Late Ming Dynasty: Starting with the overthrow of the county magistrate, a rebellion was launched to

Zhang Da's first day in Shaoyang was not peaceful. In order to appease the people, he let most of the soldiers go. But what if some of the soldiers in the county town slipped through the net and secretly contacted the soldiers who were dissatisfied with him? If the enemy was in the open while we were in the dark, and they succeeded, wouldn't that just make us a laughing stock?

Therefore, in order to maintain stability in the county, Zhang Da had no choice but to kill all the powerful and influential people in the old county town.

Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free.

Moreover, in such chaotic times, those who can maintain their power and wealth are mostly not good people...

So every day, the people of the county would see ragged refugees rushing into a house, calling out someone's name, grabbing them, dragging them away, and beheading them, and so on.

Some people cheered, while others were terrified that it would be their turn. Fortunately, this situation only lasted for half a day before gradually subsiding.

"Gentlemen, do not be afraid. I... I know about the sordid things that happened in the county office in the past. Most of them were done by Wu Yingshao and those few heinous beasts. You were just following orders, and your crimes do not warrant death."

On the morning of the second day after Zhang Da raised his army, the main hall of the prefectural government was filled with people—most of whom had previously worked for the county magistrate. Their eyes were dim with fear, and a faint stench of urine permeated the entire hall.

No wonder, yesterday a riot broke out in the county, and the rioters kept killing and beheading people. Most of the people they killed were their own acquaintances, superiors, and colleagues. In the end, even the county magistrate and the fourth-rank prefect were beheaded!

I was summoned here this morning, thinking it was my turn, but the tone of the bandit leader on the platform, speaking so kindly, didn't sound like he was about to kill me.

That bandit leader was incredibly young, and standing beside him was the youngest daughter of Magistrate Wu. Magistrate Wu had been killed, and his daughter was probably already...

At this moment, Zhang Da was wearing official robes, which he would occasionally adjust and tidy up. It wasn't that Zhang Da was vain; it was just that the robes were ill-fitting, some parts too big and some too tight, making him look extremely awkward and uncomfortable. Zhang Da's attire clashed terribly with the vermilion lacquered desk in the hall and the plaque inscribed with "A Bright Mirror Hangs High" hanging above.

"I am the newly appointed Prefect and Magistrate of Shaoyang. After this matter, you will all return to your posts and continue to assist me in handling affairs. Your wages and salaries will continue to be paid as before. What do you say?"

Upon hearing this, the former clerks, village officials, and household servants who had served in the hall felt a great weight lifted from their shoulders.

It seems this new prefect is reasonable!

Although at first everyone bowed their heads and hesitated to agree, it wasn't long before a few clever and bold ones knelt down and thanked Zhang Da, declaring their loyalty. After all, a secure job was always the most desirable in any dynasty, so how could the rest refuse? They all addressed him as "My Lord."

"There's no need for that. In the future, you must not exploit the people, embezzle, or take bribes..."

Before sending the surviving government officials back to their posts, Zhang Da gave them a series of admonitions.

This made Wu Lian'er, who was standing next to him, roll her eyes.

Hypocritical! Utterly hypocritical! The first thing he did when he arrived at the county office last night was to think about changing the name his parents gave him, saying that he had already entered the inner circle and needed a scholarly name to attract talent.

Unfilial

I racked my brains for hours, coming up with names even more rustic than Zhang Da, and even considered changing it to Liu… In the end, something like Zhang Kuangyin came up.

Ignorant, shallow, and audacious

Wu Lian'er looked at the monkey beside her, which was deliberately dressed in her father's official robes and was trying to persuade people to do good, with utter disdain.

It's simply a case of a monkey wearing a crown, hypocritical and pretentious.

How can such a person remain a county magistrate or prefect for long?

Fortunately, Wu Lian'er didn't believe that her aunt or elder brother would conceal the truth or admit that her father was utterly wicked because of her. On the contrary, she was certain they would urge the court to send troops to redress the injustice, and soon the court would indeed send troops to redress the injustice. At that time, she was determined to personally witness him being executed by slow slicing.

But before that, I must not let this beast defile me.

So this morning, Wu Lian'er deliberately didn't wash her face or comb her hair, and went out wearing only a plain dress. In case he had any ideas about her in the future, she could just take out the scissors hidden under the bed and die with him!

"Alright, I've said all I needed to say. From today onwards, you all should perform your duties and get the county's affairs in order."

