Chapter 79: A Fire

Dong dong dong — the third round of the morning session drum sounded. Yang Erming came from the rear office where he resided to the Main Hall and took his seat behind the official desk. The runners below the hall shouted in unison three times; after the court assembly concluded, the new day's morning session began.

In the blink of an eye, Yang Erming had been in office for five days. These past few days, there was actually little he could do. The most overworked person was Yang Erming's Advisor, Mr. Sun, who had to check assets and personnel with each office one by one, while also constantly negotiating and compromising with Yang Fangzao's advisors. The stipulated handover period was no more than a month, but in reality, Yang Fangzao could not possibly wait that long. If he gave Yang Erming half a month, that would already be giving him face, so Mr. Sun's work pressure was immense.

Although Yang Fangzao had not yet left, the County Magistrate's great seal had already been transferred to Yang Erming. Yang Erming was now the seal-holding County Magistrate of the main hall. Even if civil unrest broke out again at this moment, it would have nothing to do with Yang Fangzao.

Today, Yang Erming held the session as usual. Each office came up to report matters, all saying they were handling the handover. Yang Erming casually inquired about the city gates and the South Prison. As long as nothing happened at these two places, the city should be basically stable.

Pang Yu also stood in the hall. Originally, only officials and clerks stood in the hall, but Yang Erming had let him stand on the platform from the very first day, which counted as being in the hall. He had not gone back down since, and this also signaled his status to everyone in the yamen.

These past two days, Pang Yu had followed Yang Erming almost every day. The great pains he took to receive the official in Anqing had indeed produced excellent results. When Yang Erming arrived in Tongcheng, he was completely in the dark. Mr. Sun was busy with the handover, so the only person he knew was Pang Yu. This man had also properly helped him handle the capital debt. Emotionally, Yang Erming naturally felt closest to this person. After spending these few days together, he found that Pang Yu arranged matters with great order, so Yang Erming also relied on Pang Yu in his work and took him everywhere.

These two days, Yang Erming mainly handled ceremonial matters — meeting and talking privately with the Assistant Officials and Miscellaneous Officials, then the Six Offices Clerks, each requiring individual communication. Generally, by the afternoon, Yang Erming would go out to pay respects at the county's temples and shrines, or return courtesy calls at the homes of various prominent gentry.

Because on the day he took office, these local gentry all had to come to the hall to pay their respects according to custom and also give some welcoming gifts. The County Magistrate generally needed to return the visit within a few days, so Yang Erming had quite a lot on his plate.

According to the schedule Pang Yu had drawn up for Yang Erming, today's morning session was also just for show. After the morning session dispersed in the late morning, he was to go to the county school to meet the Tongsheng, then go pay respects at the Loyalty and Filial Piety Shrine, the Earth God Shrine, the Wenchang Shrine, the Sacred Hall, and the Sacred Temple. In the afternoon, he was to pay respects at Zuo Gong Temple — this was arranged by Yang Erming himself. After all, this was Nanzhili, where the Donglin Party held enormous influence. Regardless of what Yang Erming truly thought in his heart, paying respects to Zuo Guangdou was necessary.

After the Six Offices Clerks above had all spoken, Yang Erming announced the end of the morning session. The officials and clerks returned to their respective duty rooms, and the runners and laborers waiting below the platform mostly dispersed as well.

Pang Yu came before the official desk. Yang Erming said to Pang Yu, "Pang Squad Leader, wait a moment. I... this official will finish writing this dispatch submission to the Anqing Prefecture."

Pang Yu hurriedly acknowledged and then helped Yang Erming grind ink. Writing at this time was not easy; one generally needed someone to grind the ink. If one ground it oneself, it was easy to interrupt one's train of thought. Yang Erming had taken office hastily and brought too few household servants. Once his Advisor was unavailable, he could only have Pang Yu act as his secretary.

What Yang Erming was writing was a dispatch submission. The topic was that the civil unrest had delayed the autumn tax collection, and he hoped the Anqing Prefecture could grant an extension. Additionally, he hoped to retain a portion of the tax revenue for rebuilding the city tower that had been burned down during the unrest.

It was all trivial official business. Pang Yu's understanding of the county yamen had now deepened somewhat. In reality, a County Magistrate's autonomy was not great; they were more like clerks dispatched by the Prefect, unable to make decisions on many things. Hence, there was much official correspondence back and forth. Normally, each office could simply draft these, but Yang Erming, perhaps because he was newly appointed, wanted to personally handle many matters.

Yang Erming wrote very quickly, the tip of his brush moving like flowing clouds and water. A dispatch submission was soon nearing completion.

