Chapter 300: Miracle |
Usually at noon when imperial court was dismissed, these ministers were quite leisurely, and with the beautiful autumn scenery, they would typically walk along while chatting about which restaurant to dine at.
But today was different. As dismissal time approached, these ministers filed out in succession.
Once outside the imperial city, some mounted carriages, others took sedan chairs, and still others walked, scattering in all directions.
“Brother, slow down!” Su Zhe called out, chasing after Su Shi.
“I can’t slow down. This is a major case – we absolutely cannot let others snatch it away.” Su Shi’s pace quickened even more.
Su Zhe said anxiously, “Brother, this matter is not simple. Don’t be impulsive.”
Su Shi replied, “What’s impulsive about it? This is the responsibility of the prosecutor’s office.”
Suddenly someone nearby said, “This is clearly the responsibility of my legal aid office.”
“Hmm?”
But Fan Chunren said, “If something really serious happens, I will immediately apply to return to the prosecutor’s office.”
“Return to the prosecutor’s office?”
Su Shi suddenly remembered that Fan Chunren seemed to be his direct superior, and his mind stirred: “Mr. Fan, this matter has blown up so big, and the number of litigants could reach several hundred. Why don’t we each take responsibility for a portion?”
But Fan Chunren said, “As deputy prosecutor, you should assist me.”
Su Shi replied, “As prosecutor, you should consider the big picture. Leave the courtroom litigation to me.”
“I cannot easily entrust such a major matter to you.” Fan Chunren shook his head.
Su Zhe caught up from behind, breathing heavily: “You two… you two, stop arguing first. This matter isn’t even clear yet.”
Before Su Shi could respond, Fan Chunren said, “They actually used such reckless methods. Even if they had good reason, it’s still inappropriate.”
Su Shi nodded repeatedly: “Right now that place must be in chaos with blood flowing like rivers. If we don’t hurry to stop it, the consequences could be unimaginable.”
“Faster, faster! Haven’t we arrived yet? How is this carriage slower than walking?”
Sima Guang, who usually disliked riding in carriages, had today brazenly requisitioned an official carriage and was rushing with Wen Yanbo and Lu Gongzhu toward the densely populated residential area west of Guanyin Temple.
Seeing Sima Guang restless and sweating profusely, Lu Gongzhu comforted him: “Sima Guang, don’t be anxious yet. I think this matter may not necessarily be true. They’ve done quite well before, with everything orderly. How could they suddenly become so reckless? Could the news be mistaken?”
Wen Yanbo shook his head: “The news cannot be mistaken. Reports of police forcibly demolishing civilian houses came from over twenty places simultaneously – it can’t all be false.”
Lu Gongzhu frowned: “If it’s true, then the consequences are unimaginable. Won’t the common people fight them desperately?”
Upon hearing this, Sima Guang could imagine the scene in his mind – a group of police going to demolish people’s houses would surely result in wails everywhere.
He clenched his right fist and struck his left palm hard, letting out an extremely vexed “Aiya!”
He was someone in the know. If something really went wrong, even if Zhang Fei didn’t expose him, he felt he couldn’t escape blame. In his heart, he cursed Zhang Fei half to death.
This time he definitely wouldn’t let that boy off lightly.
He truly never expected that Zhang Fei would resort directly to force, because previously Zhang Fei had only used one method over and over – lawsuits.
After a while longer, they heard the driver call out and the carriage slowly stopped.
“Reporting to Lord Wen!”
Before the driver could finish speaking, Sima Guang rushed out directly.
However, the scene before his eyes greatly shocked him.
On the empty street, there were no wails everywhere as expected. He only saw a few men cleaning up stoves by their doorways.
Sima Guang turned back to the driver: “Did we go to the wrong place? Where is this?”
Wen Yanbo, who came out after him, looked around: “No mistake, this should be the place.”
The driver scratched his head: “All the shacks outside have been demolished.”
“All demolished?”
Lu Gongzhu got down from the carriage and looked in surprise at the empty street ahead.
It couldn’t be!
They had just received the news three hours ago—how could everything possibly have been demolished already?
Sima Guang hurried over and asked a man who was cleaning up a stove: “Excuse me, brother, what happened here?”
The man saw that Sima Guang was wearing official robes and quickly replied: “Your Lordship, everything here has already been torn down. You might want to go look elsewhere.”
Wen Yanbo, who had come up behind him, asked: “Was anyone injured?”
The man quickly shook his head: “No, no, no! We just asked a question, but we didn’t resist.”
