Chapter 465: Too Cruel!

Wang Qian didn't understand why the Emperor wanted to instruct him to speculate on ship permits, but he found his own track. He was really, really, really professional in this matter. Wang Qian was in charge of the Yanxing Building Trading House, but the trading house had all kinds of rules and regulations, and even all kinds of private trading meetings with high thresholds would restrict his behavior.

But after reaching the ship permits, this was a blue ocean without any rules!

Here, the terrifying power of the powerful and wealthy would be infinitely magnified against the background of disorder. No rules represent absolute freedom. It was time to let the wealthy households deeply experience how terrifying the top-down power of life and death is under absolute freedom.

Wang Qian's expression was very excited. He had already thought of countless ways!

But before specific operations, Wang Qian chose to finish reading the second volume of "Class Theory" first. He was not so studious to this extent, mainly to judge the imperial will, to see the specific content of the book that His Majesty liked, and then act, to prevent mistakes in behavior due to not understanding the imperial will and causing disaster.

After reading it, Wang Qian felt a sense of Chinese and Western combination, because in the distribution volume, Zhang Juzheng analyzed the colonial law of the West.

The West's colonization must start from Rome.

Rome's colonial strategy is: first send troops to conquer, use various ways to kill all men, and then migrate Romans to set up governors for rule;

Portugal's colonial strategy is: burning, killing, looting, and then enslaving mixed-race natives;

Spain's colonial strategy is: first burning, killing, looting, and then in the way of preaching, enslaving natives and mixed-race natives. Philip II's image is a holy knight guarding the Holy See;

And England's colonial strategy is: burning, killing, and looting, then deceiving the country's poor and prisoners to the colonies, selling all kinds of slaves to fill the labor vacancy, and enslaving black barbarians;

Falanxi's colonial strategy is: after physical screening, making native traitors the agents of the colonies, and then profiting through agents. These traitors, or converts, often perform more cruelly than the colonizers for complex reasons such as showing their obedience and profiting from the fanaticism of converts.

At this moment, Falanxi and England also have a little colony in West Africa, which is far inferior to Spain and Portugal in scale, but they already have it.

The Great Ming had already joined the process of opening the seas for exploration, or rather, the process of globalization. The Great Ming's colonial strategy was a combination of many approaches. In truth, the Great Ming's colonial strategy remained that of "civilizing influence through the King's virtue"—simple military pacification, followed by the establishment of Pacification Commissions after intensifying that pacification, and then the enfeoffment system, where hereditary marquises guarded a region, and finally, the implementation of actual administrative commanderies and counties.

This context is very clear. With the deepening of rule, the Great Ming's management costs are rising, and at the same time, the distribution to the local area is further increasing.

Afterwards, Zhang Juzheng cited classics to discuss the failure of the Great Ming's rule in Jiaozhi.

After the Annam country was factually independent, the Great Ming carried out conquests, but did not let the Duke of England Zhang Fu guard it for a long time. From the Great Ming's perspective, this decision was not a problem, because Annam belongs to the radiation area of the Central Plains tradition, and the military, economic, cultural, and political aspects are highly similar, but it lacked the enfeoffment system and lacked the defense of feudal lords, leading to no feudal king or hereditary marquis to regulate contradictions in the distribution problem for their own survival. In the end, the Annam country formed a consensus to break away from the Great Ming's rule.

Every sentence of these contents is a huge challenge to the Great Ming's current ritual teachings, but every sentence is based on the reality of implementation.

Every sentence of these contents, for the Great Ming's current ritual teachings, is a huge challenge, but every sentence is based on the reality of implementation.

Zhang Juzheng, bold and daring, and Zhang Juzheng's boldness is because of the Emperor's acquiescence or even indulgence.

Wang Qian also couldn't help but sigh that there are sufficient reasons for Zhang Juzheng and General Qi Jiguang Jiguang to support His Majesty so much.

Wang Qian also has to study the second volume carefully. He is actually quite disdainful of the theory of freedom!

In the theory of free trade, there is an invisible hand regulating supply and demand. All theories of free trade are based on this foundation to realize, it seems that as long as there is demand, supply will slowly be derived, naturally supplementing all this.

Wang Qian personally believes: this invisible hand will inevitably be artificially destroyed. Even without the court's interference, the "bankers" formed by private trading meetings with high thresholds will replace the management function and become the visible hand in the theory of free trade.

Because classes still exist, only by eliminating classes can bankers be eliminated.

