Qing Yao

What's the situation with Chapter 200?
Threatening his wife's grandfather in front of him is no different from slapping himself in the face!
Zhao An had to step forward and fight the criminal gang in the Grand Canal Administration to the very end.

It is true that you, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner, have the imperial decree and banner, but I, the Imperial Inspector of the Canal Transport, am also acting on behalf of Heaven!

If you're so capable, then take down even a seventh-rank censor like me.

If it can't be done, then Zhao An must exercise his legitimate right to report on others.

Hey you, sign up yourselves, so this censor won't have to look at your work IDs. I want to see who gave you the audacity to treat the masses so disrespectfully, no, to treat local officials so disrespectfully!

The problem is, who dares to raise their head and sign up?
Standing before them were censors who, like the governor, had the power to submit memorials.

Where there is struggle, there is compromise.

However, this time it wasn't Zhao An who compromised, but rather a group of officials from the Grand Canal Transport Office.

No matter what, we still have to give face to the Imperial Censor in charge of transporting grain.

Refusing to give it would not only be going against yourself, but also against the imperial court and the emperor.

"Since Magistrate Ding is not seriously injured, why don't we go in and talk together with Lord Zhao?"

The suggestion came from Wu Wenyun, the councilor of the Ministry of Transport. The gist of it was something like "let's talk in private." Everyone here is an official, and there's no need to make such a scene in public.

"Right on my mind!"

So Zhao An and Lao Ding were led into the canal transport office.

He thought he and Lao Ding were going to see Guan Ganzhen, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner, but instead, the officials led him through a roundabout route into a rather secluded office.

This office was clearly far from the power center of the Grand Canal Administration. If it weren't for the fact that they were both within the same courtyard wall, Zhao An would have thought he had been taken to some dark room.

But he wasn't afraid. He was the Grand Canal Inspector specially appointed by the old master, and also the Jiangsu Provincial Education Commissioner. Even if the canal transport office had the guts of a bear and the courage of a leopard, they wouldn't dare to "shut him down."

You think this is some kind of ghostly game where soldiers borrow grain and fire dragons burn down granaries?

I had a vague feeling that this was going to be a discussion, a discussion that would minimize the problem and resolve it peacefully.

Since it was a talk, Zhao An already had a good idea of ​​what to expect. However, the atmosphere of the conversation was not as harmonious as he had imagined, but rather full of tension.

In addition to the civil officials of the Grand Canal Transport Office, there was also a military officer in this office. Judging from his official robes and hat, he was a deputy general of the second rank, second only to the general of the second rank in the Green Standard Army.

If the General-in-Chief is a Major General, then this Deputy General is a Senior Colonel and Division Commander. He is a high-ranking official, and in terms of rank, he is the highest-ranking official present.

He should be the highest commander of the grain transport force directly under the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner.

Indeed, this man was Wen Qing, the deputy general who twice mobilized troops to fight against the canal gang.

Why are we talking here instead of in the governor's office?

The reason is that the Governor-General is not at the yamen; he went on a business trip a few days ago.

They went to inspect the dike at Hongze Lake. Hongze Lake can be said to have been created for the Grand Canal. The water in the lake not only ensures the water volume of the Grand Canal, but it is also an important shipping hub of the Grand Canal. At peak times, as many as a thousand ships pass by every day.

During the Kangxi era, the water level at the confluence of the Yellow River and the Huai River rose sharply. In order to ensure the smooth flow of the Grand Canal, the flood control dike on the east bank was continuously reinforced, which resulted in Hongze Lake becoming a "suspended lake".

The lake is about ten meters deep, but the ground outside the dike on the east bank is only four to eight meters high. Therefore, the folk song says, "If the Gaojia Dam collapses, the Qinghuai River will never be seen again." This means that if the dike on the east bank of Hongze Lake collapses, not only will the entire canal be destroyed, but the entire area north of Huai'an will become a water country. The Huai River and the Yellow River will also change course, leading to even greater floods.

When the Lixiahe River flooded this year, there was also a dangerous situation at Hongze Lake, which put the Grand Canal Administration on high alert. Now that it is the dry season in winter, the Governor-General specially led a team to investigate whether to organize laborers to reinforce the east bank dike next year.

He had been working on the dike for several days in a row, enduring wind and rain. He was a truly dedicated official, so busy that he couldn't possibly take care of things on the other side of the canal.

After all, the collapse of a levee is far more serious than the interruption of a canal for a few days during off-peak season.

Moreover, the grain transport task for this year has been completed, and after listening to the reports from his subordinates, the governor decided to deal with the dike issue first.

Zhao An was certainly unaware of the specifics and had always believed that the Grand Canal Governor was a corrupt and incompetent official, so he was already preparing to impeach the governor.

After Wu Wenyun, the councilor in charge of grain transport who brought him and Lao Ding in, whispered a few words in Wen Qing's ear, the deputy general's gaze toward Zhao An became serious again. However, he then turned his attention to Lao Ding and said in a deep voice, "Ganquan County, what is the purpose of you writing this blood letter today, and who instructed you to write it?"

Zhao Anxin felt a sinking feeling. What did that question mean?
Why are they treating Old Ding, who speaks up for the people, as a troublemaker?

If you're going to adopt this condescending attitude, then there's no point in talking. Old Ding, however, didn't think much of it and quickly stood up to frankly say that no one had instructed him to write this letter in blood. His purpose in writing this letter was simply to draw the attention of the Grand Canal Commissioner to the interruption of the canal and to resolve the issue through negotiation and dialogue as soon as possible. This interruption of the canal not only had a significant impact on Yangzhou's "economy" but also affected the livelihoods of many people who depended on the canal for their living.

