Qing Yao

Chapter 296 Jiang Ning will always be loyal to you!
Although the Ebilun sword was only used once in this dynasty, everyone knows that it was the imperial sword of the Qing Dynasty and a symbol of the Qing imperial power. Who would dare to act recklessly if they held this sword, as if the emperor himself were present?

Ding Musanzong, a second-rank Green Standard Army general, was no match for Ebilun's sword. He was utterly humiliated, let alone questioning Zhao An about his right to kill him. He had lost all courage to even speak.

Ebilun knife?

The Emperor bestowed the Ebilun sword upon Zhao Youlu!

All the officials present were shocked. Who dared to look directly at Zhao An, who was holding the "Imperial Sword"? They also thought of the magistrate of Dingyuan County who had been killed by this fool. Even though the sun was blazing overhead, his hands and feet were so cold that he had goosebumps.

The sudden appearance of the Ebilun sword, like a priceless treasure of the Qing Dynasty, solidified the air around the post station into an incredibly heavy lead block, making all the officials present unable to breathe.

Fear made General Ding feel as if his spine had been removed; his body, though incredibly robust, trembled like a sieve, with large beads of sweat constantly dripping from his forehead and nose.

With his hands bound, the general was unable to wipe the sweat from his face, and his eyes became blurred with tears, gradually causing the Ebilun sword to become distorted.

It seemed to be burning, or steaming, or like a venomous snake hissing at him.

Before the county magistrate who arrived later could catch his breath, he saw someone in front of him brandishing a sword to kill the prefect and the general. He was stunned for a few breaths and instinctively wanted to turn back to avoid suffering an unnecessary disaster. However, as soon as he took a step, several patrolmen stopped him from behind.

Baili Yunlong glanced at the county magistrate from the side and asked, "Where is this gentleman going?"

"I"

The county magistrate, whose head was as big as an ox, knew he couldn't avoid it and could only retreat nervously. He hunched his neck behind the crowd, bending his body so low that it seemed as if he wasn't there at all.

Then look at the official from the prefectural government standing in front of him. His legs weren't trembling, but there was a puddle of water on the ground.

My pants were wet too.

I don't know if it was from the heat or from being so frightened that I lost control of my bladder.

However, none of his colleagues ridiculed him, because they were all in no better shape.

Even Prefect Li Yuan was now filled with regret. He knew that if the Emperor had bestowed the audacious Zhao Youlu with the Ebilun sword, he wouldn't have dared to leave him stranded at the post station even if he had ten times the courage.

Now look what's happened; they've found a pretext to kill him. Where can he go to seek justice?

Zhao An wasn't just trying to intimidate the two leaders, one civil and one military, in Fengyang City; he genuinely intended to use their heads to give the Anhui officialdom a real shock.

Having lived two lives, he was not fond of killing, but he knew that killing to establish authority was the quickest and most effective way to deter others.

The situation in Anhui was now in a complete mess, and only a swift and decisive action could resolve it.

The principle that "a kind heart cannot command an army" also applies to officialdom.

Great chaos requires great order, and great order requires severe punishment.

Which of the upright officials in feudal dynasties didn't kill people as soon as they took office?

Fu Chang watched silently from the sidelines, knowing that his brother "Wu Fu'er" was going to kill someone to establish his authority, to make an example of someone, to reform the officialdom in Anhui, and to establish his absolute authority in the Anhui bureaucracy.

That's to be expected. After all, whether someone can be promoted from acting to permanent depends not only on their performance in disaster relief but also on the level of support from the Anhui officialdom.

If the entire Anhui officialdom doesn't support "Brother Wufu'er," then the question isn't whether he can get a permanent position, but whether he can even stay in his current position.

Previously, when the Emperor did not bestow the Ebilun sword upon them, the officials of Fengyang did not even attend the meeting for the "Five Blessed Children."

In Fuchang's view, it would be perfectly fine to execute a fourth-rank prefect who had failed to provide adequate disaster relief with the "power" of the Ebilun sword. After all, he could execute first and report later, and then gather evidence of the prefect's corruption and abuse of power. The three judicial departments could then review the case without any problems.

