Late Tang Dynasty: Descendants of the Imperial Clan

Chapter 81 Money! That's all my money!

That evening, Hu Yuanqing, the clerk of Yong County's Household Department, finished his shift but did not go straight home as usual. Instead, he sent a trusted servant to fetch the clerks, registrars, and other staff members from the household department.

He said, "Tonight, I have prepared a few dishes and a jar of new wine at my humble abode. I would like to invite all my colleagues to join me for a chat."

The clerks understood immediately, and after finishing their duties in the yamen, they slipped away in twos and threes into the back gate of the Revenue Department's residence under the cover of dusk.

These people were busy with their duties in the government office during the day and could not talk about private matters. Only when they came to this house, with the doors and windows closed and the curtains drawn, could they speak freely.

This Hu Yuanqing was about forty years old, with a fair complexion and a light beard. He had a pair of triangular eyes that would squint first and then slowly open when looking at someone, as if he wanted to measure the other person from head to toe.

He had been serving as the Registrar of Yong County for seven or eight years. When Zheng Tian was in power, he was intimidated by Zheng's reputation and dared not be too presumptuous even though he had someone protecting him. He only made some small mistakes in the accounts and greedily sought petty profits.

But ever since Zheng Tian left Fengxiang and Li Cenji returned, this young military commander has been spending all his time in the military camp, ignoring the affairs of the county government. As a result, Hu Yuanqing has become increasingly audacious.

In addition, matters such as the resettlement of refugees, the surveying of wasteland, and the distribution of land all fell under the jurisdiction of the Household Affairs Bureau and the Land Affairs Bureau. Relief grain, land reclamation silver, and land deed taxes flowed through his hands like water, so he figured he might as well take advantage of them.

At this moment, the main hall of Hu Yuanqing's residence was brightly lit, and a table was set with a full feast.

In the center was a large plate of roasted mutton, its aroma filling the air; to the side was a dish of braised pheasant, a steamed bream, and several kinds of seasonal vegetables and fruits. Although it was not an extremely lavish meal, it was the kind of meal that ordinary families could only afford during the Lunar New Year.

The wine was homemade rice wine, warmed in a copper pot, bubbling and steaming, its aroma mingling with the smell of meat, filling the hall.

Hu Yuanqing sat in the main seat, holding a wine cup, his face flushed. His gaze swept over the seven or eight clerks, scribes, and registrars sitting below him, and he said with a smile: "Gentlemen, today is not official business, but just a gathering of colleagues to have a few drinks. There's no need to be so formal, no need to be so formal."

""

As he spoke, he raised his cup, took a sip, then picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of mutton, and chewed it slowly.

The clerks below had experienced this scene many times before, and they had all shed their official facades.

Some loosened their belts and relaxed their bellies, some took off their boots and sat cross-legged on the table, and some casually accepted the wine cups handed to them by their colleagues and took a swig.

After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,

Hu Yuanqing slammed his wine cup on the table, looked around, and laughed, "Gentlemen, over the past month, you have all performed your duties very well, which has made me look very good in front of Lord Wei!"

""

A clerk with dark skin named Sun Lu first drank a cup of wine, wiped his mouth, and said with a grin, "You're too kind, Chief Registrar. If it weren't for Chief Registrar's support, how could we lowly clerks dare to go about our business? It's all thanks to Chief Registrar's wisdom that we've all made a fortune together."

A younger scribe beside him chimed in, “Exactly, exactly. The Registrar of Household Affairs is our backbone. If the Registrar of Household Affairs says the word, we’re willing to go through fire and water.”

Hu Yuanqing waved his hand with a smile, saying, "You all flatter me," but he couldn't hide the smug smile on his face.

He asked with a smile, "Since everyone is here, may I ask if the relief grain distributed a few days ago has been properly processed?"

Sun Lu put down his chopsticks, held up one hand to indicate a number, and said excitedly, "Don't worry, Registrar. There are 1,237 registered households among this batch of refugees, but only about 890 actually came. The extra 300-plus households' allowances of millet, dried cakes, and salted vegetables per person have all been intercepted by me and converted into silver, amounting to approximately—"

He then gestured a number, his eyes sparkling with calculating intent.

