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

Chapter 1512 Crazy
Hai Rui didn't touch a single bite of the sumptuous food and wine on the table.

Tian Youlu advised, "Master, it's just some food and wine, it's nothing serious."

"It's serious, very serious! If I eat this today, will I have to eat people tomorrow?" Hai Rui snorted, still glaring at Wang Yan, who was eating heartily with his mouth full of oil.

Wang Yan felt helpless: "Master, it's your business if you don't want to eat, but you can't stop me from eating. Second Master, from now on, when the two of us brothers eat together, we won't call you Master anymore."

Tian Youlu smiled ingratiatingly: "You should enjoy yourself, Third Master. I have a wife and children to take care of, so I really can't keep you company."

Before Hai Rui arrived, Tian Youlu ate and drank with him every day. He not only ate and drank, but also made his wife and children eat at home. It was as if he had turned his grief and anger into appetite, as if if he ate one more bite, Wang Yan would eat less.

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, then had someone make Hai Rui a bowl of vegetarian noodles. He then changed the subject: "What is your opinion on the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields?"

“We can’t change it! If we do, the people will lose their livelihood. Even if we tell them to plant mulberry trees, raise silkworms, reel silk, and weave textiles, they will still be exploited by the big households. If this continues, the people of Chun’an will surely rebel in three to five years.”

"I share the same view. If the people have land, they can live in peace. If most people have land, they are unlikely to cause too much trouble. This is what is meant by those who have stable property have stable minds."

Wang Yan said, "Some wealthy silk merchants from the province came to the county, but they drove the grain price down too low, to only ten shi per mu. Fields that normally cost forty or fifty shi per mu are only being offered ten shi, with the excuse that there was a disaster here, so that's the price. Damn it, don't they know how the disaster happened?"

Hai Rui frowned as he looked at Wang Yan: "So, Registrar Wang knows the inside story of the breaching of the dike and flooding of the fields?"

"Your Excellency is overthinking it; it's merely my speculation. It must be the work of Zheng Bichang, He Maocai, and others. Otherwise, how could such a coincidence happen? The imperial court was promoting the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields, but the troops trampled the seedlings, which angered the people and made progress difficult. Then, the flood season around the Dragon Boat Festival hit, and the Xin'an River, which was only repaired last year, breached its banks. How could such a coincidence happen?"
Those who repaired the river and built the embankments weren't fools. The Xin'an River has a flood season every year; even if they embezzled the funds for river repairs, they wouldn't be unable to sustain it for more than a year. That wasn't greed; that was deliberately courting death. The former magistrate was a fool; he was pushed out to be a scapegoat.

And then, I unearthed the embezzlement of public funds for river repairs. They were guilty and had killed Luo Zhengwen, the Hangzhou magistrate. This is no small matter; the investigators are probably already on their way and will arrive in a few days. Then there'll be quite a show to watch.”

In fact, Wang Yan's side had already obtained evidence regarding the case of breaching the dike and flooding the fields. After all, they had arrested officers from the river management department, who were He Maocai's subordinates. They had all participated in breaching the dike and flooding the fields, and when interrogated by Zhu Qi and others, they confessed everything like spilled beans.

Wang Yan did not participate in the interrogation; Zhu Qi revealed this to Wang Yan privately...

"If this continues, what will happen to the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields? What about the deficit in the imperial court?" Hai Rui sighed.

"Your Excellency, this is not something we should be concerned about. Regardless of the original intentions of the court and the cabinet, the conversion of our land into mulberry fields is not a good thing and will be extremely difficult to implement. As for the court's deficit, it is not our responsibility to make that deficit, and the money lost does not go to our households. It is too tiring to worry about so many trivial matters. Only those in positions of power can govern effectively, Your Excellency."

Wang Yan took a big gulp of wine, and Hai Rui frowned at his unseemly manner, but Wang Yan was oblivious and continued to eat and drink with relish.

"Your fallacies and heresies! If we all thought like you, then our Great Ming Dynasty would be doomed!"

"Your Excellency, in this position, to scheme for political gain is to risk one's life. I've only sought wealth and enjoyment, and having reached this point, having offended so many people, I've already reached my limit. If I do anything more, I fear I will truly be beheaded. I cannot handle this matter; Your Excellency should handle it. The Second Master may not have explained things in detail; let me tell you the specific situation in our county..."

Thus, the welcome banquet prepared for Hai Rui turned into a work report meeting for Wang Yan.

Wang Yan spoke in great detail, telling Hai Rui almost everything except what he absolutely could not say, including the officials and soldiers from the river management department who were being interrogated by Zhu Qi and others.

He was a man of his word; if he said he would return power to Hai Rui, there wouldn't be any obstacles. Hai Rui was a good official; he might not have done things perfectly, but that was due to his own limitations, and he couldn't possibly have done anything too bad.

Chun'an now has two main tasks: converting rice paddies to mulberry fields and restoring the county's production and livelihoods. Hai Rui essentially oversaw the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields, the operation of the county government, and some of the work related to restoring production and livelihoods.

Wang Yan's responsibilities at present are all about restoring production and daily life.

