Chapter 45
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When Xue Yuan stared at someone, he resembled a predatory beast eyeing its prey.
No matter how good his words sounded, Gu Yuanbai couldn’t summon any emotion. Instead, he felt that Xue Yuan’s words were either pretentious or harbored some ulterior motive, either feigning concern or gloating inwardly.
First impressions were indeed crucial. Xue Yuan’s first, second, third impressions left on Gu Yuanbai were all not very favorable… Even though he was now saying something resembling care, it didn’t have the same effect as when Tian Fusheng or Zhang Xu, the captain of the guards, said it.
Therefore, there was no smile or gentleness on the Emperor’s face that Xue Yuan hoped to see. Instead, he nodded perfunctorily and promptly closed the window without hesitation.
As the window closed, the wind lifted the strands of hair on Xue Yuan’s temples.
Xue Yuan remained stiff for a moment before slowly straightening up. He suppressed his smile and expressionlessly touched the corner of his lips, thinking, was his smile really that terrifying?
What Does Gu Yuanbai Mean?
At that moment, the Chief Guard rode up on the other side of the carriage and gently advised, “Your Majesty, the officials will handle this matter properly. Please do not worry and take care of your health.”
The emperor inside the carriage sighed and replied softly, “I’m fine, no need to worry.”
Zhang Xu smiled, straightened up, and said no more. Suddenly, he felt a distinctly unfriendly gaze. Looking back, he saw Xue Yuan staring at him expressionlessly.
The emperor had told him to learn from Xue Yuan more often, so the Chief Guard maintained his demeanor, mature and steady, befitting his position.
Xue Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked at his hand, slowly tightening his grip on the reins.
The actions of the Censorate and the Supervision Bureau continued.
Before the anti-corruption campaign began, Gu Yuanbai had given those who had the means to detect the emperor’s intentions and could repay their embezzled funds a month to do so. These individuals could not be moved for now; Gu Yuanbai would allow them to return their ill-gotten gains without facing consequences, turning a blind eye.
As for those who lacked the ability to heed Gu Yuanbai’s early signals, they certainly had no means to resist him.
The Censorate showed no mercy, refusing all bribes and invitations after investigations. The undercover team was even harsher, often striking two weeks later and bringing down corrupt officials who thought they had appeased the investigators.
The deeper they dug, the more they found. Corrupt officials throughout various provinces and counties grew anxious. Some tried to cover their tracks, while others planned to flee with their stolen wealth.
Qingzhou, Shandong
A county magistrate was hurriedly packing to flee with his family. The sky outside was dark, an ideal time to leave the city. His carriage, already loaded with gold and silver, was waiting outside. He sat inside, sweating and anxious.
His wife, equally nervous, asked, “Are we really going to flee like this?”
The magistrate snapped, “What else can we do? Should we hand over all our gold and silver to cover up our embezzlement? Even if we wanted to, we don’t have enough!”
She fell silent, her eyes filled with greed as she looked at the treasure.
Two carriages reached the city gate. The magistrate lifted the curtain and ordered the guards, “Open the gate, let me through!”
Seeing the official, the guards quickly stepped aside and opened the gate.
Under the night sky, the carriages rolled out. The magistrate wiped his cold sweat with his sleeve, scarcely believing how easily they had escaped.
His wife started to laugh. The magistrate, watching her, felt a sudden sense of foreboding. But they had already left the city; by morning, no one would know where they had gone.
He began to laugh too, but their relief was short-lived. The carriages suddenly stopped, throwing the couple about. The magistrate yelled, “What’s going on? Can’t you drive properly?”
But outside, there was only silence. The magistrate felt a renewed sense of dread.
He trembled as he reached out, lifting the carriage curtain, and was instantly scared to a halt.
Outside on the road, a group of constables were holding torches, surrounding his two carriages. Each of them was dressed neatly and carried large knives, their faces stern and terrifying in the torchlight.
A man in official robes came forward, looking at the county magistrate who seemed prepared to flee, and laughed heartily, “Zhao Ning, oh Zhao Ning, are you planning to escape?”
The magistrate cried out, “You—”
The originally silent county magistrate sneered twice. His back, usually bent, seemed to straighten suddenly. His eyes were sharp as he looked at Zhao Ning, saying forcefully, “With me here, you won’t escape! You’ve been fattening yourself on the sweat and toil of the people, and now you want to run away like this?! Don’t even think about it! I’m going to arrest you now, and when the imperial inspection team arrives in Huangpu City, I’ll hand you over to them for interrogation!”
The magistrate screamed, “What grudge do you hold against me?”
The torches illuminated every face, driving away the cold. The deputy magistrate looked at each constable and declared, “Do you think we enjoy aiding your crimes? Do you think we want to be cursed by the people? This is Huangpu City, not your haven! What do we fear? The imperial inspectors are here for corruption. We have nothing left to fear!”
