In the private room, Mr. Wu first took a dicine Pill, sobering up instantly, showing no signs of the drunken haze he had when leaving the feast.
He lit the lamp, his eyes exceptionally bright.
"Gongming, this ti my inspection of the coastal State includes collaborating with you and Mr. Feng, as instructed by the Grand Secretary. You both know the local reality. What you say, I will do; have no reservations.", Mr. Wu positioned himself clearly, he was here to gain achievents, not to be a hindrance.
Xu Qing had to admit, the Grand Secretary was truly considerate towards those who got things done.
As long as you were of use, he would certainly provide you with all conveniences and not hold you back.
Since ancient tis, loyal and capable officials knew well that whether it’s a big or small matter, if those above don’t hold you back, then things are halfway to success.
Xu Qing still had to give the necessary respect, saying, "Rest assured, old ntor, my main role is still to give you counsel on operations, but you must make the final orders and major decisions."
Mr. Wu hastened to reply, "Just say the word, and I’ll follow. If I speak out of turn, correct quickly. I know you martial arts experts have your secretive ways of communication."
He thought to himself, in a grand battle, life is at stake.
Pirates won’t recognize him as the high-ranking Imperial Censor.
When the slaughter begins, all beings are equal.
If he misspeaks and Xu Qing can’t correct in ti, wouldn’t his life be in danger?
Use the trustworthy, don’t employ the doubtful.
He reached his position today, relying all on his ability to recognize talent.
Now inspecting the coastal defense, naturally following the old precedents, just like the previous bandit-suppression, he could stay passive, and must not take matters into his own hands to avoid jeopardizing his family’s fortune!
In fact, Mr. Wu’s character has always been such, recognizing people over matters.
When Vice Minister Zhang passed the Imperial Examination, he had failed.
For many years, Vice Minister Zhang never ntioned repaying the money.
His family had always advised him to find an opportunity to reclaim that money lest at the end, the other party might forget the favor and refuse repaynt.
Mr. Wu felt Vice Minister Zhang was a decent person and living in the Capital wasn’t easy, always refraining from bringing up the matter and even warned his family not to write ntioning it.
Only after he beca a Third Class Scholar did Vice Minister Zhang send soone to et him.
And before that, during several examinations, Vice Minister Zhang never sought him out, appearing to have completely forgotten this fellow native who once borrowed money to help him.
But once Vice Minister Zhang contacted him, he arranged the official post for him imdiately, without any delay.
Although Mr. Wu also spent money, without this connection, he might have waited a long ti despite having the necessary funds, and still needed to attend Court examinations and observe political procedures.
Being promoted to an official post in advance actually wasn’t a loss.
After all, the daily expenses of welcoming and sending off during the normal wait for an official post in the Capital were considerable. Not to ntion many Capital Officials had to incur debts to live.
And when finally getting the official post, you still must pay.
Without money, one must continue waiting!
Thus, at such tis, there were creditors in the capital who specifically lent to Scholars and Scholar candidates waiting for official appointnts.
Under such circumstances, once transferred to local positions, it was nearly impossible not to be corrupt. Otherwise, how could one repay a large amount of debt?
Having gone through these, Mr. Wu could better understand the hardships Vice Minister Zhang faced back then.
At that ti, local folks condemned Vice Minister Zhang for divorcing and remarrying, branding him as Chen Shii.
Ah, indeed it was unscrupulous, but also inevitably helpless!
Without divorcing and remarrying, where would today’s Little Heavenly Official from the Ministry of Personnel be?
Before leaving the Capital, Vice Minister Zhang invited him for drinks, pouring out these repressed feelings in his heart.
As a scholar, that Vice Minister Zhang of many years ago had died when he divorced.
But this also happened after he passed the local examinations and directly succeeded in the higher level examination.
For a Scholar, not staying local wouldn’t earn much property.
The Emperor far away, the local county official has more imdiate authority.
Vice Minister Zhang passing the Scholar examination indeed couldn’t help his family much for a while.
Instead, the family kept asking him for money or to write letters to local officials, pestering him endlessly and leading him to cut off contact with both local folks and family.
Therefore, if you co from a poor background and beco an official, the family expects you to make money, to exploit the locals with them, not to be an upright official.
If you disagree, they might move your parents out from the ancestral grave or deny access after death if they haven’t already moved.
These were also reasons Mr. Wu internally believed reforms to be impossible to succeed.
People were still the sa.
Reform, reform, it all ends up in scheming money.
Because he understood this clearly, Mr. Wu’s greatest ambition in his career was to rise in rank andaccumulate wealth.
His position high enough, backbone flexible enough, using Lu Zijing’s phrase in the romances: today receiving notice, notice should return to the local party, assessing his rank and status, still retaining a lower office duty, repeatedly holding provincial posts as well!
If Xu Qing knew Mr. Wu’s inner thoughts, he couldn’t help but praise how insightful old Wu was, already understanding the importance of creating unified strategic value!
The ntor and student talked in detail all night, making various plans regarding clearing out the pirates.
It mainly involved Xu Qing speaking, and Mr. Wu listening.
Even though Mr. Wu expressed compliance, he couldn’t circumvent issuing orders, naturally comprehending every necessary detail.
Xu Qing was already aware that the Court had preemptively planted covert operatives from the Embroidered Guard in the East Sea Gang’s territory, spreading myths about him.
This was a precise strike against the East Sea Gang pirates.
Because whether true or impostor, they greatly revered spiritual beings.
Especially those pirates who erged from coastal aristocratic families or villainous backgrounds, often deeply worshipped the sea god.
With Xu Qing’s formidable presence penetrating deep into the robbers’ hearts, teaming up with the Imperial Navy to clear out the East Sea Gang’s pirates would naturally achieve a preemptive, overwhelming effect.
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