Chapter 1063: Renzong Is Not Benevolent

"Patrol Commissioner, this is the secret passage leading underground. The location is extremely concealed; the entrance has been carefully disguised, just like the secret passages we uncovered before."

Inside a corner of a shop near the assassination site, Wang Yan stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the hole on the ground rimmed with bricks and stones.

Just as the captain speaking had said, this was not the first time Wang Yan and his group had discovered an entrance to the so-called Worry-Free Caves underground. After sweeping through all the medium-sized organized hooligan gangs within Bianjing City, they had still found quite a few entrances.

However, the underground network was indeed interconnected in all directions, and cleaning up these underground rats was not particularly urgent; with limited human resources available, there were no major operations. Generally, upon discovering an entrance, the routine was to set a fire, find strong men to stand at the opening and fan the flames desperately, while arranging others to stand at high points as lookouts, heading wherever smoke appeared.

At first, this was quite effective, and they truly captured many people. But later, the people underground also became smarter; they moved in tandem with the patrol officers. Once the patrol officers appeared at a location with an underground tunnel, hidden individuals outside would use their channels to transmit messages underground. Upon receiving the news, those underground would quickly seal off the tunnels. Naturally, the tactic of using smoke to locate them ceased to work.

For instance, regarding this hole before them, neither water attacks nor fire attacks would be useful. The group of underground rats below had been deeply involved in Wang Yan's assassination; how could they not be monitoring the movements of the furious Patrol Commissioner Wang? Without needing much thought, the areas below must have already been sealed off long ago.

However, this time was different. Wang Yan submitted a memorial to Zhao Zhen, requesting the assistance of the Bureau of Military Affairs for the investigation since it involved the military, and subsequently presented the confessions of the captured assassins from underground, requesting the deployment of the Imperial Army to eradicate the underground Worry-Free Caves.

Zhao Zhen naturally agreed; now they dared to climb up and assassinate Wang Yan. Who knew if they didn't have the audacity to dig tunnels all the way into the palace to take his, Zhao Zhen's, life? Zhao Zhen had even arranged personnel to conduct an immediate inspection within the Imperial Palace, and they had indeed found several holes on the perimeter...

Therefore, Zhao Zhen's anger was even greater than Wang Yan's. Were there people sleeping with the palace maids? Were there people sleeping with his concubines? Were there people with ulterior motives hiding within the palace? All sorts of such thoughts became increasingly frightening the more one considered them.

Thus, Zhao Zhen approved Wang Yan's proposal; the Bureau of Military Affairs issued orders, the Three Yamen appointed generals, and the Palace Front Command took charge of the cleanup, deploying twenty thousand troops to enter underground through the discovered entrances, intending to sweep the court and clean the lair, utterly flattening the damn Worry-Free Caves in one stroke.

This was the advantage of the government's centralized power; relying on the two thousand men in Wang Yan's hands might not even be enough to be killed by those underground rats. After all, the underground was their home turf; if they set up traps or released poisonous smoke, they could kill people like cutting grass; it would require a massive army to go through every inch of the place.

Wang Yan stepped back a few paces and waved his hand; the officer waiting nearby shouted orders, leading over fifty soldiers clad in light armor, holding torches, down into the tunnel. Following last was a minor clerk, responsible for drawing a map of the underground tunnels.

Every team of personnel was equipped with a clerk; combining their efforts, they could map out the entire underground network. Wang Yan could already imagine the earth-filling projects to come. The advantage of centralized power lay here; to eradicate future troubles permanently, plus the fact that Wang Yan had generated a lot of unplanned revenue, the Song Dynasty could enjoy a couple of relatively comfortable years, and there would be no dissenting voices throughout the entire court.

If any short-sighted fool dared to stand up and say a single word about wasting people's labor and damaging financial resources, they could go on a tour.

After inspecting the scene once, Wang Yan cheerfully joked with the commoners watching the spectacle, completely unconcerned about his wretched state from two days prior, and headed toward the Dongcheng...

The 'Huangyou Great Case' did not reach the imagined climax, because the appearance of the mastermind as a homeless dog was not much to look at either.

Under the leadership of Patrol Commissioner Wang, the Patrol Yard was filled with cruel officials, and interrogation techniques advanced by leaps and bounds. No matter how tough a person was, they could not endure being forced to eat their own flesh, nor could they withstand the implication of their entire family, watching others inflict terrible and horrifying punishments on their relatives right before their eyes, with meat fed to their mouths until they vomited profusely; not everyone could be a Marquis of the West.