By the end, his fists were clenched, veins bulging, his eyes full of tears.
Behind them, some of the constables couldn’t help but utter angry and pained curses. These voices spread one after another. Every person who betrayed their conscience and sank into darkness with closed eyes couldn’t help but recall the faces of the people in the city.
The corrupt magistrate Zhao Ning lowered his head in defeat.
Such scenes played out across the country.
Righteous officials stood up, gathering evidence against corrupt ones, waiting for the imperial inspectors. In places where officials didn’t stand up, scholars with connections to the capital rallied the people, inspired by the anti-corruption campaign. They urged citizens to prevent corrupt officials from covering up their crimes, standing firm despite the risks.
“Everyone!” the scholars, drenched in sweat, passionately explained the anti-corruption campaign to the people. They spoke until their throats were dry, loudly and firmly declaring, “The court will catch the corrupt officials! The emperor will ensure those who harm the people are punished!”
The Great Heng dynasty allowed relative freedom of speech, but the consequences for scholars offending officials were well known. If the court didn’t uncover corruption, their lives would become unbearable.
But when they looked at the hopeful farmers and the citizens shouting “Long live the Emperor” and “Death to corrupt officials,” their chests were filled with overflowing strength. This emotion made them even more resolute when facing these corrupt officials.
These good officials, scholars, and common people created such a favorable situation for the court that the court would never waste it.
Recently, a publication named “The Great Heng Daily” appeared in the capital, sold at the Zhang family’s bookstore in the west of the city, with only one hundred copies sold daily.
The articles closely followed the anti-corruption progress, detailing which officials in various provinces had fallen, what they had embezzled, and what further connections were revealed. It also included touching stories from various places, people’s opinions on the anti-corruption efforts, and the benefits they reaped. This thoroughly documented the anti-corruption activities at the national level right under the people’s noses, causing citizens of the capital to line up outside the bookstore before dawn, eager to read the contents of “The Great Heng Daily.”
The citizens of the capital didn’t know why, but they treasured these reports, feeling they became rarer with each view. When they saw people from other regions shedding tears of joy as corrupt officials were brought down, they couldn’t help but get teary-eyed themselves, discreetly wiping away their tears. When they read about other provinces and counties expressing gratitude and praise for the Emperor, they felt so proud they almost wanted to laugh out loud.
Such articles and content easily united the people of a country, fostering a sense of belonging to the nation and support for its rulers.
Naturally, this was Gu Yuanbai’s doing.
The Teahouse
The storyteller struck his gavel, with a copy of “The Great Heng Daily” beside him, and loudly announced, “…The deputy magistrate of Huangpu City led the constables to bring the corrupt magistrate back to the city! The citizens, unable to leave their homes due to curfew, watched from windows and cracks, eager to cheer but covering their mouths for fear of waking the children.”
“The citizens of Huangpu City guarded the gates daily, preventing anyone from entering or leaving until the imperial inspectors arrived. When they did, they thoroughly investigated the magistrate’s residence and the local granary, uncovering massive corruption! The inspectors took three days to tally the embezzled funds,” the storyteller sneered, striking the gavel again, “a total of 300,000 taels! The equivalent of ten years’ income for the thousand households of Huangpu City! Such an amount could not be tolerated by our inspectors, nor by the Emperor! That very day, the inspector sentenced the magistrate to immediate execution, and when the sentence was carried out, the entire city cheered. Even the old farmers, who had been robbed of everything, wept tears of joy.”
“Children didn’t understand their parents’ and grandparents’ sorrow but joined in the jubilation. The elders wiped their tears, their clothes soaked, feeling both relief at Zhao Ning’s fate and gratitude towards the current reign. The day Zhao Ning was beheaded, the streets were empty as everyone gathered to witness it, the cheers resounding for miles. As the hour arrived and the blade fell, Zhao Ning’s head was severed!”
“Good!”
The audience erupted in applause, their emotions running high. “What happened next? What about the money from the corrupt official’s house?”
The storyteller smiled, “Before launching the anti-corruption campaign, the Emperor had already set regulations. The money confiscated from corrupt officials would be partly kept locally for infrastructure and partly sent to the treasury.”
“This infrastructure term was first mentioned in the paper, meaning to establish and display. The part of the funds left locally by the Emperor was indeed for road construction!”
“Road construction,” murmured the audience, “they’re really going to start building roads.”
In a private booth in the teahouse, Gu Yuanbai held a cup of tea, lost in the storyteller’s impassioned words, forgetting to sip his tea.
Hearing the enthusiastic discussion about road construction from the people below, he smiled slightly and took a light sip.
What the people longed for, if the court could provide, was the best way to win their hearts and unite them.
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