The snow had just cleared, and fine bamboo curtains hung from the eaves of the Jizhoufu government office to block the wind. Through the gaps, one could faintly see two or three branches of winter plum blossoms budding in the courtyard.
Muffled voices of conversation drifted from the hall. On the steps of the corridor, guards in armor stood in a row like geese, their faces stern.
Suddenly, the sound of weapons clashing came from outside the main gate.
“Who dares to intrude upon the Jizhoufu office?”
Hearing the sounds of fighting outside, some of the inner courtyard guards remained to strictly guard the meeting hall, while others rushed to the gate with swords and halberds to provide support.
However, the intruders were also a squad of armored guards carrying spears and halberds. A Jizhoufu soldier was sent flying by a kick from the leading general in scale armor.
He raised his eyes, full of anger: “Hegeng Yuan, get your ass out here!”
The Jizhoufu officials who came out of the meeting hall upon hearing the commotion all showed strange expressions when they saw him.
Only Zheng Wenchang immediately shouted: “How dare you directly call out the Prefect’s name!”
Wei Xuan sneered, not taking him seriously at all. As he approached the meeting hall with his sword drawn, Zheng Wenchang had also unsheathed three inches of his blade.
Just as the two were about to cross swords, a steady, deep voice came from inside the hall: “Wenchang, stand down.”
Zheng Wenchang glanced back, sheathing his sword, but still glared at Wei Xuan.
Wei Xuan’s lips curled into a sneer. He swung his sword directly at Zheng Wenchang, who hastily dodged. The surrounding civil officials cried out in alarm and scattered in disarray at this sight.
“Did the Young Master come here just to harass the officials under my command?” The voice of He Jing Yuan, seated calmly in the place of honor, came at an opportune moment. Looking at the man below, disappointment showed in his eyes.
It was true that Wei Yan held absolute power in court, but it was under his rule these past ten years that the entire post-war Great Yin Dynasty had been able to recuperate. Though naturally suspicious, he was also extremely good at using people.
How had the son of Wei Yan turned out to be such a reckless, vainglorious fool?
Seeing that look in his eyes, Wei Xuan’s anger grew even fiercer. Like a snarling hyena baring its fangs, he pointed his sword at Zheng Wenchang and said: “One of your running dogs dares to bark at this general. Or is it that you, He Jing Yuan, no longer take the Wei family seriously?”
He Jing Yuan replied: “The Prime Minister has shown me great kindness. I am guarding Jizhou on his orders. How could I not take the Wei family seriously?”
He slowly raised his eyes and continued: “Or… does the Young Master mean that I do not take him seriously?”
These words provoked Wei Xuan’s rage to boil over. With a ferocious expression, he shouted: “You have some nerve! Men, throw him in the dungeon!”
As his armored guards moved to advance, Zheng Wenchang and the other military officers all drew their swords to block the way. In an instant, both sides were poised for battle.
He Jing Yuan’s voice remained calm: “I am a third-rank official of the court. Even if the Young Master wishes to imprison me, he must present an imperial edict.”
Wei Xuan sneered: “With war imminent, you are obstructing military affairs. This charge alone is enough for this general to execute you first and report later!”
He Jing Yuan asked: “What military affairs have I obstructed?”
Wei Xuan angrily pointed outside: “Our soldiers in Huizhou are shedding blood on the front lines, facing a critical shortage of supplies. We requested grain from Tai and Ji provinces, but not only did you disobey military orders, but you even bound the officers I sent to requisition grain. He Jing Yuan, do you wish for Huizhou to fall to the rebels as well?”
He Jing Yuan simply said: “The Young Master’s defeats should not be borne by the common people. If Huizhou only defends for now, it can certainly hold out until supplies arrive from the court. The Young Master’s urgency to requisition grain is nothing more than wanting to quickly launch another attack on Chongzhou. Does the Young Master not care about the lives of the people in both prefectures?”
Wei Xuan shouted harshly: “How could it be impossible to requisition grain? It’s nothing more than those lowly commoners refusing to hand over their food. Didn’t Taizhou also claim they couldn’t produce any grain at first? In the end, didn’t they still come up with 100,000 piculs?”
At the mention of Taizhou, He Jing Yuan’s face showed deep pain as he rebuked: “Beating people to death and stealing next year’s seed grain for military supplies – is this what the Young Master calls requisitioning?”
