The fiercest soldier of the border army

Seeing Zhao Lang's expression, Li Qing'an knew that Tang Shun was probably up to something big!

"Your Highness, has something happened in Wenchi County?"

Zhao Lang did not respond. He gripped the letter tightly, his face growing darker with each reading. The veins on the back of his hand bulged, and he held his breath for a long time before finally exhaling.

The letter trembled in his hand, like a withered leaf in the autumn wind.

He kicked over the footstool and roared, "What a Tang Shun! I thought he was a loyal and upright official who could save the people from suffering, but who knew he was just a cruel official in human skin!"

"Having only been to Wenchi for a day, they dare to treat human life like dirt, conscripting labor to build temples, inflating grain prices, and pushing the people to the brink of despair!"

"This isn't a pacification envoy, he's clearly the King of Hell!"

Zhao Lang threw the letter in front of him and said coldly, "Look for yourself! What are the people you recommended and promoted doing at Wenchi now!"

"Accepting bribes, forcibly conscripting displaced people, and then talking about cultivating one's mind and character! Absurd! Absurd!"

"The price of grain at ninety-three coins per dou (a unit of dry measure) has already caused immense suffering to the people! Yet he dares to order grain merchants that the price of rice must not be lower than two hundred coins per dou!"

Zhao Lang's chest heaved violently, his face flushed with excitement. "He even wants to build a pavilion for fishing! Is he trying to save people or kill them?"

Li Qingan took the letter, lowered his head and read it carefully, not missing a single word.

The further down you look, the deeper his brow furrows.

After reading it, he didn't say anything, but simply folded the letter, placed it on the table, and paced back and forth.

His brow furrowed into a deep frown, his gaze lowered, as if he were deducing the truth or falsehood behind each piece of news.

Li Qing'an muttered to himself, "This shouldn't be..."

Zhao Lang stared at him: "You've seen it? What do you think? Or did you know he would do this?"

Li Qingan shook his head, "To be honest, I did not know that Tang Shun would do this."

"Even the most ruthless and corrupt officials would not do such a thing."

"But he did it anyway, and his identity was jointly recommended by His Highness and me."

"I cannot understand it."

Li Qingan spoke slowly, his voice low and calm, "Your Highness, you may not know this, but Tang Shun climbed up from the very bottom of the Northern Army, wearing coarse cloth, living in barracks, crawling on ice and snow, and surviving countless near-death experiences."

"When he was defending Xiushui, he dared to kill the garrison commander to establish his authority, and when the city was being built with cement, he was willing to personally move stones and transport soil."

"They ate and lived alongside the soldiers and civilians of the pass, without any difference between them."

"If such a person truly desired pleasure, he would have done so long ago when his fate was uncertain at the pass. Why wait until now?"

Li Qingan's eyes were sharp as he analyzed the situation methodically, "Now that he has just been appointed as the Pacification Commissioner, it is unusual for him to suddenly become so extravagant."

"Then what do you think he's after?"

Zhao Lang sneered, not believing Li Qing'an's words. "The people are cursing him. His actions are utterly absurd. He's amassed wealth through blatant corruption and paraded around in the streets!"

"Tell me, what's his motive for doing this?"

Zhao Lang was furious!

Prior to this, he had been wavering between Tang Shun and Cui Yuanlang.

He wouldn't have made this decision if Li Qingan hadn't strongly recommended it!

Initially, he planned for Cui Yuanlang to govern Lingzhou, while Tang Shun would serve as a county magistrate under Cui Yuanlang.

Li Qing'an, being based in Beiting, might be able to strongly support Tang Shun. As long as the goal of preserving Lingzhou is achieved, it would be equivalent to preserving the power of the military governor!

But as the crown prince, he will eventually return to the capital. If Tang Shun acts recklessly and harms the people, he will likely face triple pressure from the emperor, court officials, and powerful families!

"I do not know his purpose."

Li Qing'an shook his head, remaining calm, "But I know one thing: although grain prices are rising right now, no matter how difficult things are for the people, they can hold on for seven or eight days."

"The order for corvée labor has indeed been issued, but it has not yet been carried out on a large scale. The displaced people are still in the city and have not been driven out of the city."

"The temple has not been built, the pond has not been dug, and everything is still at the 'order' level, not yet at the 'implementation' level."

"But this single order has already shaken the people's morale!" Zhao Lang slammed his fist on the table and retorted.

