Chapter 551
Suppression and Appeasement
Chapter 551 Suppression and Appeasement
No matter how anxious Zhang Yiqing was, it was no use.
It's true that the Zhang family has been thriving in recent years, but among the powerful families in Qinghua City, they are still just minor figures. Not to mention anything else, just take the three department heads who were dismissed by Cai Yunzhou, for example, which one of them is not higher in status than Grandpa Zhang Kuang?
In the context of the entire Caiqiu region, the Zhang family was even more insignificant.
If the entire Zhang family is like this, what about Zhang Yiqing, a member of the Zhang family who is not valued?
Grandfather Zhang Kuang was also a member of the Caiqiu expeditionary force. He came ahead of time only to inform himself, fearing that his dereliction of duty would implicate the entire Zhang family.
With his grandfather's advance notice, Zhang Yiqing took the matter of conscripting laborers very seriously. He was almost always responsive to the requests of the people sent by the three department heads. Together with the other four villages in Chihu Ridge, they cleared the snow track along the more than 30 kilometers of road north and south of Chihu Ridge in just one day.
Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. It's unlikely that City Lord Cai Yunzhou's anger will reach someone as insignificant as him. Besides, with his grandfather Zhang Kuang's advance warning, he did indeed complete the mission quite well.
The 200,000-strong army left Chihu Ridge in the first half of the night of the second day of the lunar new year. According to the rules, their mission should have ended there.
But in reality, his mission has only just begun.
"The city lord has ordered that the Bone-Eating Road will henceforth be a vital passage in the southern part of our domain. Taking advantage of this opportunity of the army's southward march, the official road should also begin to be repaired. All the conscripted laborers are not required to return; they should continue to repair the official road."
One mouth from above, and legs rot down below!
The Qinghua City leadership certainly has a point. Cai Qiu's 200,000-strong army marched south from Chihu Ridge, and after the battle, they would definitely have to return via the Gushi Road. Therefore, in order to facilitate the march, it was imperative to repair the official road.
The laborers they conscripted over two consecutive days only managed to clear a makeshift snow path barely usable for marching, which was quite different from the proper official road.
But this order was far too hasty.
In order to clear the snow path as quickly as possible, Zhang Yiqing summoned almost everyone he could in the village, including those at the Cold Resistance level and even the Logging level from many villages in the south. He used every means at his disposal, including enticement, coercion, and force.
They had been told that once the snow path was cleared, the army could go home after marching south. Now that the army had left, they couldn't keep their promise and were forced to stay and continue building the official road.
It should be noted that all the laborers conscripted by Changqing Valley were unregistered, meaning they were not registered residents. These people were not considered legitimate citizens of Caiqiu, so it was impossible to pay them for their conscription.
In other words, they came here to work for nothing.
Zhang Yiqing was unsure about the other four villages in Chihu Ridge, but in his Huwei Village, they hadn't even prepared food for the laborers.
Unfortunately, at first he thought that clearing the snow track would only take one night at most, and it wasn't something too strenuous, so there was no need to prepare any food.
Of course, the more crucial reason is that he is unwilling to spend money.
A little food may not seem like much, but when there are many people, the situation changes.
He conscripted more than 10,000 people from Huwei Village, and in order to impress the adults in Qinghua City, he conscripted more than 20,000 people from eight villages south of Huwei Village, bringing the total to more than 30,000.
With over 30,000 people, even if they only have one meal, the energy expenditure would be terrifying.
But now, that won't work!
"They made it very clear when we came the night before last that we could go back as long as the ski slopes were cleared, but now they won't let us go back?"
"Aren't you bullying us? The army has been gone for so long, what are you leaving us here for?"
"Repair the official road? We haven't taken any benefits from you, so why should we stay here to repair the official road? We've worked for you for free all day, and you still want us to keep working? This is simply outrageous!"
"We haven't eaten for fifteen hours. We came to help you with your work, and you won't even give us any food? Is there no justice in this world?"
………………
On the west side of Huwei Village, at the end of the official road, tens of thousands of ragged laborers were gathered together, questioning the people in charge of Huwei Village. Their voices were full of anger, and they were clearly on the verge of exploding.
Although there were only about a hundred people from Huwei Village, they were all dressed in clean and tidy silk robes, and their spirit was far superior to that of the laborers.
Despite facing the wrath of tens of thousands of laborers, they remained arrogant, showing no fear on their faces, and even occasionally revealing contempt in their eyes.
Of course, if you look closely, you'll find that among the tens of thousands of laborers, only the first hundred or so actually spoke up and shouted angrily. The others, though their eyes were filled with anger, looked timid and clearly were more afraid than anything else.