Wen Yanbo was startled. “You didn’t resist?”
“Really, we didn’t.”
The man said: “We even helped with the demolition, otherwise it wouldn’t have been so fast.”
“…?”
The three men were instantly dumbfounded.
What was this situation?
When had the people of the Great Song become so reasonable?
Lu Gongzhu said: “Why don’t we go look elsewhere.”
Maybe this was just an isolated case?
This was too incredible!
The three men immediately got back in their carriage and headed north toward the residential area east of Horse Market Street.
At Provincial Bridge.
“What?”
Su Shi, who had just arrived, exclaimed: “Everything was demolished?”
The elderly woman before him said: “Yes! All torn down.”
Fan Chunren asked: “How many people did they bring?”
“Several dozen.”
“Only several dozen?”
Su Zhe was completely bewildered. Hundreds of people could easily gather here—how could it have been so easy? He asked in confusion: “You just let them tear everything down?”
The elderly woman, seeing they were all officials, said: “We know those patrol officers were doing this for our own good. They were afraid of fires spreading too fast for the fire brigade to respond in time. Besides, they promised to compensate us for our stalls, so of course we were willing.”
Su Shi asked curiously: “Compensate you for your stalls?”
“Yes!”
The woman said: “One patrol officer said His Majesty would open up Imperial Avenue for us poor folk and allow us to set up stalls there.”
“You believed that?” Su Shi blurted out.
The woman’s face showed alarm. “Were they lying to us?”
“No, no.”
Fan Chunren quickly said: “We’re just asking around to see if anyone was injured.”
The woman hurried to say: “Actually, one person did get hurt.”
“Did the patrol officers beat him?”
“No, he accidentally twisted his ankle while helping with the demolition.”
“Helping with the demolition?”
“We all helped tear things down.”
“Good, as long as no one was seriously injured! Sorry to bother you.”
Fan Chunren bowed respectfully.
After the woman left, Su Shi said: “They’re deceiving people! Even if they open Imperial Avenue, how could it accommodate so many vendors?”
Fan Chunren first breathed a sigh of relief, then said: “Since they dared to say such things, they must have their own plans. The important thing is that no one was injured.”
He looked back at the street again, feeling as if he were dreaming.
How was this possible?
On Theatre Street.
An old man and a young man walked along the debris-strewn street, watching the common people cleaning up.
These two were Lu Huiqing and Wang Anshi.
“The process was the same in all three locations. First someone set fires with torches, then the police captain threatened mutual destruction with his torch to intimidate the people, and then used the lure of Imperial Avenue, combining fear and inducement to make these people completely compliant.”
“Needless to say, the person who raised the torch must have been bought off by them long ago,” Wang Anshi said with a smile.
Lu Huiqing nodded: “That’s what I think too.”
“Zhang San’s move really struck at their vital point,” Wang Anshi said.
Lu Huiqing asked: “What do you mean by that, Mentor?”
Wang Anshi smiled and asked: “If you were to handle this, how do you think those powerful families would oppose it?”
“Naturally they would use these common people…” As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Huiqing suddenly realized. “Teacher, you mean Zhang San’s strategy is to deal with these poor people first, then handle the powerful families?”
Wang Anshi smiled: “It must be so, but it has to be fast. Even delaying one night, given the influence of those powerful families, the situation could change.”
At this point, he sighed: “This is a move we couldn’t use.”
His was a nationwide reform—he couldn’t win through speed.
Lu Huiqing said: “But now they’ve only cleared twenty-some relatively dense streets. There are still many instances of street encroachment.”
Wang Anshi said: “If the opposing side tries to incite the people to cause trouble, they must concentrate their manpower to quickly escalate the situation. These places are the most dangerous. As for those scattered areas, they won’t be able to cause much of a stir for the time being.
If I were Zhang San, I would tell those people that there are limited stalls on Imperial Avenue, first come first served, and those people would immediately invite the patrol police to demolish their areas.”
Lu Huiqing nodded slightly, suddenly thinking of something. “Imperial Avenue indeed cannot accommodate so many stalls.”
Wang Anshi pondered for a long while. “I’m not clear on this either, but I think since he dares to say this, he must have a way to solve it.”
Fast!
This was truly too fast!
In just one morning, they had quickly demolished twenty-three densely populated residential areas within the city.
This left these court officials, accustomed to their leisurely pace, feeling as if they were in a dream.
You young people don’t follow proper etiquette!
