99: National Scholar

Chapter 99 National Scholar

Over the following few days, Zheng Yi continuously sent people to observe Abbot Fayuan of Tianlong Temple, keeping track of his whereabouts at all times.

After moving into Yanta Temple, Abbot Fayuan continued to lecture on Buddhist teachings all day long.

In less than three days, the more than one hundred monks of Yanta Temple became his loyal followers, treating him with the respect of a Disciple.

Afterwards, he organized a grand water and land ritual within Yanta Temple to propagate Buddhism, which lasted for seven days.

During these seven days, almost the entire capital was shaken.

Countless commoners, merchants, citizens, and even officials all rushed over to listen to the Buddhist teachings.

It even forced Yanta Temple to tear down its outer walls to accommodate the gathering believers.

This trend even spread to the outskirts of the capital, and countless devout men and women ran over from there just to catch a glimpse of Great Master Fayuan.

Even within the imperial court, quite a few officials began speaking up for Abbot Fayuan, striving to have Your Majesty grant Abbot Fayuan an audience.

As a result, this made Zheng Yi increasingly keep Great Master Fayuan at a respectful distance.

The intelligence brought back by Zhao Su Ling undoubtedly proved this point as well.

When he met Abbot Fayuan while carrying the Blood Moon Gu, he deliberately released the Blood Moon Gu, and Abbot Fayuan's reaction was equally abnormal.

He actually bluted out the name "spirit insect" and wanted to exchange other items for it, but Zhao Su Ling sternly refused.

From this, it could be seen that Abbot Fayuan must be a Cultivator!

However, judging from the present situation, Abbot Fayuan did not pose any danger to him, so he could only let him roam freely for the time being.

His attention had long been drawn to another matter.

The refugees of Yong Province had actually rebelled once more!

This time, the momentum was even greater, spreading even to surrounding places like Liang Province and Shu Province.

Moreover, the outbreak location was also intriguing: the Yong Province Grand Canal!

It was not just the refugees causing chaos; even the local commandery troops rebelled along with them.

Li Zhishan, the former Yong Province Military Governor who had performed poorly in suppressing the refugees, led his troops in rebellion, killing the Imperial Guards and Jinyi Guard stationed on both banks of the Grand Canal, seizing a massive amount of food supplies and equipment, and sparking a massive rebellion.

With the addition of regular soldiers, these rebels were like tigers given wings, instantly coalescing into hundreds of thousands of people and attacking prefecture cities.

By the time Zheng Yi received the intelligence, Changan Prefecture had already been taken!

Among them, Jinyi Guard Vice Commander Lu Lian died fighting to the bitter end!

Prince Yong, Zheng Zonghong, and his entire Family stationed in Yong Province were killed, and Prince Yong Zheng Zonghong himself was even placed into a giant cauldron by the rebels to be boiled, being consumed by countless rebels!

Zheng Yi immediately issued an order rebuking Minister Miao and the others for their ineffective suppression, while instructing them to continue leading troops to suppress the rebels in Yong Province.

At the same time, he dispatched the Jinyi Guard into Yong Province to investigate the cause of the refugee rebellion.

The Yong Province Grand Canal was Zheng Yi's first major project using relief work in place of charity.

It had an investment of nearly twenty million taels of silver, along with a massive amount of food supplies and heavy equipment, and the refugees were treated extremely well. Why did they suddenly surrender and rebel again?

On the tenth day of June in the sixth year of zhengyong.

Wang Anshi, who had escaped by jumping into a river with severe injuries, was rescued by the Jinyi Guard and secretly sent at top speed to White Jade Capital in the capital, where he was personally granted an audience by Your Majesty.

"Wang Anshi."

"This… this subject is here, cough, cough, cough…"

Although Wang Anshi had changed into a set of clean clothes at this moment, his complexion remained pale and his figure was gaunt, clearly showing he had not yet recovered from his severe injuries.

"You are the Military Historian of Yong Province. Tell Us, what on earth happened with the refugees of Yong Province?"

Wang Anshi's face was filled with bitterness and sorrow. Finally, he knelt helplessly on the ground, kowtowing with his head, and cried out in grief, "Your Majesty, this subject requests… the execution of the Families of Bing and Yong Provinces!"

"Even if nine out of ten Families are wiped out, it would not be an injustice!"

"Oh?"

Zheng Yi frowned and said, "What on earth happened?"

"Your Majesty!"

Wang Anshi took a deep breath and said, "We bore the imperial mandate to go to Yong and Bing Provinces to construct the Grand Canal. In the early stages, we needed to conduct on-site investigations to determine the exact location of the Grand Canal."

"Right at that time, local officials and members of the Families stepped forward to obstruct us in every possible way. Only after Lord Lu produced an imperial decree to execute three officials was the matter temporarily suppressed."

