After having breakfast with his family, it was already dawn. The sun was shining brightly, and it was a good morning.
Su Tan 'er's working hours were often tight. After a comfortable morning, she had to deal with things one after another. It took about ten minutes to walk from home to the First General Staff Yard, which was the center of Hedeng County. On the way, Hongti followed them all the way. Yun Zhu and Jin 'er would walk with them for a while, and then they would go to the school on the other side. They were teachers in the school, and sometimes they would participate in the entertainment business of the political department.
Among Ning Yi's wives and concubines, Hongti was relatively older and had a good temperament. She probably had the most difficult life in the past. Tan 'er respected her and called her "Sister Hongti". Hongti had already married him, so she called Tan' er "Sister" as usual.
This was a little confusing, but the two had a good relationship. On the way to the General Staff Yard, they would chat along the way if there was no one else. However, there were usually people who had to report the work of the day. The deputies who had to hurry up and report the work of the day would often go to the door during breakfast to save the next ten minutes. Most of the time, this work was done by the chief butler, Xing 'er. There was also another woman who acted as a secretary. Her name was Wen Xianying, and she was responsible for summarizing the matters that were passed to her and reporting them to Su Taner.
Today, Juan 'er followed them.
After a short conversation and communication, Juan 'er went to the other side of the mountain to deal with other things.
A few minutes later, Tan 'er and Hongti arrived at the General Staff Yard and started to deal with the work of the day.
Bu Lai, Hedeng, and Ji Shan Counties were originally small counties with no more than thirty thousand residents. After Black Flag arrived, including the military, administrative, technical, and commercial personnel, the population swelled to more than one hundred and sixty thousand. Although the General Staff Department was called the General Staff Department, in reality, it was mainly composed of the heads of the various departments of Black Flag. This was the place that determined the operations of the entire Black Flag system. Tan'Er was responsible for the overall operations of administration, business, and technology. Although she mainly looked after the overall situation, she was really busy in the first two years. Later, Ning Yi presided over the reform remotely and trained a portion of students. Only then did she relax a little, but she still could not relax.
When the morning routine reports and complicated paperwork began, Juan'er arrived at the intelligence department on the other side. Black Flag's intelligence department was originally a branch of Takeshi's, and it had inherited traces of the Office of Secret Investigations. Later, it cooperated with Takeshi's business and publicity departments. At this time, it was completely independent, but it still had close ties with the Political Department and the Business Department.
On one hand, a large amount of information about the outside world was gathered here: the situation of the Jin Kingdom, the situation of the Daqi Kingdom, the situation of the Wu dynasty … After sorting out, a part of it was handed over to the Political Department and then made public to the army. Through dissemination, deduction, and discussion, everyone would understand the current trend of the world, the dire straits everywhere, and what might happen next. The other part was handed over to the Business Department to summarize and operate, looking for possible opportunities and bargaining chips.
In addition, the specific intelligence work naturally included the internal affairs of Black Flag, the confrontation with the Wu dynasty, the Daqi Kingdom, and the Jin Kingdom's spies, the internal clean-up of the Black Flag Army, and so on. The person in charge of the General Intelligence Department now was Chen Haiying, one of Takeshi's three heads. After Juan'er met with him, the long-planned operation began.
The person in charge of the operation in Hedeng County was called Chen Xing. He was one of Ning Yi's disciples. Originally, he was passionate about the logic, reasoning, cause and effect that Ning Yi taught him. He had once founded the "Mo Society" in the army to compete with Luo Ye. Later, he did not embark on the path of an inventor, but instead joined the operations department of the intelligence department. Just after seven in the morning, he received the order. Soon after, he assigned the tasks to his subordinates.
When this troop set off from the intelligence department as if it was a routine training, the messengers heading towards Mount Ji and Bulai were already on the way. Not long after, Zhuo Xiaofeng, who was in charge of Mount Ji's intelligence report, as well as Luo Ye, who served as the military judge in Bulai Barracks, would receive the order. The entire operation would begin one after another in these three places …
At a quarter past nine in the morning, Su Tan'er and a group of staff members finished their morning meeting. When she was walking towards the office she was in, she raised her head and saw a hot air balloon float over her head.