Hu Yuanqing nodded, but didn't rush to praise him. He then looked at another scribe, whose surname was Liu and given name was Wenli. He was in charge of land registration.

Seeing Hu Yuanqing looking at him, Liu Wenli quickly put down his chopsticks and said, "Clerk of Revenue, things are going smoothly on my side as well. I've secretly altered the reported figures for several plots of wasteland, reporting some medium-grade land as high-grade and some stony fields that are truly uncultivable as wasteland. This discrepancy will be converted into a reclamation fund. I've already made arrangements with several village heads in the county; they'll help me cover up the discrepancies, and I'll give them 20% of the profits. The rest is all here."

He took a small cloth bag from his sleeve and placed it on the table with a heavy thud.

Hu Yuanqing didn't even glance at the money pouch, just nodded, and then looked at another person.

The man in charge of distributing relief grain was surnamed Ma. He was a short, stout middle-aged man who was currently engrossed in gnawing on a sheep bone. When he saw Hu Yuanqing looking at him, he quickly swallowed the meat in his mouth, opened his greasy mouth, and said, "Clerk, I've got everything settled on my end. For the relief grain distributed this month, I mixed about 30% fine sand into each bushel. After sifting, the grain was reduced by 30%, and the difference of 20% naturally went to us. Although it's inevitable that it's a bit hard to chew when cooking porridge, those refugees are starving and grateful for any food they have. They don't care about picking out the sand. I've checked several times, and not a single person has caused any trouble."

A low chuckle rippled through the hall.

Someone said, "When Prime Minister Zheng was in power, we wouldn't have dared to be so presumptuous, but now that it's this Li Liuhou, we're in charge."

Before he could finish speaking, the crowd burst into laughter again, their laughter tinged with contempt and smugness.

Sun Lu chuckled and replied, "That Li Liuhou spends all his time loitering in the military camp, either tending to the wounded or patrolling the border cities, completely ignoring everything that happens in our government office. I heard he's been running around various border cities in Qizhou for the past month or so, and he probably doesn't even remember which way the Yongxian government office's doors face. What would someone like that know about civil administration? If we don't take this opportunity to build up our wealth, when will we ever get another chance?"

Some of the younger officials hesitated, saying with concern, "That's true, but we shouldn't be too ostentatious. Although Li, the military governor, is not familiar with government affairs, he is still a military governor of a region, and he has those two old fellows, Sun Chu and Wang Chu, under his command. Those two old men are not easy to fool. If they find out something, it will be troublesome."

Hu Yuanqing, however, remained unperturbed, saying nonchalantly, "Don't worry, that old geezer Sun Chu is too old for that. He spends his days drinking tea and reading documents in the government office, barely showing his face. Wang Chu is even busier calculating merits and transporting grain; he has no time for our miscellaneous tasks. Besides, even if they discover something, so what? Our Magistrate Wei is backed by the Wei clan of Jingzhao. Although the Wei clan has declined somewhat, it is still a powerful and influential family with a long history. With Lord Wei protecting us, as long as there is no major chaos in Fengxiang, Li Liuhou won't be able to touch us. Do you all understand what I mean?"

The people in the hall exchanged knowing glances, and their smiles deepened.

Sun Lu breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest, saying, "Absolutely! Absolutely! With the Wei family backing us up, what are we afraid of?"

Everyone chimed in, laughter and clinking glasses echoed through the room, the aroma of alcohol filling the air warm and inviting.

After several rounds of drinks, everyone was already quite drunk, and they became increasingly unrestrained in their speech.

Some people talked about how a certain township was embezzling funds meant for land reclamation, others about a county magistrate illegally collecting miscellaneous taxes, and still others about how he colluded with local gentry to falsely report wasteland and fraudulently obtain subsidies. No matter what, these things were no longer concealed.

Hu Yuanqing nodded repeatedly, then picked up the wine pot and poured wine for everyone, saying with a smile, "Then it's settled. From now on, the registration of refugees, the surveying of wasteland, and the distribution of relief grain will continue as before. Everyone should perform their duties steadily and reliably. When the accounts are settled at the end of the year, you will naturally receive your share of the benefits."

Laughter and chatter filled the back hall, where cups and plates were scattered everywhere, and no one noticed the strange occurrence outside.

Beneath the north wall of the back hall, there is a half-open window. Outside the window is a small courtyard, and beyond the courtyard wall lies a secluded alley.

