Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 84 Finally fooled

Song Shi'an was sleeping soundly in his office, but before he had even slept for two hours, another steward from the Zhang family came to visit him at the crack of dawn.

Under Song Shi'an's orders, only San Gou was on duty at the gate.

"Your humble servant greets Your Excellency."

The first thing he did upon arrival was to kneel down and pay his respects.

"Are you being so polite?" Song Shi'an smiled.

"Please don't make fun of me, Your Excellency." The steward stood up, still bowing.

So Song Shi'an got straight to the point, saying, "All the grain should be placed in the courtyard. All the money should be transported to the South Gate in batches by rickshaws at midnight tonight (23 PM to 1 AM). There will be officers there to meet you. Remember, do not crowd together or gather in groups."

"What if any soldiers interfere along the way?" the other party asked cautiously.

Then, Song Shi'an took out a document he had personally written, with the county magistrate's seal on it, and handed it to him: "Show it to anyone who asks questions, but don't say anything."

The manager took it with both hands, and then saw the three particularly arrogant words on it.

—Let him pass
"After you're done using it, return this to the officer on duty when you leave the city gate. Remember, you absolutely cannot lose it, otherwise you won't be able to leave the city without it," Song Shi'an warned.

"Understood, I understand."

"Those who want to leave the city, prepare a list and submit it this morning. No replacements will be made afterward. If anyone leaks it, then no one will be allowed to leave the city," Song Shi'an warned sternly again.

"Yes." The steward nodded, then asked, "Are there any requirements regarding the list of people leaving the city?"

"The head of the family, relatives, and no one else will be allowed to pass. Don't even think about falsifying anything; I have household registration records here," Song Shi'an said. "As for those who come to the city to visit relatives but are not registered in Shuofeng, forget about it. I show no favoritism here."

"That venerable one..."

The manager hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"What's your name?" Song Shi'an asked.

Quite eagerly, the steward said, "Reporting to Your Excellency, my name is Sanming."

"Add it to the list and make a note about the steward of the Zhang family," Song Shi'an said casually.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir." With his fists clenched, Sanming bowed repeatedly, completely overjoyed.

“Go back, and keep everything confidential.” Pointing at Sanming, Song Shi’an said with extreme seriousness, “If any word gets out, or even if they reveal my name, you won’t just be unable to leave the city. I will kill you.”

"Yes, sir! I will remember, I will remember!"

After a swift and decisive conversation, Sanming withdrew and left.

Song Shi'an yawned wearily and rubbed his temples. Although less than four hours of sleep was indeed difficult, such suffering was nothing to him.

"continue working."

.........

During the day today, all the powerful clans kept their gates tightly shut.

Everyone was continuously transporting grain out of the warehouse.

The heads of each powerful clan said nothing.

Things are different now.

With the arrival of such a powerful figure as Song Shi'an, everyone knows that if you annoy him, no matter how noble you are, you'll have to dig trenches.

Moreover, no matter how noble you are, can you compare to the meritorious official Zhao Xiang?

If the Sixth Prince has gone to such lengths, his most trusted confidant, Song Shi'an, certainly won't be lenient either.

However, grain is grain. If a war really breaks out and the grain shortage reaches a point where even Zhang Gong might not be able to save himself, they have no intention of 'stockpiling grain' at all.

It's just that all this money—the shiny black copper coins, the gleaming white silver, the glittering gold—has to be handed over to bribe that corrupt official, which is truly heartbreaking.

You people from Sheng'an are really ruthless!

In the afternoon, Sanming rushed back after a trip to the government office. While Zhang Gong and the younger generation of other powerful families were discussing matters in the main hall, he entered directly without announcing himself.

Everyone was very nervous upon seeing him.

"Can the entire list be approved?" someone asked anxiously.

Sanming was somewhat embarrassed. Looking at Zhang Gong in the main seat, he said, "Half of the list has been crossed out."

Upon hearing this, the people in the hall erupted in anger.

"We've already paid so much, can't we even add a few more?"

"This Song Shi'an has really gone too far!"

"Yes, what do they think they are? They're nothing but the Sixth Prince's dog!"

Amidst the commotion, Zhang Gong suddenly shouted sternly, "Shut up!"

That sound made everyone mute.

Reaching out his hand, Zhang Gong took the list, looked at the crossed-out names, and then surveyed the members of the powerful clans: "Didn't I tell you that everyone can only fill in their own relatives, and only those registered in Shuofeng? Each of you has added three to five people. Are you ignoring what I said?"

This rebuke made everyone lower their heads.

“Lord Zhang, we know we were wrong,” one of them said. “But this is completely uncompromising and far too harsh. This is exactly the style of a cruel official.”

"He has the key to leave the city, do you?" Zhang Gong countered.

"But my cousin is visiting relatives in the city... I can't leave her alone in the city," one person pleaded softly. "Could we... switch places?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gong looked at him with disdain and said with disgust, "Are you trying to use your father, your mother, or your brother and sister as substitutes?"

His face flushed instantly, and he lowered his head, not daring to speak at all.

