Chapter 0021: The Illustrious and Powerful Minister, and the House Guard Shen Daqiang
Magistrate Liu had never witnessed such a scene before. He was so terrified he wet himself, his entire body trembling like a frightened mouse as he covered his head and fled, crying, “Your Highness! Your Highness! Have mercy! This humble official understands now! I will immediately investigate this matter thoroughly, send the beggar children to the orphanage, and arrest all those beggars who exploit children for profit, throwing them into prison to labor and reduce their sentences until they can become self-reliant!”
Xie Chengze chuckled lightly and raised his hand to signal Wuhen to stop. “Well, Magistrate Liu, you seem quite clear-headed after all. I thought after all these years as an official, once you’d eaten your fill and earned enough silver, you’d forgotten all those sage texts you studied when striving for scholarly honors.”
“This humble official… would never dare forget!” Magistrate Liu clasped his hands and bowed deeply to Xie Chengze with a mournful expression.
“Go handle your duties. I’ll wait right here.” Xie Chengze finished the last dumpling in his bowl. After Magistrate Liu stumbled away, he turned to Xie Zimiao beside him. “Write a letter to His Majesty. In today’s world, the corruption of even a county magistrate is impossible to prevent entirely. We should establish supervisory officials in each county office to oversee the conduct of officials across provinces and counties. They should regularly submit reports to the Ministry of Personnel. Any omissions or discrepancies in handwriting should trigger dispatched officials to conduct thorough investigations.”
Xie Zimiao blinked and humbly asked for clarification, “Second Brother, shouldn’t we report to His Majesty and have the magistrates of Zhuolu County and Cangfu County dismissed from their posts?”
Xie Chengze smiled and patted his head. “Someone else will take care of that matter. We small fish needn’t get involved.”
Xie Zimiao blinked in confusion before finally understanding. “Lord Shen will handle it.”
Xie Chengze pinched his soft cheek. “So clever, truly worthy of being my brother.”
Xie Zimiao couldn’t help but blush shyly and lower his head.
Magistrate Liu acted surprisingly quickly, soon completing the tasks efficiently—revealing just how lazy and negligent he had been in his official duties before, allowing Cangfu County to become so desolate that even the meat filling in the dumplings sold at street stalls was barely the size of a fingernail.
“With these beautiful mountains and clear waters, it’s pleasantly cool and comfortable even in summer. If we could attract wealthy gentry from the south to come here to escape the heat, it would likely boost business for many shops,” Xie Chengze remarked while surveying the distant scenery.
A Crown Prince guard nearby, hearing this, couldn’t help but speak up. “Your Highness may not know, but ten years ago, Cangfu County indeed had many wealthy southern gentry coming here to avoid summer heat. The area was quite prosperous and thriving back then.”
Xie Chengze was momentarily stunned, then sighed with emotion. “When magistrates are incompetent, the common people suffer.”
With beggars roaming everywhere and shops skimping on ingredients due to poverty, no wonder wealthy gentry were unwilling to come now. They weren’t fools—if this place didn’t welcome gentry, there were plenty of other places that would.
Xie Chengze heaved a sigh. The consequence of this sigh was Wuhen emerging from Magistrate Liu’s residence carrying a heavy chest of silver. “Your Highness, the underground vault contains numerous official silver coins with worn mint marks.”
Magistrate Liu’s legs gave way again, kneeling as his body shook violently like a winnowing basket.
“This silver…” Xie Chengze deliberately drew out his words, speaking meaningfully, “…looks quite similar to the disaster relief funds from Yi Province that I stored at Magistrate Liu’s residence. Don’t you think so, Magistrate Liu?”
“Your Highness is absolutely right! This is indeed the Yi Province disaster relief silver!” Magistrate Liu’s mind worked quickly as he immediately prostrated himself on the ground, ingratiatingly laughing, “Please take it away immediately, Your Highness! This humble official will strictly heed your teachings from now on and serve the people diligently!”
Xie Chengze nodded with satisfaction and signaled for his men to take away the illicit money.
Magistrate Liu gazed bitterly at the fruits of his years of embezzlement, all now lining Xie Chengze’s private coffers. He thought gloomily, I truly believed this Second Prince was genuinely working for the people, but it seems he’s just using it as a pretext to seize the money for himself.
What rotten luck!
The next day, the fully prepared convoy set off once more.
Shen Yuan seemed genuinely angry, having vanished for the entire afternoon and night, only reappearing as the convoy departed. When he saw Xie Chengze, he offered no greeting, keeping his distance and remaining silent.
Xie Chengze had no desire to provoke him either. With time to spare, he passed the hours playing chess with Xie Zimiao.