However, the garrison commander of Shouchun Town was a second-rank official and had no subordinate relationship with the provincial governor. It seemed inappropriate to use the Ebilun sword to execute him, and it might trigger a mutiny among the Green Standard Army.

Right now, disaster relief is the top priority. If a rebellion breaks out, the trouble will be much greater. Even if "Five Blessed Ones" has the Emperor's support, it will be difficult to explain to the court.

We still need to remind you of the priorities.

It's understandable that young people might be a bit impatient when they have connections, but as the elder brother, Fu Chang should still play the role of a mentor and friend.

In any case, he has eaten more salt than the Fifth Prince has eaten rice.

The word "stability" alone is a principle that many people cannot understand.

Thinking of this, Fu Chang wanted to step in and act as a peacemaker, but just as he moved, he heard his brother "Wu Fu'er's" voice: "Lord Fu, there's no need to persuade me. My mind is made up. Today I will definitely use these two heads, otherwise the officials in Anhui will not know how powerful I am! If they don't know how powerful I am, how can they be used by me?"

After hearing this, Fu Chang had no choice but to give up trying to persuade him, and only whispered, "There are many treacherous people in the Green Standard Army, you must be careful, brother."

"It's alright, I was prepared. If the Green Camp causes trouble, it will be a good opportunity to clean up the camp."

Zhao An's "preparations" refer to Xu Lin's troops, who are heading from Tianchang to Fengyang. If the Green Standard Army in Shouchun Town really mutinis because of the death of the general, Xu Lin's troops will be used to suppress it. Then, the roster of soldiers in Shouchun Town will be replaced, and the two thousand members of the Canal Gang will use Anhui ID cards on the spot.

Zhang San becomes Li Si, and Li Si becomes Wang Ermazi.

In any case, Zhao An was in charge of all household registration records in Anhui Province.

Even if the old man wanted to move the whole family's household registration to Anhui, Zhao An had to give his approval.

Although Xu Lin's force consisted of only two thousand men, they were selected young and strong men from the Canal Gang, and they were an organized force on a regular basis. Their fighting strength was by no means inferior to that of the Green Standard Army.

On that day, Xu Lin led his gang to defeat the Imperial Canal Guards at Gaoyou Lake using bamboo poles. The Imperial Canal Guards were the personal guards directly under the Grand Canal Governor, and their combat strength was far superior to that of the Anhui Green Standard Army.

Furthermore, although Shouchun Town had more than 6,000 Green Standard Army soldiers, they were not stationed in one place, but were distributed throughout Huaibei. Even if Ding Musan's confidants were to cry foul and lead a riot, they could only influence a maximum of a thousand people, and there might be very few who would respond.

After all, the Green Standard Army is currently a major victim of exploitation, with lower-ranking soldiers living in conditions similar to those of military households during the Ming Dynasty.

If things go wrong, killing General Ding Musan might even garner cheers and support from the lower-ranking soldiers of the Green Standard Army.

Even if there were a real military uprising, Zhao An would have enough strength to suppress it.

Seeing that Zhao An had said this, Fu Chang sighed slightly and said no more.

Young people should be willing to take risks.

I must say, Wu Fu'er really does have the spirit and vision of his imperial father; he truly deserves to be a son of the emperor.

"Drag those two thieves away and behead them immediately!"

Zhao An raised his Ebilun sword into the air, and the guards hurriedly dragged Li Yuan, the prefect of Fengyang, and Ding Musan, the general, away.

Seeing that the guard in the yellow jacket was really about to chop him up, Prefect Li Yuan, who was already trembling with fear, shouted in desperation: "Even if I have committed the crime of negligence and inadequacy, according to the 'Regulations on Disciplinary Actions of the Ministry of Personnel,' Your Excellency, you may impeach me to the Ministry of Personnel! I am willing to accept whatever accusation or investigation may be made! But Your Excellency's decision to execute me without the approval of the three judicial authorities is something I cannot accept!"