Therefore, among the several hundred people captured in this collective sweep, under urgent interrogation, every single one confessed clearly and completely. For those who did not confess clearly, they were made to become clear; that was the manifestation of Wang Yan's personal will.

This time, the little blacklist Wang Yan compiled was truly put to use, with arrests happening from morning till night. His assassination unified the will of the upper echelons and also solidified Zhao Zhen's determination to expand the purge.

So now, Wang Yan could target whomever he wished. If he were not acting as an emperor in all but name, his reputation would likely be ruined, and he would have to compete with Zhang Tang, Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, and others for a spot on the ranking of cruel officials.

As for who the true mastermind was, it did not matter. Because those whom Wang Yan had dealt with in the past, and those he was about to deal with, were all masterminds. Wasn't the reason he was assassinated precisely because he had caused the deaths of too many people? Therefore, anyone he targeted was someone who wanted him dead. Those he hadn't targeted were also trembling with fear, hoping he would die soon so they could be reborn.

Wang Yan believed that under this wave of even more powerful indiscriminate strikes, there would not be too many fish slipping through the net.

This included the large-scale organized hooligan gangs that had not been cleaned up previously, along with the various wealthy families and officials implicated behind them; officials and wealthy families for whom criminal evidence had been secured but were difficult to prosecute; the armored soldiers deployed due to Wang Yan's assassination; and military officers at all levels implicated due to the Military Patrol Stations failing to appear in time to control the situation.

To summarize: those with even a slight connection would lose a layer of skin, and those with no connection would be made to have one, and then lose a layer of skin as well.

From small hooligans to governing ministers, to imperial clan members and royalty, to eunuchs in the palace and noble consorts, the emphasis was on four words: extensive implication.

Wang Yan did not need to be very busy; his role was to coordinate work, and his more important role was to bear responsibility. Therefore, he only needed to set the scale of operations and review daily who had been dealt with and what gains had been made.

Thus, while various government offices in Jingcheng were in a state of high tension, with everyone running until their legs broke, he remained as relaxed as ever. He even planned to handle the reform of the Bing Yuan concurrently.

In reality, he only appeared very relaxed, but in fact, there was an element of racing against time, because the time he had left to remain in Jingcheng, sitting in the position of Patrol Commissioner, was truly not much...

On a main thoroughfare in the Dongcheng, Wang Yan stood by the roadside with his hands behind his back, looking at a three-story shop before him while listening to his subordinate speak.

"Patrol Commissioner, how is this location? It neighbors the street intersection, possessing both a front hall and a rear courtyard. Next door is another shop, obtained from a previous confiscation of property, which has not yet been disposed of. If these three shops are all connected, it will be sufficient for the public use of the Dongcheng Branch Hall, and it can barely accommodate a thousand patrol officers."

"Why barely accommodate? What is the situation with that shop?"

"It belongs to Princess Pingning. She is usually low-key; since Your Excellency assumed office, none of the matters you have handled have implicated her..."

Wang Yan thought for a moment and finally matched the person to the name. This Princess Pingning was Qi Heng's mother in the drama; her family was not short of money and was relatively low-key and honest. Of course, that was relative; after all, as an ancient wealthy and powerful family, the death of a servant or the like in their household was not a major issue. 'Honest' meant they did not excessively bully or harm the common people, but exploitation was certain; this was unavoidable.

"There are countless shops the Patrol Yard has not yet processed; merge this one first, and let them pick a comparable one. If they are insatiably greedy, find a pretext to deal with them."

This was a very pure style of authoritarian rule on Wang Yan's part, though he still showed a bit of conscience by ultimately arranging an exchange for them. In fact, even without the immense power he currently wielded due to investigating the case, even before this incident occurred, it would have been easy for the Patrol Yard to demand a shop; who would dare refuse?

"Yes, this subordinate will handle it today."

"Let's go, let's go see the Military Patrol Station."

The reform of the Patrol Yard involved two matters: first, personnel, and second, land.

The personnel issue was very simple; currently, he had over two thousand subordinates. He did not know who was incompetent; he only knew who was competent. As for the numerous Imperial Army soldiers who had been transferred, Wang Yan did not know who was competent, but he knew who was incompetent.

It was a very simple principle: during the process of his subordinates working for him, naturally, some achieved merit and stood out. With many new positions created after the reform, naturally, those who were competent would take them up. Idle helpers would be given official registration, registered patrol officers would be given minor supervisory roles, and original minor officials would ascend to higher levels.

As for the Military Patrol Stations, which were previously not under his jurisdiction, the patrol officers under them were the most familiar. Even during previous crackdown campaigns, many were arrested alongside others. After all, medium-level hooligan gangs relied mainly on the assistance of grassroots officials. If they had connections at the upper levels, it would be impossible for them to remain merely medium-sized gangs; people are greedy, and everyone wants to ascend to higher levels.

