looks like he has chosen, and thus pitted himself against King Lu. What do you think, Shen Zhi?"
When Shen Zhi Heard this question, he replied, "Master Hou, instead of saying that the Governor has taken the Crown Prince’s side, the more appropriate thing to say was that the Governor simply obeyed the wishes of the imperial court. The imperial court had decreed that military powers would be severely reduced and more emphasis would be placed on other aspects. Since the Governor is not a military man and an official, it’s natural that he would do everything he can to reduce the might of the military generals."
"The Governor might not know of the connection between us and the pirates at this point, and yet that still wouldn’t stop him from continuing his job of reducing the military might."
"Although we’ve been able to make huge amounts of profits by dividing our forces and raiding, our overall military strength has been weakened as well. Only after gaining control of the pirates did we manage to improve our might once again. If the Governor manages to succeed and kill off all the pirates, we would be in dire straits and lose an entire arm."
"What’s most shocking is the way the Governor managed to manipulate the situation. If he were to successfully wipe out the pirates, he would be seen as the person responsible for the success, with Chen Ping assisting him. Pei Zi Yun would just be seen as someone who offered advice. However, if he fails, the entire burden and responsibility would just be pushed to Chen Ping. The Governor would then be able to blame Chen Ping and dismiss him from service."
"Although Chen Ping doesn’t belong to Master Hou, and isn’t close to Hou Mansion, once he’s taken down, there would be one less admiral in Ying Prefecture. This could be an issue, since the military men remaining is now less one admiral, and might be an issue for Master Hou. This is because you would no longer have any military men to rely on for help."
"When the lips perish, the teeth will freeze. This move by the Governor is extremely sly and vicious." Shen Zhi was a seasoned tactician and knew what the Governor was trying to achieve.
When Ji Bei Hou heard this, his face turned pale as he paused for some time before speaking out, "So it’s right of us to cast our support for King Lu now?"
"That’s correct. Since King Lu has different plans from the imperial court, it would be in our advantage to support him. Besides, since he wishes to steal the throne from the Crown Prince, he would require immense military efforts, and would thus be against the weakening of the military."
Ji Bei Hou nodded his head and broke out into a smile after some time, "Mister Shen, please go and see Ang’er. He has shut himself in of late, and refused to come out. Even his personality and character has become much more reserved. Without poison, no great men would rise up. This negative energy might be a good thing. Why not ask him what opinion he has?"
"If he has any opinions about the matter, we might be able to entrust some tasks to him to handle."
"Yes!" Shen Zhi listened to Ji Bei Hou’s instructions and sighed. Wei Ang was a handsome young lad, but had half of his face ruined in the last encounter with Pei Zi Yun. He was blind in one eye now. He looked neither like a person nor a ghost. He wondered what it would take to take time back and restore Wei Ang to the way he was.
Shen Zhi turned down several winding corridors before reaching a room. He knocked on the door several times.
"Enter!" The guard within Wei Ang’s room spoke out, sounding slightly tipsy.
When he pushed open the door, there were several jugs of wine on the table, and the scent of wine filled up the room. Wei Ang’s hair was in a mess, and looked disheveled and drunk.
"Where’s Huang Li?" The minute he walked into the room, Shen Zhi frowned and asked. It was her who had been waiting on and serving Wei Ang for the past few days, and yet she wasn’t here today.
Wei Ang laughed out bitterly, "I sent her away. What’s the use of sticking with a half blind, and disfigured young master? There would be no future for her."
Seeing Wei Ang this way, Shen Zhi felt an aching in his heart. He was after all his student for many years, and was such a refined and elegant gentleman. It was unthinkable that he would end up this way, and made Shen Zhi feel extremely upset.
Huang Li was Wei Ang’s serving maid. When something happened to Wei Ang, she cried for days on end and even fell sick. At this point, she was dismissed by Wei Ang, probably because he didn’t want anyone who cared for him to see him in this state.
"Master Hou sent me to ask about you. Take a look at this and tell me what you think." Shen Zhi handed him the report.
Wei Ang shook his head to rouse himself from his drunkenness and straightened up. When he received the report, he read it and laughed out, "What a good plan by the Governor. He wishes to sever the right hand of my father. Pei Zi Yun is assisting him? This disciple really wishes to pit himself against us."
When Shen Zhi heard this, he was both shocked and glad. He was shocked that Wei Ang still had his wits about him in spite of his disheveled self. At this point his laughter sounded bitter and full of hatred.
He was glad that Wei Ang had something to say about this report instead of showing complete disregard. It seemed like this third young master has made huge improvements from the previous days.