Chapter 319: Show of Force

Now that the case had been solved, the remaining matters were well within the Embroidered Uniform Guard's expertise—confiscating what needed confiscating, and not letting anyone who deserved to be implicated escape. None of this concerned the Censorate any longer.

Just as Li Banghua was finishing his midday meal and preparing to leave Jining to continue his undercover inspections elsewhere, an imperial edict arrived from the capital. Its contents naturally appointed him as an imperial commissioner to proceed to Jiangnan to handle the case of the suspended markets.

After reading the confidential memorial from the Embroidered Uniform Guard that accompanied the imperial edict, Li Banghua felt both shocked and furious. Although he knew that officials in the prosperous Jiangnan region formed their own system, with the various offices in Nanjing considering themselves a small court that resisted orders from the capital and the Emperor's decrees, he had never imagined that these people would, for their own selfish interests, openly collude to suspend the markets and attempt to incite civil unrest to pressure the court. Such behavior, disregarding the interests of the state, was tantamount to treason.

Li Banghua immediately set out together with Chen Jinmin, the Censor of the Henan Circuit of the Censorate who happened to be on inspection there, leading a retinue of attendants out of the city and boarding an official vessel from the capital at the dock, heading straight for Nanjing. The eunuch who had delivered the edict got nothing for his trouble and returned to the capital cursing all the way.

To lend Li Banghua's journey to Nanjing an imposing presence, Zhu Youjian specially dispatched two hundred cavalry from the Capital Camps, led by a Battalion Commander, to serve as his escort, while the full imperial commissioner's ceremonial guard was handled by the giant guardsmen of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Feng Yucheng also traveled with Li Banghua. True to his promise, he had retrieved Zhao Laosan and Xu Liuzi from the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, bought them brand-new robes at a clothing shop in the city, and brought them directly aboard Li Banghua's official vessel to return to Huai'an Prefecture.

Upon reaching Huai'an Prefecture, Feng Yucheng would write home and have his family send people to fetch Xu Liuzi's family and take them back to their hometown in Xiangyang.

When Zhao Laosan and Xu Liuzi had been bound and taken to prison by the Embroidered Uniform Guard the previous night, their hearts had been filled with despair, anger, and regret. Both had believed they had been deceived by that handsome official—that he had used them as bait, waiting for the big fish to swallow the hook before reeling it in.

Thinking that this time he might well lose his life, and further thinking of how his wife, children, and elderly parents would survive without him as their pillar of support, Xu Liuzi did not cry aloud, but tears poured down his face like floodwaters bursting through a sluice gate.

After his initial anger passed, Zhao Laosan quickly accepted this reality. It was just a worthless life—if the official wanted it, he could take it. But he shouldn't have let the honest Liuzi lose his life along with him. The two were locked in the same cell, and after thinking it over, Zhao Laosan lowered his voice and said he was sorry to Xu Liuzi. Xu Liuzi shook his head and, sobbing, replied, "Third Brother, this is just our fate!"

The two never expected that early the next morning, after the Embroidered Uniform Guard had called through each cell, they would be released—and waiting outside the prison gate was Feng Yucheng, standing with his hands clasped behind his back and smiling.

The two, who had been unable to sleep from regret the night before, suddenly understood: this Master Feng had not deceived them. After kneeling and knocking their heads heavily against the ground, their loyalty to their master soared to its peak.

Li Banghua's vessel arrived at Huai'an three days later for a brief stop. Feng Yucheng earnestly requested that he come ashore to rest, but Li Banghua firmly refused. Helpless, Feng Yucheng took his leave of his superior and disembarked with his two newly acquired servants, returning to the River Patrol Censor's office.

After replenishing supplies, the vessel continued southward and reached the Yangzhou dock two days later.

Upon arriving at Yangzhou, Li Banghua did not go ashore. Instead, after a brief exchange with Li Ruolian, who had come upon hearing the news, the vessel departed the Grand Canal, turned eastward, and followed the Hangou Canal into the vast Yangtze River. After sailing for two days, it finally arrived at Nanjing around the hour of wei.