Previously, when the police was demolishing ward walls, they had been so unhurried, everything orderly and methodical. Even now, those ward walls still hadn’t been completely demolished.
The pace had been quite nice and suitable for them.
Moreover, it had fully demonstrated the fact that the Police Bureau was understaffed.
At the time, they had figured that the police would definitely proceed step by step. Even if they were to work simultaneously, there would be a process. Based on their experience, it would take at least three months at the fastest.
As long as the police dared to demolish houses, they could incite the people to cause trouble, to charge into battle for them and oppose the police.
This was their usual routine.
After all, street encroachment was indeed a violation. They couldn’t very well go to Zhao Xu and say, “I’m just violating the rules, I just won’t demolish.” On the surface, everyone still had to be reasonable and follow the law.
As soon as the people caused trouble, it would be “competing with the people for benefits” and “disrupting people’s livelihoods.”
Moreover, after they lost track of Cao Dongdong and his group, they all worried about being caught off guard, so they had long since bribed some people in these densely populated residential areas.
As soon as the patrol police came to demolish, they told these people to just cause trouble – “We’ve got your back.”
But they never expected that the other side had also arranged plants, and their plants were even more ruthless. No matter how fiercely they protested, no one dared to actually set fire to houses – that would truly result in mutual destruction.
The key point was that the police hadn’t used their existing patrol officers. They had been keeping watch on those patrol officers all along, never imagining that the police would directly transfer three battalions from the Divine Guard Army – a total of fifteen hundred men.
In one morning, they reformed twenty-three densely populated residential areas within the capital.
It was truly as swift as lightning.
Although they now knew that the torch-bearer was definitely an inside agent arranged by the police, they had no evidence whatsoever.
No accidents had occurred. If they complained to the emperor, the emperor would only praise the Police Bureau for doing a beautiful job.
Such a major project completed in one morning, and without causing public resentment.
It deserved praise.
Now it was a done deal.
What could they do?
Stall relocation.
Where on Imperial Avenue were there so many stalls?
Even if they filled the entire Imperial Avenue, it wouldn’t be enough.
So they seized on this point, claiming that the Police Bureau was deceiving people, that everyone must not believe them, because they couldn’t possibly provide so many stalls.
Never mind the rest – just for these twenty-plus residential areas that had already been demolished, Imperial Avenue couldn’t accommodate them.
“Come, come, come, Little Ma, let’s toast Captain Cao together. In this mission, Captain Cao has truly rendered distinguished service!”
“Brother, Xiao Ma toasts you!”
“Not at all! Not at all! Bottoms up!”
Cao Dongdong set down his wine cup, wiped his mouth, and said: “LittleMa, you didn’t see how mighty your brother was at the time. Holding that torch and threatening to set fire – it really scared those people badly. A few old ladies even cried from fright. Haha!”
Ma Xiaoyi said in bewilderment: “Wasn’t this all arranged?”
Cao Dongdong immediately became dejected. Couldn’t he drink and brag a little?
“Little Ma, you can’t put it that way.” Zhang Fei waved his hand. “This also requires acting skills. At that moment, whoever’s hand trembled first would lose.”
Cao Dongdong immediately said: “Zhang San, this young master toasts you.”
Just as he raised his cup, the door was pushed open.
Cao Ping stood at the doorway with a dark expression. “You’re already drinking?”
“Father!”
Cao Dongdong said: “Your son has achieved great merit and should properly celebrate.”
Cao Ping glared at him and walked in.
Zhang Fei hurriedly stood up. “Commissioner, please have a seat.”
Cao Ping sat down with authority. “Although you completed this mission well, celebrating now is premature. You only cleared those densely populated residential areas, but many street encroachment violations still exist.
Now rumors are spreading outside that our Police Bureau is deceiving the people, claiming that Imperial Avenue can’t possibly provide so many stalls for relocation. You should act quickly, otherwise if the people believe them, we’ll inevitably face difficulties in the future.”
Zhang Fei smiled. “Commissioner, please don’t worry. Imperial Avenue is just a deliberate gap I left to let them use it to incite panic.”
Cao Ping asked curiously, “Why is that?”
Zhang Fei said, “Without inciting panic, the people won’t come asking for demolition. Commissioner, please wait one more day. After one day, our headquarters will be bustling with visitors.”
Cao Ping asked curiously, “But there really aren’t enough stalls on Imperial Avenue!”
