Transmigrating to the Song Dynasty: Water Margin Business Management

With Xiao Lie captured by Wu Yong, the Deputy Privy Councilor was restless and anxious in his residence, like an ant on a hot pan. He knew that once Xiao Lie spoke, his crimes of corruption and oppression of the people in Jiangnan would be exposed.

"Guards!" the Deputy Privy Councilor shouted.

A trusted aide rushed over, bowed, and asked, "Sir, what are your orders?"

The Deputy Privy Councilor paced back and forth with a grim face, saying, "Xiao Lie has fallen into Wu Yong's hands, and the situation is extremely unfavorable for us. Prepare the horses immediately; I need to see Lin Rui, Shen Mo, and Feng Yuan to discuss countermeasures."

The trusted confidant accepted the order and left. Before long, the Deputy Privy Councilor rode swiftly to a secret residence.

Lin Rui, Shen Mo, and Feng Yuan were already waiting there. Upon seeing the arrival of the Deputy Privy Councilor, they quickly bowed.

The Deputy Privy Councilor, disregarding pleasantries, cut to the chase: "With Xiao Lie captured, we are in imminent danger. What good strategies do you all have?"

Lin Rui frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "My lord, the best course of action now is to send someone to infiltrate the place where Xiao Lie is being held and silence him. Once Xiao Lie is dead, there will be no evidence against him, and we can rest easy."

Shen Mo shook his head and said, "This move is too risky. Wu Yong and the others will definitely be heavily guarded, and once we fail, we will have no way out."

Feng Yuan's eyes darted around, and he said, "My lord, could we use our connections in the court to speak to the Emperor, saying that Wu Yong and others have framed you? Let's stir up the situation first, and then find an opportunity to act."

The Vice Privy Councilor pondered, "This plan may be feasible, but it is unlikely to last. His Majesty is wise and may not readily believe it."

Just when everyone was at a loss, Lin Rui suddenly said, "My lord, I have a plan that may be worth a try."

Everyone looked at him, and Lin Rui slowly said, "We can send people to spread rumors that Wu Yong and others are colluding with enemy countries and attempting to overthrow the court. We can also secretly bribe some officials to jointly impeach Wu Yong and his group. In this way, we can divert the emperor's attention and put pressure on Wu Yong and his group."

After hearing the three men's plan, the Deputy Privy Councilor shook his head. He said, "Grand Commandant Gao and Grand Tutor Cai have tried every possible method, but they still haven't been able to eliminate Wu Yong and Zhao Tianming. So we must be cautious. Can you think of any other methods?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Rui, Shen Mo, and Feng Yuan all fell into deep thought.

After a moment, Shen Mo spoke first: "My lord, in my opinion, we might start with the people around Wu Yong and Zhao Tianming. We can send people to secretly investigate their relatives and friends, looking for weaknesses or incriminating evidence to threaten them and force them to give up on pursuing this matter."

The Vice Privy Councilor frowned and said, "This plan may work, but if handled improperly, it may provoke even stronger resistance from them. We must proceed with caution."

Feng Yuan continued, "My lord, how about we try to create conflict among Wu Yong and the others? We can send people to spread rumors that one of them wants to take all the credit for himself, or deliberately exaggerate someone's mistakes in the operation, so that they will be suspicious of each other and thus weaken their unity."

The Vice Privy Councilor stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and said, "That is a method, but it must be done flawlessly so that they don't realize we are the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes, otherwise it will only backfire."

Lin Rui then said, "My lord, perhaps we can work on the evidence. We can find a way to fabricate some evidence that is unfavorable to Wu Yong and his group, to confuse the public and make the Emperor and the court doubt the accusations against them."

The Vice Privy Councilor shook his head and said, "This plan is too risky. Once it is exposed, we will be in an even worse situation."

The three fell silent again, racking their brains for other solutions.

After a while, Lin Rui's eyes lit up and he said, "Sir, we can take a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, we can send envoys to persuade Wu Yong and Zhao Tianming, offering them high-ranking positions and generous salaries in an attempt to win them over; on the other hand, we can spread rumors about them among the people, inciting their dissatisfaction and causing them to lose popular support."

The Vice Privy Councilor nodded slightly: "This idea has some feasibility, but the choice of the lobbyist must be careful. He must be eloquent and knowledgeable about their thoughts."

Shen Mo added, "My lord, we can also make use of other forces in the court. For example, we can form an alliance with those officials who have a long-standing relationship with us but are at odds with Wu Yong and others, and work together to put pressure on them."

Feng Yuan also said, "Sir, how about we tamper with Wu Yong and the others' funding? We can send someone to secretly sabotage their financial resources, causing them to run into financial difficulties during their investigation and operations due to a lack of funds."

The Vice Privy Councilor said, “These strategies can all be tried, but they must be carefully planned to ensure that nothing goes wrong. We are now on the edge of a cliff; one wrong step and we will be doomed.”

Lin Rui said, "Rest assured, sir, we will do our utmost. However, during this time, we must also strengthen our defenses to prevent a sudden attack by Wu Yong and his men."

Shen Mo nodded and said, "That's right. We need to increase the number of guards in the mansion and keep a close eye on their movements so that we can respond promptly if anything happens."

Feng Yuan said, "Sir, we can also arrange for spies to infiltrate their ranks and pass on messages at any time."

