"I know you guys from the Ming Sect are not afraid of the authorities, but there’s no need to create unnecessary problems, right? Once the fight starts, people will die!"
Yang Tiansheng sipped his tea slowly and pondered for a long time before nodding, "You make sense; I was oversimplifying things."
Yang Ge let out a sigh of relief, gently patted his shoulder, and said, "Don’t be disheartened. There’s a saying that goes: ’It’s hard to be an official, but even harder to be a good one.’ The same is true for doing things: it’s hard to accomplish tasks, and even harder to do them well. But as long as we firmly believe that what we’re doing is right and we persist unwaveringly, things will always move in a good direction... Time will tell the truth."
Yang Tiansheng chewed on his words, and his mind inexplicably flashed back to what Yang Ge had said in Yangzhou: to do something well, you need to understand the general situation and battle on all fronts; you can be bold and reckless in strategy, but you must be careful and meticulous in tactics.
When he first heard this, he just thought it was impressive.
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Now that the burden was on his shoulders, he truly realized how potent that statement was.
"Let’s drink tea instead of wine."
Yang Tiansheng held up his teacup properly, "This is to honor you!"
Yang Ge lifted his teacup, "This one, I should be toasting to you."
Yang Tiansheng suddenly laughed, "If we really get down to it, we’re from Jianghuai!"
Yang Ge said seriously, "Internally, we can argue about who’s the elder or younger brother, cousins, and uncles, but externally, we are all descendants of Yan and Huang; there’s no distinction between south, north, east, or west!"
Yang Tiansheng paused for a second and then nodded solemnly, "I’ve learned my lesson!"
Yang Ge looked at him unexpectedly, and laughed, "Don’t be like that; I’m not used to it!"
Yang Tiansheng twisted his mouth and let out a disdainful snort.
Then Yang Ge comfortably finished the last of his tea in his cup.
He put down the teacup and picked up the iron teapot to brew a second infusion.
Yang Tiansheng admired his smooth movements, "Tell me, how should we brothers handle this matter?"
"No rush."
Yang Ge, holding the scalding teacup, expertly continued as relaxed as a patrol officer and as strategic as Han Xin counting his troops, "We’ll talk about it in a bit."
Yang Tiansheng asked, puzzled, "Wait for what?"
Yang Ge pushed the teacup back in front of Yang Tiansheng, "Waiting for someone."
Yang Tiansheng: "Did you arrange to meet someone?"
Yang Ge glanced at the sandalwood incense on the table, almost burnt to the end, and shook his head, "No."
Yang Tiansheng: "What kind of riddle are you playing?"
Just as he finished speaking, the timely "knock, knock, knock" of someone at the door could be heard.
Yang Ge took a sip from his teacup and smiled, "Want to know? Go open the door!"
Yang Tiansheng, completely confused, stood up and opened the private room’s lattice door to see a dark-complexioned man outside. The man was wearing clashing red and green brocade clothes, a scholar’s cap, and a pair of mustaches that made him look exactly like a dishonest merchant, smiling and bowing to him, "Shopkeeper Yang, it’s been a while."
Yang Tiansheng looked the man up and down with a blank expression: "You are..."
Yang Ge: "Let him in."
Yang Tiansheng then stepped aside to let the man through the door.
As soon as the door was closed, the dark-complexioned man smiled broadly and bowed to Yang Ge’s back, "Your arrival honors me, my humble dwelling has failed to welcome you from afar, please forgive me."
Yang Ge turned around, surveyed the man’s disguise, and nodded in approval, "To lock onto my location within an incense stick’s time, not bad!"
The visitor humbly clasped his hands, "It’s because you, the boss, gave me a lead; otherwise, I couldn’t have found you..."
Yang Tiansheng, staring intently at the visitor, finally remembered, "You’re that… the… Gu Tong? Is that your name?"
Back in Yangzhou, Yang Ge’s subordinates, Fang Ke and Gu Tong, had the most dealings with him, so naturally, he remembered these two.
Gu Tong bowed with a big smile, "Shopkeeper Yang has a good memory."
Yang Tiansheng finally reacted, "Hmm, didn’t we leave together? When did you make a mark? How come I didn’t notice?"
Yang Ge: "I didn’t make any mark!"
Yang Tiansheng: "Then how did he find you?"
Yang Ge pointed to the cold moon blade wrapped in gray cloth.
Yang Tiansheng: "Just because of this?"
Yang Ge, picking up the iron teapot to make tea: "That’s enough... Gu, come and sit down."
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"Thank you, Shopkeeper."
Gu Tong bowed again and sat down opposite Yang Ge.
Yang Ge pushed a cup of tea across to him, "So, tell me, what have you found during your time in Jiangzhe?"
