Top Scholar

Chapter 149 What a big home!
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty had enjoyed a long period of peace, especially after the governance of the Chenghua and Hongzhi reigns, and for many years no villains had dared to attack the county town.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, Magistrate Lu had just taken stock of the troops at the yamen and found that he could only muster less than a hundred men, and they were mostly poorly trained local people. How could they possibly fight against the fierce mountain people?

So either the soldiers and civilians leave together, or no one leaves; there is no other choice.

He had no choice but to completely abandon his pride and grab Commander Ma's hand, saying, "Brother, for the sake of our past friendship, please help me out."

"I came here to help you, didn't I?" Commander Ma sighed. "But you're right. My position as commander of troops here is illegitimate. If word gets out, the consequences will be unpredictable."

“That’s easy. I’ll have someone issue a letter of assistance in defense right away. Consider it my invitation to come, and there won’t be any problem.” Magistrate Lu could easily understand what a crude and uncouth soldier was thinking.
"Then there's no problem." Commander Ma finally smiled.

As military units stationed in various regions by the Ming Dynasty, the garrisons were responsible for guarding the neighboring prefectures and counties. That's why Commander Ma dared to lead his troops into the county town under the pretext of an emergency.

However, to prevent military leaders from harassing prefectures and counties, the imperial court was very strict in holding them accountable afterward. If local prefectures and counties did not recognize the deployment of troops by the garrison and refused to issue a document for assistance in defense, then the military leaders would be in big trouble. Demotion or dismissal were the least of their worries; they might even end up in prison.

Therefore, the document for assisting in defense was also known as the "divine talisman," and local officials relied on this to ensure that government troops entering the country would leave in a timely manner.

Magistrate Lu should have used the auxiliary defense document to control Commander Ma, at least to prevent the troops he brought from disturbing the people in the city too much.

However, he was outmaneuvered by Commander Ma and had no choice but to play this trump card prematurely.

This doesn't mean that Magistrate Lu was less capable than Commander Ma. In fact, he was far more cunning than Commander Ma. But the problem was that this contest was unfair from the very beginning.

Ma Qianhu has no desires or wants, and he wouldn't care even if he retired today.

Magistrate Lu is ambitious, and his grand plans are within reach. How could he possibly fail before he even gets a chance to make a name for himself?
In this situation, Commander Ma had many options – he used the pretext of surrounding the two inns to block the main road into the city, leaving Magistrate Lu with no choice but to watch helplessly.

During the Lunar New Year, neither the prefect nor the governor wanted any trouble. If they were to ruin their New Year, they could ruin their own lives. Therefore, they absolutely couldn't allow any trouble to occur, which meant they had no choice but to concede…

In fact, his previous attempts to smooth things over in the 'Arima case' were also driven by this same mentality.

To put it bluntly, this was an unfair contest. Commander Ma had long anticipated that he could control Magistrate Lu, which is why he seemingly boldly led his troops into the city.

Just as Magistrate Lu thought, if it were an unfamiliar magistrate, Commander Ma would never have dared to be so bold.

~~
Seeing that Magistrate Lu had figured out the pros and cons, Commander Ma changed his approach from controlling to soothing, saying many comforting words to comfort Magistrate Lu's wounded heart...

It was completely dark by then. The soldiers and officers lit torches, and the streets of the East Gate were filled with shadowy figures, creating a tense atmosphere.

Zhou Baihu finally finished questioning them and returned with a wry smile to report to the two officials: "Chief, County Magistrate, it seems we misunderstood—they came to visit relatives, not to cause trouble. They went straight to the inn and behaved themselves without causing any trouble."

"Look at the mess this has made, causing everyone to be tense for nothing." After clearing himself of any wrongdoing, Commander Ma still had to continue to absolve the Su family: "I knew it! The Su family followed Marquis Wuding into Sichuan and has been stationed at Erlangtan for over a hundred years! They are a family of loyal and upright officials for generations. How could they suddenly act recklessly?"

"That's right, that's right." Magistrate Lu didn't intend to do anything to the Su family. Su Lu was an indispensable part of his plan, so he forced a smile and said, "The Su family can produce a prodigy like Su Lu. He must be well-educated and reasonable and won't do anything out of line."

"Haha, it was just a false alarm!" You Muyou chimed in, "The county was just being too sensitive."

"Ah, it's not the county's fault. Who comes to visit relatives with three hundred people at once?" Commander Ma said sternly. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have led troops to chase after them all this way!"

“We haven’t separated yet, have we? All three hundred of us are one family. The people in the mountains are ignorant; when they heard Su Youma was arrested by the county, coupled with what happened to the He brothers, they were all terrified. They thought this was a huge deal, so they had to come and see for themselves to feel at ease,” Zhou Baihu said with a wry smile.
"If anyone didn't come, they would be gossiped about by the neighbors, so they all came together."

"Well, it's understandable that Ma's family would be anxious to come over after he got into trouble." Commander Ma nodded, then chuckled and cursed, "It's just that there are a lot of people in his family."

"A large population is a good thing." What else could Magistrate Lu say but awkwardly laugh, "Many people mean great strength, and no one will dare to bully us."

“That’s true.” Commander Ma nodded. “The imperial court doesn’t allow military households to separate their families because of this problem. Each family is too big, and we dare not easily provoke them.”

"That's true." Magistrate Lu nodded and sighed, "Brother, you've had a tough time."

