Chapter 378: Sprouting

Fearing that he could not get used to the straw mat called tatami in silence, Chen Jing and he went back to the main house, slept on the big bed, and said all night. When they were young, they said that they were studying together, fighting, and catching birds. Those beautiful memories flowed like a clear stream, making them talk about it so relish, as if they were back to the youthful era.

As a result, it was time to get up until dawn, and it was not until midnight. After a little washing, Nanazi invited the two of them to the front hall for meals. On the table were the table with honey juice, osmanthus root, vegetarian steamed dumplings, sesame buns, fried dumplings, wontons, and beef vermicelli, all with authentic Jiangnan flavors.

Nanako looked at Chen Si and tasted a few chopsticks with a nervous look on her face. After he showed a satisfied expression, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Although I studied very seriously, I was still worried that the taste would not be good, which would make my uncle angry."

Chen Si praised, "It's already amazing, it's much worse than the skills in the restaurant." He said with a smile, "I thought I could eat rice balls, grilled fish, natto and miso juice."

"Do you know those things too? They're too crude." Chen Jing smiled and said, "I guess our ancestors ate more than this two thousand years ago."

Nanako smiled and said to the silent, "Mao Sang has returned and is sleeping in his room, saying that you can wake him up at any time."

"Let's finish the meal," Chen Si nodded and said, "Gao Ling, please meet this...Mao Sang with me."

"I'm back to the cottage," Chen Jing smiled and said, "Okay."

In the afternoon, Chen Si finally met Wang Zhi's adopted son Mao Haifeng, a man in his thirties who was not tall, big hands and big feet, knotty muscles and a fierce expression.

After tilting his head and looking at him for a while, Mao Haifeng sat down opposite Shen Mo, pressing his hands on the table and said, "Are you the official sent by Beijing to Kaihai?"

Chen Si did not answer him, but just nodded slightly.

His arrogant attitude did not arouse Mao Haifeng's displeasure, because in his opinion, the officials of the court should be like this. If the silence showed too much enthusiasm, he would look down on him.

"Why are you so young?" Mao Haifeng curled his lips and said, "Can you decide what you said?"

"Yes." Silent nodded and spit out a word.

"Really or not?" Mao Haifeng said disbelief: "You won't fool me, are you?"

"My name is Chen Mo." Chen Mo said lightly: "Have you heard this name?"

Mao Haifeng was stunned: "Is it the clumsy words that won six yuan in a row?"

"Not bad." Chen Si nodded slightly and said, "Do you need to prove that I am silent?"

Mao Haifeng's attitude immediately turned a big turn, and he became a little restrained. He stood up at a loss and said, "No, no, who doesn't know that Shen Liushou, who is handsome and handsome, is now facing the top scorer, and is in the face."

I couldn't help but feel happy that my name was so loud. Of course, I wouldn't show it. I pointed to the stool opposite and said, "Sit down and say."

"Oh, sit down and say, sit down and say." Mao Haifeng nodded and sat down, looking at the silent face with admiration, "Did you say it earlier? If you know it was you, I'll go to visit you early in the morning."

After this, I felt strange and asked, "Do you often hear people mention me?"

"Of course," Mao Haifeng said excitedly: "You are the leader of the four great talents of the Ming Dynasty. Those who are good-looking are talking to you all day long, saying that if you can meet you, you would rather pay for the money."

Silence is so sweaty... After a long time of trouble, it turned out to be a reputation in the brothel world. He looked at Mao Haifeng quietly, trying to see if he was pretending to be stupid and looking for his happiness.

But Mao Haifeng's excited face shone brightly, and he looked at him admiringly, making such a deep silence that he couldn't figure out the details. He couldn't help but mutter: "Are you wise and foolish? Or is it really as Hu Zongxian said, it's a bit 2?" Looking at Chen Jing, Chen Jing curled his lips, meaning that this guy has always been so unaccustomed to it.

As the chief negotiator, he should not have this IQ level. But think about Wang Zhi’s innocence when he was young, and he was silent and did not dare to conclude that the other party was making a falsification, so he had to slowly ask: “Taifu, who hasn’t asked Brother Mao yet.”

Mao Haifeng's face showed a moment of dullness, and then he suddenly said, "Is the word "大"? It was not that originally, but later my godfather changed my name to Wang Yu and called it Haitian."

"Good name and good word," Chen said, "has momentum."

"But you should call me Haifeng," Mao Haifeng said angrily: "Others call me Haitian, and they always feel like they are calling another person, which is awkward."

He smiled silently and said, "Okay, I'll call you Haifeng." He said in a serious tone, "I am now talking to you as the director of the Jiangnan Maritime Commander General. Please make any requests if you have."

"Okay, OK," Mao Haifeng also quickly sat upright, not knowing where to put his hands, and spitted out: "Our old ship owner said that as long as the court is willing to open the sea ban and trade with us, we are willing to submit and do our best to help the court eliminate Japanese/pirates."

