Chapter 1543: Messing Them Up Until They Die

After Wang Yan assumed the post of Administrator of Shuntian Prefecture, his orders to collect sanitation fees, expand the team to sweep away black forces, and clear fields while registering households were thoroughly implemented and executed.

Similarly, in the process of carrying out these affairs, the entire workforce of Shuntian Prefecture was purged, including a complete cleanup of the subordinate Qu Wanping County.

Coupled with the crackdown on black forces, everyone within the government or among the common folk who acted inhumanely and harmed the people was arrested without exception; especially this time, unlike the previous situation in Daxing, there were case files involving nobles and great households committing crimes that, for various reasons, had not been handled or had been handled perfunctorily.

Therefore, in his spare time, the biggest thing he did was reopening cases; as long as it was recorded, as long as the people could be found, and as long as it looked wrong to him, he would summon the commoners for questioning and summon the nobles for interrogation, after which it depended on the attitude of the noble and great households.

If they ignored the matter, there were still construction sites where one could work even in winter, so people were certainly not idle; if they chose to manage it, then all they had to do was pay silver, compensate the commoners, and pay fines to the government.

Wang Yan had already left considerable room for maneuver; even in cases of murder, a fine alone could resolve the issue, and insisting on every detail to fight to the death with them was not the most cost-effective choice.

Naturally, the nobles and great households would not let their family members be worked to death at construction sites, so they all paid compensation and submitted fines, each one feeling such pain that even eating meat lost its flavor, because Wang Yan's fines were too ruthless, especially for murder cases where the silver fined could buy an unknown number of lives.

But what could be done about it?

There were those who did not believe in evil and stirred up trouble again, attempting to kill Wang Yan by launching several waves of assassinations, including but not limited to open street killings, night ambushes, and roadside ambushes during travel.

Apart from those captured alive by Wang Yan and handed over to the Factory and Guard, subsequently labeled as rebels, resulting in several named great households being raided and their clans exterminated, not the slightest wave was stirred up.

Jingcheng remained that same Jingcheng, Wang Yan remained as flamboyant and as lawless as before; the only difference was the suddenly bulging treasury of Shuntian Prefecture.

Although the division between 'East Rich, West Noble' had already begun at this time, it did not mean that Xicheng lacked the prosperity of Dongcheng, for commerce in Xicheng was also quite good; after all, even if Xicheng was full of high officials and nobles, it could not be devoid of space for other commoners and establishments, since the ruling and exploiting classes were always a minority, otherwise how could they rule, let alone exploit?

Wang Yan took office in early autumn, and by deep winter, he had already plowed through the entire Shuntian Prefecture; although it could not yet be called thorough, at least the exposed problems were basically resolved, and reaching this stage meant he had completed half of the task Jiajing assigned him to govern Shuntian Prefecture.

Jiajing assigning him to govern Shuntian Prefecture was meant to extend what he had done in Daxing to the entire prefecture, which was the so-called plowing through of Shuntian Prefecture.

The purpose was to make such a wealthy and noble place as Shuntian Prefecture hand over the wealth it ought to have contributed.

After all, the silver Wang Yan generated in Daxing was more than double what it had been before; applied to the entire Shuntian Prefecture, the amount would naturally be even greater.

On another front, facing the year-by-year decline in arable land and population, although Jiajing clearly knew the population was being hidden, he had not expected so much could be concealed.

Consequently, after Wang Yan conducted a major campaign of clearing fields and registering households across the entire scope of Shuntian Prefecture, the population of the whole prefecture reached nearly two million, whereas originally it was only slightly over one million, with seven hundred thousand residing in Jingcheng.

Of course, the statistical caliber was different; anyone within the borders of Shuntian Prefecture, whether servants, tenant farmers, hidden households, or even slaves waiting to be sold by brokerages, was all dug out, registered, and cataloged, truly demonstrating the grandeur of the imperial capital.

After Wang Yan came to power, hiding populations or land properties, and illegally trading people or land became grave crimes that could easily lead to the extermination of one's entire family; every mu of land and every person had to be traceable, and if people or land could not be found, someone would suffer disaster...

Plowing through Shuntian Prefecture was half the task; the other half was naturally to prosper Shuntian Prefecture, making the entire prefecture as bustling as Daxing, with roads and water conservancy projects to be repaired, various public service positions to be fully staffed, welfare undertakings to be carried out to the end, and public security to be well maintained, among other things.

The goal was singular: to make the capital of Great Ming the utopia of this era, a place with money, where the commoners were happy, where people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and where everyone aspired to go.

The reason Jiajing held such a delusion was also under Wang Yan's influence; this divine emperor, who long resided in the deep palace and did not even attend court, had become a sage ruler and enlightened monarch praised by the commoners.

He heard the true voices of the commoners through various channels, a feeling that made him feel refreshed and gave him a huge sense of achievement; under such circumstances, he naturally wanted it to be even better.

