Chapter 1528: No Weakness

It was already past eight in the morning, and the day's production and life had begun.

The market was already bustling.

Servants from powerful and wealthy families shopping, vendors shouting, shopkeepers leaning against doors drinking tea, beggars kneeling to beg, young women strolling in groups, and farmers from outside the city who had risen early to come over.

Looking at this market, it still had quite a bit of the atmosphere of a dynasty.

However, Wang Yan leading a team here caused the crowd to panic, chickens to fly and dogs to jump, as if they had suddenly arrived at the end of a dynasty of heavy taxes and extortion.

Wang Yan didn't care about all that; with his hands behind his back, he strolled into the first shop, which was a grain shop selling rice, flour, and oil.

"Greetings, officials, greetings." The shopkeeper accompanied them with a smiling face and walked out with his hands cupped.

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "Today, I won't check the accounts first. You estimate a number yourself and pay the cleaning fee. But I remind you, don't think about fooling me; otherwise, when the accounts are checked and don't match, and the difference is too large, then when the silver is fined, your employer behind you will have their family broken and their home destroyed."

"Yes, yes, yes, the official is right. It's just... this little one's shop is a grain shop, and the profit is already thin..."

"Understood, you don't want to pay the cleaning fee, right?" Wang Yan patted his shoulder and then said, "Where are the fire brigade warriors?"

"This little one is here!"

Right beside Wang Yan, a sturdy man walked out. His name was Zhao Erniu, and he was the leader of these fire brigade soldiers.

"Erniu, look and see if their house has any fire hazards?"

"Yes!" Zhao Erniu said very firmly, then took a few steps forward and started picking faults, "These piled-up sundries are easy to cause fires..."

"Did you hear that?" Wang Yan looked at the shopkeeper with a smile and called out, "Come here, people from the household department."

"Magistrate!" A middle-aged man in his thirties stepped forward.

"Write a seal, stamp it with Daxing's seal, and seal the shop for this official. Write another fine slip, fine him one thousand taels of silver, and have it paid in full within three days. If it is not paid, this shop will be raided and resold. Once the fine is paid, then when the fire hazards are cleared, it can be reopened."

The shopkeeper knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Magistrate! No, no!"

Magistrate Wang, with his hands behind his back, glanced sideways: "What is 'no'? This official is the Daxing Magistrate; can't I even fine a small grain shop?"

"Magistrate, the money collected is too much. If selling grain doesn't make money, then grain will have to rise in price, which will affect the people's livelihood in our capital. Magistrate, think twice, think twice!"

"Threatening this official? Despising the majesty of an imperial official, blaspheming the laws of the imperial court; come here, give him twenty strokes."

"Magistrate..." The yamen runner holding the board hesitated a little.

Wang Yan understood the yamen runner's meaning; he was in a dilemma, not knowing to what extent he should hit.

He waved his hand: "Hit normally!"

Immediately, the yamen runners stepped forward, pressed the grain shopkeeper down, lifted his clothes, and hit his buttocks directly. Twenty strokes were hit, and the skin was torn and flesh was ripped, with bright red blood soaking through his trousers.

Wang Yan said with a smile: "You dare to threaten this official, thinking your employer behind you is tough. Pass on a message: if you raise the price today, I will raid your house today; if you raise it tomorrow, I will behead you tomorrow. If all the grain shops don't pay the cleaning fees today and are all sealed, and no one sells grain, then this official will start raiding the grain merchants. Damn it, you dare to set fire to burn me; let's see who is more ruthless, let's see who dies first!"

After finishing his words, Wang Yan scanned the area and casually pointed to a young helper, "Liu Zhenghong, right? Keep a good watch in this area. If it's sealed, don't do business. If you earn even one copper coin, blow your whistle to summon the brothers, grab the people directly, and raid the shop. Do you understand?"

"Reporting to the Magistrate! Understand!" The young man named Liu Zhenghong stood tall with his chest out and answered very loudly.