Gu Tong received the tea bowl with both hands, bowed in thanks, and then replied, "Shopkeeper, I have found out that the old traitor Geng Jingzhong has colluded with a Japanese pirate leader named Wang Zeng. This man is from Wei and is very infamous at sea, known as the ’Wuzhong Shipmaster’. He commands eight thousand pirates, which include both real Japanese pirates and Wei people disguised as them."
"According to the few captives we caught secretly, they revealed that for this invasion of the southeastern coast, they have divided their forces into three groups: one through Jiading County of Songjiang Prefecture, one through Zhoushan of Ningbo Prefecture, and one through Shuangyu in Taizhou."
"The rebelling pirates are roughly divided into four or five factions, with Wang Zeng being just the leader. All together, there are about twenty to thirty thousand pirates."
"They have agreed to come ashore to loot before the Grain Rain..."
As Yang Ge and Yang Tiansheng listened to his report, their brows gradually furrowed.
Yang Ge, "Twenty to thirty thousand?"
Yang Tiansheng, "’Wuzhong Shipmaster’ Wang Zeng?"
Yang Ge looked at Yang Tiansheng, "You know of him?"
Yang Tiansheng nodded, "He is also from Jianghuai, and was quite famous in the jianghu years ago. He was a contemporary of my father."
Yang Ge tapped on the table and said to Gu Tong, "Send a message to the house immediately, have Fang Ke dispatch people to thoroughly investigate Wang Zeng. If we need to raid his property, do it, and if his family must be implicated, then implicate them!"
Yang Tiansheng pursed his lips and said in a low voice, "Taking such action... could we force that villain into desperate straits?"
Yang Ge picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, exhaling softly, "Some things can be negotiated, some cannot."
Yang Tiansheng fell silent.
Yang Ge, "Where are the pirates who have landed now?"
Gu Tong took out a piece of paper from his bosom and presented it with both hands to Yang Ge.
Yang Ge took it and read through it quickly, then handed it to Yang Tiansheng, "Review the information of all the leaders under you later, and we’ll figure out how to assign tasks. We should focus on small battles involving around a hundred people. Fewer people, easier to control, and it will also help avoid bringing down the imperial court’s suppression!"
Yang Tiansheng took the paper and examined it closely, nodding, "I’ll have Wei Xin start compiling it right away."
Gu Tong sat quietly drinking tea, as if he had heard nothing.
Yang Ge looked at him again, "Continue to gather intelligence. From now on, report back here on the fifth and tenth of each month. If I can’t make it, someone else will come to receive the reports... Use three baked sesame seed cakes as the signal."
Gu Tong nodded, "Yes, Shopkeeper."
Yang Ge waved his hand, "You shouldn’t stay with us too long, go about your business."
Gu Tong stood up and bowed, "Then I shall take my leave."
Yang Ge, "Be careful, your own safety is the priority."
Gu Tong smiled, "You too!"
With that, he left the private room and closed the door behind him.
Yang Tiansheng put away the paper in his hand and after taking a sip of tea, suddenly spoke in frustration, "I told you not to rush killing that old cur. You executed him before everything was uncovered. He got off too easy!"
"What use would knowing more be?"
Yang Ge gave a helpless smile, "Report to the imperial court? Do you really think the Emperor is oblivious to it all?"
Yang Tiansheng replied helplessly, "It just feels suffocating. A few words from that old dog, and we men have to risk our lives to clean up the mess he left behind..."
Yang Ge, "We don’t stoop to the level of such an old cur. He is doomed to infamy for eternity, while you, Yang Tiansheng, even if you can’t be praised for centuries, the people of the coast will remember your name, Yang Tiansheng, and honor the good deeds of your son!"
Just as Yang Tiansheng was about to respond, a cadenced hawker’s call came from outside the window.
"Freshly baked sesame seed cakes, two for one coin now!"
"Liu Dalang, weren’t your cakes sold for one coin each before? Why are they two for one now? Did you adulterate them with ash!"
"Don’t spout nonsense; I wouldn’t ruin the reputation that our Liu family has built over two generations... The old Hangzhou brand sesame seed cakes, if you’re new to Hangzhou, you must try them!"
Yang Tiansheng suddenly burst out laughing and nudged Yang Ge, "Hey, he’s inviting you to try his sesame seed cakes!"
Taking it seriously, Yang Ge stood up, pushed open the door of the teahouse, and called out, "Sesame seed cakes!"
Liu Dalang, carrying his load over his shoulder, heard Yang Ge’s foreign accent and quickly approached.
Yang Ge, seeing Liu Dalang’s shaky approach with his stove, quickly stretched out his hands to meet him, "Take it easy, I’m in no rush..."
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