Chapter 271: Rules Are Necessary for Order

The flower hall was located to the north of the back courtyard of the government office, consisting of three spacious and bright rooms. On the front wall hung a large red plaque adorned with gold characters reading “Pure Heart, Few Desires.” Below the plaque was a large table, flanked by two nanmu wood chairs with footrests, both currently empty, with two young servants standing at attention nearby.

On the walls on either side hung four scrolls of paintings and calligraphy, all created by local masters—landscape paintings with ink wash techniques depicting breezy scenes and white cranes on one side, and paintings of the “Three Friends of Winter” and peonies on the other. Eight chairs were arranged on each side, most of which were occupied. These gentry members were regular visitors to each other, with many even having distant familial ties, so they sat neatly in order. The Fang family naturally took the leading position, with the rest arranged in a line, waiting while drinking tea, speaking in hushed tones.

Shandong was a vast region with a sparse population, and these gentry were all large landowners possessing vast tracts of farmland. However, relying solely on agriculture was no longer a viable way to make money, so they had diversified into various profitable businesses. The Fang family was involved in the salt trade, selling fruits to Beijing, and operating silk businesses in Luzhou, Shanxi. The Wu family owned several restaurants locally and managed several famous brothels in various prefectures, along with some shady businesses in secret. In short, only a few families remained content as ordinary landowners and wealthy households, yet even they were grateful for the decisive actions taken by the local authorities.

If those peasants from the White Lotus Sect really started causing trouble, wouldn’t their businesses suffer greatly?

The head of the Wu family was a fat man resembling Maitreya Buddha. Being the third son, he was called Wu Sanrong. His elder brothers had died young, leaving him as the sole heir to the vast family estate. As a heavyset man who already disliked heat, he couldn’t fan himself loudly here, nor did he have servants to do it for him. Soon, his pine-colored sweat towel was almost soaked through.

Helpless, he whispered to Fang Qing sitting ahead, “Younger brother Fang, have we been too rash in coming here? After all, this is the government office. The imperial envoys are staying at the Qingzhou post house. Won’t they think we’re disrespectful and insincere? Also, I’ve never dealt with eunuchs in the palace before. I don’t know what to say or avoid saying…”

Wu Sanrong was around thirty-five or thirty-six years old. Though he could read, he knew nothing about classics or history. He had met many officials in his life, but his reputation was only known within Shandong—how could he possibly have dealt with people from the palace?

Fang Qing, however, got along well with this seemingly vulgar fat man. He immediately said with a smile, “Don’t worry. If it were impossible to meet him, we would have heard news by now. They wouldn’t have made us all sit here waiting. Lord Zhang isn’t the kind to put on an act. Although we don’t know what this imperial envoy is here for, it’s probably either about killing or pacifying people. We can’t help with killing, but when it comes to pacifying, I’m not boasting—our officials can speak a few words, and people will listen. No matter what Lord Zhang says today, let’s agree to it first. As for that eunuch in the palace, just choose the nicer words to say.”

“Brother Fang is right!” Wu Sanrong nodded eagerly, finally feeling relieved. He picked up his teacup and took a sip; it seemed less hot on him. Just as he decided to wait patiently, a messenger under the eaves outside suddenly shouted loudly, “The imperial envoy has arrived!”

At that cry, everyone in the room hurriedly put down their unfinished conversations and half-drunk tea, stood up, and rushed out in a hurry. After all, they had come to seek an audience—how could they just sit around arrogantly in the hall?

When they went outside, they saw Zhang Yue dressed in a light blue robe with small floral patterns. However, compared to the young eunuch in the bright red brocade robe ahead, Zhang Yue’s attire appeared rather shabby. Without time to consider hierarchy, all the officials knelt down in submission. Since there were few imperial envoys in Shandong, their voices were uneven, but their bows grew deeper and their expressions more respectful one after another.

Lu Feng was in high spirits. Earlier, he had taken away many officials’ black gauze hats in Jinan Prefecture. Although he had been scolded in the process, overall it had been done neatly and efficiently, so his pride was beyond description. In Qingzhou Prefecture, it was clearly Zhang Yue who was in charge, with him merely playing a supporting role. Yet Zhang Yue never left him behind, even letting him take the lead in meeting the officials—his satisfaction was immeasurable. Though proud, he still remembered his place. He stopped, glanced at Zhang Yue with a smile, and stepped aside gracefully.

At that moment, Zhang Yue, who had been smiling warmly, said, “Please stand up, everyone.”

Sitting in the main seat of the banquet hall, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but take another look at these people. Recognizing that many of them were those who had come to offer gifts during the New Year, he began to calculate his moves. Although this year’s summer grain harvest was barely satisfactory, there had been no rain since the start of summer. Coupled with the chaos caused by the White Lotus Sect earlier, it wasn’t impossible for civil unrest to arise if nothing was done. Seeing the group of local elites all spouting flattering words of praise, he suddenly raised his hand to silence them.

