The world of film and television begins with the God of Medicine.

Chapter 1510: Beat it up with a rake

“Wang, the registrar, is doing something rather inappropriate…” Zhu Qi frowned, speaking rather tactfully.

"Seventh Master is unaware of the details," Wang Yan shook his head and explained, "Now the province is preventing us from buying grain, and also preventing others from selling grain. The River Conservancy Office has sealed off the grain market, and won't sell a single grain to Chun'an and Jiande counties. Just yesterday, the people sent by a wealthy family in our county to Hangzhou to buy grain were arrested by the River Conservancy Office."

Seventh Master, think about it. What good intentions could these people who come here to sell grain have? They're just taking advantage of the people's ignorance and lack of knowledge. They want to sell grain of unknown origin to the people so they can use it as a pretext to control Chun'an County.

"Since Seventh Master is here today, I will have someone investigate the matter thoroughly, and then Seventh Master will report it to the Emperor, so that the Emperor can see how these officials are tarnishing His Majesty's divine virtue."

Zhu Qi wiped his beard, the oil from his hands making his beard shine.

“In that case, why don’t we brothers take turns interrogating him?” Zhu Qi’s words were brimming with absolute professional confidence.

He is certainly a professional; the Northern Garrison Command is responsible for this, and they are experts in all aspects of investigation, arrest, and interrogation.

Wang Yan smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "Seventh Master is an expert in this field. In that case, I won't stand on ceremony with you. Let's get down to business after we finish eating."

"I've already eaten, let's go now."

"Seventh Master, you have the people of Chun'an suffering in your heart, what a blessing! Please, Seventh Master!" Wang Yan stood up and led Zhu Qi and the others out with the clerk. In the courtyard of the yamen, they saw a group of six people who had been tied up.

Upon seeing Wang Yan and the others arrive, these people began to wail and shout. Even with their mouths gagged, it was clear that they were protesting their innocence.

But is it up to them to decide whether someone is innocent or not?

Zhu Qi led his men in pairs, and also called on people from the yamen to record and witness the interrogations, ensuring the authenticity and reliability of the confessions obtained.

In less than an hour, all six people were beaten to a pulp.

Looking at the Japanese pirate named Inoue Jushiro who was like a dead dog in front of him, Wang Yan said, "Seventh Master, you must report this to the Emperor. Zheng Bichang and He Maocai are unworthy of being regional officials. They dare to collude with Japanese pirates and frame the people!"
"Seventh Master, this matter must be thoroughly investigated. The Japanese pirates aren't just causing trouble externally, they're also plagued by internal strife. How come they can never be completely eradicated? There must be someone working in cahoots, tipping off the pirates, or even funding them. These people have gone mad; they'll do anything for money."

Zhu Qi breathed a sigh of relief: "Don't worry, Chief Clerk Wang, we will write a report on this matter and submit it to the Emperor."

"That's good."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, then turned to give instructions, "Dazhu, go and buy grain from them, as much as they have. Are you selling or not?"

"Sell, sell, sell! The grain is sitting on the river."

"Luckily, his face wasn't badly injured, so you can't tell." Wang Yan laughed. "Go, Dazhu, bring the grain back."

"They still have several hundred soldiers, Chief Clerk Wang, you should think this through."

"Among my 40,000 people, are we afraid of his few hundred soldiers? Of course, it is only because Seventh Master is here that we can act in this way. Otherwise, those two traitors, Zheng Bichang and He Maocai, would definitely accuse Chun'an of rebellion and directly ask the Governor's Office to send troops to suppress us. If Seventh Master were not here, we would not be able to explain ourselves even if we were in the right. Even if we had eight mouths, we would not have the opportunity to speak."

Zhu Qi regretted being caught because Wang Yan was too audacious; he dared to do something so serious.

Wang Yan noticed Zhu Qi's slight panic and smiled reassuringly, "Seventh Master, there's no need to worry. As long as you can testify for Chun'an, that's enough. If Zheng and He still have any sense at this moment, they won't mobilize troops to suppress the people, and they don't want to truly provoke the populace."

The national policy of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields was poorly implemented and even drove the people to rebellion; they are utterly culpable. Therefore, they were guilty of a crime in the first place; having failed to harm Chun'an, they probably backed down and sought other methods.

Besides, even if they did mobilize troops, how many could they possibly send? The troops are all under Minister Hu's command, and they're for fighting the Japanese pirates. Even though Minister Hu is also one of Grand Secretary Yan's men, Minister Hu has the bigger picture in mind and would absolutely not instigate internal strife at this time, giving the Japanese pirates an opportunity to exploit the situation.

"I hope so," Zhu Qi sighed. "If things really escalate, it won't be easy to handle."

