Chapter 1007

The officials of Guangzhou Prefecture held their breath, waiting for Xue Shao's bomb to explode, unsure where or on whom it would detonate.

All morning, the Bureau of Revenue, the Prefect's Office, and the County Hall remained eerily silent; officials moved in and out, instinctively lightening their steps, afraid that even a loud footstep might invite lawbreaking and draw Xue Shao's attention.

The military officers of the Command and the Garrison Offices crossed their arms and watched the spectacle, even going to Cao Rong to stir him up: "My lord, why not go to the Bureau of Revenue and watch the show?"

Cao Rong chuckled, then said: "Go if you want, but don't overdo it—anger those civil officials, and they'll make trouble for us later."

The military officers eagerly agreed, mounted their horses, and rode off to the Bureau of Revenue: "It's lunchtime right now—let's invite them to eat."

But as they reached the street leading to the Bureau of Revenue, before even dismounting, they saw a tall, pine-like young man walking out of the Bureau, accompanied by Guangzhou Prefect Song Hao, followed by a string of civil officials.

The military officers exchanged glances: Had this been arranged?

Wasn't Xue Shao supposed to be upright and incorruptible, an unyielding hardliner?

The thought had barely flashed when several men in short shirts and loose trousers, ragged and barefoot, pushed past them and knelt before the Bureau's gates, holding up a petition and shouting loudly: "Heavenly Judge, we have grievances—please, Imperial Censor, be our righteous judge!"

The military officers' eyes lit up; they all surged with excitement, dismounted swiftly, and gripped their whips, staring intently.

Xue Shao stood on the steps, looking down, and turned to Xi Jin: "Bring me the petition."

Xi Jin responded and stepped forward to take the petition.

Xue Shao skimmed it at a glance; the kneeling man was as thin as a bamboo pole, his back bent, and as Xue Shao read, he continued pleading: "I, Qian Hui, am a military household. My ancestors, in the thirteenth year of Hongwu, were ordered to follow the army and relocate to Guangdong for garrison duty. In the first year of Xuande, I joined the campaign against the Annam rebellion, and remained until the third year of Xuande, when the court abandoned Annam and I returned to Guangdong with the troops. In the fourth and fifth years of Xuande, Japanese pirates raided; I fought alongside the army until September of the fifth year of Xuande, when I was wounded in the thigh during an anti-pirate campaign and could no longer take the field. The Garrison Office then assigned me farmland as a garrison soldier. But the fifty mu of land meant for me was reduced to five mu—fine, I'll accept that. Yet my family must now farm sixty mu of land each year for two Garrison Commanders and one Regional Commander; if we fail, we can't even farm our own five mu. And every year, the Garrison Office assigns us grain quotas—this is nothing like the original military colony system. The founding Emperor didn't decree this!"

Qian Hui shouted: "The founding Emperor told our ancestors that serving as a soldier was honorable—it protected the nation and safeguarded the family!"

"The court gave military households land, seed grain, farming tools—even oxen were allocated to us before civilians. We are Great Ming's soldiers, and we are also the Zhu family's soldiers!" Qian Hui said. "If we die on the battlefield, the court and army support our wives, children, and elders. One military household means the whole family is military household; every household is brother and sister, helping each other. If we are crippled or disabled, the court still feeds us. As long as the court exists, military households will never go hungry!"

"That's why my ancestors followed the founding Emperor to conquer the realm—he gave one order, and my ancestor never hesitated, immediately enrolling as a military household, leaving his homeland, traveling thousands of miles to this damp, malarial land. But where is our land? Where is our livelihood?" Qian Hui extended his cracked hands to Xue Shao and demanded: "Imperial Censor, did the Emperor break his promise and betray us military households—or did someone in between deceive both the Emperor and us?"

"Please, Imperial Censor, give us the truth! Give us justice!" Qian Hui slammed his forehead hard onto the flagstones with a dull thump.

That sound struck Xue Shao like a blow to the heart. He gently closed the petition and said solemnly: "I accept your petition. Someone, take them to the government office—I will question them in detail!"

