I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 169: Yiwu Specialty, Ruthless Person ( Words Chapter)

Lin Shisan is now the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, and is eligible to view the monthly official bulletin. When the official ship he was on reached Dezhou Wharf, the latest official bulletin from the Ministry of War was delivered to him on shore.

The official newspaper recorded a defeat, which was more of a joke than a defeat.

In Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province, a troop transport ship of a garrison capsized, and only one person was rescued to shore.

Yu Dayou, the general of Zhejiang, asked the rescued people: "Why did the boat sink?"

The rescued man replied: "Two damn Japanese pirates climbed up from the left side of the boat."

Yu Dayou was furious: "You have a hundred people, but you can't deal with two pirates? Your ship was sunk by just two pirates? What's going on?"

The rescued man replied: "Yes. Two pirates climbed up from the left side of the boat, and all 100 of us fled to the right side of the boat. The boat sank, so it capsized."

This joke can fully explain why the Weisuo troops have been defeated repeatedly in battles against the Japanese pirates in recent years.

If an army has no motivation to fight and its soldiers don't want to fight, it will lose no matter how it fights.

Yang Bo, the summer official of the Ministry of War, asked the Langzhong of the Zhifang Division to write about this defeat in the official report, which was obviously an attempt to drum up support for the recruitment system to replace the garrison system.

Look at how cowardly the garrison troops are now. Is it okay not to build a new army?

Lin Shisan told this joke to Zhang Bo and others. Everyone burst into laughter.

Zhang Bo said, "I have a joke. It says that an official from Beijing, a local official from Zhejiang, and a local official from Xuanfu were sitting together and chatting."

"Zhejiang officials said that our bravest officials in Zhejiang are all standing on the front line of the fight against the Japanese invaders."

"The officials in the capital said that the bravest officials in our capital were standing behind the three major camps in the capital to supervise the battle."

"The local official of Xuanfu said that our most courageous official in Xuanfu was responsible for explaining to the border troops why the military pay was delayed again this month."

Everyone burst into laughter again.

Lin Shisan restrained his smile and said, "Alas. With the current situation, only by forming a new army can we reverse the decline of the Ming army."

Li Gao asked: "Are we going to get off the boat in Hangzhou this time? I miss Sister Yu Niang on West Lake so much that I feel itchy all over my body. Her ink-grinding skills are amazing."

Lin Shisan said, "No! We can get off the boat halfway, change into casual clothes and go directly to Yiwu County. If we go to Yiwu via Hangzhou, Hu Zongxian will definitely arrange everything."

"But this time, we won't listen to Hu Zongxian or Zhao Zhenji. Seeing is believing."

Zhang Bo stroked his beard and said, "Well, selecting soldiers for the Southeast New Army is a big deal. It is related to the prospects of the anti-Japanese war. You are right to ignore your relatives. You should see it with your own eyes."

Ten days later, in Yiwu County, Jinhua Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, the county seat.

More than thirty "northern merchants" led a group of mules into the city and rested at Yuelai Inn on Zhubutian Street in the city.

The leading "shopkeeper" is naturally Lin Shisan.

After settling down in the inn, they ordered a table of Yiwu local specialties, such as Yiwu ham, Donghe meat pie, Shangxi beef offal, and Shenxian chicken.

After everyone had a hearty meal, Lin Shisan drank tea and chatted with the innkeeper.

Lin Shisan said, "Old shopkeeper, we came to Yiwu to buy Jinhua ham to transport to Beijing. I am really scared."

The shopkeeper asked, "Afraid? Are you afraid of buying inferior ham?"

Lin Shisan shook his head: "No. I heard that the people of Yiwu are brave and aggressive by nature. I am afraid that I don't understand the local customs and offend the locals."

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir. Yiwu is divided into northern Wu and southern Wu. Northern Wu is where Jinhua ham is produced the most. People in northern Wu are peaceful and will never cause trouble to outsiders."

"Wunan, don't go! Don't go! Don't go!"

Lin Shisan asked: "Why?"

The shopkeeper patiently explained: "Wunan is a truly poor mountain valley. Do you know that poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people?"

"There are no special products there, only a lot of copper mines. The government has a rule that private individuals are not allowed to mine copper mines. But those barbarians in Wunan don't even take the government seriously!"

"They opened small copper wells everywhere, and our county magistrate repeatedly sent yamen runners to stop them. But each time, the yamen runners were beaten by the Wunan people and fled in panic."

"You are here to collect hams, not coppers. There is no need to go to Wunan, and naturally you will not get into trouble."

Lin Shisan was surprised: "They even dare to beat the yamen runners?"

The shopkeeper laughed and said, "When they get ruthless, they will even beat up the garrison troops! Two years ago, a deputy garrison commander of the Jinhua garrison wanted to get his hands on the copper mine, so he took more than a hundred people to Wunan."

"Good fellow, more than a dozen of the more than a hundred garrison soldiers were killed."

Lin Shisan asked: "They killed the garrison troops. Doesn't that count as rebellion? Will the government not investigate?"

