novelE2F #188 - What's so difficult about that?
#188 - What's so difficult about that?
The magistrate's office.
Dawn was approaching.
The east was already showing a hint of white.
A group of officials and yamen runners gathered at the front gate.
They had been busy all night, their work was complete, and they were just waiting for the right moment to begin.
At this moment, they all looked nervous, wishing they could press their ears against the door to hear the movements outside.
Outside...
Only many people running back and forth could be seen, but what exactly they were doing, none of the officials in the yamen knew.
But they were certain that the great battle between the Taiping Dao and the Yang family was probably coming to an end.
Suddenly!
"Dong, dong, dong!"
A series of knocks echoed.
This startled all the officials.
The yamen runners hurriedly gripped their fire-and-water staffs, intending to block the gate.
At this moment.
A voice suddenly rang out from outside:
"Zhang You, a libationer of the Taiping Dao, requests an audience with the Prefect!"
Upon hearing this, Gao Yuan instantly deduced a lot of information.
He hurriedly said:
"Open the gate quickly!"
"Let Zhang You in!"
The gate of the magistrate's office slowly opened.
Standing outside the gate was a group of Yellow Turban soldiers, led by Zhang You, whom Gao Yuan had met before.
This Zhang You was indeed trustworthy, arriving as promised.
Zhang You bowed respectfully to Gao Yuan.
Gao Yuan eagerly asked:
"Is it over?"
Zhang You nodded slightly.
Gao Yuan then asked:
"What happened to the Yang family?"
Zhang You shook his head gently.
Upon hearing this, the officials couldn't help but take a deep breath.
They still couldn't adapt to this outcome.
The Yang family had flourished in Qingzhou City, deeply rooted and domineering for decades.
How could they be gone overnight, just like that?
Gao Yuan's expression was complicated.
The Yang family's demise wasn't a bad thing for him.
However, losing a Yang family and gaining a Taiping Dao wasn't exactly a good thing for him either.
But now, he could only stand with the Taiping Dao.
Zhang You said:
"No matter what the Prefect wants to do, the time is now ripe."
Gao Yuan's heart trembled upon hearing this.
Could it be... there were also people from the Taiping Dao in the magistrate's office.
He couldn't help but scan the officials and yamen runners.
But he then gave up, no longer trying to find the spies.
Now the magistrate's office was leaking information everywhere, whether it was people from the Yang family or the Taiping Dao, it was all too normal.
Gao Yuan stretched his head out and glanced outside the magistrate's office.
Then he pointed outside and said:
"The city is still in chaos, if we go out we will probably be attacked by the refugees, what can this official do?"
"Tens of thousands of refugees are rampaging everywhere, I'm afraid even your Taiping Dao can't restrain these refugees now, right?"
Gao Yuan was very clear that once people's inner desires were released, they couldn't be taken back in a short time.
These were tens of thousands of refugees!
Whether it was the magistrate's office or the Taiping Dao, they couldn't restrain them in the face of this collapse of order.
Zhang You just smiled slightly:
"Is the Prefect underestimating the Taiping Dao and the Great Virtuous Teacher too much?"
"Isn't it just restraining the refugees and pacifying the turmoil in the city?"
"What's so difficult about that?"
Gao Yuan and the officials all frowned slightly.
Bragging without even trying!
They had been officials managing the people for so long, with rich experience, and knew that the current situation was completely a mess.
It was easy to let these refugees into the city, and it was also easy to let them cause trouble.
But wanting them to stop making trouble and leave the city was simply as difficult as ascending to heaven!
Unless the army came to forcefully suppress them, otherwise no one would be able to do it.
How could the Taiping Dao possibly do it?
But seeing Zhang You facing the questioning of the officials, he just smiled slightly.
Then Zhang You stood up straight and pointed his hand towards the distance.
"Dang dang dang dang!!!!"
A series of crisp bronze gong sounds echoed through the dawn, resounding clearly.
The loud gong sound also made everyone's spirits lift.
