White-robed Minister

0016 [A Gathering of Power]

Since being conscripted, Xu Lai has rarely been able to get a good night's sleep.

But he slept for half the afternoon, chatted for a while at night and then fell asleep again. When he woke up in the middle of the night, he was wide awake.

I was woken up by snoring!

If only one person was snoring, Xu Lai could figure out a way to deal with it. But with so many people snoring in this large dormitory, he became the one who didn't fit in.

The sound of a door opening came from outside, followed by someone calling out, "Wake up. Shift change!"

After being urged several times, the archers lying on the large communal bed yawned and got up one after another, walking out as if sleepy and wandering around.

Xu Lai asked, "Do you take turns patrolling at night?"

"Hmm," one of the archers responded.

In large cities like Kaifeng, there were special military patrol posts, with officers leading soldiers on night patrols.

In small county towns like Qingyuan, night patrols relied entirely on archers and local residents—each neighborhood organized its people to take turns patrolling their assigned area. The archers on duty patrolled specific streets.

Besides theft prevention, their main job is to keep a close watch on fires and organize manpower to extinguish them immediately in case of a fire.

With a rustling sound, the archers had finished their shift change.

Once again, only the sound of snoring remained in the room.

Xu Lai began to think about how to get back to the village. The two civil officials suggested arranging for archers to escort them. However, if they were escorted by archers, they would be too conspicuous and would inevitably be stopped by the patrol soldiers.

For a major incident like the hijacking of a cargo ship, the patrol inspectorate has a twenty-day period to make amends.

If most of the treasures can be recovered and a sufficient number of salt bandits can be captured within twenty days, the inspectors will be exempt from punishment.

By sending the bandit corpses and treasures to the county government, Xu Lai and his group diminished the merit of the patrol inspectorate, making them a target for making an example of.

Although Magistrate Shen provided a document that could somewhat intimidate the patrolmen, what if those guys went crazy and completely disregarded the magistrate's authority?

It would be best to avoid conflict, of course; as long as we get through these twenty days, everything will be fine.

But how can they secretly return to the village without anyone noticing?

After much deliberation, Xu Lai decided that he should not let the archers escort him, but should instead secretly leave on a Tanka boat!

The Tanka people were very poor and hated the government soldiers. They were willing to help if given enough money.

……

When they woke up in the morning, everyone felt refreshed and energized.

Xu Lai shared his thoughts and ideas with everyone.

Uncle Zhang said, "That's a good idea. I'll go to the riverbank first to scout things out, and then come back to you once we've agreed on a price. We'll arrange to meet at a place in the suburbs to board the boat, which will take us down the Shixing River in a boat belonging to the Tanka people. We'll disembark not far past the Fenggu River. We absolutely mustn't go to Yinshabu; it's bound to be very lively there."

Xu Lai said, "Why not take the boats of the Tanka people during the day, and then secretly disembark at night, and sneak back to the village through the countryside in the dark?"

"That's a great idea!"

"Sanlang's consideration is very thorough."

"In the future, when we encounter important matters, we should let Sanlang make the decisions."

"..."

Once the plan was finalized, everyone immediately split up and took action.

Uncle Zhang left the city and headed east along the river, where he negotiated prices with the Tanka people in the suburbs.

Xu Lai then found Liu Yuan, the head of the archers, and asked to cancel today's escort arrangements and rest in the archers' quarters until the afternoon.

"It's no big deal, you can stay as long as you want. It'll infuriate those patrolmen!"

"Thank you for your help, Officer Liu."

"Don't say such things, we're all on the same side."

Why are they our own people?

Besides the fact that he would soon be working with Uncle Zhang, there were also personal grudges involved.

Yesterday, Liu Yuan, acting on the orders of Registrar Wang, led a team of county constables and archers to search for salt bandits and treasures east of the Fenggu River. They found a large bag of top-quality spices, which were intended as tribute to the emperor.

As long as Liu Yuan brings the spices back to the county commandant, he will be rewarded for his meritorious service.

When they returned, they were stopped at the bridge by the patrol soldiers. Not only were the spices stolen by the soldiers, but Liu Yuan was also beaten black and blue for trying to protect them.

Liu Yuan hated the patrol inspector to the core!

After chatting with Liu Yuan for a few minutes, Xu Lai left the shop and went out onto the street.

He took out more than ten coins to buy some snacks for his niece, Dou Niang. Thinking of the little girl's happy face, Xu Lai couldn't help but smile; since his transmigration, he was closest to his niece.

After buying snacks and strolling back, Xu Lai saw several people entering the county government office.

The leader had a long sword at his waist, a hard bow on his back, and two spears slanted across his body; his leather armor was a mismatched and incongruous outfit.

