Daqin arrests alchemists, what does it matter to me as a qi refiner?

Yang Ling smiled and said, "You all misunderstood my intention. I only plan to go on this trip alone. If you really want to work for me, then stay in the capital and help Han Qianhu stabilize the situation."

Yang Ling did not explain the reason. Regardless of whether they believed him or not, he was not going to stay in the capital anymore.

Seeing that everyone still insisted on accompanying him to Poyang Lake, Yang Ling had no choice but to persuade them: "I know you are doing this for my own good, but I have already made up my mind, and no one can change it. I hope that you can abide by the agreement and continue to stay in the capital to help Han Qianhu stabilize the situation in the capital. If you are willing, you can temporarily serve as the deputy commander of the capital while I am away, and fill my vacancy when I come back, or let someone else take over my duties."

Seeing this, everyone felt it was difficult to insist any longer and expressed their willingness to obey Yang Ling's orders. They would not leave the capital without permission and would continue to serve as deputy commanders as agreed.

Yang Ling nodded with satisfaction and said, "In that case, please pack your bags as soon as possible. We will set off tomorrow morning at the latest!"

The next morning, Yang Ling led 500 cavalrymen and quietly left Xiangyang.

Before leaving, Yang Ling gave Li Yun and Wang Gui 50 guards each. He said to them, "You lead your brothers to stay in Xiangyang and assist Han Qianhu in completing government affairs. If there is an emergency, you can send someone to report it."

The two men bowed and responded.

After leaving Xiangyang, Yang Ling headed straight for Poyang Lake without stopping along the way.

In the evening, Yang Ling arrived at the shore of Poyang Lake. After going ashore, he looked around and saw rippling blue waves on the river and lush reeds. The hillsides were covered with uneven trees and rugged rocks. The scenery was beautiful and lovely, like a fairyland.

"What a peaceful and tranquil place!"

Yang Ling couldn't help but sigh, and then led his troops towards the southern pier.

After arriving at the shore, Yang Ling and his troops went straight to the county government office.

After Yang Ling arrived at the county government office, Han Shizhong came out to greet him. He clasped his fists and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your subordinate greets the Governor!"

Yang Ling waved his hand and said, "No need to be polite!"

"Thank you, Governor!"

Yang Ling walked into the room and sat on the chair next to the desk. He looked around and saw a thick pile of official documents, various literature materials, and written notes behind the desk.

Yang Ling pondered for a moment, then turned around and ordered, "Captain Han, tell all the officials to come see me and tell them that they have something to discuss."

"Yes!"

Han Shizhong turned and left the study, walked out of the courtyard, and ordered the guards to gather the officials. In less than half an incense stick of time, many officials poured into the government office and stood in the middle of the hall to listen to Yang Ling's lecture.

Yang Ling sat behind the desk and said in a loud voice: "This governor has been ordered to return to the capital to report. Now, some things must be resolved immediately, otherwise there is no time to delay."

"Please give the order, my lord!"

"First, I need you to help me find two elite troops. They must be strong and well-equipped. The number of these two troops cannot be less than 3,000."

"Yes, I obey!"

"Also, while finding the two armies, try to appease the chieftains and powerful people in the surrounding counties and secure their people's hearts and minds. Li Yun will be responsible for this."

"Yes!" Li Yun replied.

Yang Ling frowned, thought for a moment, and then asked: "This Governor requires that you must organize enough food and grass to be transported to Longmen Port on the west bank of Poyang Lake within seven days. If you can't do it, or delay too long, don't blame this Governor for being ruthless!"

When everyone heard Yang Ling's warning, they secretly groaned. They had originally intended to take advantage of the opportunity to make some money, but they didn't expect to be caught by Yang Ling. Their faces turned pale and their foreheads were covered with cold sweat.

"Marshal, Poyang Lake is only more than 60 miles away from Jiangning, so transporting grain is not difficult. As long as we spend some money to buy some livestock, we can transport it to the west bank smoothly. As for pacifying the local area, we will definitely get it done as soon as possible and will never delay!" Someone bravely questioned.

Yang Ling sneered, "You mean, if you have money, you can solve all problems? If that's the case, then it's much simpler! I don't mind letting you use the money to help the victims, and to build bridges and roads, and repair houses."

Everyone couldn't help but gasp after hearing this. This guy is so cruel.

"My subordinates don't dare, my subordinates don't dare."

"Don't you dare? I don't think so! I want to remind you that I am not a saint, nor can I be compassionate and merciful. If you think there is a way to do it, you can try it!"

As soon as Yang Ling finished speaking, some officials began to murmur.

"The adults have a really weird temper. They kill people and even exterminate the whole clan at will."

