Chapter 1544: Backer

Yu Dayou pondered for a moment, then spoke up to remind him: "Excessive coercion may provoke great chaos."

Wang Yan chuckled: "General Yu speaks with too little ambition; an old steed in the stable still aspires to travel a thousand li, and though Shen Lian Po is old, he can still eat. So what if there is great chaos? Whoever causes trouble gets killed, and that settles it. Nowadays our dynasty is stable; those who dream of changing the imperial throne are talking nonsense, indulging in wild fantasies. Turmoil is temporary, but the people's stability and prosperity are enduring."

"Zhizhong, when the time comes, it will be the common people who suffer chaos. Even the current Japanese pirates are actually subjects of our Great Ming; because maritime trade is profitable, burning, killing, and plundering have become their nature..."

Wang Yan waved his hand, cutting off Qi Jiguang's words: "Then they are not common people, they are beasts; no need to feel pity, just kill them all. Of course, if we can capture them alive, I prefer that. Along the journey to Jingcheng, you two have seen the situation in Shuntian Prefecture; construction sites are everywhere, and these people make excellent laborers. They eat little, work hard, and if they die, they die—how wonderful."

"People must always pay the price for their choices. They wreak havoc on other commoners, committing every evil from rape to plunder; they use stolen wealth to drink wine and eat meat, cheering in delight, having enjoyed it all. They cannot wait until death to say they regret it, to claim they were wrong before and beg for a chance; they never gave those harmed commoners a chance. Fairness is needed; do you two not agree with this reasoning?"

Yu Dayou laughed in agreement: "It is still Zhizhong who sees things clearly."

"Old General, no need to be so polite; it feels too distant."

Wang Yan smiled, "Ask around a little and you will know: although I have no good reputation here in Jingcheng, with everyone cursing me as vindictive, wicked, greedy, ruthless, and poisonous, no one says I am petty. To date, having survived over ten assassination attempts, I have never pursued anyone relentlessly."

"It is because of Your Majesty's care that the Factory and Guards have uncovered this major case. I bear no grudge against those who tried to kill me; since you two generals are our own people, we should speak more naturally. I am not one of those petty-minded individuals who lack magnanimity and show no mercy when in power..."

Wang Yan's words left Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang speechless; of course, they had long investigated all sorts of matters regarding Wang Yan, and they had never seen him spare anyone. Even if he did not ruin someone completely, he still made them cough up a huge sum of silver.

Of course, there were also positive evaluations: people acknowledged that Wang Yan was very generous, truly good to his own people, and admitted that even though Wang Yan loved money, he personally treated wealth like dirt.

After all, Wang Yan had embezzled several hundred thousand taels of silver, yet no one saw his lifestyle become particularly extravagant; he was simply known for eating well, using the remaining silver to raise livestock. Though many looked down on this, anyone with even a little understanding knew that Wang Yan's raising of livestock was a great merit, driving down meat prices and allowing more people to afford meat.

Not to mention anything else; just in the restaurants of Jingcheng, the prices of various meat dishes had dropped significantly. At the same time, because Wang Yan loved to eat, many new mutton soup shops and hotpot restaurants had opened in the city...

Seeing the two did not respond, Wang Yan said: "Let us return to the main topic: the fleet's future development must involve expanding its scale, adding personnel, and enhancing the navy's combat effectiveness. On the basis of ensuring our own safety, we must increase transport capacity to bring back more goods from overseas, solving problems within our own Great Ming territory."

"Take grain, for example: the grain grown on the land of our Great Ming barely suffices for every commoner to have a mouthful. Yet due to various reasons, the common people actually eat even less; indeed, many have starved to death right here in Shuntian Prefecture, and this is under the very feet of the Son of Heaven."

"Over the past two years, the fleet has continuously transported grain, stabilizing grain prices throughout Shuntian Prefecture so that not a single person starved to death. This is the truly important matter. I have had people set up breweries, make dried noodles, and so on, to utilize grain more extensively and diversify our offerings. Later, I will send people south to sail with the fleet and establish workshops in the Southern Seas; this year we should earn even more."

"Besides the points just mentioned, there are the supply stations along the route; this is the top priority. Whether we can stably control the shipping lanes depends on the supply stations along the route, on sufficient supplies, and on a stable rear base."

"The rest is up to Minister Hu; you two generals only need to cooperate with him to get things done."

Qi Jiguang nodded in assent, but upon hearing the name Hu Zongxian, Yu Dayou felt somewhat uncomfortable.

This was quite normal, because back when fighting the Japanese pirates, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang had inflicted a crushing defeat upon them; since a year-long siege had failed to breach them, Hu Zongxian believed further siege was inadvisable, so he let the pirates escape and then pursued them to kill. Afterwards, this incident became grounds for impeachment; Hu Zongxian shifted the blame onto Yu Dayou, who nearly got killed over it.

Of course, it was not just this one incident, nor was Hu Zongxian the only one; whenever there was conflict in Jingcheng involving military affairs, Yu Dayou would be dragged out as a scapegoat, experiencing rises and falls numerous times.

