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Chapter 600 Noble Righteousness
As Wang Qiong left Tengxi Palace, he saw Su Lu already waiting at the palace gate.

He looked at his beloved grandson with a complicated expression. Although Su Lu had always been cold and indifferent to him, he was never ambiguous when it came to matters.

Wang Qiong gritted his teeth and prepared to clasp his hands in thanks, but Su Lu bowed first and said, "This humble official will see the Vice Minister out."

This was clearly a reminder to him to be mindful of the occasion and to handle matters formally.

"Thank you for your trouble." Wang Qiong returned the greeting with clasped hands, and Su Lu led him outside.

The two walked in silence for a long time before Su Lu said softly, "The evaluation of the Sichuan officers and soldiers in the register is a combination of reports from the Ministry of War and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but it may not be accurate and is only for the Censor's reference."

"Understood." Wang Qiong nodded.

"If the local officers and soldiers are truly incompetent, they can be transferred from other provinces to serve the Censor. However, foreign troops entering Sichuan have historically caused too much disturbance, and the people may suffer secondary harm. Therefore, I hope the Censor will reconsider and make the best use of Sichuan officers and soldiers."

Wang Qiong nodded and sighed: "Yes, bandits are like combs, soldiers are like fine brushes... Don't worry, I will always put the people first."

Upon hearing this, Su Lu straightened his clothes and bowed deeply to Wang Qiong: "In that case, on behalf of the elders of Sichuan, I would like to express my gratitude to the Censor for his great kindness."

"It should be this old man thanking... Lord Su," Wang Qiong returned the greeting.

Su Lu didn't respond to his comment and continued, "As for provisions, to be honest, the national treasury is empty and local treasuries are also struggling to function. The court can't provide you with even a grain of rice, only silver. You'll have to find your own way to get rice."

As he spoke, he opened the black leather cover in his hand, pulled out a bill of exchange with densely packed signatures and seals along with half a seal, and handed it to Wang Qiong, saying:
"This is a Juyuan note worth 200,000 taels. I have already ordered someone to deposit the full principal into its Beijing branch. When the Grand Secretary arrives in Chengdu, he can cash it at the Shu branch with this note. This is the limit that Juyuan Bank can accept; any more than that, we'll have to wait until next year."

Wang Qiong accepted the flimsy draft, but his heart was filled with turmoil—in his half-life as an official, he had never seen such a method of direct payment from the emperor!
What did this mean? Wang Qiong didn't dare to think about it... but since his relationship with his grandson wasn't quite there yet, he could only say happily, "With these 200,000 taels, I feel more confident."

Su Lu then asked him to fill out a receipt before telling him the secret code for withdrawing the money.

Wang Qiong then asked Su Lu if he had any instructions. Su Lu shook his head and said frankly:

"Your Excellency's memorial to the Emperor was thorough and appropriate, and I have no need to comment. As long as Your Excellency keeps your word, I will do my utmost to support you in the capital and restore peace to the people as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, I have already made a solemn pledge to the Emperor," Wang Qiong said seriously.

Just as he was about to take a step, he heard Su Lu say again, "There is one more thing. I would like to recommend someone for the Censor."

"Oh?" Wang Qiong raised an eyebrow. "Who is it?"

“My teacher is Wang Yangming,” Su Lu said in a deep voice.

"Master Yangming?" Wang Qiong was overjoyed upon hearing this. His grandson still cared about him! He quickly agreed, saying, "He is truly a man of great talent! With his help, our great undertaking will be accomplished!"

Seeing that he accepted this hot potato without hesitation, Su Lu couldn't help but look at this 'detestable grandfather' with even higher regard.

The teacher was a major problem, ranking eighth on Liu Jin's list of treacherous officials. Being the first to try something new when Liu Jin still held immense power was a risky move.

Wang Qiong, having served as the Grand Canal Commissioner, would certainly not be unaware of this. Moreover, his confession to Eunuch Liu reveals that he is not the kind of upright official like Liu Daxia who disregards personal gain for the sake of morality.

