Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 327: Do you think a piece of paper is enough to make this general submit?
"Sir, there is a guest in the capital who wants to see you, and he has a letter from Prime Minister Wu."

Someone quickly went into the county magistrate's mansion to report the news.

Someone in the hall sneered, and said sharply: "In our opinion, this is trouble."

An old man wearing the uniform of the Ministry of War on the right side said dissatisfiedly: "Why do you say that, Eunuch Wei? This should be the help given to us by the court. With the talented disciple of Prime Minister Wu coming here to temporarily replace the criminal official of Jingzhou and take charge of the local area, we can also relax a lot."

Both of them were imperial envoys sent by the imperial court, namely Wei Sanyin, the governor of the Eastern Depot, and Lin Dongcheng, the vice minister of the Ministry of War.

A general in golden armor sat behind the desk. He didn't put down the documents in his hand until the two men started arguing. He glanced at the people around him and shook his head, saying, "Jingzhou right now... is not a place for these officials to mess around."

This sentence immediately made Wei Sanyin's mouth curl up, and also made Lin Dongcheng look embarrassed.

Ling Fang raised his head and looked at the two of them, and said in a low voice: "Whether it's trouble or help, since you're here, let's meet them first."

"General Ling is right."

……

"General, I have been informed that you gentlemen are coming. Please follow me to the main hall."

At the gate of the county magistrate's mansion, the gatekeeper who went to report the news quickly came out to deliver the message.

Lin Wenxu walked in the front, and everyone behind him followed him into the county magistrate's mansion.

As soon as he entered the county governor's mansion, someone behind him couldn't help but mutter:

"How could this magnificent Tianyuan County City, a rich place in the Central Plains, end up like this?"

"When these imperial envoys did not come to Jingzhou, Jingzhou was still prosperous. Why is it that after they came to Jingzhou, Jingzhou has fallen into such a state?"

"The people are starving, and there are starving people in the wild... Alas, is this a natural disaster? This is a man-made disaster!"

"When I meet Ling Fang, I will definitely question him face to face. Does he only care about the thieves and not the lives of the people?"

At first, it was just a few grumbling murmurs.

But as people around gradually responded, the atmosphere became strange, and for a moment many people's faces were filled with indignation and indignation.

Lin Wenxu saw everyone's reactions and sighed softly.

They set out from Kyoto the day before and arrived in Jingzhou in just one day. The next day they rushed to Tianyuan County from the canal ferry.

On this day alone, we witnessed the tragic situation in Jingzhou.

What I saw and heard was shocking.

They were just dealing with a group of bad guys, but the once abundant land has turned into the desolate scene it is today. The imperial envoy is incompetent, and Ling Fang is primarily responsible!

This is a true reflection of the inner thoughts of these arrogant scholars at this moment.

Didn’t Lin Wenxu have such thoughts in his mind?
However, he was more pragmatic than his colleagues who had only talked about military affairs on paper, and he advised: "When you meet General Ling later, you must not talk about these things. Regardless of General Ling's merits and demerits, he is still an imperial envoy appointed by His Majesty. We just need to do our job well."

"Now that most of the officials in the counties of Jingzhou have been dismissed, it is time for us to show our abilities. The teacher has already divided the areas for us. Don't rush into things and take it slow. You should take steady steps and plan your plans slowly."

It took him a lot of words to calm everyone's restless minds.

As they were talking, everyone had already arrived in front of the hall.

The soldier leading the way pushed open the door and saluted the head of the hall, beating his chest and saying, "General, the person has been brought here."

Lin Wenxu took a few quick steps, came to the front of the hall, bowed and kowtowed: "Student Lin Wenxu, greetings to General Ling."

He raised his eyes as if inadvertently, and then he saw Ling Fang's face clearly.

The appearance of this Sky Patrol General was much younger than his actual age. He seemed a bit younger than Lin Wenxu, with only a short stubble on his chin. His facial lines were sharp and angular, which highlighted his aura of majesty without being angry.

Those people who had said they wanted to question Ling Fang in person before meeting him were now all speechless, bowing their heads in silence.

Ling Fang looked at Lin Wenxu who was bowing in the hall and asked, "Mr. Lin, why did you come to Jingzhou instead of attending to your official duties?"

Lin Wenxu was very humble and bowed as he replied, "I have temporarily handed over my position as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat and am here to manage the affairs of Jingzhou under the order of the Left Prime Minister."

"Oh?"

Ling Fang narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at Lin Wenxu with a meaningful look: "In charge of the affairs of Jingzhou? How come I don't know that this matter has been appointed by the court?"