No wonder he had been terrified by purges; he had truly been tortured miserably. How else could one explain why Qi Jiguang was so smooth and worldly? With Yu Dayou's example before him, he had no choice but to comply; he had to be extremely cautious in everything he did, truly as if walking on thin ice.

Wang Yan said: "The past is like smoke, Old General; nowadays Hu Zongxian has already fallen from power, and wanting to be reinstated is exceedingly difficult; merely preserving his life is already fortunate. If I had not found him this job, he would likely be in the Imperial Prison by now, possibly even having committed suicide."

"We are helping each other in times of need; there is no notion of one being another's backer. We are all working for the Great Ming, for Your Majesty, all wishing to make our Great Ming prosperous and strong. I have no habit of shifting black pots onto others."

"You also know clearly that, strictly speaking, this fleet actually belongs to me. If any problem arises or any trouble occurs, it is my head that will roll. To speak some treasonous words: I survive solely by virtue of Your Majesty's imperial favor; whenever Your Majesty grows weary of me or becomes dissatisfied with me, all these deeds of mine will be dug up again."

"However, you two need not worry; at worst, you will merely share in the fallout and receive some reprimands. After all, everyone knows clearly for whom we truly work. Moreover, trouble will not reach the fleet; I would have died a hundred times over for other crimes first."

Hearing Wang Yan speak so heartfeltly, Yu Dayou sighed deeply again and spoke a sincere word: "Zhizhong does not have it easy either."

"Old General, you are mistaken; actually, I find it quite easy."

Wang Yan ate meat, raised his cup to the two in a toast, took a sip of wine, and then continued speaking: "What does Your Majesty need? Silver. From the fortieth year of Jiajing until now, a full three years, I have sent Your Majesty eight million taels of silver. Even when that old dog Yan Song was in power, he never sent Your Majesty as much as I have."

"Additionally, I am genuinely doing practical work; in these few days, if you have nothing to do, you can go look at the Eastern City, or go beyond the Eastern City into the Daxing area; all of that was accomplished by me. As long as I can still procure silver, as long as I can still do practical work and solve problems, and as long as I do not rebel, I will be fine."

"You two can proceed with confidence; given the current situation, there is nothing my head cannot bear. Defeat the Japanese pirates, manage the fleet well; as long as it is not rebellion, I guarantee that nothing will happen to you."

"Doubt me? Let me put it this way: you could stand before Xu Jie, point at his nose, and curse him, and still be fine. The Grand Secretariat, the Six Corridors, the Six Ministries and Nine High Officials, the Censorate—fear none of them. If anyone targets you, tell me, and I will certainly make their lives miserable. However they deal with you, I will deal with them even more severely."

The two exchanged a glance, bowed with clasped hands, and said in unison: "Then we thank you, Zhizhong."

Wang Yan knew that Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang still did not believe him, but he could not blame them.

After all, counting fully, he had only been an official for four years; although he enjoyed Jiajing's imperial favor, that had not prevented over ten assassination attempts against him, even involving armored soldiers, bows and crossbows, and firearms; nor had it prevented him from being attacked by the entire court, having no political allies, and occupying a very awkward position.

Otherwise, how could it be that Wang Yan, now at this age and having reached this level of office, still had not formally taken a wife, merely keeping several concubines at home?

It was heard that Jiajing was searching among the imperial relatives for a suitable-aged woman to serve as Wang Yan's principal wife...

They truly could not understand: Wang Yan's deterrent power did not come from political alliances, nor from a collective united by interests. It lay outside the rules, where others could not kill him, and within the rules, where others could not defeat him using the rules themselves. With these two points, his retaliatory strikes against others were invariably successful.

When it truly came to critical moments, corruption and bribery certainly could not kill him. When everyone impeached him, they did not use these fatal charges not because such charges could kill him, but because once these critical issues were brought into the open, Jiajing would definitely demand a result. Wang Yan certainly would not be executed, so all these issues would be glossed over. However, the person who exposed these matters might not necessarily escape death.

As for Wang Yan's methods of targeting and retaliating against others, they were quite simple: after all, he governed Shuntian Prefecture; anyone who could cause him trouble would definitely have their problems found within Jingcheng and the surrounding areas; he would simply frame them and expand the case, and no one could withstand him acting this way.

However, Wang Yan did not explain too much; words counted for little, only results mattered. Later, when these two were dealt with, and he acted as their umbrella here, they would realize the severity.

Strictly speaking, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang were now following Prince Yu. Previously, the two had followed Tan Lun's orders; since Tan Lun was Prince Yu's man, the two of them naturally counted as Prince Yu's people as well...

The three thus happily ate and drank together, discussing military campaigns against the Japanese pirates over many years, as well as northern border affairs; Wang Yan naturally revealed a bit of his military genius, even conducting a war game simulation with the two, defeating them soundly...

After seeing off the two who had come to pay their respects, Wang Yan acted according to the court's arrangements, participating in some activities where Jiajing was not present, chatting and discussing with a group of people who looked down on him.

