Starting as pearl divers, they have endless jobs.

Chapter 66 Swift Actions, Initial Establishment of Prestige (Please Read On)
Dayong Kyoto, Meng Mansion.

The study was brightly lit by candlelight.

Meng Yi couldn't help but smile after reading the reply in his hand.

“Father, do you really trust that Chen Ye so much? For his sake, we have offended almost half of our colleagues in the court. Is it worth it?” A young member of the Meng family stood aside, his face showing confusion and resentment.

Not only him, but many people in the Meng family did not understand Meng Yi's decision.

Meng Yi held the letter up to the candlelight, watching it turn to ashes, and said calmly, "I wasn't sure before, but now I can only say it was worth it."

At this point, he got up and went to the window, gazing at the bright moon in the sky, his tone cold and aloof.

Do you know why you can't lead troops as a commander yet?

"I do not know, Father. Please enlighten me," the young man said, bowing his head.

"Because you only see the immediate gains and losses, but you fail to focus on the overall picture and see further ahead."

"This Chen Ye is a smart man and a ruthless man, there is no doubt about that, because Bai Yuege, that crazy woman, sometimes has a better eye for people than I do."

Meng Yi turned around, looked at his nephews and nieces, and said in a deep voice, "I have a feeling that this should be the most worthwhile investment our Meng family has ever made."

"If you don't believe me, we'll wait and see."

……

The former imperial palace of the Great Liang Dynasty is now a temporary military governor's residence.

Chen Ye sat on the commander's seat, his gaze sweeping over the dozens of generals of Dayong standing below.

The atmosphere is a bit subtle.

These were all fierce generals who had followed Bai Yuege all the way here. Each of them was unruly and arrogant. At this moment, they looked at Chen Ye with scrutiny, disdain, and even more so, jealousy.

What right does a mere upstart who rose to power based on Bai Yuege's dying wish have to control them?
"Commander Chen, you have just taken command of Daliang. We are curious about the regulations you have in place so that we can all follow them." A deputy general with a thick beard said with a forced smile, but his tone was hardly respectful.

All eyes were on Chen Ye.

"Yes, General. People in Luoyang are in a state of panic, and bandits are rampant outside the city. This mess is not easy to clean up."

"If you ask me, we should learn from General Bai and just kill them! Slaughter them until the world is turned upside down, then let's see who dares to disobey!"

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, seemingly offering suggestions, but in reality, they were all waiting to see Chen Ye make a fool of himself.

Chen Ye didn't speak, but listened quietly.

This wasn't the first time he'd encountered such a situation.

Back when he ascended the throne in the first world, he faced real internal and external troubles. The court was full of people who outwardly obeyed but inwardly defied him, making it extremely difficult to move forward.

Therefore, the current situation is nothing at all.

"Wang Xing," Chen Ye suddenly spoke.

“Your humble servant is here!” Wang Xing was startled and quickly stepped forward.

He was one of the earliest to join Chen Ye and was also one of the most sought-after people around him, so naturally he had to show enough loyalty.

"Pass on my orders." Chen Ye's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly echoed throughout the entire hall.

"First, open the granaries and distribute grain to relieve the starving people in the city. As long as you register, everyone can receive three days' worth of rations."

"Second, a public notice will be posted throughout the city to reassure the people, announcing that past transgressions will be forgiven, but any unscrupulous merchants who take advantage of the chaos to loot or hoard goods, or any local strongmen who oppress the good people during the disorder, will be executed without mercy once verified!"

Chen Ye's gaze swept over the few inconspicuous low-ranking officers in the corner. "You few are in charge of this matter. If you do a good job, I will reward you handsomely."

The officers whose names were called were stunned at first, then their faces lit up with ecstasy, and they knelt down excitedly.

"This humble servant will certainly not fail the trust placed in him by the military governor!"

