Chapter 339 Goodbye Jade Seal
"How are we progressing in consolidating the remaining political power in Chenzhou?"
She was still relieved about Qingying's work. Shen Xiangwan talked about other things. If the prefect had not been replaced by their people long ago, they would be fighting in the front and those people would be setting fire in the back. It was really annoying from the bottom of their hearts. No matter what, they had to take over all the remaining power in the shortest time.
"It's a bit troublesome."
Speaking of this, Qingying couldn't help but frown. "Although we have evidence of corruption and bribery among many officials, those people have been rooting in Chenzhou for a long time. Many of them seem to be determined to fight to the death. Unless we directly send in the army with a strong attitude and uproot everyone at the same time, it will be difficult to achieve results in a short period of time."
But if they did that, the people's perception of the army would definitely decline. If someone else secretly fanned the flames, the people's hearts that they had worked so hard to win would probably collapse.
Sitting up straight, Shen Xiangwan also frowned, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table. After a long while, he raised his head and asked, "So, what are you going to do next?"
"We don't have any good solutions at the moment. We can only take it one step at a time and defeat them one by one."
After saying this, Qingying couldn't help but sigh again. Fortunately, the prefect was one of their own. As long as they handed over the evidence of those people's corruption, bribery, and bullying of the people in the village, they could bring them down one by one. It would just take a longer time.
“Too slow.”
Shen Xiangwan didn't want to keep those people jumping around any longer: "How about we get an imperial envoy to inspect, and then have him ask the military to take action in the name of the imperial envoy?"
The imperial envoy represents the court and the emperor. With him mediating, the people will not be easily instigated, nor will it affect the image that the army has worked so hard to establish. The only bad thing is that the imperial envoy dealt with those people in the name of the emperor and the court. Even if the military was the real contributor, the people will only be grateful to the emperor and the court.
"ah?"
Qingying was stunned. They wanted to appoint an imperial envoy themselves? How?
Seeing through his thoughts at a glance, Shen Xiangwan smiled slightly, and between her hands, a palm-sized jade seal appeared in her hand: "Did you forget that we still have this thing?"
At the beginning, they used this jade seal to forge the imperial edict and replaced the prefect of Chenzhou without anyone noticing. Now they are just doing it again.
"I really forgot."
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Qingying smiled and patted his forehead. With the imperial seal, it would not be difficult to find an imperial envoy, and everything would be legitimate.
"Well, make good use of it."
Shen Xiangwan handed the jade seal to him. Although it was not impossible to seize power by force, it would ultimately be disadvantageous. They wanted to build Chenzhou into a solid backing. In addition to developing the army and people's livelihood, it was also extremely important to win the hearts of the people. Because they had defeated the Western Hu people, the army currently had an excellent reputation in the minds of the people. She didn't want to be defeated by those bastards.
With the addition of the imperial envoy, they no longer have to force themselves to proceed step by step, and they don't have to worry about the army's deployment leaving a bad impression on the people. If they handle it well, they will be able to clean up the Chenzhou bureaucracy in one fell swoop in three months at most, and firmly grasp the power in their own hands, and they will no longer have to worry about fires in the backyard.
"good."
After taking the jade seal, Qingying agreed very readily, with countless thoughts flashing through his mind. Then they talked about some things about military recruitment. About half an hour later, Shen Xiangwan left the small study with him. That day, Qingying took the jade seal and left Yong'an Village.
The next day, after inspecting the workshop, Shen Xiangwan was returning when she saw Yue Ruyan coming. A smile immediately appeared on her face. She only had two or three friends in this world. The scale of the papermaking and printing workshop was getting bigger and bigger. Gu Yunzheng was too busy to take care of her. Mu Yunran also learned a lot of medical skills from the military doctors in the army this time, which needed to be consolidated. She even stopped taking care of the workshop's affairs and was also very busy. Therefore, Yue Ruyan was the only one who could talk to her on weekdays.
"Have you dealt with the situation in the building?"
Stepping into the main hall, Shen Xiangwan asked casually, Yue Ruyan went back two days ago, and it seemed that something happened in the building. She didn't say it, nor did she ask. If there was anything she needed help with, she would naturally take the initiative to ask.
"Um."
Rubbing her brows with a slightly tired expression, Yue Ruyan said calmly, "You don't have to worry about it anymore."
"What's wrong?"
Hearing this, Shen Xiangwan was stunned. Zhao Yuping and Yun Mengyi also looked at her in confusion. They all knew how much she valued Huanxi Tower. Why did she just ignore it for no reason?
"nothing."
Shaking her head, Yue Ruyan looked like she didn't intend to say anything more. Chen Xiangwan looked at Zhao Yuping and Yun Mengyi calmly and took the initiative to invite them: "Shall we go sit in the small study?"
"good."
Knowing that she had guessed that she was reluctant to say more because she was concerned about the presence of the elders, Yue Ruyan did not refuse and stood up. The two of them nodded to Zhao Yuping and the others respectively, and left the main hall one after another.
"Meng Yi, what happened to Ruyan?"
Looking at their backs, Zhao Yuping asked worriedly.
"It shouldn't be a big deal. Okay, they all have their own ideas. Let's not worry about it."
To say she wasn't worried would be a lie, but Yun Mengyi was more open-minded than Zhao Yuping. If the children didn't want them to know, it must mean they didn't need to do anything, so why should they worry so much? Besides, whether it was Ruyan or Wanwan, they were both very independent-minded, far more capable than many men, and they wouldn't let themselves be at a disadvantage.
"What's going on?"
In the small study, Shen Xiangwan picked up the teacup that Yuanyue had brought him, shook off the camellia flowers floating on it, brought it to his lips, took a few sips, and then asked.
"It's not a big deal."
Yue Ruyan also took two sips of tea before saying, "I went back this time because a girl in the building accidentally got pregnant. This kind of thing happens all the time, and the way the building handles it is very simple. If the father of the child is willing to take responsibility, they will take the initiative to redeem the girl as a concubine."
"On the contrary, if the father is unwilling to take responsibility, then we can only abort the child and take care of ourselves as if nothing happened. But this time, that girl went a little too far and almost ended up in court. In a fit of rage, I confiscated the money she had saved over the years and treated it as if she had redeemed herself. I then kicked her out of Huanxi Tower and left her to find that man on her own."
She didn't consider herself a mean person. She wasn't close to the girls in the building, but she wasn't harsh either. Moreover, after meeting Chen Xiangwan and opening a shop with her, she also wanted to end the business of Huanxi Building. Whether someone helped the girls redeem themselves or they wanted to redeem themselves, she would just collect some symbolic money and didn't deliberately make things difficult for them. But this time, the girl was really annoying, and she didn't bother to care about what would happen if she was penniless and wandering on the streets. It was all her own fault.
[End of this chapter]
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