"When the refugees arrived and construction officially began, the officials and clerks managing the Grand Canal construction site began to secretly undermine things, embezzling the daily provisions of the refugees."

"They also secretly incited the refugees to strike and cause chaos in the market, causing the project to stall for several days."

"The reason turned out to be that the Grand Canal we were building required digging through their land, which is why they obstructed us in every conceivable way!"

"Hmm?"

Zheng Yi frowned and said, "Did We not say that all land occupied by the Grand Canal must be purchased with gold and silver, or exchanged for land of equal area? Why would they still make things difficult?"

"Your Majesty!"

Wang Anshi said, "To complete the Grand Canal, it would take at least eight to ten years. Yet the gold and silver allocated by us for purchasing land were embezzled by local officials, and less than one-tenth of the silver actually reached the hands of the landowners."

"As this went on, the resentment of the refugees grew increasingly explosive, and Lord Lu had to once again produce the Imperial Sword to execute the seventeen officials who had been investigated and found guilty of embezzling silver. Who would have thought that they would rebel on the spot!"

"They had long colluded with the local commandery troops, taking advantage of our presence to directly besiege us, while constantly agitating the refugees, causing them to surrender and rebel once more."

"Lord Lu died fighting to the end, while this servant was about to be used as food by the rebels, and only saved his life by jumping into Canglong River."

Zheng Yi asked, "Where is Tian Wenjing? Is he not the Commander-in-Chief of the Yong Province Grand Canal and the Imperial Envoy? Where is he?"

"Him?!"

Speaking of this, Wang Anshi's eyes were filled with even more hatred as he gritted his teeth and said, "The culprit behind this rebellion of the Yong Province Grand Canal is precisely this man!"

"What?"

Zheng Yi was astonished and said, "He is the Imperial Envoy appointed by Us personally; how could he…"

"Your Majesty, you have been blinded by Tian Wenjing!"

Wang Anshi wept and said, "As soon as that Tian Wenjing arrived in Yong Province, he was banqueted every day by local officials and Families of all sizes in Yong Province, lingering in banquets and pleasure quarters almost every single day."

"Moreover, Lord Lu also discovered seven properties belonging to Tian Wenjing in places like Changan Prefecture, Extended Commandery, Datong Commandery, and Jinyang Commandery. Each property concealed a massive amount of gold and silver, and young, beautiful women were living inside them!"

"This man has already regarded the entire Yong Province Grand Canal as his own private property…"

"Audacious!"

With a bang, Zheng Yi shattered the table in front of him with a single slap, causing Wang Anshi to look at Zheng Yi in shock.

He had not expected that Your Majesty actually possessed such Martial Dao cultivation?

"Elder Chen!"

"Old servant is here!"

An elderly man dressed in black appeared silently in front of Wang Anshi, giving Wang Anshi a start.

"Tell Chen Zhong and Chen Yi who are still in Yong Province to thoroughly investigate everything Wang Anshi just said, especially the several properties under Tian Wenjing's name!"

"Once verified, immediately capture Tian Wenjing and bring him to justice. I want to see him alive or his corpse if he is dead!"

"Understood!"

After Chen Liancang left, Wang Anshi continued, "Your Majesty, this popular uprising in Yong Province was entirely caused by the coercion of the local Families."

"The refugees are ignorant and were blinded by the Families; I ask Your Majesty to be lenient and understand."

"The Families…"

Zheng Yi muttered, "Is the construction of the Yong Province Grand Canal not a good thing for both Yong and Bing Provinces?"

"Once the Grand Canal is opened, it can channel the water of Canglong River to irrigate tens of thousands of li of fertile fields, turning Yong and Bing Provinces into granaries. Why would they want to obstruct it?"

Wang Anshi shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, what you look toward is the future of Great Yu, the hundreds of millions of impoverished commoners throughout the entire Great Yu."

"However, the Family landlords of Yong and Bing Provinces only see their own current interests."

"During the construction of the Grand Canal, many farmlands were occupied, and many of those farmlands were not within the scope of the Grand Canal, yet the imperial court would not compensate for those farmlands."

"There are also factors such as grain and provisions apportionment, farmland taxation, floods of Canglong River, and refugee stability, all of which are matters that undermine their interests."

"And smuggling and illicit passage routes."

Wang Anshi continued, "Yong and Bing Provinces are located at the border, with parts connected to Wu Country, Snow Cloud Country, and several small countries in the Western Regions."

"These Families frequently engage in smuggling through trade routes they have developed themselves, dealing in salt, iron, tea, silk, and so on, making a very hefty profit."

"If the imperial court successfully develops the Yong Province Grand Canal, it will inevitably draw the court's attention, leading to the establishment of tax offices in this place to manage the border and even station troops."

"By then, their trade routes will be severed, and all their privacy will be exposed under the eyes of the imperial court."

