Chapter 466 - Autumn Levy (Part 21)
The assembly chorused "Aye!" in unison. Sun Ruiwu and Wu Ya felt their hearts sink—this was shaping up to be a major prosecution. Where exactly the Australians aimed their arrows, neither could say. But that the county's landscape would be dramatically transformed after this case seemed beyond doubt.
With the city gates and yamen under control, Wu De had already relocated his command post to Zhang Youfu's manor to direct operations from closer range. Zhang Youfu's entire household, including his employees, had been rounded up and sent to the East Gate Market, where they would be "hosted" with good food and drink for a few days.
"Get on the phone to the Planning Committee immediately. Have them dispatch two hundred sets of Ming-era clothing to Zhang Youfu's manor. Make it fast." Wu De issued orders from behind a large wooden table.
"Have the interpreters we pulled from the Citizens' School arrived?"
"They have. They're assembling in the courtyard now."
"As soon as the clothes arrive, have them change. Then escort them into the city to the county yamen."
...
At the county yamen, Zhou Dongtian wasted no time exercising his new authority. He ordered the Constable Squad chief, Fu He, summoned immediately.
"This is Master Zhou," Jail Warden Sun said tersely by way of introduction. "He has come specifically to assist in handling the knife-and-arrow intimidation case. His instructions are as good as mine—and as good as Magistrate Wu's wishes. Do you both understand?"
The two men had no idea what this was about but could only respond, "Yes."
"Good. Take extra men and search the city for the knife-throwers and arrow-shooters. You have one day. And make sure you actually catch the culprits—don't just grab random people to take the fall." Zhou Dongtian smiled as he tossed down the order tablet.
Fu He withdrew, nodding obsequiously. The task would not be difficult. Lingao's county seat was tiny. His constables, along with their unofficial helpers, could turn the place inside out in half a day. Besides, the sort of person who would personally carry out such a task was typically a street ruffian or lowlife. He knew exactly how many such characters the county harbored.
The trouble was that this matter involved Chen Minggang. If he actually captured someone and brought them before the court, these petty scoundrels would confess everything the moment the magistrate glared at them—no torture needed. Then his grievance with Old Eight would be cemented.
He decided he had better go talk to Chen Minggang first. If Chen Minggang was cooperative and willing to pay up, he would naturally help smooth things over. If not, it would have to be handled officially.
Chen Minggang was at that moment in his residence conferring with his subordinates. He had learned of this development the day before and been thoroughly startled. He had not ordered anyone to do this! Yet once it happened, everyone in the county would assume it was his doing!
What exactly was going on? Chen Minggang pondered but could not figure it out. But he understood one thing immediately: he had now become a thorn in the gentry's eyes. Could Huang Binkun have arranged this?
He sent people out to gather information, but none returned. Just as he was growing frantic, someone reported: Fu He had arrived.
Fu He was the Constable Squad chief. They had little contact ordinarily, so his sudden visit clearly meant something. Chen Minggang quickly said, "Show him in!"
Fu He entered and wasted no time on pleasantries. He simply stared at Chen Minggang, making him uncomfortable. Finally Chen Minggang smiled. "Old Fu! If you've got something to say, say it! Stop staring with those ox eyes!"
Fu He sneered. "Old Eight! You've been too bold! Did you really think this Lingao County belongs to the Chen family?"
"The knife-and-arrow business was not my doing," Chen Minggang denied flatly.
"Whether it was you or not—you can explain that to the officials when you're summoned to court."
"What, has the magistrate summoned me?"
"Order tablets have already been issued—immediate arrest of the knife-throwers and arrow-shooters. Once we drag those small fry before the court, won't they confess everything clean?" Fu He assumed an attitude of supreme confidence. "You'd better think carefully about what to do!"
Seeing his expression, Chen Minggang knew further denials would be useless. Fu He had clearly come to extort him. Even if he didn't admit it, Fu He could easily find a few people to memorize a confession and testify against him in court.
"It wasn't me. And I wouldn't do anything so stupid." Chen Minggang assumed an air of righteous indignation. "If you ask me, it's probably that young Huang's doing—setting up the major households to deal with me." He sighed. "Running this errand for others, I've offended too many people. Please, Old Fu, put in a good word for me." He called in an apprentice. "Go to the back and tell the mistress to bring forty taels of silver."
This sum satisfied Fu He. Taking the silver, he said with a smile, "Old Eight, you're a real sport! This was definitely that young Huang's doing!"
"Thank you for your trouble." Chen Minggang cupped his hands in thanks. "I won't see you out."
Watching Fu He's departing figure, Chen Minggang sneered. Huang Binkun did it? If you actually produce that testimony, you're the one looking for trouble! Huang Binkun was no ordinary person—the second son of Huang Shoutong, the greatest local strongman in Lingao, and a proper county school student. To finger him as the mastermind without the Punishment Clerk and the secretary all colluding together would be impossible.
