Chapter 1689: Kindness and Power
Shao Yunduan said in a cold voice: "These twenty strokes of the cane are for your first offense. If you do it again, you will be punished with thirty strokes of the cane and imprisoned for three months. If you do it again, you will be punished with forty strokes of the cane and imprisoned for one year. If you want to test whether I am a man of my words, go ahead and try!"
The eight people who were beaten were thrown out of the yamen in a miserable state, and they limped away in a hurry, supporting each other.
Everyone else was so frightened that those who originally wanted to do something clever no longer dared to do it.
After all, they were reluctant to give up this official job which had a stable income and could occasionally take advantage of their power to get some small benefits, so some people made an appointment with three or five people to go to the provincial government office to ask for an audience with Lord Shao and ask for mercy.
Shao Yunduan left them alone for an hour and a half before meeting them. After they kowtowed and begged for mercy for a long time, he sneered and said, "You regret it now? What were you doing before?"
Several people lowered their heads, extremely ashamed and nervous, and dared not say a word.
After a while, Shao Yunduan said calmly, "You are all experienced after all, and we can't recruit all the people in a short time. There are still 30 places, first come first served. Since you know you are wrong, I will trust you for the time being. Go back and write a letter of repentance, sign and hand it in!"
"Yes, yes, thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"
"Thank you for your kindness, sir!"
Shao Yunduan sneered, "I haven't finished yet. When you come back, no matter what position you were in before, you will be reassigned and start from the bottom. You are not allowed to raise any objections. Also, I will not beat you with a stick to avoid affecting your work, but your salary will be fined. Each person will be fined two months' salary. Are you satisfied? If you are unwilling or dissatisfied, you don't have to come."
Many of those who were instigated by Guanzhou Cheng to cause trouble this time were small leaders. They ended up betting on the wrong horse. Even if they come back, they still want to continue to be small leaders. It’s impossible for them to do that.
There is also salary, which must be punished as well. Two months is not too light or too heavy, just right.
It is also necessary to start from the bottom.
When Shao Yunduan said this, everyone was stunned.
Shao Yunduan sneered, his eyes darkened, and his tone was also a little cold: "You have despised me, joined forces to cause trouble, and tried to control me. You don't think that I will let it go if you kowtow and admit your mistakes? If it weren't for the fact that you have made contributions to the state government, even if you have no merits, you have worked hard, I wouldn't even give you this chance!"
"Go back and think about it. If you have thought it through, you can come if you want. If you don't want to come, forget it. I won't force you. There is only one thing you need to do: be obedient in the future. Otherwise, if you commit a crime, I will never let you off easily!"
“Yes, yes, sir…”
Several people were startled, kowtowed, got up and retreated backwards.
After leaving the provincial government office, several people looked at each other.
The news spread quickly, and soon someone paid a few copper coins to ask the failed scholar to help write a letter of repentance, sign and seal it, and then run to the government office to beg for mercy and express his willingness to come back.
Once someone took the lead, everyone else became anxious.
They rushed to the provincial government office one after another.
Shao Yunduan gave the order that after collecting thirty letters of repentance, he would stop accepting any more.
In the end, only these thirty people returned to the yamen, and the other thirty or so people had to find other ways to make a living.
This time, they combined attack and defense, broke the whole into parts, and then defeated them one by one. In less than five days, they completely turned the situation around.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
