The Prodigal Son

After warning Tian Yan, Qin Yu simply chased Tian Yan away.

Modern Linhai doesn't need Tianyan inkstones anymore!

He hoped that Tian Yan would hurry back to write a memorial, join forces with other officials, seize on the fact that he had been tortured to extract a confession, and impeach him relentlessly.

Although Zhao Luan granted him the authority to mobilize troops, Yinzhou was still quite far away, and the provisions for moving a large army would be a troublesome matter.

If possible, avoid deploying troops and causing unnecessary trouble.

Deploying troops was merely his last resort.

As soon as he left the prefectural governor's residence, Tian Yan's face fell.

"Sir, this Qin Yu is arrogant and domineering, completely unreasonable. What should we do now?"

Inside the carriage, the accompanying officials, their faces grave, sought advice from Tianyan.

Over the years, they had dealt with many court officials, but they had never encountered anyone like Qin Yu.

These people are fighting like complete idiots. They were caught off guard and were completely overwhelmed.

Tian Yan pondered for a moment, then replied, "First, unite local officials to impeach him; do nothing else!"

"Is it enough to just attend his event?"

The two accompanying officials stared at Tian Yan in disbelief.

Qin Yu must have already obtained some evidence of their collusion with Wang Zhaojie and others.

If they only criticize Qin Yu and do nothing else, isn't that just sitting and waiting to die?

"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, you know?"

Wang Zhaojie glared at the two of them. "We've already lost the initiative, and there's no way to salvage it. Qin Yu isn't giving us a chance to do so either!"

"Qin Yu has only stirred up the waters now; many fish in the water are probably still hoping for a lucky break!"

"Only when Qin Yu completely muddies the waters will the fish in this water abandon their wishful thinking and unite to deal with Qin Yu!"

"Only when the chaos reigns will it be our time to strike!"

Qin Yu must have already obtained evidence of their crimes.

In this situation, they have two options.

Alternatively, we can wait for the right opportunity and work with others to put pressure on the court and completely suppress Qin Yu!

Either take Qin Yu's life!

But with their strength alone, taking Qin Yu's life is not so easy!

If they fail, they will be the ones caught and eliminated first!

Even if they succeeded in taking Qin Yu's life, their own lives would be over.

Therefore, they have to wait for the right opportunity!

If someone is even more impatient than them and strikes first to take Qin Yu's life, that would be even better!

Fighting to the death is always the last resort!

After listening to Tian Yan's words, the two accompanying officials nodded in sudden understanding, "We understand!"

Tian Yan stroked his beard, a cold glint in his eyes. "Right now, not only can we not stop Qin Yu, but we must also try to drag as many people into this mess as possible! The more people involved, the more uncontrollable the situation will become for the court, and the safer we will be!"

The two nodded repeatedly, feeling somewhat relieved.

……

Shortly after Tian Yan and the others left, Yang Jichun and Zhu Songlan finally came out.

"Are you done arguing?"

Qin Yu watched the two with great interest. "Who won the argument?"

"I'm getting hungry from all the noise!"

Yang Jichun shook his head and smiled, "Brother Zhu can't persuade me, and I can't persuade him either, so let him submit his own ideas to the court."

"Oh?"

Qin Yu's gaze fell on Zhu Songlan. "Have you finished writing?"

"Finished writing."

Zhu Songlan handed several sheets of paper to Qin Yu, saying, "Please, sir, present these to His Majesty on my behalf!"

"good!"

Qin Yu readily agreed, "You two eat something first, I'll take a look!"

As he spoke, Qin Yu picked up the things that Zhu Songlan had written and began to read.

Zhu Songlan's calligraphy is beautiful, somewhat similar to semi-cursive script.

It has a graceful charm without appearing stiff, and it's very pleasing to the eye.

Zhu Songlan presented a detailed account of the malpractices in the imperial salt administration and proposed solutions.

This includes the content of his dispute with Yang Jichun.

He still suggested that the imperial court merge the salt administration with the local government system, while strengthening the supervision of local officials and drawing red lines for them on salt administration issues, with those who violated them facing death!

Zhu Songlan then put forward key suggestions for the governance of Linhai County.

Besides what he told Qin Yu when he came back, there were many other things he didn't tell Qin Yu.

And it's very detailed!

At least in Qin Yu's view, the governance solutions he proposed were all feasible.

After reading it, Qin Yu asked Nan Que'er to bring him an envelope, put the letter inside, and sealed it.

After Zhu Songlan and Yang Jichun finished eating, Qin Yu called Zhu Songlan over again.

"If I were to temporarily appoint you as the governor of Linhai, could you guarantee that Linhai would not descend into chaos?"

Qin Yu asked directly.

"cannot!"

Zhu Songlan simply shook her head.

Why?

Qin Yu was somewhat surprised.

He thought Zhu Songlan would confidently say that he could guarantee that Linhai would not be in chaos!

Zhu Songlan replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Wang Zhaojie and his group have been operating in Linhai for many years, and their influence is deeply entrenched!"

"The reason Linhai isn't in chaos right now is because of Imperial Envoy Qin and your Golden Armored Imperial Guards!"

"Once you leave, all sorts of monsters and demons will jump out!"

"But I don't have enough prestige to control the county soldiers and salt workers in Linhai."

"If the county soldiers and salt workers get out of control, chaos will inevitably ensue in Linhai, and it may even spread to other areas!"

Qin Yu nodded secretly.

What Zhu Songlan was worried about was also what he was worried about.

His idea was to put on a show with Zhu Songlan in front of the county soldiers, and then send ten golden-armored imperial guards to protect him.

However, he still wanted to hear if Zhu Songlan had any solutions.

Therefore, Qin Yu immediately asked, "Since you understand the crux of the problem, do you have a solution?"

"have!"

Zhu Songlan replied, "If Your Excellency insists on appointing me as the temporary governor of Linhai, I would like to request that Your Excellency provide me with a group of fierce prisoners, including some death row inmates who are not guilty of unpardonable crimes, and give them a chance to redeem themselves as Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy! In addition, I would like to request Your Excellency's cooperation in staging a play in front of the more than one hundred generals of the prefectural army!"

acting?

Qin Yu smirked. "Playing the good cop/bad cop game, huh?"

He actually thought the same thing as me!

"right!"

Zhu Songlan nodded, "As long as the commanders of the county troops don't act recklessly, Linhai won't descend into chaos!"

"good!"

Qin Yu readily agreed, "Furthermore, I will issue them a death order: if anything happens to you, their entire clan will be exterminated!"

"That's unnecessary!"

Zhu Songlan shook his head and said, "Life is unpredictable. Even the Imperial Envoy cannot guarantee his safety, let alone me. If anything happens to me after the Imperial Envoy issues this death order, they will have no choice but to rebel!"

"Alright, as you wish!"

Qin Yu nodded approvingly. "Any other requests?"

Zhu Songlan pondered for a moment, then said, "If possible, I would like to borrow... one thousand taels of silver from you, sir!"

"I will personally sponsor you five thousand taels!" Qin Yu said without hesitation.

"what?"

Zhu Songlan was taken aback, looking at Qin Yu with surprise: "Sir, aren't you going to ask me why I need to borrow money?"

Qin Yu shook his head and smiled, "Borrowing money requires a reason, but providing financial assistance doesn't!"

Zhu Songlan was speechless.

A moment later, Zhu Songlan bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, sir! I will certainly not fail your trust! If chaos breaks out in Linhai, I am willing to atone with my death!"