Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

"Yes, that's right. They are a group of stupid deer. However, we still have to be careful. Even the most docile deer may resist hunters. So we have to be extra careful. If we are careless, the prey will slip away and the tribe will starve."

"What? Elden'e, you just went to the interior of the country earlier than me, and you're already lecturing me. Your hunting skills are on par with mine."

"Hahaha, yes, yes, I won't say much. You can experience everything for yourself when you arrive in the army."

"I'm really looking forward to the South..."

There was a look of longing on the boy's face.

"We are about to face a tough battle. I am not sure how big it will be, but it will definitely not be small."

Inside the house, the charcoal fire in the pot had gone out, the mutton on the plate had been eaten up, and the vegetarian dishes used as fillers had also been devoured. Apparently, the bland diet of the past few days had made everyone very greedy.

Jiang Han leaned back in his chair with satisfaction while saying some frightening words.

"Large-scale combat? With all due respect, Commander, Griffin's humanoids are mainly used for VIP security and special operations. We are not very good at direct confrontation."

NTW expressed concern about the upcoming battle.

"Don't worry, it's just a possibility, not a certainty."

"Commander, I hope you can clearly realize the fact that you are a jinx. As long as you say something might happen, it will all happen."

45 lazily complained about Jiang Han.

"How can you slander someone's innocence like this?"

"What innocence? You just said two days ago that the other side couldn't possibly send assassins to overturn the table, but today a bunch of them came!"

"That, that was... that was an accident. That person was extremely vicious. Can I be blamed? Anyway, no matter what, we must be prepared to deal with it. And, if it goes as I expected, we should have work to do soon."

Volume 105: Chapter Chapter : Chat

A very painful and hard to accept fact is that Wen Ren really did not lie.

Just at noon of the next day, the transfer order concerning Wen Ren had arrived at the Yangzhou government office. The transfer by land and water did not stop for a moment. When the horse from the post station arrived, it fell to the ground and foamed at the mouth and died. It can be seen how anxious the higher-ups were about this matter.

Along with the withering order, Wang Dang, who had originally had expectations and a glimmer of hope in his heart, was completely shattered. He lowered his head, and his eyes lost their luster.

He didn't understand why.

How could the imperial court have become so corrupt? This decree showed that from the cabinet to the Ministry of Personnel, no one was clean.

"It must be those eunuchs who are causing trouble!"

Yan Bo hated this deeply, but looking at the withering order in his hand, Wang Dang was a little confused. Really, was it just because of the eunuch party?

"The Ministry of Personnel has been controlled by the eunuch party since Wei Yan came to power. The three ministers of the Ministry of Personnel were all members of the eunuch party. Needless to say, other positions are also controlled. For a transfer like this, no party could have passed the Ministry of Personnel so quickly. It could only be them."

Yan Bo's analysis was far-fetched and profound, but for some reason, Wang Dang still wanted to hear his friend's opinion.

"Eunuch party? Hahaha, maybe, maybe, some of them are eunuch party"

At this moment, Jiang Han was strolling in the manor. As the New Year was approaching, there was a lot of festive atmosphere in the manor. As the owner of the manor, he specially purchased a batch of red paper for writing couplets and some firecrackers.

He did not know much about New Year's goods. In the later generations when he lived, the New Year atmosphere had actually become very weak, and people did not have the same enthusiasm for celebrating the New Year as people do today.

"Part of it?"

Wang Dang was a little confused about this quantifier. If it is, it is; if it is not, it is not. How can there be part of it that is?

"You think the problem is too simple. The world is not binary, but is composed of many different substances. Therefore, there can't be only one force behind one thing."

"Salt and iron, such a huge demand represents a huge market. A huge market means huge profits. But huge profits can bring huge corruption."

"Such a huge salt trade brings too much profit to be swallowed by the eunuch party alone. If they dare to swallow it, the next day, the Qingliu and Donglin will send all the people involved to the guillotine with their mouths crooked with smiles."

"What is the guillotine?"

"It's a tool for chopping off brains invented by a man called Sixteen. It roughly means beheading at Caishikou. Don't pay attention to these details. I find your focus really strange."

"Oh, I see"

Wang Dang nodded obediently.

