RPAGF Chapter 308 Hidden dangers
Chapter 308 Hidden dangers
Chapter 308 Hidden Danger
Wang Qiang turned around and saw a civil official slowly approaching, surrounded by several military officers. "What brings you here?" he asked. "I'm about to rescue my sister-in-law! Your words are simply disruptive!"
The man who arrived was none other than Li Maofang, the governor of Shandong. Li Maofang was the last to arrive because the elite troops he brought were hardly elite at all; it was already quite fast that he had arrived. On the way, he received a secret letter from Qian Qianyi. Although Qian Qianyi did not say it explicitly, he conveyed that he should act as he saw fit, and that it was a good thing that Wang Wenzhou's wife and children were dead.
When Li Maofang arrived at Moushan, he was utterly stunned. Including the 5,000 elite soldiers he brought, the total number of troops surrounding the mountain was over 50,000. Shandong only had 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers in total, and even the generals of Dengzhou and Laizhou, which were far from Mouxian, had brought cavalry to provide support, arriving even earlier than him.
What surprised Li Maofang even more was that more than half of the local officials from all over Shandong, whether county magistrates or prefects, were present. Li Maofang smiled wryly; even as the governor of Shandong, it would take him several days to convene a meeting of his subordinates. Wang Wenzhou's influence was simply too great; he wasn't even present, yet the mere fact that his concubine and her child had been kidnapped allowed him to mobilize such a large force.
Wang Qiang looked at Li Maofang and asked, "May I ask who you are?"
Li Maofang glanced at Wang Qiang disdainfully and said irritably, "I am Li Maofang, the Governor of Shandong. This place is now under my jurisdiction!"
Wang Qiang had been following Wang Wenzhou in the capital these past few days and had seen his fair share of grand occasions. His young master dared to mess with even civil and military officials, and the Grand Secretary was his young master's father-in-law. Wang Qiang felt that his young master certainly wouldn't be afraid of Li Maofang, and he was about to successfully rescue Liu Rushi, so he didn't want Li Maofang to interfere.
Wang Qiang retorted irritably, "Who do you think you are? Our family members are negotiating with the robbers; it's none of your business. Go back to where you came from!"
"How dare you! Who are you? How dare you be so disrespectful to Lord Li?" Tang Jialiang, the garrison commander of Jinan Left Guard, pointed at Wang Qiang and said fiercely.
"Hey! Who are you? How dare you talk to me like that?" Wang Qiang had been following Wang Wenzhou for a long time and was becoming more and more like him.
Tang Jialiang said disdainfully, "This official is Tang Jialiang, the one in charge of the garrison."
"Tch!" Wang Qiang cursed, "How can you be so rude? You don't even bow to your superior?"
"Pfft!" Everyone burst into laughter, even Li Maofang couldn't help but laugh. Wang Wenzhou was arrogant, but he hadn't expected his servants to be so arrogant as well. Although Li Maofang didn't know Wang Qiang, he had already learned Wang Qiang's identity from Niu Guangdou, the prefect of Kaifeng—he was merely Wang Wenzhou's attendant. Because of this, as soon as Li Maofang arrived at Moushan, he wanted to seize control of the decision-making process on the spot, so he could secretly trick Wang Wenzhou.
"Haha!" Tang Jialiang laughed and scolded, "If your Lord Wang were here, I would definitely pay my respects. How dare you, a mere watchdog, make me pay my respects?"
"Damn it!" Wang Qiang pulled out his official seal and cursed, "Look carefully, I am General Mingwei."
Gao Yingxiang staged a play with Wang Wenzhou in Hanshan, in which Wang Wenzhou repelled the rebel army and "beheaded" more than 30,000. Therefore, the court promoted and granted titles to many "meritorious officials," but these were all honorary titles without real power; they only had the treatment of officials.
Tang Jialiang's official position was that of a sixth-rank military officer, who held real power, while Wang Qiang's position as General Mingwei was a fourth-rank honorary official.