He agreed without even flinching, clearly having thoroughly weighed the big picture and the details, knowing who to rely on and which side to stand on. Dealing with such a master can save a lot of trouble.

Su Lu escorted Wang Qiong all the way to the entrance of the Leopard House, then stepped back, straightened his clothes, and bowed deeply, saying, "Take care, Your Excellency, and await your triumphant return."

"As you wish." Wang Qiong straightened her hat and returned the greeting.

~~
After seeing Wang Qiong off, Su Lu returned to dine with Zhu Houzhao as usual.

"Come and try today's hand-pulled mutton, it's incredibly delicious." Zhu Houzhao personally handed him a mutton rib and laughed, "I never expected that your wretched grandfather would be such a capable minister."

Su Lu thanked him and accepted the lamb ribs with both hands. He was now under the round-the-clock, all-around protection of the Imperial Workshop, as if he had a camera installed on him, and His Majesty could see his every move clearly.

"Dip it in some chive blossom sauce," Zhu Houzhao instructed him on how to eat it.

Su Lu complied while replying, "I only realized after reviewing his resume that he is a capable and efficient official, and a rare technocrat. We are in dire need of capable people right now, so I can only put aside my personal feelings and recommend him to Your Majesty." "Alas, putting aside his abilities, he's really ruthless. He's already such a high-ranking official, yet he still slips a little through his fingers. How much less suffering would you men have endured?" Zhu Houzhao said with empathy.

“Let’s not talk about the past.” Su Lu’s expression darkened, and he couldn’t eat. “His ability to quell the rebellion for the Emperor sooner is more important than anything else.”

Zhu Houzhao quickly stopped talking: "Alright, alright, let's not talk about this unpleasant thing."

Su Lu nodded slightly and remained quite silent throughout the meal.

In reality, he had no feelings for Wang Qiong whatsoever. After all, he had never even met his birth mother and had no connection with the Wang family, so there was no question of feelings between them.

There are three reasons why he has always been distant and unwilling to get close to Wang Qiong: first, he was still angry with his aunt; second, he wanted to keep Wang Qiong in check so that he wouldn't act like a grandfather.

The final layer is rather abstract—creating emotional value for His Majesty. This method of providing emotional value in reverse may seem sophisticated, but in essence, it's about creating empathy.

His Majesty's relationship with his birth mother and maternal grandfather's family, if not cold, was practically like that of enemies. Su Lu's behavior naturally made the emperor feel that the two were in similar circumstances and evoked a sense of 'shared suffering'. This was more effective in bridging the psychological distance between the two than trying to please the emperor or cater to his preferences.

Some might ask, since he and the emperor are such good friends now, why does he still need to scheme so much?
Su Lu would only smile faintly at this – you have to keep adding charcoal to a stove, otherwise it will get cold by midnight, let alone between people.

~~
After leaving the Leopard Chamber, Wang Qiong went straight to the Wenyuan Pavilion.

How could someone as perceptive as him only pay homage to the Emperor while neglecting the cabinet? Yesterday, while submitting a memorial to express his gratitude, Wang Qiong also sent a petition to the cabinet requesting an audience.

Even though the cabinet is now being suppressed by Eunuch Liu, he would never truly regard it as nothing more than a roadside dummy... The cabinet is the head and representative of the gentry of the land. As long as the court still relies on the imperial examination to select officials, the court will eventually be dominated by civil officials, and the cabinet will naturally have its day to turn the tide. He sees this very clearly.

Upon arriving at Huiji Gate, the guard in the Imperial Guard verified his credentials and led him inside to Wenyuan Pavilion.

He was received by Yang Tinghe, a Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall. The Grand Secretary Li Dongyang's old illness had relapsed, and he had been feeling listless these past few days.

