42. Pulling Strings for My Brother-in-Law

Zhang Xi was quite clever. He suggested that since they were transporting military equipment, they needed official documents and clearance passes through the checkpoints. While the weapons were acquired through illicit sales, the receiving institution was a genuine military organ.

It would be best to fly a banner on the ship to indicate its identity as a military vessel, allowing the Zhang family's archers to board directly and travel freely across prefectures and counties. If the Divine Arm Crossbows were intercepted and robbed by anyone, Zhang Xun wouldn't even have a place to cry.

Besides, since they were already doing it, why not give him two more banners, and alter the official documents to change one ship into two or three? It didn't matter. Lu Xiufu was the son-in-law of their Zhang family, and Ma Yong was a military commander under the Zhang family's in-laws. Everyone was family either way, so what was there to fear?

You are quite calculating indeed. Zhang Xun had realized long ago that this fellow Zhang San was freakishly clever and truly adept at scheming.

Zhang Xun didn't want to get involved in the details; as long as he could get his hands on two hundred Divine Arm Crossbows, he didn't care about anything else. As for whether you were trading goods or smuggling contraband, that was your own affair.

With Zhang Xun's word, Zhang Xi looked at Lu Xiufu once more. Lu Xiufu, who was currently relying on Zhang Xun for help, had no choice but to close his eyes and add a few more strokes of the brush to the official document. What else could he do? Zhang Xun was paying out of his own pocket to arm the imperial court's regular troops—could he possibly curse Zhang Xun for plotting rebellion and treason? Thinking about it, that was impossible; his own brother-in-law simply wasn't cut out for rebellion.

If he wanted to rebel, he should be colluding with the Taihu water bandits, networking with the Huainan salt smugglers, hoarding grain and forage, and forging weapons at this very moment.

*Hiss...*

Lu Xiufu turned back to look at Zhang Xun, who was chatting and laughing with Zhang Xi, and forcefully pushed down the fleeting thought that had just flashed through his mind. Nothing like it at all, absolutely nothing like it.

The most unconvincing part was that Zhang Xun wasn't recruiting soldiers; he didn't even have a few thousand veteran troops under his command, so how could he rebel? Even without regular veterans, he would at least need a few thousand veteran bandits. When Yang Xiuqing rebelled, he managed to gather several thousand charcoal burners. When Huang Chao rebelled, he recruited private salt merchants directly, and Zhu Yuanzhang had good luck, acquiring the ready-made forces of the Guo family.

Without troops experienced in military formations and accustomed to drilling, how could one rebel?

Impossible, utterly impossible.

Once the official documents were signed and sealed, and the itinerary approved by Changzhou Deputy Commander Ma Yong, Zhang Xi happily headed to the left and right storehouses to collect the gold ingots and silver bars.

"I must still trouble you with this, younger brother." Lu Xiufu cast aside his chaotic thoughts and focused entirely on demanding twenty thousand bushels of summer grain from Zhang Xun.

It was still about a month away before the summer grain harvest could be collected. Lu Xiufu had finally hammered out an agreement with the prefectural officials of both Changzhou and Runzhou: Changzhou would deliver fifty thousand bushels to the Runzhou Agricultural Bureau Granary, and Runzhou would deliver forty thousand bushels to the Jiankang Agricultural Bureau Granary.

Judging by the actual collection practices of the Song Dynasty's summer grain and autumn taxes, the wealthy households invariably made advance payments first, after which the court issued official warrants for the wealthy families to collect the dues themselves within their rural districts.

"I will dispatch men to escort the boats to Runzhou right away." Since his brother-in-law had just helped them handle a matter, Zhang Xun naturally had to give face; in this world, if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, and everyone helps carry the sedan chair.

"You have ships?" Lu Xiufu asked with slight surprise.

"I do, though not many." Zhang Xun almost let a slip of the tongue escape.

He was indeed preparing tribute grain boats, but those were meant to be offered to Bayan's invading army against Song. He was having them built in secret, one today, another tomorrow. Bayan needed at least several hundred of them, so Zhang Xun had to prepare them covertly behind the scenes.

"Then I shall rely on you." Lu Xiufu did not press further; it wasn't unusual for the old Zhang family to own a few tribute transport vessels.

Since they were already supposed to assist the government in collecting tax grain, what did it matter if they owned a few two-hundred-bushel tribute boats? Having hundreds or thousands of them would be the truly surprising part.

"Since my eldest brother-in-law has successfully handled this errand, shouldn't you maneuver for a promotion?" Regarding the recent illicit sale of military equipment, Zhang Xun discovered that having a brother-in-law in charge of the warehouse certainly had its perks.