They were clearly not patrol officers or soldiers.

Out of curiosity, Xu Lai followed him inside from afar.

The county government office was divided into two areas: the inner office and the outer office. Ordinary people could go to the outer office to handle their affairs.

However, if one wanted to enter the inner yamen, one had to bribe the gatekeeper to request permission, and even then, entry was not guaranteed.

"Please announce my arrival," Yang Shu said, slapping on a string of copper coins. "I am Yang Shu, a scholar from Nanhai County, currently serving as a yamen runner escorting the convoy to Jiangxi. I have heard that a righteous citizen has returned lost treasures, and I have come to handle the handover with the magistrate of Qingyuan County. This matter should have been handled personally by the military officer escorting the convoy, Chen Xiuqi, but he was injured in a fight with salt bandits and is unable to leave while guarding the convoy ship. Therefore, he has entrusted me with the authority to come to the county yamen. This is the document of authorization!"

"Please wait a moment, Scholar Yang." The doorman dared not delay.

Xu Lai stood near the Sixth Office, pretending to chat with the county yamen servants, and heard Yang Shu's words clearly.

Before long, Yang Shu was invited inside by the officials, but his entourage was not allowed to enter.

The three halls of the county government.

Yang Shu bowed and said, "My name is Yang Shu, courtesy name Jiezhi, I pay my respects to your esteemed father!"

Shen Zhi was very enthusiastic because Yang Shu was a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations).

In the Northern Song Dynasty, those who passed the imperial examinations at the provincial level actually enjoyed many implicit preferential treatments. They were regarded as true scholars and could relatively easily obtain audiences with local officials. They were unlikely to be subjected to corvée labor or similar punishments; they simply couldn't avoid heavy corvée duties such as those performed in front of the yamen (government offices).

Many exorbitant taxes and levies imposed by local authorities were also reduced or exempted to some extent for those who passed the imperial examinations.

Shen Zhi chatted with Yang Shu about everyday things, and although his attitude was extremely enthusiastic, Yang Shu became increasingly irritated as he listened.

This corrupt official keeps going in circles!

After arguing for a long time, Yang Shu couldn't help but reiterate his purpose and took out a twenty-tael silver ingot.

Shen Zhi refused the bribe and looked troubled, saying, "This county has already sent a letter to the Maritime Trade Office, stating that the goods returned by the righteous people must be handed over by someone from the Maritime Trade Office. Alas, if you had come yesterday, there would have been no need for such trouble. We could have handed over the goods directly to you without disturbing the Maritime Trade Office."

Could it be that they didn't give enough money?

Yang Shu, suppressing his anger, said, "With the Maritime Trade Office coming and going, how can we possibly have enough time? There's a deadline for the shipment; it must be sent to Jiangxi for handover as soon as possible!"

Shen Zhi laughed and said, "I heard that many of the officials and civilians escorting the cargo on the two ships have died. How will you continue transporting it north? The banditry in Yingzhou and Shaozhou is even worse. Aren't you afraid of being robbed again? Once the Maritime Trade Office arrives and the handover is completed, this county will help with the transport."

Yang Shu hesitated, then bowed again and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Your Excellency."

The escort team ran into problems and needed the help of local officials to reorganize the manpower and resume the transport.

Yang Shu dared not offend this Magistrate Shen.

People have to bow their heads under the roof.

If Yang Shu offends Magistrate Shen, he doesn't even need to cause any trouble; simply delaying the process will be enough to bankrupt him.

The problem is that the patrol bureau is also putting pressure on them, wanting to cooperate with the escort team—the two sides would join forces to kill thieves and find treasure, and afterwards the patrol bureau would help organize manpower for transportation.

The patrol inspector even consulted with the military officer in charge of escorting the goods, Chen Xiuqi, and asked him to produce some of the treasures, claiming they had been stolen, so that the two sides could join forces to fight the thieves and finally retrieve them.

Chen Xiuqi was naturally unwilling.

The inspector then "requisitioned" nearby resources, preventing the fishing boats from buying clean water and food. If the situation continued to drag on, and the fishing boats ran out of food and water, they would probably be forced to cooperate with the inspectorate.

Yang Shu was disgusted to death!

Now they seem to be embroiled in a local power struggle between civilians and military officers. They must choose a side, but they cannot do so immediately, otherwise the other side will surely retaliate.

Fortunately, Magistrate Shen did not press him further, but simply asked Yang Shu to wait for the Maritime Trade Office to arrive.

After saying some more flattering words, Yang Shu took his leave, feeling very depressed.

He returned to the outer office and left with his entourage. He hadn't gone far from the county government gate when someone called out, "Brother Yang, please wait!"