For the sake of local stability, it was only natural for Ganquan County to step forward and advocate for the canal workers.

"Does Ganquan County mean that everything that happened this time is the fault of my Canal Transport Office? Does my Canal Transport Office have to bow down?"

Deputy General Wen clearly did not accept this explanation, and his face was very gloomy.

Councilor Wu also said angrily, "Our canal transport office has already investigated and found that the Yangzhou canal workers were instructed to deliberately sink the canal, causing the north-south connection to be interrupted for no reason. This behavior has undoubtedly violated the law. If our canal transport office does not severely punish these audacious madmen, where will the face of the imperial court's laws and regulations be!"

"As far as I know, this incident was clearly caused by the canal transport office owing the canal workers their fees. How has it become that the canal workers were instructed to deliberately cut off the canal? If the canal transport office had paid the outstanding fees in full, I believe this incident would never have happened."

Old Ding would definitely side with the canal workers, proposing that as long as the canal transport authorities were willing to settle the canal workers' outstanding fees, he could negotiate with the canal transport authorities on behalf of the canal workers on other matters.

This was a veiled reference to Zhao An's three conditions, but the canal transport authorities looked down on him as a county magistrate, so they had been unable to negotiate with him.

He also subtly implied that if the canal were to be cut off again, the impact on his canal transport office would be the greatest, not on the canal workers, nor on his Ganquan County.

Wu, the councilor, glanced at the other officials. Despite their tough exterior, they were under a lot of pressure.

Firstly, the matter had escalated to the point that the Emperor had dispatched an imperial inspector to investigate, demonstrating just how severe the impact of the canal's disruption was.

Secondly, the governor-general repeatedly instructed them to resolve the canal interruption issue as soon as possible before leaving. If this was delayed any longer, it was possible that their dirty deeds with the canal gangs would be exposed. Even if the court was unaware of this, the canal transport authorities would question the competence of their officials because they were unable to resolve the issue.

If things go wrong, he might have to take off his official hat.

Now they were in a difficult position, because the canal gang dared to fight even the canal guards and soldiers, and showed no signs of backing down, which made these officials, who were used to showing off their power, feel that they had lost too much face.

In Zhao An's words, when did Yang Bailao dare to lecture Huang Shiren?

The fact that Ganquan County openly presented a blood oath to the Grand Canal Administration today made these officials feel extremely ashamed.

It's not that I don't want to compromise, but rather it's like a large ship sailing on a river; inertia makes it difficult for the bow to turn quickly.

They also had a glimmer of hope, thinking that the poor canal workers wouldn't last long. After all, the New Year was just around the corner, and with the canal shut down, the canal workers would lose their livelihood. Their wives and children at home were starving and crying out for help. How long could they hold on?

Then they'll have no choice but to obediently beg the canal transport authorities for food.

The current "talk" is mainly to hope that Ganquan County will stop causing trouble under the guise of advocating for the people, and also to hope that the emperor's newly appointed Inspector of the Grand Canal can understand the difficulties of the Grand Canal Administration and not speak for the canal workers blindly.

We are all officials; how can it be reasonable for officials not to speak up for other officials, but instead to speak up for the common people?

“Ganquan County should not be swayed by one-sided opinions. This yamen has not withheld any of the owed transport fees. It is purely the canal workers who are taking this opportunity to cause trouble and try to extort money from this yamen! Such evil practices must not be allowed to continue. If we back down today, will we have to back down three or five steps tomorrow? From now on, the canal transport will be decided by their gangs, not by this yamen!”

The person who said this was one of the people in charge in the room, and he spoke these distorted facts with righteous indignation, without blushing at all.

“If Magistrate Ding truly cares about the country and its people, he should go back and persuade the canal workers not to oppose this government. The right thing to do is to salvage the sunken ship and restore the canal.”

"Lord Ding's intentions are good, but there are some things he doesn't know as well as we do, and he may also be misled by the cunning among the canal workers. How about this, Lord Ding, you go back now and have the canal workers restore the canal first, and we can send someone to Yangzhou after the New Year to discuss the transportation fees with the canal workers."

"."

Several officials from the canal transport department spoke one after another, all saying that the canal workers were wrong and hoping that Lao Ding would go back and do some persuasion.

Old Ding wasn't going to listen to their nonsense. He firmly stated that as long as the canal transport authorities settled the outstanding fees immediately, he would go back right away to persuade the canal workers.

Zhao An remained silent throughout, adopting an attitude of observing and listening more than speaking.

"Ganquan County, are you an official of the imperial court or an official of the canal gang? Your canal gang in Yangzhou has already gathered a crowd and hidden weapons to resist the government troops. I have sent troops to suppress them twice, but they were defeated by your Yangzhou canal workers and lost more than a dozen government soldiers. Such lawlessness is nothing but rebellion! You keep speaking up for these rebels. Could it be that Ganquan County is the mastermind behind these rebels?!"

The military man, Deputy General Wen, didn't have that kind of patience. Seeing that Old Ding was unyielding, he slammed his fist on the table in frustration, wanting to scare the other man with a big accusation. But then he was taken aback and looked in confusion at the Imperial Censor who had taken out a small notebook and was writing something with a strange pen in his hand.

Councilor Wu also noticed this scene and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Lord Zhao, what are you writing?"

"Oh, Lord Wen just said that the Qing Dynasty's grain transport troops were routed by the grain transport workers, with more than a dozen soldiers killed or wounded. This is no small matter. I must write it down and report it to the Emperor so that the court can send troops to assist your yamen in suppressing those audacious rebels as soon as possible."

Zhao An looked quite serious.

(End of this chapter)