Fierce Consort

Chapter 79

Luo Huai Yuan had used the pseudonym of Chen Yun this entire time. Therefore, Xie Mao didn't know his real identity.

All sorts of thoughts stirred in his mind as Luo Huai Yuan smiled: "Uncle Xie shouldn't overthink things. Actually this little nephew isn't here for anything else. There's only one thing."

Xie Mao asked expressionlessly: "What is it?"

Luo Huai Yuan revealed a slightly embarrassed expression and mumbled: "Err, that, this little nephew reckons the embargo will be successfully lifted, and came to test the waters first. I wanna see if I can earn enough to get married."

Xie Mao almost spat the tea in his mouth out. Earning capital for marriage?

He looked Luo Huai Yuan up and down. Since this was someone under the Zhenguo Duke, he shouldn't be lacking in money. Why would he risk the dangers and come to such a place to, err, earn money for marriage?

Of course these thoughts were just for an instant. Since he knew about the lifting of the embargo and since he had such connections, perhaps things weren't as simple as it seemed? Having been an official outside for many years, no one understood the thoughts of other officials better than Xie Mao.
Reputation, status and wealth were all needed.

But there were very few who could actually achieve this. Officials would have wealth, but this wealth depended on what methods they used to get it. A slight misstep would result in loss of reputation, which would naturally mean a loss of position.
To advance, it was necessary to send gifts to the higher ups. Apart from that, they also had to send gifts for holidays, birthdays and so on. This all required silver.

Those who could remain stably in their positions, such as the Zhenguo Duke, all didn't lack money. This was because there would be people sending it up by themselves. But this sort of wealth cannot be casually accepted. Often times accepting it was easy but digesting it was hard.

Therefore, people in their position would be more cautious than normal people. Even if they take the wealth, they would do so openly.

This time Xie Mao knew an opportunity had arrived. The court wanted to set up a navy in Fujian led by Shen Xuan. Xie Mao would be the vice-commander. From the surface, going from the commander of Fujian to a minor commander of a navy seemed to be a demotion. However, when this was announced, there were quite a few envious people.

Why was the topic of lifting the embargo so hotly contested? Everything else was just side issues. The point was that the benefits within weren't divided evenly enough.

There were many officials in the court arguing every day. The Zhenguo Duke sat on the side watching the tigers fight without saying anything. However, he had already secretly planted a flag here himself.

No matter how much benefits they got, would they have military authority here? Anyone wanting to import or export needed the navy's protection.
Everything entering and leaving would be under the navy's nose. At that time, with the navy overseeing the entire ocean territory, would they be lacking in benefits? After a hundred years of embargo, how many troops of the navy were still presentable? Shen Xuan's Chaohu Prefecture's navy happened to be the only one remaining.

Of course this was all kept hidden. Even if someone knew about it, there would be a tacit understanding.
The only problem that remained was how to do things in an acceptable way without leaving any traces behind. In such a position, there would be many people waiting to seize evidence of any wrongdoing. There were many things he couldn't personally do.

Could this junior be here to fulfill this role?
Otherwise, how would they dare hang around in Fujian with so few people? He clearly had a letter but waited until everything was already in place before taking it out.