Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 78 Master Song, a Master of Feigning Confusion

Zhou An's eyes widened suddenly.

Song Shi'an's words instantly cleared his mind.

For a long time, they didn't react.

It wasn't until he felt a chill from the other person's cold eyes that he realized—the visitor was up to no good.

"Tang Zun."

However, he was no pushover either, and this one sentence wasn't enough to intimidate him. The tension on his face returned to its friendly state, and he said with a forced smile, "You must be new to Shuofeng, so you're not very familiar with the local customs and culture."

Song Shi'an didn't speak, he just looked at him.

Then, Zhou An slowly walked to the chair behind him, sat down, and said casually, "I know that you, sir, are young and ambitious. You came to Shuofeng wanting to make a name for yourself. But the prefectures and counties are not like your Sheng'an. To put it bluntly, the emperor is far away."

As he spoke, Song Shi'an slowly stood up, looking at him with considerable interest, as if to say, "Go on."

Seeing that the child seemed willing to be instructed, Zhou An relaxed even more. He leaned back, resting his hand on the armrest: "In Shuofeng City, salaries have been cut off for a long time. It's fair to say that all these officials at all levels are being supported by Lord Zhang."

"Several county magistrates have come here. At first, didn't they all want to show off their power as officials appointed by the imperial court? If they wanted to put a good impression on the powerful families in the city, it would be very simple: cut off their food supply and they would behave themselves."

As he spoke, Zhou An laughed. Remembering Zhang Gong's instructions, he was as polite as possible to this Young Master Song: "I know that Magistrate Song wants to use the laws of the Great Yu to pressure me, but there's really no need. The emperor's laws never reach the county level. And this is Bei Liang. If you want to get on the table in Bei Liang, I'll show you a way."

Song Shi'an slightly raised his head.

Zhou An then spoke frankly: "Tomorrow, Magistrate Song will come to the Zhang residence. Magistrate Zhang will gather all the powerful families in the city for you. You will offer them a few cups of wine and say that the country is in dire straits and the soldiers are fighting bravely against the enemy. You hope that the gentlemen can reward the troops to boost morale and comfort the soldiers. Out of respect for Magistrate Zhang, and of course, also for the sake of Lord Song, I can gather three thousand shi of grain for you that very day."

Upon hearing this, Song Shi'an asked in a forgetful manner, "What did you say?"

Is this because you think it's not enough?

But Zhou An wouldn't raise the price arbitrarily, so he said, "I'll give you three thousand shi of grain."

"No, no," Song Shi'an waved his hand, "not that sentence."

"When you come to the Zhang residence, Lord Zhang will gather all the powerful clans for you."

"It's not this sentence either."

"I'll show you a way."

Zhou An was somewhat displeased and deliberately avoided using honorifics.

So Song Shi'an reminded him, "You're saying I'm using the laws of the Great Yu to pressure you?"

Zhou An was taken aback, a bad feeling creeping over him, but he remained composed and asked, "What is it?"

Then, Song Shi'an raised his finger, tapped it lightly, and said with a smile, "No, I'm using my power to intimidate you."

"..."

"Someone is coming."

His expression immediately changed, and Song Shi'an gave the order.

The next moment, the county official and the three dogs entered together.

Zhou An, who was sitting in the chair, suddenly felt restless. Staring at Song Shi'an, he couldn't help but panic, wondering what the kid was up to.

"Take him out and, according to military regulations, give him twenty strokes of the cane," Song Shi'an said coldly.

The punishment of twenty strokes of the cane in the army is different from that in the county government. In the army, ordinary people are treated as soldiers, so the punishment is naturally more severe and there is no mercy.

"You!" Zhou An stood up abruptly.

The county official hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. But San Gou, like an emotionless machine, grabbed his arm and dragged him outside.

The county official immediately followed and grabbed the other side.

"You have to consider the owner before you hit a dog! How dare you lay a hand on me?" Zhou An struggled to turn his head and shouted at Song Shi'an, "I'm Zhang Gong's dog! If you hit me, Zhang Gong won't let you get away with it!"

"What are you yelling about? Shut up!"

San Gou slapped Zhou An hard across the face, warning, "In the army, resisting caning is punishable by death. If you do it again, I'll beat you to death!"

The slap, coupled with the threat, seemed to have struck Zhou An's vocal cords, silencing him completely.

But its body, like a maggot, struggled and twisted back and forth.

At this moment, County Magistrate Qi Mi walked over and was stunned to see this scene in the prison corridor. He quickly walked into the office and, as usual, bowed: "Your Excellency, I am County Magistrate Qi Mi."

"Lord Qi." Song Shi'an nodded slightly.

