I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 13 Don’t be afraid of offending futures traders

After coming out of Yingfeng Bureau, Zhao Zicheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Today's operation was actually quite fruitful. In addition to scriptures, we also stole some valuables.

Zhao Zicheng had hurriedly made some accounts before coming, and was mentally prepared for the possibility of losing a certain percentage of his profits, but Zhu Jie didn't even ask in the end.

Maybe this is the style of the Yingfeng Bureau.

Zhu Zhen also knew what kind of people his subordinates were. Why would they follow him and harm the world without sharing any benefits?

Zhao Zicheng certainly had never done anything harmful to the world, but this did not prevent Zhu Jie from being path-dependent and still managing him with the old method of managing other harmful subordinates.

After this incident, Zhao Zicheng suddenly had an idea and came up with a new way to survive in the cracks and preserve his good reputation:

"Perhaps, until Fang La came, I could rely on this method to maintain my reputation, that is, to play the role of clearing out the cancer within the Yingfeng Bureau. The two cases I have been involved in so far were both dealing with internal traitors who embezzled and colluded with officials and bandits.

Zhu Jie was happy to see this happen. He also wanted to get rid of those subordinates who had been secretly enjoying the spoils of his people. However, he couldn't do it himself, lest he be accused of being mean and ungrateful, and of letting them grow fat before killing them.

For the common people, these thieves are already very unpopular, so if I do this, everyone will think well of me. The only people who will be truly offended by doing this are the corrupt officials in the middle levels of the Yingfeng Bureau."

After thinking this through, Zhao Zicheng suddenly felt that the entire plan for returning to Suzhou to serve as an official in the future became clear.

As for those people he offended, it didn't really matter, because when Fang La came, he could try to kill them with a borrowed knife and appease the public anger.

Now, in the entire Jiangnan official system, only Zhao Zicheng knows that Fang La will definitely come in the future, so only he can regard those corrupt officials who are highly unpopular with the people as "future dead" and adjust his own layout accordingly. It would be a great loss if this information gap is not used.

……

Since Zhu Zhen looked down on those small amounts of money, the first thing Zhao Zicheng did after returning was of course to give money to his subordinates.

Yang Zhi and his group of soldiers from the Palace Front Department followed Zhao Zicheng in taking this gamble, so they had to give him some benefits.

Zhao Zicheng won the afternoon's battle beautifully, even killing two thieves himself. However, the enemy was ultimately desperate and numerous, and Yang Zhi still lost two of his men and injured several more.

Zhao Zicheng gave five silver ingots to the two soldiers who died in the battle, and Yang Zhi handed them over to the families of the deceased. He also gave one to each of the injured soldiers.

The rest were rewarded according to their achievements in battle. Yang Zhi, who killed the most enemies, was definitely rewarded the most. However, those who were cowardly in battle were not rewarded, but were given a warning. The rewards and punishments were clearly defined.

Normally the rewards for fighting wouldn't be that much, but this was a house raiding war, and the soldiers had seen a lot of money, so their horizons were likely to be higher, so they definitely had to get more points in this situation.

After the soldiers received the money, they were all moved to tears of gratitude, and those who were afraid of fighting were filled with shame.

The Song Dynasty emphasized culture over military power, and many soldiers had words tattooed on their bodies. Before that, how could scholars and civil officials treat them as human beings?

Zhao Zicheng was a member of the royal family, a scholar, and a candidate for a vacancy among the top two imperial students. Such a great figure was so approachable that all the soldiers including Yang Zhi were so excited that they burst into tears.

After distributing the money, Zhao Zicheng estimated that he still had a small portion left, about seven or eight gold ingots, twenty silver ingots, and a small bag of pearls and jewelry.

Yang Zhi had been protecting Zhao Zicheng until they returned to the Murong family's manor, and then they parted ways. Before leaving, Yang Zhi gritted his teeth and expressed his loyalty, saying, "Young Master Zhao... this time when you and I go to the capital, after delivering the flower and stone tribute and submitting the petition, the court will definitely grant you an official position.

If you don't abandon me, I'll find a reason to transfer or another way to follow you from now on. If it's difficult to transfer to the Palace Marshal's Office, I can just quit my job and start over! I've been in the army for over ten years, and I've never seen a civil servant or scholar be so humble and courteous as you are."

Zhao Zicheng would certainly not refuse this, and he comforted Yang Zhi with a few words before saying goodbye.

……

When he returned to Murong's house, the people in the Murong family had indeed prepared a warm fire feast for him, so he could eat it anytime.

The only difference was that Murong Yan was wearing men's clothing tonight. After Zhao Zicheng sat down, she asked with concern, "Why are you so late today? Did you encounter any difficulties?"

Zhao Zicheng was also slightly touched. He knew that Murong Yan dressed like this because she must have thought that if she heard any bad news, she could go out and pick him up at any time.

He reached out his hand, wanting to pat the back of Murong Yan's hand, but finally held back. He simply extended his palm two or three inches away from Murong Yan's delicate breast, rubbed it on the table for a few times, and then comforted her:

"Don't worry, it's been solved. We busted Duan Ming's accomplices today. Although we didn't catch all the thieves, we have recovered most of the stolen goods. And I have already thought of a way to get rid of Zhu Zhen, so you don't have to worry about me, sister."