Now Lu Xiufu had set up the agricultural granaries in Runzhou and Jiankang. Logically speaking, given that he was a successful imperial scholar and diligent in his duties, shouldn't he be moved upward?

It would be best if he were transferred to manage the military logistics warehouse; that would be simply perfect. Zhang Xun wouldn't even need to procure things himself; he could just trade illegally directly through him. The military equipment in Hangzhou had everything one could possibly want, and leaving it in the warehouse would only gather dust.

Furthermore, if history remained unchanged, this batch of armaments would ultimately end up arming the Han military elite forces in the north and the surrendered Song troops in the south. Afterwards, a small fraction of those Han elite troops, leading over a hundred thousand surrendered Song soldiers, would be sent off in a single wave to be wiped out entirely in Japan.

In effect, the weaponry would first benefit Bayan and the Han lords, and later benefit the little island nation. If I didn't take them, it would simply defy the laws of heaven.

"Hmm?" Lu Xiufu hesitated slightly.

"In times of national turmoil and severe disasters, when the imperial discipline is flagging, we need upright men like my eldest brother-in-law to uphold the core principles." Zhang Xun praised him without hesitation; when it came to flattering Lu Xiufu, what was there that couldn't be praised?

"Even so..." Lu Xiufu showed a hint of disdain for any actions resembling ingratiation, flattery, or currying favor with the powerful.

"I understand." It was rare for Zhang Xun to pat Lu Xiufu on the shoulder like this.

Their eldest brother-in-law actually did want to climb higher; after all, what good could a warehouse-keeping official accomplish? He couldn't even catch a glimpse of Emperor Zhao Qi, making remonstrance utterly impossible.

Without an audience with Zhao Qi, none of his ambitions could be realized. Moreover, with the court embroiled in fierce debates and upright gentlemen being demoted left and right, only by staying within the central court could one offer some rescue and support.

Since he didn't want to engage in political maneuvering, Zhang Xun would gladly maneuver on his behalf.

Their former acquaintance, Prefect Shi Nengzhi, had already been promoted and entered the temporary imperial residence in Hangzhou. It was rumored he had assumed the post of Imperial Censor of the Secretariat—a position of great consequence, from which the next step upward could lead to Academician of the Hanlin Academy or Drafter of Imperial Edicts. Once one reached the rank of Hanlin Academician, one was truly a candidate for the chancellorship and could generally rise all the way to the top.

Of course, there were plenty of people who got stuck at the post of Secretariat Drafter and could never break through until their dying day. The higher one went, the narrower the peak became. Whether Shi Nengzhi could make it up depended entirely on how much of Prime Minister Shi Miyuan's legacy remained.

Since Zhang Xi was heading to Hangzhou anyway, Zhang Xun secretly instructed him to prepare another letter for Shi Nengzhi to see if there was any way to elevate Lu Xiufu by a rank. At the very least, they were old acquaintances who had served in the same prefecture—you give me a hand now, and perhaps I can pull you up in the future.

Lu Xiufu didn't even need to prepare the operational funds; Zhang Xun turned around and gave Zhang Xi three thousand extra bolts of silk. Moving from the sixth rank to the fifth rank was a simple matter. Given his seniority, Lu Xiufu should have been promoted to the fifth rank long ago. If it weren't for the suppression of upright men in the court over the past decade, and given the current court's tendency to promote old men everywhere, Lu Xiufu should have already taken up the post of Prefect of Changzhou bearing the title of a Fifth-Rank Grand Master.

After secretly briefing Zhang Xi on the key strategies, Zhang Xun knew that Shi Nengzhi was a reasonable person, or at least a straightforward one. If the funds weren't delivered properly, he should send a letter back home immediately, and Zhang Xun would dispatch more.

In addition, no news should be leaked to Zhang Cheng for the time being. Their eldest brother was also an upright gentleman who refused to pull strings for advancement throughout his entire life. If he had been willing to campaign for positions, given his family background, how could it be that he was only now promoted to Palace Drafter?

At Zhang Cheng's age, Zhang Xun's late father had already been serving as prefect of a major province, only to return as an academician-in-waiting in one of the imperial pavilions, becoming a close minister to the emperor and preparing to transition from a military general to a prime minister.

It was simply that the old man had died too young. If he were still alive, there was a high probability he would have been appointed as the Commissioner of Military Affairs. In that case, Zhang Xun would definitely be plotting with the old man to defend Ezhou to the death.