Chapter 166: Strike first to gain the upper hand

When the Emperor Zhengde's edict was announced from the capital, Li An's memorial was sent to the Imperial Household Department without any haste.

In the Ming Dynasty, memorials were divided into two forms. One was a memorial submitted in an individual's name, called a "zouban", and the other types were called "tiben".

The contents of the "Tiben" are mostly official matters, reporting to the emperor, or official matters that need to be decided by the emperor.

The memorial was submitted in the individual's name through an official directly to the gate official, who then passed it to the emperor.

The memorial will not be made public until the emperor has read it, nor will it be handed over to the Six Departments in Langfang for copying and registration.

As the eunuch in charge of the garrison, Li An knew that he was unpopular among the civil servants, so he would naturally not write a memorial that would make others laugh at him.

So he wrote a memorial, and it was directly transferred to the Silijian, the administrative department that guarded the eunuchs.

But Zhang Yong got angry when he saw it, and threw it on the ground, cursing: "Not only is he an idiot, he's also a lazy bum! The departure date is the same day, other people's memorials have arrived three days ago, and the imperial edict has arrived in Tianjin, but yours has just arrived, what's the point?!"

The young eunuchs serving around lowered their heads, not daring to offend Zhang Yong.

After Zhang Yong finished venting his anger, he waved his hand and said, "Take it out and burn it! There's no need to present it. It will only make people laugh."

"Yes."

At the same time, in LeTing Town, Poyang County, Jiangxi Province, with Ou Zanghua's strict management of the navy, the town gradually regained its vitality.

Because Poyang Lake is connected to the Yangtze River, and because Ou Zanghua himself had cultivated a reputation in Anren County and Yaoyuan County, merchants from the six surrounding counties of Po, Yu, Gui, Le, An and Yao were willing to trust him and dragged their goods to the LeTing Town wharf to sell.

Brown sugar and kudzu powder from Anren County, Wu green tea and Longwei inkstone from Yaoyuan County, black sesame and artemisia selengensis from Yugan County, etc.

Various items are clearly marked with prices according to different specifications. Merchants from Nanchang, Yueyang, Wuchang, Ezhou, Jingzhou and other places gather here to choose their favorite goods.

I believe that as Leting Town becomes more famous, merchants from Yingtianfu, Yangzhou and Zhenjiang will also come here in the future.

Liu Qing and Yue Lingshan were walking on the street, picking out things they liked.

Ou Zanghua was sitting in an elegantly decorated courtyard, drinking tea with an old man in his sixties.

He was originally shopping with his wife, but not long after they started shopping, he received a secret report from Ding Mian that the former Poyang Lake naval commander, Shi Congrong, had quietly come to Leting Town with his servants.

Considering that Li An had sent several groups of people to look for Shi Congrong in recent days, Ou Zanghua had to suspect that the two had reached some kind of agreement in private.

So, he had to abandon his beloved wife and run to this yard to deal with Shi Congrong.

Also coming with him was Mr. Yue Buqun.

Ever since Zuo Lengchan and Feng Buping left, the person around Ou Zanghua was replaced by Yue Buqun.

In terms of strength, the top master under Ou Zanghua is undoubtedly Zuo Qianhu.

As for the second best expert, it depends on the situation. If it is a quick battle, Feng Buping should have a slight advantage.

If it is a war of attrition, Yue Buqun is stronger.

In a contest between these two, Ou Zanghua would vote for Yue Buqun, because this old fellow is a man of many thoughts, and Feng Buping would have no chance of a quick victory in front of him.

At this moment, Ou Zanghua held the teacup, looked up at the ruddy-faced, tall Shi Congrong, and asked calmly, "General Shi, isn't it good for you to enjoy your retirement at home? Why did you come to this muddy water?"

"Master Ou, I don't understand what you are saying."

Shi Congrong said cheerfully, "I just came back to take a look after hearing that Leting Town is very lively. After all, I have lived here for nearly twenty years, so I have feelings for it!"

"So the old general brought dozens of servants and bypassed my patrol team to come in?" Ou Zanghua sneered with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Isn't this because I'm worried that Lord Ou will misunderstand me?"

Shi Congrong spread his hands and said helplessly: "I didn't know that even though I was so careful, Lord Ou still misunderstood me. This is indeed my fault. Next time, I will set up a special table to apologize to Lord Ou!"

"I have been very busy lately, and I have lost a lot of hair dealing with all these things. And this mess was left behind by the old general."

Ou Zanghua stared at Shi Congrong, the old soldier, and said with a wry smile, "If I hadn't caused trouble for the old general, the old general would have been very grateful. Why did the old general come to him on his own accord? Do I look like an easy person to talk to?"

Shi Congrong sighed and said with a melancholy face: "Lord Ou has misunderstood. I have retired for many years, and the power of the Poyang Lake Navy has long been handed over to the rising star Qiao Zhongyou. I just didn't expect that this man is so greedy and has ruined the Poyang Lake Navy like this. I am also very sad!"

"Ugh"

Ou Zanghua put down the teacup, sighed and asked: "There is one thing I don't understand. What made the old general have the illusion that he could escape?!" Shi Congrong was still very calm. In his opinion, Ou Zanghua had some tricks, but not enough to make him kowtow.