The moonlight was thin at this moment, casting the bamboo shadows in the courtyard onto the window paper, swaying in the wind like silent hands moving.

A dark figure lay motionless in the shadows beneath the window, holding its breath.

The man was dressed in a black night-clothes, with a short blade hanging at his waist, and soft-soled boots on his feet. He was as strong and agile as an ape.

He had a small notebook and a thin brush open in front of him. He held the brush in his right hand and pressed down the pages with his left. By the faint candlelight leaking through the window and the moonlight overhead, he wrote something quickly.

The soft scratching of the pen across the paper was completely drowned out by the laughter and chatter inside the room, unable to penetrate the paper at all.

Every few sentences he listened to, he would lower his head and quickly jot down a few keywords, such as: names, numbers, methods, etc.

The proportion of spoils to be divided.

This man's surname was Han, and his given name was Lie. He was originally a scout in the Fengxiang army. Because of his agility, boldness and meticulousness, he was personally selected by Wang Chu and assigned to the scouts who conducted covert investigations. His job was to sneak around at night and eavesdrop on secret conversations.

Tonight, Sun Chu received a tip that Zhang Jingyuan, the Registrar of Household Affairs, had summoned all his clerks to his home after his shift ended. Sun Chu knew there must be something fishy going on, so he immediately ordered Han Lie to come and investigate.

Han Lie squatted outside the Ministry of Revenue for half an hour. Taking advantage of the gap when the servants in the mansion were dismissed, he climbed over the low wall in the backyard, crept to the back window, and overheard every word of the drunken conversation.

He quickly jotted down the last line of words on the notebook, gently closed it, and tucked it into his pocket.

The laughter and chatter inside the window continued unabated, the clinking of wine cups filling the air. No one noticed that the dark figure outside had silently retreated into the bamboo shadows.

He crept along the base of the wall to the corner of the courtyard, braced himself with his arms, and vaulted over the wall, landing in the shadows of the alley without making a sound.

After straightening his clothes, Han Lie strode through two alleys, turned into a quiet side street, stopped in front of an inconspicuous little door, raised his hand and knocked three times on the door panel, paused, and then knocked twice more.

The door creaked open a crack, revealing half of an old man's face.

Han Lie said in a low voice, "It's done. I have important business to report to Registrar Sun."

The old man handed over a token: "Take this and go to the gate outside the city. When the guards see this token, they will put down their baskets and pull you into the city."

Han Lie responded, then vanished into the darkness of the long street.

The small door behind him closed again with a very soft sound, as if nothing had happened.

The alley returned to silence, save for the intermittent chirping of a cricket at the base of the wall.

About half an hour later, in a side room in the back hall of the military governor's mansion, Sun Chu was wearing an outer robe and sitting alone behind a desk, reviewing the day's official documents by the dim light of an oil lamp.

He was old and a light sleeper. He had worked hard all day and his eyelids were getting heavy, but he still insisted on staying awake.

Suddenly, I heard a few very light knocks outside the window, as if someone had tapped the windowpane with their fingernail.

Sun Chu got up, walked to the window, and pushed the window a crack open. A hand reached in through the crack, holding a small booklet about the size of a palm.

Sun Chu took the book, then withdrew his hand. Immediately afterwards, a series of very light footsteps faded into the night.

He closed the window, returned to his desk, and held the thin book up to the light of the oil lamp, squinting as he examined it closely.

He frowned after reading one line; his face darkened after reading two; and by the third line, he put down the notebook, sighed deeply, shook his head, and muttered, "A den of rats. What a huge den of rats."

He stood up, paced around the room a couple of times, then returned to the desk, picked up the book again, and read it through from beginning to end to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Only then did he carefully put the book into a wooden box and lock it.

The wooden box was already filled with a thick stack of sheets of paper, all of which contained evidence of crimes reported by secret agents from various places over the past month.

When Li Cenji brought back the refugees, he gave the magistrate of Yong County a month to settle the people.

Now, more than ten days of the month have actually passed, but Li Cenji was still inspecting the fortresses and border passes in Linyou County in the north, which allowed these rats to run rampant for a few more days.

Upon returning to Yong County, Li Cenji summoned Sun, Wang, and Zhao, and laid out all the secret reports and registers from various places on a table.