"Don't worry, it won't happen."

Wang Yan waved his hand, and Qi Dazhu went to organize people to go buy grain with the people who came to lure them in.

It was less a purchase and more a robbery. When the grain ships arrived at Chun'an's dock, all the outsiders were tied up, and the able-bodied men who had been waiting unloaded the grain from the ships and piled it up in the granary. After an inventory check, they managed to find two thousand shi of grain, enough to feed the entire county for several days.

It was already past midnight, and torches illuminated the darkness, shining on the young and strong men who were busy moving like ants.

Wang Yan sat in a chair, sipping tea, and said with a smile to Zhu Qi and the others, "It's like a pillow being delivered when you're sleepy, and even food falling from the sky—such a wonderful thing! Second Master!"

"They're here." Tian Youlu, looking exhausted, walked over and reported, "The grain will arrive before dark tomorrow, Third Master. I've really run my legs off."

Chun'an is 300 li from Hangzhou. He went to the river management office in the morning to threaten them, but dared not stay there for long, so he rushed back after traveling 300 li. The fast horse he rode back and forth was indeed a hardship for someone like him who was already overweight and lacked exercise. His legs were blistered and he could barely stand.

Wang Yan patted Tian Youlu's arm: "Second Master, you have made a great contribution! The people of Chun'an will never forget your kindness to them. Come here, Old Liu from the Household Registration Office!"

"Third Master!"

"Think about it. When you distribute the grain tomorrow night, give out more so that the people can have a good meal and a good night's sleep."

"Yes," the head of the household replied, and then went to oversee the grain being stored in the warehouse.

Just then, a commotion arose on the river and on the shore, and several hundred fully armed soldiers came from the shore and boats, surrounding the people who were carrying grain.

"Stop! Everyone, kneel down!"

"I told you to kneel down! Didn't you hear me?"

"Put down all the grain!"

The group of soldiers shouted and roared, looking incredibly imposing.

"What a show of power! Seventh Master, look at this, who cares about the common people? But to be honest, how are these soldiers any better than the common people? Aren't they all the same? They're just a bunch of people who got together, got bolder, got corrupted, and started to look down on the common people."

Wang Yan clicked his tongue and shook his head, then waved his hand, "Come on, beat the drum for me, let these soldiers see who has more men, and let them hear who has the loudest voice."

As his words fell, the rumbling of drums rang out, echoing far into the darkness, silencing even the cicadas.

Clusters of torches lit up the darkness, illuminating the angry young faces.

On the ideological front, Wang Yan never relaxes his vigilance.

Chun'an is currently suffering from disaster, and all production and daily life have come to a standstill. Apart from the post-disaster cleanup work, there's not much else to do. There are still quite a few scholars in the county, with all sorts of students, teachers, and instructors everywhere.

Adhering to the principle of keeping everyone busy, those unable to work or on leave all received education from these scholars. They were taught to recognize characters, or the scholars told stories to the people, which helped pass the time and allowed them to learn something. This time, Wang Yan didn't hide anything; he had everything explained to the people. Therefore, the able-bodied men knew that without the Third Master, these people would have harmed them, accusing them of colluding with Japanese pirates and forcing them to sell their land.

What's anger? If it weren't for their concern for the Third Master and his career prospects, they would have killed all these soldiers by now...

The dense array of torches dazzled the soldiers' eyes and also disrupted their arrogant and disdainful attitude towards the common people.

Wang Yan, with his hands behind his back, led Zhu Qi and the others leisurely through the crowd and into the encirclement. Looking at the soldiers, who were tense and gripping their spears for defense, he let out a sneer.

“The person in charge, please come out and speak.”

Among the hundreds of soldiers, two men in armor stepped forward, their hands on their swords.

"How dare you! You dare to surround the officers and soldiers? Are you trying to rebel?" one of them immediately challenged.

Wang Yan turned to look at Zhu Qi: "Seventh Master, look at this man, how shameless is he? He's the one who gave birth to a son without an anus, yet he still tries to pin the blame on us."

"You... ah..." The man tried to speak, but he was thrown into the air, and all his teeth fell out.

"You dare to hit someone?" Another officer stared in disbelief. "We are officers and soldiers from the Provincial Judicial Office. This is Commander Xu. How dare you assault your superior?"

"You son of a bitch!" Wang Yan slapped the officer again, sending him flying. "You've been colluding with Japanese pirates, and you dare to talk back to me here? And you all, if you don't want to die, put down your weapons and take off your armor. Otherwise, you'll regret it when your families are wiped out."

???

The two people lying on the ground, unable to open their mouths, were completely dumbfounded. He was saying all my words...

"Remove your armor! Remove your armor! Remove your armor!"

