Chapter 569: The Shanyang County Yamen

The moment Lian Ping'an saw the pile of things heaped in the corner, he understood why. He couldn't control himself and let out a high-pitched shriek right there. No one would have imagined a fat man like Lian Ping'an could produce such a piercing scream. The dogs in the neighboring houses were all startled and started barking wildly in response.

In the corner lay a pile of human heads. He even recognized a few of the faces—he had seen them just yesterday and the day before, men like Zhang Yunxian and Gao Mabian.

Scattered in terror, Lian Ping'an did not sleep a wink that night. He sat in the main hall, trembling nonstop. Every able-bodied male in his household was mustered to stand guard around the hall. At the slightest rustle of wind or stir of grass outside, he would leap up with a startled cry.

Lian Ping'an's frenzied state did not ease until daybreak. After a brief moment of calm, he erupted into furious curses in the main hall, smashing several porcelain cups and plates in succession.

"Take out a thousand taels—no, three thousand—no, take out five thousand taels! Deliver it to the Prefect, the Magistrate, and the Shanyang Garrison Commander! Such a colossal outrage has occurred in Qingjiangpu—is this not outright rebellion and sedition? Why haven't the government troops been dispatched to suppress it? Make them request the army to mobilize and exterminate this mob of rioters, exterminate this gang of rebel bandits!"

Lian Ping'an shouted himself hoarse, his mind somewhat unhinged. His household was thrown into utter chaos. The situation was much the same in the jianghu circles of Qingjiangpu—everyone was trembling with fear. Yet the public face of Qingjiangpu remained perfectly normal and quiet. Everyone bustled about their business, and nothing seemed amiss.

The men who had gone yesterday were all blade-wielding, staff-swinging stout fellows, usually serving as guards and enforcers. But without them, it wasn't as if business ground to a halt. Everything carried on as usual. Even at the Grand Cart Gang, the brokers simply went directly to the carters to hire them for hauling goods. Without the Grand Cart Gang's middleman extortion, everyone found it quite convenient.

Even yesterday's vicious battle, which had left the jianghu heroes terrified, was for most people nothing more than grist for after-dinner gossip.

On the surface, all was peaceful under heaven, but beneath it, hidden currents surged. The jianghu and marketplace of Qingjiangpu did not exist in isolation; it was attached to the various power factions of Qingjiangpu. Zhao Jin of Xuzhou had intervened directly and decisively, sweeping away the core, then reshuffling and rebuilding, intent on controlling everything. This was bound to bring him into conflict with the other power factions.

Commissioner Lian, being of low rank and closely tied to the jianghu and marketplace, was the first to leap out. The others were all separated by several layers and naturally would not be so direct, but neither would they allow an outsider to meddle like this. This had thrown the entire long-established system of dividing spoils and sharing illicit profits in Qingjiangpu into chaos. How could they tolerate him?

Yet the ferocity and ruthlessness of Zhao Jin of Xuzhou had also been made abundantly clear. Such a massive force had been thrown into Qingjiangpu at once—all those jianghu heroes and desperate, murderous thugs—and they had been crushed in an instant. Even when the official constables went, no one paid them any heed. When all was said and done, the only force left to mobilize was the regular army...

"Your Honor, that Zhao Jin holds the law in contempt! He has killed and wounded over a hundred lives—we cannot let this pass!" In the rear hall of the Shanyang County Yamen, Head Constable Liu knelt on the ground, recounting the events with tears and fury.

In contrast to Head Constable Liu's agitation and righteous indignation, the Shanyang Magistrate wore an expression of utter helplessness. The private secretary standing behind the Magistrate had a look of disgust on his face. Once Head Constable Liu had finished, the Magistrate frowned and said, "Liu Quan, you know as well as I do that this Zhao Jin has official backing. I've heard he even holds a hereditary military rank himself. Against a man like that, both witness testimony and material evidence must be complete and flawless in every respect. Not a single detail can be lacking. So what do you have in hand?"

