Chapter 276: Dragging Trick

The River Defense Camp was initially established because the constant flooding of major rivers necessitated the conscription of a large number of laborers for dike construction and flood control. Civilian workers were also required for various canal transport projects.

As many peasant uprisings throughout history had originated among laborers working on flood control projects, such a large gathering of people posed a significant security risk. Therefore, the imperial court established a dedicated River Defense Camp to oversee them, while also being responsible for flood prevention and emergency rescue work.

Later, as canal transport flourished, the River Defense Camp also took on the responsibility of ensuring the safety of commercial routes along the rivers, including clearing away dangerous beasts from the wilderness along the way.

The salt industry thrived in the area around Mingyue City, where it held immense profits, leading to rampant and unceasing salt smuggling. The River Defense Camp thus took on anti-smuggling duties. Over time, people began to call it the River Defense and Anti-Smuggling Bureau.

In a secret room within the River Defense Camp's yamen, Commander Sang Qian was respectfully bowing to another elder. "Father," he said, "your strategy is truly brilliant. You effortlessly turned the Wang and Chu families against each other."

Sang Hong stroked the beard on his chin, not showing much joy. "It's not that simple," he replied. "If this alone could turn the two families against each other, it would be underestimating Chu Zhongtian too much."

"Could it be that Chu Zhongtian can still turn the tide?" Sang Qian asked curiously.

"He will certainly come up with a series of countermeasures, but it won't matter," Sang Hong chuckled softly. "The 'Yin An' incident is just the beginning. A whole host of methods awaits him. First, we'll eliminate their most powerful allies, then deal with the isolated Chu family."

"Lord Mingyue may sound impressive, but he's still being played right into Father's hands!" Sang Qian burst into laughter.

Sang Hong shook his head. "It's not that Chu Zhongtian is inferior to me," he said, "but that the Emperor and Empress support me, and the imperial court supports me. It's the general trend, something that cannot be reversed by human power."

Sang Qian thought to himself that his father always liked to say profound things; even though he was clearly brilliant, he disliked being flattered. He was truly too modest.

"Oh, by the way, Father, you should take care of your health. The 'Fairyland Pavilion's lean horses' that those wealthy merchants from Mingyue City sent were indeed excellent." Sang Qian winked and nudged, wearing an expression that all men would understand.

Sang Hong gave him a faint glance. "Are you feeling quite resentful now?" he asked. "I forbade you from frequenting the Fairyland Pavilion for dalliances, and then I turned around and accepted their 'lean horses,' didn't I?"

"I wouldn't dare!" Sang Qian hastily lowered his head in apology. However, he did have some thoughts. "Father," he said, "you have always been upright and incorruptible. Accepting these 'lean horses' from wealthy merchants so rashly this time might tarnish your reputation in the future and could easily invite attacks from political rivals in court."

"As long as I can accomplish the tasks assigned by the imperial court, what does personal reputation matter? Today, I will teach you a principle," Sang Hong said in a deep voice. "Being overly aloof serves no purpose other than seeking a good name. If you want to be an honest official, you must be more cunning than a corrupt one."

"Only by accepting gifts from those families will they consider you one of their own. Future collaborations will be much easier, avoiding unnecessary suspicion."

"Our primary task now is to deal with the Chu family and seize their salt and iron wealth for the imperial court. Everything else is secondary."

Sang Qian respectfully bowed. "Father," he said, "you are right to teach me." Yet, in his heart, he couldn't stop marveling that his father could accept a woman with such righteous conviction, spouting one grand principle after another. "There's truly no one else in the world like my old man," he thought.

"Begging your pardon, Chu family's son-in-law, Zu An, has brought people and requests an audience!" a soldier announced from outside the door.

"What does he want?" Sang Qian frowned. For some reason, he instinctively disliked that fellow.

The thought that such a rascally good-for-nothing could marry a fairy-like Eldest Miss Chu gave him the feeling of a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung – no, even worse, like a flower falling into a cesspit.

He felt even more displeased, especially remembering how Zu An had swindled hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from his own gambling house last time.

"You're far too expressive with your emotions. How many times have I taught you, yet you still can't change?" Sang Hong said with dissatisfaction. His son was so impetuous, not having learned any of his composure. "Go see what Zu An truly wants."

"Yes," Sang Qian replied grudgingly. It was all Zu An's fault for getting him scolded by his father again.

Meanwhile, Zu An was waiting in the main hall when he suddenly saw two consecutive waves of 'fury points' from Sang Qian appear in his system backend.

Zu An was speechless for a moment. This guy hadn't even met him yet, and he was already so resentful?

Could it be that he knew about what happened between me and his fiancée?

But besides a bit of flirting and a few extra touches, we didn't actually do anything!

Getting hated on for this seemed too unfair.

As he was lost in thought, Sang Qian finally emerged. "Young Master Zu," he said, "may I ask the purpose of your visit to the River Defense Camp today?"

The term "Young Master" left Sang Qian feeling sickened for a long time. What merits did this guy possess to be worthy of being called "Young Master"?

But his father had taught him not to show his emotions, and if he called him by his name directly, wouldn't the hostility be too obvious?

He was utterly conflicted in his heart, unaware that Zu An already knew of his hostility through other channels.

