In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 590 This unfairness can be changed
Tao Jun came back not long after he left and reported to Meng Zhijing that he did not see Qin Chen, but only saw Qin Chen's son Qin Shouwen and the commander-in-chief Liu Yuan.

Liu Yuan is the son of Liu Zheng, who has not retired yet. Liu Zheng first stayed in Persia and later served as governor of Singapore and Malaysia. Meng Zhijing was his subordinate at that time. Later, Liu Zheng moved to Central Asia and then to Zhejiang Province.

He is currently serving as the governor of Zhejiang. He has two years left before retirement and is going home to prepare for retirement.

Liu Yuan participated in the battles to destroy Dali, Angkor, Siam and other places, and later moved to Hanzhou Province as the commander-in-chief.

"Didn't you see Qin Chen? Only the governor can issue level three martial law. How did they respond?" Meng Zhijing was incredulous.

"Replying to the Lord." Tao Jun said. The people from the Qin Mansion were a bit perfunctory. The general meaning was that Tao Jun's rank was too low and he was not qualified to see Qin Chen. They asked him to reply to Meng Zhijing. This was an order from Qin Chen, stamped with the seal of the Governor's Office.

If Meng Zhijing has anything to say, just wait until the third-level martial law is over. It won’t take too long, only five to seven days at most.

Meng Zhijing's face became even uglier when he heard this.

Qin Chen would definitely not speak to him in this tone.

Thinking that His Majesty the Emperor was on a national inspection tour and might arrive in Hanzhou soon, Meng Zhijing felt even more uneasy.

But he had been in Annan Province before, and now he was in Hanzhou, with no one available. This time, he did not even bring all his personal soldiers with him, only half of them.

Meng Zhijing paced back and forth in the room anxiously, wondering in his mind which prince Liu Yuan and his son had the best relationship with?
Liu Zheng had been to Singapore and Persia, and had worked with both Prince Zhao Qi and Prince Zhao Yi.

It is said that when Zhao Yi first arrived in Persia, he wanted to start a massacre, so he asked the then Governor Zhang Xuan and Commander-in-Chief Chen Xiaodao to vote. It was Chen Xiaodao who raised his hand first. Not long after, Zhang Xuan was transferred away and later replaced by Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng strongly supported Zhao Yi's approach. He killed many Persians in Persia and quickly put down the resistance in various parts of Persia. Liu Zheng was appreciated by Zhao Yi for this.

Meng Zhijing thought again about his relationship with Zhao Qi. Zhao Qi was a weak, kind-hearted, and indecisive person. Even he himself did not think he had the qualities to be a king.

Thinking about it this way, Liu Yuan and his son might have already defected to Zhao Yi.

Qin Chen is Zhao Yi's uncle, so they are naturally of the same mind?

Oh no! Meng Zhijing was horrified when he thought of this. Maybe Zhao Yi wanted them to ambush the emperor in Hanzhou?
Thinking of this, his vest and head were covered with sweat.

Would Zhao Yi be so bold?
His Majesty the Emperor is so majestic, who in the army dares to take action?
Meng Zhijing was extremely confused and walked around the house for several minutes. Suddenly, his eyes lit up: "Is there a civilian telegraph office in Hanzhou City?"

All telegraph offices in the Song Dynasty were state-owned, and were divided into military and civilian ones.

He Xiong, the confidant, stepped forward immediately and said, “Yes.”

"Let Tao Jun come and send a telegram to the Provincial Commander of Annan Province."

Meng Zhijing still holds the title of Commander-in-Chief of Annan Province. As long as he does not take over as Governor-General, he can mobilize the troops of Annan Province in one day.

Tao Jun walked in quickly.

"Go out and find a civilian telegraph office and send a telegram to the city government."

"1. Order the commander to immediately order the Champa navy to prepare for war, and Liang to organize the troops and equipment."

"2. Immediately have the military commander contact the Emperor. If necessary, send the navy to greet and escort them."

"3. Tell His Majesty the Emperor that Hanzhou is under Level martial law."

Meng Zhijing said a few words, and Tao Jun took the order and left.

But after a while, he came back in despair.

He came back and said that the civil telegraph office was closed and the machine was broken, so we'll talk about it in a few days.

"..." Meng Zhijing.

Meng Zhijing said without hesitation: "You must find a way to go out to sea immediately, whether by boat or by swimming, you must swim to Champa."

Tao Jun's face was full of black lines, but he didn't hesitate and nodded immediately, saying yes.

Hanzhou City is not far from Champa, only about two thousand miles away.

Of course Meng Zhijing was joking when he asked him to swim over. He must have wanted him to find a way to get out to the sea.

But before Tao Jun left the house, someone outside suddenly came to report: "Report."

"Sir, Master Qin Shouwen is here to visit."

Qin Chen’s son is here.

Meng Zhijing was stunned, and turned around to see Tao Jun also looking at him.

"You go out first." Meng Zhijing said.

Yes, Tao Jun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to swim to Champa either.

Meng Zhijing was not very familiar with Qin Shouwen. When he just came here from Annan Province some time ago, Qin Chen invited him to a family dinner, and that was how he got to know Qin Shouwen.