Song Hao broke into cold sweat but had no choice but to bow and respond. He skipped lunch and ordered the men taken to the Prefect's Office.

The military officers gaped, then realized: "This is aimed at us?"

"Military households?" A Regional Commander's face turned icy. "Which Garrison Office do they belong to?"

All turned to stare at the five ragged garrison soldiers being led away, their whips creaking with rage.

They must have dressed like this on purpose!

They couldn't believe any military household lived this poorly!

"It's the civil officials—they're setting us up!"

"Exactly! Xue's a civil official; they're uniting to crush us! Let's go find the Commandant!"

"Let's go!"

The military officers glared fiercely at the Bureau of Revenue's gates, mounted their horses, and rode off.

The civil officials from the Bureau and the Prefecture hurried after Song Hao and whispered: "Prefect, several military officers were right there at the gate—they saw everything."

Song Hao glanced at Xue Shao's retreating back and murmured: "I'm not blind. They came to watch us, but ended up watching their own downfall."

"They'll report back—this…"

"Don't worry," Song Hao said, watching Xue Shao enter the Prefect's Office. "Let them be the ones cut down, rather than us. Or do you want to lie on the chopping block in their place?"

They quickly shook their heads.

Song Hao said: "Good. One man's energy is limited. If Xue Shao targets those military officers, it's better than him turning his gaze on us. Whatever he does, just cooperate."

"Prefect, are you saying these men were summoned by Xue Shao?"

"Otherwise, how could it be so coincidental? He appears at the Bureau, and immediately someone comes to file a petition?" Song Hao said meaningfully. "This Imperial Censor doesn't follow the usual path—he loves undercover inspections. He only showed up today, but who knows how long he's been lurking in Guangzhou Prefecture?"

"He may have already mapped out Guangzhou entirely. He's targeting military households—clearly, the Guangdong Command has truly angered him. From what I know, since beginning his inspection of Jiangnan, he's only ever targeted local civil officials, never meddled in military affairs."

"He shouldn't interfere, though—that's the Five Military Directorates' domain…"

Song Hao glanced at him. "But he was specially commissioned to inspect—including military affairs."

Song Hao saw Xue Shao enter the Prefect's Office hall and quickened his pace to follow, smiling: "My lord, I've ordered lunch prepared. Shall we eat first, or…"

"Bring them along—have lunch together," Xue Shao said, glancing at the five men standing nearby. Though ragged, thin, and hunched, they still carried the bearing of soldiers—there was an extra measure of composure in them.

An Chen had chosen well. Though suffering, they still had courage—and it was precisely that courage that brought them to his door.

At this moment, Pan Yun and An Chen stood in a second-floor private room of the tavern directly across from the Prefect's Office.

All Guangzhou's government offices were clustered together; only the Command was on the next street, while the County Halls, Prefect's Office, and Bureau of Revenue all lined this one street.

So they had watched everything from the tavern's second-floor room.

Pan Yun bit into a grape, puckered at the sourness, then casually shoved the last one into Pan Xiaohei's mouth and asked An Chen: "Are these people you found reliable, in such a short time?"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard's work, Your Majesty can rest assured," An Chen said. "Time was short, but efficiency was not compromised."

He added: "Cao Rong and his men were complacent—the rank-and-file soldiers and garrison troops live in misery. Last night, we dug through the ledgers, identified the military colonies with the highest grain and tax collections, cross-referenced them with the letters, and found several military households secretly contacting Garrison soldiers, plotting rebellion. We followed that trail—and found them instantly."

Since they were already plotting rebellion, when the Embroidered Uniform Guard showed up and offered them a way out, they'd grasp it desperately.

You could say they wanted to destroy Cao Rong and his men even more than the Embroidered Uniform Guard did.

Pan Yun nodded in satisfaction. Her peripheral vision caught someone emerging from the County Hall nearby. She immediately turned: "I'm not eating. See you later."

Saying this, she grabbed Pan Xiaohei and walked off.

An Chen took two steps after her: "Your Majesty, where are you going?"