The shopkeeper replied: "Hold? Under what name? If they are said to be rebelling, then if there is a rebel under the rule of local officials, the officials will also suffer the consequences."

"Isn't Qi Jiguang, the former adjutant general of East Zhejiang, very powerful? This summer, when he passed through Wunan, he saw the fighting between Wu and Chen. My goodness, General Qi was so frightened."

Lin Shisan asked: "What is the fight between Wu and Chen?"

The shopkeeper replied: "There is a Futang Township in Wunan. There are two villages with big surnames in the township. One is called Kantou Village, where most people are surnamed Wu. The other is called Beilei Village, where most people are surnamed Chen."

"These two villages are called villages, but in fact each village has thousands of households. They are extremely powerful in Wunan."

"There is a large copper mine between the two villages. Both sides depend on the copper mine for their livelihood. Since the Song Dynasty, the two villages have been fighting over the copper mine. The fight lasted for hundreds of years."

"When the number is low, a dozen people die in a fight. When the number is high, nearly a thousand people can die in a fight!"

Lin Shisan thought the shopkeeper was exaggerating: "Thousands of people died? How is that possible? It was just a fight between villages, not a war."

The shopkeeper said, "How is it impossible? I remember that the armed conflict in which a thousand people died took place in the tenth year of Zhengde. All the old people in the county know about it. If you don't believe me, go and ask around."

Sun Yue interrupted: "Kantou Village? This name is quite tricky. The village where people are beheaded."

The shopkeeper nodded hurriedly: "That's right. If you come to Yiwu, don't go to Wunan. If you go to Wunan, don't go to Futang Township. If you go to Futang Township, don't go to Kantou Village or Beilei Village even if you are beaten to death."

"The people in these two villages are simply vicious and evil. If you mess with them, none of the thirty or so of you will be able to return to the county town alive."

Lin Shisan nodded: "I'll take note of it. Thank you for your advice, old shopkeeper."

"Oh, by the way, this time we came to Yiwu to buy not only ham, but also something else."

"I heard that Yiwu's specialty is a kind of wild pheasant called white-necked long-tailed. This wild pheasant is a top-quality fighting cock. The best one among them is called 'Iron Crown, Golden Claw, Blood General'."

"If they were sold to the capital, they would be worth several thousand taels each."

The shopkeeper's face turned pale when he heard this: "This is money that will cost you your life! You can never make money from it! The white-necked long-tailed pheasant is native to Futang Township. It is regarded as a sacred chicken by the locals!"

"Large villages like Kantou Village and Beilei Village all keep the Iron Crowned and Golden Clawed Blood General in their ancestral halls and worship him like a god."

"If you go buy their legendary chicken, I'm afraid they'll beat your brains out."

After the shopkeeper said this, Lin Shisan and the others had no choice but to go.

Lin Shisan asked: "The Chen and Wu families in Wunan are so fierce, they must have bullied the locals a lot, right?"

The shopkeeper waved his hand and said, "They never bully their fellow countrymen. They are afraid that someone will encroach on their interests, and then they will really risk their lives."

"Didn't I just say that during the Xia Dynasty, the two families had a fight over a few copper wells, which frightened General Qi, who had experienced many battles."

"It was a battle of men, women, young and old. A six-year-old kid named Chen bit off half of a man named Wu's nose."

The shopkeeper repeatedly told Lin Shisan not to go to Wunan. But the more he told him, the more Lin Shisan wanted to go and find out. They stayed in the inn for one night. The next morning, Lin Shisan woke up Zhang Bo, Li Gao, and Sun Yue, and prepared to leave the city and go to Wunan Futang Township.

He asked more than 30 of his comrades to accompany him. All of them were strong men with northern accents. If they went to Futang Township, the local fierce people would definitely be suspicious.

The four men rode donkeys and headed south.

Zhang Bo said while riding on his horse: "If what the shopkeeper said is true, then these lawless guys are not suitable to be recruited into the new army."

"When you are a soldier in a war, the most important thing is to obey the orders of your superiors. They are used to being lawless, so how could they obey orders?"

Lin Shisan said, "Master, what you said is not entirely correct. The Yao people in Guangxi are also known for their brutality. They never listen to the orders of the Han officials."

"But why did the Guangxi wolf soldiers become the main force in the southeastern anti-Japanese war? The reason is nothing more than the Yao leader leading the troops. They don't listen to the Han officials and generals, but listen to Madam Wa."

"As long as Madam Wa obeys the military orders from her superiors, that's all."

Zhang Bo stroked his beard and said, "That makes sense. If the leaders of the Chen and Wu tribes obey military orders, then they can indeed be used."

After traveling more than thirty miles south, the four people met an old man on the road.

Lin Shisan asked: "Dad, how far is it to Futang Township?"

The old man was surprised: "From your accent, you must be from another place, right? What are you doing in Futang Township?"

Lin Shisan replied: "Collect some mountain products."

