Chapter 1911: Active Pledging of Donations

Doctor Li gestured for his subordinates to bring out the prepared pacification proclamation and read it aloud.

A regime change overnight, with hardly any bloody conflict; the people of Qiao were still somewhat dazed. Black-armored warriors moved back and forth among them, blades in hand, riding tall horses — however you looked at them they radiated killing intent — yet the people did not fear them; on the contrary, they felt a sense of closeness in their hearts.

These were the Dragon God's army; they only struck evildoers and would not harm good citizens like them, so what was there to fear?

They had longed for the Black Armor Army day and night, and the Black Armor Army had come; the hateful new ruler and the dog officials were dead.

A beautiful dream come true.

What other wish might they make?

Someone among the populace murmured a wish: "Hope they give us a good official, hope we can eat our fill this year!"

No sooner had the words fallen than Doctor Li on the high platform ahead happened to proclaim in a loud voice:

"Open the three great granaries inside and outside Ducheng, release grain to relieve the people!"

The crowd craning their necks erupted in a "hua" of cheers.

They still did not know what would become of them afterward, yet the "Black Armor Army" had suddenly opened the granaries and distributed grain!

The last regime change, the new ruler let soldiers plunder Ducheng; this regime change, the Black Armor Army instead released grain to relieve the entire city!

If they had still been half-believing, half-doubting before, now they felt the most tangible goodwill.

Flowery rhetoric is no match for concrete action.

The beheaded ruler and his ministers had their family assets confiscated across the board. The remaining Ducheng Prefect Yu and a few veteran ministers and wealthy merchants, seeing this, trembled and shrank back into the crowd.

But the Black Armor Army's eyes were sharp; in two or three moves they shoved them under the torchlight: "Step forward, hear me!"

Weng Xing stepped forward with arms crossed, bared his teeth in a grin: "Your turn!"

He came riding the awe of his killing; the officials and merchants felt a fierce qi rush their faces, as if the next to be executed would be themselves.

The crowd shook like plague-stricken chickens; the oldest wealthy merchant hiccupped once and fainted dead away, and no one helped him up.

Prefect Yu's lips trembled: "Great King... Great Lord, various military lords, spare our lives! We never committed any atrocities! We are willing to offer up our family wealth, only begging you to spare our families' lives!"

He merely followed the customary corrupt practices of officialdom, occasionally skimming a little oil — surely not a capital crime?

Weng Su asked in surprise: "Since you never committed any atrocities, why do you need to offer wealth to beg for your lives?"

"..." Prefect Yu choked.

Isn't this just spending money to buy one's life? Why even ask why?

"Don't make trouble!" Doctor Li glared at the Weng brothers, then addressed the officials and merchants: "Don't be afraid, we won't kill you."

Hearing this, their souls returned to their bodies; they nearly clutched their chests and let out a long breath — they wouldn't die!

After the fright, sweat soaked their whole bodies; they nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

"From now on there is no more Qiao Kingdom, only Qiao Prefecture. The Dragon God designates Shao Boyuan as acting Prefect; here, this is the man!" Doctor Li waved a hand, and a scholar stepped out from the Black Armor Army, cupping his fists and smiling at the crowd:

"I am Shao Boyuan."

Doctor Li continued: "From this moment, Qiao Prefecture will be supplemented and filled by the Yangshan forces; the confiscated wealth will also be retained for civil administration. You few have good reputations both in court and among the people; by the Dragon God's intent, stay and assist in governance."

The old officials looked at each other in blank dismay; Prefect Yu cried out: "Yangshan forces?"

He never in a million years expected to hear these four characters.

"That's right." Doctor Li smiled narrowly. "The Yangshan Island Lord is the Nine Nether Great Emperor, is another identity of the Dragon God walking the mortal world."

Finished speaking, he paid no mind to the officials stunned speechless, patted Shao Boyuan's shoulder: "This place is yours. Anyone who refuses to submit, I'll have someone slap their mouth!"