Zhang Da breathed a sigh of relief, and after sending the county officials away, he looked at Wu Lian'er with a relaxed expression. Although she still wore a deadpan expression, he was still grateful for her testimony, which had enabled him to quickly eliminate the threat in the county.

Now that those who deserved to be killed have been killed and those who deserved to be laid off have been laid off, Zhang Wen led his men to reorganize the displaced people and train local militia.

Each headman was assigned to guard the four gates, post stations, and ferry crossings, and to patrol the streets and alleys.

The meritorious tenants and displaced people all followed Zhou Wenqu to the countryside to distribute land and rewards according to their merits. The remaining officials and clerks returned to their posts... The entire Shaoyang County had settled down.

Hmm, it's only been two days and the county town has been brought under control. I've done a pretty good job as the county magistrate.

In fact, Zhang Da had occupied Baoqing Prefecture, and in principle, he could have called himself the prefect. However, perhaps the other four counties under Baoqing Prefecture would not recognize him as their prefect (in fact, they wouldn't recognize him as the county magistrate either), so Zhang Da always preferred to call himself the county magistrate.

Now that things have settled down, Zhang Da no longer needs his tenant farmers to protect him constantly, so it's only natural that they should be allowed to go and be rewarded for their contributions.

Just thinking about it gave Zhang Da another headache.

Although I promised them that their appointment as generals and titles was a big promise, I couldn't lie about distributing land and silver.

Money is easy to deal with; if the county treasury doesn't have enough, we can simply issue an IOU and discuss it later. The key issue is land. The entire Shaoyang County only has so much land, and it's all registered and owned. Even if General Zhang distributed all the land belonging to those corrupt officials to everyone, it still wouldn't be enough…

There's no custom of issuing IOUs for land matters, so to silence public criticism, Zhang Da had no choice but to pull out his family's land register, intending to distribute it all to his subordinates. Even if it ran out later, no one would say anything against him.

"Alas, such extraordinary people exist in this world."

"Hmm? What does this mean, little girl?"

"Your family owns so much more land than mine, yet you still slander my father, accusing him of coveting fertile land and bullying men and women... Today I have the honor of meeting such an extraordinary person... He has absolutely no shame, hence my sigh."

Seeing Zhang Da generously distribute his family's land to his associates while fussing over his own, Wu Lian'er couldn't bear it any longer and cursed him. Her voice was cold and tinged with resentment.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Da tossed the land register onto the table, glanced at her sideways, and said disdainfully.

"What does a young girl like you know? If I were truly shameless, I would have... You would probably have been defiled by those vagrants and militia by now, how could you still be standing in the main hall of the government office, eating and drinking without worry, enjoying endless wealth and honor?"

"Ha, don't you want to?" Wu Lian'er raised her eyes, looking directly at him, her eyes filled with disgust. "The moment you saw me, I saw through your filthy intentions. Keeping me by your side, spending every day with me, is nothing more than trying to make me fall in love with you, so you can do as you please, isn't that right? Tch, how disgusting."

"you!"

Zhang Da was instantly enraged and pointed at her, but was speechless for a moment.

A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions. Even if she did harbor such filthy thoughts, Zhang Da remained polite to her from beginning to end, never uttering a single lewd word, let alone making any advances.

How could you say that about yourself?

"Whose little sister is this? She's so young, how come she's spouting such things as 'feeling affection'?"

Just as Zhang Da was so angry he couldn't utter a sound, a gentle female voice, like a refreshing breeze, carrying a familiar accent, suddenly came from outside the hall.

The two looked over and saw a woman standing at the entrance of the hall, followed by two peasant women carrying baskets.

The woman had an oval face, a well-proportioned figure, and rounded features. Whether it was due to a lack of fashion sense or she was simply very confident, there was no trace of makeup on her face. However, with her fair, delicate skin and well-defined features, she certainly didn't need any styling.

However, despite her appearance, the first thing anyone would notice about her was her figure—even though she wore an extremely loose, moon-white silk dress that didn't reveal any specific details of her figure, she always gave the impression that beneath that loose robe, the woman's figure must be slender and graceful, her waist must be delicate, and her breasts must be full.

Although she was just a village woman with a slight rural accent, without fancy clothes or elaborate makeup, she still managed to make the well-informed Wu Lian'er feel a sense of inferiority and shame.

Is Zhang Da really that lucky?