On the street, a group of Yellow Turban soldiers were loudly shouting while vigorously beating the gong:
"The Taiping Dao is distributing talisman water by the river outside the city!"
"All those infected with the plague, quickly come outside the city to drink the talisman water to cure the disease!"
Not only was this team of Yellow Turban soldiers shouting.
In all the streets of this city, there were Yellow Turban soldiers beating gongs and drums and shouting.
With their shouts, countless refugees poured out from all directions.
The only thing that could make the refugees stop venting was something that could save their lives.
"Finally distributing talisman water! Heavens! I've finally waited until this moment!"
"The Great Virtuous Teacher said that once the Sheep Demon is executed, the Central Yellow Great One will continue to bestow talisman water to save the world, it seems he really didn't deceive us!"
"I must hurry to beg for talisman water, otherwise my family won't be able to hold on!"
"Hurry! Go get the talisman water! Who knows if there will be any left if we go late?"
......
For a time, more and more refugees reassembled on the street.
They scrambled and rushed madly towards the outside of the city.
The streets where the refugees had been wandering around were actually empty after only a while.
Obviously, the vast majority of the refugees had already left the city to receive talisman water.
As long as the refugees temporarily left the city, it would be much easier to stabilize order.
Gao Yuan and the officials were stunned by this scene.
At the same time, they were speechless.
The Taiping Dao had indeed done something they couldn't do, and wouldn't dare to think about.
However.
This also made the officials feel a wave of fear.
The Taiping Dao's ability to organize the people was too strong, it had already exceeded the magistrate's office.
In the past, when the Yang family was around, the people hated the Yang family, while the officials supported the Yang family.
Now the Taiping Dao was completely the opposite, the people supported the Taiping Dao, and the officials feared the Taiping Dao.
Which of these situations was better could only be known in the future.
Zhang You then said with a smile:
"Now that the refugees have retreated, why doesn't the Prefect quickly stabilize the city and set up checkpoints at the city gates?"
Gao Yuan was silent for a moment.
What Zhang You said was exactly what he was going to do.
Gao Yuan turned around, looked at the officials and yamen runners, and ordered:
"According to my previous instructions, everyone quickly organize manpower and take action!"
Everyone replied in unison:
"We obey!"
With that, the officials and yamen runners quickly sprang into action.
They rushed out of the yamen gates and disappeared into the various streets.
… … … …
Finally, day broke.
The sun had already risen into the sky.
The common people, frightened by the night's events, finally emerged from their homes, anxiously inquiring about what had happened in the city last night.
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Many people were completely stunned when they passed by the Yang family's residence.
The luxurious and beautiful mansion had been reduced to rubble overnight.
Traces of burning were visible everywhere, and wisps of smoke were still slowly rising.
A burst of firecrackers suddenly rang out.
"噼里 啪 啦 ! ! !"
Someone in the city was setting off firecrackers.
The sound of firecrackers spread like a plague, quickly engulfing the entire city.
The people of Qingzhou City were celebrating.
Celebrating the downfall of the Yang family.
Although not everyone had the courage to seek revenge on the Yang family last night,
they were using their own way to express their celebration of the Yang family's demise during the day.
It was like a festival.
The yamen runners and constables reappeared on the streets.
They were searching for hooligans and ruffians who had taken advantage of the chaos to commit crimes.
The yamen runners and constables were now much more amiable than usual.
They no longer shouted at the people or beat and scolded them arbitrarily. Instead, they became kind and amiable, with smiles constantly on their faces.
This reassured the people a lot.
Everywhere on the streets, official notices were posted.
Crowds gathered together, looking at the contents of the notices.
The more they read, the more they gnashed their teeth:
"Damn the Yang family! They actually did so many bad things!"
"I thought the Yang family had done enough bad things, but after the yamen compiled the information, we found out that they harmed so many people!"
"Now it's good, those who were harmed by the Yang family have finally gotten their revenge!"
… …
The notices detailed the Yang family's countless crimes.
