The visitor was a robust man in his mid-teens, his beard scraggly and his face showing signs of exhaustion.
He "plopped" down on his knees in front of Yuan Yunzhong, his eyes immediately reddening, "My lord, please save our Inspector General. He," he stammered, "led the others from the Inspection Division into the granary of Bixia Temple and now they are surrounded in Bixia Temple..."
"What?!" Before he could finish, Lord Bai, who had feigned indifference to the chaos outside, opened his eyes, and Lord Xiang, who had appeared unconcerned, sprang up, while even the usually calm and composed Yuan Yunzhong was visibly shocked.
This startled the visitor.
Out of fear, he glanced at the lords before him and said, "As soon as our Inspector heard that refugees had taken the lead in storming into the Wanping County Government Office, he feared they would force the monks of Bixia Temple to open the granary and steal the grain. He left me at the Inspection Division to wait for the lords, while he took the government officials from the Inspection Division to Bixia Temple."
Lord Bai’s face darkened like rolling thunderclouds as he roared, "Then why didn’t he report to me earlier?"
The visitor, unsure of who he was, didn’t dare to respond.
A cold smirk touched the corners of Yuan Yunzhong’s mouth as he said, "This gentleman is the Minister of War, Lord Bai."
Upon hearing this, the visitor’s complexion changed slightly, and he stammered incoherently without managing to utter a full sentence.
Yuan Yunzhong saw this and said, "By your appearance, you must be an auxiliary guard from the Inspectorate, correct?"
The Inspection Division had an Inspector General and a Deputy Inspector. The Inspector General held the official rank of Junior Ninth Grade, and the Deputy Inspector ranked as Associate Ninth Grade. Then there were the clerks and constables who, even though they did not hold official ranks, were recognized by the Imperial Court as government officials. As for the auxiliary guards who assisted the constables, they were appointed by the Inspector Generals or Deputy Inspectors themselves, who could appoint or dismiss them at will.
With great humility, the visitor lowered his head and gently responded with a "yes."
Yuan Yunzhong said, "You will follow my orders for now. After we rescue your Inspector General, if you wish to return to the Inspectorate, I will speak to your Inspector General and have you promoted to constable. If you don’t want to go back, you can choose between the Wanping Guard and the Shang Twelfth Armies, and I will officially recommend you."
This meant following the official route to become a government clerk.
And for someone like him, who held no official rank and worked in a place like the Inspectorate, there was a possibility for succession.
For someone of his age and experience, this was akin to the carp leaping through the dragon’s gate, a meteoric rise.
Overjoyed, the visitor repeatedly kowtowed and thanked Yuan Yunzhong.
No longer intimidated by Lord Bai, he said, "Our Inspector General had previously sought an audience with Lord Bai but was dismissed without even seeing his face. Later, upon inquiring, he found out that Lord Bai was planning a bandit suppression. Our Inspector sighed for days, but still led his men to Bixia Temple. However, before he left, he instructed me that if someone from the Imperial Court comes to the Inspection Division to inquire about the Wanping County matter, I should tell the lords about his whereabouts. If not, I was to collect their bodies later on, to prove that they were not in collusion with the refugees."
The assembly in the council hall listened with an array of complex expressions.
Yuan Yunzhong, however, was so infuriated that it took him a moment to compose himself before he sharply asked Commander Chen, "Is it possible to hold the two granaries in Wanping County?"
Commander Chen puffed out his chest and boomed, "Your subordinate will not disappoint you, my lord. As long as we are alive, so will the granaries be!"
Lord Shi, too, was emotionally stirred and repeated vehemently, "Your subordinate will stand or fall together with Lord Chen!"
Yuan Yunzhong nodded, and both Commander Chen and Lord Shi left the council hall to muster troops and officers.
He and Lord Xiang then began planning the strategy for attacking the Wanping County Government Office and Shijingshan. In the end, it was decided that Lord Xiang would oversee the overall situation here, while Commander Wang would be responsible for Wanping County and Yuan Yunzhong would take charge of Shijingshan.