*****
The hot air balloon floated in the sky.
At the side of the main road at the foot of Hedeng County's mountain, Chen Lao'er, who ran a congee and cake shop, raised his head and saw two hot air balloons in the sky. One hot air balloon was in the east, the other in the south, drifting with the wind.
Most of the people eating at the congee and cake shop were members of the nearby Black Flag administrative department. Chen Lao'er's cooking was pretty good, so his congee and cake shop had quite a lot of regular customers. Today, it was already past breakfast time, but there were still some people eating here, chatting and laughing as they ate and drank. Chen Lao'er carried two bowls of congee out and placed them in front of a table. Then, he put his hands on his hips and shook his neck vigorously. "Hey, that Kongming lantern …"
The Black Flag member who asked for congee turned his head to look. "Old Chen, that's a hot air balloon. It's not the first time you've seen one. You still don't understand."
"It's a Kongming lantern. I could also make it when I was young." Chen Lao'er grinned. "But this one is really big. Why did it come out today?"
"Probably because the weather is good today, so they let it out to bask in the sun."
The administrative staff smiled. Chen Lao'er also smiled. The surrounding market was bustling with people. After a while, another group of people came. "Lao'er, do you still have food? Eight bowls of congee and sixteen cakes. Wrap them up. We have a mission. "
That group of people wore black military uniforms and came fully armed. Chen Lao'er nodded. "There aren't many cakes left. Why did you come at this time? There's also the congee. How are you going to take it away when you're out on a mission?"
"Find something to pack it up. What else do you have …" The eight of them walked into the shop. The leader came over to check.
"Why don't you take the pot? How far do you have to take it …"
"Pot … What else do you have …"
"You still don't know what I have here …" Chen Lao'er said. He was still trying to probe what mission the other party was going to take when a knife was placed against his neck. The few people around him also pulled out their knives. One of them moved the sharp weapon beside Chen Lao'er away.
"You … what … what are you doing … Did you catch the wrong person …" The middle-aged congee shop owner's body trembled.
"Let's close the net. Admit it." The leader of the Black Flag members pointed to the sky and said in a low voice.
Chen Lao Er's body was still trembling like the most ordinary and honest merchant. Then, with a "Ah –" sound, he pounced. He wanted to break free from the clamps, but just as his body jumped up, the three people around him pounced on him at the same time. They firmly pressed him to the ground, and one of them suddenly dislocated his lower jaw.
When the surrounding Black Flag government officials saw this scene, they said, "Which side?"
"Brother, it's a secret."
"Oh, anyway, it's either the Great Qi or the Wu dynasty …"
"What a pity for a bowl of good congee …"
Everyone was discussing. Some people whispered to each other in private. "There was the matter of Tian Hu a few days ago. Two days ago, I heard that a group of Nüzhen people were defeated outside Xiangyang City. The hidden guards are closing the net now. What do you think is going on?"
"… It can't be true, right?"
After staying in the Black Flag's center for so long, many people had sharp insight. Ever since the bloody battle at Little Canghe ended, the Black Flag army's female soldiers were filled with grief and indignation. The main reason was because of Mister Ning's disappearance. The outside world said he was dead. Black Flag internally said he was not dead. However, internally, Su Tan'er and the others had long since become his widow. This was an indisputable fact.
Regarding this matter, it was impossible not to start a discussion internally. However, even though they had not seen Mister Ning, most people still unanimously believed that Mister Ning was indeed alive. This could be considered a tacit agreement actively maintained within the Black Flag. In the past two years, the Black Flag had shakily taken root on this lie. They had carried out a series of reforms, such as the shift of the center, the decentralization of power, and so on. They seemed to hope that after the reforms were completed, everyone would continue to operate without Mister Ning.
When Tian Hu's power was subverted, the Black Flag's external actions encouraged the internal. News of Mister Yu Ning's return also faintly spread within the Hua Xia army. This time, the knowledgeable people treated it as a beautiful wish. However, at such a time, the hidden guards pulling in the net clearly revealed some thought-provoking information.
