Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 75 There is Cloud
The ups and downs of the outside world cannot affect the tranquility of the school. The teachers teach and educate, and the students study and gain knowledge. It is peaceful and harmonious.

Occasional conflicts between children are just trivial episodes, not even a topic of conversation after dinner.

Mr. Yushan has been very busy recently, but no one knows about it.

Every day he taught classes to students of different grades, graded and tested their homework, and in the afternoon he supervised and guided Gao Jingming and his classmates in their homework. In his free time, he would go down the mountain alone to personally follow up on some matters...

At noon a few days after communicating with Chen Xuan, the sky was gloomy and it looked like it might rain at any time, just like Mr. Yushan's mood.

In the study in the courtyard, he put down a letter and turned to look at the gloomy sky outside.

Although he had anticipated some things, after truly understanding them, he still felt inexplicably angry, mixed with a bit of ridiculous sadness.

The letter on the desk was sent by a confidant of the Lanfeng County Magistrate. The person who sent the letter was one of his classmates when he took the imperial examination. They were on the same list together. This alone was his personal connection as a scholar.

The difference is that his former classmate has made great progress and is now the governor of a county, while Yushan can only stay in the mountains and teach.

Previously, Mr. Yushan wrote to this classmate asking him to help investigate the human traffickers, and after a few days, there was some progress.

But the result was not good, and it was even what Mr. Yushan did not want to see.

It's not that his classmate is unwilling to help, nor is it that he won't help because he's in such a bad situation now. In fact, the other party is very active in handling this case and cares more about it than Mr. Yushan himself.

However, the resistance was too great. The chief clerks and even the yamen runners refused to cooperate at all. They seemed to be following orders, but in fact they were disobeying them. After a few days, not only was there no progress, but even the clues provided by Mr. Yushan were cut off. That was why the magistrate of Lanfeng County had to write a letter to explain the situation to avoid misunderstanding.

After reading the letter, Mr. Yushan certainly knew what this situation meant. Those human traffickers were clearly colluding with some people in the county government, and there were people in the county government who protected the human traffickers' illegal activities!

The letter even mentioned that after County Magistrate Lanfeng proposed investigating the human traffickers, all of a sudden, various matters, big and small, became numerous. It was obvious that the people below wanted to keep him busy so that he would have no time to take care of other things.

Mr. Yushan naturally believed in the character of his classmate. The two often met and were like close friends. The other party also really wanted to do something practical, whether for his future or to live up to his position as an official.

But the matter couldn't be carried out at all. After all, the magistrate of Lanfeng County was just an outsider, while the clerks, chief clerks and yamen runners were all locals. If these local residents with deep roots didn't cooperate, the government orders would simply not be able to leave the county government!

However, the letter from Lanfeng County Magistrate was not to complain to Mr. Yushan, but to express his determination to thoroughly investigate the matter, and no amount of resistance could stop him.

Both the other party and Mr. Yushan understood that resistance was not a bad thing, but rather an opportunity. They could take advantage of the opportunity to eliminate those people who were just sitting there doing nothing but eating and drinking. In that way, County Magistrate Lanfeng would be able to completely control the county government and serve the people better.

Mr. Yushan was in a bad mood not because things were progressing slowly, but because those officials who usually claimed to be working for the country and the people were actually doing things worse than pigs and dogs behind the scenes.

Just how many years have they been shielding human trafficking gangs? How many people have they harmed? How many families have been torn apart by this?

If we had to stick to the law, evidence, and procedures, Mr. Yushan would have wanted to personally descend the mountain and slaughter those worse-than-pigs and dogs. The imperial court is not the underworld; everything must be governed by rules. Rules are both restrictions and protections. If everyone broke the rules and acted recklessly, wouldn't the world have been in chaos long ago?

"It's not that it's difficult for my friend. If he seizes this opportunity, things will go much more smoothly in the future. Although my friend already has a grasp of the rules, the problem was raised by me, so I can't stay out of it. Fortunately, I have made preparations in advance and can help my friend handle the case more smoothly."

Thinking about this, Mr. Yushan went back to his desk and picked up another letter, the content of which was richer.

It was delivered personally by someone from Qingye Villa on Maple Forest Lake at full speed. The letter not only described in detail the specific members of the human traffickers in Lanfeng County, but also clearly stated who their boss behind the scenes was. It also described the areas involved in their human trafficking and even had some evidence of who they were colluding with!

Now the enemy has been alerted and the soy sauce workshop has been moved, but it doesn’t matter. The human traffickers have been secretly watched by the people of Qingye Villa and cannot escape.

This alone is not enough to conclude the case; a more detailed chain of evidence is needed. Moreover, the locals simply cannot continue to work together; orders from higher levels are needed.

Mr. Yushan is not an official. Although he has made great achievements, he is just a commoner. It is not a bad thing for him to use some underworld tricks to help his friends. It does not count as a violation of official taboos. At best, he is just a man with lofty ideals.

The officialdom has its own rules, and the underworld has its own methods. In investigating that gang of human traffickers, it is a bit of a waste of talent for Mr. Yushan to ask Qingye Villa for help, but who can blame the current owner of Qingye Villa for owing him a favor? It would be a waste not to use it.

"Brother Zheng, you hold those guys back in the open, and I'll help collect evidence in the dark. We'll work together, and when the order comes from above, we'll definitely wipe out those criminals!"

A hint of coldness flashed in Mr. Yushan's eyes, and he put all the letters away to prevent Chen Xuan and others from accidentally seeing them when they came here.

His good friend, the magistrate of Lanfeng County, was a Jinshi (imperial scholar) and had his own connections. Plus, he was also making an effort, so it would be no problem for him to seize the opportunity to deal with several officials in Lanfeng County.

In order to solve the problem better and faster, Mr. Yushan also wrote a letter to the county, but he didn't know how much help the letter could provide. After so many years, some relationships would fade if they didn't see each other for a long time.

But because of the injustice in his heart, Mr. Yushan didn't mind taking the initiative to go to the door.

The overt investigation was interrupted, but in reality, both Mr. Yushan and the Lanfeng County Magistrate were proceeding step by step.

Looking at the gloomy sky outside the window again, Mr. Yushan felt melancholy.

Isn’t that gloomy sky like a huge curtain covering the sky?

The local gentry in the small Lanfeng County were able to override the county magistrate at a critical moment, protect human traffickers, and have been at large for many years. This is just a glimpse of the whole picture. If we look at the entire Jing Kingdom, how similar are those aristocratic families to the local gentry?
With such a group of people around, the court often has to look at their faces if it wants to really do something. If the interests of this group of people are affected, even if it is a good thing that benefits the country and the people, they will find ways to make it impossible to proceed!

Mr. Yushan had already witnessed the terror of the aristocratic families, but he was unable to do anything to them. How could he not deal with the criminals in Lanfeng County?
……

(End of this chapter)