The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 200 Killing an Official (Fourth Update)
With the White Lotus Cult leader and others beheaded, the chaotic battle at the foot of Pagoda Mountain gradually came to an end.

There was no more fighting in Shandong.

Officials from all provinces, prefectures, and counties eagerly awaited Li Xianmu's death on the battlefield, but that was, of course, a pipe dream.

About an hour after the retreat was called, the Marquis of Shouchun returned to the military camp. He did not show much joy, but said to Li Xianmu in a low and solemn voice, "The body of the Duke of Yansheng has been found. He was stabbed to death by the bandits. The body has been moved down from the mountain."

Duke Yansheng eventually died.

Li Xianmu, however, was quite relaxed. "My lord, there's no need to worry. It was just a roadside animal. If it died, it died. I will take full responsibility for this matter."

Marquis Shouchun said nothing more. After cleaning up the battlefield, he set up camp that night and returned to Jinan the next day at dawn.

The next day.

Li Xianmu was in the governor's office when the Marquis of Shouchun entered and asked directly, "Governor, shall we begin writing a memorial to report on the affairs of Shandong immediately, or shall we wait until later?"

Li Xianmu looked up from his desk, rubbing his aching fingers. “Although Shandong is temporarily pacified, the work of registering households is not yet complete. It will probably take quite some time for the hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Shandong to be resettled back to their hometowns. You can report on your military achievements first, my lord.”

"The imperial court has issued an order, instructing me to prepare my troops and return to the capital within three days."

If there's anything else, please speak frankly. It's fate that we've traveled together. If there's nothing else, I plan to leave today.

So fast!
Li Xianmu was the governor, while the Marquis of Shouchun had come solely to quell the rebellion in Shandong. Now that the rebels were all defeated, he was about to return to the capital and could no longer travel with Li Xianmu.

"Then I congratulate you on your triumphant return, Marquis. His Majesty will surely reward you upon your return to the capital. I wish you a prosperous career."

Marquis Shouchun looked at Li Xianmu for a long time, then cupped his hands in a gesture of respect. “I am a rough man and rarely admire anyone. Apart from His Majesty, Governor is the second person I admire. A person like you is rare in history. You are like a clear mirror, making people feel ashamed of themselves.”

"You flatter me, Your Excellency."

"You will definitely be held accountable when you return to the capital for the matter concerning the Duke of Yansheng. I don't know much about scholars, but I guess they won't give up this opportunity. If you can let those people in Shandong off the hook, they can probably help you in this matter."

That's all I have to say. Until we meet again in the capital.

Li Xianmu showed no outward expression, but bowed again to say goodbye, "Thank you for your heartfelt words, Marquis. I will remember them. Farewell, I hope we will meet again in the capital."

The Marquis of Shouchun turned and left the governor's office, then left Jinan City and entered the military camp. Accompanied by shouts and drumbeats, everyone inside and outside the city knew that he was preparing to return to the capital.

More attention was drawn to Li Xianmu in the governor's office.

When will this Shandong governor return to Beijing?

Especially the prefects and governors, who still remember that a knife is hanging over their heads, and they don't know when it will fall.

During this period, they explored almost every connection they had, hoping that the powerful figures in the capital could persuade the emperor to cancel Li Xianmu's terrifying policy of killing one official for every two officials.

Even those who felt they deserved to be at the top were deeply afraid.

In fact, even if they didn't seek help from others, there were always people in the capital speaking up for them.

After all, it was only with great difficulty that we emerged from the terrifying atmosphere of the large-scale killing of officials during the Hongwu era, and no one wanted to go back.

But there are many things that can't be said directly.

Because the late emperor killed people indiscriminately, many of them were innocent victims. After all, it's obvious that it's impossible for tens of thousands of people to have committed capital offenses like beheading.

However, the number of prefects, governors, and county magistrates that Li Xianmu wanted to kill in Shandong this time, as well as the subordinate officials of the prefectural-level government offices, was only about sixty people. These were all officials who had clearly committed crimes.

Although Li Xianmu established rules that could be described as cruel, he did not kill indiscriminately; these officials were all typical examples of those who deserved to die.

One after another, government orders were issued from the governor's office.

Soon, the officials at all levels of government in Shandong province, state, and county discovered that Li Xianmu had extremely rich experience in governing local areas.

The entire Shandong province is recovering in an orderly manner.

until……

An imperial edict from the capital ordered Li Xianmu to return to Beijing immediately and appointed another Shandong governor to replace him and oversee the subsequent recovery efforts in Shandong.

According to the news, Li Xianmu was summoned back to the capital because the court was in an uproar over the matter of the Duke of Yansheng. The emperor could not stand up to the officials, so he could only summon Li Xianmu back and then deal with the rest.

Officials in Shandong were overjoyed at this, practically bursting with laughter, knowing that Li Xianmu was ultimately going to be punished.

Their lives were saved.

Inside the governor's office, a group of officials and members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard surrounded Li Xianmu, and servants naturally took care of the formalities of bowing.

"The new governor of Shandong hasn't arrived yet, and I'm still the governor of Shandong, so my word still counts, right?"

"Of course it counts."