Since his grandfather's time, their family had been helpers for the yamen. Heaven have mercy, this was the first time a Magistrate had called out the names of them helpers. Yesterday, when he told his old father at home that the newly arrived Magistrate was human, he didn't believe it. Today, when he goes home, he must brag to his old father. The Magistrate remembered his name; could his future be bad? Maybe he will mix into the regular staff of yamen runners...

"Work hard. As long as you listen to my orders and do the things I explain, the brothers will be able to live a good life."

Wang Yan used a little force, patting Liu Zhenghong's shoulder, giving him the strength and courage to follow firmly.

And then he waved his big hand, a "next one," and took people to the silk shop next door...

"Master, Wang Yan took nearly a hundred people, walked from morning to night for three days, walked through all the shops in the Dongcheng, as well as the wharves and markets outside the city. He hit 168 shopkeepers with boards and fined more than three million taels of silver in the name of fire hazards. Now, more than half of the shops in the entire Dongcheng are closed."

Lü Fang recited Wang Yan's madness, and he also felt a sigh in his heart.

"Are there still ones that haven't closed?" The Jiajing Emperor was a bit surprised.

"Reporting to Master, the ones that haven't closed are all small merchants. They don't have anyone supporting them behind them, so they don't have the guts to defy the government. Especially since Wang Yan is unreasonable and dares to hit people with boards if there is even a slight mistake, how could they dare not pay the cleaning fees? Otherwise, the fire hazard fines Wang Yan came up with would be enough for them to suffer."

Lü Fang sighed, "Wang Yan is also not easy. In these few days, he has encountered four assassinations. Once it was poisoning, twice it was street attacks using crossbows, and once it was a face-to-face attack in a shop, all of which Wang Yan dodged. He caught the people and is investigating them."

"It's been three days, and there's still no result from the interrogation? And what about the few families grabbed when the Daxing County Yamen caught fire earlier? Why is there still no follow-up?"

Lü Fang replied: "Master, Wang Yan is holding back without firing. This servant thinks he might be wanting to make big connections. Today is the third day, and those who were fined should be paying the money.

The county yamen caught fire, and the case files were all burned away. Wang Yan always has to find a way to fabricate charges. Assassinating an imperial official is the same as rebellion; such a big crime is very useful, and there are no worries about the future."

The Jiajing Emperor nodded and turned to ask: "How is it in the palace?"

Ever since Wang Yan came up with the name of "fire hazard fine" and, before dark on the first day, absorbed the good families of the Dongcheng to expand the fire brigade to two hundred people and gave the fire brigade the power to fine, by the second day, the intense reactions from all sides erupted.

The memorials impeaching Wang Yan were more than double what they were before. All the officials in the capital qualified to submit memorials to the imperial court, all kinds of imperial relatives, were mostly targeting Wang Yan, determined to impeach him to death, creating a huge momentum in a short time.

The Jiajing Emperor, who had rich experience in being burned by fire and had his fire resistance fully leveled, of course smelled a thick sense of crisis. He had long ago used the name of seclusion to seal off the entire West Garden; no one could see him, not even the people from the Grand Secretariat.

Lü Fang said: "Master, there are indeed some flies trying every possible way to inquire about news and wanting to do bad things, but they have all been blocked."

"What was found out?"

"They are all dead soldiers; they commit suicide as soon as there is any disturbance."

"Treacherous ministers and rebellious sons!"

The Jiajing Emperor glared with his eyes, then let out a long breath and sighed, "I hope Wang Yan can succeed..."

"Master, Your Majesty, he has never said anything; it is all his own desire to be loyal to Master, Your Majesty. In the past, this servant might have had some doubts, but now, Wang Yan is truly loyal to the monarch and loves the country!"

"Let's see again. He is also not easy. If he can be protected, he must be protected. There are not many close ministers left..."

Lü Fang understood clearly. The Jiajing Emperor saying this meant he was not very optimistic about Wang Yan. But as an emperor, the Jiajing Emperor also wanted to break through boundaries and achieve greater victory. This was the anger he had been holding in for so many years after being burned.

Just as Lü Fang was about to speak, Huang Jin walked in quietly, so he couldn't help but ask: "What happened?"