"Sh ...

Yang Ling glanced at the officials who were whispering and shouted, "Shut up!"

"Yes, sir." The officials quickly fell silent, but they couldn't help but secretly glance at Yang Ling, obviously criticizing Yang Ling in their hearts.

These officials, who were used to being high and mighty, could not easily yield. In their view, although Yang Ling was the governor and had great power, it was impossible for him to kill them all.

When Yang Tinghe was in power, officials were afraid of offending him and were in awe of his authority. Unfortunately, Yang Tinghe died of illness during the Northern Expedition, and Yang Ling was still young, leaving the court leaderless. This led to Yang Ling's current arbitrary character, and no official under his rule dared to oppose Yang Ling. Now that Yang Ling wants to prepare the army, it seems absurd to these people. Not only are they not afraid, they are also secretly hoping that Yang Ling will make mistakes.

Yang Ling had guessed this situation a long time ago, so he was not angry and continued: "The second thing. I need you to build the fishery facilities on Poyang Lake within two days, especially the shipyard. I want to build a naval base here for me to train my troops."

"Don't worry, sir. We will definitely build the naval base within two days!"

Yang Ling smiled and nodded, "Very good! These two requests have been made. Is there anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Well, then you can disperse and prepare. I will inspect the results in two days."

"Yes! Your lord!"

Everyone left the county government office one after another. Yang Ling looked at the deserted streets and sighed, "Ah! You guys are so hard-working! I hope I didn't misunderstand you. Otherwise, I'm really sorry!"

At this point, Yang Ling turned around and asked Han Shizhong: "Captain Han, is there a place to eat now?"

"Uh wait a moment sir."

Han Shizhong ran away in a hurry, and came back after a while, leading Yang Ling out of the county government office.

Han Shizhong took Yang Ling to the back door of the county government office and pointed to the main street outside: "Sir, look, over there is the property we bought near Poyang Lake!"

Yang Ling looked up and saw many vendors and stalls hidden in the street corners in the distance.

Yang Ling couldn't help but sigh. In this era, prices are higher than in later times. The monthly salary of ordinary people is probably only about three strings of cash. For a son of an official like him, after paying his salary and bonus, he probably doesn't have much left. At this time, Han Shizhong suddenly said, "Sir, I have seen many merchants when I was in the capital. These merchants have set up businesses along the Poyang Lake, and some even have warehouses. It is said that they make a lot of money. Why don't we follow their example?"

"Oh?" Yang Ling's eyes lit up when he heard that.

The currency circulation in this era mainly relied on copper, iron, silk and silk. Copper, iron and silk were all in the hands of the nobles, and copper coins could not be circulated at all; only silk and silk were the easiest to obtain. Because silk and silk were very easy to use or sell for huge profits.

"In that case, let's buy a few warehouses near Poyang Lake, hire merchants, and build a dock."

"okay!"

Han Shizhong agreed. He was originally worried that Yang Ling would reject his proposal. After all, Yang Ling was an imperial envoy, how could he do this job personally?

Han Shizhong was about to invite Yang Ling to have something to eat, when Yang Ling suddenly remembered that he had met Wang Ren and Zhang Guodong at the post house last night, and asked, "By the way, what happened at the post house last night?"

"Your Excellency, Wang Renhe was attacked by an assassin at the posthouse last night and was seriously injured. He is now recovering in the clinic."

"What? Stabbed by an assassin?" Yang Ling was shocked: "Are there other assassins living in the post station?"

Han Shizhong shook his head and whispered, "I don't know. But from the on-site investigation, Wang Renhe was ambushed. The assassin was short and fat, and it should be a female assassin!"

Yang Ling heaved a sigh of relief immediately. He originally thought that there were other hostile elements infiltrating the inn. If that was the case, then he would be to blame.

However, if Wang Renhe was attacked, it would be a big trouble and he had to return home quickly.

After thinking about it, Yang Ling immediately ordered Han Shizhong: "Pass the order down, start the expedition at 1:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, and make sure to arrive in Jiangning City before midnight."

After leaving the county government office, Yang Ling went straight to the prefect's mansion.

When they arrived at the gate of the prefectural government, they saw Li Chunfang and Chen Youliang standing at the gate of the courtyard accompanied by several civil and military officials.

"Greetings, His Excellency the Imperial Envoy!" Everyone hurriedly bowed to greet him.

Yang Ling nodded slightly to everyone and then asked, "Master Li, Master Chen, the post house was ambushed by assassins last night. Wang Ren and Wang Yushi were seriously injured. I wonder if there are still assassins lurking in the post house?"

