“This time, it’s fair to say Zhu Ping’an got lucky, he got tangled up with Mei Cun, Mei Cun’s report on the sea sacrifice victory even listed him as the primary contributor, if it weren’t for Mei Cun, we’d have suppressed this sea sacrifice triumph, kept it from the court, or shifted his credit to someone else, just like we did with Yu Dayou back in the day.”
One official said with a hint of regret, bringing up the old case of Yu Dayou.
Back then, when Yu Dayou quelled Fan Ziyi’s rebellion in Annan, Yan Song buried his achievements, didn’t report them, and only gave Yu Dayou a measly 50 taels of silver as a reward.
“I don’t know what Mei Cun was thinking, I remember Young Master Yan specifically instructed him when he took up the sea sacrifice envoy post to firmly keep Zhu Ping’an’s rise in check, ideally crush him dead, didn’t he swear up and down he’d go to Jiangnan and ensure Zhu Ping’an had no chance to turn things around?! How is it that not long after arriving in Jiangnan, he flipped, and in the sea sacrifice victory report, he listed Zhu Ping’an as the top contributor?!”
Another official, clearly displeased with Zhao Wenhua naming Zhu Ping’an the key figure in the sea sacrifice victory, seized the chance to stir the pot.
Though the Yan faction stood united against outsiders, it wasn’t a monolith internally—competition abounded.
Opportunities were limited, the pie only so big, everyone wanted a bigger slice.
“About that, Zhao Wenhua sent me and the old man a secret letter before submitting the sea sacrifice victory report, explaining the whole story, don’t be fooled by his claim that he used himself as bait to lure the pirates into an ambush for an unprecedented victory, in truth, he had no prior knowledge, he didn’t know the pirates would send their elite to attack the sea sacrifice, it was Zhu Ping’an who sensed something, prepared in advance, when the pirates raided at night and the other armies collapsed, with Zhao Wenhua himself nearly falling into their hands, it was Zhu Ping’an who led the Zhejiang army to turn the tide, almost all the gains from the sea sacrifice victory came from Zhu Ping’an’s forces alone.”
“Since the sea sacrifice ceremony was such a grand affair, with so many people present—half of Jiangnan’s officialdom, the Emperor’s inner attendants, Taoist priests, commoners, and more—it couldn’t be hushed up, plus, Zhu Ping’an’s wife’s uncle was there, and Zhu Ping’an has the right to submit secret memorials directly to the Emperor, Zhao Wenhua couldn’t cover it all up single-handedly, in the end, he could only fudge things, claiming he used himself as bait, set a grand trap, lured the pirates in, and offered them as the ultimate sacrifice for the ceremony, stealing the lion’s share of the credit, as for Zhu Ping’an, he had to settle for being listed as second to Zhao Wenhua.”
Yan Shifan revealed the inside scoop.
“What?”
“So Zhu Ping’an really lucked out this time, huh, with so many people involved in the sea sacrifice ceremony, it was indeed impossible to keep under wraps.”
“This was an exception, if it weren’t for the ceremony and all those witnesses, we could’ve buried his achievements unreported, even with his right to secret memorials, it wouldn’t have been a problem.”
The gathered officials sighed after hearing this.
“Let him have his luck this time! Next time, he won’t be so fortunate!” one official declared.
“Next time? He thinks there’ll be a next time?! Heh, the pirates aren’t pushovers, the merits Zhu Ping’an earned before were all small fry, a thousand pirates at most, with his petty cleverness, he could handle small skirmishes and snag some minor gains! Now the pirate threat in Jiangnan is escalating, their forces swelling fast, word is Xu Hai, Ma Ye, Chen Dong, and others have gathered forty to fifty thousand in Songjiang Prefecture’s Tuolin, not to mention Wang Zhi’s near hundred thousand under his command, going forward, pirate incursions will only grow larger, tens of thousands at a time, Zhu Ping’an’s small-time tricks might work for cheap wins, but big battles with tens of thousands? That’s not something petty smarts can handle, next time, he’ll be lucky to keep his head.”
Luo Longwen chuckled, analysing the rising pirate threat in Jiangnan and downplaying Zhu Ping’an’s prospects.
“Exactly, Zhu Ping’an’s just got a bit of petty cleverness, that’s all, if there’s another pirate mess involving him, what we’ll hear next won’t be his victory report—it’ll be his obituary.”
Someone quickly agreed.
“Leading troops in battle isn’t like writing essays, Zhu Ping’an might have some skill with a brush, but commanding an army is a whole different game, his little tricks might get him by in small-scale fights, but in a real war, he’s just another Zhao Kuo.”
Another chimed in.
“Right, Zhu Ping’an’s nothing to worry about, even his mentor Xu Jie has bowed to the Grand Secretary, completely submissive, let alone a mere upstart like him, a bit of petty cleverness, nothing to fear, if we want to deal with him, we can deal with him.”
An official at the table spoke with brimming confidence.
“Don’t underestimate Zhu Ping’an, back then I said there were three great talents in the world—Yang Bo, Lu Bing, and myself, but today I’ll revise that, there are three and a half great talents, Zhu Ping’an counts as half a talent.”
Yan Shifan took a sip of wine from a concubine’s cherry lips, slipped his hand into her clothes to fondle her, and spoke with a look of relish.
“Him, half a talent? How could he even compare to half of Young Master Yan, not even close!”
The seated officials protested.
“Heh, think about it, he came from a humble village, no roots, no backing, not yet twenty and he topped the imperial exams, I might scoff at eight-part essays, but to become the top scholar, his literary talent speaks for itself, no need to elaborate, you all know what he did in the capital—repeatedly impeaching our faction, scoring hits every time, even making the old man reluctant to kill him out of admiration for his talent, we drove him out of the capital, banished him to a small Jiangnan county, yet he seized the pirate troubles, racking up merit again and again, climbing to fourth rank, the Emperor still remembers him, even granted him the right to secret memorials, honestly, if he weren’t sitting on the wrong side, opposing us, I’d almost feel a kinship with him.”
Yan Shifan shook his head slightly, recounting Zhu Ping’an’s feats with a mix of irritation and reluctant admiration.
“Heh, Brother Donglou, history’s full of clever little men beyond counting, but only the ones who grow up count as talents, if he falls halfway, he’s no different from a dead dog by the roadside.”
Luo Longwen chuckled, his hatred for Zhu Ping’an etched into his bones, never missing a chance to shovel dirt on him.
If anyone here most wanted Zhu Ping’an dead, Luo Longwen was undoubtedly in the top tier, no question.
“Heh, since Zhu Ping’an can only snag small wins against the pirates with his petty tricks, why don’t we steer a pirate army his way, give him a big battle, heh, if he dies, it’s just his incompetence.”
Luo Longwen finished with a sinister suggestion.
“Hahaha, all the blame goes to the pirates, brilliant, brilliant, Brother Luo’s idea is pure genius!”
The group burst into laughter.
Yan Shifan gave a faint smile, nodding approvingly at Luo Longwen.