Huang Jin said: "Reporting to Master, Wang Yan led the fire brigade, yamen runners, and helpers to collect the fire hazard fine from the first grain shop. As a result, the merchant wouldn't take out the silver, so Wang Yan directly ordered the grain shop's shopkeeper and clerks to be grabbed, raided the grain in the grain shop, and also had people torture the shopkeeper, interrogating the grain warehouse above and the employer behind him, which was Wang Chonggu's business."

Wang Chonggu was a famous person, commanding the Northwest Border Army, very powerful, and also someone who had reached the end of his official career. At the moment, he was still fighting the Japanese pirates.

"What did Wang Yan do?" Lü Fang asked very sensibly.

"He took people to Wang Chonggu's house, saying that Wang Chonggu hired killers to kill an official and had suspicions of rebellion, wanting to confine his family for investigation, and took people to raid his house to search for evidence of the crime. The Wang family didn't dare let Wang Yan search, so they cried and shouted, took out silver to pay the fine, and took out silver to redeem the grain shop and grain warehouse that Wang Yan had raided, totaling thirty thousand taels of silver, before Wang Yan took people away."

Lü Fang asked again: "What about the others?"

"At this moment, they are all blocking the Daxing County Yamen, scrambling to pay the fines, fearing only that if they pay slowly, Wang Yan will take people to grab them, and the cleaning fees will also be collected."

"Good!" The Jiajing Emperor shouted, "I thought these treacherous ministers had how much ability; Wang Yan only swung one axe, and these treacherous ministers couldn't take it?"

The Jiajing Emperor said it easily, but he had rich experience in being assassinated, so of course he understood Wang Yan's difficulty.

Five assassinations in total; is this something an ordinary person can survive? A normal person, after escaping death from the county yamen catching fire the first time, would have already submitted. Even if they were a tough guy, when the second time came, they should have been afraid.

On the other hand, normal people have family members. You are not afraid, but are your family members not afraid? Parents, brothers, sisters, wives, and children are all weaknesses. If you torment them severely—today a son dies, tomorrow a daughter dies, and if you still don't submit, the day after tomorrow a father dies—I don't believe you can't be controlled.

But unfortunately, Wang Yan is an orphan.

He himself can withstand assassinations and secret harm, and he has no other weaknesses at all.

Even if they carry out assassinations, they dare not use too many people; otherwise, it would be a big deal, and more problems would be exposed. When the time comes for the Factory and Guard to take action, the trouble would be big. Going through official channels, they have no excuse; Wang Yan acts according to the rules. Whoever targets Wang Yan without following the rules will be struck by five thunders.

No fool would believe that the Jiajing Emperor is truly in seclusion. Once someone breaks the rules first... the Capital Battalion still has one hundred thousand troops...

They can't do anything about Wang Yan, and Wang Yan is like a mad dog, now starting to crazily fabricate the big crime of rebellion, and the key is that it can truly be linked. If it really doesn't work, stuffing a few sets of armor and weapons into someone's house isn't the same thing.

At worst, investigate the source of family wealth in detail; if unexplained property raided exceeds sixty taels, behead them. This is the rule set by the Taizu; who can't be killed?

Coupled with the Jiajing Emperor's silence, silence itself is help. This is in the Jiajing Emperor's interest; of course he wants to be silent and watch the people below fight.

If Wang Yan succeeds, then it's a huge profit. If he fails, he can also see who the rebels are through the struggle between the two sides and deal with them one by one later. If there is trouble, it's nothing more than a gust of wind; wind in the east and rain in the west is a common thing.

Taken together, the Jiajing Emperor is making a steady profit without losing.

Lü Fang sighed: "I didn't expect them to be the ones who couldn't hold on first."

"What are you afraid of? Isn't it just fearing Wang Yan will fabricate charges against them?" The Jiajing Emperor laughed, "It's not just Wang Chonggu who is afraid of having his house raided; everyone is afraid of having their house raided! Even if they didn't want to rebel, there are always things that can't see the light."