Yang Shu turned around and saw a young man in plain clothes.

Xu Lai bowed and greeted Brother Yang: "Xu Lai from Qingyuan County greets you."

Yang Shu returned the greeting, saying, "Yang Shu from Nanhai County greets Brother Xu."

Xu Lai looked around and said in a low voice, "Could we speak in private for a moment?"

"Please lead the way, Brother Xu," Yang Shu said.

Xu Lai led him to a nearby archer's shop and, finding a secluded corner, said, "The bandit corpse and the silver taels are what I offered to the magistrate."

Yang Shu quickly clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I see. Thank you for your help in killing the thief and seizing the treasure, my brother."

The Yang family was only responsible for one of the convoy ships. Although their ship wasn't robbed, the other convoy ship caused a huge disturbance. If the matter wasn't handled properly, neither ship could set sail, and the Yang family would still be punished if the deadline passed.

"Is the magistrate unwilling to hand over the silver?" Xu Lai asked.

Yang Shu blatantly lied: "Brother Xu is joking. I have already arranged a time with Magistrate Shen."

Xu Lai cupped his hands and said, "In that case, congratulations, Brother Yang. We'll meet again in the imperial examinations."

Are we done talking?

Yang Shu was immediately cornered there. Desperate for more information, he had no choice but to risk revealing the truth: "Magistrate Shen has sent a letter to the Maritime Trade Office, requesting that they send someone to take over."

Xu Lai asked, "Who is the head of the Maritime Trade Office?"

Yang Shu explained in detail: "The Guangzhou Maritime Trade Commissioner is customarily held concurrently by the Prefect. The Prefect of Guangzhou is customarily held concurrently by the Guangdong Military Commissioner. The Guangdong Military Commissioner also customarily serves as the Military Commander of Guangdong."

In other words, whether it was the robbery of the maritime trade vessels, or the corruption and embezzlement of military officers, or their collusion with salt bandits, it was all under the jurisdiction of one person.

That's Yu Jing!

After hearing Yang Shu's words, Xu Lai immediately understood what Magistrate Shen was up to.

So Xu Lai provided the other party with information: "Commander-in-Chief Yu once sent the Guangdong Military Supervisor to personally inspect the camps. At one inspection camp in Qingyuan County, there was only one clerk present, who was caught red-handed by Supervisor Ma."

"Is that so?" Yang Shu asked in surprise.

Xu Lai added, "The patrol inspectors of Qingyuan County are very likely colluding with the salt bandits. Moreover, the money, food and supplies for this training of local soldiers were provided by Guangzhou. Neither Magistrate Shen nor Registrar Wang touched them; all of those things were embezzled by the patrol inspectors."

Yang Shu became increasingly alarmed and began to consider how to choose sides.

Xu Lai continued, "By the way, the Minister Cai of Jiangxi, who is in charge of suppressing bandits, is the brother of Minister Cai, the Transport Commissioner of Guangdong. Did you know that, Brother Yang?"

Yang Shu nodded: "I've heard about it."

Xu Lai then said, "Master Yu's hometown was robbed by salt bandits last year. The robbed village was only about ten miles away from Master Yu's home."

"I understand, thank you for reminding me, brother!" Yang Shu already knew which side to choose.

Xu Lai bypassed the patrol office to report his achievements to the county government, which had already offended the local military officer to no end.

Since that's the case, then we should go all out and destroy them!

Xu Lai said, "Brother Yang, you can go and visit Magistrate Shen again and tell him about the various misdeeds of the patrol soldiers. For example, a certain military officer found a treasure but dared to keep it for himself. The sooner we get things settled, the sooner the cargo ship can set sail."

Yang Shu cupped his hands and said, "My dear brother, my home is in Di'nan Village, Jihua Township, Nanhai County. My family calls me Thirteen. If you ever go to Guangzhou, you are always welcome to visit my home. Farewell!"

"I'll go to the county government office with Brother Yang," Xu Lai said with a smile.

Hehe, I've made another acquaintance with a scholar.

In the future, if you want to participate in the state examination, you will need five people to act as guarantors. Doesn't this solve one problem?

The two left the archer's shop and headed to the county government office together.

At the entrance of the county government office, Xu Lai unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance.

"Yu Tiesi, what brings you here?" Xu Lai asked in surprise.

Yu Shanyuan also looked surprised: "What are you doing in the city?"

"I have come to pay my respects to the county magistrate."

"Me too, coincidentally."

"This is Yang Shu, the yamen runner. Brother Yang, this is Brother Yu Shanyuan, he is a relative of Master Yu."

"Brother Yang, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Brother Yu."

As the saying goes: "The winds of change are gathering today, and from now on, I will not walk alone in the world."