Chapter 75: Judge Song Has Arrived |
This whip struck Zhao Xiang's face, but it really landed on all the officials and generals who had come to greet them.
Even the soldiers were stunned.
Though they knew that princes were second only to His Majesty in nobility, the Sixth Prince was different—he was a wusheng!
And this Zhao Xiang was no ordinary general either.
As one of the original stakeholders who had fought to establish the dynasty, as long as the Zhao family of Qin Prefecture didn't rebel, they could enjoy wealth and honor forever.
Marquis Xun Zhao Lun was already old, and Zhao Xiang had risen to Left General—a position equivalent to the Nine Ministers, with actual authority exceeding most of the powerless ministers among the nobility.
Such a person had just been whipped across the face in front of the troops?
How absurd!
The burning sting of the whip paled in comparison to the humiliation of having one's dignity trampled.
Wei Wusheng, you actually dared!
His Highness is fierce.
Song Shi'an, standing nearby, had told him to make a show of force and severely discipline this young nobleman, but he hadn't expected it to be this extreme.
For the meritorious nobility, you could demote them, strip their titles, punish them with military caning, even kill them—but you absolutely could not slap their face.
Slapping the face was too damaging to their pride.
Watching Zhao Xiang's fists clench slightly, his whole body trembling, Song Shi'an felt that this guy was about to explode.
However, Wei Wusheng's eyes remained ice-cold, like an abyss.
If you dare raise your head to glare at me directly, I'll kill you.
"..." Biting his lip, Zhao Xiang slowly raised his head. But just as his gaze was about to meet His Highness's, he stopped. His head lowered again. "Yes."
"Demote Zhao Xiang from Centurion to common soldier. He will participate in digging trenches and live among the troops."
With one sentence, Wei Wusheng reduced Zhao Xiang to a mere grunt who could die at any moment in battle, reduced to a statistic.
Unlike a Centurion, who was a proper important junior officer and basically never engaged in direct combat himself. After all, if a Centurion died, the hundred soldiers under his command would lose their commander, which was detrimental to the battle.
"You others failed to admonish Zhao Xiang and instead engaged in such flattering and sycophantic behavior. All of you are demoted two ranks."
Next, Wei Wusheng passed judgment on the officials in the front row who had come to greet them.
"This subordinate acknowledges his fault."
In unison, the generals and officials in the back row all knelt and admitted their mistakes.
"Where is General Ran Jin?" Wei Wusheng asked again.
At this point, a Deputy General spoke up: "General Ran is overseeing the construction of the city defenses and did not come."
"Good."
Wei Wusheng responded casually, then said: "There are large quantities of supplies on the ships. Since you're here, you'll be responsible for supervising their transport and escorting them back to the city."
Everyone: "Yes!"
After making these arrangements, Wei Wusheng cracked his whip against his horse's rump and galloped toward the city.
Song Shi'an, along with Xinyue and some of the personal guard cavalry, quickly followed.
While riding, Wei Wusheng called out to Song Shi'an: "How was that?"
Song Shi'an broke into a smile and shouted back against the wind: "Now throughout all of Shuofeng, whatever Your Highness says, goes."
He was very pleased with Little Wei's performance.
He could only do his own part well and had no way to make demands of a prince. Even if he screwed up, at most Song Shi'an could only offer suggestions.
But this partner was so ruthless—coming right out with a whip to the face. This was too perfect.
Others killed the chicken to frighten the monkey, but he went straight for capturing the ringleader.
Naturally, this would maximize his authority and control.
"Last night, I was quite anxious."
But Wei Wusheng showed no signs of being carried away by the praise. Instead, he said quite seriously: "From now on, I won't hold you back."
With that, he spurred his horse faster, overtaking Song Shi'an.
Ah! Your Highness, I've discovered that you really take things extremely seriously!