Over the next half-month, every time Xie Chengze arrived in a new county, several chests of silver would mysteriously appear in his carriage. Shen Yuan largely understood—this fellow had been intimidating magistrates again, cleaning out their ill-gotten gains.
He resolved to watch closely what Xie Chengze would do with this silver. If he kept it for himself, Shen Yuan would definitely submit a memorial of impeachment!
As the carriage journeyed onward, reaching Yi Province required crossing the Guanzhong Plain, traversing the Qinba Mountains, passing through Jiange by land route, reaching Jiangling, and finally descending the Three Gorges before entering Yi Province.
To cross the Qinba Mountains, they had to take the Baoxie Road. This plank road, built centuries earlier during previous dynasties, now showed its age but still coiled through the mountain ranges like an ancient dragon. It served southern scholars traveling north to the capital for imperial examinations—seeking honors to benefit the people—as well as government shipments of disaster relief grain to aid suffering populations, and merchants exchanging goods between north and south, ensuring prosperity and stability.
Taking the Baoxie Road meant abandoning their carriage. Each time Xie Chengze reached a new county, he would convert the silver “extorted” from the previous county into silver notes, thus traveling light as he led the group into the Qinba Mountains.
——
The Baoxie Road saw few travelers. Xie Chengze had hoped to catch up with the disaster relief convoy that departed ahead of them, but unexpectedly, they encountered some unforeseen individuals along the way.
One day, as the group hurried along, they suddenly heard cries for help. Following the sound, they discovered several young men—one of whom had slipped from the plank road and gotten wedged between rocks while the others frantically tried to assist.
After rescuing the trapped youth, inquiries revealed they were scholars.
“My name is Bian Yangchun, this is Ouyang Jiu, and this is Ji Songhua…” chattered the most talkative scholar, introducing each in turn. “Many thanks for your rescue, brothers. May I ask your names?”
“My surname is Cheng, given name Ze. This is my younger brother, Cheng Miao,” Xie Chengze replied.
Bian Yangchun then turned to Shen Yuan, whose exceptional martial skills had just saved Ji Songhua from the crevice.
Just as Shen Yuan began to speak, Xie Chengze cut in, “This is our family guard, Shen Daqiang!”
Shen Daqiang: …
“So it’s Brother Shen Daqiang! Our deepest gratitude!” Bian Yangchun hastily bowed in thanks, while the still-shaken Ji Songhua also bowed.
Shen Daqiang: “…It was nothing.”
For some reason, Bian Yangchun sensed Brother Shen Daqiang seemed to be grinding his teeth.
“But aren’t you scholars? Why come to the Qinba Mountains?” Xie Chengze asked, puzzled. The Spring Examination had already concluded, and the next wouldn’t be until next year—what were these scholars doing here?
“Oh? Could it be that you are unaware, brother? We plan to go to Yi Province…” Bian Yangchun said in surprise, about to say more when Ji Songhua beside him suddenly coughed twice.
The humidity in Qinbaling was heavy, and Bian Yangchun, thinking he had caught a chill, took off his outer coat and draped it over him. Then he turned to look at Xie Chengze.
Noticing Xie Chengze’s luxurious attire, which clearly indicated an uncommon family background, and sensing his apparent ignorance of the matter, Bian Yangchun tentatively asked, “Could it be that you have no intention of pursuing an official career?”
Xie Chengze nodded, wearing an innocent expression, “My father is a merchant from Huaiyang County. I’m rather dull-witted and truly not cut out for studying, so I gave up long ago.”
Bian Yangchun thought to himself, just as expected. “Then why have you come to Qinbaling, brother? Are you planning to do business there?”
Xie Chengze shook his head, “I heard that the landscapes of Yi Province are magnificent, so I intended to go sightseeing.”
“Ah!” Upon hearing this, Bian Yangchun couldn’t help but sincerely advise him, “Brother! Yi Province suffered a flood over a month ago. Now, I’m afraid the roads are filled with starving corpses and the people are in dire straits—it’s hardly suitable for sightseeing!”
“If that’s the case, why are all of you going to Yi Province?” Xie Chengze asked, puzzled. After all, he at least had guards with him, but these scholars looked as frail as the wind—what business did they have going to a famine-stricken land?
Bian Yangchun laughed, “It seems you truly are unaware. The current emperor has issued an Open-book Examination question on how to manage the flood in Yi Province. Those who answer excellently may be exceptionally admitted. Since our hometowns are near Yi Province, we thought we’d come to investigate. If officials arrive to control the flood, we can take the opportunity to learn from them, right?”
“By now, this news is probably known to scholars across the land!” Bian Yangchun added with a laugh.
Xie Chengze: “Oh~ oh”