Chapter 15

Gossip is always the best way to bridge relationships.

Brewing a pot of tea, with three or five colleagues gathered together to brag and eat gossip, the day's work is finished.

Compared to the life of a beast of burden before crossing over, this is what life is.

It is not that Li Mu is derelict in his duty; it is purely the nature of a yamen like the Wucheng Military Commission that determines the lazier he is, the better.

Daily street patrols and handling civil disputes are all the work of the underlings.

In the area of the Nancheng, as long as no major incidents occur, it is equivalent to nothing happening.

For him, a Battalion Commander, to personally take action, either a major case has occurred or spoiled brats are fighting.

The powerful and wealthy mostly live in the West City, and their lives are not in the same circle, so spoiled brats rarely run to the Nancheng to cause trouble.

Now he just lacks a private secretary to draft official documents and handle trivial matters for him.

These are all small problems; the Great Dayu Dynasty lacks everything, but it will never lack people.

The imperial examination is a single-plank bridge for thousands of troops and horses; apart from a few lucky ones who can break through the encirclement, ninety-nine percent of the scholars fail and sink into the sand.

Knowing the difficulty of the imperial examinations, those with flexible minds will choose to take a shortcut and defect to the door of an official to become a staff member.

Following them for ten or twenty years, if the patron they follow climbs up, they can follow and rise to power, obtaining an official position.

Even if the patron doesn't make it, they can use this platform to expand their network of relationships and earn a handsome commission.

In fact, as early as in Hanzhong, Li Mu had already reserved a private secretary.

It's just that the scholar was unlucky; his mother passed away just before he was about to set off, and he had to stay in his hometown to observe the three-year mourning period.

The new private secretary was recommended by his uncle's staff member, a Shaoxing provincial graduate who had failed the examinations repeatedly, and is currently on his way from his hometown.

In the Great Dayu Dynasty, as long as one passes the provincial examination, one is a member of the ruling class and possesses the qualification to be granted an official position.

Under normal circumstances, with Li Mu's current position, it is very difficult to recruit a provincial graduate.

The reason they are willing to accept the recruitment, besides the name of the Marquis's mansion, is mainly for the convenience of the imperial examinations.

For scholars from humble backgrounds who lack connections, being able to wear the label of the Marquis's mansion is also a significant political resource.

The Petition Drum incident, besides providing gossip fodder, also ended his welcome banquet.

Being an official under the Emperor's feet, being low-key is never wrong.

Holding a grand banquet when the Emperor is most worried, once reported by the omnipresent Embroidered Uniform Guard, one's future will definitely not be "bright."

"Go over and see what happened."

Li Mu ordered with a frown.

If he had encountered this kind of thing yesterday, he would have taken a detour and left directly.

But now it won't do; having joined the Wucheng Military Commission, he must fulfill the corresponding duties.

"My lord, someone posted a notice on the wall, and the content is related to the Petition Drum incident that happened this morning."

Hearing the news brought back by his subordinate, Li Mu's expression instantly turned grave.

The Petition Drum incident had only passed for an hour, and even they, people in the government office with well-informed sources, did not know the truth.

Now, someone actually knows the inside story and is announcing it in such an extreme way; there must be someone pushing it from behind.

"Disperse the crowd!"

Li Mu ordered decisively.

Regardless of who is behind it, since it appeared in his jurisdiction, emergency measures must be taken.

Even if the news spreads, remedial measures still cannot be lacking; this is a matter of attitude.

"The Wucheng Military Commission is handling a case, idlers move aside!"

Following the path cleared by the soldiers, Li Mu, who walked up, saw the content of the notice, and his expression instantly became even gloomier.

He knew party strife was intense, but he didn't expect these guys to be so good at playing the game.

According to the rules of the game, political struggles are all played behind closed doors; how can they directly flip the table!

Li Mu believes the accusations above that the mining tax supervisor is greedy beyond measure, extorting taxes, and plundering.

Running to the stronghold of the Qingliu faction to collect taxes, without causing some trouble to establish authority, it is difficult to collect the taxes.

It is nothing more than these guys being unable to control their greed, failing to grasp the degree, and messing up the task the Emperor ordered.

If one wants to deal with them, collecting evidence according to normal procedures and taking it to the court for impeachment would be enough to bring them down.

Emperor Tianyuan's employment of eunuchs to balance civil officials was for the sake of the country.

Once eunuchs become pests that endanger the country, he will not be soft-hearted when dealing with them either.

To the Emperor, executing a eunuch is much easier than executing a civil official.

Yet the Qingliu faction didn't play by the rules, directly using the Petition Drum method to make the matter known to everyone.

The rules of the game are to protect all participants; when a group no longer follows the rules, then the ensuing struggle is a contest of who has a lower bottom line.

For the eunuch faction, this is currently a political disaster, but while the Qingliu faction is taking advantage, they have also offended Emperor Tianyuan.

Striking at eunuchs and attacking the reformist faction are all conventional political struggles.

The Petition Drum is different; this is something that will be recorded in history books.

To the Emperor, if handled slightly poorly, it is a proper political stain.

Unless Emperor Tianyuan makes concessions and satisfies the demands of the Qingliu faction, otherwise this incident will definitely be magnified by the historians.

Standing from the Emperor's position, this is a naked threat.

If Emperor Tianyuan were someone who easily compromised, how could he push for reform while bearing the pressure?

Vaguely, Li Mu sensed something was wrong.

Using explosive means to intensify the conflict indeed occupies the moral high ground, but for the fragmented Qingliu faction, it has no substantial benefits.

Especially for those Qingliu bigwigs who hold power in the court, after blowing the matter up, it instead puts themselves in a dangerous situation.

From now on, party strife will enter a white-hot stage, and there will be no possibility of reconciliation between the eunuch faction and the Qingliu faction.

One side must fall for this struggle to end.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and tear it down!"

"Pass down the order, command the entire Battalion Commander's office to move out and confiscate these illegal items.

Tell the commoners that if they don't want to take a trip to the imperial prison, they should immediately tear down any illegal items that appear on their own walls and not spread rumors randomly."

What the truth is, Li Mu has no time to delve into for now. He is currently that unlucky fish caught in the crossfire of the city gate fire.

The scope of the Wucheng Military Commission's duties is very broad, which also includes cracking down on rumors and maintaining social stability.

Once it is determined that the news spread from the Nancheng, his career as a Battalion Commander, who has only been in office for one day, will be over.

Fortunately, this is the Nancheng, where most of the residents are from the lower rungs of society. Their political status in the Great Dayu is extremely low, and they are most afraid of causing trouble for themselves, so the Wucheng Military Commission has full deterrent power here.

Wanting to control the mouths of the masses might still be a bit difficult, but getting them to help clean up the notices on their own walls is still achievable.

As long as the things are cleaned up in time, Li Mu can pretend that nothing happened.

Chasing after the mastermind behind the scenes can wait until the court issues an order.

Historical experience tells him that when it involves party strife, try not to get involved if you can.

(End of chapter)