Chapter 243: Korean Mission
When Zhao Wutong heard that the booked room was occupied, he immediately looked at her in dismay.
However, even though he was laughed at in person by that man, his official authority did not increase but decreased. The reason was, of course, that "we men were treated well with good food and drink just now in the Governor's Mansion."
This place is not far from the Governor's Mansion. We can find out whether this statement is true or not by sending someone to ask. Since the other party dares to say it so loudly, it must be true.
Would someone who is treated well by the Governor's Office be easy to mess with?
Therefore, Zhao Wutong was not annoyed, but became more respectful. He bowed without any embarrassment and said, "May I ask where you are from? Could you please teach me?"
Seeing that Zhao Wutong had admitted defeat, the man did not take it too seriously. He raised his hand to stop his men from laughing, and arrogantly lifted up his coat, revealing a shiny bronze waist badge.
When Zhao Wutong saw the waist badge, he suddenly realized what was going on. He bowed and said "I'm sorry" several times, then turned around and said to Sun Shaozong with a smile, "Sir Sun, I'm really sorry. How about you temporarily condescend to live in the west wing?"
Sun Shaozong had been watching coldly for a long time. Seeing that he was finally involved, he smiled and shook his head, saying, "Originally it didn't matter where I lived, but now it's not possible - I'm afraid I have to live in the East Cross Courtyard."
As soon as these words came out, the man with the badge on the opposite side suddenly turned gloomy, and the burly men around him started to scold him:
"What a courage!"
"I think you are not going to get well!"
"Hey~ I really ran into a tough guy today!"
Another person imitated the leader's tone, sneering with his nose turned up, "This lord has a lot of authority, could it be that he is the governor, governor, or governor in person? But looking at your official uniform, the color doesn't seem right?!"
After hearing this, the other strong men burst into laughter again.
Sun Shaozong was not annoyed, but just smiled and said: "I am neither a Dusi, nor a Fantai or Neitai, but just a fifth-rank Shuntian Prefecture Governor, and a thousand-household inspector of the Northern Pacification Division of the Dragon Imperial Guard."
When they heard the fifth-rank governor of Shuntian Prefecture, several men were still laughing, but the leader had changed color. When they heard the words 'Inspector of the Northern Pacification Office', the inn instantly became quiet.
I saw those men, one by one, as if they were under a spell, with their eyes wide open and their mouths open, but they couldn't make a sound!
"how?"
Sun Shaozong's face suddenly turned cold, and he lifted up his official robe, revealing a copper waist badge of the same style, and shouted in a deep voice: "Can't I live in this East Wing Courtyard?"
"It's OK, it's OK. You can live here naturally!"
The leading man was startled and rushed forward, kneeling on one knee and said respectfully: "I am Wang Fenghua, the deputy commander of the Shandong Division. I am honored to meet the Inspector!"
It turned out that when Wang Fenghua lifted up his robe just now, what was revealed was a waist badge of the deputy commander of the Dragon Guards!
The Dragon Guards were notoriously powerful because they had the power to report rumors to local officials. Not to mention a Tongzhi, even the prefect or even the three higher-ups might not be willing to offend them.
But using this identity to scare Sun Shaozong is just ridiculous.
In early February, the Northern Pacification Office had issued a written document appointing Sun Shaozong as the Inspector of a Thousand Households, responsible for supervising the discipline of the Northern Pacification Office. It can be said that except for the three pacification envoys and pacification assistants stationed in Beijing and Yangzhou, all the officials of the Northern Pacification Office were under his supervision, making him the true head of a thousand households.
Not to mention that Wang Fenghua is only a deputy captain, even if he is a regular captain, he has no right to rob his residence!
Wang Fenghua knew that he had hit a wall, so after , he smiled timidly and said, "I didn't know that you were the inspector in person, and I just... I just..."
Pah~
He suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself hard, then turned back and scolded: "You are a bunch of blind people, why don't you slap them in the face!"
