Chapter 48
The Five City Garrison Command was a basic-level security management agency in the capital, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. It was divided into five major urban areas: east, west, south, north, and central. The garrison commander was a sixth-rank military officer who was in charge of the city's security, fire prevention, and urban appearance.
With military officers in command, there were corresponding civil officials supervising them. These were the seventh-rank city patrol censors, who belonged to the Censorate and were rotated among the "five city censors" from the thirteen circuit censors, with one censor for each city, for a total of five.
Dashilan and Qipanjie are both under the jurisdiction of the Central City Military Command. Last night, a tiger swaggered through the streets of Dashilan, which was a result of negligence in maintaining order. Xiao Yang, the commander of the Central City Military Command, and Yuan Ting, the censor of the Central City, must take responsibility for this.
Early in the morning, after Wei Luo finished breakfast, he took Liu Heng and plainclothes guards and headed to the Central City Military Headquarters.
The yamen was located inside Zhengyang Gate, not far from the Six Ministries to the north. When Wei Luo arrived, in addition to Xiao Yang and Yuan Ting, Guo Zheng, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was also present in the yamen's court.
The gentleman was also there, and Wei Luo was overjoyed. In fact, he had always wanted to visit Guo Zheng, but he was afraid that the emperor would be wary of him, so he dared not make contact outside the palace.
The three bowed, and Wei Luo, sitting at the head of the table, said, "No need for formalities," after which the others took their seats.
Yuan Ting was the one who discovered the beggar had changed into new clothes. Wei Luo learned of this from Liu Heng, so he looked at Yuan Ting first and asked, "I heard that Censor Yuan was unwell. Did you recover by the time you came to the office today?"
Yuan Ting nodded and said softly, "Thanks to Your Highness's concern, I am well."
“Very good! Since you are in good health, you should perform your duties as an imperial censor.”
Wei Luo asked the group if they knew about the tiger in Dashilan.
They all replied, "We understand."
Wei Luo said, “According to the laws of the dynasty, those who keep wild beasts in the countryside shall be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane and the beasts shall be confiscated by the government; those who release wild beasts to injure people shall be considered to have caused death or injury and may be sentenced to death. In my opinion, since the tiger has not yet injured anyone, the Military Command should immediately send people to capture the tiger to prevent it from harming the people in the future.”
"What do you all think?" Wei Luo asked, looking at the group.
Xiao Yang was in charge of maintaining order in the area, so he was the first to reply, "What Your Highness says is also my thought. I can immediately send men to capture the tiger, but..."
Xiao Yang hesitated, then Wei Luo lowered his eyes and asked with a smile, "What concerns does the Commander have?"
Xiao Yang sighed deeply, looked at Wei Luo with complicated eyes, "The people who tame tigers are mostly sons of nobles. If the Military Command forcibly captures the tigers, people may refuse to cooperate."
The implication was that they dared not and could not control the other party's noble status.
Previously, a certain duke set up a "tiger show" in his mansion. After being impeached by the censor, he was only fined three months' salary. Later, a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard took a tiger hunting. After presenting the tiger skin to Consort Shen, he was rewarded by the emperor.
Therefore, even though Xiao Yang knew about this matter, he did not want to get involved. If the tiger did not harm anyone, the soldiers and officers in charge were too small to manage; if the tiger did harm anyone, the Imperial Guards would capture it.
For him, turning a blind eye was the best solution.
Just now, he had discussed the same thing with the Yuan court, and he would write a memorial impeaching the emperor to see how the emperor would react. He just didn't expect that His Highness the Crown Prince would suddenly appear, pushing him to the edge of the abyss.
Xiao Yang was filled with trepidation. After speaking, he exchanged glances with Yuan Ting, and the two of them looked at Wei Luo, remaining silent for a long while.
Guo Zheng couldn't stand it any longer and chimed in, "This is the capital. Even if someone is a son of a noble family, can they really go to heaven? If they act timidly and hesitantly, how can they maintain order in the capital? How can they reassure the people?"
Guo Zheng grew angrier as he spoke, his long beard trembling as he said to Wei Luo, "Your Highness, the matter of the noble sons raising tigers must be thoroughly investigated and dealt with. We must make an example of a few, otherwise more people will follow suit."
"You make it sound so easy."
Guo Zheng's immediate attempt to arrest someone directly touched Xiao Yang's sore spot. He shouted, "Minister Guo, it's not that we're shirking our responsibilities. You're a civil official, sitting high in the hall every day, so you naturally don't know how hard it is for us to manage things."
Xiao Yang spat, "Those sons of noble families, which one of them doesn't have connections behind them? They're united and powerful. If you anger them, you'll stir up a hornet's nest and cause a ton of trouble. I'm just a sixth-rank official, I really don't dare to mess with those ancestors."
Most of the sons of noble families are spoiled brats, often hanging out in groups of three or five, causing trouble for others. They seem to be afraid of not having any trouble, so Xiao Yang really doesn't want to provoke them.
The only people who dared to provoke them were the Eastern Depot and the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but both agencies were busy with the case of the demonic book and had no time to deal with tigers.
As for the other members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they either bought their official positions or were nominal nobles. Wei Luo was about to deal with them, and those people were too busy with their hatred to bother their own people.
Wei Luo rubbed his head, feeling a bit of a headache.
"What about Censor Yuan? Tell me your opinion."
When Wei Luo called out Yuan Ting's name, he could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb, so he respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, I will write a memorial to inform you and exercise the power of impeachment. As for how to resolve this matter, it is not my duty, so I dare not say more."