Qin Shouwen is the president of a bank and is considered half a civil servant, which, in Meng Zhijing's opinion, is a bit of a disadvantage.

The Qin family was the biggest contributor to Emperor Zhao Yurui's ascension to the throne. Although Qin Chen's father had been the prime minister, the status of Qin Chen and his son's generation was getting worse and worse.

Qin Chen became the governor, Qin Shouwen became the bank president, and later Qin Chen’s grandson was probably just an ordinary official.

"Please let President Qin in." Meng Zhijing muttered to himself as he walked out. Officials above the sixth rank were not allowed to leave without permission.

Although Qin Shouwen is not a formal official, the position of bank president definitely pays more than the salary of a sixth-rank official.

Can Qin Shouwen visit you at will?
After a while, Meng Zhijing saw Qin Shouwen in the guest room.

"Shou Wen meets Uncle Meng." Qin Shou Wen was quite respectful and called him uncle as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Shou Wen, no need to be polite. Please take a seat. What happened in Hanzhou?" Meng Zhijing went straight to the point and asked directly what happened.

"To be honest, my father fell down last night."

"Ah." Meng Zhijing almost stood up, his face full of shock: "Is Governor Qin okay?"

"It's nothing serious. I had a headache last night. After taking some medicine, I fell asleep." Qin Shouwen sighed: "Father is old. I didn't expect him to fall suddenly--"

Qin Shouwen meant that Qin Chen fell down and still wanted to get up to do things, but Qin Shouwen felt sorry for his father's health and wanted him to rest.

As a result, Qin Chen said that the emperor was coming soon and he couldn't rest.

Qin Shouwen had no choice but to give his father some medicine and let him sleep well.

Because the emperor was coming and his father was ill, in order to prevent unrest in Hanzhou, he discussed with Liu Yuan and took the initiative to launch a third-level martial law.

Hearing this, Meng Zhijing's face turned pale. Qin Shouwen had already violated the rules and laws.

Not to mention drugging your father?

Meng Zhijing certainly didn't believe it: "Can I meet Governor Qin?"

"Of course, I'm just taking Uncle Meng to have a look."

Meng Zhijing stood up on the spot and wanted to go see Qin Chen with Qin Shouwen.

When he walked out of the house, he winked at Tao Jun, and Tao Jun immediately slipped out through the back door.

When Meng Zhijing arrived at Qin's house, he saw Qin Chen sleeping on the bed. He sat quietly beside the bed and could see that Qin Chen's breathing was relatively normal.

He is definitely not dead, but it is definitely not right for him to be sleeping all the time.

Qin Shouwen waited for him to look for a while, then led him to the yard outside.

"According to the laws of the court, if the governor has something urgent to do, the local commander-in-chief and governor can temporarily take over his position." Therefore, Qin Shouwen believed that there was no problem with Liu Yuan issuing a third-level martial law order.

"Where is the strict envoy?" Meng Zhijing asked.

"The strict rules made it so unfortunate that I was also sick at home."

"..." Meng Zhijing's face turned pale.

Without the participation of the governor, Liu Yuan was even more illegal.

"I'll go back first." Meng Zhijing wanted to leave here and think of a solution. He was sure that something had happened here.

"Uncle Meng." Qin Shouwen called him.

Meng Zhijing turned around.

Qin Shouwen asked: "Where is Zhian now?"

Meng Zhian is the son of Meng Zhijing. He is currently studying at a university in Beijing and will graduate next year.

I took part in the imperial examination last summer, but failed.

"Zhi'an is studying at a university in Beijing," Meng Zhijing said solemnly. "He should graduate next year."

"Yes." Meng Zhijing didn't understand why Qin Shouwen said this.

"Your father, Mr. Meng, has made great military achievements for the Song Dynasty. He destroyed the Jin Dynasty, repelled Mongolia, fought against the Western Xia, and suppressed Central Asia. He can be regarded as the number one war god of the Song Dynasty."

Meng Zhijing looked proud and as if it was a matter of course.

"But the imperial court cannot be inherited, so young talents like Zhian have to take the imperial examinations again and again. Shouwen thinks this is really unfair."

Suddenly, Meng Zhijing's face turned red, and he looked at Qin Shouwen in disbelief.

This statement is equivalent to criticizing Emperor Zhao Yurui's national policy.

"When Uncle Meng was Zhian's age, he would at least be a battalion commander, right?"

"When Mr. Meng was Zhian's age, he would have been a commander at least, right?"

"Zhi An is still studying now. When Zhi An's son reaches this age in the future, won't he also have to study?"

"Each generation of the Meng family is getting worse and worse. Uncle Meng, do you think this is fair?"

Meng Zhijing said in a deep voice: "This is the court's policy, not ours to discuss. It is the same for everyone, so it is naturally fair."

"But this - can be changed -" Qin Shouwen said meaningfully and turned away.

Watching Qin Shouwen leave, Meng Zhijing's mind was in a mess.

We conquered a kingdom, but we cannot pass it down to our descendants. Is this fair? Meng Zhijing thought again. Throughout the history of the Central Plains, thousands of years ago, whose kingdom was not like this?

