Qing Yao

Chapter 291 This servant is guilty, I humbly request Your Majesty's judgment!
The sword pierced straight through his chest, breaking through his muscles and bones.

Under the scorching sun, the angry governor gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, watching as Dingyuan County slowly slumped to the ground.

Even though a sharp sword pierced his heart, Dingyuan County did not immediately die. He just stared at Zhao An with disbelief in his eyes.

Not to mention Dingyuan County, who would believe it? And who among the crowd would dare to believe that an acting governor without the emperor's decree or flag would dare to kill a county official without authorization!
Even high-ranking officials with royal warrants and flags were only allowed to execute first and report later in emergency situations such as suppressing bandits and quelling rebellions. In non-emergency situations, even with royal warrants and flags, they were not allowed to kill local officials at will.

It should be noted that, according to the Qing Dynasty law, killing a subordinate without authorization is punishable by strangulation with reprieve!
Anyone who violates the law by killing a subordinate while carrying a royal command flag will be punished with an additional degree of severity, up to the point of execution with reprieve!
Only officials of the first rank could be pardoned through the "Eight Deliberations"; those below the first rank could not be pardoned unless granted a special amnesty!

Therefore, in the eyes of Dingyuan County and the officials present, this sword strike meant not only the death of the inactive Dingyuan County, but also the death of Zhao An, who had committed murder without batting an eye while wielding a sword hilt.

Even if Old Ding and Old Song were here, they would probably cry out in despair: "It's over! You bastard, you're ruining your future!"

Only the old master can decide the life and death of officials. What right do you have to kill someone?

Even if the old master spares you once, the censor's spittle can drown you.

Zhao An was well aware of the consequences of violating the law by killing someone, but this person had to be killed. He couldn't vent his anger if he didn't kill him, and how could he face the thousands of people who died in the disaster and the people who had to sell their children to survive?

If honest officials harm the people in this way, how much more so would corrupt officials devour them and drain their marrow!

In times of great disaster, there is no time for repeated deliberation!
Without severe punishment, how can one demonstrate the compassion of a bodhisattva?

"You think I'm just a scholar and can't kill you? I'm a general, and I specialize in killing incompetent officials like you!"

With a "plop," Zhao An pulled the sword out of Ding Yuanxian's body. The moment the sword left his body, a stream of blood gushed out like an arrow.

This resulted in Zhao An's face being covered in blood, and his yellow jacket was also stained red with blood.

Then look at Dingyuan County, his body was completely limp on the ground, his hands and feet no longer twitching, he died on the spot, dying with great resentment, or rather, great confusion.

"Somebody come!"

Zhao An roared angrily, sword in hand.

"exist!"

Baili Yunlong and the others stepped forward in response.

"Cut off the head of the man from Dingyuan County and hang it on the city gate as a warning to others!"

After committing the murder, Zhao An was no longer seen as a high-ranking official, but rather as a ruthless demon.

"Whoo!"

Without saying a word, several of the canal gang's henchmen drew their swords, beheaded the magistrate of Dingyuan County, and rushed towards the city gate.

This scene left everyone present stunned once again. It was terrifying for the provincial governor to draw his sword and kill someone, but it was even more horrifying to cut off a head in public.

The headless body in Dingyuan County was gushing blood like a leaky faucet, and soon the ground was covered with pools of blood.

The timid wouldn't dare to look, and even the bold would feel deeply uncomfortable upon seeing this chilling scene.

Zhao An, however, felt no discomfort whatsoever, because he had already witnessed countless more terrifying scenes.

He abruptly turned to the group of terrified officials from Dingyuan and said in a deep voice, "Listen up, even though I am guilty of killing the magistrate of Dingyuan County without authorization, as long as the court does not strip me of my official rank, I will remain your superior. If any of you dare disobey my orders, I can kill this magistrate of Dingyuan County, and I can kill you all! Anyone who doesn't believe me is welcome to try and see how sharp my sword is!"

The officials were terrified and fell silent. No one dared to utter a word of dissent, nor did anyone dare to plead for the deceased county magistrate.

Even the clerk surnamed Lin was freezing cold; despite the blazing sun, he felt as if he were in an ice cellar.

With only one thought in mind, an anomaly had appeared in the officialdom of Anhui. It was not easy for officials, and it was even harder for clerks.

Seeing that no one in Dingyuan County dared to utter a sound, Zhao An raised his hand and asked, "Where is the registrar?"

"The humble position is here!"

Li Haiwen, the registrar of Dingyuan, couldn't help but shiver when he was called out again, clearly worried that the wrathful governor would stab him through with his sword again.

After all, Chen Zhiyuan, as the county magistrate, bears the majority of the responsibility for the current dire state of Dingyuan County, but does he, as the deputy county magistrate, also bear any responsibility?

If we really investigate, he wouldn't be unjust to be stabbed.

The young provincial governor's voice that came from beside him was: "As the chief clerk, do you know what you're supposed to be doing right now?"

"Your subordinate?"

Looking up, Li Haiwen realized something and nodded eagerly, "This subordinate understands, understands!"

"If you know this and you still don't do it, then hurry up and do it. If any more disaster victims die of starvation, you'll go up to the city gate tower and keep that damned magistrate company!"

Zhao An waved his hand, and Li Haiwen, as if granted a pardon, immediately led his subordinates to carry out disaster relief, not daring to delay for even a moment.

After handing the blood-stained sword back to Baili Yunlong, Zhao An finally calmed down. With the county magistrate's fate as a precedent, if the officials of Dingyuan County dared to be passive in disaster relief or take the opportunity to make money, they would truly be courting death.

