The Sinful Woman's Golden Branch: The Jade-Faced Yama is Actually Me (Part 15)...

Dengzhou is located near the sea, with Peng and Huang counties along the coast mainly engaged in salt, iron, fishing, and boating.

Ping and Sang counties, which have more land area, mainly engage in agriculture, fishing, and handicrafts.

The original military governor's office was located in Peng County, because it not only had salt fields but also a port, making it the lifeline of the entire Dengzhou.

As for the iron industry, Dengzhou's iron industry is not developed. Only Huangxian County has small-scale operations. Most of the mining sites are in Laizhou. Salt industry still accounts for the majority. Huangxian County happens to be adjacent to Pengxian County.

Ping and Sang counties are quite far away and there are no important supplies there, so we can leave them there for a while.

Taking all factors into consideration, Peng County became the political district of Dengzhou. Not only were the princess's residence and the governor's residence located in Peng County, but most of the prominent families in Dengzhou also had offices in Peng County, or at least had offices there.

Among the several prominent families, the Huang family was the most prominent of the four major families in Dengzhou.

Their family not only controlled all the salt industry in Dengzhou, but also had many members serving in the imperial court.

Perhaps that's not quite right. It was precisely because their family had members serving as generals and ministers in the imperial court for generations that they were able to successfully control the salt industry in Dengzhou.

This is how powerful and influential families complement each other: you provide the foundation for me, and I provide the support for you.

But when the princess arrived, the Huang family was the first to be affected.

Although it is said that dynasties last for hundreds of years and noble families last for thousands of years, the largest noble family is the one that is in power when it is in power.

Even a powerful family like the Huang family would find it difficult to withstand the impact of the imperial court.

When Li Wenyuan came to power, she not only wiped out the local powerful families, but also the largest family—the royal family.

The hatred that the clans of the world held for her was not only because she was a woman, but also because of her ruthless methods.

But no matter how much you hate them, no matter how many times you resist, you will only learn a bloody lesson.

Having failed too many times, he became obedient when facing Li Wenyuan.

They no longer cared that she was a woman, nor that she could cut down officials as easily as cutting melons, nor that she favored the Li clan and the newly rich from humble backgrounds, thus competing with them for profit.

Now she's just sending her daughter to Dengzhou to get the title, and she doesn't care anymore...

The princess was originally sent under the guise of being granted the title of king, but in reality, it was just a slogan to establish a military governorship.

Although the Dengzhou aristocratic families were extremely resistant, they lacked the courage to rise up in rebellion over such a matter.

All they could do was compromise and wait for the princess to arrive, praying that they would give up some concessions and get along well with her.

But to everyone's surprise, the princess replaced everyone in the salt administration, even the workers.

They had hoped that her antics would provoke everyone's discontent, but when the salt bureau under her jurisdiction produced new salt, everyone was shocked.

Its texture is as white as snow, even cleaner than the so-called "snowflake salt," and its production volume is extremely large, so it must have a mature processing technology.

Upon seeing the new salt, the locals of Dengzhou finally understood why Princess Yongning was so confident in coming to Dengzhou to receive her investiture.

If the salt quality were improved, it would be extremely beneficial to them, but how could they obtain the right to sell salt from Princess Yongning?

Because of this, the Huang family went to great lengths to please the princess, sending countless gifts, but only received an ambiguous response in return.

Seeing this, other families also had their own ideas and bypassed their family to secretly contact the princess. When the Huang family learned of this, they became even more resentful.

When feeling distressed, it's easy to drink alcohol.

Huang Liulang, who was recently in charge of liaising with the princess, was riding his horse through the streets drunk when he unknowingly arrived at the fields.

Seeing the men, women, and children busy harvesting millet in the field, he couldn't help but chuckle and spurred his horse straight into the millet field.

Everyone was focused on harvesting millet when they were suddenly struck by this calamity, and they cried out in alarm as they tried to get away.

But there was an old man, frail and unable to move easily, who could only watch helplessly as the horses came.

Before he could react, he was trampled to the ground by the horse and died on the spot.

Huang Liulang rode his horse with great joy, but when he heard the crying behind him getting louder and louder, he realized that something was wrong.