There are no nobles in that court?

Why did each generation become worse than the previous one when it came to the Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Yurui?
Is this fair?

He returned home with a gloomy face, and as soon as he entered the house, he saw Tao Jun standing in the yard, covered in dust.

"Why are you back?" Meng Zhijing was shocked.

Tao Jun looked grim: "I was caught when I went out and told to go back home and stop running around."

Meng Zhijing closed his eyes and felt deeply powerless.

"Do you want to think of another way?" asked confidant He Xiong in a deep voice.

Meng Zhijing didn't speak for a long time. After a moment of silence, he finally shook his head and said, "Let's wait and see what happens."

"There's nothing we can do right now. Sometimes if we do too much, we'll end up making mistakes."

Ming Wang Zhao Yi might want to launch a military coup to seize power. Meng Zhijing thought that if he did nothing now, he could protect himself.

Once he stands opposite Zhao Yi, he might be killed. Even if Zhao Yi fails, he might die first.

Once he stands on Zhao Yi's side, if Zhao Yi fails, he will also die.

In this case, I can't pretend to be deaf and dumb. After all, it was Zhao Yi who put me under house arrest. I don't have to make any mistakes if I do nothing. -
March 28th.

A fort somewhere in the Strait of Malacca.

Tan Cong stood on the observation deck, where there was a huge telescope through which he could see the sea in the distance.

He had been standing here for half a day, and finally, a Song Dynasty navy warship appeared on the sea surface in the distance.

After a while, I saw the second ship.

After waiting for a while, Tan Cong secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see the third ship.

Fortunately, King Ming only has two ships.

If the King of Ming really brings more than a dozen ships, should he stop them or not?

"Has Qi Zhiquan sent a telegram?" Tan Cong asked, turning around.

"not yet."

Qi Zhiquan took five speed ships and more than 500 naval officers to Banten City (Jakarta).

The journey is about two thousand miles, which usually takes four or five days to get there. According to the time, Qi Zhiquan should have arrived.

But why hasn't the telegram come yet?

Also, according to the king's warships, there must be one with a telegraph, but there has been no signal.

This is not normal. Not every ship in the Song Dynasty has a telegraph, but the ships carrying princes and local officials will definitely have one.

They kept contacting Ming Wang, but got no response and no signal.

Thinking of this, Tan Cong looked around and whispered to his subordinates: "Send someone to approach with a small boat and go forward to see if the Ming King is there."

"promise."

"Let their boat dock on that side--" Tan Cong pointed in a direction.

There are countless artillery batteries over there, and any ships that come ashore will be within the range of the giant cannons.

"promise."

"Do the guards have bullets?"

Tan Cong brought a team of personal soldiers with him, all of whom were equipped with Type 35 rifles and were required to bring bullets.

"Bring them all."

"Yeah." Tan Cong relaxed a little.

He wanted to remind himself not to be too nervous, but it was impossible not to be nervous, especially since his immediate boss, Yan Le, sent him several telegrams a day, asking him to be careful.

In less than half an hour, two warships in the distance approached the Malacca coastline. Tan Cong sent a small speedboat closer and boarded the ship first.

After a while, someone waved a flag to them, and Tan Cong breathed a sigh of relief again. He felt relieved that Ming Wang was on the boat.

The two ships were quickly guided ashore by them.

Tan Cong took people to the dock to pay homage to the Ming King.

Zhao Yi appeared at the dock with a gloomy look on his face. Seeing Tan Cong, he sneered, "What does Commander Tan mean by sending someone to the ship to see if I am here?"

"I dare not, I am just following orders to protect the king's safety."

"Whether the king is on board or not, the level of our shore guards is different."

Zhao Yi said nothing more: "Let's take a rest, give us some supplies, and set off as soon as possible to Hanzhou to see my uncle."

"Yes." Tan Cong didn't dare to say anything more.

On the evening of the 28th, Zhao Yi's ship passed Malacca and continued to Hanzhou.

Yan Le in Borneo also received Tan Cong's telegram.

A map of the nearby area immediately appeared in Yan Le’s mind.

Yan Le spends most of the year in the provinces of Singapore, Malaysia, Annan and Borneo, and he has all the nearby sea charts in his mind.

Yan Le and Zhao Qi had previously stayed in Singapore.

Later, he thought that Zhao Yi's fleet might not all go through Malacca, so he took Zhao Qi to Borneo.

The Song Dynasty Navy has two large camps here, one in the north and one in the northwest of Borneo Province.

Yan Le and Zhao Qi stayed in the northwest camp, from which they could go west and east at any time, and intercept ships from the Sunda Strait and Banten City.

After receiving the telegram, he immediately came to report to Zhao Qi: "The Ming King's fleet has passed Malacca."

"Normally, it will take three to four days to reach us."

"I have asked Tan Cong to pass on the message that the king wants to see my third brother. He should land here."

"Hmph" Zhao Qi snorted coldly, a little unhappy.

Yan Le was determined to guard against Zhao Yi, making him think that he was trying to sow discord among the brothers, and he was still unhappy with Yan Le recently.

(End of this chapter)