Chapter 191: Another Guess

"My Lord, My Lord!"

Upon learning that Shen Yu had returned, Liang Ruyue rushed over at the fastest possible speed.

He had already heard a general account of what happened when Shen Yu arrived, and he had long heard of the Xinghai Gang in Anzhou City; this group of scum was always unscrupulous in their actions.

It was just that during this period, he had been cleaning up the mess left behind by the former Governor, He Yuan, and had no time to attend to anything else.

Originally, he had planned to deal with these local scourges and clean up Anzhou City once he finished handling the matters at hand.

Once the job was done and reported upward, wouldn't it show that he was loyal and dutiful? Who would have thought they would provoke Lord Shen first.

These blind fools only know how to cause trouble for themselves. Knowing full well that Lord Shen had arrived, they still dared to be so arrogant; couldn't they just keep their tails tucked between their legs?

If they had given him two more days to finish his work, he would have sharpened his blade to cut them down. Were they really so eager to die that they couldn't even wait two days?

"My Lord, this is the list of corrupt officials who have been apprehended recently, along with their signed confessions!"

Rushing to Shen Yu's side, Liang Ruyue handed over the documents he was holding and began to report in a low voice.

"My Lord, some of these people have already been thrown into prison, and others are currently being escorted here!"

"Good, not bad!" Flipping through the items in his hand, he saw that some of these people were officials within Anzhou City, while others were corrupt officials from various parts of Xichuan.

Previously, Shen Yu had rushed to various places mainly to apprehend the chief officials and temporarily stabilize the situation.

As for those who were complicit, he simply had no time to deal with them; Xichuan was so vast, and at that time he was in a hurry, so many things could not be handled in time.

Now that he had just returned, Liang Ruyue had hurried to report his own work results.

In just these few days, he had basically finished clearing out all those who were complicit in various places; such work efficiency was indeed worthy of praise.

However, this was also Liang Ruyue's silent explanation for why he hadn't managed to deal with the Xinghai Gang; Shen Yu was well aware of this little scheme of his.

After flipping through them for a while, Shen Yu closed the documents and said, "Having apprehended so many people at once, is Xichuan still stable?"

"My Lord, rest assured, there has been little fluctuation. The moment you apprehended the chief officials, the imperial court immediately arranged for people to cooperate with this subordinate!"

"Now, the official positions of those corrupt officials have also been arranged, and the court has appointed officials who are familiar with local governance, all in your name, My Lord."

"As for the corrupt officials who were caught, some have already been thrown into prison, and others are being escorted here, awaiting your disposal, My Lord!"

"By the way, My Lord, some of these newly promoted officials came here under the pretext of escorting the criminal officials; they all wish to pay their respects to you!"

"I knew the imperial court must have been prepared for the situation in Xichuan; it really is a swift stroke to cut through the tangle."

Shaking his head, Shen Yu then said, "Forget it, tell them all to go back!"

"Yes, My Lord!"

It was clear that the imperial court had long since figured out the situation in various places and was just waiting for him to make a move before following up immediately.

Look at this: the moment he took action, the imperial court followed up with a clean sweep.

Although the newly appointed chief officials were his temporary appointments, they were still under his, Shen Yu's, reputation, so the court naturally dared not touch them, but other positions were different.

Xichuan had long been rotten to the core, and the upper echelons of the local government offices had been almost entirely wiped out.

Although they couldn't touch the chief officials, the court was not polite about the other vacant positions, immediately sending their own people to occupy them first.

Shen Yu had absolutely no interest in these political matters. With him standing here, he was capable of sweeping away everything, and there was no need to worry about these things.

As long as those who were appointed were loyal and honest, it didn't matter whether he was the one who appointed them.

"Liang Ruyue, do you know about the Xinghai Gang?"

"The real business is here!" Hearing Shen Yu mention the Xinghai Gang, Liang Ruyue gave a start and immediately replied, "This subordinate has long heard of them!"

"The leader of the Xinghai Gang is Li Zehai, with twenty thousand formal disciples under his command and countless others who are affiliated, claiming to have one hundred thousand members."

"In Anzhou City, the Xinghai Gang colluded with Governor He Yuan to cover the sky with one hand, bullying the common people and stopping at nothing in their daily lives!"

"It's just that this subordinate was busy dealing with those corrupt officials and hadn't found the time to deal with them, so..."

"So you did know; I thought you didn't."

Glancing at Liang Ruyue, Shen Yu's expression turned cold as he said faintly, "Then do you know what this official saw today?"

"In broad daylight, the people of the Xinghai Gang dared to forcibly seize women, claiming that the day belongs to the government, and the night belongs to their Xinghai Gang!"

"These things happened right under this official's nose; do you know that it has been a long time since I encountered such arrogant people!"

"Furthermore, they are truly sucking the marrow from the bones of the common people."

"If they lend out two taels of silver, they dare to demand two hundred taels in five days; if they don't pay, they force them to sell their children. Do you know about these things..."

"This subordinate is terrified!" Hearing Shen Yu's words, fine beads of sweat seeped from Liang Ruyue's forehead; he already knew what Lord Shen was going to say.

During this time, he had put the cart before the horse. He had used all his energy to arrest corrupt officials and cleanse the Xichuan officialdom, while turning a blind eye to the Xinghai Gang, which directly affected the livelihoods of the people.

Those corrupt officials were merely bones in a graveyard; ever since He Yuan was apprehended, they had been living in constant fear and would basically have no other thoughts to harm the people.

It would only have taken a little bit of energy to deal with them quickly.

But those gangs like the Xinghai Gang that suck the blood of the people are different; even if the top brass were clear-headed, the lowest-level members were mostly scum who lived by bullying the people.

They didn't care if the government had changed; they had their own ways to circumvent the rules, and it wouldn't stop them from continuing to rake in money and act like tyrants.

This was also where Shen Yu was angry. Wanting to prove himself and wanting credit was not wrong, but one cannot put the cart before the horse.

Today he happened to see it, but what if he hadn't? Would the Xinghai Gang have continued to exist for some time?

"You should be terrified. Having followed me for so long, I should have told you to put the safety of the people first, and everything else can wait!"

"Do you know that for every day people like the Xinghai Gang exist, countless commoners may be bullied and persecuted by them?"

"Every day, countless families may be broken, and countless innocent young girls may be sold into a Brothel, their lives becoming completely dark and devoid of light from then on!"

"My Lord! This subordinate, this subordinate..."

"Enough, don't act like a woman. If you're wrong, admit it, and think about how to make amends!"

"My Lord, rest assured, when this subordinate came, I had already gathered men to surround the Xinghai Gang; their destruction will be today!"

"Boom!" Just as Liang Ruyue finished speaking, a violent roar suddenly came from afar. Even though they were far apart, they could clearly feel the intensity of the vibration.

"My Lord, that, that is the direction of the Xinghai Gang!"

"Is that so? It seems this Xinghai Gang is not as simple as I imagined!"