Fu He took the silver and returned to the teahouse opposite the county yamen where he usually worked cases. He summoned three of the county's riffraff, promised each two taels of silver, and designated them as the knife-throwing and arrow-shooting "culprits."
"...When you're brought before the court, no matter how the officials question you, just insist that Li Gong ordered you to do it! That's all!" Fu He sipped his tea. "They may not believe you and might use torture. But don't worry. Whether it's the paddle or the ankle-squeezers, I'll have everything arranged. You'll suffer a little, but nothing serious."
One of them asked, "Chief Fu! That's easy enough. But these small knives and bows and arrows—where did they come from? We'll need some kind of story—"
The county used to have blacksmiths, but they were long gone. Buying iron implements now required going to the East Gate Market. That was Australian territory. If they made up nonsense, and it somehow implicated the Australians, things would go badly.
"Just say Li Gong gave them to you." Fu He said. Once the torture implements were applied, Li Gong would confess to whatever they wanted.
He had the three men shackled and held at the teahouse, to be brought before the court first thing next morning. One of Fu He's men whispered to him, "Chief! Didn't you say we were going to finger Huang Binkun...?"
"You're an idiot!" Fu He scolded. "Huang Binkun—can we afford to provoke him?" He sneered. Directly fingering Huang Binkun wouldn't work; they couldn't even implicate his servants. But the person who had been most actively running about at his side lately was Li Xiaopeng. Saying it was his servant who gave the order was as good as pointing the finger at Huang Binkun. And they could extort a hefty sum from the Li family. Two birds with one stone.
Just as he was calculating how much to demand from the Li family, one of his men came in to report: strange faces had suddenly appeared all over the city in groups of three to five, stationed at various key points. The city gates were only allowing people in, not out.
"Don't worry about it. The Australians must have come into the city. They're just setting up security cordons." Fu He figured that since several important Australian chiefs had arrived, they would naturally post guards. Expected behavior.
"Tell the brothers to stay off the streets. Everyone stay at the yamen and await orders—minimize trouble!" Fu He knew his men were used to swaggering around the city. If they clashed with the Australians' people, there would be no good outcome.
"Everyone stays at the county yamen?"
"This is a case the Australian masters are personally handling. Everyone needs to be on their best behavior!"
Zhou Dongtian had boldly commandeered the yamen's Flower Hall as his command center, receiving intelligence and reports from all quarters. He also had various equipment set up in the hall. Finally, he asked Wang Zhaomin to send invitations to the affected gentry households, as well as Huang Binkun, Li Xiaopeng, and others from the county school, requesting their presence at the yamen early the next morning to observe the proceedings.
With everything arranged, he left You Guotuan in charge at the yamen and went out of the city to Zhang Youfu's manor to report to Wu De.
"It seems Fu He did go to Chen Minggang. And he found unrelated people to take the blame." Zhou Dongtian reviewed the surveillance report Zhou Botao had sent over. "The clerks really are all intertwined."
"This time we'll completely dismember them, so they can no longer act as a unified faction." Wu De said. "They'll serve us honestly and obediently."
"There was really no need to tame them. Just arrest them all. Didn't we prepare replacements?"
"That was my original thought too. Rely on violent methods to reshuffle the deck—simple and clean." Wu De said. "But since we still need to fly the Ming flag for a while longer, we must maintain Lingao County yamen as 'Ming on the outside, Australian on the inside.' The routine administrative affairs also have to be handled—how should grain levies be processed? What procedures apply? How should documents from higher yamen be answered? Only the clerks understand these Ming administrative procedures. So it's necessary to retain some of them."
"If we do that, won't they just use that to hold us hostage again?"
"Heh heh, Ming officials were easily held hostage because they were part of the same system. Officials wanted peaceful careers and personal profit. We're only borrowing this skin temporarily—we don't want to be Ming officials." Wu De said. "They can deceive us once, but they won't have a second chance. Once the first person makes that mistake, I believe no one else will repeat it."
He continued, "And even if they're all the most stubborn villains, they still have wives and children. I believe that to reach the point of disregarding one's wife and children, one must have extraordinarily strong faith."
The clerks' faith was in making money. That kind of faith generally could not withstand testing.
After discussing the next day's interrogation procedures and key points with Zhou Dongtian, Wu De contacted Yang He to confirm whether the "study class" barracks prepared specifically for the yamen clerks were ready for immediate use. Then he inquired about the arrival status of the army personnel being dispatched.
"The infantry entering the city should change into Ming-era clothes. No rifles—just have them carry spears." Wu De gave instructions over his phone. "Bring plenty of rope and hoods."
(End of Chapter)