Murong Yan finally relaxed, genuinely happy for Zhao Zicheng, even subconsciously wiping away the tears from her eyes. Zhao Zicheng thought for a moment, then pulled out a box of scriptures from his bag and handed it to her: "These are the handwritten manuscripts of Huang Shang from Fuzhou. It's said that the Taihu Lake thieves wanted to take Yang Zhi's boat just for these things.

I've only been practicing martial arts for a short time, so I can't discern the secrets. I also don't know if this thing is worth anything. Your mother has extensive knowledge of martial arts, so I wonder if she might be able to discern some clues. If it's truly valuable, and there's still some that I haven't finished copying, I can hurry up and finish copying it before I'm escorted to the capital. Then, I'll ask your mother to help interpret it so we can discuss it together."

When Murong Yan heard it was a Taoist secret manual, she didn't take it seriously at first. Her family had always had a wealth of martial arts books, but most of them were of little value, too complex and disparate.

But when she heard that the thieves valued these things so much, and that Huang Shang, an old man in his sixties from Fuzhou, was able to kill some Zoroastrian thieves who came to rob tribute from Fujian just because of his closed-door practice, Murong Yan had to look up to him.

She flipped through the scriptures a few times, then took them to the backyard to discuss them with her mother Duan Yuyan.

A quarter of an hour later, Duan Yuyan rushed out in high spirits, sat down opposite Zhao Zicheng, and asked solemnly, "How could these scriptures be written by a civil servant who is the governor of Fuzhou?"

Zhao Zicheng put down his bowl and chopsticks, sat upright and asked: "Of course this is true. I wonder if my aunt can help to interpret it."

Although Duan Yuyan's martial arts skills weren't very good, her obsession with martial arts knowledge was still very sincere. She sighed in ecstasy, "The purpose of this sutra can be described as the simplicity of the great way. However, the subsequent application experience is very complicated and numerous, with subtle mysteries that seem to encompass everything.

It's clear that the author of this book didn't initially understand martial arts, simply aiming to cultivate the mind through the lens of Taoist self-cultivation. Consequently, many of the initial sections are fragmented, with scattered touches here and there, lacking a coherent system. As he progressed through the book, he gradually gained proficiency, but when he tried to return to a coherent understanding, he couldn't.

However, if someone is willing to be ruthless, remove the unnecessary and retain the essential, and simplify, then given time, the potential will be limitless."

Zhao Zicheng thought about it and combined it with his own understanding, and he roughly understood it.

In the words of later generations, Huang Shang's current experience is like a work of continuous iteration and accumulation. Although it has become a great work, its foundation was unstable at the beginning.

Think of WeChat in the 2020s. Even though the app itself has become the biggest, with a billion users, the mountain of code left behind by its initial iterations, even small steps, is still stinking. If any programmer dared to tamper with the original code to fix a bug, the entire app might collapse.

To solve these problems, we must be determined to let go and retain the experience, functional requirements, and implementation logic accumulated over the years, but also to destroy the mountain of code from the root, tear it down and rewrite it from scratch.

This is probably the difference between "Wanshou Daozang's Cultivation Experience" and the true scriptures.

However, now that Zhao Zicheng has other helpers and has connected with the Murong family, we can ask Duan Yuyan, a top theorist, to help us study and summarize it. I believe that we should be able to come up with a version that is easy for people with less qualifications to practice.

"In that case, these books will be left with my aunt. You can study them slowly. If you gain anything, just tell me at any time." Zhao Zicheng was also very open-minded. He immediately said that after the books were copied, they could be kept and studied slowly.

Duan Yuyan couldn't help but show shock. "Master Zhao, do you know how great the potential and profoundness of the martial arts recorded here are?"

Zhao Zicheng was still calm and composed: "So what? I have too many things to do."

Duan Yuyan thought about it and realized that it made sense. She didn't want to take advantage of the younger generation, so she immediately stated, "From today on, as long as you are in Gusu and need to learn martial arts, our Murong family will be happy to teach you everything we know. We can also offer you any martial arts we have in our collection in exchange for this set of scriptures."

It's just that your foundation is too shallow now, and some advanced things should not be practiced blindly, but I will never hide anything from you. If you need it, and Yan'er is willing, I have no objection to Yan'er wearing men's clothes and traveling with you."

Duan Yuyan wasn't selling her daughter, but she had already seen that Zhao Zicheng's generosity and magnanimity had exceeded her expectations. He could even exchange such a thing with others, and he was a good person, so what was there for her to worry about?

……

Zhao Zi said that he was extremely tired after returning from suppressing the bandits, and he rested all night without saying a word.

When he woke up the next day, he thought about it and realized that it would take some time for Zhu Jie to prepare the Hua Shi Gang for aging and for Huang Shang to supplement the book.

I took the opportunity to rush back to my hometown in Xiuzhou next door to visit my relatives so that my parents could feel at ease.

Otherwise, when I am sent to Bian Jing next time, I don’t know how long it will take for me to come back.

Zhao Zi said that he originally planned to go back quietly alone and come back quickly.

But the Murong family could not resist their enthusiasm. When they heard that he was leaving, they immediately asked their steward Deng Yue to arrange a boat and gifts, and also asked Deng Yue to send some strong men to escort him and help with the moving.

Zhao Zicheng couldn't refuse, so he had to go along with it.

The group traveled by boat for a day and a night, and arrived in Xiuzhou at dawn the next day.

The sailors skillfully turned from the canal into a tributary river, then turned into Nanhu Lake, and soon arrived at Zhao's house.

(End of this chapter)