The three reported one by one, their expressions growing increasingly grave as they spoke.

Needless to say, in Yong County, the officials in charge of household registration and land management mixed sand into the relief grain, added false names to the household registers, and added false names to the wasteland registers.

The evidence of him using his own agenda is irrefutable.

The other departments weren't much better off; they all engaged in corrupt practices, intercepting and misappropriating funds from various places.

In addition, several counties surrounding Yong County, such as Baoji (formerly Chencang County, renamed Zhide), Guo County, and Purun in Fengxiang, and Wushan and Qianyang in Longzhou, also have many corrupt officials lurking in the shadows.

Some embezzled treasury funds by falsely reporting grain prices, while others misappropriated land reclamation funds for personal gain. Even worse, some of them drove the captured Huang Chao soldiers to resentment.

Some people are already secretly making plans, saying, "Rather than starve and suffer to death, we might as well rebel again."

When these messages reached Yong County, Li Cenji heard them and felt that if they didn't close the net soon, things would get really messy.

Early the next morning, a dozen or so fully armored Fengxiang soldiers arrived in front of the Yong County government office. The captain in charge dismounted, unfurled his command flag, and announced loudly, "The Regent has ordered that all county officials of Yong County proceed to the General's Mansion for a meeting immediately without delay."

The guards at the gate, seeing that it was Li Liuhou's personal guard, dared not ask a single question and hurriedly ran inside to announce his arrival.

Before long, the county magistrate Wei Shi'an, the county assistant, the chief clerk, the county commandant, the merit officer, the household officer, the granary officer, the military officer, and other officials came out of their respective duty rooms one after another, looking at each other with great anxiety.

-

After receiving the intelligence from Sun Chu and discussing it with Wang Chu and Zhao Zhang, Li Cenji had a pretty good grasp of the details of this den of rats in Yong County.

He had already made up his mind, so early this morning he sent his personal guards to summon all the officials, big and small, of Yong County to the governor's mansion.

This military mansion was originally the official residence of the Fengxiang military governor, and Zheng Tian handled affairs here when he was in office.

After Zheng Tian left Fengxiang, this place remained vacant for some time.

After Li Cenji returned, he didn't care about pomp and circumstance. He simply had the main hall cleaned up and used it as his place of business.

He was sitting upright at the back of the hall, separated from the front hall by a screen.

His face was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger, but his eyes were slightly narrowed, as if he had just woken up, or as if he was waiting for something.

The gates of the Marshal's Mansion were wide open.

Inside the gate stood two rows of fully armored soldiers, each with their hands on their swords, their eyes fixed straight ahead.

Wei Shi'an led the group in single file, through the front courtyard, and into the main hall.

A dozen chairs had been set up in the hall, and teacups were placed on the table, making it look like an ordinary official gathering.

Wei Shi'an sat in the first chair on the left, and the other officials, county magistrates, and registrars took their seats in order. The scribes, clerks, and secretaries stood in the back row, crowding together and filling the hall to the brim.

The hall was quiet for a moment.

Some people picked up their teacups and took a sip, only to find the tea was cold; others wanted to chat with their colleagues, opened their mouths, but didn't know what to say.

This silence felt particularly heavy, like an invisible stone pressing on everyone's chest.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, footsteps were heard coming from the back room.

Li Cenji emerged from behind the screen.

Today he wore a black round-necked robe with a leather belt around his waist. He was neither carrying a sword nor wearing armor, but when his eyes swept across the hall, everyone felt that his gaze was three times sharper than a blade.

He walked to the head seat and sat down without saying a word. He simply picked up a thick book from the table and began to turn the pages one by one.

The captain who went to deliver the order entered the hall, cupped his hands, and reported: "The magistrate, the officials and clerks of Yong County, numbering forty-two on the official payroll but actually seventy-six, are all here."

Beside the captain stood a full house of officials, some standing with their hands at their sides, some with their heads bowed and eyes lowered, some exchanging glances, and some secretly wiping the sweat from their foreheads with their sleeves.

Li Cenji glanced at everyone, made no small talk, and simply put down his teacup, tapping it lightly on the table with a crisp "tap".