"Your humble servant Tang Jialiang greets General Wang!" Tang Jialiang shook his head with a wry smile. It is said that even a seventh-rank official is above the prime minister's gate, and now he finally understands.
Wang Qiang curled his lip. "You dare to act all high and mighty with me? I'll humiliate you to death today!"
"Xiao Liang, come here quickly, someone wants to pay their respects to you!" Wang Qiang hurriedly waved to Sheng Liang.
Sheng Liang initially disagreed with Wang Qiang's approach, but now that he sees that Wang Qiang's strategy is very effective, he immediately supports Wang Qiang.
"I've arrived!" Sheng Liang walked over, took out his official seal and showed it to Tang Jialiang, then said with a smile, "See? I am General Wude!"
Tang Jialiang immediately knelt down and said, "This humble official, Tang Jialiang, greets the General."
Wang Qiang said with a smile, "Who among you holds a higher official rank than him? Hurry up and come out so he can pay his respects. Anyone who dares to act arrogantly towards me, even the current Grand Secretary Wen Tiren or Lord Wen, will have to respectfully call me Young Master Qiang."
Li Maofang shook his head with a wry smile. Like master, like servant. Wang Wenzhou's attendant was also a fool.
One by one, the leaders of the Hanshan faction stepped forward: "This official is General Wulue," "This official is General Wuyi," and so on.
Tang Jialiang's legs were almost sore from kneeling so long. He never expected Wang Wenzhou to have such great power.
Actually, it's not really Wang Wenzhou's fault. Wang Wenzhou's defeat of Gao Yingxiang was a huge victory for the Ming Dynasty at that time. Chongzhen was short of money and could only reward meritorious officials with honorary titles, since their annual salaries weren't much anyway.
Tang Jialiang had just finished paying respects to the boss of the Hanshan Group.
Wang Qiang waved his hand again and said, "Uncles and elders, this bastard is bullying my nephew and using his official position to intimidate me. You are all people with titles, come and help your nephew get revenge!"
There were more than a dozen nobles present. These people were all in cahoots with Wang Wenzhou. They were all shareholders of supermarkets in various parts of Shandong and made a lot of money with Wang Wenzhou. Of course, they would not stand by and watch Wang Qiang be bullied.
"Lord Tang, I am Marquis Yongkang," Marquis Xu Xideng of Yongkang said with a smile.
Tang Jialiang hurriedly paid his respects to the nobles.
Li Maofang shook his head with a wry smile. Wang Wenzhou's attendants weren't fools either. This wasn't just a slap in the face to Tang Jialiang; it was clearly a slap in the face to him. They didn't want to hand over control of the situation to him.
Wang Qiang waved to the local officials and said with a smile, "The county magistrate can skip this and not embarrass himself. The prefect and governor should all come over and let Lord Tang pay his respects."
Li Maofang frowned. He thought the civil officials wouldn't obey Wang Wenzhou's orders, but the reality was beyond his expectations. Of the twelve prefects and governors present in Shandong's nine prefectures and ten counties, seven stood up to allow Tang Jialiang to pay his respects, which meant they were on Wang Wenzhou's side.
Li Maofang carefully examined the seven men. Four of them appeared to be Wen Tiren's men, which made sense given that Wen Tiren was Wang Wenzhou's father-in-law. However, the other three, who were originally unaffiliated, also sided with Wang Wenzhou.
Wang Wenzhou's influence is truly immense; a mere Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites is able to mobilize such a vast amount of power.
Li Maofang suddenly thought of something and smiled slightly. According to Niu Guangdou, Wang Wenzhou initially wanted to pay a ransom of 1500 million taels of silver to redeem the hostage, but after Wang Qiang arrived, he changed his mind and decided to "fight violence with violence."
Wang Wenzhou wasn't even present. One of his personal attendants could mobilize half of Shandong's officials and troops, and Wang Wenzhou was incredibly wealthy. If this information were secretly leaked to His Majesty, I don't believe His Majesty would still trust Wang Wenzhou. If a ruler suspects a minister but doesn't punish him, the minister will surely rebel. Wang Wenzhou, your smugness won't last long!