Looking back at the old man's corpse surrounded by the crowd, he instantly sobered up considerably.

Such powerful and influential families are used to acting recklessly and having a few lives on their hands is nothing to them, but they would never do it in public.

Putting aside what the government officials will do, his competitors will also take the opportunity to make trouble, and then he'll have to bribe officials at all levels again. It's truly disgusting...

He turned and rode away, wanting only to get this matter over with as quickly as possible.

Huang Liulang and the local magistrate were as close as brothers. Without even arriving in person, he sent someone to deliver a message, and the matter was settled. Huang Liulang was overjoyed and the banquet proceeded as usual.

Unexpectedly, just as the banquet was in full swing, he suddenly heard the servants shouting in panic. Before he could even drunkenly check what was going on, the door had already been kicked open.

In the dim light, Huang Liulang could see the armored soldiers lined up, revealing a slender "young man".

But upon closer inspection, although she was dressed in the round robe and black boots commonly worn by officials, and had her headdress turned up, she was undeniably a beautiful woman.

Huang Liulang's memory was a bit sluggish; he couldn't recall when he had seen this woman before. Just as he was about to think again, the woman gave him a gentle smile.

"Grab him."

...

Huang Liulang screamed as he was dragged all the way to the government office, his clothes scattered and his shoes and socks gone, attracting a large crowd of onlookers.

The old government office in Peng County, which had been covered in dust, reopened, but the person sitting in the office was not the former county magistrate, but a woman whose face was unfamiliar.

Ye Xiqing sat in the main hall, with only two attendants beside him, who were guards. He gave a business-like smile to the person below him.

"Now, the Holy Mother Emperor has bestowed upon Princess Yongning the title of Princess of Dengzhou, entrusting her with all affairs of Dengzhou."

"In order to ensure that the government is efficient and the people are harmonious and the law is clear in Dengzhou, the princess has specially appointed me as the Dengzhou Inspector to inspect the officials in office and to uphold the law."

"Unexpectedly, the officials of Dengzhou gave me a pleasant surprise as soon as I took office."

“A few days ago, there was Huang Jia Liulang, who was drunk and reckless, killed people and destroyed fields, and fled without atoning for his crimes. According to the Da Yu Law, he should be executed and his body thrown into the market.”

"Unexpectedly, the magistrate of Peng County accepted bribes and not only turned a blind eye to the matter, but also went to the aggrieved party to exert his power, making the aggrieved party afraid to speak out against his grievances."

"How can I sit idly by and watch such an outrageous act be committed?"

"The main culprit, Huang Liulang, is hereby sentenced to be beheaded in the marketplace, and the magistrate of Peng County, who was found guilty of protecting him, is to be dismissed from his post and sent to the capital for trial."

“The family of the victim will be given one hundred strings of cash for funeral expenses, which will be confiscated from Huang Liulang’s private property.”

"The criminal Huang Liulang shall be executed immediately in the market outside the government office."

The onlookers gasped in astonishment.

Huang Liulang was so prominent that everyone knew him, and he was recognized long ago as he was being dragged along.

His arrogant behavior meant he bullied more than one person, and many people hated him. But what kind of family was the Huang family? Which official would dare to punish him?

The crowd was filled with doubt and surprise. Ye Xiqing turned her head and gestured to the attendant beside her. A burly middle-aged woman stepped forward and spat twice onto her hand.

Ye Xiqing, who traveled from the modern era, was really not used to the ancient people's staple foods of beef, mutton, fish, goose, chicken and dog. She missed her pork.

So she planned to develop the pig industry as a side business, but when she went to learn about pig farmers, she saw a tall and strong woman slaughtering a pig, her movements were frighteningly swift.

It was too bloody to watch, so Ye Xiqing lowered her head and waited for the woman to finish killing.

After the killing was over, Ye Xiqing called out to her, "Do you know how to kill?"

Tu Si Niang: Hmm?

The butcher's words are true. No one would do this job unless they were desperate. Even Tu Si Niang would want to earn enough money and change professions immediately. Why would she be asked to kill someone now?

Just as he was about to refuse, Ye Xiqing continued, "I will take you into the government office, where you will receive a monthly salary of two strings of cash and one shi of grain."