"Go to the yamen again and tell Song Tangzun that we have no objections to the list." Zhang Gong handed over the paper.

Sanming took the list and left in a hurry once again.

Looking at these whispering juniors, Zhang Gong raised his finger and circled it around: "You lot, if you add an extra person when leaving the city and ruin Li Shuo's plans, I guarantee that he won't be able to eat a single bite of food in Liangzhou."

Song Shi'an and his group might not be afraid, but no one dared to offend Zhang Gong's authority.

Everyone stood up and bowed to him in unison: "Yes."

.........

Today is midnight.

In batches, all the powerful families sent their servants to transport all their wealth in boxes via rickshaws to the city gates. Each time, Sanming, carrying a written edict, led the way.

"Halt! It's curfew! Why are you proceeding?"

A patrolling soldier blocked the convoy's path.

Although it is wartime now, unlike in the past, there is still a curfew.

After all the laborers in the city had completed their corvée labor, a period of alert began.

At that time, walking on the road at will was a capital offense.

The more critical the period, the more intense the effort to find spies and informants will be.

However, a motorcade like this, which is "grand and proper," is quite different.

Perhaps because they were on a mission, they wouldn't immediately label him a traitor.

Seeing this, Sanming, already skilled at it, directly presented the edict with both hands.

The soldier took it with one hand, and after seeing the words and stamp on it, he returned it to him without thinking and said, "Let's go."

So the convoy continued its journey toward the south gate.

"Does Song Shi'an have that much influence?" someone asked quietly when no one was around.

"He is the Sixth Prince's confidant. Now, all affairs in the city must be carried out unconditionally as long as there is a command from him. His power has long surpassed that of an ordinary county magistrate," someone explained.

"Then why doesn't His Highness give him an official position?" someone asked curiously.

"Stop talking, stop talking, let's go."

The convoy proceeded swiftly and cautiously.

We continued until we reached the South Gate.

The South Gate is the gate that faces completely away from the Chishui River.

The supplies for the past two days have mostly been transported from the North Gate, with some being moved to the West Gate for differentiation purposes. The South Gate has been used very little.

Therefore, there were far fewer soldiers on duty compared to other gates.

It consisted of roughly one centurion and fifty armored soldiers.

"Sir," Sanming respectfully saluted with a fist.

Then, Manager Bai checked the boxes one by one.

He remained unfazed upon seeing the money, jewelry, and gold and silver inside.

This is to prevent some people from adding extra people.

After Zhang Gong's earlier threats, no one dared to take the risk of disobeying them at this time.

The imperial court needs to go through a process to kill you, but here, Zhang Gong only needs a list to kill someone.

Of course, he did not kill indiscriminately without a legitimate reason.

If someone offends him, he only needs to make a statement explaining what rule-breaking things they did, and soon someone will personally bring people over to atone for their sins.

Or rather, they brought the corpse directly.

As for the claim that as long as you have troops, you can easily eliminate powerful families and then support another, that's just child's play.

Doing this kind of thing will only make the other powerful families feel insecure and flee north.

Does the imperial court not care if aristocratic families defect to the enemy?

No, the imperial court cares deeply and is terrified.

In every era, the most important thing is population.

Some large clans could easily move thousands, or even nearly ten thousand people, to enemy countries.

If a prefecture were to lose so many people, the governor would have to pay with at least a dozen lives to explain it to the imperial court.

To aristocratic families, soldiers were nothing but stinking bastards.

Why are nobles treated differently?

Those noble families were super families with private armies, which could be called a "family plus".

"Okay, go ahead."

After the inspection was completed, the centurion accepted all the treasures, while some people were taken away separately to the barbican between the two city gates.

Sixty or seventy members of a wealthy family, dressed simply, gathered together.

When Zhang Gong saw a young woman dressed in silk among the newcomers, he immediately shouted angrily, "You wretch, take it off and change into plain clothes."

The woman was so frightened that she trembled and quickly did as she was told.

Surrounded by several people, I changed my clothes.

"We're not allowed to bring servants or guards. Once we're out of the city, even a band of mountain bandits could wipe us out," Zhang Gong roared. "Remember, this is a flight from disaster. Anyone who disobeys me will face the consequences."

Several people said in unison, "Kill him together!"

The atmosphere became extremely oppressive.

Everyone was extremely tense.

And so, after waiting for the last group of people to arrive, everyone was finally gathered.

After Sanming handed over the imperial edict, the eighty-odd members of the powerful clan finally left the city after the gates opened.

After a whole night of work, the moon had completely set.

The sky was just beginning to lighten.

A group of simply dressed people walked away from the north wind.

In the distance, Zhang Ting stopped, turned back to his home, tears streaming down his face, and said with reluctance, "The family business of more than ten generations..."

Zhang Gong glanced at him and said coldly, "Now, it's time for Song Shi'an to pay the price."

.........

At the city gate, after those people had gone far away, the centurion looked at the two short soldiers disguised as civilians beside him and said, "Follow them, but don't expose yourselves."

(End of this chapter)