Prime Minister

Chapter 143, Section 142: [The People's Hearts Are Like a Furnace]

About ten miles northwest of Xinghua County, on the north side of a dense forest, nearly a thousand salt soldiers were resting in twos and threes in the shade.

The salt soldiers were directly under the jurisdiction of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner. There was no fixed number of soldiers, but they were enough to cover dozens of salt fields in Lianghuai. This was a military force independent of the local garrisons and was only subject to the orders of the Salt Transport Commissioner.

Under a large tree, Chen Lun, the deputy commissioner of the Salt Transport Bureau, sat with his back against the tree roots, while Liu Song, who was sitting opposite him, looked respectful.

Chen Lun tossed the water pouch to his attendant and looked at Liu Song, saying, "If we can drive Xue Huai away this time, your old man will be the one to do the most good work."

Liu Song was certainly not foolish enough to admit it, and only smiled and said, "Sir, you are being a bit off. It was clearly Xue Tongzhi who was ambitious and disregarded the lives of the local people, which led to the popular uprising. If you hadn't been nearby and decisively led troops to quell the unrest, the situation would have been out of control."

Upon hearing this, Chen Lun raised his hand and tapped him, also smiling, "You really know how to talk. No wonder your old man values ​​you so much."

"I am flattered by your praise, sir.

Liu Song remained calm, then turned to look southeast and said, "The county town should be very lively at this time, but unfortunately I will not have the chance to witness it."

Chen Lun couldn't help but recall his experience in Qingshan Town, Yizhen County. Although Xu Guanlan did not punish him in the end, he always regarded that incident as the greatest shame of his life.

After all, for nearly ten years before Xue Huai, no local official in Yangzhou dared to offend the Salt Transport Bureau. This time, Chen Lun almost became a laughing stock within the Salt Transport Bureau, especially those colleagues who were usually at odds with him, who tried every means to slander him to Xu Guanlan.

This time, Chen Lun almost exhausted all his connections and sent Xu Guanlan three thousand taels of silver in order to get a chance to redeem himself. He just wanted to see Xue Huai fall into the dust and become the hero who saved the situation and quelled the turmoil.

"Yeah, who wouldn't want to watch?"

Chen Lun forced out a sentence through gritted teeth, then looked at Liu Song and asked, "What are your plans for Luo Tong?"

The situation in Xinghua County deteriorated to this point not by Luo Tong and the county officials alone, but by the efforts of local powerful families in Yangzhou and the Salt Transport Bureau. In particular, the former, relying on their strong foundation in the countryside, successfully smeared Xue Huai as a selfish and arrogant bureaucrat in just half a month and incited the anger of the local people.

Even Chen Lun dared not underestimate the strength of these local powerful families. Not to mention how much benefit he had received from them in the past, his two concubines were illegitimate daughters from powerful families, and the two sides had long been an inseparable interest group.

Liu Song bluntly stated, "Magistrate Luo is a hidden danger."

Chen Lun nodded slightly upon hearing this.

When Xue Huai inspected Xinghua County, Luo Tong had no way out. He had no choice but to take a desperate gamble, willingly becoming a pawn in everyone's game. According to the initial plan, he would shift the blame for the oppressive government onto Xue Huai, do his best to protect himself after the civil unrest broke out, and then Chen Lun would lead the salt soldiers to subdue the rioters and control the county. Afterwards, all the forces in Yangzhou would unanimously attribute the root of the civil unrest to Xue Huai.

However, in Liu Fu's view, a civil unrest might not be enough to deal with Xue Huai. If the magistrate of Xinghua County died in this civil unrest, Xue Huai would be the only official who had to take responsibility.

Where exactly did Xue Huai go recently?

Chen Lun was still somewhat uneasy, after all, he had suffered a loss at Xue Huai's hands before, and he really couldn't afford to fail again.

Liu Song pondered for a moment and said, "A month ago, the young lady from the Shen family led a group of people away from the prefectural city to the north. Ostensibly, she was inspecting the branches in various places, but judging from her whereabouts, she was most likely there to meet with Magistrate Xue. Based on the fragmented information we have gathered these past few days, Magistrate Xue is probably conducting secret investigations in various places within Xinghua County and then mingling with the Shen family."

"He's really lucky with women."

Chen Lun chuckled twice, then said, "The Shen family is indeed wealthy, but they are powerless to prevent today's turmoil. We don't need to worry too much."

Liu Song wholeheartedly agreed.

He knew that the Shen family's strength had risen in recent years, and the friendship between Shen Bingwen and Xue Mingzhang meant that he would stand on Xue Huai's side. However, today's situation was caused by the joint efforts of various forces in Yangzhou. Not to mention Shen Qingluan with only a few dozen followers, even if Shen Bingwen himself came, he would be powerless.

Just then, a close attendant hurried over and said to Chen Lun, "Sir, chaos has broken out in the city! People from all over, canal workers, and salt producers have rushed into the city!"

"very good."

Chen Lun stood up and looked southeast, then chuckled and said, "Tell the men below to get ready and be alert. In another hour, we will go to rescue Lord Xue."

"I accept my order from my humble position!"

……

At the same time, in Xinghua County.

Cheng Zixuan and his group were clearly targeting Xue Huai today. They completely ignored the role played by Luo Tong and the county officials in this matter, and they were all pointing their anger at Xue Huai. Under their instigation and encouragement, the people who came later all did the same.