"It's not easy for anyone," Commander Ma said in a low voice, then asked Magistrate Lu, "We shouldn't make a big deal out of this. Let's just pretend they're visiting relatives."

"Absolutely." Magistrate Lu nodded hastily.

Therefore, the Su family's trip of 300 people into the county town was defined as a family visit...

~~
"Now that they've visited their relatives, tell them to get lost. Don't scare the city folks so much they won't have a peaceful New Year." Commander Ma added gruffly, "They're leaving first thing tomorrow morning!"

“Well…” Zhou Baihu said, “The old clan chief said he didn’t plan to spend the New Year here. But the case hasn’t been decided yet, and they’re worried about leaving…” “What’s there to be worried about? What help can they be here?” Ma Qianhu said irritably.

"He said what Arima needs most right now is the company of his family." Zhou Baihu almost blurted out, "Pfft..."

"Listen to this, is this reasonable? Three hundred people are surrounding him, does he have legs?" Commander Ma cursed.

"Brother, calm down." Magistrate Lu couldn't stand his rambling anymore and said with a wry smile, "I understand what they mean. Since they can't leave without a verdict, then I'll hurry up and finish the verdict, and then they can leave with peace of mind."

“Indeed,” Commander Ma laughed, “Scholars are always good at grasping the essentials.”

"Hehe, you're joking, brother..." Magistrate Lu smiled on the surface, but cursed inwardly. It's not enough to just issue a judgment; it has to be in their favor.

"That's settled then, brother, you hurry back and finish the case." Commander Ma patted his chest and said, "Don't worry about this, I'll keep an eye on things, nothing will go wrong."

"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you, brother." Magistrate Lu reluctantly accepted the brotherly address.

"No problem, no problem. Once you've settled this case quickly, I'll take them home right away. It won't take half a day!" Commander Ma said, then blamed himself, "Oh dear, look at my mouth! Aren't I putting pressure on you?"

"No, no," Magistrate Lu hurriedly shook his head.

“We martial artists are blunt and don’t think much, just ignore me!” Commander Ma quickly added, “I won’t put any pressure on you. You can sentence me however you want, just don’t feel pressured.”

"No pressure, don't worry, there's no pressure," Magistrate Lu said, both amused and exasperated.

~~
After returning to the yamen, the first thing Magistrate Lu did was to berate Clerk Jiang for venting his anger:
"Look at the trouble you've caused! I've only been gone a few days, and you've already gotten yourself into such a mess! I think you're desperate to show off! Now you've failed to show off and instead exposed your true colors, the county magistrate has to clean up your mess! Feeling completely satisfied now?"

Jiang Dianshi was, after all, an official appointed by the Ministry of Personnel, yet he was scolded like a dog by Magistrate Lu, but he kept his head down and dared not utter a sound. This time, it was indeed he who had caused the trouble.

After scolding him for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Magistrate Lu then kicked Clerk Jiang out to patrol the streets all night to prevent the garrison soldiers from causing trouble...

He then plopped down, took the teacup offered by his attendant, took a sip, and sighed, "These mountain soldiers, they even know how to force the emperor to abdicate! Where did they learn that from?"

“That’s not important anymore.” You Muyou asked, “The important thing is, what should we do now, Master?”

"Should I be the one to greet you?" Magistrate Lu was unusually irritated with him.

"In my humble opinion, although I am very unwilling, I can only go along with those mountain soldiers and try to turn a big problem into a small one, and a small problem into nothing," You Muyou said with a wry smile.

“Indeed.” Magistrate Lu agreed with him and nodded emphatically, “Now is a critical juncture in the county’s official career. Everything must be done with the overall situation in mind. We must not allow any trouble to occur.”

“Then try to meet their demands as much as possible. They’re very well prepared this time, and they won’t give up until they get what they want.” You Muyou said knowingly, “Moreover, they have a very clear division of labor. Commander Ma and the Su clan are playing the bad cop, while Scholar Cheng is in charge of negotiating…”

"What? There's something to do with Scholar Cheng? Aren't the two families enemies?" Magistrate Lu's head, which had just calmed down, immediately swelled up with anger.

"I never expected this! The moment I saw Su Youma at his house, I felt a chill run down my spine and had a really bad feeling. And sure enough, the bad thing just happened," You Muyou said dejectedly.

"What conditions did he propose?" Magistrate Lu was even more wary of Scholar Cheng than Commander Ma.

It's not that Scholar Cheng is more capable than Commander Ma, but rather that the former could more easily ruin his future...

“Although he didn’t say it explicitly, it was obvious.” You Muyou then counted on his fingers and said, “First, we must clear Su Youma’s name and bring those who framed him to justice.”

"Of course, I would have done the same thing without even asking!" Magistrate Lu said through gritted teeth. He now hated the people who had caused all this trouble!

"Secondly, Erlang wine can be sold freely in the county, and no one can interfere!" You Muyou added.

"No problem!" Magistrate Lu nodded, his voice brimming with menace. "I will also shut down all the wine shops in Hejiang and drive all those unscrupulous merchants who collude with bandits out of the county!"

"Third, thoroughly investigate the case of the He brothers and avenge them..." When You Muyou said this, he saw that Magistrate Lu looked troubled.

"Well, I'm afraid that's difficult..." Magistrate Lu's previous imposing manner vanished.

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(End of this chapter)