"In many ways, they each fought for their own party. Rather than caring about whether the matter was just or not, they wanted the people from the other party to die. So, such a big thing didn't even cause a ripple in the court. Do you understand the meaning behind it?"

"So, everyone gets a share?"

"It's not that exaggerated. There are three main factions in the court."

Jiang Han held up three fingers: "Eunuch Party, Qingliu, and Donglin"

"The last Emperor Tianqi managed to maintain the three families in a three-way balance of power, but the current emperor obviously does not have such a proficient balance. The emperor has been raised like a pig for more than ten years, and he has no teacher to teach him the art of being an emperor. In other words, he is being forced to do something he is not prepared for."

"Brother Jiang, be careful with your words, be careful with your words"

Wang Dang instinctively felt that it was inappropriate for his friend to talk about the current emperor in this way, but at the same time he also didn't want his friend to get into trouble because of his words, so he anxiously stopped Jiang Han from speaking without restraint.

"Hahaha, fine, then let's not talk about it. In short, the current three-way balance of power has been broken since Wei Yan's death. The Qingliu party doesn't need to be paid attention to. They are just a bunch of clowns jumping around. The biggest opponent of the eunuch party is Donglin."

"The Donglin clan has been from Jiangnan since ancient times. They are much more familiar with all the affairs in Jiangnan than the eunuch party. I have reason to believe that in the face of such huge temptations of interests, the two families chose to cooperate."

"In the final analysis, party disputes are nothing more than for the benefit of each party. If the benefit is big enough and hot enough that one party cannot eat it, then everyone will take off the skin of the party, put on the skin of capital, and eat together at the same table."

"This...is so complicated"

Wang Dang felt as if he had grasped some thread in the universe.

"What do you think about this matter?"

The two of them were staggering. Outside, there were already children walking in the alley, laughing and chasing each other. When they saw Jiang Han coming, they lowered their heads and called out, "Teacher" in a polite manner.

Jiang Han nodded and motioned for them to go and play. The New Year was approaching, and Jiang Han was not a devil, so of course he would give the children a holiday. Of course, he still had to assign them some homework.

Elementary school teachers! Do you know how painful it is for me? Now, I want them to repeat it on these children.

"I don't know. The withering order has come, and I have no place to intervene. From today on, Wen Ren is no longer under my jurisdiction and will be escorted to the capital."

When talking about the follow-up, Wang Dang's mood was visibly low.

"Then do you think that these people would allow someone who has a lot of negative information about them to wander around freely like this?"

"What does Brother Jiang mean?"

"As for Wen Ren, those people will definitely make him disappear. The key is just the timing. Undoubtedly, Wen Ren has some means in his hands that can threaten them and make them afraid to act rashly. Otherwise, what they are waiting for today is not a transfer order, but a direct death sentence."

"That's right. Wen Ren said that if anything happens to him, his subordinates hiding in the dark will spread the negative information to the world, making these people suffer the consequences."

“That makes it clear.”

An indescribable smile appeared on Jiang Han's face.

"Brother Jiang...?"

"Bandits intercepted the road, a gunfight went wrong, the serious criminal Wen Ren was killed, and the escort members were all injured. The county magistrate was furious and conducted a large-scale investigation inside and outside Yangzhou City to track down the possible dens harboring suspects. What do you think of this scenario?"

"Brother Jiang, is it you?"

"If you agree, this is what we will do next with the county magistrate. In life, there are always some dirty and tiring jobs to do. Just leave it to me. It is my duty to help the country."

Jiang Han smiled at Wang Dang like a kid who was about to earn three million.

Volume 106: Chapter Chapter : Rules

Outside Yangzhou City, a convoy was traveling on the road.

There were officials leading the way in front, constables escorting behind, and a prison van in the middle, with the people handcuffed inside being the important criminals of the court.

"Master Wen, please bear with it for a while. After this period, there will be fewer people around and you can come out to take a breath. After all, you are going to commit a crime now, so you still have to save face."

Next to the prison van, an officer was explaining to Wen Ren in a low voice, fearing that his act of handcuffing people would cause Wen Ren's dissatisfaction.

"What are you talking about, sir? Wen Ren is just an ordinary citizen, and now he is a criminal. I dare not ask for too much. Just listen to your arrangements."