The old man showed a look of horror: "Take my advice, don't go to Futang Township. It's no exaggeration to say that it is a den of dragons and tigers."

"The Chen Family Man and the Wu Family Man will eat you alive!"

The old man actually called the Chen and Wu tribes "Chen Family Barbarians" and "Wu Family Barbarians", which shows the bad reputation of the two tribes in the local area.

Lin Shisan laughed and said, "Are you trying to scare us, Dad? We've traveled a lot and have been to many places. We've even encountered Shandong bandits many times. But we're still safe and sound, aren't we?"

The old man said, "I don't know about the Shandong bandits. I only know that the Chen Family and Wu Family bandits have hot tempers and can explode at any time. Once they start fighting, they will kill."

Lin Shisan took out a small piece of silver from his sleeve and stuffed it into the old man's hand: "Please tell us how far Futang Township is from here."

Money can make a lazy man work. The old man took Lin Shisan's change and told him the truth: "Ten miles further south, you will reach Futang Township."

"If you insist on going, remember not to provoke the Chen Family Man and the Wu Family Man. If they scold you."

Lin Shisan replied, "I know. If they scold us, we won't talk back and pretend to be grandsons."

The old man shook his head: "No. You have to kneel down and kowtow to them. Maybe they will let you go."

After saying this the old man left.

Sun Yue disagreed: "Why do you say that Futang Township is like the underworld? And you say that people with the surnames Chen and Wu are like ox-headed and horse-faced monsters."

"Our Northern Pacification Prison is the real underworld! Old Xu, the Chief Executioner, and I have eaten hotpot in the prison several times."

The group walked south for another ten miles and saw two children standing on the side of the road, one tall and one short, about six or seven years old.

The tall kid laughed and said, "The tofu pudding I had this morning was delicious!"

The short kid smacked his lips and wiped his saliva: "When the mine produces copper in a few days, my dad will share the money, and I will ask him to buy me some tofu pudding."

The tall kid seemed to be deliberately trying to make his friend envious: "Oh, tofu pudding with sugar is so delicious."

The short kid frowned: "Why put sugar in tofu pudding? It should be salt."

The tall kid shook his head: "Wrong, wrong! You should put sugar in tofu pudding. We always put sugar in it at home."

The two little brothers started arguing about what to put in tofu pudding.

"Put sugar!"

"Put salt!"

“Just put sugar in it!”

“Just put salt!”

Lin Shisan thought it was funny: Haha, they are just kids after all. They can quarrel over trivial matters.

Then Lin Shisan couldn't laugh anymore. He felt a deep fear.

The tall kid picked up a thick wooden stick from the ground and hit the short kid hard on the head.

The force was so great that the stick broke directly. Blood immediately gushed out of the short boy's head.

If a child from the capital city received such a severe beating, he would either faint or be so frightened that he would pee and shit and cry loudly.

However, the short boy ignored the blood on his head and started fighting back with his fist.

He punched the tall kid in the mouth and knocked out one of his opponent's teeth.

Then the two kids hugged each other and rolled around in the shit, biting each other with their teeth.

The tall kid tore off a piece of flesh from the short kid's face with his teeth.

Lin Shisan quickly dismounted and pulled the two fierce kids apart: "What are you kids fighting about? Let go!"

Sun Yue also advised: "Wa, is it necessary to fight like this just because of whether tofu pudding should be salty or sweet?"

"Good fellow, he's even more ruthless than a bandit."

The short kid wiped the blood off his face and said, "My dad said that I can't lose a fight. I have to win even if it costs my life. Otherwise, it will bring shame to our family!"

The tall kid spits out two teeth from his mouth: "Ahhh! You should put sugar in it anyway."

Lin Shisan asked: "Which village are you from?"

The tall kid answered, "They are all from Beilei Village."

Lin Shisan was surprised: "You all have the surname Chen?"

The two children nodded.

Lin Shisan thought to himself: My God, when kids from the same village and with the same surname fight, they are so ruthless. What would happen if it was a fight between people with different surnames?
Let’s talk about the Zhejiang Governor’s Office in Hangzhou city.

Hu Zongxian was a little surprised. The court sent Lin Shisan to Jiangnan, and logically, Lin Shisan should first come to the Governor's Office to visit him.

But according to the itinerary, Lin Shisan should have arrived in Hangzhou three days ago. Hu Zongxian still hadn't seen him.

Qi Jiguang hurriedly found Hu Zongxian and said, "Mr. Hu, I asked the river defense camp. They sent back a message saying that Lin Chuanfeng led his men off the ship five days ago and headed for Yiwu."

Hu Zongxian frowned: "They went to Yiwu? Oh my God! You go to Yiwu immediately! Don't let them take your bones apart before you finish your work!"

Qi Jiguang said: "Okay, I'll go right away."

Hu Zongxian said, "Take two hundred personal soldiers from the Governor's Office and bring them safely to Hangzhou."

"If anything happens to the imperial envoy in Yiwu, the formation of the new army will be over!"

(End of this chapter)