"A bunch of barbarian bastards who don't even have household registration, being able to work for the vassal state is a blessing you could never hope for in eight lifetimes. If you dare to cause trouble here, whoever doesn't want to build the official road, step forward if you have the guts and let me see!"
The angry shouts of the laborers were quickly interrupted.
From the group of officials in Huwei Village, a young man with a sinister face stepped forward, drew a large knife from his waist, pointed at the more than one hundred people leading the group of laborers, and spoke in a stern voice, instantly suppressing the arrogance of the crowd.
“Zhang Hai, that’s the son of Zhang Yiqing, the leader of Tiger Tail Village. He’s twenty-three years old this year. I heard that he broke through to the Cold Resistance level at the age of nineteen and now has the strength of the 7th level.”
"Twenty-three years old, seven hairs, this..."
“He grew up in Qinghua City and came to Huwei Village three years ago. The year before last, he participated in the Chihu Ridge martial arts competition. None of his peers could beat him. Several village leaders in the south were defeated by him.”
…………
The chatter among the laborers brought a touch of arrogance to Zhang Hai's face, but he still stared intently at the more than one hundred troublemakers in front of him, his long sword pointing horizontally in the air, as if he would immediately attack anyone who dared to step forward.
"Chief Zhang, you've certainly raised a fine son!"
Just as Zhang Hai and his men were locked in a stalemate with the laborers, on the tower at the entrance of Huwei Village on the east side of the official road, Zhang Yiqing was quietly watching with Huang Qingyuan from Qinghua City.
Hearing Huang Qingyuan praise his son, Zhang Yiqing naturally smiled, but he still humbly said, "You flatter me, sir. He's just a child with nothing but brute force. If you want these 30,000 people to help repair the official road, ruthlessness alone won't do!"
Huang Qingyuan himself possessed the strength of 37, and was also one of the five great stewards under the jurisdiction of Qinghua City. In terms of both strength and status, he was on par with his grandfather Zhang Kuang. Although Zhang Yiqing usually acted arrogantly in Huwei Village, he could only be subservient and humble in front of this person.
"Hahaha!"
Huang Qingyuan smiled upon hearing this and asked with great interest, "It seems that Chief Zhang already has a plan in mind. As far as I know, the entire route from your Tiger Tail Village to the Bone-Eroding Road is more than 90 kilometers long. This official road, even with a rough estimate, would cost 200,000 taels of silver. However, the Ministry of Finance has only allocated 150,000 taels of silver to you. How do you plan to repair it?"
Repairing the official road, of course, costs money.
The construction of the Changqing Valley official road enraged City Lord Cai Yunzhou, who dismissed three department heads in succession. The three new department heads who took office afterward naturally took this matter as a top priority and allocated the budget for the construction of the official road overnight.
The estimate of 20 taels was roughly estimated by the three new officials in charge. In reality, the budget reported by Zhang Yiqing, the leader of Huwei Village who was in charge of the construction of the official road, was 30 taels.
Deducting half directly sounds outrageous, but it was actually a common practice in Caiqiu's officialdom.
Caiqiu has a vast territory, and there are many places where large-scale construction projects are being carried out. The people below saw this as a good opportunity to make money and were naturally unwilling to miss it. They often reported the budget inflated, but in the end, all the projects ended up being unprofitable.
Actually, you can't really blame the lower levels. The problem started with the higher-ups being corrupt. Local finance departments control the purse strings, and anything involving appropriations inevitably involves layers of skimming. If the initial budget was 10, you'd be lucky to get 5 by the time it reached the lower levels. Where there's a will, there's a way. Since the top is corrupt, the bottom naturally follows suit. Since everyone's greedy, the lower levels simply inflate the budget. As long as it's not too outrageous, they can still get something out of it afterward—why not?
Zhang Yiqing's own maximum budget was actually 10 taels. Of course, after deducting the wages of the laborers and reducing their benefits, he reported 30 taels, which was quite audacious.
He originally thought that the higher-ups would at least issue 200,000 taels, and after he made some connections, Tiger Tail Village would at least have 20,000 to 30,000 taels left.
Zhang Yiqing never expected that the Ministry of Finance would be so ruthless this time, only giving 15 taels of silver, and sending Huang Qingyuan over overnight, along with a message that the official road must be repaired within half a month.
Some things take time to work out. His maximum budget of 100,000 taels of silver meant that time could not be so tight. Only in this way could he deal with the conscripted laborers, either by deducting from their wages or by appeasing them. In short, he could keep their wages so that he could make a profit.
But to his utter surprise, the finance official actually gave him a deadline.
