“Exactly, look at his composed demeanor, and those old geezers from the Qian family. Mingzhou is on the verge of falling, yet they dare to swagger onto a boat here. Isn’t that a clear sign they’re in cahoots with the rebels?”
Han Mo said dismissively.
“But, but…”
Jiang Yan’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. He suddenly found himself unable to speak.
This was too outrageous!
Based on such a minor detail, Han Mo had made such a bold conjecture.
Even more preposterous was that Qian Lang, who had something to hide, actually admitted to it…
At this point, he didn’t know what he should say.
“Remember one thing: the more prominent a family is, the less they are willing to take even the slightest risk. Mingzhou is not only crucial to the Pu family, but how could it not be important to the Qian family as well? Do you really think they are content to merely receive a small share of the profits each year? A person’s appetite always grows. The Qian family has become a monstrous beast that devours wealth over the years; no amount of money can satisfy their hunger. Even if I didn’t intervene, they would soon make a move against the Pu family!”
Since they were alone, Han Mo was happy to impart some wisdom to Jiang Yan.
“I’m actually quite curious now. If Qian Lang knew that you deduced this, would he smash his head against a wall to die…”
A long while later, Jiang Yan finally said with a wicked grin.
“Whether he smashes his head or not, I don’t know. However, with their move, the common folk of Mingzhou should fare much better!”
This was truly an unexpected bonus. Although the task of collecting grain and fodder had been handed over to Li Yueyang and the others, Han Mo understood that it was as difficult as trying to reach the heavens for them to borrow grain from wealthy families.
With the Qian family’s perfect assist, the remaining work would be much smoother.
The more grain they could gather, the better the lives of the common people would become.
After all, such large-scale displacement caused immense losses for ordinary citizens.
But Han Mo knew even better that if they were left outside the city, their fate would be even more tragic.
Although these rebels claimed to be acting on behalf of Heaven, their origins were too complex. They were essentially a disorganized rabble.
With their diverse troop composition, they lacked any semblance of military discipline. Acts of burning, killing, and looting were unavoidable.
By moving into the city, although their property suffered considerable losses, at least they were still alive, and their wives and daughters would not be violated.
However, after the rebels dispersed, it would likely take them a very long time to recover their strength…
“By the way, how is General Wang doing? What has he been up to these past couple of days?”
After exhaling a long sigh, Han Mo asked again.
“Don’t even mention it. I don’t know what’s gotten into General Wang these past few days. He and his officers have become obsessed with fishing. They go out to sea before dawn every day. Today, he even sent someone to deliver a basket of fish to you…”
“Fishing at sea?”
Hearing Jiang Yan’s words, Han Mo’s face immediately broke into a satisfied smile.
“Isn’t that right? With the rebels about to arrive, he’s neglecting his duties at a time like this. Master, do you want to go and reprimand him!”
Jiang Yan had wanted to mention this for a long time but hadn’t found an excuse. Now that it was brought up, he quickly tested the waters.
“Why should I reprimand him? It’s just a personal hobby. Alright, since the court sent him here, they trust his abilities. Let’s just do what we’re supposed to do. The matter of military strategy should be left to his own judgment!”
Han Mo smiled nonchalantly, put his hands behind his back, hummed a tune, and slowly returned to his room.
That fellow had come up with a pretty good excuse, but his acting skills were slightly over the top.
“Husband, you’re really not going to do anything?”
Seeing Han Mo leave just like that, Jiang Yan asked in disbelief.
“Zip your mouth. Oh, and tell the kitchen tomorrow morning that I want to have fish porridge!”
Han Mo tossed this remark back as he returned to his study.
He needed to reorganize the court’s maritime trade offices, and there was a lot of preparatory work to be done at this time.
Of course, besides these matters, Han Mo had also begun to plan his money-making strategies anew.
The Zhe family was indeed raking in gold daily, but in Han Mo’s opinion, the pace of making money was still too slow. He urgently needed a large sum of quick cash.
The navy was the most expensive force in the world. To completely absorb the Pu family’s decades of hard work, Han Mo not only needed support from the government but also a massive amount of money.
For this, he hadn’t slept properly for days. Buried in his work, he had lost a considerable amount of weight.
“Big Brother, I specially cooked a bowl of chicken soup for you. Drink it while it’s hot!”
When Han Mo looked up again, it was already the third watch.
Seeing Han Mo’s bloodshot eyes, Liang Hongyu said softly.
“Time has flown by again without me noticing. Put it there. It’s getting late; you should go back and rest!”
Although they now had a sibling relationship, they were still a man and a woman alone, especially at this late hour.
Regardless, Liang Hongyu was about to get married, so Han Mo had to pay extra attention to these details.
“Mhm!”
Hearing Han Mo’s words, Liang Hongyu could only nod, then walked out of Han Mo’s study, looking back repeatedly.
————————————————————wΑp.kanshu伍.net
“Da Lang, this is the latest news from Mingzhou. Do you think this is useful?”
“Well done! This fellow named Han is practically courting death!”
After reading the intelligence handed over by his subordinate, Pu Jinshan slapped the table and stood up abruptly.
He had been in Suzhou City for a full day, but only now did he realize that killing Han Mo was not such a simple matter.
Although he had established contact with Wang Xiang, the third-ranked official and Deputy Pacification Commissioner of the Southeast Six Routes Pacification Commissioner’s Office, through the hidden channels of the Pu family, he had been lacking a charge that could condemn Han Mo to death.
Now that he had this information, he felt a sense of immense relief.