News of the magistrate's death quickly spread through the disaster relief camp. Hearing that the magistrate who had ordered them to memorize the *Standards for Being a Good Student and Child* in order to receive porridge had been killed by a high-ranking official from the province, the camp's refugees erupted in uproar. If Zhao Anruo were to stroll through the camp at this moment, he would likely be greeted not only with a reputation for integrity but also with countless distraught refugees weeping and wailing.

"Young Master, this magistrate deserved to die, but it would be truly unjust for you to be implicated and punished by the court because of him."

Baili Yunlong became suspicious and whispered a suggestion that the county magistrate might be colluding with the White Lotus Cult.

It means to frame or slander someone.

If it is confirmed that a family in Dingyuan County privately worshipped Maitreya Buddha, and a few minor officials from Dingyuan County are arranged to act as witnesses, and if it is to be even more convincing, a few "corpses" can be found to impersonate the White Lotus sect members who were strangled, then Zhao An would not have violated regulations by killing his subordinates, but would have dealt with a major case of treason.

Not only was he without fault, but he also made a contribution.

The magistrates of Dingyuan County are dead. How can a dead man rise up and cry out for injustice?

"What a coincidence! The intention behind this is too obvious. It's a case of trying to cover up something only to make it worse."

Zhao An shook his head and said, "What's the difference between a scholar who passed the imperial examinations worshipping Maitreya Buddha and a blind man stealing court secrets?"

Even if a county magistrate were to rebel, he would certainly be colluding with prominent families or even members of the imperial family or princes, not some cult.

The White Lotus organization is inherently incompatible with scholars.

Zhao Anzhen dared to frame Dingyuan County for colluding with the White Lotus Sect, and every thing he did afterward would be scrutinized by the old man.

"What should I do?"

Seeing that Shaojun did not adopt his suggestion, Baili Yunlong couldn't help but worry. What if the court really dismissed Shaojun from his post because of this county magistrate, or even arrested Shaojun and brought to the capital for execution? What would happen to the people in the disaster area, and what would happen to the tens of thousands of brothers in the Yangzhou branch?

Zhao Anwei hesitated for a moment, then asked Baili Yunlong to bring paper and pen.

After careful consideration, he picked up a pen and wrote on the paper: "Your humble servant Zhao Youlu kneels to report that in the face of the urgent disaster, he executed incompetent officials without requesting Your Majesty's decree and acted arbitrarily. I humbly beg Your Majesty to consider this matter!"

Throughout the entire story, he took the initiative to apologize to the old master, making no attempt to conceal his wrongdoing, and even stating that he killed someone in a fit of anger.

Therefore, he requested the court to handle the matter according to the law, whether it be execution or exile, he would accept it.

Along with this special memorial, a "diary" written during the journey was also sent to the capital. However, the contents of the "diary" were not delivered to the old master along with the memorial, but were sent to Heshen.

Now that things have come to this, Zhao An can only hope that his grandfather hasn't completely lost his mind, and at the same time hope that Heshen and Fu Chang'an can protect him this time.

After the special report was issued, looking back at the disaster relief camps, although they were not completely transformed, their original relief functions were now operational.

Staff members are urgently cooking porridge, and the number of disaster victims queuing up is countless.

The head of the Dingyuan County Magistrate hanging on the city gate in the distance was quite new, and many people below the city gate stopped to watch, pointing and discussing it.

One scene made Zhao An's expression turn serious again, and a murderous intent reappeared in his eyes: it was a staff member in the camp pouring sand into the porridge.

Pour it in while stirring with a large spoon.

This is not true of just one pot, but of all large pots.

Soon, Fan Tao, the postmaster of Dingyuan County in charge of the disaster relief camp, was brought before Zhao An, whose face was extremely pale.

Zhao An said nothing, but directly scooped up a spoonful of porridge mixed with sand and handed it to Fan Tao, saying without room for argument, "Drink it!"

Fan Tao hesitated for a moment, then actually drank the spoonful of porridge.

After Fan Tao finished drinking, Zhao An coldly sized him up and asked, "How does this porridge taste?"

Fan Tao gently placed the spoon into the pot and said cautiously, "Sir, you probably want to ask why I ordered sand to be added to the porridge, right?"

"Since you know, then tell me the reason."

Zhao An didn't immediately order Fan Tao's arrest because he had just publicly executed the county magistrate, yet someone was still defying the rules and adding fuel to the fire. They were either bold fools or there was another reason behind it.

He wanted to hear the reason.

Fan Tao hurriedly said, "Sir, the real disaster victims are so hungry that they are on their last breath. They will not complain about anything given to them, as long as they can eat their fill. But if we give them plain porridge or clean porridge, there is no guarantee that people who are not disaster victims will not take it. In that case, the porridge that should be given to the disaster victims will be drunk by people who are not disaster victims. It may seem like they are just greedy for small gains, but if one person is greedy, a hundred people are greedy, but if a thousand or ten thousand people are greedy, how can we bear it?"

Fan Tao frankly admitted that there are tens of thousands of people in Dingyuan County. Most of them cannot be called disaster victims, but they should know that the government is distributing porridge to disaster victims. People who can still support themselves will definitely come to receive porridge, since no one knows when the disaster will end.

In this way, the porridge meant to save lives was eaten by people who were not on the verge of death, which went against the government's original intention of saving lives. Only by adding sand or other things to the porridge could the problem of non-disaster victims in the city being prevented from taking it.

After all, porridge with added ingredients is hard to swallow.

Only someone who is extremely hungry wouldn't care.

Similarly, the same applies to distributing grain.

After listening to Fan Tao's explanation, Zhao An looked at the steaming iron pot and then at the densely packed disaster victims waiting for the porridge. He nodded slightly and then said to Fan Tao, "From today onwards, you will temporarily serve as the magistrate of Dingyuan County."

(End of this chapter)