Li Yuan's roar was like a stone thrown into stagnant water. Ding Musan, who was originally terrified, grasped at a straw and broke free from the guards' restraints, shouting hoarsely, "Lord Zhao! I was only late. Even if I am guilty, I don't deserve to die!"

"You're not convinced? Your crime doesn't warrant death?"

Zhao An sneered, raised his hand to signal the guards not to rush to drag the person away, walked up to the Fengyang prefect and looked him in the eye with a sharp, knife-like gaze, which made the Fengyang prefect, Li Yuan, shiver involuntarily.

"Fengyang Prefecture, raise your heads! Tell me, since the first signs of disaster appeared last year, how many common people have starved to death under your jurisdiction in Fengyang Prefecture!" Zhao An's voice was extremely angry, questioning like a thunderbolt.

"This"

Li Yuan's lips trembled, and his mind went blank.

How many people died in Fengyang Prefecture?

He only knew that people died every day, and that there were piles of corpses in some rural areas outside the city, but he really didn't know exactly how many people had died.

There are currently no official statistics, neither at the prefectural nor county levels, but everyone knows that many people have died.

But without data, there are no deaths.

The county did not report to the prefecture, and the prefecture did not report to the province. This is why Zhu Gui said in his report to the court that "the situation is serious in some areas, but generally under control." The deaths from starvation were isolated cases and should not be generalized.

"do not know?"

Zhao An snorted and turned his gaze to Ding Musan beside him, his eyes like icy spikes. "General Ding! Your soldiers from Shouchun Town are all over Fengyang. Tell me! When the disaster victims were fleeing and the fields were littered with corpses of the starving, did any of the horrific acts of cannibalism occur in Fengyang? How many disaster victims were trapped in their homes by your soldiers and starved to death!"

"me"

Ding Musan was about to look up and explain when he was so frightened by Zhao An's murderous gaze that he froze again.

He might not know about other places, but he knew all too well the tragic situation of the disaster victims in Fengyang right under his nose. However, he chose to remain silent about these tragic situations and even strictly forbade anyone to spread them.

Indeed, disaster relief is the job of civil officials, what does it have to do with him, a military officer?
He carried out the governor's military orders without hesitation. If it weren't for his Green Standard Army blocking and encircling the area, and the millions of disaster victims eating up the fields like a locust army, how could you, a mere brat, be here shouting and fighting with an Ebilun sword?

In truth, he has done more good than bad!
However, he could never bring himself to utter the words "meritorious but without fault," because the horrific scenes reported from below forced him to remain silent.

Li Yuan also remained silent, and the silence between the two was like a deathly abyss.

No matter how they try to justify themselves, Fengyang is a living hell on earth. Faced with the bloody reality, any protests or claims that their crimes don't warrant death are nothing more than the final lament of a clown.

"One doesn't know, the other can't say—absurd, laughable!"

Zhao An shook his head slightly and gently raised his right hand. "Qingyao, what did the Emperor say?"

"Reporting to Lord Zhao!"

Qingyao's voice was loud: "His Majesty said that no matter if an official in Anhui is mediocre, corrupt, or incompetent, Lord Zhao can use his Ebilun sword to chop them down. Chop them down boldly, the sky won't fall down!"

"Did you hear that? It was His Majesty who ordered me to execute you bunch of incompetent, corrupt, and muddle-headed officials!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the half-drawn Ebilun sword was fully drawn, flashed in mid-air, and swung down fiercely. With the sound of the blade entering flesh, the crowd gasped in shock, and then the head of the Fengyang prefect rolled to the ground.

When it landed, its eyes were still open, showing complete bewilderment.

Too fast, everything happened too fast, so fast that even after Fengyangfu's head rolled several times on the ground, he still subconsciously looked at his own body. The moment consciousness returned, his pupils widened as if they had exploded.

I really got stabbed?!
"Hold it down!"

At Qingyao's command, several guards held down General Ding Musan's hands and feet, and Qingyao even pulled the general's braid forward, forcing the general's head to tilt forward uncontrollably, revealing his long, white neck.

Without saying a word, Zhao An wielded the knife with both hands and slashed down forcefully, giving Ding Musan no chance to wail and beg for mercy.