Zhang Fei said, “I plan to incorporate the street from Xiang-guo Temple’s west gate to Imperial Avenue into the Imperial Avenue area. Won’t that provide more space? Moreover, this street will definitely prosper in the future.”
Cao Ping asked in confusion, “When did you visit Xiang-guo Temple?”
Ma Xiaoyi also asked curiously, “Brother San, my family has connections at Xiang-guo Temple. Why didn’t you ask me for help?”
Zhang Fei said, “I never went to Xiang-guo Temple.”
“Then on what basis are you requisitioning it?”
“I checked and found that Xiang-guo Temple has street encroachment violations in many places. It’s also one of our rectification targets. Moreover, I’ll tell them this street requisition is specifically for the Empress Dowager and His Majesty to enter Xiang-guo Temple for incense and prayers. It’s just that during normal times, it will be available for the people to conduct business.”
As public opinion fermented, this indeed caused panic among the people, including those whose properties had already been demolished, who feared being deceived.
But since the demolitions were already done, they could only wait for the results.
Just then, the long-absent newspaper suddenly appeared in major restaurants.
The article in the newspaper was issued in the name of the Police Bureau. It first praised the Police Bureau’s great achievements during this period, detailing how many shacks were demolished and how many ward walls were torn down.
It also stated that there were indeed insufficient stalls on Imperial Avenue, so they had to find other locations for people to set up stalls. It announced that the entire street from west of Xiang-guo Temple to Imperial Avenue would be incorporated into the Imperial Avenue area to make up for the shortage of stalls.
If people applied at the Police Bureau and voluntarily demolished their structures, it would be first-come, first-served.
Imperial Avenue ran north to south, dividing east and west, and Xiang-guo Temple was the most prosperous area. Once fully opened, the commercial value of this street would be unimaginable!
If the Police Bureau had tried to conceal this, people probably wouldn’t have believed it.
But since the Police Bureau was so forthright, the people immediately believed it without doubt.
Besides, they had demolished so much in just one morning – could anyone escape?
The question then arose: even counting the street connecting Imperial Avenue to Xiang-guo Temple, this definitely wouldn’t be enough. Where would future relocations be placed?
The newspaper didn’t say – perhaps it would be at the city corners.
Since demolition was inevitable, it was better to go early and secure a good spot.
The day after the news bulletin was published, every police station was packed with people.
“Let go of me! Let go of me! The police are beating people! The police are beating people!”
Hearing the commotion, they saw two policemen, each holding an arm, dragging a man out.
What was this about?
The people in line watched with anxiety.
“Stop!”
Hearing a shout, they saw Fan Chunren walking over. “What are you doing?”
He had been keeping watch all along.
His original willingness to go to the Legal Aid Office was precisely to monitor this Police Bureau.
The man seemed to recognize Fan Chunren and quickly shouted, “Mr. Fan, you must seek justice for me!”
Finally caught them in the act. Fan Chunren said excitedly, “What injustice have you suffered?”
The man said, “My house also encroaches on the street, but they won’t demolish mine. They’re showing favoritism and bending the law. I want to sue them, I want to sue them.”
Three black lines appeared on Fan Chunren’s forehead. He bowed to the two policemen. “Sorry! Sorry! This is just a misunderstanding.”
The two policemen continued dragging the man outside.
At that moment, a patrol officer suddenly stepped out and began scolding, “What are you people doing? Don’t you have anything better to do? The newspaper made it very clear—only those street encroachments that obstruct traffic, occupy drainage ditches, or pose fire hazards can apply for demolition here.
What are people from Horse Market Street and Bian River Street doing here? Are you here for the spectacle? Those of you with street encroachments should go to the Bureau of Records to pay taxes. Don’t loiter here—we don’t need more work piled on us. How unreasonable! Oh, Mr. Fan, my goodness, how wonderful to see you.”
The speaker was Zhang Fei. Upon seeing Fan Chunren, he immediately walked over. “Mr. Fan, if you have time, could you take these idle people over there to pay taxes? All sorts of people are coming here requesting demolitions, trying to muddy the waters. We don’t have that many stalls to exchange with them.”
The people waiting in line nearby heard this and thought, “Oh my! What he means is that if the application succeeds, you can get a stall in exchange. If it doesn’t succeed, you don’t need to demolish either—you just need to pay taxes. But you still have to pay taxes!”
The queue immediately became even more compact, with everyone afraid of being cut in line.
Fan Chunren was so exasperated he had to laugh. He bowed with his hands clasped, “Your methods are truly masterful.”