"That is why they united to secretly corrupt the officials of the Grand Canal and even secretly fund the rebellion, all just to safeguard their own interests."

"In order to defeat the armies of Lords Minister Miao and Shi Heilang, they even provided weapons and armor to the rebels!"

"Hmm?"

Zheng Yi's voice suddenly raised, "Weapons and armor? Where did they get them from!"

Wang Anshi said with grief and indignation, "Your Majesty! Have you never suspected before why the Wu Country army could easily break through Canglong River and cross the border checkpoints to enter the heartland of Great Yu for plundering?"

"And how do they dispose of the stolen gold, silver, money, cattle, horses, livestock, and so on that they plundered?"

"Aside from a portion being personally let through by garrison generals, it is inextricably linked to the Families of Bing Province, especially the Bing merchants!"

"Bing merchants?"

"Indeed!"

Wang Anshi said, "The Bing merchants are a trade organization spontaneously formed by the Families and merchants of Bing Province, who wander for years on end among the countries of Great Yu, Wu Country, Snow Cloud Country, and Wei Country."

"Great Yu's tea, refined salt, and even ironware, armor, and other items are all objects of their trade."

"Even Great Yu's border defense maps, troop numbers at various passes, drill conditions, and so on can all be used by them as commodities for trade!"

"Wu Country has invaded for many years and been able to tie down hundreds of thousands of our Great Yu troops, and behind it all lies the shadow of this group of traitorous merchants!"

"Is this true?"

Zheng Yi said in a deep voice. He had originally thought that this group of Families were merely large clans that had multiplied for hundreds of years, passing down scholarship, propriety, and the Classics from generation to generation, while maintaining their Family property through real estate and commercial organizations.

Now it seemed that it was completely not the case.

They had long placed their Family's interests above the interests of the country.

For the sake of Family interests, they could even betray the country.

This group of Families truly deserved to die!

Bing merchants!

Zheng Yi closed his eyes, continuously pondering in his mind the true cause of the turmoil in the six northern provinces for so many years.

Behind it all, there truly was the shadow of this group of Families!

Zheng Yi asked, "Do you have solid proof for what you have said?"

Wang Anshi shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Your Majesty, the Families have entrenched themselves in various places for years, and have long had an inseparable relationship with local officials and garrison generals."

"Even the imperial court is full of their people."

"Quite a few loyal and steadfast officials have previously submitted memorials, but the memorials would be intercepted midway before they could ever reach Your Majesty's hands."

"If you do not believe it, you can dispatch the Jinyi Guard to investigate."

"In the six northern provinces, at least over fifty percent of the land is occupied by local landlords and Families, and the state simply cannot collect taxes from it."

"And their caravans have been leeching off Great Yu all along…"

Listening to Wang Anshi's narrative, Zheng Yi also shook his head.

A Dynasty of over three hundred years, with severe land annexation, had already reached its end.

These matters were already known to him in his heart.

But he had not expected them to be so severe!

"Beloved official, rise!"

Zheng Yi stepped forward and slowly helped him up, saying, "What was your purpose in saying all this today, beloved official?"

"This subject did it for the commoners of the world!"

"The commoners of the world…"

Zheng Yi muttered, a trace of a smile finally appearing in his eyes.

"Great Yu has raised scholars for over three hundred and sixty years, and at last there is someone willing to uphold their integrity and die for righteousness!"

"Wang Anshi, are you willing to be the person who props up the Dynasty and patches the sky with one hand?"

Wang Anshi took a step back, straightened his robes, knelt, and bowed deeply, saying, "This subject is willing!"

"Good!"

Zheng Yi clapped his hands and said, "We shall trust you this once and grant you the utmost trust. As long as you do not fail Us, We shall never fail you!"

"This humble subject is overwhelmed with apprehension and gratitude!"

"You are still young now, and you must hone yourself for a few more years before you can fully display your ambitions."

Zheng Yi said, "Within the Six Ministries, wherever you wish to go, pick whatever you like."

"The Ministry of Revenue."

Wang Anshi said concisely, "The bustling world is all for the sake of profit; this subject wishes to enter the Ministry of Revenue to hold office and secretly investigate the land throughout the country!"

"As long as the land is stabilized, tax revenue can be stabilized, and Great Yu can be secured!"

"Good!"

Zheng Yi said, "Then you shall first take office in the Ministry of Revenue as a Bureau Director of the Ministry of Revenue."

"Many thanks, Your Majesty!"

Wang Anshi slowly departed. Zheng Yi gazed at his back and said in a deep voice, "Chengen."

"this servant is here."

"Secretly protect Wang Anshi well."

"Understood."

"There is one more matter."

"Please speak, Your Majesty."

"Transmit Our secret decree to Xu Mujun, and have General Xu search thoroughly at Black Mountain Pass for any evidence regarding the Bing merchants colluding with Wu Country."

"Understood!"