“Eunuch Lu and I have come here by imperial order. We were originally scheduled to leave after completing our duties in three days, but Qingzhou Prefecture has seen very little rain. It seems another severe drought is inevitable after summer begins, which is truly worrying. Although we have captured hundreds of cultists this time, eliminating those who incite the people, if they resurface after the drought and cause further chaos, Qingzhou will once again be in turmoil. As members of the local elite families, you should understand the importance of public sentiment and should step in now.”

The local elites were already accustomed to various demands from the government. Moreover, since they had come all together, they had already planned what to say and do. Although Zhang Yue’s words were somewhat unexpected, none of them wanted to offend these imperial envoys tasked with killing people, so they all claimed to be willing to help.

At first, Lu Feng was pleased that Zhang Yue had mentioned his name first and didn’t see anything wrong with it, so he simply agreed with whatever Zhang Yue said. It wasn’t until several elites agreed to repair dikes and canals during the lull after the summer harvests and to work under government supervision to stabilize grain prices that he frowned, thinking to himself that he had come here solely to kill people—why should he worry about water management or grain prices?

Muttering to himself, he waited until evening when he returned to the Qingzhou inn for dinner before sending someone to call Zhang Yue over and asking bluntly, “Lord Zhang, it’s better to do less than more. Let’s just finish our task and leave. Why worry about so much?”

“Eunuch Lu, if we return to the capital after killing people here and there’s another uprising in Shandong soon, the emperor might blame us for failing in our duties out of anger,” Zhang Yue replied casually. Seeing Lu Feng’s face stiffen, he added with a smile, “Don’t worry. I’m just getting things started. The government and those elites will handle the rest—there’s no need for us to worry.”

When he was young and his family was poor, Lu Feng had even been a vagrant, so he knew well what chaos ensued during civil unrest. He swallowed hard. Zhu Di was known for acting on impulse, and if anything went wrong and he took it out on him, it would be disastrous. He nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at grains, but still felt uneasy.

These days, eunuchs often left the palace as imperial envoys and inevitably came away with some benefits. It was one thing that he had stayed in Jinan Prefecture for only a short time before, but this time, even in Qingzhou, no one had given him gifts. The lack of benefits was less of a concern; what really mattered was that many eunuchs outside the palace envied him. If he returned empty-handed, he would surely be laughed at!

Just as Lu Feng was feeling frustrated, a young eunuch tiptoed in from outside. Seeing that Zhang Yue was still there, the eunuch stood silently in a corner. Seeing this, Zhang Yue smirked and pretended to have other matters to attend to, so he excused himself. Once outside in the courtyard, he casually glanced back. Through the bamboo curtain, he could faintly see the young eunuch bowing and reporting something to Lu Feng.

His courtyard was next door. Just a few steps down the path from this courtyard led to his own. As soon as he entered, he saw Hu Qi and the others standing in a row. He was momentarily stunned, then snapped, “Since you’re back, wait inside. Who told you to stand here making a scene? Did the higher-ups abandon you? Alright, follow me inside to talk. Otherwise, people will think I’m heartless—my subordinates come back and I make them stand in the courtyard!”

Hu Qi and the others exchanged glances for a moment. Seeing Zhang Yue enter the house, they hurried after him. Although they had been sent by Yuan Fang to serve Zhang Yue, they all aspired to join the Jinyiwei in the future. The Jinyiwei responsible for investigations was different from those who served as guards on duty; membership didn’t necessarily require descent from meritorious families. Who would have thought the emperor would suddenly consider establishing the Dongji Shi Factory? If Yuan Fang planted his own people in the Jinyiwei now, it would be the biggest scandal, and they would surely suffer as well.

Since this trip was for official business, Zhang Yue naturally couldn’t bring any maids, so Liansheng and Lianhu served him inside. Liansheng pulled back the curtain to invite Zhang Yue in. Once the four burly men entered one after another, he gave Lianhu a signal. The two brothers slipped out of the house and stood proudly about ten steps outside, acting like gatekeepers.

“Sir, it’s not that we didn’t want to stay… it’s just…”

Zhang Yue waved his hand to interrupt Hu Qi: “There’s no need to explain the past matters. I know Lord Yuan must have his difficulties. I just want to know—now that you’re back, are you here temporarily to give me a hand, or do you plan to stay long-term?”
“Before we came, Lord Yuan instructed us that from now on he has no further connection with us four.” After saying this, Hu Qi took a deep breath. “Lord Yuan gave us three options: first, to manage a reliable shop; second, to subdue and organize the local strongmen in Beijing for future use; third, to follow Lord Yuan. The four of us are not good at business and don’t want to deal with those cowardly scoundrels anymore. We all prefer to follow Lord Yuan.”
Yuan Fang was truly cunning. With these three options laid out before them, the future path was obvious! Although he still had some reservations and knew these four people weren’t truly his own men yet, in matters of employing people, Zhang Yue couldn’t afford to worry too much.
“Since you’re back, there’s one task I can assign to you, to test the abilities of these prospective Jinyiwei. But rules are necessary—my rules are simple: do what you can, admit if you can’t, and don’t pretend to obey while secretly defying orders.” He bent down another finger and said solemnly, “Second, if you encounter any difficulties, tell me right away. Don’t act arbitrarily.”