The able-bodied men shouted loudly and took a step forward to intimidate the men.

The soldiers trembled, hesitant to lay down their weapons, yet unwilling to make a move. The farce ended only after Qi Dazhu and others took the lead and seized the weapons.

"Seventh Master, please re-examine them. We must make sure this matter is settled." Wang Yan shook his head, sighing and worrying about the country and its people. "His Majesty has it tough. These officials below him are always doing bad things in His Majesty's name."

Take this conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields, for example. The emperor was just building a palace; how much silver could it cost? How did it result in such a large deficit?
"It's all going to these people pocketing the profits. They conceal land and people, and refuse to pay taxes; they get more and more outrageous every year. The court's revenue is decreasing year by year, and ultimately, it all comes down to them. And in the end, the emperor has to bear the blame. Bah!"

Zhu Qi was quite pleased: "Registrar Wang is loyal to the emperor and devoted to the country."

"I'm indignant on behalf of His Majesty! This is outrageous! How can anyone bully their sovereign like this?" Wang Yan said through gritted teeth. "Seventh Master, interrogate them thoroughly. These two hold high positions and must have been involved in many things. Who knows what major case they might uncover?"

Of course, I'm not trying to stir up trouble, but I want the Emperor to know who the truly loyal people are! Seventh Master, please take good care of things. It's better if we get involved in such a big matter to avoid causing trouble for all of us.

Zhu Qiqi asked, "What would you have done if we hadn't come?"

"Then we'll have to trouble you. We can't let the Emperor be kept in the dark forever, can we? I've decided to send it directly to Minister Hu and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. That way, it won't spread everywhere, and the Emperor won't be in a difficult position."

"Your Excellency Wang has the Emperor in your heart. Rest assured, I will report this matter truthfully to the Emperor so that he may know your intentions."

"Then thank you very much, Seventh Master." Wang Yan cupped his hands in thanks.

So Zhu Qi and the others went to interrogate the people from the provincial judicial office. The two leading officers were naturally the two characters in the drama who went to great lengths to kill Qi Dazhu, and even after Hai Rui imprisoned himself, they tried to set fire to Hai Rui to force him out.

These two were considered He Maocai's trusted subordinates, and they must have done a lot of dirty work with him in the past...

While the soldiers from the provincial judicial office were detained in Chun'an, Zheng Bichang and He Maocai, far away in Hangzhou, were still confidently awaiting news of the success on this side...

"What did you say?" He Maocai stared wide-eyed at the person who had returned with the news.

“The people of Chun’an arrested all the soldiers who were sent there; not a single one was spared.”

"Rebellion! Rebellion! How dare they? Huh? How dare they?" He Maocai paced back and forth twice. "Go and find out if Chun'an is going to rebel!"

After giving his explanation, He Maocai quickly ran to find Zheng Bichang.

Zheng Bichang is now the Governor of Zhejiang, in charge of the province. Hu Zongxian, just like in the original drama, only serves as the Governor-General of Zhili and Zhejiang, overseeing military affairs in the southeast.

Zheng Bichang's face turned pale after hearing the news: "They've rebelled?"

“They probably didn’t rebel,” He Maocai said, shaking his head. “They probably saw through our framing of them for colluding with the Japanese.”

"Isn't that also the end?"

Zheng Bichang cried out and slumped into his chair. "How could you not even do something this simple right? You've made such a big mistake!"

"Could I have imagined they'd be so audacious? Especially that guy surnamed Wang, I think he's really gone mad!" He Maocai slammed his fist on the table. "Old Zheng, all that talk is useless, the key is how we deal with this."

"Respond?" Zheng Bichang snorted. "It's too late to say anything now. The idiot you sent will definitely spill everything like beans. That guy surnamed Wang is a madman. He dared to lift the lid before, do you think he won't dare to do this now?"

"What do you think we should do..."

"What else can we do? Strike first. You discovered the Japanese pirates' tracks and sent men to hunt them down in Chun'an. As a result, they were all arrested. Wang Yan is audacious and lawless, disobeying orders from his superiors. Report what he did truthfully. Also, tell Hai Rui about this and tell him to go to Chun'an to take up his post as soon as possible. Let the two of them fight it out."

Are you sure those two can fight?

"Hai Rui seems to be a power-hungry man. Right now, all the power in Chun'an is in the hands of that Wang guy. Do you think the two of them can get along? No matter what, Hai Rui is the magistrate of Chun'an. He's keeping that madman Wang in check..."

He Maocai scoffed, "Hai Rui is a madman too!"

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"I will write an official document right away and send it to the capital by express courier."

"Hurry up! Otherwise, it will be too late once that guy surnamed Wang starts making a scene..."

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