It was precisely because this was Hai Rui that Wang Yan relinquished power. If it were anyone else, Wang Yan would certainly have given them the same opportunity; Hai Rui wasn't any special case. After all, he was the one who delegated the power, and he could naturally take it back. Anyone wanting to get things done needed his approval.

However, Hai Rui was unaware of these things, or rather, he hadn't had time to think about them. He was already bewildered by Wang Yan's frank and direct actions, which made his feelings towards Wang Yan very complicated and conflicted.

He admired Wang Yan's attitude of serving the people, but he was dissatisfied with Wang Yan's comfortable and leisurely lifestyle, even his extortion of wealthy people to achieve this, and his constant spouting of fallacies...

In any case, we can say that we are living together peacefully.

When Hai Rui was exercising his power, any order he issued could be carried out as long as the king did not object.

Of course, Wang Yan never objected, because after Hai Rui took over, he found that everything was going well and there was no need for him to interfere or make any changes. In fact, if he did interfere, it would only cause trouble. So he just let Wang Yan do what he wanted.

Therefore, Hai Rui's main task was to convert rice paddies to mulberry fields. He organized people to re-measure the land. Taking advantage of the situation that Wang Yan had already tidied up, he also cleared the land and households of the wealthy families.

Wang Yan didn't do this, precisely to establish Hai Rui's authority. The "Great Ming Divine Sword" was no joke; Hai Rui was going to go to Yan Song's hometown and take on the Yan family—a thought most people wouldn't even dare to consider. And Hai Rui's achievements included: after Xu Jie was dismissed and returned to his hometown, he clashed with the Xu family, forcing Xu Jie to spend money to bribe them—truly incredibly powerful…

Of course, in the end, Hu Zongxian was right: Hai Rui was able to persecute Xu Jie because someone behind Hai Rui wanted to persecute Xu Jie...

"The province issued an official document ordering us to release the officers and soldiers of the river management office, and also said that they had reported it to the cabinet." Tian Youlu read the document aloud.

Wang Yan shook his head: "Master, we cannot release him."

"Why not?"

"They colluded with Japanese pirates and harmed the people. I told you about that before."

"I heard that the breach of the Xin'an River dike was related to them?" Hai Rui stared at Wang Yan.

Seeing Wang Yan's gaze fall on him, Tian Youlu slapped himself lightly, saying, "Third Master, I just spoke too quickly and couldn't stop myself."

"Second Master, you're going to lose your life if you do this." Wang Yan glanced at him, then turned to Hai Rui and said, "It is indeed related to them; they are He Maocai's confidants. I wonder what Your Excellency intends to do?"

"Of course, it's about exposing the evil deeds they've committed!"

Wang Yan understood Hai Rui's straightforwardness; he was a man who was clear about right and wrong, and could distinguish between them very well.

"Master, I think you understand the relationship between us. This matter was uncovered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Do you think the capital didn't know? The prefect of Hangzhou and the magistrates of two other counties have already been executed. The breach of the Xin'an River was their fault. What's the use of lifting this lid? It's of no benefit to Zhejiang, but rather harmful."

The problem in Zhejiang now boils down to one thing: converting rice paddies to mulberry fields. Or to put it more simply, it's about making up for the imperial court's deficit. If the deficit is made up, the serious matter will be minimized; if it's not, Zheng Bichang and He Maocai are doomed, and so will everyone from top to bottom, even Grand Secretary Yan and the Junior Grand Secretary—they might all suffer.

"But we can't be so blind to right and wrong, can we?" "Then we must ask the church elders to decide whether right and wrong are more important, or whether seven million taels of silver are more important."

"Everything matters!"

Wang Yan shook his head helplessly: "In all matters in Zhejiang, these two are at odds. Seven million taels of silver can save more people than this dispute, and far more than the people who suffered disaster in Chun'an. Your Excellency, let it go. It's not too late to settle accounts after all matters are settled."

Hai Rui frowned: "Do you think it can work?"

“It won’t work.” Wang Yan laughed. “Zheng and He are trembling with fear now, probably wishing they were dead. Luckily we had something on them, otherwise we would be facing a large-scale military crackdown by now.”

Hai Rui didn't laugh: "Why can't it be done?"

"Even if all 500,000 mu of land were planted with mulberry trees, it wouldn't be enough to weave 500,000 bolts of silk by the end of the year. Does Your Excellency mean the Weaving Bureau still has inventory? Do you really think so? How many hands, from the officials in Zhejiang to those in the capital, and the eunuchs in the palace, are lining up to skim money from this Weaving Bureau? It's absolutely impossible to scrape together seven million taels of silver!"

Moreover, there are Japanese pirates causing trouble in the southeast, and some wealthy families are even colluding with them, making the situation complex and difficult to understand. War requires military supplies, and once the fighting begins, money flows out like water. Minister Hu is the Governor-General of Zhili and Zhejiang, so military supplies are naturally handled by these two provinces. There are still many things to deal with here, Your Excellency. Let's just remain calm and not let them buy the land.”

"But we'll run out of food sooner or later, what are we going to do then?" Tian Youlu said with a mournful face, as if he had already foreseen his own death.