At this moment, Wang Qian is that hand. He stretched his hand rudely into the ship permit transaction, and then united with Sun Kehong of the Songjiang Sun family, setting off a monstrous wave. There were no rules and no constraints. Only thirteen days later, the ship permit transaction was completely controlled by the price. Wang Qian and Sun Kehong began to sit as bankers.

Sun Kehong was terrified, and even specifically submitted a memorial to the capital through the Songjiang Provincial Governor Shen Shixing, asking His Majesty if he should stop Wang Qian. Wang Qian's means were too vicious.

The powerful and wealthy felt the reincarnation of heaven and hell. One day they were getting rich overnight, and the next day they had to suffer the disaster of bankruptcy. Danger was like a shadow, but because of sunk costs, they had to continue to gamble in this big gamble. The cycle of fanaticism, panic, correction, and fanaticism began.

Wang Qian entered the Tonghe Palace to meet the Emperor on the 17th day of the second lunar month of the tenth year of Wanli. After obtaining the clear instructions of the imperial will, the price of ship permits finally stabilized, stopping at the price of 17,300 silver per ticket.

Too cruel!

It was so cruel that Zhu Yijun couldn't bear to look at it. Wang Qian almost played the powerful and wealthy to death. The price of ship permits soared to 70,000 silver per ticket at the highest, and then quickly fell back to 7,000 silver. What kind of big heart can withstand this kind of rise and fall? These wealthy households are still useful. They are still the main force of maritime trade and the main force of investing in handicraft workshops and mechanical factories. If they continue to play like this, people will really die.

On the 15th, Wang Qian entered the palace again. This time he took a stack of promissory notes from the Ministry of War's Huitong Guanyi, each with a face value of 10,000 silver, which is the maximum face value of the promissory note. And Wang Qian held a full 100 of them. He entered the palace to meet the Emperor to fulfill his promise.

When it comes to court affairs, Wang Qian is very obedient. His father asked him to donate to the maritime school, and Wang Qian had no resistance. He happily sent the silver notes to the Emperor's front. He enjoyed the process of making money, not for the sake of this money, although it

Wang Qian really was not short of money.

"Wang Qian, was the blow too heavy? The head of the Jimo Zhang clan jumped into the river seven days ago. The entire Zhang clan has fallen apart; the fields are gone, and the silver is gone too." Zhu Yijun looked at a stack of silver notes and sighed, saying that every single note was stained with blood.

The Jimo Zhang clan in Jimo, Shandong, could be considered a prominent family that had flourished for hundreds of years, living in luxury. Half of Jimo County bore the surname Zhang. Wang Qian's manipulation of the shipping permits this time had directly caused the Jimo Zhang clan to scatter. For such a large family, even when Ling Yunyi took action, he had been extremely cautious; after the Zhang clan cooperated with the land survey, he had never sought to cause them trouble.

The Zhang clan had even escaped the sudden collapse of the Kong family in Yanzhou, only to end up falling because of the shipping permits.

The Zhang clan had bought a massive amount of shipping permits at the high price of 17,000 silver per permit, and when the price plummeted to 7,000 taels, the head of the Zhang family, an old man of over sixty, was literally angered to death... A few days later, the new head of the Zhang family also jumped into the river. Because of another violent fluctuation, the Zhang family's savings of hundreds of years were completely wiped out, and they still owed a mountain of debt. Even when they cleared out these shipping permits at 17,000 silver each, it wasn't enough to pay off the debt.

The head of the Zhang family, at his wit's end, jumped into the river, and the Zhang family's tree fell and the monkeys scattered.

"Your Majesty, they deserved it," Wang Qian said, completely unconcerned. "If we don't give these wealthy and powerful households a lesson, they will still think the imperial court's reach is too wide and its hands are stretched too far, while remaining completely unaware that the rules shaped by the imperial court are also protecting them. This time, the shipping permits' violent fluctuations directly told these wealthy households how much harm completely free speculation can cause!"

"Even the Songjiang School does not advocate for complete freedom, but rather for ordered freedom."

Wang Qian had also gone to listen to Lin Shaohuai's lectures. Overall, there was nothing wrong with what Lin Shaohuai said; freedom first meant abiding by the Great Ming's public order, good customs, and laws. If one did not even abide by these, that was not freedom—it was lawlessness.

"This lesson of yours is too great." Zhu Yijun rubbed his brow and said, "The methods should have been gentler."

