[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers":3,"chapter-restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-15":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Restoring the Mountains and Rivers",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2364284,4623,"Chapter 15: The Hot Potato","restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-15",15,"\u003Cp>Gossip is always the best way to bring people closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brew a pot of tea, gather a few colleagues to chat and gossip, and the day’s work is done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the grind of his life before crossing over, this was real living.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t Li Mu slacking off—it was simply the nature of the Five City Garrison Office that the less he did, the better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Daily street patrols and resolving civilian disputes? That was all the subordinates’ work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this part of the southern city, as long as no major incident occurred, it was as good as nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only if a major case arose or if a noble’s son got into a fight would his rank as Battalion Commander require his personal intervention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The powerful mostly lived in the western city; their lives didn’t overlap, so few noble sons ever came to the southern city causing trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All he needed now was a private secretary to draft official documents and handle trivial matters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were minor issues—Great Yu had nothing in shortage except people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The imperial examinations were a narrow bridge crossed by a million troops; only a tiny fraction broke through, while ninety-nine percent sank in defeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knowing how hard the exams were, the clever chose shortcuts—joining officials’ households as retainers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After serving for ten or twenty years, if their patron rose in rank, they could ride his coattails to official position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if their patron never made it, they could still use the platform to expand connections and earn substantial fees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, even back in Hanzhong, Li Mu had already secured a private secretary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the scholar had bad luck—his mother died just before departure, forcing him to stay home for three years of mourning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The new secretary was recommended by his uncle’s retainer: a Shaoxing juren who had failed the exams repeatedly and was now en route from his hometown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Great Yu, once someone passed the provincial exam, he became part of the ruling class and qualified for official appointment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under normal circumstances, with Li Mu’s current rank, it would be hard to recruit a juren.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man agreed to join not just because of the Hou Fu’s prestige, but mainly for the convenience it offered toward the imperial exams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For poor scholars lacking connections, bearing the Hou Fu’s label was itself valuable political capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Dengwen Drum incident, besides providing gossip, had also ended his welcoming banquet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Serving under the Son of Heaven, it was always safer to keep a low profile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Throwing a grand banquet while the Emperor was most distressed—if the all-pervasive Embroidered Uniform Guard reported it, his future would be utterly dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go see what’s happening.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mu ordered, frowning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he’d encountered this yesterday, he’d have simply taken another route.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now he couldn’t—he’d joined the Five City Garrison Office and had to fulfill his duties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, someone posted a notice on the wall, and its content relates to the Dengwen Drum incident this morning.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing his subordinate’s report, Li Mu’s expression turned grim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Dengwen Drum incident had happened only hours ago, and even those in the know within the yamen still didn't know the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now someone already knew the inside story—and revealed it in this extreme way? Someone was clearly pulling strings behind the scenes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Disperse the crowd!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mu gave a decisive order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoever was behind it, since it appeared in his jurisdiction, he had to take emergency action.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if the rumor spread, remedial measures couldn’t be skipped—that was a matter of attitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Five City Garrison Office handling a case! All civilians, clear the area!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Following the path cleared by soldiers, Li Mu stepped forward and saw the notice’s content—his face darkened instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d known factional strife was fierce, but he hadn’t expected these bastards to play so recklessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the rules, political struggles were meant to be conducted behind closed doors—whoever tore the table apart like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The notice accused the mining tax supervisor of greed, extortion, and plunder—he believed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To collect taxes in the stronghold of the pure stream faction, you had to make a show of force—or you’d never get a single coin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These bastards simply couldn’t control their greed and failed to strike the right balance, botching the Emperor’s orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To deal with them, you could follow proper procedure: gather evidence and impeach them on the court floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emperor Tianyuan appointed eunuchs to balance the civil officials for the sake of the realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once eunuchs became parasites harming the realm, he’d deal with them just as ruthlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the Emperor, executing a eunuch was far easier than executing a civil official.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the pure stream faction broke the rules entirely, using the Dengwen Drum to make the matter public knowledge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rules protected all participants; when one side stopped obeying them, the next phase of struggle became a race to see who had the lower moral bottom line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the eunuch faction, this was a political disaster—but the pure stream faction, while gaining advantage, had also angered Emperor Tianyuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Attacking eunuchs and criticizing reformers were standard political maneuvers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Dengwen Drum was different—it would be recorded in the official histories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the Emperor, even a slight misstep here would become an undeniable political stain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless Emperor Tianyuan conceded and met the pure stream faction’s demands, this incident would be magnified by the historians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the Emperor’s standpoint, this was a naked threat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Emperor Tianyuan were the type to yield easily, he’d never have pushed reforms under such pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Somewhere deep down, Li Mu sensed something was off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using explosive tactics to escalate tensions gave them moral high ground—but for the fractured pure stream faction, it brought no real benefit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially for the senior pure stream officials who held power in court: making the matter public only put themselves in greater danger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From now on, factional strife would enter its most intense phase; the eunuch faction and the pure stream faction had no chance of reconciliation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One side must fall—only then could this struggle end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you standing there for? Tear it down immediately!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Issue orders: mobilize every man in the Battalion Command to confiscate these illegal notices.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tell the people: if they don’t want to end up in the Imperial Prison, they must tear down any illegal notices on their walls immediately and stop spreading rumors.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The truth? Li Mu had no time to investigate now—he was just the unlucky fish caught in the fire at the city gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Five City Garrison Office’s responsibilities were vast, including suppressing rumors and maintaining social stability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the rumor was confirmed to have originated in the southern city, his tenure as Battalion Commander—barely one day old—would be over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, this was the southern city, inhabited mostly by the lowest strata of society, politically powerless and terrified of trouble—so the Five City Garrison Office held immense deterrent power here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Controlling people’s tongues might be hard, but getting them to remove notices from their own walls? That was doable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as the notices were cleared quickly, Li Mu could pretend nothing had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Investigating the mastermind? Wait for imperial orders first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Historical experience told him: when factional strife was involved, avoid getting entangled if at all possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1213,"2026-06-21T08:09:02.410Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","2f6ad21afff97ca90c643dc3d1725b1ccbcab48c38540f2f625d26b843f16c26","restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-16","restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-14",391,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frestoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-cover.jpg"]