When the biggest Japanese/pirate leader said he wanted to help fight against the Japanese, he felt a little ridiculous in his silence. He shook his head to dispel this feeling and smiled faintly: "The court sent me here, which has already shown our sincerity." Seeing Mao Haifeng nodding, he continued: "It is a rude thing to come but not to go. Now, please show your sincerity and make us believe that you are trustworthy friends."

"This is what it should be," Mao Haifeng rolled up his sleeves and said, "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

"Get the map," said Silently.

Chen Jing spread the Zhejiang-direct coastal defense map prepared early on on the table, Chen Mo pointed to Suzhou City first: "The future Maritime Bureau will be temporarily opened here."

"Why don't you go to the coast?" Mao Haifeng finished asking, and he also smiled embarrassedly: "Indeed, this is the safest place."

He said silently: "Suzhou is considered from the perspective of safety, and there is no denying it." He said, "After that, the caravans will need to enter the Huangpu River from here and go to sea. Although the efficiency is not high, it is easy to manage." He also pointed to Shengsi, Daishan and Zhoushan areas south of the entrance of the Huangpu River, saying: "But there are many pirates entrenched on these islands, which are very fierce, and we do not have the ability to solve them..."

Before Chen Shu finished speaking, Mao Haifeng jumped up and slapped the table and said, "Don't worry, you are at the latest, I will clear the channel for you until spring!"

"That's great!" said silently, "Mr. Budang and I are waiting for your good news!"

"There's nothing else? Then I'll call my brothers together." Mao Haifeng was impatient, and he seemed to want to pick up the guy and take the Zhoushan Islands immediately...

A meeting that I thought would be very difficult ended so quickly. It was beyond my expectation that it was silent and said, "It's okay, I'm putting my complimentary wine on my hem, and I'm waiting for Brother Haifeng's big drive."

"Okay, I'll leave." Mao Haifeng grabbed his hat and walked out, but when he reached the door, he turned back, and said with a flattering look on his face: "Can you write me some words?"

I was silent and thought he wanted to write a 'guarantee letter' by himself. Naturally, I must not leave any evidence for this kind of thing. I was thinking about how to get rid of it, but I saw Mao Haifeng taking out a white fan and saying carefully: "Can you write a word on it?"

He couldn't help but smile, and happily agreed, writing a poem on it. Mao Haifeng felt like he had a treasure, holding the fan of his face and smilingly said, "They will shake them!" He bowed and left.

When Mao Haifeng left, Chen Jing smiled and said, "You can really think of it if you let the Japanese/pirates fight against Japanese/pirates."

"So why not?" Chen Si laughed and said, "Give him a chance to advance from Japanese/pirates to heroes against Japanese devils, and he will give us a big surprise."

"That's right." Chen Jing said: "The result should be destined. When the old ship owner came out to work as a pirate, the boys in Zhoushan were still playing with mud in open crotch pants. They couldn't be their opponents."

"I didn't ask this request." Chen Mo suddenly lowered his voice: "It's Hu Zongxian."

"Is that right?" Chen Jing sighed with great emotion: "It's really sad that the dignified governor actually relies on the Japanese/pirates to destroy the Japanese/pirates."

"You've thought it simple." Chen Si shook his head slightly and said, "Actually, our navy has already taken shape. With the leadership of a powerful general like Yu Dayou, it's still possible to recover Zhoushan. The reason why I gave this opportunity to Mao Haifeng was because Hu Butang wanted to give Wang Zhi a pair of rotten medicine."

"What kind of rotten medicine?" Chen Jing asked.

"As soon as Mao Haifeng launches an attack, all Japanese pirates' attitude towards Wang Zhi will change - from then on, in their eyes, Wang Zhi will no longer be their friend." Chen Si whispered: "Although this will not damage Wang Zhi's strength, it is said that it is a 'thousand-mile dike, destroyed by an ant hole', which will eventually lead to Wang Zhi's power splitting and internal fighting."

Chen Jing couldn't help but say in a terrifying manner: "It turns out you never thought about having a peace talk..."

"Talking is a must-have." Chen Silent said slowly: "But not now, Wang Zhi is much stronger than us now, and the pirates are all his leader. They live a happy life, so why should they negotiate with us?"

"Then he saw us, and he sent his adopted son to come back to negotiate with us?" Chen Jing said unconvincedly.

"Wang Zhi has suffered a loss from the government and will not trust us anymore." Chen Si shook his head and said, "The reason why he negotiated with us was to paralyze us and let us relax our restraint on him. On the other hand, he did not rule out that he would use his old tricks again, provide us with Japanese/pirate information, and use our army's hands to kill competitors like Xu Hai and Ye Ma for him."

"You mean he just wants to use us," this conclusion made Chen Jing, who had been working for peace talks for nearly two years, sat across from Shen Mo and said, "There is no sincerity in peace talks at all?" He was in a bad mood. He had always felt that he was engaged in a very glorious job, but now he saw that he was fooled by someone.

"If you can't win on the battlefield, it's useless to talk about it." Silent said lightly.

"But you said that we can't win?" Chen Jing said.

"If you can't beat it now, it doesn't mean you can't beat it in the future," Chen Si saw his brother's depression, and comforted with a gentle smile: "What you are doing now is to help us delay time, so that we have time to grow and grow, and then divide the level with them."