"Your Majesty, this is speculation. If they didn't even have the courage to lose until their doors were broken and their households destroyed, why did they enter the market?" Wang Qian said with great conviction. "Your servant was already very gentle. When Your Majesty told your servant to stop, your servant stopped; there was no excessive tormenting."

"Fine then." Zhu Yijun put away the silver and said, "I will count it as an investment in opening the seas. You now have 1.12 million silver invested in opening the seas, and you will receive dividends according to your share ratio."

"Too cruel."

Zhu Yijun shook his head again, still feeling a lingering fear. He never thought that one day he would become a conservative on the matter of "making the wealthy and powerful suffer a little more." In less than a month, dozens of prestigious and influential families had been severely damaged; those who jumped into rivers jumped, those who hanged themselves hanged themselves—it was a scene of utter misery.

"Your Majesty, your servant believes that next, the Suiyuan Imperial Road will rise sharply! Your servant intends to buy 10,000 permits at the price of five silver each and hold them long-term." Wang Qian reported his thoughts. In his view, the Imperial Road would rise faster than the mining industry.

"Why?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously. "Gold, silver, copper, iron, and coal should be more important. Why the Imperial Road?"

"Because the profits are thick. Gold, silver, copper, iron, and coal will certainly rise, but the mining industry's growth is limited, and it fluctuates with demand. But the Imperial Road won't, Your Majesty. What is on the Imperial Road? It's not just horse-drawn carriages—it is clearly gleaming white silver!" Wang Qian said with great certainty. "The Great Ming might not need gold, silver, copper, iron, and coal, but it definitely needs the Imperial Road."

"Your servant only has this little bit of silver, and I intend to put it all into the Imperial Road."

"500,000 silver is not 'a little bit'." Zhu Yijun first corrected Wang Qian's statement. 500,000 silver was the cost of a former emperor's mausoleum; it really wasn't a small matter. This way of speaking was too extravagant.

"Actually, your father has earned a great foundation for you. You don't need to work so desperately. The money you earned from flipping pearls is enough for you to spend for a lifetime. Now, with the money from the shipping permits, you have over 500,000 silver in your hands. Even if you spent it on a top courtesan at the Taibai Tower every day, it would be enough for you to spend for two lifetimes." Zhu Yijun advised Wang Qian not to struggle so hard.

"Father's money is Father's money; your servant's money is your servant's money. Since your servant passed the imperial examination, I haven't taken much money from home. Your servant doesn't want others to see me and say, 'Oh, Wang Chonggu's son,' but rather, 'Wang Qian, a Great Ming jinshi.'" Wang Qian shook his head. Of course, he acknowledged his father's achievements, but he still wanted to distinguish the difference.

He, Wang Qian, was not just Wang Chonggu's son; he was an independent individual. He also had his own life, rather than a life completely attached to "My Father, the Minister of Justice." That kind of life was truly too pathetic.

Zhu Yijun was silent for a moment. Rebellious sons were probably just like this.

"Are you perhaps looking for some kind of freedom?" Zhu Yijun thought of Lin Shaohuai and asked Wang Qian with a smile if he was looking for freedom.

Wang Qian pondered for a moment and answered very seriously, "Your servant thinks that not letting one's parents worry is a kind of freedom, and also a kind of filial piety. Certainly, not letting parents worry so they no longer interfere too much in a child's life is good, but likewise, parents not having to toss and turn over their child's future life is also filial piety."

Freedom was not a concept imported from abroad—for instance, Zhuangzi had the saying of "carefree and at ease"—but the Songjiang School's freedom indeed had some connection to the West. Wang Qian had linked freedom with the inherent Confucian concept of filial piety.

Settling oneself well and not letting one's parents worry excessively is both freedom and filial piety.

Actually, Wang Qian sometimes felt that His Majesty was a bit pitiful. This pity had a comical feeling, like a maid in the house feeling sorry for a young master's hard life, but standing from the position of the wealthy and powerful, and from the position of a subject and a son, Wang Qian truly felt His Majesty was pitiful.

His Majesty, when he was only ten-something, already stopped letting Empress Dowager Li and Empress Dowager Chen worry. Ten years of being frugal, ten years of being more diligent than a donkey turning a millstone. Sometimes, when Wang Qian faced His Majesty, he had the illusion of facing the old man in his own home.

Wang Qian had lived to nearly forty before he understood that not letting parents worry was filial piety.