With that his gaze swept over the officials, sharp as a blade. Every official he looked at lowered his head.

Then Doctor Li went off to busy himself.

They could not linger long; after packing up they had to rush to the next campaign. Precisely because they had extinguished a kingdom, the aftermath to handle was considerable.

He had no experience with this sort of thing; even with the Dragon God's arrangements it was a chaotic scramble.

Here Shao Boyuan led all the old officials to the outer courtyard of the government office, soothing them as he went: "Those who deserved death are already dead. That you can still stand here shows the Dragon God judged you guilty of no major offense; everyone just set your minds at ease."

The Black Armor Army only handles killing and suppressing rebellion; this sort of pacifying hearts still falls to him.

Prefect Yu nodded repeatedly, overwhelmed with gratitude: "The Dragon God sees clearly! The Dragon God sees every detail!"

Having narrowly escaped death, their emotions surging wildly, in their relief they instead gave rise to reverence and gratitude toward the Black Armor Army before them and the distant Dragon God.

Shao Boyuan continued: "Qiao Prefecture affairs are too many for me to manage alone; I still need everyone's help."

At this moment someone behind the officials suddenly said: "Boyuan? You... you're the Third Young Master Shao of the Pei Kingdom's Tapo?"

No mistakes, no omissions, every word, every line, all in one look!

Shao Boyuan's gaze sharpened: "Who might you be? Please step forward."

The man stepped out, bowed to Shao Boyuan: "Bingji Chamber of Commerce, Chen Ru. Seven years ago I did business in Pei Kingdom; the Shao family's tea and wine all passed through my hands."

Shao Boyuan let out an "oh": "So it's the proprietor of Bingji; I remember now. Proprietor Chen does business on a grand scale, from here all the way to Pei Kingdom."

To secure the Shao household's tea and wine supply, this fellow has financial strength and connections; no wonder he's now anxious and uneasy.

The moment he said he remembered, Chen Ru relaxed, probing: "Lord Shao, now the kingdom becomes a prefecture and a hundred matters await revival; we too are willing to exert our modest strength. Bingji donates — donates eight thousand taels to aid the people's livelihood!"

Finished, he stared expectantly at Shao Boyuan, terrified he would refuse.

A regime change overnight, and they had become lambs awaiting slaughter once more.

Twenty-odd days ago the new Qiao ruler took the throne and gave them a thorough shaking down, claiming the treasury was empty and directly extorting seventeen or eighteen thousand taels of silver.

Though it pained him, he treated it as losing wealth to avert disaster.

Who knew Qiao wouldn't survive thirty days before perishing, and now a new official takes office — wouldn't he come to carve him up again?

Merchants have money but are empty on both sides, connected to neither officials above nor commoners below. Chen Ru knew well no one would sympathize with merchants; regime changes throughout history always turned the blade toward merchants, so he now proactively donated, hoping the new official would take the money and spare his chamber of commerce.

Would seven or eight thousand taels be too little? He was also uneasy, but the Qiao King had just made him bleed heavily, and he truly had little left.

With him taking the lead, other merchants followed suit one after another; big merchants pledged seven or eight thousand taels, small merchants three or four thousand, at worst a few hundred taels.

Every single one actively pledged donations.

Individual amounts weren't large, but the number of contributors was considerable; added together it was quite a substantial sum.

Weng Su happened to be passing by, and hearing this, he glanced at the magistrate of Yuxian and pursed his lips: "These officials of yours aren't being dealt with—what are you worried about?"

After saying that, he walked away.

"Rough words, sound reasoning." Shao Bo glanced at him, then smiled at the assembled officials and merchants: "We've just confiscated the assets of the foolish ruler and treacherous ministers—it'll sustain us for a long time, until everything gets back on track. You don't need to contribute; just keep using your money to carry on your livelihoods."

The merchants stared, dumbfounded—the new official actually didn't want their money? What they felt was not delight, but even greater alarm.