Wei Xuan said coldly: “As long as we defeat the rebels, the entire Northwest can recuperate. What’s wrong with a moment of suffering in exchange for long-term benefits?”
He Jing Yuan asked him: “Does the Young Master know how many lives in Tai and Ji prefectures will be lost for what you call ‘a moment of suffering’? When news reaches the capital, how many scholars and officials will condemn the Prime Minister?”
Wei Xuan’s face twisted: “Once the rebels are eliminated, what do those things matter? Now that the rebels know Huizhou’s supply lines are cut, they won’t be able to engage Chongzhou again in the short term and will let their guard down. If this general can quickly dispatch troops, we can catch them by surprise! With military achievements, all those voices will be silenced!”
He Jing Yuan sighed heavily: “Young Master, please heed this official’s advice. This world belongs to the people of Great Yin. We have not yet reached the point of no return. Do not push the common people to this extent and alienate them.”
Wei Xuan merely snorted coldly: “Womanly mercy!”
He said viciously: “If you continue to obstruct me, this general will exercise his authority as Military Commissioner and strip you of your official seal!”
He Jing Yuan stared at him for a moment, then raised his hand to remove the official hat from his head: “Then let the Young Master take back this official’s seal.”
Led by Zheng Wenchang, the group of officials hurriedly cried out: “My Lord, you must not!”
Wei Xuan had always been obstinate and unable to tolerate provocation. He immediately laughed coldly: “Court officials all say Xie Zheng was the pillar of the Northwest. Without him, isn’t the entire Northwest still fine now? He Jing Yuan, you think too highly of yourself if you believe this general wouldn’t dare to take your seal!”
He stepped forward and took the great seal of the Jizhou Governor from the desk, holding it high. Looking at He Jing Yuan provocatively, he ordered the Jizhoufu officials: “Go and requisition grain for this general immediately. If I don’t see 100,000 piculs of grain by noon tomorrow, bring me your heads!”
The officials below looked at each other, all with difficult expressions.
He Jing Yuan, seated in the place of honor, closed his eyes heavily-
When news of another round of grain requisition reached Linan Town, the townspeople all cried out in distress. Fan Changyu didn’t know the reason behind it.
When she went to the county to deliver meat to Fat Innkeeper and Yixiang Restaurant, she learned that there had been a change of power in Jizhoufu. That righteous official surnamed He had been directly dismissed and placed under house arrest. Crowds of people from the main city of Jizhou had gone to protest in front of the Jizhoufu office, and over a hundred had been thrown in jail.
Under the harsh suppression of government troops, the people no longer dared to make trouble. However, the amount of grain the government was requisitioning from each household was truly astounding.
Farmers had given up their seed grain, but it still wasn’t enough to meet the military ration quota for a single family.
The solution offered by the government troops was simple – if grain wasn’t enough, then pay with money.
What if they had no money? Whether they borrowed or robbed was not the government’s concern. They only needed to keep applying pressure.
Many farmers, at their wit’s end, simply turned to banditry.
The government troops were bullies who only preyed on the weak. They could act tough against unarmed common people, but when faced with mountain bandits, they avoided confrontation if possible.
Unable to collect enough grain from farmers or scrape together much money, the troops began to extort money from merchants in towns and cities, going door to door.
Each household had to pay based on the number of people – one tael of silver per person. Fan Changyu’s family would have to pay three taels.
Everyone in town was in an uproar. Previously, when recruiting soldiers, two taels of silver could exempt one person. Now the cost of grain requisition was higher than recruiting soldiers. Especially for poor families with many children, this was pushing them to the brink.
One family in town went and bought arsenic. In front of the government troops, they each drank a bowl mixed with water, declaring they had no money and no grain. If pushed further, they could only end it all by dying.
Fan Changyu now had a way to make money, so paying these three taels of silver wasn’t a problem. But there were many families in town who, like her before, couldn’t scrape together that much silver even if they emptied their homes.
The people organized themselves to kneel for long periods in front of the county office, but the county magistrate never showed his face.
Hearing more and more such news, Fan Changyu felt her heart sinking.
In the evening, cradling the Analects, she could no longer focus on reading. She turned to look at Xie Zheng and saw him writing annotations on the book pages, his expression calm, seemingly undisturbed by outside matters.
She pursed her lips and said: “This wave of grain requisition by the government is simply not treating the people as human beings.”
Xie Zheng’s brush tip did not pause as he said: “The government will not collect grain requisition money at one tael of silver per person.”