After he finished speaking, he lowered his head somewhat guiltily. The others looked at him with strange eyes. This old fox was even better at passing the buck than Xiao Yang. Perhaps because he was trying too hard to shirk responsibility, he added a few more words.
"I have heard that Your Highness intends to reorganize the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Why not directly transfer personnel from the Northern Garrison Command to arrest a few of those who have been taming tigers, and make an example of them?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yang nodded in agreement, pushing the matter onto the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the ruthless officials of the Northern Garrison, making everyone happy.
"You've really lost all sense of shame just to avoid offending anyone."
Guo Zheng stood up abruptly and yelled at the two cowards, "I came here today for the matter of 'dressing up as a demon.' The men in Dashilan dress up in such a flamboyant and dissolute manner every day. I even wanted to have the Military Command arrest them, but look at them now..."
"They dare to set off firecrackers in front of your government office, but you don't dare to utter a single word."
Guo Zheng disregarded humility and launched a direct attack on the two, making them blush and swear back at him.
Several old men in their forties and fifties were hurling insults at each other in the courtroom early in the morning. Wei Luo couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted them with a cold face.
"Regarding the tiger matter, I have sent people to investigate."
Wei Luo told Xiao and Yuan to leave, then gestured for Liu Heng to dismiss everyone, as he had a secret to discuss with Guo Zheng.
With the bystanders gone, Wei Luo and his student Guo Zheng had a much more relaxed conversation. Wei Luo asked, "His Majesty has ordered me to reorganize the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Do you have any good ideas, sir?"
Guo Zheng's eyes flickered slightly. He stepped forward, bowed, and said respectfully, "Of course. Ever since I heard that Your Highness was reorganizing the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I have been planning this matter. However, reorganizing the Embroidered Uniform Guard is a task that will offend people, so we cannot rush it."
"What do you mean, sir?"
Guo Zheng stroked his beard and slowly took out a booklet from his sleeve, handing it to Wei Luo. "This was decided by me, the Second Grand Secretary, and several other officials. Your Highness, please take a look."
Wei Luo opened it and saw that it was written on it:
1. Conduct a thorough review and establish standards for elimination.
2. Implement the "performance evaluation system" to eliminate incompetent individuals.
3. Gradually reduce the privileges of nobles.
4. Merge redundant mechanisms.
...
Each item is followed by a detailed list of specific measures.
Wei Luo was increasingly pleased with what he saw. "I am truly fortunate to have you, sir."
He stood up and bowed to Guo Zheng. This action startled Guo Zheng, who quickly stood up and supported Wei Luo's arm, saying in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, you mustn't! I am an official of the Eastern Palace. It is my duty to share Your Highness's burdens. Please don't make this old minister feel uncomfortable."
After exchanging pleasantries, the two sat down, and Guo Zheng then discussed the specific measures with Wei Luo one by one...
*
In the Scholar's Study, Shen Yao instructed the shop assistants to bring out all five hundred copies of "The Legend of Ruyi Jun" from the cellar. After counting three hundred copies, the books were loaded onto a cart and transported to the Red Powder Beauty Society.
Upon entering the shop, Shen Yao realized that they had not only bought from her shop, but also purchased large quantities of banned books from other shops. She couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are you doing buying so many banned books?"
Seeing that she was a woman, and a beautiful one at that, the other party smiled and said, "Madam, I shouldn't say anything more, but since you asked, I will tell you."
He led Shen Yao to the back of the shop and opened a door. When Shen Yao saw it, she was almost stunned. The room was filled with forbidden books, many times more than the ones in her cellar.
The man let her in, and Shen Yao didn't think much of it. After stepping over the threshold, the door suddenly slammed shut with a jarring sound.
Startled, Shen Yao quickly turned to look at the man and asked, "Why did you close the door?"
Her heart raced, and she had a bad feeling. She involuntarily took a step back, putting distance between them.
The man dropped the pretense and slowly approached her, revealing a disgusting smile. "My lady is like a fairy. In my opinion, even the top courtesan in the brothel is not half as beautiful as you."
He paced back and forth, scrutinizing Shen Yao, his gaze becoming increasingly unrestrained, as if it could penetrate her clothes and see into the woman's body.
Shen Yao felt nauseous, her scalp tingling. This man had taken advantage of her beauty and intended to do something indecent to her. How hateful that she had been so careless and had been tricked into this situation. She was truly helpless.
Shen Yao's mind raced, her voice trembling: "Young master, I'm married. My husband is an official, a member of the Ministry of Justice. Don't be confused."
When the man heard her say that her husband was an official, he was taken aback at first, and then blurted out, "How is that possible? Your husband is an official, and you still dare to open a bookstore and sell banned books?"
He didn't believe her, thinking she was just stalling for time, so he smiled and reassured her, "My lady, don't panic. I'm not a reckless person. As long as you let me hold you and kiss you, that's fine."
As soon as the man finished speaking, he lunged at her. Shen Yao quickly dodged, pulled out a gold hairpin, and held it in her hand, scolding, "If you dare to do anything reckless, I will kill you."
"Wow! She's quite the strong-willed woman."
The gold hairpin held in front of her temporarily blocked the man's attack, but he still circled around Shen Yao, chuckling as he said, "Let me tell you, my father is the Marquis of Yongning, and I have never failed to win over any woman I set my sights on."
"Then you'll be disappointed, I..."
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