He looked around at everyone and slowly began to speak: "Last night I received some news that someone in the Yong County government office was taking advantage of the resettlement of refugees and the clearing of wasteland to engage in shady dealings, falsely reporting the population, withholding grain seeds, forging land deeds, and lining their own pockets. This matter concerns the life and death of thousands of people, and I dare not be negligent. Therefore, I have invited you all here today to ask you about it in person."

Upon hearing this, the hall fell silent.

Several clerks' legs were already trembling, but they dared not utter a sound and could only secretly clench their sleeves.

Wei Shi'an's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure. He simply cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency, I wonder where you get this idea? Since the time of Lord Zheng, Yong County has always been honest and upright. My colleagues and I have been conscientious in our duties and dared not slack off in the slightest. If Your Excellency has any misunderstanding, please explain it clearly so that I can clarify it one by one."

Li Cenji chuckled, but there was no warmth in his laughter.

He didn't answer, but simply pulled out a document from the stack on the table and waved it in Wei Shi'an's direction: "Magistrate Wei, do you know what this is?"

Wei Shi'an was naturally unaware, but looking at Li Cenji's composed demeanor, he had a vague feeling of unease, yet he still forced himself to say, "This humble official is unaware. Please inform me later."

Li Cenji pushed the document forward and said, "Magistrate Wei, why don't you come up and take a look?"

Wei Shi'an hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward, took the document with both hands, and unfolded it to read it.

His hand trembled slightly.

That was a detailed record of account reconciliation:

On a certain day of a certain month, 300 shi of grain were allocated for relief to displaced people, but only 240 shi were actually distributed, a shortfall of 60 shi; on another day of a certain month, 500 guan of silver were allocated for land reclamation, but only 420 guan were actually deposited, a shortfall of 80 guan; on yet another day of a certain month, a land survey was conducted, and a certain township reported 1,200 mu of wasteland, but the actual wasteland was only 800 mu, an overreport of 400 mu.

Every single detail, including the time, place, quantity, and the person involved, is meticulously recorded.

Wei Shi'an flipped through the pages, his composure gradually fading, replaced by a barely suppressed but still barely concealed panic.

He looked up at Li Cenji, then looked down and flipped through the pages. By the time he reached the third page, his hands were trembling so badly he could barely hold the stack of papers.

He cursed inwardly:

What a Li Cenji!

For more than a month, he pretended to be indifferent to civil affairs, spending his days in the military camp and traveling between border towns. Little did anyone know that he was secretly sending people to investigate and gather up these crimes bit by bit!

This isn't some brute; he's clearly a wolf in sheep's clothing!

He calmly closed the account book in his hand, took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his voice had returned to about 70-80% calmness, but the slight tremor at the end of his voice could not be concealed: "Your Excellency, could it be that someone is making false accusations against us? I have been in Yong County for many years and have never seen these figures before. It must be that someone with ulterior motives deliberately altered the account book to frame someone else."

Li Cenji didn't argue with him. He simply picked up his teacup, took a slow sip, and said, "Magistrate Wei, there's no need to rush to defend yourself. I invited you all here today not to immediately decide the case. I've already ordered the military officers to temporarily take over the official duties of the various departments in the county government. They will spend the whole day checking the warehouse, the accounting office, the household registration office, and so on. We'll talk again after the results are in. As for now—why don't you all rest here for a bit, have some tea, and wait a while, shall we?"

After Li Cenji finished speaking, he ignored everyone else and began to look through the documents on the table.

He read very slowly, occasionally picking up his pen to make a few strokes, as if no one else was around.

The room erupted in chaos.

Those clerks standing in the back row all looked ashen-faced.

They were naturally more aware than anyone of the shady dealings they had committed, such as: falsely reporting the number of displaced people and mixing sand into relief grain.

Manipulating household registration records, forging land deeds, and forcibly seizing other people's fertile land —

In the first few days, the accounts were indeed kept quite carefully. Every expense and every booklet was checked repeatedly, and no obvious flaws could be found.

But later, seeing that Li Cenji spent all his time in the military camp and ignored the affairs of the county government, they gradually became bolder and their accounts became more and more sloppy and careless.

In the last few days, things were barely passable on the surface; even the numbers didn't match up, let alone any in-depth investigation.

If the military officers were to investigate carefully, they could probably uncover a whole host of problems just by flipping through any booklet.