There was a barely perceptible coldness in his voice.
Fan Changyu didn’t understand: “How can they not? Aren’t those government people going door to door demanding it?”
Xie Zheng finished annotating this section and set down his brush for the moment, saying: “Jizhoufu has 200,000 households and 800,000 people. At one tael of silver per person, the entire Jizhoufu could collect 800,000 taels of silver. During last year’s autumn harvest, grain cost only 700-800 wen per picul. Now with the war, the market value hasn’t exceeded one tael of silver per picul. 800,000 taels of silver could buy at least 800,000 piculs of grain. The front lines only need emergency supplies this time, not so much grain.”
As he spoke, a chilling coldness showed in his pitch-black eyes.
Even if Wei Xuan were as stupid as a pig, he wouldn’t forcibly requisition 800,000 piculs of grain from Jizhou.
His urgency to requisition grain was nothing more than wanting to catch Chongzhou off guard while they were relaxed after the battle, hoping to turn the tables before Wei Yan could strip him of his military power.
To hold out until supplies arrived from the court, 200,000 pieces of grain would be enough.
They had already collected 100,000 piculs from Taizhou. Jizhoufu only needed to requisition another 100,000 piculs.
Forcibly requisitioning 800,000 – how was this any different from outright plunder?
Pushing the people to the extreme, they might directly revolt and defect to the rebel king in neighboring Chongzhou.
After hearing him calculate this, Fan Changyu also felt the government’s method of grain requisition was too absurd. But she was still confused: “But this money is indeed being demanded by government troops in person. Surely those troops don’t dare to deliberately collect extra?”
Xie Zheng said: “The troops may not dare, but those above them might.”
Corruption had long been commonplace in the court. For example, when the Ministry of Works repaired roads and built canals, or when disaster relief funds were allocated from the national treasury, they would be embezzled layer by layer by officials big and small. In the end, only a few bits of silver went toward the intended purpose.
It was the same with taxes. The tax rate set by the court was ironclad, and lower officials didn’t dare to skim from it. If they wanted to line their own pockets, they could only levy various commercial and grain taxes at higher rates from the common people.
Fan Changyu wasn’t stupid. Hearing his explanation, she immediately clenched her fists and said, “You mean it’s very likely the county magistrate, or even higher-ranking officials, who are extorting money from the people?”
Xie Zheng said: “We’ll know by looking at how much military grain other countries are collecting.”
Fan Changyu said: “When I go to the county town to deliver goods tomorrow, I’ll see if I can run into people from other counties. If I do, I’ll ask them.”
If other counties weren’t collecting this much, then it must be the Clear Peace County magistrate embezzling funds!
Xie Zheng nodded without speaking.
Fan Changyu was already yawning, but he picked up his brush again, seeming to want to continue annotating the book.
Looking at his cold profile in the candlelight, Fan Changyu couldn’t help saying: “Don’t write too late, it’ll hurt your eyes. You can continue tomorrow.”
Xie Zheng made a sound of acknowledgment but didn’t stop writing.
He had originally thought He Jing Yuan could keep Wei Xuan in check, but unexpectedly, He Jing Yuan had been restrained by Wei Xuan.
Pondering the reasons, a hint of mockery appeared in his ice-cold black eyes.
The 200,000 piculs of rice bought by Zhao Xun had already been taken over by his people. He Jing Yuan’s men couldn’t find any trace of it. Suspecting it was his handiwork, they deliberately allowed Wei Xuan to act this way, trying to force him to reveal himself.
So much for the great Confucian general who claimed to love the people as his children.
News of his death in battle had spread for so long, and the entire Northwest had fallen into chaos. At this critical juncture, they absolutely couldn’t let the Northern Yue people exploit the situation. He had to go back.
As his brush tip wrote down righteous and upright characters, from the corner of his eye he caught her shadow falling on the desk. He spoke coolly: “What do you want for your birthday this month?”
Fan Changyu made a sound of surprise, then realized the meaning of his words and said: “I appreciate your kind intentions, but my parents passed away just before the new year. I won’t be celebrating my birthday this year.”
Xie Zheng’s brush paused slightly as he said: “Just make one wish. Consider it a birthday gift for the future.”
Fan Changyu said: “Why does that sound strange? Future birthday gifts can be given in the future. Why now…”
Her words trailed off as she looked at the dense annotations he was making on the book pages. The smile faded from her face: “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”