Volume I: Hat of Jiangcheng Chapter 49: Within Three Days (Part Two)

The eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month was approaching noon. The sky remained overcast, the north wind howled, and the chill grew even sharper.

Li Ling stood inside the signing room of the second hall at the county yamen. Several stacks of ledgers and account books were laid out on the long desk before him. As his eyes swept across the pages, he swiftly translated the contents into more familiar numbers, performed the calculations in his mind, and then poured the results from the tip of his brush onto the paper.

Dozens of sheets filled with such numbers had already piled up—clear and conclusive evidence of the embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds over the past few years by Zhuang Hong and several other clerks within the yamen. In just two days, Li Ling had sorted out numerous problems hidden beneath the accounts. It was not that he was truly exceptionally brilliant; rather, the methods used by those who had kept the books previously were so crude that he could expose various loopholes without spending much effort.

After finishing yet another ledger, Li Ling exhaled a breath of stale air and stretched slightly, his movements cautious lest he tear his wound open again. Then, the corners of his lips curled into a smile. Through the crack in the window, which was only half a palm wide, he caught sight of another yamen scribe walking past with lowered eyes and hurried steps, heading straight for the magistrate's official chamber.

"It must be almost the final moment. Seventy or eighty people have already rushed over to pay their respects in the past two days," Li Ling murmured with a sigh, then laid down his brush, pushed open the door, and stepped out of the signing room. Walking just a few steps down the corridor, he arrived in front of the largest official chamber. At that moment, it was packed with several dozen people, yet not a single stray sound could be heard. Only the steady tapping of Wei Liang's fingers against the desktop echoed continuously, beating like drums against everyone's hearts and causing their brows to twitch unceasingly.

At that moment, another person hurried in from the front. Cao Jin, standing beside Wei Liang, leaned over at the appropriate time and said softly, "County Lord, it is noon."

"Mmm." Wei Liang abruptly straightened his body. His gaze swept over the subordinates before him, and he said with a half-smile, "You are not bad, at least you still abide by the rules. Who else has not arrived?"

A clerk from the personnel office hesitated for a brief moment before stepping forward. "Reporting to the County Lord, there is also Zheng Gen, the chief clerk of the revenue department; Ren Jun, the chief clerk of the punishment department; and clerks Zhang Gang, Wang Hai..." Possessing a remarkable memory, he clearly reported the names and titles of the absent clerks without missing one.

His performance caused the face of the head of the personnel department to change. This was a blatant scramble to show off and seize merit! Yet in front of the magistrate, he dared not vent his anger and could only clench his teeth in secret. Witnessing this from the outside, Li Ling felt a surge of joy. Such contention to perform proved that Wei Liang was indeed gradually securing his position and instilling awe in his subordinates.

"Very good, note down all their names," Wei Liang nodded in approval. "From this moment on, they are no longer members of the Jiangcheng County Yamen. The personnel office will notify them accordingly and post notices to inform the entire city."

A casual and light sentence, yet it made the bodies of everyone present tremble. This was for real. All twenty of them—Magistrate Wei had dismissed them all with a single sentence?

Seeing that they did not react, Wei Liang frowned again. "What is it? Do you find something wrong?"

"No... nothing!" Sensing his imposing aura, the clerks shook their heads and denied it in haste. Having already resigned themselves to coming and paying obedience, how could they possibly speak up for those people?

It was the two men of highest rank whose expressions shifted slightly. Feng Ping spoke up first, "County Lord, isn't this far too harsh? After all, they have served in the yamen for many years. If they haven't achieved great merit, they have at least labored diligently. To dismiss everyone simply because of a minor matter is truly hard to convince people and easily chills the hearts of those below."

"A minor matter? County Vice-Magistrate Feng, you consider it a minor matter that they disregarded their superiors, refusing to come and pay respects even days after I arrived at the yamen and after I had already posted public notices? Then, in your view, what constitutes a major matter?" Today's Wei Liang bore no resemblance to his gentle and handsome appearance. He was entirely aggressive, his words sharp as a sword and laced with thorns, directly rebutting Feng Ping until he was utterly speechless.

Seeing that he had completely seized control of the situation, Wei Liang's aura grew even more formidable. He swept his gaze across the crowd and said, "When I was serving in the capital, I often heard about various abuses in local yamen. For instance, officials and clerks acting arbitrarily and ignoring the rules, or relying on their meager power to break the law and oppress the common people. At that time, I made up my mind that once I became a local official, I would eradicate such phenomena during my tenure. Therefore, having come to Jiangcheng today, I will never allow anyone in this yamen to show disrespect to their superiors and act lawlessly."

"The County Lord's admonition is entirely correct. We subordinates will heed your teachings and never dare to be negligent again," the clerk who had performed earlier quickly chimed in. With him taking the lead, the others followed suit one after another. Lin烈 (Lin Lie) also spoke similar words in a loud voice among them, though his overall spirit remained somewhat suppressed.

Only then did Wei Liang carefully examine that particular clerk. "What is your name?"

"This humble one is Chen Xun, currently a scribe in the personnel department." The man's spirits instantly lifted, and he replied loudly and promptly.

"Very good. A little later, you will compile and transcribe the names of those who defied the yamen rules, and then post them publicly. Not only in front of the yamen gate, but at every city gate as well. There must be no omissions."