A younger clerk was the first to give in; his legs buckled and he almost knelt down. He managed to stand up, but his head was covered in sweat. He wiped it with his sleeve again and again, but he couldn't get it clean.

The clerks nearby weren't much better off; some kept their heads down, avoiding eye contact, while others stole glances at their respective superiors, their eyes seeming to ask, "What should we do?"

Hu Yuanqing was also at his limit. Although he was still standing, his legs were trembling uncontrollably, and the color drained from his face, leaving only a deathly pale complexion.

He wanted to say something to calm things down, but when he opened his mouth, it felt like his throat was stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Just then, a person suddenly stepped out of the train.

This man was a middle-aged clerk with a dark complexion, high cheekbones, and wore a faded black cloth robe with several patches on the hem.

He stepped forward from the crowd, bowed to Li Cenji, and said in a low but clear voice, "Layman, I have something to say, but I don't know if I should."

Li Cenji raised his head, glanced at him, and said, "Who are you? Speak freely."

The man said, “My name is Shen Fang, and I have been working as a clerk in Yong County for five years. Today, in front of the acting governor and all my colleagues, I will speak the truth: the officials of the Six Circuits have been taking advantage of the resettlement of displaced people and the surveying of wasteland to embezzle large sums of money. It’s not just during this resettlement that they’ve been rigging things; there have been many instances of corruption in the past. I have repeatedly advised them not to go too far, but they wouldn’t listen. Instead, they called me pedantic and cowardly. Later, they started to ostracize me everywhere, preventing me from being involved in any important matters and only assigning me menial tasks like copying and writing. I have endured this for five years, but today I can no longer bear it. Since the acting governor wants to investigate, I am willing to be a witness and report everything I know without missing a single detail.”

As soon as he opened his mouth, the hall erupted in uproar.

Several clerks turned around abruptly, glaring fiercely at Shen Yifang. Some even muttered curses under their breath: "Shen Yifang! Don't you dare slander me!"

"What do you mean by this? You're not capable of getting promoted yourself, so you're resorting to framing your colleagues?"

Hu Yuanqing's face turned ashen. Pointing at Shen Yifang's nose, he roared, "Shen Yifang! You, a mere clerk, dare to spread rumors in front of the Regent? Have you been bribed to frame us?!"

Shen Yifang ignored the angry curses and simply stood with his hands at his sides, his face calm.

Li Cenji glanced at him, then looked down and flipped through the stack of evidence on the table. After a while, he couldn't find Shen Yifang's name anywhere.

Li Cenji nodded, picked up his brush and wrote Shen Yifang's name on a piece of Xuan paper, saying, "You stand aside for now, I have something to ask you later."

Shen Yifang's opening remarks were like a breach in a dam.

Immediately afterwards, two clerks and a registrar stepped forward, all stating that they had not participated in the embezzlement, had also suffered persecution, and were willing to serve as witnesses.

Li Cenji nodded to the officer beside him, who then stepped forward and wrote down the names of the three men on a piece of paper.

Li Cenji opened the booklet again and flipped through it from beginning to end, but as expected, he couldn't find the names of these three people.

He closed the booklet, looked at the three men, and said gently, "Rest assured, now that I have investigated this matter thoroughly, I will not wrong an innocent person, nor will I let a guilty person go free. I have taken note of your testimony today. Your positions in the county government will be temporarily managed by military officers, and your duties will be reassigned after this case is closed."

The three men kowtowed in thanks and stepped aside.

Seeing that Li Cenji had personally promised to reassign him to a new job, some people stepped forward to point out his identity.

Judging from their official titles, Li Cenji knew they were mostly low-ranking officials who couldn't make much money. It was probably because those corrupt officials looked down on them that they didn't recruit them.

However, Li Cenji didn't care about these things and simply had people write down their names so that he could make arrangements for them later.

The officials thanked them with great joy, then stood aside, heads held high, looking at their colleagues who were still imprisoned.

The hall grew even quieter.

Those clerks who were just cursing and swearing now shrank back, lowered their heads, and even breathed softly.

Several county constables and clerks also looked grim. Some stared blankly at the desk in front of them, some clenched their fists secretly in their sleeves, and some frequently cast pleading glances at Wei Shi'an.

However, many more people looked ashen-faced.