Lin Wenxu took a few steps forward and said in a low voice: "This matter... I have a letter here, the general will know after reading it."

To take over local power, one should have a commission from the imperial court.

But this is no trivial matter. Even Wu Yong cannot bypass Emperor Tianwu to appoint officials for an entire state.

Therefore, Lin Wenxu and his people came here nominally to "temporarily take over" the post of Jingzhou local official on behalf of the imperial envoy Ling Fang.

Lin Wenxu was very confident that after General Ling read the handwritten letter written by the teacher, he would give the teacher such a favor.

Ling Fang took the letter, opened it and took a look, his brows raised.

But he pretended nothing had happened and handed the letter in his hand to the other two imperial envoys beside him for review.

After reading it, Wei Sanyin, the governor of the Eastern Depot, sneered a few times and looked at Lin Wenxu and his group with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.

After reading the letter, Lin Dongcheng, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, seemed to be hesitant to speak, but finally he sighed.

Ling Fang asked, "There are seven counties in Jingzhou. Have you divided the areas?"

Lin Wenxu only felt that the atmosphere was a little wrong, but he did not think too much about it and answered truthfully: "The teacher is thoughtful. Before coming, he had already thought about which areas to let the students and others be in charge of, and strive to restore order in Jingzhou as soon as possible."

"How do I recover?"

"We should open the granaries to release grain to help the victims. If the local reserves are insufficient, we will negotiate with the gentry of various clans in Jingzhou and ask them to recruit disaster victims to work in lieu of relief. In addition, now that the autumn harvest has not yet arrived, we should allow the refugees to return to their hometowns and rush to plant good farmland..."

Lin Wenxu was obviously well prepared and his analysis was very logical.

But after all this analysis, he overlooked one crucial thing - the root of Jingzhou's troubles, the Salvation Church, has not yet been eradicated!
Ling Fang suddenly sneered.

Lin Wenxu stopped his long speech and asked, "General, why are you laughing?" "I am laughing at you for only knowing how to talk about war on paper and not knowing how to judge the situation and adapt to local conditions."

"I laugh at Wu Yong, who has no talent and only knows how to talk nonsense. How could such a person be able to control the government and deceive the emperor?"

"I am even more laughing at myself..." He sneered at himself, "I was looked down upon by Wu Yong to this extent. He thought that a piece of paper could make me submit to him!"

He picked up the handwritten letter from Wu Yong and, under Lin Wenxu's frightened gaze, tore it up with a "swish".

Lin Wenxu was shocked and angry: "What does General Ling mean?"

Ling Fang slapped the table and stood up. "Now that the Salvation Church has not been eliminated, the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, all the counties in Jingzhou are following the military laws and regulations, and all expenses are allocated by the army. How can you, little kids, be allowed to make decisions!"

"However, the army does lack some manpower to take care of logistics. Since Wu Yong has sent you here, then you should serve in our army honestly! I will also count your merits as merits!"

"Someone, take him away!"

Following Ling Fang's order, several soldiers outside the hall came in with military sticks. Those who were dishonest and tried to struggle were hit on the head with several solid blows from the military sticks.

"How disgraceful, how disgraceful... Ouch..."

"Master, spare your life!"

For a moment, wailing was everywhere!
Lin Wenxu was even held on the left and right hands by two bodyguards and pressed to the ground.

He raised his head with all his strength, and said angrily: "We all have achievements, how dare the general treat us like this?"

This... this is different from what they imagined!

I thought that after coming to Jingzhou, I would be treated with courtesy. I would strive for the credit of following the emperor, but also accumulate experience in governing the place.

But now... Ling Fang wants to capture them and make them do hard labor!
Lin Dongcheng, the Imperial envoy and the Minister of War, stood up and tried to dissuade Ling Fang: "General Ling, no, no..."

He was an official from one of the six ministries and also a member of the Wu Party. Now seeing the chief officer and the people sent by his own teacher coming to such a mess, he was more than just in a dilemma. He was simply frightened.

Ling Fang said with a cold face: "Minister Lin, do you want to stop me?"

"This……"

"Minister Lin knows the current situation in Jingzhou very well. If you think I am doing something wrong, you can impeach me. How about replacing me as the chief officer with Wu Yong?"

Having said that, Lin Dongcheng could only smile bitterly, bow his hands and say nothing more.

As for the cries for help from his friends in the hall... he could only watch with his eyes and nose, and pretend that he could not hear them.

……

"In Jingzhou now, the chief officer is naturally General Ling Fangling, followed by two adjutants, namely, the governor of the East Factory Wei Sanyin, and the assistant minister of the Ministry of War Lin Dongcheng."