They were all low-ranking officers with no background or connections, and they thought that was how their lives would be. They never expected that the newly arrived military governor would entrust them with such an important task!
Chen Ye's move bypassed all the senior generals and delegated power to newcomers, his intentions were crystal clear.

The hall suddenly became quiet.

The generals were stunned. They had been prepared to watch the spectacle unfold, but they hadn't expected Chen Ye's reaction to be so swift and logical, clearly indicating that he had given it considerable thought.

Wang Xing accepted the order and excitedly led his men down the stairs.

Soon, Chen Ye's first act was ignited. As cartloads of grain were transported from the granary and soup kitchens were set up throughout the city, the people of Luoyang, struggling amidst war and plague, could hardly believe their eyes.

A glimmer of life finally appeared on their numb faces.

As more than a dozen unscrupulous merchants who took advantage of the situation to raise grain prices and local bullies were dragged to the execution ground and beheaded, the people spread the news and began to feel a certain degree of approval for the newly arrived military governor, who originally belonged to an enemy state.

However, trouble soon followed.

Because there's no food!
It turned out that several large granaries in the city only had a thin layer of grain on the surface, and the bottom was actually empty.

A Liang Dynasty civil official in charge of the granary, who had been brought in, knelt on the ground and said tremblingly, "My lord, this grain was secretly sold off by the official in charge of logistics at the time, in collusion with several powerful families in Luoyang, before the city fell!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze turned to Chen Ye once again.

After all, running out of food is a big deal, and everyone wanted to see how Chen Ye would make a decision.

Just then, Chen Ye smiled, "Not bad!"

"I was just looking for a reason to get back at them, and they've handed me the hilt of their swords themselves. So don't blame me for being impolite."

"Wang Xing!"

"exist!"

"Gather your troops and arrest every single person on the list. Seize all their residences, and kill anyone who resists!"

"Yes!"

Everyone was shocked.

They then realized that although the young man in front of them was not as crazy as Bai Yuege, his ruthlessness and decisiveness were in no way inferior.

That night, the military governor's troops, like wolves and tigers, ransacked the mansions of more than a dozen powerful families in the city.

Cries, pleas for mercy, and the sounds of clashing weapons filled the entire night.

By daybreak, everything had settled down.

Yesterday's arrogant and powerful families have become prisoners overnight.

The gold, silver, treasures, grain, and cloth confiscated from their mansion were piled up like mountains.

Chen Ye showed no courtesy whatsoever, directly depositing the ill-gotten gains into the government treasury and distributing the seized fertile land to the landless refugees.

At the same time, he promoted several capable former officials and selected a group of talented but suppressed officials from among the surrendered officials, entrusting them with important responsibilities and quickly building his own team.

This swift and decisive action uprooted the deeply entrenched old forces within Luojing City, and also silenced the arrogant and fierce soldiers in the army.

They finally realized that the new military governor was much more ruthless than they had imagined.

With order restored in the city, Chen Ye immediately set about dealing with the plague.

He mobilized all the doctors in the city, set up free medical tents, and organized people to clean up the river channels that had been contaminated by corpses, bringing in fresh water.

A series of measures, like a gentle spring breeze and nourishing rain, gradually erased the wounds left by the war, and also steadily increased Chen Ye's prestige among the people and the military.

But there are always people who don't want to see all this.

Although the Great Liang Dynasty has fallen, its remaining forces still exist.

Unwilling to accept defeat, these people secretly colluded with gangs of outlaws and bandits in the mountains to create trouble outside Luoyang, harass official roads, and destroy farmland.

On that day, devastating news arrived.

A newly established settlement outside the city was massacred by a group of bandits.

Of the entire village, young and old, all 137 people perished.

Even more cruelly, these bandits cut off the heads of all the villagers, carried them on bamboo poles, and planted them on both sides of the main road at the village entrance, creating a horrifying forest of human heads.

When the news reached Luoyang, the entire city was in an uproar.

　We've made it to Sanjiang, and this wouldn't have been possible without everyone's support. I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to you all.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)