Chen Jing immediately lit up and said, "Yes, this is called... a delaying strategy."

"Smart!" Chen Si praised: "You Tao is that 'those who are good at fighting have no great achievements'. Although we are not as glorious as generals like Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang, our contributions are not smaller than them."

Chen Jing finally said happily: "Don't worry, it's okay, I will do it well!"

"Good!" said quietly, "I'll set off for Suzhou today."

"Where are you taking office in the first month?" Chen Jing smiled and said, "Are you confused?" Conventionally, a new official should avoid the first month, May and September when he takes office. Because according to the Yin and Yang and Five Elements, these three months belong to fire. Although officials are guarding the shepherd for one side, they are ultimately the emperor's ministers. The ancient pronunciation of "Shang" is pronounced as "Shang", and Shang belongs to metal, and fire overcomes metal. Therefore, we must avoid these three months.

Of course, this kind of mysterious trick is often to hide the real filth. In fact, these few months are a good time to collect taxes. The new official has to make the departed official get the last one, that's all.

After staying silent in the officialdom for many years, he naturally knew these bad habits and said, "If I don't take the show first, I will take a few people to Suzhou in vain, so that I can better understand the situation... I know myself and the enemy, and I will never be defeated in a hundred battles."

Seeing that he had decided to leave, Chen Jing refused to let go, "Don't stay for two more days?"

"I won't disturb you two of you anymore." Chen Jing laughed jokingly, and then he said seriously: "I'm not kidding anymore. I have a task of 2 million taels of silver this year, but everything has not yet begun. When I think about it, I feel heavy. Why don't I quickly touch the situation and see what to do."

"Didn't Budou say you're already confident?" Chen Jing said in surprise.

"I'm talking on paper. If I want to put it into practice, there is still a lot of way to go." Chen Si shook his head and looked at his brother firmly and said, "The road ahead is bumpy, let's take care of ourselves!"

"You can do it yourself!" Chen Jing clasped his fists and said, "The horse is successful."

When he came out of Chen Jing, Chen Mo did not wear the eye-catching official uniform, but instead wore a scholar's square scarf, royal blue cotton robe, and black flour-based cotton boots. He restored his true nature to the scholar. Without the constraints of the official uniform, he no longer had the brim of the front and back, and he was as light as a bird out of a cage.

Tiezhu and Sanchi pretended to be his followers and followed behind with their luggage, while the rest of the guards pretended to be a group of warders, "as happening" to go with the three of them.

Hangzhou to Suzhou are nearly 600 miles away, which is not very close. It is the most suitable for taking a boat at this distance. They also took a boat at first, but he wanted to see his own jurisdiction, so after arriving in Wujiang, he got off the boat and took the land...

The Suzhou Prefecture under his jurisdiction is under the jurisdiction of Nanzhili, from the coast to the east, from Songjiang Prefecture to the southeast, from Jiaxing Prefecture to Zhejiang, from the southwest to Huzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang, from the northwest to Changzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang, from the northwest to the Yangtze River to Nanzhili Yangzhou Prefecture. From the Fucheng to Nanjing, from 560 miles to the capital, it is 2,950 miles under the jurisdiction of Wuxian, Changzhou County, Changshu County, Wujiang County, Kunshan County, Jiading County and Taicang Prefecture. Among them, Wuxian and Changzhou County are Fuguo County... Just like Kuaiji and Shanyin, they are in the same city. The other counties are in the northeast of the Fucheng, and only Wujiang County is in the south, so silently set foot in this prefecture from Hangzhou, and the first one to enter was Wujiang.

He was shocked by watching the flowers along the way. In Shen Mo's impression, since the Song Dynasty, there was a saying that "Su Changshu is the best in the world". Whether it is Suzhou or Changshu, it is all within his jurisdiction. So he always felt that Suzhou Prefecture, as a national granary, should be full of rice fields, but he only saw that in the countryside and in the mountains, there were large areas of mulberry trees planted. Even in the fields, mulberry plants were planted at random, and the planting area was far more than that in the planting of grain crops such as rice and wheat.

No wonder people say now that Huguang is ripe, the world is full of people. Chen Si couldn't help but sigh: "So Suzhou doesn't grow food anymore, it's time to play with cash crops." This mulberry tree cannot be eaten or worn, but the people of Wuzhong are crazy about planting, which is definitely profitable. Chen Si couldn't help but sigh: "I have always heard that when Japanese pirates robbed, they like raw silk than gold and silver. It seems that this kind of thing is indeed a big market."

Of course, he saw that there were more than 30 factories in Wujiang County alone, and even ordinary people had basically a few women and a few looms. As for men, they all went to silk reeling farms opened by large households and silk weaving farms to work. They asked the reason silently. It is said that on the one hand, the factory does not accept women, and on the other hand, it is because small households are limited by the number of raw silk, so a few looms are enough, so men don’t need to be at home.

Silence was indeed shocked and repeatedly said to myself: 'This is the legendary germination of capitalism, right?' Can I protect it from growing? Or can I change its destiny that never grows up?
Chapter completed!