Li Chunfang's face showed a solemn expression, and he replied: "Your Majesty, Wang Yushi's injuries are serious, and he is now unconscious in the room. The specific situation is not clear yet."

At this time, someone said, "Master Yang, don't worry too much. The posthouse is a government agency with strict defense. Even if the gang of thugs are assassins, they can't escape the law!"

Yang Ling looked at the person who was speaking and found that he was in his forties or fifties with a goatee. He looked at him for a moment and then asked, "Who are you?"

"I am the prefect Wu Zongxian!"

"It's you, Lord Wu. Nice to meet you." Yang Ling bowed, then turned to Li Chunfang and said in a deep voice, "Lord Wu is right. Jiangning City is our capital, and we will not allow scoundrels to run wild. I wonder what measures Lord Wu thinks we should take?"

Wu Zongxian narrowed his eyes slightly, stroked his goatee and said thoughtfully: "As far as I know, the posthouse was robbed last night, and Wang Renhe was seriously injured by the thieves. But the thieves did not kill Wang Renhe, which is enough to show that the thieves wanted to capture Wang Renhe alive. Because only by capturing Wang Renhe can they force me to hand over the grain and silver."

"Then according to Lord Wu, our top priority should be to rescue Censor Wang?"

"Exactly!"

Yang Ling snorted coldly, "I just heard that Censor Wang has been sent to the posthouse for treatment. His current condition is still unknown. If we rashly send someone to rescue him, wouldn't that give the thieves an opportunity to take advantage of us?"

Wu Zongxian was stunned for a moment before he said, "Master Yang is right. It is true that I did not think it through properly! What does Master Yang think of the assassination? Is there a suspect?"

Yang Ling sneered and said, "I think this assassination case is the same type of treason as the last assassination case."

"Oh, how do you explain that?"

Yang Ling said in a deep voice: "Let's not talk about why the assassin wanted to assassinate Wang Renhe. Wang Renhe's prestige in Jiangning City alone is enough to shake the people. If he falls, Jiangning will inevitably be shaken. Jiangning is the capital of the Ming Dynasty. No matter who sits on the throne, they don't want to see Jiangning in chaos. Because as long as there is chaos, Jiangning's stability will collapse."

"Master Yang is right!"

Yang Ling paused for a moment, and then continued, "So, the mastermind behind the assassination of Wang Renhe will definitely be desperate and wait for an opportunity to assassinate him. My opinion is that we can pretend to be attacked by the assassin and lure him into the trap!"

"Wonderful!" everyone cheered in unison.

Yang Ling continued to analyze, "Although the assassins are highly skilled in martial arts, we have 3,000 soldiers and we have the advantage of terrain. It will not be easy for them to escape successfully. If they take the risk and choose to attack, it will be just what I want. As long as we block them in the posthouse, the assassins will not be able to escape even if they have wings!"

Li Chunfang and others expressed their strong agreement.

Li Chunfang was silent for a moment, then said, "But if we let the assassin escape or kill him, the assassination will soon spread across the country, and have a very bad impact on our Ming army."

Yang Ling said calmly: "The assassins are the enemies of our Ming Dynasty. Killing them is to eliminate harm for the people. Moreover, this time it was the assassins who took the initiative to provoke. I have the full power to kill any bandit who dares to challenge the dignity of the court."

Li Chunfang smiled bitterly and said, "Well, I hope Lord Yang can arrest the assassin as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, Lord Li. This is my duty."

Li Chunfang nodded: "Then let's prepare to send troops now."

"Yes." Yang Ling nodded and ordered: "You lead your subordinates to escort me to the posthouse. Remember to ensure the safety of the imperial envoy. If anything goes wrong, you will be held responsible."

"I will follow Lord Yang's orders."

Yang Ling led several hundred soldiers and rushed to the post station to transport food and fodder.

When Yang Ling rushed to the posthouse, he saw that the perimeter of the posthouse was filled with Imperial Guards and Embroidered Uniform Guards in Dutch armor and holding spears, and the security was extremely strict.

Yang Ling dismounted, clasped his hands and bowed to the many imperial guards and imperial guards around him, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, brothers. Please allow me to go in and pay my respects to Censor Wang and comfort him."

Many soldiers made way.

Yang Ling entered the inn and went straight to the room.

Inside the room, Wang Renhe was lying on the bed, unconscious, his face extremely pale. There were several maids beside him serving him tea and water and taking care of him.

"How is Censor Wang?"

"Reporting to the Imperial Envoy, Censor Wang was stabbed in the chest. His life is in danger. I'm afraid he won't survive until dinner time today."

Hearing this news, Yang Ling's heart skipped a beat. (End of this chapter)