Li Xianmu placed his teacup on the table, his calm demeanor tinged with ruthlessness as he looked at everyone. "Before leaving Shandong, my last order is to kill all of these people."

This is something I said when I first came to Shandong. I originally planned to implement it after Shandong recovered, but now it seems there's no time.

Then let's just send them on their way.

hiss~
Everyone in the room gasped in shock. No one had expected that Li Xianmu, who was probably in dire straits even after returning to the capital, would still remember this incident and want all the Shandong officials dead.

"Is there any difficulty?" Li Xianmu asked, looking at the crowd.

"Of course not. The imperial edict says that we should obey the governor's orders, so we should naturally comply." The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the head of the Eastern Depot both responded naturally.

As a secret service agency, killing a few officials is nothing; at most, it's only a few dozen, and they were all mid- to low-ranking officials below the third rank.

Such a record wouldn't even rank among the top in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. "Then I'll trouble you all. Once we've killed those insects, we'll immediately head back to the capital. We can't delay the court's summons."

Seeing that Li Xianmu remained calm, as if the vortex in the capital did not exist, everyone couldn't help but feel admiration. Who didn't know that the capital was now rife with danger?

The scholars who had lost the debate between reason and principle were now determined to cast Li Xianmu into the abyss, never to be reborn, taking advantage of the incident involving the Duke of Yansheng.

The others accepted the order and went out, while Li Xianmu remained engrossed in the reports submitted by various prefectures and counties in Shandong Province.

If you have a little warmth, give off a little light; if you can do something, then you have done something.

Every day, one must not slack off.

The path to sainthood lies within this.

……

When the menacing Imperial Guards stormed into the prefectural and county magistrate's offices, the Shandong officials finally realized what Li Xianmu was thinking.

No one could have imagined that Li Xianmu, who was about to return to the capital for trial and be transferred, would still not let them go before leaving and insisted on killing them.

Blue sky, bright sun, and a gentle breeze.

"Li Xianmu, is there some deep-seated hatred between us?"

"Li Xianmu, have you really gone mad? Don't you value your life?"

The Duke Yansheng died because of you, and now everyone in the world is attacking you; you can hardly protect yourself.

If you're willing to let us off the hook, we'll all speak up for you, we'll all stand up for you.

On the execution ground, the officials who had been brought in were all wailing. They were truly baffled as to what grudge or resentment Li Xianmu had against putting them to death.

"Gag them. I don't want to hear this nonsense." After everyone's mouths were gagged, Li Xianmu slowly spoke: "Originally, I didn't want to waste my breath on you insects, but today there are elders and folks from Shandong here, so I'll tell you why I must kill you."

The sun in the sky was dazzling, but the execution ground was very quiet. Everyone looked at Li Xianmu with curiosity.

“When I was ordered to come to Shandong, I saw disaster victims fleeing on the road. I saw the lives of the people of Shandong treated like grass. I saw the sons and daughters of Shandong lying in pots and being made into human flesh and blood. I saw the two-legged sheep in the history books. I saw one tragedy after another that violated etiquette, morality and ethics!”

Li Xianmu's voice resounded throughout the land, "Then I saw you officials in fine silks and brocades, and I saw that the price of rice in Jinan had increased fivefold. The rich feasted on meat and wine, while the poor starved to death on the roads."

I heard you say, "These are unruly people, lowly people, they deserve to die!"

Beside the execution ground, the people were filled with resentment. They roared angrily, and if it weren't for the soldiers holding them back, they probably would have rushed in and torn the officials to pieces.

"brute!"

"brute!"

“Very good.” Li Xianmu pointed at the crowd and repeated “very good” again. He said coldly, “I told myself that even if I bear the infamy of the literati, I will act as a just and upright official. I will kill you all. I will let you know that your lives are no more precious than those of the common people!”

Just because of this?

At first they were puzzled, then they felt a deep sense of resentment. Since ancient times, people have been divided into noble and lowly classes. They were all celestial beings who had descended to earth as literary stars. How could they be compared to ordinary people?

Li Xianmu knew he couldn't persuade these people.

People's hearts are stubborn and difficult to change.

Those who love the people need no words.

Those who do not love the people are difficult to change.

The world is never short of those who love the people like their own children, nor is it short of those who treat the people like livestock.

Only when the executioner's blade falls will the truth be revealed.

"kill!"

Li Xianmu threw down the command arrow!

The command arrow crashed heavily to the ground, even bouncing back a short distance.

The next moment, all the executioners raised their swords and brought them down in unison.

Blood splattered, the head flew up, then landed, the immense force causing it to roll off the ground.

The soldiers relaxed their control, and angry civilians stormed in.

To hate someone so much that one would want to devour their flesh, drink their blood, pull out their tendons, and grind their bones to dust is the height of hatred one feels for a human being.

Li Xianmu sat there, motionless for a long time.

Only when he stood up did the people with blood on their faces and mouths stop. The corpses were no longer recognizable as human. Both the corpses and the standing people were somewhat eerie.

"This humble subject kowtows in gratitude to Your Honor for upholding justice for us!"

The crowd knelt down like a tide, kowtowing repeatedly.

The warm sunlight shone on him, and Li Xianmu smiled.

It's time to go back to Beijing.

(End of this chapter)