Song Shi'an wasn't particularly alarmed. After all, Little Wei wouldn't dare to turn on him now. He just genuinely felt the incredible pride emanating from the other man.
Perhaps Xinyue unconsciously following him had been quite a shock to Wei Wusheng's system...
Whatever, whatever~
Taking over authority was most important. This less-than-ten-li journey, after obtaining the military tally and official seals, allowed Wei Wusheng and his group to ride directly to the city gates.
At this point, he saw a rather stern-looking general personally directing the construction of the city moat.
Seeing the Sixth Prince's banner approaching, he quickly came forward to greet them, then knelt on one knee early, calling out loudly before they could dismount: "This guilty general Ran Jin pays his respects to Your Highness!"
Wei Wusheng immediately reined in his horse, then dismounted smoothly and personally helped Ran Jin to his feet: "General Ran, please rise."
Grace and majesty together.
This didn't only mean slapping one person while giving them a sweet date.
It could also mean slapping one person while giving another person a sweet date.
This Ran Jin was also a descendant of the meritorious nobility, from the Ran clan of Qin Prefecture. His great-aunt (his grandfather's sister) had been the previous Empress—the late Empress Dowager Ran.
In this campaign against Ji Yuan, Zhao Xiang had personally led fifty thousand troops, with dozens of generals at the Deputy General rank and above under his command. Among them, Ran Jin was his Vice General, though he could also be considered a colleague.
General Who Pacifies the Liao, Marquis of Chenxiang.
"In Zhao Xiang's reckless advance, the General tried many times to dissuade him. And after the defeat, the General preserved his own forces and personally covered the rear, preventing our army from being completely annihilated. The fault does not lie with the General." Wei Wusheng consoled him.
"In this disastrous defeat, all the generals share responsibility. This guilty general requests to be stripped of his position and title."
"Since the court has not issued an edict, they must have their own considerations." Wei Wusheng said quite amiably. "Right now, our priority should be defending Shuofeng."
"Your command!"
After responding, Ran Jin asked somewhat puzzled: "Your Highness, do a thousand Forbidden Army troops really have this kind of presence?"
The troops were swarming everywhere, and in the distance on the Chishui River, there were over fifty warships.
Normally speaking, for a thousand Forbidden Army light troops, five large ships would be enough.
"I've transferred the troops and supplies from Langya."
Wei Wusheng solemnly informed him.
"?"
Ran Jin was directly stunned, his eyes widening.
"I'll take all the responsibility. No one else will be implicated. Right now, I only need the General to assist me in defending Shuofeng." Wei Wusheng's eyes were resolute.
"This general will spare no effort."
Ran Jin clasped his hands in salute and responded resoundingly.
Just as he could only advise when Zhao Xiang advanced recklessly, Ran Jin, as second-in-command, after stating his opinions, had nothing left but absolute obedience and assistance in execution.
At this moment, Song Shi'an finally caught up on horseback. But he didn't even stop, riding straight through the city gates while calling out: "Your Highness, I'm going ahead!"
"Shi'an, do what you must."
Wei Wusheng smiled and nodded.
"Is that the jieyuan?" Ran Jin asked curiously, watching Song Shi'an's retreating figure.
"Yes, the 'bookish scholar who'll become a Marquis of Ten Thousand Households'—that's him." After saying this, Wei Wusheng asked teasingly, "What does the General think?"
After thinking it over, Ran Jin commented: "He's quite handsome."
………
Wei Wusheng and Song Shi'an had already clearly divided their responsibilities.
His Highness managed the military, and Song Shi'an handled civil administration.
So he rode straight toward the county yamen.
At this time, a lean middle-aged man in blue robes had long been waiting at the yamen entrance.
After he dismounted, the man proactively greeted him: "Paying respects to Your Honor."
"Magistrate Jiang?" Song Shi'an asked.
"I am Jiang Cong." Magistrate Jiang answered.