Those clerks who could barely stand a moment ago were now drenched in sweat.

Even Hu Yuanqing and the other officials were already teetering on the brink of collapse, but they still gritted their teeth and held on, constantly glancing at Wei Shi'an as if urging him to make a decision quickly.

Wei Shi'an stood at the very front, with his back to the crowd, so no one could see the expression on his face.

He was silent for a moment, then turned around, cupped his hands in greeting to Li Cenji, and his face was no longer as composed as before. He began to play the emotional card: "Your Excellency, I have a few words that I would like to say to you alone."

He lowered his voice, as if only Li Cenji could hear him, but the hall was quiet, and although no one dared to lean in to listen, they could still faintly catch a few words: "Grandfather—Lord Zheng—an old acquaintance—"

Li Cenji looked up at him but didn't reply.

Seeing that he didn't move, Wei Shi'an had no choice but to take another half step forward, lowering his voice even further: "Your Excellency, although I am not talented, when Lord Zheng was in power, my colleagues and I wholeheartedly assisted him in recruiting soldiers and collecting grain. Twenty percent of the military supplies and provisions for the campaign against Huang Chao were allocated from Yong County. I dare not say that I made great contributions, but at least I did my best. Now that Huang Chao has been quelled and the world is initially at peace, Your Excellency has just taken charge of Fengxiang, and this is precisely the time when people are needed—why must you wipe out so many of us old officials over a few minor mistakes? Isn't this like discarding a donkey after it has served its purpose, leaving people disheartened?"

Upon hearing the phrase "discarding the millstone after it has served its purpose," Li Cenji suddenly laughed.

He put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, looked at Wei Shi'an, and spoke in a low but clear voice: "Magistrate Wei, you just mentioned some minor mistakes"? "Falsely reporting the number of displaced people, withholding relief grain, mixing sand into the grain, forging land deeds, embezzling land reclamation funds—these are all minor mistakes"? "Let me ask you another question: Do you know what those displaced people outside the city are living on now? It's the bowl of porridge and the piece of bread that the county government distributes every day. If you withhold a bushel of grain, dozens of people will go hungry. If you falsely report an acre of land, a family will be relocated to a rocky wasteland. And you call this minor mistakes?"

Wei Shi'an's face flushed red with anger at his words, but he still stubbornly argued, "Your Excellency, I have already said that these accounts are all false accusations and there is no evidence to back them up. If Your Excellency believes those people's one-sided stories and arrests all the officials in Yong County, it will not be good for Your Excellency's reputation."

Li Cenji stopped arguing with him, simply leaning back and placing his hands on the armrests, saying calmly, "Magistrate Wei, as I said, we'll wait for the investigation results. We'll talk again after the investigation is complete. You may leave now; there's no need for further words."

Wei Shi'an was filled with anger at his indifferent attitude, but had nowhere to vent it.

We can't just wait for the verification results, can we? Doesn't he already know whether the truth or the falsehood is clear?

Wei Shi'an gritted his teeth, took another half step forward, and said in a low voice with a hint of threat, "Does the Regent really intend to break ties with the Wei family?"

Upon hearing this, the hall fell silent.

The minor officials who had been wiping their sweat stopped what they were doing and all looked at Wei Shi'an.

Wei Shi'an straightened his back and stared directly at Li Cenji, as if waiting for him to back down.

Li Cenji did not back down.

He slowly stood up, placed his hands on the table, and looked down at Wei Shi'an.

"Wei?"

Li Cenji chuckled: "You're trying to intimidate me with the Wei family name? A mere collateral descendant of the Wei family dares to invoke the Wei family's name in front of me?"

Wei Shi'an's face turned pale, and his lips trembled slightly.

Li Cenji didn't give him a chance to speak, continuing, "Tell me, how much strength does the Wei family have left? After the Tanglong Coup, the Wei family was severely weakened; since the An Lushan Rebellion, their backbone has been severed. When Huang Chao entered Chang'an, he killed another wave. How many able-bodied men of your Wei family are left? I forced Huang Chao to commit suicide, avenging the blood feud between the Wei and Du families of Jingzhao, and you haven't even thanked me once. Now you're using the Wei family to threaten me?"

