Chapter 299: Speed is of the Essence |
The most tragic thing in this world was nothing more than having a bustling crowd in front of your shop, but all of them were customers for the neighboring store.
This was exactly the situation at the Legal Aid Office at that moment.
Fan Chunren naturally felt unwilling to accept this, so he swallowed his pride and ran directly next door to compete for business.
The queue had extended all the way to my shop entrance – how outrageous!
“Young man, I wonder if the General Police Bureau has forced you to come here and pay money?”
“Who are you? What are your intentions?”
The young man immediately looked at Fan Chunren with a cautious expression.
Fan Chunren hurriedly explained, “I’m from the Legal Aid Office. If they have coerced you, you can come to me to file a complaint. I will advocate for you free of charge.”
“Oh my! You pen-in-caps are truly devious. To make money, you’re actually trying to incite us to litigation – how outrageous! Go away! Move along!”
Fan Chunren looked utterly dejected.
Don’t you understand what “free” means?
A middle-aged man dressed as a merchant suddenly said, “You young fellow really don’t know what’s good for you. You don’t even recognize Master Fan. When you truly encounter a lawsuit in the future, don’t come here seeking help.”
The young man looked at Fan Chunren with unease.
Fan Chunren didn’t hold it against him, but instead offered an apology: “It was improper of me to ask such questions and frighten this young man, but I meant no harm.”
The young man also hurriedly said, “My apologies! Please don’t lower yourself to my level, sir.”
“Not at all! Not at all!” Fan Chunren laughed.
Suddenly someone behind them said, “Master Fan’s suspicions are quite reasonable. This rushing to pay money to the government is truly a great wonder! They must be under coercion.”
Everyone turned around to see a disheveled old man walking over.
Fan Chunren nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
The merchant uncle laughed, “Old brother, you misunderstand. We came here voluntarily – no one forced us.”
The old man shook his head repeatedly, “How is this possible? Those walls have already been built. If we don’t pay these ten strings of cash, would the government really tear down our buildings?”
The merchant uncle said, “Though that may be true, what if they really did tear them down? We’d suffer huge losses. Besides, even if they don’t tear them down, we still have to pay this money!”
The old man asked curiously, “What’s the logic behind this?”
Fan Chunren also looked at the uncle with curiosity.
The merchant uncle explained, “Because the Ma and Chen families have already announced publicly that for any houses with street encroachment, they will only recognize these newly issued property deeds. Otherwise, the encroached land won’t count toward the property’s measurements.
The reason is they can’t guarantee that the government won’t tear them down in the future. If we don’t pay these ten strings, we’ll lose at least a hundred strings when selling the property later.”
Fan Chunren nodded slightly.
Housing loans had already become deeply ingrained in people’s minds. If the Ma family didn’t provide loans, these houses would be hard to sell!
Someone nearby suddenly said, “On many streets, without connections, people wouldn’t dare randomly encroach. Like my family – normally I only dared to set up a small shed and put out two extra wine tables, which I couldn’t even use in winter. But now I can build a small shed house. I only need to pay ten strings, but it counts as part of my land.”
“I see.”
Fan Chunren nodded and gestured for the old man to sit inside.
This old man was none other than Wang Anshi.
While Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo went to conduct on-site inspections, he didn’t – he was focused on the money.
Because he knew the key lay in the money, not in the demolition and construction.
As long as the money was in place, demolition could take place anytime.
Back at the Legal Aid Office.
Fan Chunren brewed a cup of tea for Wang Anshi.
Wang Anshi held the teacup and smiled, “It’s a pity you currently hold no official position. If you were in the Censorate, you could memorialize to impeach the General Police Bureau for competing with the people for profit – they’re really grabbing money next door!”
His words were full of sarcasm.
He actually admired Fan Chunren’s private virtue, but Fan Chunren could never align with him politically, and had always opposed him in the past.
Fan Chunren smiled, “Currently the General Police Bureau is merely using encorached land to win over these common people and merchants, but I believe the General Police Bureau’s intention is definitely not to benefit the people. The real show is yet to come – Academician Wang need not be anxious.”
Wang Anshi chuckled, “I know the real show is yet to come, but I want to ask you one question: have they done anything wrong?”
Fan Chunren stroked his beard, “What is Academician Wang referring to?”
Wang Anshi said, “The street reforms, of course!”
Fan Chunren said, “I’m referring to the potential bribery and injustice that may occur.”
So far, the General Police Bureau’s reform plan had proceeded exceptionally smoothly, with praise heard everywhere.
The common people were practically begging the General Police Bureau to come reorganize their streets.
They needed it.
But the officials all knew this was merely an illusion.
The killing blow would come later.