Tu Si Niang: Huh?

At first, she had some psychological barriers to killing someone, but after learning that the person she was to kill was Huang Liulang, she immediately spat twice on her hands.

Huang Liulang was so frightened that his soul almost flew away. He knelt down and begged for mercy, then shouted that he had powerful backers in the court. He was incoherent and hoped for any possible way to escape.

But Tu Si Niang was too nimble. She grabbed his hair and dragged him into the street. Compared to when she slaughtered pigs, with a swift, sharp cut, Huang Liu Lang let out a few gasps before gradually falling silent.

Tu Si Niang and the others didn't move, but returned excitedly to report: "Sir! We've finished killing them!"

Ye Xiqing rubbed her forehead: "Shou means to cut off someone's head..."

Tu Si Niang was taken aback. "Huh? Is that what you mean? Then why don't you just say beheading him, sir?"

"I'll go chop again!"

Ye Xiqing stopped her abruptly: "No need, it's fine as long as he's dead."

She just hadn't expected that the level of knowledge dissemination in ancient times would be so outrageous. Was even the word "枭" (xiāo) considered a literary term? Wasn't that an ancient word?

Interrupted like this, she lost her mood and turned to look at Physician Ding, who had been following her: "I've been wanting to discuss another medical theory with you, but I haven't had any material. This fresh corpse is perfect for us. Wait for me for a moment."

Physician Ding: Huh?

After bidding farewell to the pale-faced Physician Ding, they walked onto the street. Tu Si Niang's skills were truly excellent; she had almost no trouble draining Huang Liu Lang's blood.

Ye Xiqing stopped in front of the pool of blood. These boots were hand-sewn by Guan's mother, and it would be difficult to wash them off with blood. She looked at the crowd and said slowly.

"I will be sitting here in court until the new magistrate takes office."

"No matter what grievances you have, I will seek justice for you."

"Don't be afraid of the powerful villains. With the princess backing you up, come and join us."

The onlookers fell silent, then erupted in cheers. After being so humiliated for so long, they were finally going to see the light of day!

The number of people seeking redress was so great that it nearly broke the county government office. The Huang family, whose residence was stormed into by the Imperial Guards, were terrified.

Seeing the guards armed with knives surrounding the Huang family, the old patriarch of the Huang family could no longer contain himself: "What wrong has our Huang family done! Why is the princess treating us like this!"

The one who led the troops to surround the Huang residence was Zhao Yingying.

He grinned as he looked at the panicked Huang family.

What mistakes? Well, there are quite a few.

Because it was Huang Liulang who was killed, the news spread like wildfire, and all the aggrieved parties who had grudges against the Huang family rushed over, crying and wailing as they recounted their grievances. Some even took the opportunity to extort compensation.

One thing at a time. Although Ye Xiqing wanted to make an example of someone, she didn't like people taking advantage of her. She would deal with them the same way once things were over.

I picked up my pen and scribbled away, writing in traditional Chinese characters, which was infuriating.

Once you've collected them all and folded them into one-tenth of the original price, that's about it.

Ji Siyin glanced at it and immediately affixed his own seal.

As a princess, she had one privilege: she could administer punishments herself.

The Huang family has fallen. No one expected that such a large family would fall so unexpectedly!

After reviewing the Huang family's case files, Ye Xiqing began to implement her new law—

“There is a Huang family who wreaks havoc in the region, killing people and seizing countless fields.”

"Now their family property is confiscated and distributed to the people. The land law is specially implemented to redistribute the land."

“Those who were once servants or slaves in wealthy households are now being granted free rein and given land again.”

“Those who have no debts to the master will be directly repaid; those who have debts will be recorded in the official register and will be repaid within ten days at the time of the autumn harvest.”

“The Huang family has been convicted and their debts have been wiped clean. Their servants have been returned to civilian life.”

"All departments should work together to complete the survey of all fields before the beginning of next spring."

"Let us all strive to fulfill our duty to ensure the timely planting of crops."

Everyone: ...

Her words were very bureaucratic.

But after the translation was finished, everyone fell silent.

All former servants were returned to their original status, and their masters were convicted, thus erasing all old debts.

This… Master… if you don’t commit some crime… you’d be doing me a disservice…