"Xie Anzhi is your man. He wrote a letter overnight with urgent delivery, so he must have seen and heard it with his own eyes and ears! And you still want to exonerate Tang Shun?"

In the main hall of the military governor, Zhao Lang was furious and kept questioning him, while Li Qing'an calmly countered each question.

"I am not trying to exonerate myself."

Li Qing'an raised his head, his gaze as firm as iron. "I simply cannot believe that a person who can live and die alongside the people when defending a city would lose his mind at a time like this."

"I don't believe that a squad leader who would rather go to the guillotine himself than let his subordinates go to the execution ground would suddenly become a wicked official who oppresses the people."

He paused, then softened his tone: "Your Highness, in chaotic times, extraordinary people do extraordinary things."

"Perhaps he has other plans, but we haven't figured them out yet, so let's wait and see."

"Wait?" Zhao Lang frowned, his face cold. "Wait until the people rise up in rebellion? Wait until chaos erupts at Wenchi? Then you'll go and quell the rebellion?"

"If he really wanted to incite a popular uprising, he wouldn't have left refugees in the city," Li Qing'an replied matter-of-factly. "Driving them away would be the fastest way to create chaos."

"And the news of the conscription of laborers could make those starving refugees hesitate."

"The refugees will wait, wondering if they will have enough millet to fill their stomachs when the levies are issued."

"The fact that Tang Shun kept people under his nose shows that he was not afraid of confrontation, but only of losing control. Such a person would not speak without reason."

Zhao Lang remained silent for a moment, his anger subsiding slightly, but he still did not believe it:

"You say he has a deeper meaning, but what's the point of raising grain prices? Is it really to force unscrupulous merchants to lower prices? There's no such logic in the world!"

"I don't understand either," Li Qing'an admitted frankly. "But I do know that when border troops fight, sometimes what seems like a retreat is actually a way to lure the enemy deep into their territory, and what seems like abandoning a city is actually a way to surround and annihilate it."

"In his eyes, governing the people might be the same."

"Since he dared to recommend himself as the Prefect of Lingzhou in front of His Highness, he is not someone who is afraid of taking responsibility. If it were truly for personal gain, why would he take such a great risk?"

He walked to the window, pushed open half of the wooden lattice, and a gust of cold wind rushed in.

As night deepened, the soldiers on night watch in the courtyard were changing shifts, their steps synchronized.

"Your Highness, why don't we remain calm and let him take a few more steps?" Li Qing'an said slowly. "Perhaps he can give us a pleasant surprise."

Zhao Lang stared at his profile, remaining silent for a long time.

He had already decided to immediately order Tang Shun to return to Tingzhou to be punished, and to send Cui Yuanlang to take over Wenchi.

But Li Qingan's words were like a stone pressing down on the fire in his heart.

He neither nodded nor shook his head, but sighed and lowered his voice, "I wonder... how things are going with Cui Yuanlang?"

Early the next morning.

Lingwu County.

As dawn broke and the mist lingered, figures were already standing atop the city wall of Lingwu County.

Cui Yuanlang stood with his hands behind his back, wearing a blue-patterned robe, a jade belt around his waist, and black boots. The hem of his robe fluttered slightly in the wind.

His gaze swept across the city below, a slight smile playing on his lips.

At the market south of the city, five hundred bushels of grain were being unloaded by the Cui family's servants, cart by cart.

The burlap sacks were piled up like small mountains, filled with plump, golden grains that gleamed warmly in the morning light.

The yamen runners banged gongs and shouted: "Governor Cui is benevolent and compassionate towards the people, donating grain at a fair price; each bushel must not exceed eighty coins! Violators will be severely punished!"

The people gathered around, initially incredulous, but when they saw the grain merchant weighing, pricing, and displaying the grain in public, they burst into cheers.

"Lord Cui is a living bodhisattva!"

"He lowered the price by ten coins as soon as he arrived. If we wait a few more days, we'll be able to eat!"

"May Magistrate Cui live a long and prosperous life, and have a successful official career!"

Some people knelt down and kowtowed, their foreheads touching the ground, muttering incantations.

Children squeezed in front of the crowd, standing on tiptoe to look at the bags of grain, their eyes shining.

Several old men, leaning on their canes, tremblingly clasped their hands together and thanked God in hoarse voices.

Cui Yuanlang stood atop the highest point of the city wall, looking down upon everything...