Therefore, no matter how Ou Zanghua appealed to his emotions or threatened him, he could not shake his heart.

Unfortunately, he was too confident!
I saw a group of soldiers rushing in and surrounding Shi Congrong.

Ding Mian walked in, bowed and said, "Reporting to Lord Ou, all the criminals outside have been arrested and no one has escaped!"

"Lord Ou, what do you mean?!" Shi Congrong's face darkened when he heard this.

"Old General, what do you think is the reason why I have been talking to you here for so long?" Ou Zanghua smiled and asked calmly.

Shi Congrong was stunned for a moment, then stood up abruptly and asked excitedly, "Lord Ou has great authority! But what right do you have to arrest me? I will report you to the Ministry of War for abusing your power!"

When Ding Mian took a look and was about to step forward to take him down, Ou Zanghua flicked out a stone, which hit Shi Congrong's acupoints as fast as lightning, making him unable to move.

Everyone was stunned, and then they saw that it was a small goose warm stone placed in the pot for decoration.

Shi Congrong was stunned. Why didn't anyone tell him that Ou Zanghua had such strength? !
"I am the deputy envoy of Jiangxi Province, responsible for correcting the customs of the people and investigating and punishing unjust, false and wrong cases!"

Ou Zanghua stood up, took a petition from Ding Mian, threw it in front of Shi Congrong, and said with disappointment: "General Shi is a veteran of the court, but he does not know how to restrain his family members, and still allows them to rob and plunder and cause trouble to the people. This really disappoints me."

Shi Congrong came to his senses. He had always thought that Ou Zanghua wanted to arrest him for the crime of embezzling military funds and reselling military supplies, which was why Li An was able to persuade him to take action.

Although he had already made perfect arrangements, and with Qiao Zhongyou, that idiot scapegoat, he was confident that he could get away with it even if he reported it to His Majesty in person.

But being sure is one thing, and not telling you the evidence is another.

Especially when Li An said that Ou Zanghua actually sent someone to put the land deed in his house, intending to frame him directly, Shi Congrong was shocked and angry.

Ou Zanghua, you are a scholar after all, how can you use their methods to deal with them? !
Who knew that they didn't play by the rules at all and dug up things his son had done over the years, even the complaint papers were old items from those days.

"Lord Ou, calm down. It is true that I failed to educate my son properly." Shi Congrong immediately admitted his guilt and said, "I am willing to compensate you! I will definitely satisfy the other party."

"late."

Ou Zanghua shook his head and said calmly, "Why do you think I found this complaint? It's because the plaintiff has passed away, and you can't find anyone to reconcile with."

Shi Congrong widened his eyes, looked at Ou Zanghua in shock and asked: "Why do you have to go to such great lengths to deal with me?!"

"Didn't you go to great lengths to deal with me first?"

Ou Zanghua smiled and said loudly: "Put him in the cell and keep him under strict guard!"

"Yes!"

Before Shi Congrong could speak, he was tied up by two soldiers, a cloth strip was stuffed into his mouth, and he was pulled out.

Yue Buqun witnessed the whole process and asked hesitantly, "Why did Lord Ou go to such trouble to arrest someone?"

"Because we have to have a legitimate reason. Otherwise, if the Ministry of War asks us about it, we won't be able to explain it clearly, and we'll have to argue again."

Ou Zanghua said: "Although Jiang Qi confessed that he embezzled military pay and resold military supplies, that was only Jiang Qi's one-sided statement. I originally thought that the deeds of Leting Town could be used as evidence of the crime, but when I went to Poyang County to check, I found that these deeds were intentionally divided into two parts. A small part was in the name of Shi Congrong's son Shi Chen. Most of them were written in the name of Qiao Xiaoman, who was the rumored sister of Qiao Zhongyou."

"Rumor has it?" Yue Buqun asked with some confusion.

"Because Qiao Zhongyou doesn't have a relative named Qiao Xiaoman, Shi Congrong forged such an identity." Ou Zanghua sighed and said, "This is why Shi Congrong is fearless."

"Isn't he worried that a Qiao Xiaoman would really appear and take away all these deeds?" Yue Buqun asked with a slight frown.

Ou Zanghua shook his head and explained, "So the ivory token that can prove Qiao Xiaoman's identity should be in Shi Congrong's hands. When he needs it, he can just point to a woman and say she is Qiao Xiaoman."

This method is not sophisticated, but it is indeed effective. Even in the 21st century in the information age, it is still used by many criminals.

For example, some Sanhe masters who mortgaged their ID cards for a hundred yuan, if you check on Qichacha, it is common to find that they are the legal representative of three or four companies.

For example, some college students lend out their ID cards and end up taking out loans for no apparent reason.

Yue Buqun looked thoughtful. This kind of escape strategy could be studied carefully.

Ou Zanghua continued to explain, "Moreover, this person has close contacts with Li An, and Li An has been sending people to look for him these days. Not only did he not avoid suspicion, but he even dared to receive him secretly. This is obviously aimed at me. In this case, I have no choice but to take the initiative and detain him first, and then think about how to deal with Li An."

　I have so many things to do today that I can't handle them all, so the update is a little slow. Please forgive me, bosses. I'm sorry.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)