Chapter 254: The Autumn Levy (Part 19)

In the middle of the Australian procession were a few particularly tall individuals, whom everyone knew were likely the true ‘Kun.’ Not only were the true ‘Kun’ taller, but their builds were also larger than the average person. They were not riding in sedan chairs, on horseback, or on “automobiles” or “iron horses,” but were simply walking. The common people had a good impression of this unpretentious style.

The dozen or so militiamen at the city gate didn’t dare to stop them and let them enter the city. The procession went straight to the county yamen. At the intersection in front of the yamen, the group split in two, with one branch heading towards the back of the yamen. The rest went directly to the main gate of the yamen.

The two bailiffs from the Soap Squad at the yamen gate sensed trouble and nervously glanced at the “gatekeeper” on the door. The gatekeeper, Wu Xi, had dealt with Xiong Buyou many times. Seeing this “Master Xiong” accompanied by several other official-looking Australians, all with stern faces and the intimidating brown triangular holsters at their waists—which contained the powerful Australian handguns—he felt a bit timid. But duty compelled him to put on a smiling face and approach them.

The usually amiable Master Xiong now appeared very imposing. He simply said he wanted to see Master Wu. Of course, when they wanted to see Wu Mingjin, even if the magistrate was sleeping, he had to see them. Wu Xi quickly agreed and went inside to announce them.

Wu Mingjin was racking his brains. This case of throwing knives and shooting arrows, which had caused such a stir in the city, was not a major one, as no one had been killed and no property had been lost. But the matter involved the county’s gentry and scholars. If he couldn’t handle it properly, he would be held responsible.

He quickly sent someone to summon Master Wang for consultation.

“This must be the work of Chen Minggang and his gang,” Wang Zhaomin whispered. “Young Master Huang the second has been uniting the large households to submit a petition, and Mr. Liu has also stepped forward—they’ve blocked his path to wealth.”

“This is all the ‘Kunzei’s’ meddling!” Wu Mingjin was very annoyed. “Insisting on taking over the grain tax, and then a land survey! It’s caused a huge uproar! I’d like to see how they plan to clean up this mess.” He glanced at Master Wang as he spoke.

Wang Zhaomin’s face flushed. It was he who had strenuously convinced Wu Mingjin that the Australians were very capable and could solve many of the county’s difficult problems, and that taking over the grain tax would not be a major issue.

But this was not the time for regrets. Seeing the magistrate’s intention to wash his hands of the matter, Wang Zhaomin quickly said:

“Master, they can just walk away from this…”

Wang Zhaomin’s words reminded Wu Mingjin—he was the magistrate of the Great Ming’s Lingao county, not the Australians from Bairen City. If there was trouble, he would be the one responsible.

For the past six months, Wu Mingjin’s sense of being the magistrate had been weakening. Apart from the occasional lawsuit from the common people, burning incense at the county’s official shrines on the days prescribed by the almanac, and presiding over the routine examinations for the county school’s students, he had done little that was related to being a magistrate. Most of his days were spent drinking tea and playing chess with Master Wang or guiding his children in their studies. His life had been extremely leisurely.

“Precisely. The ‘Kunzei’ don’t know the rules of the Central Plains and just act recklessly. And they’ve entrusted the wrong person. Now that there’s trouble, they probably don’t even know how to clean it up.” Wu Mingjin nodded gravely. “I thought Chen Minggang usually knew his limits. How could he be so audacious this time!” He glanced at Wang Zhaomin again.

“Chen Minggang is a minor clerk. To gain the trust of the Australians, he must have tempted them with ‘profit’,” Wang Zhaomin quickly changed the subject. “The most urgent matter now is to appease the gentry and large households…”

The gentry and large households were already full of complaints about the tax collection and land survey, and now there was this incident of intimidation. If it wasn’t handled properly and they really went to Qiongzhou Prefecture or Guangzhou to file a petition, he would be in deep trouble. At best, he would be dismissed from office; at worst, he could be accused of “colluding with bandits” and face legal charges.

“Do you have any good ideas?” Wu Mingjin was already troubled by this matter. Solving the case was unnecessary; even a three-year-old child in the county knew it was the work of Chen Minggang and his gang. But dealing with it was quite tricky.

To satisfy the gentry, Chen Minggang and his gang would naturally have to be severely punished. But this was where Wu Mingjin felt conflicted. It sounded absurd for a county magistrate to have reservations about punishing a minor clerk in the county. But in fact, it had been this way since the Song and Yuan dynasties. The yamen clerks controlled the grassroots administration, were often hereditary, and had extremely rich administrative experience. They were also united. If an official offended them and was secretly sabotaged by them, not only would he not be able to get rich, but he could also lose his post due to administrative errors. Therefore, local officials often turned a blind eye to their various misdeeds. Even if something happened, the punishment was usually very light. A reprimand and dismissal was the most severe—and they were not afraid of dismissal. Their sons would replace them, and they would continue to control the local administration.

Now, Chen Minggang was also using the Australians as his banner, making it even harder to touch him.