Wen Ren licked his dry lips, lowered his head and spoke to the officer in a considerate manner.

"Oh, oh, it's great that you can understand!"

The officer bowed his head for a while, and when facing Wen Ren, he was as humble as a prisoner being escorted. He turned around and stood up as if he had been inflated: "Hurry up! Don't dawdle!"

"The mountain road is ahead, and we can rest there!"

The people who were originally rushing along the road half-dead, perked up after hearing the words from above.

In the cold winter, no one wants to take on this kind of job, but now that it's my turn, what else can I do? I can't just quit, right? We're all paid by the government, so I just have to do it. What else can I do?

It is already very inconvenient to travel in such a cold weather. It is freezing outside and my hands and feet are shivering. It would be best if I could take a break and warm myself by the fire.

The group hurried at a very fast pace and finally arrived outside the forest, but they were stopped by a group of uninvited guests.

"Hey, the people in front, this is an official business, everyone else please get out of the way, or you will be in big trouble!"

They were not willing to take this job in the first place, and wanted to sit by the fire and slack off, but were stopped by a group of people. The attitude of the officers was naturally not good. With so many people on their side, generally speaking, no bandits would dare to confront a convoy of so many officers head-on, but many officers were still nervous.

"Gentlemen, we just want to do a small thing. It's New Year's Day, and we hope you can be flexible."

The man was standing under the shade of a tree, wearing a thick robe. His face could not be seen clearly, and the voice coming from inside the robe was difficult to tell whether it was a male or a female.

"Hide your head and show your tail. We are escorting the criminal here. If you try to stop us, you will lose your life!"

The leading officer half-drew his sword, which flashed coldly, as a threat.

"Hey, why can't we just listen to others and communicate to solve the problem..."

"bump!"

Wang Dang slammed his hand on the table

"Brother Jiang, you must not do that! Attacking the escort team is a serious crime! If you are not careful, you will be beheaded!"

"Hey, don't be so nervous. Didn't I discuss this with you first? As for whether it's a crime or not, if you don't tell me and I don't tell you, who will know?"

"But, but we should abide by the law and solve the problem with proper means. If we act this way, how are we different from the bandits?"

Jiang Han sighed. This little brother still doesn’t understand.

"Then let me ask you, have you ever brought Wen Ren to justice according to the rules they set for you?"

"This... never"

When it comes to Wen Ren, Wang Dang starts to feel uncomfortable again.

"Then let me ask you again, how should Wen Ren be punished according to the law?"

"Selling illegal salt, colluding with mountain bandits, taking human lives lightly, and forcing women into prostitution should be punished with capital punishment and the extermination of the entire clan."

"If Wen Ren is taken away, will his three tribes be exterminated, or will he be sentenced to death?"

“Neither…neither.”

"Then this law has no enforcement effect at all. What's the difference between it and paper for wiping butts? Oh, I was wrong. Paper can still be used to wipe butts, but it is useless."

"How, how can you describe it like this, Brother Jiang, although you and I are good friends, I cannot tolerate you slandering the laws of the Ming Dynasty like this!"

Wang Dang's face turned red with anxiety.

"Okay, okay, it's my fault. I apologize. Let's get back to the previous topic. Because of these people, the laws of the Ming Dynasty have lost their due effectiveness. So, what should you do?"

"I, I...I don't know."

Wang Dang said dejectedly.

"You see, you don't know, which means you have no idea about the current situation. That is, under the current rule system, you can't do anything to these people. You can only watch the criminals go unpunished and be powerless. So, if you want to enforce justice, you have to go beyond the rules."

"Out of the rules?"

"Can you play chess?"

"Of course I can. I've played chess a lot since I was a kid."

"Okay, you wait"

Jiang Han nodded, clapped his hands, and had someone bring up a chess set. He placed the pieces on both sides, one side was full, and the other side had only one general and two soldiers.

"Brother Jiang, this..."

"How do you think Shuai can win in this situation?"

"Brother Jiang, you are kidding. The general has chariots, horses, cannons, and soldiers in front, but the commander only has two soldiers to use. There is no way they can win."

Wang Dang shook his head and said, "Are you kidding me? How can we win this way?"

“But I can win.”