The rise of the poor

Chapter 2328 Wenfang, what do you think?

After the banquet ended and everyone dispersed, the newly appointed Governor-General Yang Yi became the busiest person, standing at the door to see off each official. He was especially attentive, humble, and enthusiastic when seeing off Zhao Wenhua.

If it weren't for the need to send Chen Hong and the other angels to be settled, Yang Yi would definitely have escorted Zhao Wenhua all the way back to his residence.

Zhu Ping'an returned with Zhao Wenhua and Hu Zongxian, still riding in Zhao Wenhua's ostentatious Shunxinting carriage. Today, he was to be accommodated in Zhao Wenhua's villa, as he had to attend a meeting at the Governor's Office tomorrow.

Before the banquet ended, Yang Yi told everyone that they would go to the Governor's Office the next day to discuss the important matter of suppressing the Japanese pirates.

Once seated in the carriage, Zhao Wenhua lowered the curtain and said to Hu Zongxian and Zhu Pingan, "Meilin, Zihou, we're all on the same side now. Let's talk behind closed doors. Yang Yi is succeeding as governor. What do you think?"

Hu Zongxian looked at Zhu Pingan, who gestured for him to enter.

"Then let me speak first. I must say, Lord Zhu's ability to see the times is beyond my reach. Before the angel arrived, Lord Zhu predicted that Lord Zhao would not be the next governor. At the time, I didn't take it seriously, but I didn't expect Lord Zhu to be so serious. Lord Zhu sees things more deeply and further than I do. I am no match for him."

Hu Zongxian bowed to Zhu Pingan, deeply impressed by Zhu Pingan's accurate prediction of his succession as governor.

Although Zhu Pingan did not predict who would succeed him as governor, he accurately predicted that Zhao Wenhua would not succeed him.

"Get to the point. There's no need for flattery between us," Zhao Wenhua chuckled, urging Hu Zongxian to get to the point.

I asked you to talk about your views on Yang Yi's succession as governor, not your views on Zhu Ping'an.

Hu Zongxian chuckled and continued, "Hehe, Lord Zhao, Lord Zhu's predictions have been proven accurate twice already. When Zhu Ping'an predicted yesterday that Lord Zhao would not be able to succeed as governor, he also made another prediction. I wonder if you still remember it, sir?"

“You mean…” Zhao Wenhua clearly remembered.

“That’s right, Lord Zhu predicted it. Lord Zhao will be the next governor-general without a doubt.” Hu Zongxian smiled slightly.

"What do you mean?" Zhao Wenhua looked at Hu Zongxian.

"Yes, if we get rid of Yang Yi, the governorship will be yours." Hu Zongxian waved his hand, as if sweeping Yang Yi out the door.

"I've already taken down two governors, taking down another one... wouldn't that be a bad idea?" Zhao Wenhua narrowed his eyes, saying it wasn't good, but his face showed no sign of it; his gaze was firm as if he wanted to...

Hu Zongxian clasped his hands together and said earnestly, “My lord, please prioritize the overall situation of resisting the Japanese pirates in Jiangnan and do not concern yourself with personal reputation. Yang Yi has no talent for military command. Apart from the rebellion of Ping Shi Shang Zhao that he falsely claimed to have led, he has no other experience related to military command. His ability is even inferior to that of the previous Zhou Chong. His position as governor-general is of no benefit to the overall situation of suppressing the Japanese pirates. Every day he remains in office, the overall situation of suppressing the Japanese pirates will be dragged down by him, and the people will be ravaged by the Japanese pirates for another day. I beg you, my lord, to think about the Emperor’s expectations and the people’s hopes. Please prioritize the overall situation of suppressing the Japanese pirates and endure this humiliation one more time.”

“Yang Yi is indeed incompetent,” Zhao Wenhua nodded slightly, only saying that Yang Yi was incompetent, without indicating whether or not to remove him.

Hu Zongxian scoffed and said disdainfully:

"Whatever his abilities, he fabricates stories to claim credit and promotes himself. He was promoted from magistrate of Weixian to imperial inspector by claiming he led the people in repairing dikes and dams to prevent the Wei River from flooding, thus saving the county seat. But in reality, the Wei River flood that year wasn't large enough to destroy Weixian. Yet, in his memorial, he reported it as a once-in-a-century flood, claiming it was his leadership in repairing dikes and dams that saved the county seat. Ha! The people have to do corvée labor to repair the dikes every year, okay? They do it every year! Furthermore, the year after he was promoted, the Wei River flooded, destroying the dikes and causing over 100,000 people on both banks to be displaced and forced to flee their homes! Since his promotion, the people on both banks of the Wei River have suffered from disaster and forced to flee for their lives in eight out of ten years—and this is all thanks to the dikes he repaired!!!"

"Also, the story about the local earth god temple he was bragging about today was clearly fabricated. He said that when he was a child, he liked to throw stones into a ball, and once he brought the ball to school. The teacher didn't allow ball-throwing into the school, so he put the ball in the ear of the earth god at a nearby temple, asking him to keep an eye on it. When school ended, he found the ball was missing, and he said to the earth god, 'I'm going to punish you. I'll put a thousand-pound elm cangue on you and exile you to Southeast Asia to see the millet fields. I'll go, you come back.' Later, he passed the imperial examination and went to Southeast Asia to become a county magistrate. That night, he dreamed of an old man wearing an elm cangue, bent over from exhaustion, covered in sweat, who said to him, 'Now you've come to Southeast Asia. You said you'd come back, now it's time to punish me.'" I removed the elm yoke and let me return to the local earth god temple. He said he had the same dream for three nights in a row, which reminded him of a promise he made as a child. So he returned to his hometown, removed the elm yoke from the earth god's head, rebuilt the temple, and even made two clay sculpted wives for him so he could enjoy the incense offerings. This sounds like a lie. He put the elm yoke on the earth god in the temple when he was a child, and after twenty or thirty years, when he went to Southeast Asia to serve as a county magistrate, he remembered this and went back to remove the elm yoke?! Is that possible? The earth god in the temple wore the elm yoke for twenty or thirty years, and the temple keeper didn't care?! The people who came to worship didn't care either, just openly worshipping an earth god wearing an elm yoke?!

"All he knows is boasting, writing, and launching attacks; how could he possibly govern troops and lead an army to quell the Japanese pirates? 'Boasting' and 'writing' alone won't be enough to suppress the pirates! To quell the pirates, sir, we must first impeach this incompetent governor!"

Hu Zongxian said with a sincere expression.

Zhao Wenhua smiled slightly, said nothing more, looked at Zhu Ping'an, and asked, "Zihou, what do you think?"

Zhu Pingan replied, "If we want to wipe out the Japanese pirates, we must replace Yang Yi with Zhao Shi."

The reason isn't that Yang Yi is incompetent. Zhang Jing may be capable, but he was still brought down by Zhao Wenhua!

The reason is not incompetence or anything like that. Zhao Wenhua's abilities are far superior to Yang Yineng's. The reason is that if you don't replace him with Zhao Wenhua, he will cause chaos, internal strife, and instability in the rear, making it impossible to defend against external threats!

Therefore, to quell the Japanese pirates, we must replace Zhao Wenhua with him, satisfy his desire to be governor, and get rid of him!

"Zihou thinks so too, hahaha, it seems the three of us are of the same mind, hahahaha."

A satisfied laugh came from inside the carriage. (End of Chapter)