Daily life of slaying demons in the government

Chapter 393 Red Man
After returning to the government office, Yang Qian sat on a chair and carefully read the information slips that had been handed over by various cities.

In fact, it can be summed up in four words: miserable and expectant.

Xiao Cangyu's head was chopped off and sent to the imperial city. Almost every city stopped to display it along the way, which shocked many people and made them feel relieved. Otherwise, the number of yamen masters who came today would probably not exceed half.

Xiao Cangyu is dead, and to distance oneself from the matter, one cannot just target Xiao Cangyu's remnants, but also the sufferings that their respective cities have suffered over the years.

Regardless of whether it was caused by Xiao Cangyu or not, there was no problem in packing it up and throwing it at Xiao Cangyu. Who else could have an objection? The dead couldn't say anything.

Furthermore, if we don’t cry more miserably, won’t the compensation that will inevitably come to various cities fall into the hands of others?
As the saying goes, crying brings milk. This is the truth.

And the hope is to hope for relief from the imperial court, and hope that Yang Qian's subsequent strategies will be more lenient.

To put it bluntly, it means that they hope to receive pensions while paying less taxes.

This is actually true. Otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for places like Taocheng and Bianxiacheng to recover, and they would have to take a big bite.

Yang Qian can't be said to know nothing about government affairs, but he is definitely not an expert. He can know the general direction of good and bad, but he can't tell the specifics of how to allocate and formulate construction strategies with practical effectiveness.

"Did your majesty say who to send?"

"No. But a few of my acquaintances did let the cat out of the bag. This kind of news is the hottest in the imperial city and it can't be covered up, so the rumor is spreading and people say it's probably someone you know."

"Who?"

"It's the yamen owner Cui Mingsheng whom you knew in Sandao City before."

Cui Mingsheng?!

Although Yang Qian hadn't heard this name for a long time, when Juan mentioned it, it evoked a series of memories in him.

When Yang Qian first came to this world, the highest-ranking official he could see around him was Cui Mingsheng.

Even when he was in Sandao City, Yang Qian was still happy working under Cui Mingsheng and had a good impression of Cui Mingsheng.

When Yang Qian left Sandao City for Jizhou Prefecture, he remembered that it was the time when the emperor issued an order to wipe out bandits and evil spirits in various places. He wiped out all the bandits and evil spirits around Sandao City in one breath, which made him a great achievement and also gave Cui Mingsheng a big gift.

At that time I heard that Cui Mingsheng was going to be promoted.

"Why Cui Mingsheng? Is he still in Sandao City?"

"It's long gone. After Cui Mingsheng left Sandao City, he was promoted to be the governor of Zhongjiang Prefecture. But less than a year into his term, something bad happened. A storehouse of official silver was lost, and three official granaries in the prefecture caught fire, causing heavy losses. He was dismissed from office and imprisoned.

Now, Your Majesty has ordered Cui Mingsheng to be taken out of prison and exiled to Shuangqing Prefecture to be dealt with by Your Excellency."

Yang Qian's eyes widened when he heard this. He didn't expect that Cui Mingsheng had a more exciting life than him in the past year.

He was promoted twice, and was directly in charge of an important position in a prefecture, which made him a real frontier official. This was the peak of life. Then he fell off a cliff and was thrown into prison. Yang Qian remembered that Cui Mingsheng was such a proud and smart person, and he was also very ruthless. Otherwise, he would not have been able to stand in Sandao City. Now he has ended up like this, and he probably wants to die in prison.

There was no need to guess what happened to Cui Mingsheng, Yang Qian knew that there must be something fishy going on. And it seemed that they were waiting for Cui Mingsheng to run into them. It was not surprising that Cui Mingsheng was tricked by such a deliberate and unintentional method, which was prepared early and left no room for maneuver.

But Cui Mingsheng seemed to be lucky. The emperor should have known that there was something fishy about Cui Mingsheng's experience, otherwise why would he have imprisoned him but not killed him? And why did he suddenly banish Cui Mingsheng to Shuangqing Prefecture at this critical moment?

It was intentional, that's for sure.

Of course, this is definitely a good thing for Yang Qian. He is already overwhelmed by government affairs, and with Cui Mingsheng's help, he can naturally breathe a sigh of relief.

Yang Qian was well aware of Cui Mingsheng's abilities. He believed that after Cui Mingsheng came, he would be able to come up with a more detailed and feasible strategy to restore people's livelihood.

Thinking about it further, Yang Qian discovered a hidden trick that the emperor had deliberately considered. That was to continue not to assign the palace master and the general of the military office to come, and to continue to let Yang Qian handle it alone. At the same time, with Cui Mingsheng coming, Yang Qian's weakest point was made up. Killing two birds with one stone.

Seeing Yang Qian lost in thought, Hu An said after a while, "Sir, I heard that there has been a lot of commotion in the court recently, targeting what you have done in Shuangqing Prefecture and the two vacant positions. They said that there has never been a precedent in the Hongwu Dynasty where one person held both the government and military positions, and that with such great power in hand, you will definitely intend to rebel.

There are also suggestions that you, sir, should return to the imperial city and take some time off to cool down your spirit.

Hehe, but His Majesty has made up his mind to use you, so how can he let others influence you? I heard that a new position has been promised to you, so that you can take charge of the government and military offices.

My Lord, you are now a very famous person in the Imperial City!"

Yang Qian smiled. Juan's words clearly meant "passing on a message" and "making a promise". As for who he was passing on the message for, there was no need to guess. Juan's identity explained everything.

Yang Qian did not comment on this.

Being an official was indeed the driving force behind Yang Qian's killing and risking his life in the government. After all, he had lived two lives, so he always had some inherent thinking, and at the same time, he didn't like the style of the immortal sect, so he had been rolling in the world until now.

Now that his cultivation has entered the out-of-body realm, although secular power is not to the point that Yang Qian ignores it, it certainly does not have as much appeal as it did in the beginning.

Even if it was the first time in the Hongwu Dynasty that one person held all the power of the government and military offices in a prefecture, so what? It just made things that Yang Qian wanted to do less obstructed.

Otherwise, what if a palace lord or a general from the military yamen really came and got into trouble with Yang Qian? Should he kill him directly? Or should he continue to fight back and forth as before?

So now Cui Mingsheng has come to help after redeeming himself for his crime, while Yang Qian continues to hold the power in Shuangqing Prefecture. This is naturally the best news for Yang Qian.

"Cui Mingsheng has come to the government office for handling affairs, but what about the military office? Has His Majesty made any arrangements?"

"Sir, His Majesty from the Military Office wants you to rely more on the existing military commanders in Shuangqing Prefecture. Shuangqing Prefecture is a place with high mountains and long roads, and it is also famous for its arrogance. Instead of transferring an outsider, it is better for you to recruit local talents."

Yang Qian curled his lips inwardly. After all, it was a skill to make something that was beyond one's control sound so logical and reasonable.

"Use local materials?" Yang Qian muttered, and immediately thought of Zhao Ting. It seemed that this general from Huimu Pass was his only choice at the moment.

PS: There is still one chapter left. I will make it up this afternoon. I have to go out in the morning.
(End of this chapter)