“Chen Minggang and his gang must be dealt with, of course,” Wang Zhaomin had already thought it through. “Summon Chen Minggang, reprimand him, and then order him to produce a few people to take the blame…”

“This is difficult,” Wu Mingjin shook his head. “This is a headless case. If you summon him, will he admit it?”

“Naturally, we can’t accuse him of intimidating the gentry with knives and bows. He’s not stupid. Wouldn’t such a charge on paper be a huge problem for him in the future?” Wang Zhaomin suggested using the charge of “disturbing the local area” during the tax collection.

This way, it would be considered dealt with, the gentry’s anger would be appeased, and the matter would likely be settled.

As they were discussing, the gatekeeper came running in. Without waiting for Wu Mingjin to speak, he said first, “Master! Master Xiong is here to pay a visit!”

“Quickly, invite him in!” Wang Zhaomin, without regard for his master’s attitude, quickly gave the order. Wu Mingjin also nodded. “Quickly, invite him in.”

Chen Minggang was relying on the Australians’ power. This matter had to be communicated with them. Fortunately, the Australians were not unreasonable people.

But it was not just Xiong Buyou who came. There were also several tall Australians, all with unfriendly expressions. After they sat down, they said nothing, and Xiong Buyou made no introductions. As Wu Mingjin was wondering, a personal servant ran in and whispered a few words in his ear. His face immediately changed color.

The Australian procession had already secured all the front and back gates of the county yamen. No wonder they had brought thirty or forty men into the city! Wu Mingjin’s face turned ashen. Could it be that they were preparing to formally raise the banner of rebellion?

At this thought, Wu Mingjin’s legs went weak. If he weren’t already sitting, he would probably have fallen to the ground. If the ‘Kunzei’ were to commit such a treasonous act, he certainly could not join them! But to die for his principles was one thing; to implicate his wife and children to die with him—the thought was like a knife to his heart. He secretly hated himself for being so stingy as to bring his family back to Lingao from Qiongzhou Prefecture.

Wang Zhaomin didn’t hear the servant’s words clearly, but seeing Wu Mingjin’s face change drastically, he knew it was nothing good, and his own face also changed color.

Xiong Buyou spoke up. “Magistrate Wu! Master Wang!” He cupped his hands. “I hear there has been a major incident in the county. Someone has been intimidating the gentry and large households in the city. Even Mr. Liu’s house was shot at with an arrow. The entire county is in an uproar because of this.”

Wang Zhaomin had originally intended to bring this up. Seeing him raise it proactively, he said, “Indeed, this has happened. But the matter is very tricky…”

Xiong Buyou, however, looked completely ignorant. “What’s so tricky?”

You know and you’re still pretending! Wang Zhaomin thought. But he couldn’t say this out loud. His original plan was to play dumb, not mention the intimidation, and just talk about “disturbing the local area” to muddle through.

But he had to make the ‘Kunzei’ see his good intentions. He carefully chose his words and said slowly, “There is no other evidence in this matter. Apart from a few small knives, an arrow, and some posters, there is no strong physical evidence. It is very difficult to point out who did it…”

He didn’t say “solve the case,” but specifically talked about “pointing out,” hinting to the Australians: we know who the mastermind is, we just don’t plan to investigate further.

“Not easy to solve the case?” To his surprise, Xiong Buyou didn’t grasp the hidden meaning in his words at all. He went on a long tangent about how since they had settled here, they were also citizens of Lingao and had to contribute their part to building a “harmonious Lingao”—

Wang Zhaomin smiled bitterly to himself. If all the “citizens” in this county were like you, who in the world would want to be an official? “Unruly people” would be more like it. No, not even unruly people, more like local emperors.

From Wang Zhaomin’s experience, whenever the ‘Kunzei’ talked at length about “harmony,” nothing good ever followed. Sure enough, Xiong Buyou immediately followed up with his own request:

“…We Australians have a very effective method for criminal investigation. Since we are now all people of Lingao, we should also share the worries of our old father and mother. For this case, let our Mr. Zhou Dongtian assist in handling it! I’m not boasting, but this case will be solved within three days!”

Wu Mingjin, hearing that his words did not imply a rebellion or an offer of a false post, had already relaxed. Now, suddenly hearing his request to handle the case, his mouth fell open in surprise.

Wang Zhaomin was also greatly surprised. Handle the case? Whether it was suppressing bandits, collecting taxes, building roads, or opening mines… he could roughly understand the meaning behind these actions of the Australians. But what was the purpose of handling this case? There were, of course, benefits to handling a case, but these benefits were pitifully small for the Australians.

Besides, it was obvious that Chen Minggang was behind this. In Wang Zhaomin’s mind, on one side were the gentry represented by Liu Dalin, whom the Australians wanted to win over, and on the other was Chen Minggang, who was running around collecting taxes for the Australians. The Australians should have played deaf and dumb or adopted a similar “muddling through” attitude as he had. Why would they create such trouble for themselves?

“This—” Wu Mingjin, before Wang Zhaomin could speak, was already stammering, “There is no such precedent in the Great Ming…”

“If there’s no precedent, we’ll create one!” Xiong Buyou said a new word without a second thought. “It’s settled then!”