The hot air balloon floated through the sky. The soldiers in the basket used binoculars to survey the county below. They held colored flags in their hands, ready to use the flag signal at any time.
Outside a courtyard halfway up the mountain, Chen Xing knocked on the courtyard door. After a while, someone came to open the door. It was a middle-aged man with a scar on his face. Between his brows, there was a heroic air, but also a bit of scholarly air. Not far away stood a child around seven or eight years old. "Father." The child saw Chen Xing and called out.
Chen Xing smiled. "Chen Jing, how are your studies with Uncle He?"
"I'm practicing fist techniques." The child called Chen Jing cupped his hands and bowed. He seemed especially sensible. Chen Xing and the man surnamed He both laughed. "Brother Chen should be on duty right now. Why are you here?"
"I'm just passing by, so I came to see him. Also, I have something important to discuss with Brother He."
The man surnamed He was called He Wen. At this moment, he smiled and frowned. Then, he spread his hands and said, "Come in."
Chen Xing entered the courtyard and walked straight to Chen Jing who was not far away. "This child of yours …" As he spoke, he walked to Chen Jing's side, grabbed his child, and threw him out. Chen Jing let out a cry of surprise and was thrown out of the wall by Chen Xing. The child fell outside and was obviously caught by someone. He Wen's body swayed slightly. He was highly skilled in martial arts. In that instant, it seemed like he wanted to use his extremely high level of lightness skill to escape. However, he did not move in the end. The courtyard door beside him closed with a bang.
Chen Xing turned around, spread his hands and exhaled. "Look, I didn't bring any weapons."
He Wen still had a smile on his face. He stretched out his right hand and opened it. There was a thorny caltrop on it. "I could have hit Little Jing just now." After a while, he sighed. "A few days ago, I had my suspicions. When I saw the hot air balloon just now, I was even more suspicious … So the reason you sent Little Jing here was to numb me."
Chen Xing cupped his hands. "You and I are friends who have gone through life and death together. However, our paths are different. I cannot let you off lightly. I hope you can understand."
He Wen smiled. With his hands behind his back, he walked into the courtyard. "A few years ago, I already felt that Ning Liheng's plan was too far-fetched and impossible to succeed. Even now, I still think so. Even if the study of things could really change the productivity of the world and allow everyone to read, it would still be difficult to succeed in the future. Everyone can speak, and everyone has to speak. The world is full of scholars, so who would want to farm? Who would want to be a lowly person? If you leave too hastily, you won't succeed. "
"If we don't do it, we'll return to the original Wu dynasty. Or perhaps, we'll go to the Jin dynasty, where the Five Barbarians wreaked havoc and the Han dynasty fell. Is that good enough? "
"For a thousand years, only Confucianism has been able to achieve great things. It's not without reason. In the third year of He Deng, I saw Mister Ning use the 'Four Peoples' to establish 'human rights'. He used commerce, contracts, and greed to promote the study of things. He used the study of things to lay the foundation of the people's wisdom. It seems beautiful, but in reality, it's only a simple skeleton without flesh and blood. Moreover, the study of things requires wisdom and a lazy heart. If it develops, it will clash with the so-called 'Four Peoples'. It's hard for you to walk this path. "He shook his head." It won't work. "
Chen Xing was silent for a moment. He cupped his hands. "Brother He, why didn't you say so earlier? It's not that the Politburo can't accept such a discussion. What we're doing is a matter of creating the world. If there's a problem, we can work together to solve it. "
He Wen burst into laughter. "It's not that we can't accept such a discussion. What a joke! We're just absorbing those who have objections and locking them up. We'll only release them after we find a way to refute them … "He laughed for a while before shaking his head again." Frankly speaking, Ning Liheng is a genius. I, He Wen, am ashamed of my inferiority. Just looking at the study of things, the efficiency of papermaking is ten times better than before. It's indeed a magnificent feat of creating the world. The human rights he talked about, the vision of everyone becoming a gentleman, is also admirable. If he's a Confucian master, I'll follow him as a pawn to usher in eternal peace. However … what he's doing is compatible with Confucianism. Only then can there be a possibility of success. Ever since he killed the emperor, there's no chance of success … "
"Now, those with knowledge can only destroy the black flag and absorb its ideas. Only then can we revive the Wu dynasty and usher in eternal peace …"
As he spoke, he shook his head absentmindedly. Then, he looked at Chen Xing with a solemn gaze. "You've pulled the net today. Could it be that Ning Liheng … is really not dead?"