"It's all Master, Your Majesty's protection; otherwise, Wang Yan would never succeed." Huang Jin laughed and flattered.

"It's his life that is tough; if it were someone else, they might have died long ago."

"That is also Master, Your Majesty, making his life tough. If there were no Master, what cleaning fees could he collect? Could he recruit so many good families to be fire brigade soldiers? If you really want to talk about it, all the things Wang Yan did can be charged. Isn't it all because Master, Your Majesty, is protecting him."

Lü Fang was also busy flattering the Jiajing Emperor. At this moment, the Jiajing Emperor was the happiest; flattery never fails, and the effect of flattery at this moment was the best...

While the palace was happy, Wang Yan was eating and drinking at the yamen entrance.

The ruins of the Daxing County Yamen had been cleared, but because of the cold weather and the ground not yet thawed, construction could not start, so it could only remain in this state.

A big table was placed at the entrance of the county yamen, with a copper pot on the table. The charcoal fire was very strong, and the water in the pot was boiling and surging. Things like mushrooms inside were constantly rising and falling.

"Magistrate, the mutton is here." Wang Da diligently brought over a plate of freshly cut mutton and poured it all into the pot.

Wang Yan sat there, stirred a few times with chopsticks, then picked up a big pair of chopsticks full of meat and ate it deliciously. Then he drank a mouthful of heated yellow wine; it was truly beautiful.

Not far away was a long queue, a bunch of shopkeepers in plain clothes standing there stomping their feet and freezing. At the sheltered place at the yamen entrance, there was another big table, where the people from the household department were constantly writing payment slips and recording account books.

Without this slip, they couldn't open for business, and they would be raided!

Forging this slip would be even more miserable; wanting to die a good death would be difficult.

"Brother Wang truly has a good mood, drinking wine and eating meat, how happy." Zhu Qi, wearing a red robe, led a team over.

"Oh, Seventh Master is here. Do you have the Emperor's decree? If not, we are all brothers, so I won't be polite to you." Wang Yan sat there turning the meat, without any intention of lifting his butt.

"It was Eunuch Lü who asked me to come over and see. You grabbed quite a few people, didn't you? We came over to follow along and interrogate." Zhu Qi was also not polite, sat opposite Wang Yan, took the chopsticks handed over by the minor official, picked up the meat, and started drinking wine.

"County Assistant Ma!" Wang Yan shouted without looking back.

Immediately after, County Assistant Ma Defu ran over happily: "Magistrate, various superiors."

"They are here to investigate the case; you take the brothers to take over our county yamen prison and wait for their orders."

"Yes!" Ma Defu responded and went to the prison happily.

Wang Yan raised his head at Qi Dazhu, who was following the team, and continued to drink wine with Zhu Qi.

"Brother Wang, you truly did a big thing this time."

"It's all the Emperor's protection; otherwise, I would have lost my life long ago. What big thing did I do?" Wang Yan waved his hand, "Seventh Master, these people must be dealt with ruthlessly; the people behind them cannot be let go. But they cannot be dealt with now; it must wait until the silver is collected and the accounts of each family are checked."

"Eunuch Lü has instructions." Zhu Qi nodded, "How much silver do you estimate can be collected this time?"

"Counting the fines, as well as the penalty interest, this time at least five million taels of silver can be collected, and in the future, there must be hundreds of thousands of taels every month."

The fine is to retaliate for their setting fire, and the penalty interest is because they deliberately delayed paying the fine and did not cooperate in paying the cleaning fees. Anyway, it's just finding excuses to collect more silver...

Zhu Qi widened his eyes: "So much silver?"

"It can be considered as me grabbing it from the homes of the powerful in this capital. This is just one stroke; in the future, I can only collect cleaning fees according to the rules."

"How do you plan to arrange this silver?"

"Let's not talk about how to arrange it first. When two million taels of silver are collected here, Seventh Master, you hurry and take people to escort it into the palace, and let the Emperor repair the palace well and change his clothes. I heard the Emperor only has eight sets of clothes for the four seasons; as a minister, I feel truly painful when I hear this..."

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who tipped, voted for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1529 =====