Don’t celebrate too early.
However, the scholars’ voices of doubt were quickly drowned out by the people’s cheers, and opposing public opinion never managed to form.
This made the court’s powerful figures quite anxious.
They could only curse the General Police Bureau as shameless.
This time you’re not publishing newspapers, not announcing your reform plans in advance.
They knew the entire plan.
But the task had been assigned to the General Police Bureau, and whether to issue announcements was up to the General Police Bureau to decide. What they said, the people didn’t believe, and without newspapers, they couldn’t shape public opinion.
Now what the people saw was the complete abolition of the ward system, allowing everyone to open shops facing the street.
Although they had to pay some money, with property prices so high, it was pure profit!
The powerful figures had no recourse, but they knew that sooner or later, their opponents’ fox tail would be revealed.
Now they were sending people everywhere to gather intelligence on the General Police Bureau.
But they gained nothing.
They didn’t even know the whereabouts of Cao Dongdong and Zhang Fei.
Not a single police captain could be found either.
Where had all these people gone?
This made them panic!
It clearly looked like they were preparing something big.
It turned out that Cao Dongdong, Zhang Fei, Ma Xiaoyi and the others were all hiding in a training ground at the Infantry Command outside the city.
Since the day the ward walls were demolished, no one had returned home, staying here the entire time.
Until the seventh day.
At the third watch of the night.
“You all remember your tasks, right?”
Cao Dongdong asked the police captains in an old-fashioned manner.
The police captains nodded.
They had been discussing this for seven or eight days, reviewing daily, memorizing daily – even an idiot would remember by now.
Cao Dongdong said, “Good, then go prepare. We depart at the fourth watch. The men and horses will be waiting for you at the designated locations.”
“Yes.”
After they left, Cao Dongdong nervously rubbed his hands together and asked Zhang Fei, who was yawning beside him, “Zhang San, there really won’t be any problems?”
Zhang Fei smiled, “Young Master must remember one thing: when doing bad deeds, you must be fast – speed is of the essence in warfare. But when doing good deeds, you should drag it out.”
Cao Dongdong’s eyes shifted, “That makes quite a bit of sense.”
At the Divine Guard Army camp.
A sound of gongs and drums rang out.
The Divine Guard soldiers awakened from their dreams, quickly got out of bed, and were about to get dressed when the door was pushed open heavily from outside, and firelight shone in.
A chest of clothes was thrown inside.
The squad leader at the door ordered, “Change into these, then immediately assemble at the training ground.”
The soldiers were all confused.
Changing clothes in the middle of the night – were they staging a rebellion?
They looked closely into the chest.
Huh?
Weren’t these police uniforms?
Changing into police uniforms in the middle of the night – what was this for?
Speaking of which, the Divine Guard Army’s clothes didn’t need measuring – their heights were almost all around five feet eight inches, as that was the standard for the top four armies of the empire.
At dawn, while the scholar-officials were still fast asleep, the residents south of Provincial Bridge had already washed and prepared to go out to work.
This was an extremely crowded residential area in Bianjing. With so many people, naturally many business opportunities appeared, leading many common people to build sheds in front of their homes and set up stalls for trade.
If you open one, then I must open one too – every little bit of money helps.
After all, it was public space.
Since the streets here were already narrow – not like Bian River Avenue or Horse Market Street – with so many sheds, many streets here could only allow one person to pass, and if two people met, they had to turn sideways.
A horse’s neigh was heard, and a handsome young man appeared, riding a fine tall horse and charging to the street entrance, followed by more than fifty patrol officers.
The residents were all stunned.
What was this about?
But then the young man gave an order, “Tear down all these street-encroaching sheds.”
This young man was none other than Cao Dongdong.
The tall patrol officers behind him immediately stepped forward, each carrying a bucket of water, first dousing the stoves beneath the sheds.
“What are you doing?”
“By what right are you tearing down our homes?”
“The soldiers are destroying our homes! The soldiers are destroying our homes!”
In an instant, the entire street erupted into chaos, with crying and shouting rising and falling in waves.
“I’ll fight you to the death!”
Several burly men jumped out, reaching out to block the patrol officers.
Cao Dongdong, still mounted on his horse, asked Zhang Fei in a low voice, “Are they our people?”
Zhang Fei replied, “Of course not. This kind of token resistance should be arranged by the other side.”
Cao Dongdong nodded.
After these burly men jumped out, many residents also began blocking the patrol officers, and both sides immediately engaged in physical conflict.
These small stalls were the only livelihood for many common people.
This was pushing them toward a dead end – if they were going to die either way, they might as well fight!
Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, a furious shout was heard.