"We've discovered that a large batch of smuggled salt is set to be shipped from the pier tonight, so I ask Commander Sang to gather your forces and completely wipe out those salt smugglers." Zu An couldn't be bothered with pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Smuggled salt?" Sang Qian was startled. "Brother Zu, I wonder where you obtained this intelligence? Why hasn't our River Defense Camp received any word?"

As he spoke, he subtly glanced at one of his subordinates, who nodded slightly and quietly withdrew.

As there were many people in the River Defense Camp, Zu An and his companions were not familiar with the staff there and wouldn't notice if one or two people left.

"The key issue now isn't where the intelligence came from, but rather to quickly apprehend those salt smugglers." Zu An, of course, wouldn't be so foolish as to expose Qiu Honglei.

He had originally wanted to retort, "Even brothels know about smuggling intelligence, yet the River Defense Camp, responsible for anti-smuggling, hasn't received a single whisper. What kind of incompetents are you?"

However, considering that he would still need their help later, he temporarily held back such inappropriate remarks, deciding to speak them only after everything had settled.

"It's not that I don't believe you, but this matter is of great importance," Sang Qian said in a deep voice. "Every time we make a futile raid and alert the actual salt smugglers, it becomes much harder to catch them later."

"My information is absolutely reliable, General. Just go and arrest them," Zu An said. Not only did he trust Qiu Honglei, but he had also personally staked out the location, so there was no way it could be wrong.

"In that case, Brother Zu, do you dare to sign a military pledge?" Sang Qian also stood up, his expression becoming serious.

Zu An narrowed his eyes. "I am not a military official," he said, shaking his head. "Why would I sign a military pledge?"

Although he was absolutely confident, he didn't want to take unnecessary risks.

After all, the world is never short of accidents.

Was this guy trying to trick him into signing a military pledge because he had ulterior motives?

Zu An frowned and fell into deep thought. He suddenly felt that this trip might not go as smoothly as expected.

Sang Qian laughed heartily. "Brother Zu, please don't mind. I'm just trying to be prudent. Mobilizing troops is no simple matter. I need to report to my superiors and get approval. If we make a big fuss and gain nothing in the end, whether it's my superiors or the lower-ranking soldiers, everyone will have complaints."

"You still need to report to your superiors?" Zu An was taken aback. "Then why aren't you going to ask for approval right away? How long will it take for you to go and return?"

"Don't worry, I've already sent someone," Sang Qian said, making a gesturing motion. "Brother Zu, don't panic. Have some tea and rest first."

Zu An frowned deeply. He was in no mood for tea, thinking to himself how inefficient these guys were, no wonder salt smuggling was so rampant.

Next, Sang Qian tried to engage him in conversation on various topics, and Zu An responded half-heartedly.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Zu An finally couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up and said, "If it's inconvenient for the General, then I'll just take the Chu family guards to apprehend them myself."

As the saying goes, delays cause problems. Having wasted this much time, he already had a faint ominous premonition.

"Brother Zu, don't rush; it will be ready soon," Sang Qian said, changing his tone. "Besides, apprehending smuggled salt is the duty of our River Defense Camp. How can we let Lord Mingyue's estate do our work? If the Prefect or City Lord finds out, I would be severely punished for dereliction of duty."

"I'll wait ten more minutes at most. If it's really not possible, I'll go ahead and scout the area," Zu An said. He also understood that Chu Zhongtian and his wife had sent him to Sang Qian mostly due to these procedural concerns, to avoid giving political rivals an excuse to cause trouble later.

But waiting indefinitely was also not an option. If the smuggled salt really got away, all their efforts would be in vain.

"Minutes?" Sang Qian didn't quite understand this unit of time, but he could roughly guess its meaning. "There will be news very soon, Brother Zu. Please calm down."

After several more agonizing minutes of waiting, Zu An finally couldn't take it anymore and stood up to leave.

Whether it was a coincidence or not, just then a soldier suddenly ran in and announced, "We've received the superior's order!"

Sang Qian laughed heartily. "Good! Immediately gather the troops and depart!"

Soon, the soldiers in the River Defense Camp's parade ground began to assemble. Seeing the sluggish, even sloppily armored soldiers before him, Zu An frowned deeply. "Are these soldiers or ruffians?" he thought.

With a River Defense Camp like this, no wonder salt smuggling had become increasingly rampant over the years.

Sang Qian's expression also became somewhat awkward. He hastily explained, "Yesterday's drills went on too late; everyone might not have fully recovered today."

As he spoke, he roared at his subordinates, "Hurry up, all of you! What kind of conduct is this, being so sluggish!"

Unfortunately, no matter how much he roared, the soldiers only superficially complied, and their actual speed did not pick up.

Just assembling took over an hour.

Fortunately, they finally set off.

Sang Hong silently watched the departing troops. He toyed with a pipe in his hand, quietly exhaling a puff of smoke. His gaunt face was dimly visible through the smoke.

A doubt arose in his mind: "How could Zu An have found such precise information about the smuggled salt?"

Zu An, along with the Chu family's guards and the River Defense Camp soldiers, hurried towards the pier.

Worried that the salt smugglers might escape, Zu An was extremely anxious throughout the journey, galloping his horse furiously towards the pier.

However, halfway there, a sedan chair suddenly darted out from an alleyway beside them.

Zu An hastily reined in his horse and stopped abruptly. Although he managed to stop at the last moment, the sedan chair bearers were clearly startled.

They accidentally fell to the ground, and the sedan chair on their shoulders toppled over to the side.

"Oh dear!" a young girl's startled cry came from inside.