Not only could it be better, but he could also gather more silver, spend that silver to hire commoners for work, gain the sincere praise of the people, and obtain the various constructions he desired, truly achieving the best of both worlds.

However, what was the reality?

The commoners were actually just thanking him with their lips; they dared not speak ill of the emperor on any occasion, for the commoners were not foolish and knew that the one truly getting things done was Wang Yan.

Otherwise, why had things not improved over so many years? Only after Wang Yan came to power did the commoners begin to live good lives; before Wang Yan, the highest official rural commoners had ever seen were those of unranked status, and many had never even seen a county magistrate.

But after Wang Yan came to power, he traveled through many villages, met many commoners, and even treated many of them for illnesses, curing numerous patients; whenever they had matters or grievances, as long as they found Wang Yan, even if the issue could not be resolved, they would certainly receive a result and compensation, though of course, in the vast majority of cases, it was silver that spoke.

After all, the cases commoners brought to Wang Yan were mainly conflicts with great households; disputes between neighbors could basically be settled by local village heads and the like...

In the past, local landlords and wealthy tyrants could easily suppress the commoners, but now, as long as the commoners could ensure their own safety and possessed the ability to break free from the landlords' control and run to Wang Yan to file complaints, the landlords absolutely would not dare to act recklessly.

Because Wang Yan truly got things done.

And paying compensation was not so easy to do...

Apart from the aforementioned matters, Wang Yan's main activities involved inspecting the entire Shuntian Prefecture while issuing documents to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works to formulate infrastructure plans and budgets for the whole prefecture.

In the coming year, he would commence large-scale construction projects across the entire scope of Shuntian Prefecture.

Silver was naturally sufficient; this time, dealing with the rest of Shuntian Prefecture along with various fines, he had extracted over three million taels of silver in one go, directly contributing half of it to Jiajing.

Additionally, there was the silver from the Daxing Yamen; if others could not mobilize Daxing's silver, how could he not? He drew out over one million taels from there, combining it to make another three million taels, while the monthly collection of sanitation fees and the like added another hundred thousand-plus taels.

Taking out one-fifth of Great Ming's entire annual fiscal revenue to pour into Shuntian Prefecture meant there was no project that could not be undertaken.

Moreover, many of these projects were not one-time expenditures but were amortized over several years and dozens of months; plus, Wang Yan himself commanded the Royal Bank, and the money was printed by his order, so with the gradual spread of the new banknotes, this constituted another substantial sum of usable funds.

Great Ming was poor, Jiajing was rich, and the Shuntian Prefecture led by Wang Yan was likewise very rich...

Thus, by the end of the year, the grand atmosphere of the capital city was simply explosive.

With money in their hands, the commoners, having worked hard all year, naturally wanted to eat and drink well, buy a few feet of cloth to make clothes for their wives and children, purchase a few pots of wine, and enjoy a good drink.

Consequently, various large and small markets inside and outside the city became completely packed.

At the same time, to sing the praises of the great virtues of His Majesty the Emperor, Wang Yan specifically used Shuntian Prefecture's silver to hire opera troupes to stage grand operas starting from Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang, performing irregularly at various locations.

Of course, it was not entirely about emperors or civil and military officials; Wang Yan held a people-centric view of history, so there had to be ordinary soldiers and laboring commoners; however, the plays Wang Yan staged were model operas focused on killing Japanese pirates and struggling against landlords, which were absolutely ahead of their time.

Similarly, this stirred up great hatred; the nobles and great households were not foolish and naturally saw Wang Yan's sinister intentions, leading to various impeachments against Wang Yan.

But strangely enough, no matter how they impeached him, not a single charge could directly bring Wang Yan down; for instance, it was common knowledge that he had embezzled hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and raised an unknown number of pigs.

He had now become the largest household in all of Shuntian Prefecture raising pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese, supplying at least half the meat and half the eggs; even these nobles and great households, despite having farms outside the city for breeding, might still have bought the meat and eggs raised by Wang Yan, and he had even developed trade with the Tibetan regions, dealing with local Tusi chieftains through the Pacification Commission to purchase yak meat, cordyceps, and so on...

Besides this, Wang Yan had privately expanded the ranks of yamen runners, assistants, and fire watchmen, a matter still undecided; not only was the expansion incomplete, but he also privately mobilized these teams to oppose the Five City Military Command, fabricated charges to frame others, administered private punishments, and accepted bribes.

In short, there was not a single charge capable of killing him; all accusations were about trivial matters such as violating rites, being willful, usurping power, being arrogant, or sleeping with women...

Wang Yan paid no heed to all that, following his own course.

On this day, a light snow had fallen; after wandering outside all morning and seeing enough of the excitement, Wang Yan returned to the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen for lunch.

On a snowy day, nothing paired better than hot mutton; Wang Da had early in the morning fetched over a dozen sheep from Wang Yan's butcher shop to prepare, boiling soup and meat, so that the entire yamen had been fragrant all morning.