As for other duties like fire fighting and cleaning, they were even simpler. Fire fighting was not separated from regular patrol duties, though fire fighters required more equipment. Wang Yan was already discussing this aspect with artisans. Cleaning involved hiring widowers and widows in the city, serving as welfare positions.

The venue issue was even simpler; indeed, this assassination came at an opportune time, and the confiscations were conducted too ruthlessly. Although the wealthy and powerful families of the capital certainly looked nationwide, within Bianjing City and the Jingji region, they were undoubtedly the focus. Wang Yan now held nothing but high-quality assets; not to mention venues, he had over a million mu of land, most of which was superior fertile farmland.

Unfortunately, however, due to his extensive implications, and because the primary target was wealthy and powerful families, the commercial landscape of Bianjing City underwent a massive transformation. The groups with the highest consumption capacity were halved by confiscations, causing the value of various assets to plummet correspondingly, resulting in significant shrinkage.

However, it did not matter, because businesses related to people's livelihood were largely unaffected; those affected were still various businesses related to the rich, such as brothels and human trafficking.

Merchants from across the realm all did business in the capital; supplies were absolutely not lacking. Even if there was some Kong Chuang Qi, the materials seized from confiscations were sufficient to play a key role in stabilizing prices. Once goods from outside the capital entered the city, the transition would be extremely smooth.

As for asset depreciation, there was no major problem. Because the tremendous changes in the capital had already spread domestically and internationally, everyone was now rushing desperately to the capital; local wealthy families still had vision, and they wanted to come and buy up capital assets at rock-bottom prices.

Undoubtedly, the wealthy families of Yangzhou, as the place where Wang Yan began his official career, were the first to eat crabs, and even more undoubtedly, the main branch of the Sheng family successfully broke into the capital...

Wang Yan was a true glutton for power; once he grasped it, he would absolutely not let go. It could not be said that Wang Wang Anshi completely followed his opinions, but after all, they were close friends, and Wang Wang Anshi respected his opinions greatly.

Therefore, Yangzhou, governed by Wang Wang Anshi, was still developing according to his plans. By the same logic, even though it seemed he would not sit in the position of Patrol Commissioner for much longer, with people loyal to him at every level, no one else could succeed.

What Wang Yan was doing now was not at all sweeping away black forces, conducting crackdowns, or striking against wealthy and powerful families; rather, he was planting nails for follow-up arrangements...

Facts did not disappoint Wang Yan's expectations; with only a few days left until the New Year, Bianjing City was already becoming lively. People at this time similarly looked forward to the New Year. Although many common people were merely surviving, with no summary of the past year, as the saying goes, which family does not eat something good during the New Year? One must always break the fast and eat some rich food, which makes people happy.

Wang Yan's family was the same; this year was exceptionally different from usual because there were two additional sons in the household, and it was also Shulan's first New Year in the Wang family. Furthermore, the food in Wang Yan's household was famously exquisite. Without exaggeration or denial, Zhao Zhen's imperial chefs had learned their craft at Zhao Yunrang's Fan Lou, making them grand-disciples of the fat chef in Wang Yan's household.

With the festival approaching, masters and servants in the household were all joyful, so there were many things to prepare, and recently the house was permeated with fragrant aromas all day long.

"Young Master has returned," Butler Wang Youyin greeted at the door, saying, "Your father-in-law, mother-in-law, Eldest Young Master Sheng, and the Eldest Lady's younger sister have all come to the house."

Wang Yan nodded and went straight to the rear courtyard, where he saw a crowd of people gathered in the main hall talking.

He bowed cheerfully, asked after his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and smiled as he asked, "How did you have time to come to the house today?"

Lady Wang said, "We haven't come for over a month; with the year coming to an end, shouldn't we hurry over to see the children? Alright, alright, you men go talk amongst yourselves."

Lady Wang's unhappiness was written all over her face; as for the reason, it was naturally the 'over a month' she mentioned. Wang Yan was killing indiscriminately, and his father-in-law was so terrified that he simply did not dare to associate with Wang Yan at this time...

Wang Yan smiled, teased the relatively cute Ru Lan for a bit, and then took Sheng Hong and Chang Bai to the front hall to set out wine and eat.

Sheng Hong's mind was clearly not on the delicious food and drink; once the meal was served and the servants dismissed, he sighed, "Xu Ziyan, know when to stop."

"Why does my lord, my father-in-law, speak thus? Has someone influenced you?"