"The assistant minister of the Ministry of War holds the tiger talisman in his hand and commands the soldiers of each prefecture. Now the soldiers of Yu, Liang, Jing, and Yang have all been dispatched to take over the seven counties of Jingzhou. The people in the county cities are governed by the military system. They are not allowed to leave the city during the day and are not allowed to go out at night. If anyone violates the rules, they will be punished according to military law."

"And the people from the East Factory sent out spies to investigate the nobles and powerful families in various parts of Jingzhou, to determine which of them were in collusion with the Salvation Church and which were innocent."

"As for our Sky Patrol, we are the first line of defense against the Salvation Church. Once we find any trace of the Salvation Church, someone will go and wipe them out."

In Zhao Guanxiang's courtyard, he took out a map of Jingzhou, pointed at it, and analyzed the situation in Jingzhou to Zhao Nishang.

After hearing this, Zhao Nishang frowned and said, "No wonder the imperial envoys have been in Jingzhou for so long but still haven't been able to pacify this group of salvationists in Jingzhou. It seems that with this carpet search, when will they find them?"

Zhao Guanxiang said helplessly: "Sister, you are talking lightly. Do you think that the Salvation Church is just like a group of bandits, who found a mountain to be the king, and our people just need to surround that mountain and be done with it? But that is not the case at all."

"In fact, the imperial court sent such a large force this time. If they had fought head-on, the Savior Church in Jingzhou would have been wiped out long ago. But the difficulty lies in how to identify the Savior Church members... I don't know how many years this Savior Church in Jingzhou has been operating in Jingzhou. They have long been integrated into every aspect of Jingzhou. The members may be a high-ranking official in Jingzhou, or they may be peddlers on the street. How difficult is it to identify them?"

Zhao Nishang said: "According to what you said, we can't catch all of them. Why not catch the big ones and let the small ones go?"

Zhao Guanxiang sighed, "The information in the Salvation Church is secretive. In Jingzhou alone, the Red Lotus lineage has thirty-six halls, and each hall has ten incense masters. Each hall has a hall master, nine elders, and several deacons to serve."

"The halls are not connected to each other. Above the halls, there are an unknown number of saints, saint sons, and a saint master."

"If you don't believe me, ask Gong Xinying. Apart from knowing a few halls related to her, how much else does she know?"

Gong Xinying sat at the table and didn't say anything until Zhao Guanxiang brought the topic to her. Then she looked at Zhao Nishang and nodded.

Zhao Guanxiang sighed, "The most important thing is that among the group of salvationists in Jingzhou, there are magical powers that can bewitch people and make them become believers of the evil god. If we miss one, there is a possibility that a whole nest will grow. We can't kill them all!"

Zhao Nishang sighed softly: "According to what you said, isn't there no solution to the salvation religion in Jingzhou?"

"That's not necessarily the case."

Zhao Guanxiang was still quite optimistic: "The most difficult part now is how to find the Salvationists hidden among the crowd. The techniques practiced by the Salvationists are completely different from the Central Plains martial arts, so they may be a breakthrough."

"General Ling has sent someone to deliver a letter to the Imperial Master, asking him to create a magical technique to identify the Savior Christians, but there has been no reply yet."

He said to Zhao Nishang: "Foster father is proficient in all kinds of magic in the world. Maybe he can create a similar magic before the national teacher. If so, it will be a great achievement."

Zhao Nishang said, "I will send someone back to Kyoto tomorrow to inform my foster father about this matter. Also, how do you plan to deal with Gong Xinying? Now that she has been exposed, there is not much use for her to stay in Jingzhou. Why not send her back to Kyoto and let my foster father decide?"

When Gong Xinying heard these words, her body trembled involuntarily.

Although she tried her best to pretend that she didn't care, her slightly trembling hands still revealed her inner thoughts.

She... was a little afraid of Zhao Qi'an.

Zhao Guanxiang laughed and said, "That won't bother my sister. If she stays in Jingzhou, she will have someone to consult if she encounters anything related to the Salvation Church."

Zhao Nishang narrowed her eyes and looked between him and Gong Xinying several times.

But she didn't see any clues, and said to Zhao Guanxiang: "I will obey you for some minor matters. But you have to be more obedient recently. Xiaowu will come to Jingzhou in a while. By then, my foster father may have important matters to send us. Before that, we should just focus on gathering information."

Zhao Guanxiang agreed immediately: "Don't worry, sister. You know me. I am the most honest and dutiful one among my brothers and sisters. If I say I won't cause trouble, I will definitely not cause trouble."

He said these words...why did Zhao Nishang just not believe it?

(End of this chapter)