The reason for fetching over a dozen sheep was naturally that it was near the year's end; everyone was busy with various official documents and statistical data, working themselves to exhaustion, so everyone should eat and drink well.

Of course, on ordinary days Wang Yan also treated everyone to meat, since Wang Yan was known to be generous; however, Wang Yan used the treasury's silver to purchase the meat he raised himself, thereby earning a good reputation for himself...

"Apologies, Lord Wang, we two arrived late."

In the yamen stood two tall men with rough skin who looked powerfully built; one was a middle-aged man around forty, and the other was an elderly man in his sixties with considerable gray in his hair.

The one speaking was this elderly man.

Wang Yan clasped his hands and bowed to them in greeting: "Generals Yu and Qi are too skilled at scolding; by official rank, you two generals are both Vice Commissioners-in-Chief of the First Rank, officials at the very peak; by assignment, General Yu is the Regional Commander of Guangdong, and General Qi is the Regional Commander of Fujian, holding high positions and heavy authority, leading the armies of a province, and fighting fierce battles against the Japanese pirates, so why do you still address me, a mere fifth-rank Administrator of Shuntian Prefecture, as 'my lord'?"

"Lord Wang is deeply trusted and valued by His Majesty, sharing the Emperor's worries and bringing great order to this Shuntian Prefecture, creating an atmosphere of a prosperous age; all of this is due to Lord Wang's merit, and we truly admire you..." Qi Jiguang clasped his hands, a smile on his face, speaking nothing but good words.

"I can see you've been thoroughly worn down by these troubles. Enough of that. Though the three of us have only just met in person, we've corresponded for a long time and are hardly strangers, so let's skip all the formalities. This morning, I specifically had the cook prepare lamb stew and fish-and-lamb soup; paired with some yellow wine, it's truly a delight. Come, come, let's eat, drink, and talk."

Wang Yan gestured vaguely with an empty hand, then turned and walked straight into the main hall of the prefectural yamen.

Although there was a dedicated dining hall, he still preferred eating in the main hall; it was more spacious and comfortable.

Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang exchanged a glance, both thinking, 'Indeed, very direct,' since Wang Yan had spoken so bluntly about the troubles they had endured...

Once seated in the main hall, the three poured wine and began eating and drinking immediately, without much fuss. Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang adapted to Wang Yan's pace; though slightly unaccustomed at first, they felt quite comfortable because it was so relaxed.

"Did His Majesty send you two here, or did you come on your own initiative?"

Yu Dayou replied, "His Majesty ordered us to come and discuss thoroughly with the Zhizhou how to expand the fleet going forward."

"Precisely," Qi Jiguang chimed in agreement.

Wang Yan sensed some resentment from the two and said with a smile, "You feel the more urgent matter is the wokou pirates currently in Guangdong and Fujian? You think His Majesty neglects military affairs and favors overseas profits instead?"

"We wouldn't dare!" The two shook their heads repeatedly.

Wang Yan also shook his head with a light laugh: "You two generals are seasoned in fighting wokou, having spent years in the provinces, yet you still don't know where these pirates come from? How many are actual Japanese? Why is it that every time the wokou rise in rebellion, they can penetrate a hundred li deep into Great Ming territory? Why do they vanish without a trace as soon as they retreat? Why can they never be completely eradicated?"

"Yet they must still be suppressed! It cannot be avoided! The reason His Majesty seems not to prioritize this is because he trusts you two generals; by sending you to discuss the fleet's future with me, he demonstrates his belief that you can pacify the wokou threat. To truly say 'pacify' is not easy; let's just say we will prevent the wokou from becoming a major force."

"If we are to truly pacify the wokou, the key lies precisely with this fleet."

"How should we interpret your words, Zhizhou?" Yu Dayou prompted the question, genuinely curious.

Wang Yan grabbed a lamb leg and gnawed it with relish, muttering as he ate, "Could it be that you two don't know that the fleet's over one thousand soldiers and officers haven't cost Great Ming's treasury a single penny? On the contrary, they've earned His Majesty several hundred thousand taels of silver. Once we have more ships and more troops, what wokou would dare to run wild along Great Ming's maritime borders?"

"My strategy against the wokou is to first develop the fleet, nurture and strengthen the navy, and only then proceed to pacify the pirates. In merely two years, we have already reached this stage; given a little more time—no, at most three to five years—we will sweep through their courts and scour their dens!"

Qi Jiguang picked up the cue: "We two are dull and failed to consider this; indeed, only His Majesty and the Zhizhou possess such foresight."

"Why don't you two tell me, once the wokou are pacified, what should be done next?"

The two exchanged a glance and both shook their heads.

"You two are just hiding your talents," Wang Yan said with a chuckle, pointing vaguely at them. "Both of you are dragons and phoenixes among men; how could you not see it? Surely it's about dealing with the great households of the Southeast. And not just dealing with them—we must crush them to death!"

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