Pang Yu also stopped grinding ink. Just as he looked up, he saw several scribes and auxiliaries below the hall pointing and gesturing, occasionally letting out laughter. Following their gaze, Pang Yu immediately knew they were mocking Yang Erming. Because his stature was too small, when Yang Erming sat in the hall, his feet could not reach the ground and were always dangling in the air.

Additionally, his official robe and hat were both too large. Probably even the Ministry of Personnel had not expected a County Magistrate this young. Especially that black gauze hat — being too large, it was somewhat unstable and often tilted to one side. Yang Erming had stuffed some cloth inside, barely managing to keep it from tilting.

Today, it probably wasn't stuffed tightly enough; the official hat was now tilted to one side again. Several scribes and auxiliaries treated Yang Erming like a child and even dared to mock him to his face.

Yang Erming's face was flushed red. He kept his head buried looking at the official desk, his dangling feet below moving restlessly, unable to find a place to settle. For a moment, he was extremely embarrassed.

Pang Yu glared at those few people, and they restrained themselves slightly. There were many people below the hall, and Pang Yu did not want to alert others, as that would only make Yang Erming more embarrassed.

After those few people walked away, Pang Yu said in a low voice, "My lord..."

Yang Erming raised a hand to stop Pang Yu. "Which offices are those few from?"

"Two from the Personnel Office, one from the Military Office, one from the Punishment Office."

"Write down their names." Yang Erming's face was crimson as he looked at the backs of those few people and said to Pang Yu, "Tonight, bring three reliable Runners to the county yamen. Come through the back gate. Do not let word leak out."

Pang Yu did not know why Yang Erming would suddenly ask him to bring people, but seeing Yang Erming's grim expression, he roughly guessed what Yang Erming intended to do. He responded in a low voice, "Yes."

"My lord, it will soon be the third watch."

Pang Yu stood in the third courtyard and said to Magistrate Yang in the darkness.

Yang Erming's voice, carrying a childlike tone, said, "Then please lead the way, Pang Squad Leader."

The nearby gatekeeper handed over a lantern; Yang Erming took one himself. Pang Yu called out, and behind him, Xu Lengzi raised a large lantern and headed first toward the outer yamen, followed by Ruan Jin. They walked ahead lighting the road, and then Pang Yu accompanied Yang Erming and the Advisor.

The main gate gatekeeper opened the door, and the group exited the residential area, arriving at Tuisi Hall. Yang Erming paused briefly before the door of Tuisi Hall, grabbed the lock clasp on the door, and pulled hard twice. After confirming it was properly locked, the group continued to the Main Hall.

Yang Erming started from the Archive Repository and checked door by door in order. The Main Hall had the most duty rooms. They quickly discovered that the Rites Office and Punishment Office each had one door left unclosed, and the Personnel Office and Document Receiving Office had windows not shut tightly.

After completing a circuit around the Main Hall, the group went to the South Prison. A lantern hung before the South Prison gate. The main gate was locked very securely, but snoring like thunder came from the gatehouse. Yang Erming peered inside — the two Jailers inside were both fast asleep, a Whistle Staff and a Waist Saber casually thrown on the ground.

By the dim lamplight, Pang Yu observed Yang Erming's expression from time to time. This young County Magistrate seemed to have gained considerable confidence since taking office; compared to when they first met in Anqing Prefecture, he was much more composed.

Yang Erming nodded at Pang Yu. Pang Yu waved his hand, and Xu Lengzi and Ruan Jin rushed into the gatehouse, grabbed the two gatekeepers, and each slapped them several times across the face.

"What's going on? Who the hell is hitting me? Aiya... the prisoners have escaped! Help!"

Pang Yu recognized that voice — it was Wang Dazhuang's little brother-in-law, Zhang Daiwen, again. Since their last conflict, Pang Yu had been promoted all the way up and had no time to deal with this Jailer afterward.

By the time Zhang Daiwen and the other Jailer were dragged outside the gatehouse, they had already been slapped dizzy and disoriented. At first, they thought prisoners had escaped. Only when they clearly saw Yang Erming did they realize it was the County Magistrate on an inspection, and they were instantly scared out of their wits.

The Jailer on duty inside the South Prison heard the commotion and poked his head out to look. Seeing this scene, he hid behind the door, not daring to make a sound.

"The South Prison is a vital place for the entire county, and this is how you perform your duty." Yang Erming clasped his hands behind his back and turned to Pang Yu. "Record these two men's names. Leave one person from the Fast Squad here to supervise."

Pang Yu immediately said to Ruan Jin, "Call out two people from the duty room."

Yang Erming asked with some surprise, "How is it that the Fast Squad still has people at the county yamen at night?"