After sending someone ahead to announce their arrival in Nanjing, Li Banghua leisurely savored a pot of fresh tea aboard the vessel, then took a short nap in the cabin for about half an hour. Upon waking, he closed his eyes and rested a while longer. Only when Zhang Yun came in to report that the Nanjing officials sent to welcome him had arrived at the dock did Li Banghua order word sent for the Capital Camps cavalry to disembark first. Only then did he rise, wash up, and change into a brand-new official robe, gauze hat, jade belt, and official boots. After ordering the full imperial commissioner's ceremonial display to be arranged, the old man finally strolled out of the cabin at his leisure.

Li Banghua, who had always disliked extravagance and advocated simplicity and naturalness, suddenly changed his style entirely—all to show these Nanjing people the majesty and bearing of the court, and to let these officials who had lost themselves in the dreamlike prosperity of the misty south truly feel the awe of severity and harshness. With Zhu Youjian's authorization, Li Banghua had sent word of this show of force to the Battalion Commander leading the escort, Li Li.

Li Li, the Battalion Commander of the Capital Camps in full black lamellar armor, descended the wide gangplank to the dock. Taking the reins handed to him by his personal guard, he vaulted onto his warhorse in a single bound. The black-maned, white-hoofed steed gave a neigh and lunged forward, but Li Li pulled back on the reins, and the horse reared up, its two thick forelegs striking the ground with a crisp clatter. It shook its head and swished its tail, snorting continuously—clearly displeased at being prevented from charging.

Li Li turned his head and signaled. His personal guard raised a red flag and waved it twice. Two squadrons of thirty black-armored riders each, already mounted after disembarking, spurred their horses and charged toward the crowd waiting to receive them on the dock, over a hundred paces away.

The throng of high officials, who had already grown somewhat impatient from waiting, had been pointing and discussing among themselves as they watched the cavalry disembark in sequence, comparing this mounted force to the guard station troops of Jiangnan they had seen before. Suddenly they noticed the cavalry charging straight at them. Though it was only a small squadron of riders, the oppressive aura that crushed the spirit was unlike anything these officials had ever witnessed.

The previously noisy scene suddenly fell deathly silent, with only the rain-like thunder of hooves echoing across the entire dock as the warhorses prepared to accelerate. Just as the officials in the front row stood dumbstruck with pale faces, and the servants and family members behind them turned to flee, the cavalry veered to both sides several dozen paces before reaching the crowd. The riders controlled their horses' speed and raised their whips, lashing at the chaotic masses on either side—these were the servants of the welcoming officials and the yamen runners from the city.

Amidst a cacophony of wailing and screaming, the crowd clustered around the officials was scattered in an instant. The surrounding area was completely cleared, leaving only a small cluster of high officials standing in place. The riders reined in their horses and formed ranks on both sides, their mounts' heads pointed directly at the Nanjing crowd. Each rider held the reins in one hand and rested the other on the long saber at his waist, staring expressionlessly at the assembled men as if contemplating where to strike.

After all two hundred cavalry had disembarked, under the direction of the Platoon Officers they linked up with the leading squadron and formed two neat ranks.

Next, a company of tall, imposing giant guardsmen in white armor and golden helmets, bearing sixteen-colored banners, disembarked and lined up on both sides. Then eight warriors in golden armor and white helmets came down the gangplank, each holding a saber in one hand with the blade resting upward on his shoulder, chins raised high. Finally, two burly men in the same armor descended with vigorous strides, carrying wooden placards—one reading "Imperial Commissioner Overseeing Southern Zhili Affairs," the other "Censor-in-Chief Li."

From the cavalry's dispersal of the crowd to the imperial commissioner's ceremonial guard coming ashore, the time was not long, but throughout the entire process, neither the cavalry nor the ceremonial ranks uttered a single shout. Every soldier silently carried out his superior's orders, and that cold-blooded bearing chilled one to the bone.

Once the full ceremonial display was arranged, Li Banghua, wearing a bright red robe with a crane rank badge, appeared on the deck. He swept his gaze over the crowd below, then, holding his jade belt with both hands, walked down the wide gangplank at a measured pace. Two guards bearing the imperial mandate plaques followed close behind, while Chen Jinmin waited until Li Banghua had walked some distance before disembarking and following after him.