His Majesty seemed to have understood this very early on. Admittedly, the power of life and death was a supreme privilege in the human world, but the weight of the empire had forced His Majesty to bear burdens that someone of his age should not have to bear.

There is giving and there is receiving; cause and effect are cyclical.

"Very good." Zhu Yijun did not know Wang Qian's psychological activity. Wang Chonggu finally did not have to worry excessively about his child's future. Indeed, ever since Wang Qian passed the imperial examination, he had rarely made any fatal mistakes. With the Wang family's power, as long as Wang Qian didn't kill or commit arson, he would have enough to live a safe and happy life.

Wang Qian's judgment was soon verified as correct. It wasn't that the Imperial Road permits at the exchange soared to the sky, but that provincial governors everywhere were submitting memorials requesting policy support.

Suiyuan had mines, so the first Imperial Road was built there; the governors all agreed. But shouldn't the other two capitals and thirteen provinces also build Imperial Roads?

The other governors still needed the imperial court's support, and the Southern Yamen was making the most noise!

You in the Northern Yamen built five; as the Southern Yamen is the place where the dynasty rose and one of the two capitals, couldn't we also build five?

From the Southern Yamen to the Northern Yamen, from the Southern Yamen to Xiangyang, from the Southern Yamen to Songjiang, from the Southern Yamen to Fujian, from the Southern Yamen to Guangzhou—we in the Southern Yamen want to build them too! And we don't need the imperial court to spend money or effort; the work of building bridges and repairing roads will be done by the Southern Yamen itself!

Zhu Yijun looked at the memorials from the Six Ministers of the Southern Yamen and the censors of the Censorate, feeling quite troubled. The new Governor of Yingtian, Li Le, had his first act upon taking office burn directly to the Northern Yamen, requesting the Emperor's permission to self-fund the construction of Imperial Roads.

After receiving the memorials, Zhu Yijun summoned Zhang Juzheng and Wang Daokun.

"Is the Southern Yamen that rich?" Zhu Yijun asked, his brows tightly furrowed.

Zhang Juzheng said with slight helplessness, "Logically speaking, they shouldn't have money, but in the last two years of land surveys, the Tax Audit Bureau has retained tax revenue locally, and the fourteen prefectures of the Southern Yamen have retained 5 million silver."

"These 5 million taels of silver are considered the old treasury's savings. If there are floods, water disasters, or dredging of waterways in the south, they can be directly mobilized. Pan Butang is a clean official, and his management is quite perfect; it hasn't been embezzled by anyone."

Calling it the Southern Yamen's silver was just a matter of storage; the mobilization was still decided by the Northern Yamen. Therefore, if Li Le wanted to build Imperial Roads, he had to have the imperial court's permission. Although the two capitals were listed together, the Emperor was in the Northern Yamen, and the Six Ministries of the Southern Yamen actually had no power.

"Is it necessary for the Southern Yamen to build Imperial Roads? Aren't the waterways extending in all directions enough?" Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Daokun. This time, it was the Southern Yamen that was making the most noise and debating endlessly. Zhu Yijun mainly felt that the southern waterways were unobstructed, and building Imperial Roads might be a bit of an ineffective investment.

An Imperial Road cost 9,600 silver per li, and if there were many bridges, the price would go up. Zhu Yijun was worried about overextending himself.

"It is necessary." Wang Daokun said quite firmly, "Your Majesty, it is a fact that the waterways extend in all directions, but not all goods are by the riverside. The Great Ming is truly too large. On the map, it is very clear that those waterways are actually just thin lines."

Also, not all goods were produced by the riverside, so the request to build Imperial Roads was very normal. The Southern Yamen was a land of water, but it wasn't as if only waterways were enough.

As of the tenth year of Wanli, the road network in the Southern Yamen was far denser than that in the Northern Yamen.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Works is planning an Imperial Road from the capital to Guangzhou, from the capital to Wuhan, and after Wuhan, heading south to Guangzhou." Wang Daokun said quite precisely, "The total length is 4,570 li, the expected cost is 44 million silver, and the construction period is expected to be five years."

"Stop, stop!" Zhu Yijun said immediately, "44 million silver? Grand Minister, even if you sold me, I wouldn't have that much silver! For these 4,500 li of road, how many laborers and corvée workers would need to be conscripted? This is a massive construction project that endangers the dynasty. No, absolutely not."

The Ministry of Works was truly too extravagant. Opening their mouths meant 44 million silver—that was 88 former emperors' mausoleums. It was a truly massive construction project. Even calculated by the Wanli Emperor's own mausoleum, that was 5.5 times as much!