“Stop! If you dare tear down my stall, I’ll die together with you all.”
A man was seen holding a torch, waving it at the patrol officers.
These patrol officers were all soldiers from the Divine Guard Army. They didn’t really know what they were doing – they were just following orders. Seeing this madman waving a torch around, they were all terrified.
If that fire caught, it really would mean mutual destruction.
The residents also gathered behind the man, each holding sticks and clubs, their faces fierce with shared hatred against the enemy.
Zhang Fei whispered, “Young Master, come down quickly. It’s time for your performance.”
“Our people?”
“Obviously! Would they dare do this otherwise?”
Cao Dongdong dismounted with a handsome flip, walking calmly toward the man holding the torch.
The man waved his torch, shouting at Cao Dongdong, “Don’t come any closer, I really will set it on fire.”
Cao Dongdong remained very composed, approaching the man and grasping his hand like lightning.
The torch shook, sparks scattered.
The residents all involuntarily flinched.
Bro, don’t actually light it.
Cao Dongdong smiled slightly and said, “You want to burn it? Come! I’ll teach you how to burn it.”
Pulling the man’s hand, he walked toward a nearby house.
Arriving under the eaves, Cao Dongdong looked up, then said to the man, “See the straw on the roof? This is the best place to light it.”
“No, no, don’t!”
“You can’t light it!”
“Please don’t!”
Those residents who had been brandishing sticks and clubs were now trembling with fear, as if they might wet themselves at any moment.
“Why are you shaking?”
Cao Dongdong glanced sideways at the man and said, “Don’t be afraid. I will die together with you.”
With that, he grabbed the man’s hand to light the straw.
Not just the residents – even the Divine Guard Army soldiers were terrified.
“Captain Cao, don’t be impulsive!”
“Don’t do it!”
Many people were so frightened they covered their eyes.
Only Zhang Fei stood to the side, completely calm.
With a thud, the torch dropped from the man’s hand.
A patrol officer, quick with his hands and eyes, rushed forward to immediately douse the torch.
Cao Dongdong flung the man’s hand away and shouted loudly, “Tear them all down.”
The patrol officers dared not delay and immediately began demolishing.
When faced with someone so reckless he didn’t fear death, many residents had already fainted from fright. Those who hadn’t fainted were trembling and no longer dared resist. Many elderly women sat down on the ground and began wailing.
At this moment, a handsome man appeared before them.
But it was useless.
What they lacked wasn’t lust, but money.
They cried even harder. No matter how handsome he was, wearing a patrol officer’s uniform made him a demon.
This handsome man was none other than Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei declared loudly, “Since you now know fear, you should understand why we must tear down your sheds. It’s very simple – we’re afraid of fires breaking out. Look at this place – if a fire started, you probably couldn’t even run out, and firefighters couldn’t get in to rescue you.”
A young man roared angrily: “I’ve been living here for over ten years, and I’ve never seen any fires break out.”
Zhang Fei smiled and said: “If there had been a fire, would you still be standing here talking to me?”
“But if you tear down our sheds, we’ll lose our livelihood and starve to death,” an elderly woman cried out.
Zhang Fei said: “We will compensate you with better stall locations.”
“What?”
The crying suddenly stopped.
He said compensation?
Zhang Fei continued: “His Majesty has always governed the country with benevolence, so how could he bear to see his subjects starve to death? But His Majesty also cannot bear to see his subjects living in danger.
To achieve the best of both worlds, His Majesty has decided to open up the entire Imperial Avenue for his subjects to make their living there. The locations on Imperial Avenue are much better than here. Once it opens, the entire street will be packed with people, which is far better than setting up stalls here. For every stall that is torn down today, we will provide you with a free rental of one stall there on a one-to-one basis.”
Someone groaned: “Is this really true? Are we really allowed to set up stalls on Imperial Avenue?”
Zhang Fei nodded: “Of course it’s true. Those whose sheds are being torn down can come register with me right now.”
That person immediately shouted: “His Majesty is wise and enlightened!”
Many of the elderly women didn’t understand these matters, but seeing everyone else’s reaction, they thought they must be getting a great deal and joined in shouting: “His Majesty is wise and enlightened!”
“His Majesty is wise and enlightened!”
The people suddenly all shouted in unison.
The “patrol officers” demolishing the buildings nearby felt something was rather strange.
Here I am tearing down your buildings, and you’re cheering me on.
This…
In one morning, the sheds along the entire street were torn down completely clean. After all, they were all built with wood, so demolishing them was very quick.
Zhang Fei breathed a sigh of relief and said: “Look for yourselves – isn’t it much neater now?”
The residents turned to look back. It was indeed much neater, but they could barely find their front doors anymore.