In addition, he himself had to perform the duties of the Prefect of Shuntian; during a major festival like the New Year, there were many activities to conduct, as well as his own work report, compiling various data for the entire Shuntian Prefecture, and so on.

Thus, it was not until after the Lantern Festival that Wang Yan finally found some leisure, rarely sharing a drink with Hai Rui and Wang Yongji.

Wang Yan smiled gently at Hai Rui: "How about it, Great Lord Hai, has anyone asked you to get money from me?"

"Zhao Zhenji." Hai Rui snorted, "Just as you said earlier, his mouth is full of grand righteousness for the state."

Wang Yongji added: "Ruxian repeated your words to Zhao Zhenji exactly as they were; it is said that Zhao Zhenji's expression became extremely ugly at the time."

Wang Yan expressed considerable understanding: "If someone under me countered me like that and I could do nothing about it, I would feel uncomfortable too."

"Does anyone under you dare to counter you?" Hai Rui glanced at him.

"You, Great Lord Hai, countered me in Chun'an, insisting that I spell out one, two, three, four, five, six before you would do anything. It is only because I have a good temper; anyone else would have suffered under you."

"Just listen to this." Hai Rui looked at Wang Yongji, "I am the county magistrate, he is the chief clerk, yet here I have become his subordinate."

"That is not wrong; as you said, Chun'an still follows Xu Ziyan's orders to this day; how things develop there is still up to Xu Ziyan; what does it matter that you are the county magistrate?"

"These are fair words." Wang Yan nodded with a grin.

Hai Rui was speechless and choked up, but had no way to refute it, since it was the truth after all.

Moreover, he had to admit that even if he had become the county magistrate first and Wang Yan had become the chief clerk later, without any prior advantage, he would still have been sidelined by Wang Yan. He had witnessed how Wang Yan co-opted and divided others, and how he rallied the people's hearts.

How terrifying was it? It was so terrifying that when Wang Yan walked the streets of Chun'an and saw several young children playing, one of whom was naked from the waist down, Wang Yan could drag that boy to his home, lecture his parents, have his parents beat the child, and finally stay to eat a meal at their house...

Even now in Jingcheng, even though he already governed the entire Shuntian Prefecture, when Wang Yan walked the streets he could still see familiar faces, or someone would actively approach him, and he could immediately recall that person's surname and given name.

This was common knowledge, because this was the evidence other officials used when impeaching Wang Yan, claiming that Wang Yan was buying the people's hearts and harboring ulterior motives...

Putting himself in the shoes of the commoners recognized by Wang Yan, who even received impromptu medical treatment from him, seeing the bullies who used to oppress them work themselves to death on construction sites, watching the nobles who bullied them get punished, and receiving substantial silver compensation... Hai Rui would also be utterly loyal to Wang Yan.

In this vast Shuntian Prefecture, among a population of nearly two million, how could such people number only one or two? Not to mention that everyone within the yamen, from top to bottom, was openly receiving generous silver and enjoying excellent treatment.

With such mobilizing power and such influence, no one could possibly wrest power away from Wang Yan...

This was a top-tier succubus.

And Wang Yan felt quite gratified by Hai Rui.

There was no need to forcibly reinterpret Liubiju upon arrival; after all, driven by Wang Yan, the people of Jingcheng were busy making money, and since so much time had passed, where were any floating rumors?

On the contrary, having learned the various stories behind Liubiju and with more disposable income, the commoners were willing to spend money buying pickles rather than making their own, naturally wanting to taste what Liubiju was all about, to see how the pickles eaten by the Emperor and Yan Song differed from ordinary ones.

Under such circumstances, even if each person bought just one jin, it would be enough for Liubiju to make a fortune.

As for Daxing and Qu Wanping suffering heavy taxes followed by a snow disaster, that mattered even less; Wang Yan was there to raise the living standards of the commoners, and with so many projects, including the many initiatives launched by Jiajing, all providing payment, the funds were sufficient for people to return home, reinforce their houses, purchase coal, and so on.

Even if houses were still crushed by heavy snow, people would absolutely not be left wandering outside without support; Wang Yan issued a strict order that local wealthy families bore the responsibility of relief, and whoever watched commoners starve or freeze to death would have their entire family worked to death.

Furthermore, whereas the salaries of capital officials previously could not be issued, now there was no such problem; not only were current salaries paid, but arrears from previous years had long been made up.

After all, with the promotion of the new banknotes, they were simply printed out of thin air, how much effort that saved.

As for Jiajing launching massive construction projects, the silver was still sent into the palace by Wang Yan; since Hai Rui had heard Wang Yan's explanation of capital circulation and learned that Jiajing was paying commoners for labor instead of conscripting corvée work, Hai Rui had no objections either.

Now, Hai Rui harbored little anger in his heart.

Even regarding various matters he used to find objectionable, very few actually occurred within Jingcheng; after all, Wang Yan seized every opportunity to impose fines, and no family, no matter how wealthy, had enough silver to pay endless penalties.

In just half a year, the entire Shuntian Prefecture was approaching great unity, truly producing immediate results...

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