Where would the Great Ming get so much money and so many people to build an Imperial Road of this scale? This was the behavior of Emperor Yang of Sui reincarnated.

"We can issue permits at the exchange, mainly to solve the waste and idle circulation of silver. The Imperial Road is also a type of fixed asset." Wang Daokun said, unwilling to give up, "Your Majesty, if we don't build it now, we can at least let the scholars of the Institute of Investigation survey and map it, determine the route along the way, and then start construction in multiple sections, hoping for completion in five years."

"In five years, the annual investment would exceed 8.8 million silver. Our Great Ming's annual military expenditure is only 11 million silver." Zhu Yijun still did not approve. An investment of this scale could only be done when silver was more abundant, the Great Ming's fiscal revenue was higher, and the Great Ming's population was larger.

Wang Daokun immediately said, "Then let's just survey and map it first; when there is money, we can start construction immediately."

"Your Majesty, the imperial court doesn't have to pay back the money it borrows." Zhang Juzheng said in a low voice. Previously, when issuing national debt and expanding the Yanxing Tower Exchange, Zhang Juzheng had said the same thing. He had been cursed as a greedy and treacherous official for ten years; what harm was there in doing it once more?

Both Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu were slowly aging. When the time came, they could pin the mess on them, and His Majesty could move forward lightly.

It sounded like a very beautiful argument, but Zhu Yijun believed that this was trading the imperial court's credibility for silver, which was completely unnecessary. For a bit of silver, making people seek glory and suffer humiliation—then who in the Great Ming would be willing to risk their lives for you, the Emperor?

"The Beijing-Guangzhou Imperial Road can be discussed later. Let's first talk about how to handle the requests from the Southern Yamen and the provincial governors." Zhu Yijun leaned back in his chair and said, "Relying solely on the imperial court won't work, but relying solely on the localities will work even less."

Relying solely on the localities would turn the Great Ming directly into a state of separatist warlords. Relying solely on the imperial court, the imperial court had no money. Even if Zhu Yijun agreed with Wang Daokun's argument, the Ministry of Revenue would never agree. The Ministry of Revenue's principle was to avoid debt if possible. Any large-scale expenditure should wait until the Suiyuan Imperial Road was finished before discussing it.

The Ministry of Revenue's refusal to borrow was because the current Great Ming imperial court's credibility was truly too poor, relying entirely on the Emperor's personal credibility. Admittedly, in the eyes of most people in the Great Ming, His Majesty's credibility equaled the imperial court's credibility, but since the complete separation of the state treasury and the inner treasury during the Jiajing era, this relationship of equality no longer existed.

Most state affairs were like this—this wouldn't work, that wouldn't work—and one could only find a method that might not be the best, but was suitable for the current situation.

"It is advisable to temporarily reject the governors' requests across the board." Zhang Juzheng pondered repeatedly and chose a "one-size-fits-all" method, cutting through the chaos with a sharp knife. He continued, "Your Majesty, the five Imperial Roads starting from the capital have just been built. How to manage them, what kind of influence they will cause, whether the customs tax stations can operate, and whether the system needs improvement—all need to be observed further. It is not advisable for the localities to intervene too early; this would give villains an opportunity to exploit."

And most importantly, the system of the Engineer Corps regiments needed to be examined very, very carefully. Every four engineer battalions formed one regiment, and the five Imperial Roads were all built by the Engineer Corps regiments.

Zhang Juzheng mainly wanted to observe further. In fact, he wanted to see these six Engineer Corps regiments before rejecting the governors' requests across the board. If things went wrong, it would be chaos under heaven. The military colony and guard system in the Great Ming's hinterland had long since rotted away, and the organizational level of the hinterland troops was far inferior to the border troops, not to mention the Capital Guard.

Building Imperial Roads everywhere meant that Engineer Corps regiments would inevitably have to be formed; otherwise, they could only follow Wang Qian's suggestion and let the localities bid for construction themselves.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, nodded, and said, "It is indeed so. Let it be as the Master says."

Observe further, observe the influence of the Imperial Roads, and the revenue-generating ability of the Imperial Roads. If it is truly necessary, then build them everywhere!

If there is no decisive influence on the current situation, it can be postponed.

Overextending oneself will definitely lead to trouble; this was something Zhu Yijun was very clear about.