He took a step closer, his voice rising several decibels: "Go ahead and complain. See if the Wei family will break ties with me, the military governor of Fengxiang and Longyou, for the sake of a collateral descendant like you? You know perfectly well who your 'Wei Family of Jingzhao' signboard can intimidate!"

Wei Shi'an's face turned pale and then red after hearing his words, his lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.

He knew better than anyone else that his so-called "Wei family members" were nothing more than a pretense of legitimacy.

If the Wei clan were to prosper and their direct descendants were bullied, the clan might stand up for them.

But he was from a minor branch of the family, and the Wei family was not what it used to be. Who would be willing to stand up to a powerful and meritorious military commander for his sake?

Not to mention that Li Cenji also avenged the massacre of the Wei family.

If this gets out, people will only criticize Wei Shi'an for being ungrateful, and no one will stand up for him.

Wei Shi'an remained silent for a moment, his face gradually turning from pale to flushed red.

Like a rabbit cornered against a wall, he suddenly steeled himself and raised his voice in a desperate act: "Acting Governor! I am a county magistrate appointed by the Ministry of Personnel, an official appointed by the imperial court! You, as a mere acting governor, have no authority to investigate an official appointed by the imperial court! If you were to arrest me, you would be overstepping your authority, and if the imperial court were to investigate, could you bear the consequences?"

He turned back, glancing at his ashen-faced colleagues behind him, and raised his voice even higher: "Besides, if you want to take me down, what about all these people behind me? More than seventy officials in Yong County, if you take them all down, who will run the county government? Who will resettle the displaced people? Who will allocate the land? Do your military officers have the energy to manage both military and civil affairs? If government affairs come to a standstill, and the thousands of displaced people outside the city run out of food and are left unattended, and start rioting—what will you, Li Liuhou, do then?"

He spoke faster and faster, increasingly convinced of his own right, his voice gradually regaining its strength: "How about this, if we show leniency to Liu Hou, we will also show our sincerity. From now on, whenever we have income, we are willing to send fifty percent to the General's mansion as a tribute. Liu Hou gets the money, we get the peace, everyone gets what they need, isn't that a win-win situation?"

As soon as he said this, all the officials in the hall nodded in agreement.

Hu Yuanqing was the first to speak, saying, "Exactly! Don't worry, we will definitely behave ourselves from now on and dare not cause trouble again. We will deliver the 50% profit in full every month."

The clerks who had been trembling just moments before now seemed to have grasped at a straw, nodding repeatedly and saying all at once, "Your Excellency, we're all on the same side, why make things come to this?"

"The acting governor has just arrived in Fengxiang and is in dire need of capable people. Although we are not very talented, we are familiar with county affairs. If the acting governor replaces us all, how will the newcomers know these things?"

As Li Cenji listened to this cacophony, the smile on his face gradually faded.

He slowly sat down, picked up the teacup and took a sip. Suddenly, he raised his hand and placed the teacup on the table with a crisp sound.

Everyone was stunned into silence by his words, and the hall returned to a deathly stillness.

"You said fifty percent?"

Li Cenji looked at Wei Shi'an and said, word by word, "You reached into my pocket and stole money, and you said you'd give me 50% of it—that's my money! When did it become your place to divide my money?"

As he spoke, he suddenly stood up, grabbed the thick book "Records of Customs and Traditions of Qilong" from the table, and smashed it hard at Wei Shi'an's face.

The book was about an inch thick and hardbound; it made a dull thud when it hit my face.

Caught off guard, Wei Shi'an was hit squarely. He cried out "Ouch!" and staggered back a couple of steps. If the clerk behind him hadn't caught him in time, he would have been embarrassed in front of everyone.

He covered half his face, both shocked and furious. He pointed at Li Cenji, wanting to curse, but his lips trembled for a long time and he couldn't utter a single word. Only a stream of bright red blood seeped from between his fingers.

Li Cenji didn't even look at him. He dusted off his hands, sat down again, and his voice returned to its usual calm: "Not enough manpower? No problem. I'll have these officials work in shackles. Not a single task will be omitted; not a single account will be missed. I want to see if you can still get things done while in shackles."

The hall was deathly silent.

As for you—

Li Cenji turned his gaze to Wei Shi'an, who was covering his face, and sneered, "A county magistrate appointed by the Ministry of Personnel, is that it?"

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