"Yes, this humble one will see to it that the matter is handled flawlessly."

"Today, I have summoned everyone here not only to express my demands of you, but more importantly, to bring the case from a few days ago to a close before the new year arrives. Such a grave case that harms the people—upon learning of it, I did not wish to wait even a moment longer. We must investigate the truth as thoroughly as possible and make those greedy wretches pay the price." As Wei Liang spoke, he glanced at Li Ling standing outside the hall.

"County Lord, Chief Clerk Zhuang's matter is, after all, only one side of the story, and we currently lack solid evidence. I'm afraid it will be very difficult to truly bring it to a close," Feng Ping said anxiously upon hearing this, hastily raising an objection.

Wei Liang had been waiting precisely for this question. He immediately smiled and said, "Who says we only have talk? Li Ling, present the evidence."

Li Ling promptly acknowledged the command from outside, then cradled the stack of papers and walked slowly into the hall under the curious gazes of everyone present, finally placing the items on the long desk. "County Lord, these are the relevant material proofs that this commoner has compiled over the past few days by searching through the ledgers and documents in the archive room. If there are no omissions, over the past five years alone, Chief Clerk Zhuang has exploited his position and colluded with accomplices within the yamen to swallow fifty-three thousand two hundred and fifty-three taels, three mace, and two candareens of silver. Some of this was skimmed from various tax collections, some came from subsidies sent by superior yamen for river dredging, and a very large portion consists of the withheld jute taxes mentioned previously! More detailed records are contained within; I beg the County Lord to examine them one by one."

What is called professionalism? This was true professionalism! Li Ling's opening remarks left everyone present dumbfounded. This fellow was truly formidable; he had calculated the exact amount of silver embezzled by Chief Clerk Zhuang down to the last decimal, leaving no room for anyone else to raise objections.

Consequently, quite a few people began to show signs of unease. Li Ling had not claimed that the silver was swallowed entirely by Zhuang Hong alone; there were also his accomplices. And everyone knew full well that the so-called accomplices referred to all of them! To be in the yamen, who hadn't accepted tainted money or shared in the illicit gains distributed by superiors and colleagues?

Several people began to tremble. Once the County Lord truly launched a thorough investigation, they would likely all be implicated. Not only would they lose their official posts, but they might also be convicted and sentenced... Thinking of Magistrate Wei's formidable prowess, a deep sense of terror truly gripped their hearts.

Yet, to their surprise, Magistrate Wei did not rush to inquire about the details, nor did he open the evidence to review it carefully. Instead, he smiled and nodded at Li Ling. "You have worked hard. After this matter is concluded, I will surely reward you."

"Then this commoner thanks the County Lord." Li Ling smiled, bowed, and withdrew from the hall. He knew that the other party had completely manipulated these subordinates—not merely through imposing aura, but more importantly, by holding their weaknesses firmly in his grasp!

Some things left unsaid cause far more panic than laying them bare directly, and are much more effective at making people submit heart and soul. Just like when Cao Shao defeated Yuan Shao and, upon discovering a chest full of letters from his own civil and military officials colluding with Yuan Shao, burned them all in a single fire. On the surface, Cao Cao burned all the letters, but in reality, who knew whether he had secretly kept the genuine ones to use later against subordinates who were not of one mind with him? Perhaps precisely because of this, many of Cao Cao's subordinates never harbored secondary thoughts again.

Naturally, Wei Liang could not reach the heights of Cao Mengde, so he did not burn the evidence. Instead, he kept it to intimidate everyone, forcing them to obey obediently. Otherwise, he could bring them to justice effortlessly simply by revealing the proof.

Therefore, as Li Ling stepped out of the hall, the sounds that followed behind him were the praises and commendations of the clerks. As for Feng Ping, who had previously raised objections, he now fell silent as well. In the current atmosphere, speaking up for Zhuang Hong meant pushing oneself to the forefront of the storm—a price he was unwilling to pay.

"Since the evidence is conclusive, the next step is to summon and interrogate Zhuang Hong. Lin Lie!"

"This subordinate is here."

"Take a squad of men immediately to arrest Zhuang Hong and bring him in for questioning. This time I shall hold a public trial once more to see how he can continue to quibble!"

"Yes... this subordinate obeys!" After drawing a deep breath, Lin Lie cupped his fists in acknowledgment, selected a few trusted men from his unit, turned swiftly and strode out of the hall, soon catching up with Li Ling.

The two brushed past each other and exchanged a glance. Li Ling's face was wreathed in smiles, while Lin Lie's face was slightly flushed, appearing somewhat excited.

"I told you so. Within three days, the outcome would be clear," Li Ling said softly.

Lin Lie paused slightly in his stride, but said nothing, only giving a firm nod before striding away with the men who had caught up.

Li Ling no longer had the heart to eavesdrop, for he knew Magistrate Wei had firmly seized overall control, leaving no room for any accidents. "So they really are born with the protagonist's halo," Li Ling muttered softly, feeling a twinge of sourness in his heart. "They effortlessly take full control of the yamen authority without expending much effort, ready to reap the harvest. Comparing oneself to others only leads to frustration; when will I ever have such protagonist luck?"

Within three days, the situation in the county yamen was completely reversed!