Chapter 626

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A ray of sunlight fell upon the broken city wall of Jinling City. Under the golden glow, the laborers repairing the wall toiled, sweating profusely.

Although autumn had arrived, Jinling City remained hot. Just an hour into their work, the laborers’ clothes were already soaked.

“Elder Fiji, is the news of His Highness’s ascension true?”

In front of the city wall, Fiji stood with his hands behind his back. The city wall of Jinling City was severely damaged by the war. Since arriving in Jinling City, the first thing he tackled was this, as across the Yangtze River lay the King of Chu’s fiefdom.

Although Xiao Ming and the King of Chu had signed an alliance, this was merely a temporary expedient for the King of Chu to obtain firearms. Therefore, repairing the city wall was, in his opinion, an urgent matter.

“Of course, how could this be false? The late emperor personally handed the imperial edict to Du Heng on his deathbed.”

Fiji stroked his beard, his face beaming with a smile. The news of Prince Qi’s ascension yesterday reached Jinling City, making him so happy that he couldn’t sleep a wink.

For him, as long as Xiao Ming had not ascended the throne, he was not the emperor of the Great Yu Empire, and the longer it dragged on, the more he would be questioned. Now that Wei’s thirteen prefectures had been swiftly recaptured and their strength greatly increased, it was the best time to ascend the throne. Xiao Ming’s decisive action also earned his great admiration.

Moreover, once Xiao Ming ascended the throne, Fei Yuer would be the reigning empress, thus solidifying the Fei family’s position in Qingzhou.

The person of Fiji’s stature was an old man in a cyan silk robe, similar in age to Fiji. He said, “If that’s the case, our Tong family should also make a trip to Qingzhou to congratulate His Highness on his ascension. His Highness is benevolent and generous, and the powerful families of Jinling City are all grateful to His Highness. If Elder Fiji doesn’t mind, Tong is willing to accompany the Elder to Qingzhou. How about it?”

“Master Tong is indeed an understanding man. The rumors outside that His Highness shows no mercy to powerful families are false and should not be believed!” Fiji said with a smile.

After arriving in Jinling City, he intervened in the handling of the powerful families. He was merciless towards the Zhang family, who had marital ties with Jinling City and Prince Wei. Those who deserved to be killed were killed, those who deserved to be exiled were exiled, and those who deserved to be conscripted into the army were conscripted.

Because of this, the powerful families of Jinling City were all on high alert, ready to revolt and fight to the death with him at any moment.

But after dealing with the Zhang family, he suddenly summoned the Tong family. After a pleasant conversation, the head of the Tong family walked out of the government office with a smile. Then, policies regarding the handling of powerful families spread among the powerful families. The powerful families, who had originally expected a fierce battle, immediately threw down their weapons and came to visit Fiji.

Tong Hongchang smiled upon hearing this, “If it weren’t for Elder Fiji, we would have believed Prince Wei’s words and made a huge mistake. Now, to prove the loyalty of Jinling’s powerful families to His Highness, I, Tong, should also make a trip to Qingzhou.”

Fiji nodded. “Actually, for His Highness, the most important thing is the stability and tax revenue of the thirteen prefectures. His Highness has experienced too many empty promises. Master Tong needs to show His Highness some tangible results.”

Tong Hongchang showed an awkward smile upon hearing this. Although Xiao Ming’s policy did not completely exterminate the powerful families, the disbandment of their private armies and the return of illegally occupied land to the common people still had to be enforced. Whether these two points could be carried out depended on the cooperation of local powerful families like the Tong family.

“Elder Fiji, rest assured. Tong will certainly handle this matter properly. Tong will be the first to not let off anyone who disobeys Your Highness’s decrees,” Tong Hongchang said decisively.

Fiji nodded upon hearing this. “In that case, Master Tong, please go back and prepare.”

Tong Hongchang, upon hearing this, bowed and chose to leave.

Seeing Tong Hongchang walk away, Fiji’s eyes turned cold. Just as he had told Xiao Ming, the powerful families of the thirteen prefectures were deeply entrenched, with strong roots. Even though the Southern Expeditionary Army had captured one city after another, the influence of the powerful families among the common people remained immense.

If not for their fear of the Southern Expeditionary Army’s ferocity this time, the internal unrest in the thirteen prefectures would probably not have subsided so quickly.

But even so, resolving the powerful families’ private forces without bloodshed would take some time. For this matter, he chose a strategy of both carrot and stick. This Tong Hongchang was a local powerful family he had courted, and now he was using Tong Hongchang to deter other powerful families.

Moreover, the autumn harvest season was fast approaching. Currently, the government office only controlled Jinling City and its nearby counties, and many villages still did not have officials from Qingzhou.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to send them, but the thirteen prefectures had basically exhausted the available officials. Most counties and villages now had to rely on these local powerful families and village chiefs for governance.

Although the common people of Wei had been influenced by Qingzhou’s ideas to some extent, traditional concepts could not be changed in a day or two. If there was no one to supervise tax collection, the losses in the autumn harvest this year would be significant.

The Southern Expeditionary Army painstakingly fought for the thirteen prefectures for the sake of taxes. On this issue, Fiji was very clear, which was why he had just hinted to Tong Hongchang that the effective results he needed were taxes.

As he was thinking, Jinling Governor Wei Yuan suddenly approached him.

This Wei Yuan was originally a minor official of the sixth rank in Chang’an, but he excelled in the written examination at Bowen Academy and also passed Xiao Ming’s personal test. This was why he was sent to Jinling City to take charge of the governorship.

“Elder, the King of Chu’s navy has appeared on the river,” Wei Yuan said, somewhat nervously.

“The King of Chu’s navy?” Fiji frowned. “When did this happen?”

“The guards at the dock just sent word. The Dengzhou army has already ascended the city walls and is on alert,” Wei Yuan said.

Fiji immediately walked towards the South City Wall upon hearing this. The sudden appearance of the King of Chu’s navy here was not a good sign. Even if it wasn’t to take the opportunity to intervene in Jinling City, it was probably to guard against them. Just as he had thought, the King of Chu had never trusted them.

The two arrived at the South City and ascended the city wall. At this moment, Ye Qingyun was holding a telescope and looking at the river. The warships sent by the King of Chu this time were armed with cannons and were moving from west to east.

The leading warship was slightly larger, and faintly visible figures on it were pointing towards Jinling City.

“It’s a missionary,” Ye Qingyun put down his telescope and said to Fiji.

Fiji took Ye Qingyun’s telescope and looked at the river. Indeed, on the leading warship, he saw a blond man wearing a black robe with a cross hanging around his neck.

He said, “Your Highness sent news that the King of Chu has had contact with the French. The King of Chu was once severely beaten by the Dutch, and since then, he has been very eager to contact other Western countries to obtain firearms. It’s likely this is a missionary from France.”

“But why are they here?” Ye Qingyun frowned tightly.

Fiji, being a shrewd and experienced individual, said, “Suzhou and Hangzhou are prosperous lands. Now that Your Highness has taken Jinling City, the King of Chu will surely worry about the safety of Suzhou and Hangzhou. Their ostentatious passing is a deliberate warning to us.”