Sheng Hong nodded and said, "Xu Ziyan, cease your actions; you truly cannot continue implicating others. If you do, I fear the officials will force the people to rebel..."

Sheng Hong bit hard on the four words 'officials force the people to rebel,' making the unspoken meaning in his words quite clear.

Wang Yan raised an eyebrow: "It seems there are rebels among my subordinates; that such rebels actually escaped? Dare they try to frighten me?"

"Xu Ziyan, you truly cannot arrest anyone else; listen to my advice. If you continue arresting people, the Great Song may well be finished."

"What benefit has my lord, my father-in-law, received?"

"... Appointment as Prefect of Dengzhou." Sheng Hong looked somewhat embarrassed, then quickly added, "Xu Ziyan, I am not doing this for my own career; it is simply that if you continue acting this way, there will be no way to bring matters to a proper conclusion."

Wang Yan shook his head with amusement: "My lord, my father-in-law, need not worry; it is not I who must cease, but the Emperor who must cease. All my actions are the Emperor's will; I am merely the blade in the Emperor's hand. Since they contacted my lord, my father-in-law, to convey this message to me, it is merely them showing me a bit of face; in reality, the Emperor's mind has certainly already changed. Whether I agree to stop or not is of little consequence. Come, come, let us drink, let us drink."

"Does Xu Ziyan hold no resentment?"

"What is there to resent? My lord, my father-in-law, has misunderstood; I act not for personal gain, but for the common people of our Great Song. Since I assumed the post of Inspection Commissioner, I have arrested over sixty thousand individuals, ranging from members of the Bureau of Military Affairs, the Policy Council, and even the Inner Palace, down to city foxes and village rats, thieves and bandits; we have confiscated millions of qing of fertile land, and the value of the remaining goods amounts to fifty million strings of cash..."

Wang Yan cheerfully recited the deeds he had accomplished over the past half-year; without exaggeration, his achievements in these six months could extend the life of the Zhao Song dynasty by fifty years.

Because he alleviated the surplus of officials and staff, achieved revenue generation through confiscating households, opened up previously narrow channels for advancement allowing a large number of people to rise to power, broke the original market structure and gave the market new vitality, eradicated ruffians, restored stability to the people's lives, and furthermore, much of the money confiscated could be utilized throughout the Great Song, whether for various construction projects or bearing the military expenditures for the two front lines against Western Xia and Liao, serving as a powerful tonic.

This series of actions thoroughly addressed every social stratum, rebalanced them, revitalized each layer, enabling them to continue seizing power, wealth, and so forth; he artificially created space, greatly easing social contradictions.

This series of subsequent reactions constitutes the true significance of the so-called 'Huangyou Great Case,' a turbulence that hundreds of thousands of words could not fully capture...

Wang Yan compared himself to a sharp blade and a harsh official; naturally, his fate would be little different, inevitably discarded once used. The Emperor is not a trustworthy partner.

On the day before the New Year, a grand court assembly was held; the work of the past year was summarized, various excellent achievements were announced, and Wang Yan's contribution to these merits was paramount.

After the court dispersed, Zhao Zhen again summoned Wang Yan to examine his health.

Wang Yan sighed neither lightly nor heavily, appearing deeply concerned yet slightly helpless, saying, "Your Majesty, your servant has repeatedly stated that you must abstain from lust, yet Your Majesty simply will not listen..."

Zhao Zhen smiled with some embarrassment: "I too am anxious to obtain an heir, but is my health deteriorating again? Why do I feel no such thing?"

"Your Majesty's health suffers no serious harm, yet this servant still advises Your Majesty to abstain from lust! Your Majesty's constitution is inherently weak; medicinal effects are merely external aids; even if Your Majesty diligently practices strengthening exercises, time is still required for nurturing. It will be half a year at most; why must Your Majesty be so hasty?"

"It is good that there is no serious harm; Minister Wang, walk with me; this past year has been hard on you..."

Zhao Zhen paid no attention to the latter part of the statement, nor did he heed Wang Yan's earnest admonitions; instead, he led Wang Yan through the snow-covered imperial garden to admire the scenery, asked Wang Yan to compose a poem, spoke some insubstantial words that sounded heartwarming, and then dismissed Wang Yan.

He said nothing, yet he said everything; Emperor Renzong was not benevolent after all...

At that moment, the snowflakes in the sky fell even heavier. Wang Yan, clad in a fur-lined greatcoat, walked alone out of the imperial palace against the wind and snow. The wind was strong, billowing his heavy coat and scattering his hair...

Half a month later, just after the Yuanjie Festival, the New Year began.

Pang Ji and Liang Shi were dismissed from the position of Chancellor...