The situation is showing signs of getting out of control.

"Prefect Xue, you owe us an explanation!"

This is the prevailing trend in the audience's reactions.

Xinghua County is different from other places. It is divided into islands by a network of rivers, and the streets and alleys meander with the terrain. There are no city walls to cover it, so it is completely undefended. Therefore, the people outside can pour into the city without any obstacles. Not to mention that Luo Tong had already made arrangements, and today all the yamen runners of the county government had to follow him.

Although those people made solemn promises, Luo Tong wouldn't completely entrust his fate to them. He knew a large-scale riot would break out in the city today, so preserving his own life was the most important thing. At this moment, the guards in front of the courtyard gate felt the pressure mounting. There were simply too many people gathered outside, and it was difficult for their twenty-odd men to control the situation.

After Luo Tong's advice was ignored by Xue Huai, Wang Gui swallowed hard and stepped forward, saying, "Your Excellency, perhaps we should step aside for now? These people are consumed by anger and won't listen to our advice. I'm afraid something terrible might happen."

"What's the big deal?"

Xue Huai calmly gazed at the vast, seemingly endless crowd ahead.

Wang Gui sighed inwardly. He knew Xue Huai must have made some preparations, but the current situation was too alarming, and no one knew whether the people would suddenly riot.

"Xue Tongzhi!"

Among the crowd, a man in his thirties suddenly spoke in a loud voice that drowned out the others. He said sternly, "Why do you allow Magistrate Luo to force us to the brink of despair?"

This man was Chang Sheng, a cook in Dingxichang. The group of cooks he brought were much more valiant than the others. They immediately occupied the central position. He looked at the high-ranking official, who was only in his early twenties, on the steps in the distance, his face filled with murderous intent.

Seeing that the time was right, Xue Huai nodded to Li Shun beside him, and then two clerks appeared carrying a large bronze gong.

The piercing, sharp sound of the gong rang out in the street, quickly silencing the commotion in the area.

Xue Huai stepped forward, looked at the crowd, and said loudly, "Fellow villagers, when I first arrived in Xinghua, I found that your lives were extremely difficult, largely due to the flooding disasters in our county. Therefore, I decided to adopt Magistrate Luo's suggestion and do everything possible to solve this year's flooding problem before starting the flood control project. I told Magistrate Luo that the conscription of corvée labor must be in accordance with regulations, and that everyone must be paid wages; there must be no extortion or levies."

"That's nice to say!"

Cheng Zixuan, relying on his relatives, said sternly, "Who doesn't know that you, Xue Tongzhi, care most about your reputation? You're just using the pretext of inspecting various counties to gain political achievements for yourself! You don't care about our lives at all. Even if you force hundreds or thousands of people to their deaths this time, as long as your so-called flood control project succeeds, you'll have merit! You'll get promoted!"

"That's right! Folks, don't trust this corrupt official!"

"Get out of Xinghua County!"

"Get out of here!"

The crowd surged forward, and with the encouragement of Cheng Zixuan and some men hiding in the shadows, the anger in the hearts of the people burned even brighter.

Chang Sheng didn't add fuel to the fire. He trusted his intuition even more. The young high-ranking official in the distance was probably not lying. The question was, were all these people deceived?

Could it be that Xue Huai and Luo Tong were protecting each other as officials?
At the critical moment, Luo Tong suddenly bowed to Xue Huai and said with great grief and indignation, "Lord Xue! I have long advised you that the people of Xinghua County are suffering too much and cannot withstand any more hardship! But you insist on conscripting laborers and imposing levies. I beg you, please rescind your order and give the people of this county a way to survive!"

Upon hearing this, the county officials all knelt down, as if the flood control matter was entirely Xue Huai's own willful idea.

A brief silence fell over the crowd, followed by several angry shouts: "This corrupt official doesn't treat us like human beings! Folks, attack!"

"Go on!"

In an instant, the fire was ignited.

The next moment, a sudden change occurred. More than ten solemn men suddenly appeared from the crowd and subdued the troublemakers, led by Cheng Zixuan, who were jumping around.

At the same time, Xue Huai shouted, "Men, seize all those corrupt officials in Xinghua County!"

Jiang Sheng and his men, who were prepared, quickly stepped forward and captured Luo Tong and his men with lightning speed.

With the county yamen runners not around, Luo Tong and his men were caught off guard and were quickly subdued.

This sudden change caused the people to pause in their actions. Xue Huai stepped forward without hesitation and solemnly asked, "Fellow villagers, do you want to rebel?"

As if rehearsed beforehand, the guards blocking the steps drew their swords and shouted sternly, "Attacks on government offices are considered treason, punishable by the extermination of nine generations of relatives and the execution of the entire family!"

"Exterminate nine generations of their family, execute the entire clan!"

Similar shouts rang out from the crowd. These were the men that Xue Huai had arranged for Shen Qingluan to do in advance. They were the ones who, after receiving Xue Huai's instructions, found and subdued the men responsible for instigating the people in the shortest possible time.

The anger in the hearts of the people seemed to have been doused with a bucket of cold water.

The previously noisy and chaotic scene fell silent for a moment. Xue Huai glanced at Luo Tong, whose face had turned pale, and took the opportunity to say to the bewildered people, "Fellow villagers, today I will help you settle the accounts of Xinghua County over the years!"

……

……

(Tomorrow at 3 PM.)
(End of this chapter)