Lord Bai was quite surprised and cast a glance at Yuan Yunzhong, his demeanor no longer carrying the earlier arrogance.
Lord Xiang, however, was very worried and said, "I think it’s best if I lead the attack on Shijingshan. I have previously been the Inspector General of the Nine Borders and fought several battles."
Even if he were inclined to stand by, with so many guard stations near the capital city, he couldn’t possibly ignore a crisis. But Yuan Yunzhong was Yuan Haoran’s only son and the emperor’s favorite, if anything were to happen under his watch, not only would the Yuan Family not spare him, but neither would the emperor.
Yuan Yunzhong’s stance was very firm as he said, "That Old Zhao may not necessarily be an acquaintance. I should personally meet with him. He probably doesn’t yet know of Prince Ning’s death."
Everyone was quite astonished.
But Yuan Yunzhong had already strode out. "The matter is decided. Since the emperor has entrusted me with this issue, you all should cooperate fully," he said.
He sighed inwardly, understanding why Lord Xiang had spoken that way and why he felt compelled to act as he did, but he still struggled to accept it completely.
A gentleman does not stand underneath a dangerous wall, he now had Song Jiyun to think about and should consider his own smaller family. In the future, he should avoid putting others in such a difficult position.
He mounted his horse and rode toward Shijingshan with the few guards his maternal grandfather had sent him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Xu Guangzeng sneakily lying behind a few of the colonels left here, clearly fearful that following him to Shijingshan would be dangerous.
Yuan Yunzhong snorted coldly, paying him no attention, and led his men toward Shijingshan.
*
Shijingshan was a relatively large mountain nearby. The slopes were gentle but the forest was dense, rarely penetrated deeply by people. This made the path to Bixia Temple in the mountains, while numerous, quite difficult to navigate.
Yuan Yunzhong thought that he needed to persuade the refugees to register and become law-abiding citizens as soon as possible because if they escaped into the dense forests of Shijingshan, they might cultivate the land when the weather was favorable, but in years of poor yield, they would definitely descend from the mountains to create chaos. By then, the people of Wanping County would suffer and, being so close to the capital city, Shuntian Prefecture would not be at peace either.
What he hadn’t expected was that as he approached Shijingshan, billowing smoke began to rise from the mountain, mingled with the cries of women and children.
His heart skipped a beat and he quickly sent scouts to inquire.
Soon the scouts returned with information, "They say that the monks of Bixia Temple refused to let the refugees in, and after a standoff of several days, the refugees tried to force their way into the temple. The monks set the temple on fire, claiming they would rather burn it down than leave it for the refugees."
Yuan Yunzhong exclaimed, "This is bad," and with a grave face ordered the colonels who had been in charge of rescuing the Inspection Division personnel, "Proceed as planned. We need to see the living and find the bodies."
He prepared to intercept the refugees who might scatter in every direction.
The men respectfully acknowledged with a "Yes."
Some entered the dense forest, others began to set up ambushes at strategic points, and still others started to erect camps.
Yuan Yunzhong figured that the refugees would likely realize their situation after a few days of hunger.
Commander Chen, who had taken down the Wanping County Government Office, brought the heads of Gou Zi and a few others to Yuan Yunzhong, saying, "Your subordinate is fortunate not to have failed the mission, quelling the rebellion in Wanping County and exterminating twenty-eight fierce bandits. The rest have all been captured."
This was a significant military achievement.
He also grinned happily at Yuan Yunzhong, saying, "Both granaries are safe."
Then he lamented, "They truly are illiterate. The documents in the county yamen clearly stated where the two granaries were located, and even the keys to the granaries were hanging on the wall of the finance room. Yet, they didn’t even look at the documents, killed almost all the government officials, looted food from wealthy households, and had no idea about the existence of those two granaries."
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