Wang Yan calmly shook his head: "No, the mulberry seedlings must be planted in June, otherwise there won't be enough time and the yield will be insufficient, and then everything will be ruined. The results should be available within the next ten days."

Hai Rui was ultimately a reasonable man and did not escalate the situation further at that time.

But Hai Rui's lack of trouble did not affect Zheng Bichang and He Maocai's desire to die.

"You bastard!" Zheng Bichang slammed his fist on the table in anger.

“Old Zheng, the guy surnamed Wang didn’t cause trouble for Hai Rui, but instead gave up his power. Now it’s not the guy surnamed Wang who’s holding us back, it’s Hai Rui, this seventh-rank official, who’s holding us back! What do you suggest we do?” He Maocai sat there, spreading his hands, looking like he was saying, “It’s all your fault.”

"What to do! What to do! All you do is ask me what to do! You're a provincial governor too!"

"Haven't you always been the one making the decisions between us? Why are you telling me this now?" He Maocai was displeased.

Zheng Bichang looked like he wanted to die, speechless and choked with emotion, lost in thought for a long time.

He Maocai said, "Old Zheng, the people investigating the Xin'anjiang embezzlement case are coming soon. Among them are people from Prince Yu. They are specifically targeting Grand Secretary Yan and the Junior Grand Secretary. They will definitely cause trouble for us when they come here and delay our work."

"How could I not know?" Zheng Bichang said impatiently. "At this point, we can only get the land purchase settled as soon as possible. No matter what, we must plant the mulberry seedlings this month. Then, one good thing will cover up a hundred bad things, and we can get through this safely."

Zheng Bichang looked up and sighed, "That Wang fellow deserves to die. I never thought that one day my brother and I would be caught in the crossfire by a mere ninth-rank clerk."

“The Xu guy has definitely sold us out by now,” He Maocai sighed.

"Do you think that guy surnamed Wang is stupid? He may have detained people, but he certainly won't interrogate them. Subordinates rebelling against superiors, even interrogating military officers is not something a mere ninth-rank clerk like him can do."

Zheng Bichang snorted, stood up, and said, "Let's go find Shen Yishi and tell him to hurry up and buy the land. Also, have Gao Hanwen deal with Hai Rui and Wang Yongji; they must sell this land!"

"If they don't want to buy, what can we do?"

“Of course we’re useless. What if the Imperial Textile Bureau steps in?” Zheng Bichang said in a sinister tone.

"Are you crazy?"

"If we don't go crazy, we'll die! At this point, who cares about anything else? Let's get through this first!"

Immediately, the two ran to find Shen Yishi, a big merchant who worked for the Jiangnan Textile Bureau and was the head of the Jiangnan silk trade...

Three more days passed, and while the corrupt officials arrived in Hangzhou, Shen Yishi also arrived in Chun'an by boat, using the name of the Textile Bureau.

Tian Youlu ran excitedly into the yamen: "Your Excellency! This is wonderful! This is wonderful! The people from the Textile Bureau who bought the land have arrived."

Upon hearing this, Hai Rui, who was writing an official document, stopped writing and looked up to ask, "What did you say?"

"The people from the Jiangnan Textile Bureau have come to buy the land, Master. That's great! The matter of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields is finally over. From now on, we can live a peaceful life. I'll send someone to inform the Third Master right away!"

Under Hai Rui's enigmatic gaze, Tian Youlu jumped around, ordering someone to call Wang Yan back from playing in the dirt and sand, and also instructing the cook to prepare food and wine to entertain the people from the textile bureau...

When Wang Yan returned, he was met with Hai Rui's cold gaze.

"Have you heard, Registrar Wang? People from the Jiangnan Textile Bureau have come to buy land! What do you think of this?"

Upon hearing Hai Rui's question, Wang Yan smiled and waved his hand, "It must be that Zheng Bichang and He Maocai have lost their minds in their desperation. They couldn't suppress us, so they invoked His Majesty's name, forcing us to sell our land."

At this point, he turned to look at Zhu Qi, who had rushed in, and said, "Seventh Master, did you see that? Zheng Bichang and He Maocai have gone mad; they even dare to smear His Majesty's reputation!"

Zhu Qi's face turned green: "Where are the people from the Weaving Bureau? Who is this person?"

Tian Youlu finally realized that instead of getting relief, he had encountered an even bigger problem.

He knew the identities of Zhu Qi and the others. Seeing the murderous look in Zhu Qi's eyes, he trembled with fear and replied, "Reporting to Seventh Master, there are no eunuchs from the Weaving Bureau. The people who have come are merchants who work for the Weaving Bureau. Their name is Shen Yishi, and he is the largest silk merchant."

Wang Yan said, "Seventh Master, don't be anxious, and Elder, don't be angry either. Let's see what Shen Yishi has to say first. He's not stupid for working for the Textile Bureau. He knows the consequences of doing this better than anyone else. If he doesn't want to die, he must have another reason..."

　I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the kind readers who have given me generous support through tips, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and those who have been reading quietly!

　　(End of this chapter)