The government also called on the people to report any undiscovered crimes of the Yang family.
As a result, a large number of people rushed to the yamen to report.
Because there were too many people, they even formed a long queue in front of the yamen gate.
At this moment.
Inside the yamen.
Prefect Gao Yuan, Moral Supervisor Feng Tian, Commander Lu Yao, Vice Prefect Wang Xun, and other key officials of Qingzhou gathered together.
They had completely figured out what happened last night.
They had even grasped many of the details.
Now, it was time to discuss how to deal with the aftermath of this incident.
Gao Yuan spoke first:
"I have invited everyone here today to discuss how to define the events of last night, so that we can report it to the imperial court."
"Does the so-called action of the Taiping Dao last night count as a rebellion?"
As soon as this question was raised, a fierce discussion immediately broke out among the officials.
The first to speak was Lu Yao, the Commander of the Six Doors, as Gao Yuan had expected.
Lu Yao said with an angry expression:
"Why doesn't it count?"
"They killed so many officials in my Qingzhou City, this is clearly an act of treason!"
Qi Xianghong, the leader of the Six Doors, died tragically last night, and Lu Yao only recovered a pile of ashes when he went to collect the body.
This made Lu Yao very unhappy with the Taiping Dao.
Gao Yuan said lightly:
"Oh?"
"Then I would like to ask Commander Lu, which officials did the Taiping Dao kill?"
"Only a few officials died last night. Was Lei Yu, the garrison commander, killed by the Taiping Dao?"
"Was An Liangbi, the deputy magistrate, also killed by the Taiping Dao?"
As soon as these words came out, Feng Tian, who was on the side, could not sit still.
He suddenly stood up and glared at Gao Yuan angrily.
After all, Lei Yu and An Liangbi were both killed by Feng Tian.
At this moment, Feng Tian had reason to suspect that Gao Yuan wanted him to be the scapegoat, which he absolutely could not tolerate.
Gao Yuan just waved his hand at Feng Tian:
"Moral Supervisor Feng, don't be impatient, I will explain your matter in detail later."
Feng Tian snorted coldly and could only sit down temporarily to see what Prefect Gao wanted to do.
Lu Yao's face was unhappy, and he said angrily:
"But my Six Doors leader, Qi Xianghong, was killed by the Great Teacher!"
Based on this charge alone, Lu Yao was confident that he could define the Taiping Dao as treason!
Gao Yuan heard this, but asked unhurriedly:
"Commander Lu, are you an eyewitness?"
Lu Yao replied:
"Of course!"
"I saw everything last night!"
"It was the Great Teacher who summoned the heavenly lightning and killed Commander Qi!"
At this moment, Gao Yuan's face instantly turned cold.
He said in a deep voice:
"Are you even listening to what you are saying?"
"How can there be any immortals in this world who can summon heavenly lightning? If you report this kind of talk about strange powers and chaotic gods to the Holy Emperor, you will be charged with deceiving the Emperor!"
"Ask everyone present, who believes that someone in the world can summon heavenly lightning?"
These words made Lu Yao's face flush red.
Indeed, if someone could summon heavenly lightning to kill people, wouldn't that person really become an immortal?
Who would believe such a thing?
Not only would the imperial court not believe it, but the Holy Emperor would definitely not believe it!
If this matter were to spread, it would not only be ridiculed by the world, but it would also fuel the arrogance of the Taiping Dao.
Lu Yao was speechless and did not know how to explain.
Gao Yuan then said lightly:
"I also have many eyewitnesses, and they can confirm one thing."
"That is, Commander Qi was indeed struck to death by heavenly lightning."
"But there is no evidence to prove that the heavenly lightning was summoned by the Great Teacher."
"Commander Lu, do you have any evidence?"
Lu Yao opened his mouth:
"This … …"
Of course, he had no evidence.
If there was evidence to prove that someone could summon heavenly lightning, then he would have gone to cultivate immortality long ago, what was the point of practicing martial arts?