Chen Xing cupped his hands. "Brother He, please don't do anything to avoid unnecessary casualties. If Teacher isn't dead, with Brother He's talent, I believe you'll be able to meet Teacher and tell him what's on your mind. "
He Wen clasped his hands behind his back and looked at him. His gaze gradually turned cold, and not much emotion could be seen. Chen Xing, however, knew that this man was well-versed in both the pen and the sword. In terms of martial arts and knowledge, he rather admired him. The two of them had saved his life on the battlefield. Although Chen Xing was shocked when he discovered He Wen's inextricable connection with the Wu dynasty, he still hoped that this matter could be resolved relatively peacefully.
He didn't think that He Wen could escape. However, if such an expert who was well-versed in both the pen and the sword really threw caution to the wind, it would be difficult for him and his subordinates to hold back. They could only kill him.
Outside the courtyard, a group of people, each armed with a bow and arrow, silently surrounded them …
At the same time, a short fight broke out on the path on the other side of the foothills.
He Deng's clean-up was still in progress. By the time Zhuo Xiaofeng led the mountain gathering operation, it was already close to noon. Bu Lai's clean-up began at a quarter past noon. Operations of all sizes were carried out. Some were silent, some attracted small-scale onlookers, and then disappeared in the crowd.
While Luo Ye led the soldiers to Bu Lai's barracks, Su Tan'er and Lu Hongti had eaten a simple lunch together. Although the weather had turned cold, there was still the low chirping of cicadas in the courtyard, the rhythm monotonous and slow.
After lunch, the representatives of two caravans were led over to meet with Tan'er to discuss two business deals. The news of Black Flag subverting Tian Hu's forces had caused waves in various places. As a result, all kinds of business intentions had been frequent recently.
At a quarter past four in the afternoon, Su Tan'er was engrossed in reading the account books when Juan'er walked in from outside and placed a report on the corner of the table.
Tan'er raised her head and glanced at her. Juan'er nodded slightly, then turned around and left. Tan'er looked at the report in the corner and put her hands on her lap. After staring at it for a moment, she sat down and lowered her head to continue reading the account books.
At five o 'clock, the officials and secretaries of the various departments came over to make the routine report on the day's affairs. This meant that things had gone smoothly today. Otherwise, the meeting would have continued until late at night. After the meeting, it was not yet time to eat. Tan'er returned to her room and continued to read the account books, make records, and plan. She didn't know why, but it was quiet outside. The sky gradually darkened. In the past, Hongti would come in to call her for dinner, but she didn't today. When the sky darkened, there was the sound of cicadas. Someone came in with an oil lamp and placed it on the table.
Tan'er lowered her head and continued to write. The light of the lamp was like a bean, quietly illuminating the square inch of the desk. She wrote and wrote. She didn't know when the brush in her hand suddenly stopped. Then she put down the brush and continued to write a few words. Her hands began to tremble, and tears fell on the paper. She raised her hand and supported her eyes.
Someone was looking at her from a chair not far away.
"Hi, Su … Tan'er …" The man spoke in a low voice. She didn't know why, but it was like the first time they met in that house many years ago. At that time, they were very polite and strange to each other. This time, it was slightly different. "Hello …" He said something that was not common in this era.
Tan'er lowered her head and didn't look over. "Ning Liheng … Husband …" She said, "Hello …"
At this time, the stars outside had already risen. At night in the small county, the lights were swaying. People were still walking outside, talking to each other, and greeting each other. It was like an ordinary night where nothing special had happened …
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