The Vice Privy Councilor said, "Very well, we will do as you say. But remember, we must act discreetly and not give ourselves away."

The three accepted the order and went to make their own arrangements.

However, what they did not know was that Wu Yong and others had already anticipated that the Deputy Privy Councilor would try every means to deal with the situation, and were also secretly strengthening their defenses and actively searching for new evidence and witnesses, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to the Deputy Privy Councilor.

On Wu Yong's side, they were also discussing countermeasures.

Wu Yong said, "The Deputy Privy Councilor will certainly not sit idly by and wait to die. We must be careful of his various schemes and tricks."

Zhao Tianming asked, "Then how should we deal with this?"

Wu Yong pondered for a moment and said, "First, we must strengthen our guard over Xiao Lie to prevent the Deputy Privy Councilor from sending someone to silence him. Second, we should send people to investigate their possible actions and prepare in advance. Third, we must strive to gain more support and get the righteous people in the court on our side."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Following their agreed-upon strategy, Wu Yong and his men swiftly took action. They strengthened their guard over Xiao Lie, not only increasing the number of guards but also setting up multiple lines of defense to make it difficult for the Deputy Privy Councilor's men to approach.

Meanwhile, Wu Yong dispatched his shrewd and capable subordinates, disguised, to infiltrate the marketplace in an attempt to ascertain the movements of the Deputy Privy Councilor's faction. Zhao Tianming, on the other hand, personally visited officials renowned for their integrity in the court, presenting them with the truth and seeking their support.

On the side of the Deputy Privy Councilor, an envoy, carrying generous offers, attempted to approach Wu Yong and Zhao Tianming. However, Wu Yong and the others were prepared and immediately saw through the envoy's intentions, unceremoniously turning him away.

When the envoy's plan failed, the Deputy Privy Councilor secretly sent people to spread even more malicious rumors about Wu Yong and his group among the common people. In no time, the streets and alleys were filled with various unfavorable comments about Wu Yong and his associates, causing widespread discussion and anxiety among the populace.

But Wu Yong knew that rumors would stop with the wise. He immediately arranged for people to clarify the facts among the people, explaining their initial intentions and determination to investigate the crimes of the Deputy Privy Councilor. Gradually, some wise people began to realize that there might be something fishy going on and stopped easily believing the rumors.

Shen Mo's men, sent to sow discord among Wu Yong and his group, failed. Wu Yong and his companions trusted each other and remained united, completely ignoring the baseless attempts to sow discord.

Feng Yuan's plan to sabotage Wu Yong and his group's funding scheme also failed. Wu Yong had anticipated the potential risks to the funds and strengthened the management and protection of the finances, leaving the Deputy Privy Councilor's men with no way to act.

Meanwhile, Wu Yong's men discovered a secret stronghold of the Deputy Privy Councilor during their investigation, which seemed to contain crucial evidence. Wu Yong immediately decided to lead a raid on the stronghold.

However, their actions were detected by spies planted by the Vice-Chancellor, who tipped them off in advance. The Vice-Chancellor quickly deployed troops to strengthen the defenses of the secret outpost.

When Wu Yong and his men arrived, they found the stronghold heavily guarded.

"It seems our operation has been exposed," Zhao Tianming said.

Wu Yong frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "In that case, we have no choice but to force our way through."

The crowd responded in unison, "We are ready to obey your orders, sir!"

Wu Yong quickly formulated a battle plan, and the group launched a fierce attack according to the plan.

A fierce battle ensued outside the stronghold, with shouts of battle filling the air. Although the Deputy Privy Councilor had many men under his command, Wu Yong and his men were brave and fearless, employing exquisite tactics, and gradually gained the upper hand.

Just then, the Deputy Privy Councilor personally arrived with reinforcements.

"Wu Yong, today is your death day!" the Deputy Privy Councilor shouted.

Wu Yong, however, was not afraid at all and replied, "Deputy Privy Councilor, your crimes are unforgivable, and today is your end!"

The two sides reached a stalemate, and the fighting became increasingly fierce.

At this critical moment, Zhao Tianming led a group of men to attack from the flank, disrupting the Deputy Privy Councilor's formation.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Deputy Privy Councilor wanted to retreat.

"Trying to escape? Not so easy!" Wu Yong shouted, leading his men in pursuit.

After a fierce battle, the Deputy Privy Councilor was finally captured by Wu Yong and his men.

Just as Wu Yong and his men were about to capture the Deputy Privy Councilor, a group of dark figures suddenly appeared like ghosts. It turned out to be the Deputy Privy Councilor's secret reinforcements—a group of well-trained ninjas.

These ninjas were agile and used unpredictable moves. They rushed into the battlefield in an instant and engaged in fierce combat with Wu Yong and his men.

"Be careful, these people are up to no good!" Wu Yong shouted a warning.

Zhao Tianming shouted, "We must not let them rescue the Deputy Privy Councilor!"

The ninjas worked together seamlessly, engaging Wu Yong and his men in battle while simultaneously covering the retreat of the Deputy Privy Councilor.

Wu Yong was extremely anxious and directed everyone to do their utmost to stop them.

However, despite the ninjas' desperate cover, the Vice Privy Councilor was still taken away by them.

"Damn it, he got away!" Zhao Tianming angrily pounded the ground.

Wu Yong's expression was solemn as he said, "Don't be angry. They can escape for a while, but they can't escape forever. Let's regroup and continue the investigation."