With a "thud," the head fell to the ground, and blood gushed out.

Amidst the pool of blood, his head rolled precisely to Fu Chang's feet.

Lord Fu shuddered as if he had seen a ghost, instinctively taking a few steps back. Then, realizing something was wrong, he steeled himself and took a few more steps forward, looking down at the group of terrified Fengyang officials. No one knew that Lord Fu's heart was beating faster than anything else, so fast that he could faint at any moment.

The crowd that had been gasping in shock fell silent; all that remained were trembling bodies and pale, lifeless faces.

At this point, I'm afraid no more than half of the officials will be able to stand up.

After ordering his men to remove the bodies of Li Yuan and Ding Musan, Zhao An looked around at the group of Fengyang officials who were visibly trembling, and said, word by word, "From this day forward, if another person starves to death in Fengyang, I will throw all of you bastards into the disaster relief cauldron and cook you alive, using your flesh and bones to fill the bellies of those starving people!"

No more deaths are allowed; this is the red line that Zhao An set for officials in Fengyang, and indeed for officials throughout Anhui province.

Anyone who crosses this red line deserves to die.

Since he was determined to be "Zhao the Barber," he would not show any mercy.

The officials in Fengyang were stunned by these words, and so was Fuchang. Looking at "Wufu'er" holding the still-dripping Ebilun knife, Lord Fu couldn't help but think of an ancient poem: "A son should be like Sun Quan."

On the way back to Jiangning, Master Chen was in a difficult position because his superiors had instructed him to allocate two million shi of grain to Anhui after returning, and he not only had to keep it a secret from the court, but also had to make the accounts look good.

How do we keep these accounts?
Only 20% of the money and grain were retained locally. Even if all the funds from the provincial treasury and local treasuries were transferred, it wouldn't be enough. Even if we managed to scrape together enough to secretly transfer to Anhui, what would happen to the province itself?
How will officials' salaries be paid next year? Where will the funds for routine maintenance projects in the local area come from?

Very troublesome.

"Sir, please put in a little more effort. The old accounts receivable can be converted into new accounts, and the new accounts can be converted into next year's accounts. Break down the general ledger into several smaller accounts and have the prefectures, states, and counties in Jiangbei take some of them. Also, have the local governments make some temporary expenditures and report them to the province for approval."

Fu Chang kept his eyes closed, not to rest, but because he was traumatized by the general's head.

Since he had promised "Five Blessings," he would definitely have to raise the two million bushels of grain.

There was only one way to avoid being discovered by the imperial court: to manipulate the accounts.

Two million shi of grain is frightening, but if it's just tens of thousands of shi being reported and accounted for, and given some reasonable pretext, then it doesn't seem like much.

"If it's really not enough, then use the funds that will be withheld next year. By the way, Lord Zhao asked me to do you a favor. When you get back, please transfer all the silver from our provincial treasury from those banks and deposit it into Xianfeng Bank."

After saying that, Fuchang closed his eyes again.

"The Xianfeng Emperor's Journey?"

Master Chen was taken aback. He had never heard of such a money exchange in Jiangning. After a moment of hesitation, he couldn't help but ask if this Xianfeng Bank was related to Lord Zhao.

Fu Chang remained silent.

Not denying it is tantamount to admitting it.

Master Chen understood. This Xianfeng Bank must have been opened by Lord Zhao. If the silver deposited by the Anhui provincial governor was deposited in Xianfeng Bank, and the silver deposited by the Jiangning provincial governor was also deposited in Xianfeng Bank, wouldn't Xianfeng Bank immediately become the largest bank in the two rivers region?
Even though Lord Zhao is a "five-fold blessing," this matter concerns the finances of an entire province, yet my lord is cooperating without reservation. Isn't that a bit too generous?

Master Fu suddenly opened his eyes again, looked at the clerk Chen who was having doubts, and said calmly, "From now on, Jiangning must closely follow Anhui. There's no mistake."

In other words, Jiangning must remain forever loyal to Anhui.

(End of this chapter)