Moreover, the money was no longer given as quickly as before. Tiger Tail Village had previously repaired the official road, but the Ministry of Finance's allocation of funds was as slow as a snail. You had to beg again and again, and it would take several months before the money was finally given.
However, given the city lord Cai Yunzhou's fury, it's not surprising that the Ministry of Finance takes this matter so seriously.
Although he couldn't earn that much, he was still given 15 taels, which was still within an acceptable range. Considering that the city lord Cai Yunzhou might also pay attention to this road construction project, Zhang Yiqing naturally had to do his best to handle it.
He had already made arrangements on how to suppress and appease the laborers.
"Who dares to step forward, huh?"
As Zhang Yiqing pondered, his son Zhang Hai's angry shout came from the end of the official road again, and he and Huang Qingyuan both turned to look.
Zhang Hai was somewhat carried away with his pride at this moment. Although he had always been a bully in Huwei Village, nothing was more exhilarating than this moment, when he was suppressing tens of thousands of people all by himself.
Among the laborers, there were a few strong men in the lead group of over a hundred, some of whom he couldn't see through. But the more than one hundred Tiger Tail Village officials standing behind him were no pushovers either.
My father instructed us to first suppress them, then appease them with food. Only by using both kindness and severity could we get these 30,000 laborers to cooperate in building the official road.
At this moment, he is putting repression into practice.
A bunch of peasants who don't even have household registration dare to dream of turning the world upside down?
Looking at the fear on the faces of the more than one hundred people in front of him, Zhang Hai chuckled coldly. He guessed that the other party was unlikely to make any further moves. He was about to slowly put down the long sword in his hand and continue speaking.
However, he seems to have miscalculated somewhat.
At the front of the line, a middle-aged man suddenly staggered forward and took a step.
…………
The already tense scene became even quieter in an instant.
Zhang Hai's expression froze instantly, and a surge of anger rose from the bottom of his heart.
He had been questioning who dared to stand up, and this middle-aged man's behavior was undoubtedly a slap in his face.
The key point is that it happened in front of tens of thousands of laborers.
The middle-aged man took a step forward, then his expression froze. Seeing Zhang Hai's murderous glare, fear instantly filled his face. He hurriedly turned to his back and said, "Someone pushed me! Someone pushed me! I..."
"die!"
Zhang Hai took the middle-aged man's shouts as the result of his desperate fear of death. Now that the situation was under control, it was impossible for him not to take action.
He leaped forward, his long sword falling horizontally and striking the middle-aged man directly on the forehead.
The middle-aged man was also at the Cold Resistance level, but his strength was only at the third level. He had no weapon in his hand and could only raise his arm to block in his panic.
Pfft...
How can skin, flesh, and blood possibly contend with weapons?
Zhang Hai's longsword severed the middle-aged man's arm, and with a sharp crack, split his head open.
The yellow and white liquid spilled onto the ground and was immediately frozen by the cold air, making it exceptionally conspicuous in the pitch-black night. The hundred or so Cold-resistant level fighters who were closest to the middle-aged man and were leading the resistance all shivered.
If even they were like this, then the laborers in the Digging Realm and even the Logging Realm behind them were even more so.
"Murder!"
"Young Master Zhang has killed someone."
Who was killed?
"It's Zhu Hang, the leader of Baishui Village."
"They killed him without hesitation!"
………………
As whispers rippled through the crowd, the large group of laborers behind quickly learned what had happened and fell silent, no longer daring to utter a sound.
The scene fell silent once again!
"I've said it before, being able to serve the regional military governors is a blessing you couldn't possibly attain in eight lifetimes. If you dare to utter another word, this is what will happen to Zhu Hang..."
After the killings, the suppression reached its climax. Zhang Hai seized the opportunity to issue a final threat. Seeing that many of the Cold-Resistant level warriors in front of him were starting to pant heavily, his killing intent intensified, but he forcibly suppressed it. Then, his tone suddenly changed, becoming more gentle:
"Since we've asked you to come and build the road, Tiger Tail Village will naturally provide meals. The village has already prepared meat soup..."
He paused slightly, then turned and gestured to those behind him.
Click click click click...
At his signal, dozens of people immediately pushed a large, burning cart slowly towards the village entrance.
The large cart had a hollowed-out bottom with a stove opening inside, where a coal fire was burning brightly. Ten large pots, each two meters in diameter, were placed on top, their lids on, and the sound of boiling could be clearly heard.
Meat soup!
Tiger Tail Village was so kind as to prepare meat soup for them.
All the laborers, including the hundred or so cold-resistant soldiers who had led the riot, had their eyes light up the moment they saw the ten large cauldrons.
(End of this chapter)