"My lord, for your clear discernment: ever since the civil unrest, the Fast Squad has maintained this practice. At night, the county yamen only had a few gatekeepers on watch. Recently, there are many prisoners in the South Prison, and His Honor is newly arrived. This humble one feared something might go wrong, so every night I arranged three Runners for night duty. This matter was previously reported to Mr. Sun, so that they would be available if summoned at night."

Yang Erming nodded approvingly. Since the South Prison was not far from the Runner Room, Yang Erming strode over to the Corridor himself to verify. Sure enough, there were three Runners inside. Although they were also sleeping, Yang Erming showed not the slightest blame.

While Ruan Jin was waking the Runners, Yang Erming also inspected the Runner Squad room. Two of the three duty rooms were unlocked. Yang Erming's expression turned somewhat grim.

Pang Yu turned his head to look at Ruan Jin and saw Ruan Jin wink at him. He knew Ruan Jin had found a way to get them open. Normally, Wang Dazhuang was actually quite strict, and the doors were usually locked.

After inspecting the Runner Squad room, they had reached the main gate; there was nothing further outside. The group had already alerted the main gate gatekeeper. Seeing the County Magistrate present in the middle of the night, the gatekeeper was so frightened that all drowsiness vanished, and he waited cautiously to the side.

Yang Erming said to Pang Yu, "Tonight, we will trouble the Fast Squad a bit more. We will also go inspect the County Granary and the six gates."

"With my lord personally inspecting, how dare the Fast Squad speak of hardship. Whatever my lord arranges, this humble one would die ten thousand deaths without refusal."

Yang Erming, holding the lantern, turned to the gatekeeper and said, "Open the gate!"

The next morning, after the Third Watch of the Watchman's Clapper, Yang Erming, his eyes red, came to the Main Hall.

He walked to his chair and, just as he was about to hoist himself up again, he noticed a wooden footrest had been added beneath the chair, its height just right for him to plant his feet firmly while sitting.

Yang Erming sat down without any change in expression and glanced toward Pang Yu's position. Seeing Pang Yu nodding slightly at him, he knew it was Pang Yu's doing, and he felt somewhat moved in his heart.

Some of the Xuli above and below the hall also noticed it, and there was some low murmuring in the hall.

Crack! A piercing sound from the Alarm Wood rang out. Everyone was slightly startled. This young County Magistrate Yang had been here for several days, and this was the first time he had used the court wood.

Yang Erming, his reddened eyes glaring, swept his gaze across the hall. In a cold voice carrying a childlike tone, he spoke: "Bring up Zhang Daiwen and Meng Guowei, the Jailers on duty at the South Prison last night, and Ceng Sangao and Jiang Yu, the Zhuang Squad runners on duty at Xiangyang Gate."

The Xuli below the hall looked at each other in dismay. Even Zhou County Deputy and Xu Chief Clerk standing in the hall were completely baffled. This young County Magistrate had hardly lost his temper in the few days since taking office; they did not know why he now bore such an aggressive and fierce demeanor.

Eight Runners escorted those four men up to the hall. Yang Erming turned to the arrow container before him and drew out two red Order Arrows. The atmosphere in the hall instantly tensed. The onlookers no longer dared to murmur; the hall became so silent one could hear a pin drop.

Two Order Arrows meant twenty strokes of the board. Even Pang Yu was somewhat surprised, because when they parted that morning, Yang Erming had said ten strokes per person. How had it changed in just a moment? Could it have been Mr. Sun's suggestion?

Under the gaze of the crowd, Yang Erming actually blushed and hesitated for a moment. He picked up an Order Arrow, seemed to want to put it back, but his hand stopped halfway.

Pang Yu felt a bit anxious inside. It looked like Yang Erming might have gotten a little worked up and grabbed the wrong number for a moment, only now realizing the count was off. But in Pang Yu's view, twenty strokes was indeed a bit much, since these were all minor offenses — though that wasn't the main problem.

Whether ten strokes or twenty strokes, it didn't matter, but he couldn't show hesitation. Even if he wanted to put one back, he should do it immediately, otherwise the effect of his show of authority would be greatly diminished. Pang Yu had invested considerable capital in Yang Erming, so he naturally hoped Yang Erming could establish his prestige as quickly as possible.

Yang Erming only hesitated for a brief moment. He looked down at the hall with a Cold Expression and said, "Last night, during my late-night inspection, Zhang Daiwen, Meng Guowei, and Ceng Sangao were fast asleep with their heads covered in the Duty Room when they should have been on duty. Jiang Yu left the City Tower without authorization when he should have been on duty. These four neglected their duties — their crimes are unpardonable and they must be severely punished as a warning to others!"

He sent the two Order Arrows flying from his hand. They flipped through the air across half the Main Hall and struck the bluestone floor with two sharp cracks.