But it doesn't matter, he came here to pay his respects to Grand Secretary Yang. Going to Sichuan as governor, if he doesn't first pay his respects to the leading figure of the Sichuan gentry, how can he possibly quell the rebellion? He can forget about doing anything!

Moreover, this old man was adaptable; when he met Yang Tinghe, he didn't ask the gentry to contribute money and grain, nor did he suggest leaving them to fend for themselves if they didn't receive any money. Instead, he respectfully asked Grand Secretary Yang for instructions on how to quell the rebellion.

Yang Tinghe sat upright at the table and solemnly instructed, "When you go to Sichuan to quell the rebellion, your first priority should be to secure the gentry and stabilize the local communities. Sichuan has many prominent families who have guarded the land for generations, and the hearts and resources of the people depend on them. Therefore, if the gentry are secure, local militia can be recruited and provisions can be raised. This is the foundation for quelling the rebellion and must not be neglected."

"Furthermore, the recent banditry in Sichuan is due to the heavy taxes and corvée labor, which have made the people suffer unbearably and thus easily swayed by the rebels. You may petition the court to temporarily exempt Sichuan from taxes and corvée labor, especially to cancel the newly imposed levies in recent years, in order to alleviate the people's suffering."

"Finally, the suppression of the rebellion requires both suppression and appeasement, and we cannot simply tolerate it. Those who have blood on their hands, especially those who dare to harm the gentry, must be exterminated to serve as a warning to others!"

After Grand Secretary Yang finished giving his instructions, Wang Qiong respectfully said, "I will certainly follow your instructions, Grand Secretary. Furthermore, I have heard that this rebellion in Sichuan seems to be targeting the gentry… Lan Tingrui, Yan Benshu, and others were originally salt farmers who were driven to desperation by exorbitant taxes and levies, leading them to rise up in rebellion; the peasants who followed them were also victims of famine, where landlords refused to reduce rent by even a fraction, naturally accumulating resentment for a long time. Therefore, wherever the rebels went, they specifically targeted the local gentry. How can this problem be resolved?"

Yang Tinghe frowned slightly, stroked his beard, and said in a deep voice, "You only know one side of the story, not the other. The gentry are actually taking the blame for others. Since the incident involving Princess Liu, the garrison eunuchs of Sichuan Province have been ordered to pay an additional 10,000 taels of gold every year, in addition to the usual amount. The garrison eunuchs then apportioned the amount at each level, so the actual amount collected at the lower levels was far more than that."

He sighed and said, "The common people only think that the gentry are exploiting them because they are closest to them, but that's not the case at all."

Wang Qiong then said softly, "But I heard that since the salt and copper trade was opened in Luzhou, the garrison eunuch no longer needs to impose quotas on the lower levels."

"Oh? You're quite well-informed." Yang Tinghe glanced at him in surprise, then said knowingly, "But you've been in the local area for a long time, don't you know that it's easy to start these exorbitant taxes and levies but difficult to stop them? Even if the big eunuchs above call for a halt, how could the little eunuchs below willingly give up?"

"Oh, then I truly only know one side of the story." Wang Qiong nodded.

"Ultimately, the root cause lies entirely in the eunuchs' corruption and layered exploitation; coupled with the incompetence of the government troops in suppressing bandits, this led to the spread of banditry," Yang Tinghe emphasized solemnly at the end.

"Don't be misled by appearances. After entering Sichuan, we must still prioritize uniting with the gentry. Otherwise, suppressing the rebellion will be a long way off, and the consequences will be endless..."

"Yes," Wang Qiong replied, "This humble official will keep Your Excellency's instructions in mind."

"Go ahead." Yang Tinghe stood up to see you off and said, "The cabinet is in such a state now that there is nothing to support you. I would like to make a personal statement: after you take office, the Yang family of Xindu will donate two thousand shi of grain. This is the limit that our family can afford. Consider it a sacrifice to relieve the country's difficulties."

"Your Excellency is truly virtuous!" Wang Qiong was extremely grateful.

(End of this chapter)