"Your Honor, those are over a hundred human lives! Last night, someone tossed over thirty heads into the Lian household—are those not material evidence? And the thousand or so men who returned that day all witnessed that Xuzhou Zhao Jin's atrocities with their own eyes—are those not witnesses..."

Before he could finish, the private secretary behind the Magistrate cut him off without ceremony. The secretary frowned and questioned, "Liu Quan, you are a veteran of the yamen yourself. Let me ask you: can you still find any corpses at that Cloud Mountain Cart Shop right now?"

Liu Quan gave a dry cough and shook his head. The secretary pressed on, "Those thirty-odd heads at the Lian household—who can prove they are connected to the Cloud Mountain Cart Shop? If this were an ordinary case, you might frame and implicate someone, but against a jianghu magnate with official backing like this, do you dare?"

The secretary was well-versed in the ways of the yamen. Liu Quan's tears dried up, replaced by a look of embarrassment. Just as he was about to defend himself, the secretary questioned him again: "Those several thousand people saw it. Given the current situation, who among those several thousand would dare come forward to testify?"

After asking this, the secretary turned to the Magistrate and said earnestly, "My patron, this Zhao Jin must not be touched under any circumstances. Such a ferocious villain and great bandit has not been seen in a hundred years. His presence in Qingjiangpu is like a tiger crouching at our side. The slightest misstep could startle this vicious tiger, and then you, my patron... No, allow this student to speak boldly: given Zhao Jin's methods, I fear your entire family would... Liu Quan, do you think you could remain unscathed then?"

Halfway through, the secretary turned back to Liu Quan. At this question, both the Magistrate and Liu Quan shuddered violently. Though Qingjiangpu was large, news traveled fast. The descriptions of that great battle had already been spread with vivid embellishment—tales of bamboo poles piercing men through, of great staves beating men to death, of cavalry squads and archers. The stories had been exaggerated and sensationalized beyond measure, but at this moment, they only added to the terror.

After being lectured by the secretary, the Magistrate's gaze toward Liu Quan also changed. Liu Quan's expression flickered briefly, then he knocked his head heavily on the ground. When he spoke again, his tone was far more earnest: "Your Honor, Mister Deng, all the benefits for our Shanyang County lie in Qingjiangpu. They had to show us some consideration, and that's what provided for our yamen's expenses. But now that these Xuzhou brutes have come—they've been poor so long they're terrified of poverty—they're bound to grab hold of everything. When that happens, what will we live on? It's one thing for a lowly man like me to suffer, but Your Honor..."

At this, he kowtowed again. When he raised his head, tear tracks marked his face, and he continued in a sobbing tone: "Your Honor, our county yamen shares the same city as the prefectural yamen—our days are hard enough as it is. If we lose this subsidy from Qingjiangpu on top of that, how are we supposed to get by?"

There is a saying: "Sins in a past life land you attached to a prefectural seat." It refers to the plight of a county magistrate whose yamen is located in the same city as the prefectural yamen. With the prefectural and county yamens in one city, the magistrate lives in the same place as his superior. Naturally, nothing ever goes as he wishes, and the perks of office are far fewer than elsewhere.

Fortunately, Qingjiangpu saw a constant flow of gold and silver like mountains and rivers, and those connected to the local area had to pay their respects. In this way, both the prefectural and county yamens could get their share of the benefits.

To elaborate, the legitimate businesses in Qingjiangpu all clustered around the Ministry of Revenue branch office, currying favor. Next in line was the Canal Transport Administration, which could not be offended. The local civil authorities—namely the Huai'an Prefectural Yamen and the Shanyang County Yamen—actually had little jurisdiction. As for the perks related to tribute grain and canal transport, the Huai'an Prefectural Yamen had never been able to get a piece and dared not even try. It was instead the jianghu and marketplace, the businesses of the nine schools and three trades, the shady dealings and criminal enterprises, that fell outside the Revenue branch office and the Canal Transport granaries' authority to investigate, but were within the local yamen's power to raid and prosecute. Because of this relationship, the jianghu and marketplace of Qingjiangpu still maintained a measure of respect for the local authorities, and benefits were duly delivered.