"Magistrate Jiang has committed no fault, and the court has not demoted you either. I was sent here for another purpose, so there's no need to be so formal." Song Shi'an grasped his hand and said with a smile, "I'm young—Magistrate Jiang can just call me Shi'an. In Shuofeng, you and I are both county magistrates."
Hearing these words, Jiang Cong smiled and said quite amicably: "How can one county have two magistrates? Shi'an need not be concerned. To come to Shuofeng at such a time—how could it be to compete with me for this mere county position? Rest assured, I will fully assist you."
"Then I thank you."
"Please—"
Jiang Cong extended his hand in invitation and led Song Shi'an toward the prison office adjacent to the county yamen.
As they walked, he explained: "The county yamen was requisitioned as the General's mansion, so the magistrate's duties are all handled from the prison office. Though it's crude and damp, it has all the essentials."
"What about the original prisoners?"
"They all went to dig trenches. If we manage to defend the city this time, they'll be pardoned." Jiang Cong joked darkly, "Perhaps they're the only ones happy that Ji Yuan is coming."
Song Shi'an quite liked this kind of dark humor found among the military or lower-level officials.
It always felt like a small comfort to brighten an otherwise dull and dreary life.
The two quickly arrived at the prison office, at what was originally the office of the Rank 9 'Chief Clerk.'
It was truly dark—even in daytime, candlelight was needed for illumination.
Very prison-aesthetic.
"The household registry, archives, and maps are all here." As he spoke, Jiang Cong took down an extremely thick bound volume from the shelf. "The household registry for the city is basically all here. Military households excluded, there are a total of eleven thousand, two hundred and forty-three people."
As he introduced it, Song Shi'an began flipping through.
Seeing some entries in red, he asked curiously: "These red ones—are they deceased?"
"They're the powerful clans." Jiang Cong laughed.
"Powerful clans are specially marked in red? Even the Sheng'an household registry office doesn't do this." Song Shi'an said in surprise.
"Local areas are different from the imperial capital, especially in the counties—small temples with strong winds from demons." Jiang Cong explained. "This was required by the previous magistrate, out of fear of 'conducting routine business' and inadvertently offending some important person. After all, we're just county magistrates, mere Rank 7 officials. If we carelessly offend someone, we might lose even our official caps."
"Shuofeng has many powerful clans." Song Shi'an sighed.
"That Master Zhang in the city is the uncle-in-law of the current Inspector of Liang Prefecture."
"Indeed, a mere Rank 7 magistrate wouldn't dare offend him." Song Shi'an asked curiously, "But if they're so noble, how are they still in the city? Haven't they evacuated?"
"In the past, before battles, they would evacuate separately. But when General Zhao arrived, he said there would be a unified military withdrawal and didn't allow them to leave piecemeal. Later, when he said they wouldn't evacuate after all, he used military discipline as the reason, saying everyone had a duty to defend their land, and didn't let a single powerful clan family leave the city."
"Is that being upright and unyielding?" Song Shi'an laughed. "No, he knew he couldn't escape, so he simply made everyone go down with him."
Zhao Xiang: I'm going to die, so what makes you think you can run? Die together with this master!
"Haha." Jiang Cong also appreciated Song Shi'an's humor and even praised him: "Shi'an really sees through to the heart of things."
"So these powerful clans are all exempt from corvée labor, right?" Song Shi'an suddenly looked up and asked.
Jiang Cong slowly nodded and said: "Even at a time like this, the county yamen still can't conscript them."
The reasoning was actually quite simple.
Making them come wouldn't help much. But if the city was successfully defended, they would definitely hold a grudge afterward.
Even if the city fell and these county officials all died, they still had family members who could be targeted by the relatives of those powerful clans outside the city, forcing them to struggle through life.
Therefore, it was better to just pretend they didn't exist.
"Indeed."
Casually flipping through the household registry, Song Shi'an said lightly: "They're all respectable people. How could they do dirty work?"
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