"Where has Pan Butang reached?" Zhu Yijun inquired about Pan Jixun's progress in entering Suiyuan.

"He has reached Hohhot. Just after arriving, he beheaded 1,300 people. A group of horse bandits and wandering outlaws harassed the Dongsheng Guard and were repelled by the Dongsheng Guard troops. Afterward, he found their lair, annihilated all these horse bandits, and captured 700 people. According to the Great Ming's custom, killing captives is inauspicious. He originally intended to send them to Womagang to mine, but in the end, Pan Butang still killed them." Zhang Juzheng handed a memorial to Feng Bao.

Pan Jixun's handling of this matter was actually quite taboo. Suiyuan was newly recovered territory. Although His Majesty had given him the power to act on his own authority and report afterward, he had struck down 1,300 people at once, with heads rolling—he should have notified the imperial court.

Everyone said that Ling Yunyi had a heavy heart for killing, but this Pan Jixun, ever since that locust plague, was no less so.

Zhu Yijun finished reading the memorial and said very precisely, "This power to act on one's own authority was given correctly. If this matter wasn't handled immediately, I fear it would not be conducive to the stability of Suiyuan."

Pan Jixun was not someone lacking in brains. If the situation hadn't been urgent, he wouldn't have acted first and reported later. These captives were escorted to Hohhot. The next day, the area around the captive camp was crowded with border people from Hohhot. When Pan Jixun first arrived, he thought it was unruly people causing trouble, but after asking in detail, he learned that the border people were clamoring for the Pacification Commissioner to behead all these captives.

There was no other reason: this batch of horse bandits liked to peel people's skin. They were the notorious "Liewu" horse bandits from the Liang Mountains, who had plagued the area around Hohhot for more than a decade. Altan Khan had also tried to wipe them out, but failed several times. Because the Liewu horse bandits were in the buffer zone between the Great Ming and Altan Khan's forces, belonging to a "no-man's-land," they had developed and grown. In these ten-plus years, they had harassed the border people countless times. Every border person basically had a blood feud with the Liewu horse bandits.

The Pacification Commissioner, San Niangzi, had truly tried her best to appease them and reported to the imperial court, but the matter grew larger and larger, and the border people gathered in greater numbers. If they continued to gather, I fear they would have stormed the captive camp, making it even harder to end. Just as Pan Jixun arrived, he immediately ordered their execution.

There were 700 captives, but 1,300 were beheaded. The extra 600 people were from the Datong Left Guard border troops who launched another attack, destroying a mountain stronghold and capturing another 400 people, plus 200 more who were Liewu horse bandits in Hohhot.

Horse bandits outside the Great Wall were slightly different from mountain bandits in the Great Ming's hinterland. Many of the bandit problems in the hinterland were thugs raised by wealthy and powerful households. Naturally, there was killing, but if they killed too many, the imperial court would inevitably send troops to suppress them, so the hinterland mountain bandits were still somewhat restrained. But the horse bandits outside the Great Wall, besides burning, killing, and looting, would also peel people's skin and hang them in front of the Hohhot city gate to show off their power—they were cruel to the extreme.

"Altan Khan couldn't do anything about these killers, but the Great Ming can. The Great Ming has already launched punitive expeditions against the disobedient and attacked the 'bansheng' settlements, yet these horse bandits still dared to be active! Pan Butang did well." Zhu Yijun was very satisfied with Pan Jixun's handling. This was the reason for giving Pan Jixun the power to act on his own authority. In newly recovered territory, there were many conflicts and they intensified quickly, so many decisions had to be made immediately.

Zhu Yijun gave Pan Jixun policy support: act boldly. If it doesn't work, the iron hooves of the Capital Guard will tread over it again. Since they wanted to implement the commandery and county system in the Hetao region, they could not be soft-hearted.

General Qi Jiguang Jiguang had the power to act on his own authority, and Pan Jixun also had the power to act on his own authority. If the two sides had a conflict, whose power was greater?

It was General Qi Jiguang Jiguang who had the power to kill Pan Jixun, because General Qi Jiguang Jiguang held the Emperor's sword—that was what Zhu Yijun gave General Qi Jiguang Jiguang for self-defense, to guard against conspiracies and schemes from behind.

It wasn't that Zhu Yijun was guarding against Pan Jixun. When he bestowed the sword, the candidate for the Viceroy of Suiyuan hadn't been confirmed yet; it was Zhu Yijun's heartfelt wariness of civil officials.

(End of chapter)