The man who had been thrown out earlier was still indignant, cursing and grumbling as he walked toward a nearby alley.
In the alley stood a middle-aged man dressed in scholarly robes.
It was Feng Nanxi.
“Not a bad performance.”
Feng Nanxi pulled out a string of copper coins from a bundle beside him and handed it to the man.
The man smiled, “Brother Feng, if there’s another good opportunity like this in the future, please come find me again.”
Feng Nanxi nodded, “There will definitely be opportunities. If you can keep your mouth shut, I’ll look for you again next time.”
“Don’t worry, Brother Feng. My mouth is very tight.”
“Go on then.”
“Yes.”
However, Feng Nanxi never imagined that this scene was secretly observed by two elderly men.
These two elderly men were none other than Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo.
But they also didn’t realize that Feng Nanxi wasn’t actually serving Zhang Fei, but was using this incident to develop informants for the Tax Bureau.
“That rascal’s underhanded methods are truly endless!”
Sima Guang couldn’t help but curse.
Wen Yanbo stroked his beard, “But compared to the enormity of this task, these minor methods are harmless. Not a single person was hurt—it’s truly miraculous!”
Sima Guang stroked his beard and smiled, “Now that all the water has been drained from this pond, those big fish have nowhere to hide!”
“This move is indeed brilliant! If we had handled it, we would have made an example by killing the chicken to warn the monkeys, starting with those in power. But he did the opposite, starting with the common people, yet achieved remarkable results. If I were Wang Anshi, I would spare no cost to recruit this person to my side.” Wen Yanbo gave Zhang Fei extremely high praise.
Sima Guang laughed, “If Zhang San wanted to serve Wang Anshi, he would have agreed long ago—he wouldn’t have waited until now. That boy is quite shrewd. Setting aside the merits and flaws of the New Policies, Wang Anshi’s reforms involve the entire nation, not just this small patch of land in Bianjing. No matter how capable Zhang San is, he only has one pair of eyes and simply couldn’t oversee everything.”
At the Police Bureau!
While people were still queuing outside, Zhang Fei had already moved to the next step.
His plan could be summarized in one word—speed!
He couldn’t give those in power time to react.
“Good! Now that we’ve confiscated all their swords, bows, and armor, it’s time to settle scores and air grievances.”
“It’s a pity Han Pan went to Daming Prefecture, otherwise I would definitely go after the Han family.”
Cao Dongdong sighed with regret, “Never mind, I’ll go to the Gu family instead.”
Zhang Fei said irritably, “You have so many enemies, just pick one randomly. I’m going to the Gu family personally.”
Cao Dongdong said, “I need to go with you.”
Ma Xiaoyi quickly added, “Everyone who was there should get a share. I was there too, so I want to go as well.”
“Fine! Then the three of us will go together. However!”
Zhang Fei suddenly pulled out two sheets of paper, “But before we get our revenge, you two have another task to complete.”
“What task?”
“Go collect the street encroachment taxes from these two families.”
With that, Zhang Fei handed the two sheets of paper to them respectively.
The two men took them and looked.
“Huh? Why does this location look so familiar to me!” Ma Xiaoyi looked at it and suddenly exclaimed, “Isn’t this my house?”
Cao Dongdong also said, “This is my house!”
As he spoke, his eyes flashed with menace. “Zhang San, you’re making me collect taxes from my own family?”
Ma Xiaoyi also said, “Brother San, what you’re doing here is really not right.”
Zhang Fei consoled them, “Young Master, Little Ma, just a small street encroachment fee in exchange for the positions of Deputy Comissioner and Captain – it’s a total steal! The key point is, this money will all be used to fund our Police Bureau. Gu Shaoqing and the others are the ones who will lose out.”
Deputy Commissioner.
Cao Dongdong immediately groaned with pleasure.
When Ma Xiaoyi heard “Captain,” his eyes also flashed eagerly, though his mouth said uneasily, “But my father will beat me to death.”
“That’s even simpler.”
Zhang Fei directly snatched the papers back from their hands, crossed his hands, and handed them back to them again. “Wouldn’t this work?”
Ma Xiaoyi’s eyes lit up. “Big brother, that’s a great idea! I’ll collect taxes from your house, you collect taxes from my house, and neither of us will get beaten.”
Cao Dongdong suddenly looked at Zhang Fei. “Zhang San, who’s going to collect from your house?”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei couldn’t help but look dejected and sighed. “Don’t mention it. I’d actually like to be taxed, but the thing is, I don’t have a house.”