"Do you know who was just dragged out?" he asked worriedly.

“I don’t know, I think his name is something like An… Song Shi’an?” Song Shi’an pondered.

"You are Song Shi'an."

Seeing that this young magistrate was a master of feigning ignorance, the county magistrate stopped pretending and immediately said, "It's one thing to kill a servant who offended you, but he is a servant of Lord Zhang's household, and the head steward at that. By hitting him, you have undoubtedly slapped Lord Zhang in the face."

"With the nation in such dire straits, Zhang Gong is only concerned with his own interests and refuses to show any compassion for the court. What's wrong with giving him a warning?" "A warning is acceptable, but a beating is not," Qi Mi said decisively. "I know that Lord Song is from Sheng'an and dislikes these crude and uncouth noble families of Beiliang. But Zhang Gong is the governor's uncle. If he doesn't leave now, when Wuwei falls and Ji Yuan's army arrives in person, the governor will definitely issue an order to bring Zhang Gong out of the city."

“If he could really leave, why didn’t he leave before?” Song Shi’an asked.

"General Zhao nominally said that no one is allowed to leave Shuofeng," Qi Mi explained. "But in reality, he had a private conversation with Zhang Gong. If anyone is to leave, only he and his family members can go; everyone else must stay. Money can be taken, but food must be left behind."

"Is he greedy for money, or does he want to take his servants with him?" Song Shi'an asked.

Qi Mi shook his head and said, "He wants all the powerful clans in the city to leave together."

"Oh, that's it."

Song Shi'an now understood Zhang Gong's "humanitarian" thinking.

In other words, as the governor's uncle, he could leave whenever he wanted.

However, as the leader of the powerful families of Beiliang, he had to protect this privileged class.

Even though he had moved south from his homeland, with the support of these people, he remained a powerful figure in Nanliang as an outsider.

Similarly, it is also to uphold a bottom line—the general should not be a doctor.

In medieval Europe, there was a consensus that even in wars of annihilation, the defeated monarchs would not be killed and would continue to live a life of luxury.

Firstly, they're all relatives, so there's no need for that.

Secondly, no one can win all the time. As long as there is a day when you lose, if you maintain this bottom line and do not break this rule, then the wheels of history will only crush the corpses of ordinary people.

Zhang Gong represents a stance: power shifts are acceptable, but the inheritance of a thousand-year-old family lineage cannot be disrupted.

In the present world, whether it's the Qi Emperor, the Yan King of Liaodong, or the Yu Emperor, they are all, in the end, the strongest representatives of powerful families protected by powerful clans.

Of course, the situation was different in South Vietnam.

They're still in a tribal conflict over there.

"So, Master, you can't hit him."

Qi Mi knew he understood, so she urged him anxiously.

"But what can we do now that we've already fought?" Song Shi'an asked.

"The fight should have just started, I'll go and call a halt right now!" Qi Mi immediately turned around.

"No," Song Shi'an called out to him, "If you stop halfway through, what about my reputation?"

"..."

This left Qi Mi speechless. After a long pause, he asked, "If Your Excellency dares to fight, it must not be on a whim. Surely you have some measures in place to suppress Lord Zhang?"

"Can we use force to suppress them?"

"Is the power of the esteemed elder greater than that of the governor?"

"How is the Sixth Prince's influence?"

"...Of course, that's possible."

Although Qi Mi said this, he knew in his heart that it was basically over.

The Sixth Prince has a peculiar air about him.

Momentum is accumulated.

The Sixth Prince has no real power base in this regard. His current so-called influence is more accurately described as 'killing power'.

The initial wave of killing might be strong, but one cannot rely entirely on killing to rule the people.

"Don't worry, even if the sky falls, the Sixth Prince will hold it up."

Song Shi'an gently patted his shoulder, his tone relaxed.

What could Qi Mi say? He could only sigh softly.

After waiting for a while, and when the beating was almost over, Song Shi'an left the prison.

Then, they saw Zhou An lying on the bench, his buttocks smashed and smeared with blood, looking as weak as a dead dog, surrounded by a large crowd of ordinary people.

"Isn't this Zhang Gong's steward? How did he get beaten up like this?"

"This person is probably going to die, isn't he?"

"That was too brutal. I watched the whole thing. The first blow made him squeal like a pig."

"Was this new magistrate the one who did this? Doesn't he know that this is someone from the Zhang family?"

Seeing so many onlookers, Song Shi'an walked to the front with ease. Looking at Zhou An, who was covered in cold sweat and almost fainted, he clapped his hands and said loudly, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and send Zhang Gong back. It's rude of you."

(End of this chapter)