They dared not touch private salt—one fit of anger from the Yangzhou bosses, and the officials in Huai'an would lose their posts. The thread of tribute grain could also be pulled all the way to the Ministry of Revenue in both capitals, so they had to keep their hands off. The local commoners mostly made their living in Qingjiangpu, making them difficult to govern. The skimming and wastage from taxes and imperial grain barely sufficed to maintain appearances. To live a little better, the customary payments from the jianghu became the main source of income.

Money was their very lifeblood. When the discussion had been about the king's law, the Magistrate and his secretary could still analyze and debate. The moment silver and benefits were mentioned, everything changed.

The secretary furrowed his brow in thought, but in the end, only a bitter smile appeared on his face. Helplessly, he said, "The county yamen can muster just over one hundred and twenty men. The county militia can raise three hundred. With only these men, how can we oppose those Xuzhou fiends? The prefectural yamen has only a few dozen usable men at best."

The Magistrate nodded slowly. Liu Quan, still kneeling on the ground, suddenly spoke up: "Your Honor, Mister Deng, the men in our yamen and those militiamen are utterly incapable of fighting. I fear that the moment they hear we're going to war with those brutes, they'll scatter like birds and beasts. We'd be lucky to have ten men left."

The secretary gave a bitter laugh. The Magistrate, however, was growing angry. He slammed his hand heavily on the table beside him and roared, "First you say we can't let this pass, then when I say fight, you say we have no men. What exactly do you want?"

"Your Honor, aren't the troops under Commander Qin the largest and strongest force in our Shanyang County?" Head Constable Liu said cautiously.

The Magistrate was taken aback, then shook his head. "How could this county magistrate possibly persuade Commander Qin to act?"

"Your Honor, you could have His Excellency the Prefect step forward. This time, those Xuzhou brutes have cleaned out Qingjiangpu—the Prefect's side has also suffered considerable losses!" Head Constable Liu had clearly thought this through beforehand.

At this point, the Magistrate and the secretary exchanged a glance. The secretary pondered for another moment before saying slowly, "It's not impossible. It's just that this Zhao Jin of Xuzhou has done everything flawlessly. I fear that by now, all the corpses and material evidence have vanished without a trace. Witness testimony is of little use. Without a pretext of a major crime or rebellion, Commander Qin may not be willing to move."

"Once we've defeated Zhao Jin, what's there to fear about finding material evidence..."

"Go and make that argument to Commander Qin yourself. Who can be persuaded by such wishful thinking?" the Magistrate said irritably.

Head Constable Liu, still kneeling on the floor, rolled his eyes frantically, at a loss for the moment. In the silence, a runner came in from outside to announce that the steward of Granary Commissioner Lian Ping'an had arrived.

Although he was a fellow official, Lian Ping'an rarely showed his face at either the Huai'an Prefectural Yamen or the Shanyang County Yamen. This was because he wielded immense real power and enjoyed enormous benefits, yet his official rank was exceedingly low. As a mere ninth-rank official, meeting the various functionaries and officers of the yamen would mean having to pay respects and offer salutations to who knew how many people—something he found unbearably tedious. He always sent his subordinates to handle such matters, sparing both sides the awkwardness.

But in officialdom, the rule was that the accomplished took precedence. Though Lian Ping'an's rank was low, his real power was great, his silver even more so, and his backing deep. The Huai'an official circles were always exceedingly courteous to him. Even when he merely sent a subordinate over, no one took offense.

With such a guest arriving, Head Constable Liu was naturally ignored. The secretary went out to receive the visitor. Head Constable Liu could hardly remain kneeling there, so he awkwardly rose to his feet. The Magistrate shot him an exasperated glance and picked up his teacup to take a few sips.

Less than forty-eight hours remain until the end of the month, dear friends. Your monthly tickets will go to waste if you don't cast them—give them to The Martial Warrior of the Great Ming!