His dragon guards knelt down in panic and slapped him with their palms, making crackling sounds!
"Okay."
After they had each drawn a few times, Sun Shaozong finally shouted "Stop" and frowned, "Since you are from the Shandong Division, why did you come to Jinmen Prefecture?"
The Dragon Guards were divided into the Southern and Northern Zhenfu Divisions. The Southern Zhenfu Division was mainly responsible for guarding the imperial palace and supervising the Northern Zhenfu Division. As for the Dragon Guards distributed in various places, they were all under the jurisdiction of the Northern Zhenfu Division.
There are only six regular centurions in the Northern Pacification Office now, four in the capital and two in Yangzhou. A deputy centurion like Wang Fenghua is already the highest commander of the Shandong Dragon Guards, and he is not allowed to leave his post without reason.
But if he was going to Beijing to report on his work, it would be only half a day's journey by water from the capital, so there was no need for him to stay in Tianjin Prefecture - and from what he said, it seemed that he had just made a special trip to the Zhili Governor's Mansion.
This is even more strange. Why would the Dragon Guard who monitors Shandong want to pay a visit to the Governor of Zhili?
When Wang Fenghua saw him asking about this, he glanced at Zhao Wutong with some embarrassment.
Zhao Wutong immediately bowed and said goodbye, "Sir Sun, I still have to go to the Governor's Mansion to greet other colleagues, so I have to leave first. I will leave two servants in the inn, and you can tell them if you have anything to say."
However, Sun Shaozong sent Zhao Wutong out the door, then turned around and followed Wang Fenghua to the east courtyard.
Wang Fenghua asked his men to make tea while he reported like pouring beans out of a bamboo tube: "Inspector, since the second year of Guangde, when the court granted permission to open Dengzhou Prefecture as a port for trade with Korea, our Shandong Division has been collecting news about Korea. A few days ago, we suddenly heard a rumor..."
Twelve years ago, the Great Zhou launched its second expedition and defeated Goryeo, which collapsed. However, due to the sudden death of the general Baolinghou, they could only hastily appoint Cao Minxiu, a veteran who had always admired the Middle-earth Dynasty, as king and established the present Cao Joseon Kingdom.
In the spring of the second year of Guangde, Cao Minxiu sent an envoy to meet the new emperor, agreed on a rule of paying tribute every three years, and begged for the opening of Dengzhou Prefecture as a port to facilitate trade between the two sides.
Although Cao Minxiu and his son Cao Dongxu, who succeeded him in the sixth year of Guangde, were always very respectful to the Great Zhou Dynasty, they were, after all, newly-claimed vassal states, and had fought two bloody battles before, so the imperial court was still secretly wary of them.
That's why the Shandong Division of the Dragon Guards took the initiative to gather information about North Korea in Dengzhou.
However, a few days ago, Wang Fenghua suddenly received an urgent report from the Dengzhou Hundred Households Office, saying that the tribute delegation from the Kingdom of Korea was preparing to cross the Bohai Bay and rush to the capital via Jinmen Prefecture this year.
When Wang Fenghua first heard the news, he thought it was a bit absurd. After all, Korea had always paid tribute by land, and the route was also determined by the imperial court. How could it be changed at will?
However, he sent his men to Dengzhou for a tour, and they came back to report that not only Korean merchants, but even the merchants from the Great Zhou who traveled between Korea and Dengzhou were speaking of this matter with certainty.
Now Wang Fenghua dared not delay and wanted to report it directly to the Northern Pacification Office, but he was afraid that the news was not entirely true and would leave a bad impression on him in the mind of the new Pacification Commissioner.
I must report it. If the Korean delegation suddenly appears in Tianjin Prefecture and the news here leaks out, I will be committing a serious crime.
After much thought, he decided to report to the Zhili Governor's Office first and ask the Tianjin Prefecture to make preparations in advance. After all, even if this was a complete misunderstanding, the Zhili government and he were not under the same jurisdiction, so he could not be charged with the crime of falsely reporting military intelligence.
