MLMD -Chapter 174 Jiang Xin’s Worries

Since he was about to take up his post in Hunyuan Prefecture, Yue Yang naturally had to settle everything in Yingzhou before leaving.

Wuli Stockade was his home base and the foundation of all his power, so it had to be secured tightly. Now that Lu Xiangsheng had agreed to let him build city walls around Wuli, the project had to be started as soon as possible.

The day after receiving the imperial order, Yue Yang summoned all his old subordinates in Yingzhou for a meeting. This time, every officer of the rank of company commander and above attended, and even Yue Laifu and Hai Lou, who were in charge of civil administration, were present.

Looking at the dozen-plus men before him, a surge of pride rose in Yue Yang’s heart. It had been more than two years since he had come to this world, and at last he had built his own core team. Though it still looked weak, he believed it would grow stronger as his own power increased.

Yue Yang spoke loudly, “You all already know that in a few days I will be going to Hunyuan Prefecture to take up my new post. From then on, this place will be entrusted to all of you. I hope you will be as diligent and responsible as before and continue to develop Wuli Stockade well.”

Turning his head, he called out, “Shunbao!”

“Here!” Shunbao jumped to his feet, saluted, and shouted, “Your subordinate awaits your orders, my lord!”

“Sit…” Yue Yang pressed his hand down with a smile. “All right, don’t be so tense. Relax. Sit.”

“Yes!”

After Shunbao sat down, Yue Yang said, “Shunbao, I have already recommended you to Inspector Lu for the vacant position of Garrison Commander of Yingzhou. The appointment should come down soon. After I leave, the safety of Yingzhou and Wuli Stockade will be in your hands. You must guard them well. If anything goes wrong, I’ll hold you accountable.”

“Yes!”

Overcome with excitement, Shunbao sprang up again and shouted, “Young Master, please rest assured! If anything happens to Yingzhou or Wuli Stockade, you can take my head!”

In his excitement, he had even reverted to his old form of address.

“You…” Yue Yang shook his head helplessly. “You’re already a sixth-rank official and you’re still so rash. Sit down!”

“Oh…” Seeing the suppressed smiles around him, Shunbao felt his face burn. He chuckled awkwardly and sat down, while on the other side his father, Yue Laifu, glared at him fiercely.

As for who would take over Yue Yang’s position after he left, everyone already had a pretty good idea. Such an important post naturally had to go to the most trustworthy person, and Shunbao, who had followed Yue Yang since childhood, was the obvious choice. Although his ability still needed polishing, his loyalty more than made up for it.

Yue Yang continued, “Also, even though I’m leaving, the military farming must not stop. Hai Lou, before next autumn’s harvest I want you to reclaim another five hundred thousand mu of land. Can you do it?”

Hai Lou smiled and nodded. “No problem. As long as we have seeds, tools, and enough water, I guarantee it will be done!”

After more than a year of training, the once taciturn Hai Lou had become a capable administrator. This year’s three hundred thousand newly reclaimed mu and the granaries filled to the brim were proof enough.

“And you too, Uncle Laifu.” Yue Yang’s tone softened a little. Toward this old man who had worked for the Yue family for most of his life, Yue Yang always felt deep respect.

“Uncle Laifu, after I leave, you must keep a close eye on the cement works, the smelters, and the mines. You must not slack off. Coordinate well with Zhou the chief foreman of the armaments workshop, and don’t let Manchu spies sneak in again. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Young Master!” Yue Laifu thumped his chest loudly. “I’ll guard this family business tight for you. No one will be able to take it away!”

“You…” Yue Yang couldn’t help laughing wryly as he pointed at him. Sometimes he really didn’t know what to do with this father-and-son pair. One was now the clerk of Wuli Stockade, the other was about to become a garrison commander, yet their small-farmer mentality was still so deeply ingrained.

At this moment, someone else asked, “My lord, since you’re being promoted and going to Hunyuan, you can’t go alone. You’ll have to bring some people with you, right?”

Yue Yang looked over and smiled. “Hu Laosan, what? You want to come with me to Hunyuan?”

Hu Laosan’s burly face reddened as he scratched his head awkwardly. “My lord, Yingzhou and Wuli Stockade are already on the right track. I’m not really needed here anymore. I’d rather follow you to Hunyuan and do something big.”

“Exactly!” Wu Chengfeng, sitting behind him, also clasped his fists. “My lord, this subordinate is also willing to follow you to Hunyuan!”

“Going to Hunyuan with me carries risks,” Yue Yang said with a faint smile. “It won’t be as comfortable as Wuli Stockade. Are you sure you want to go?”

“I am willing to follow you, my lord!”

“So am I!”

For a moment, many officers spoke up at once.

None of them were fools. They could all see that Yue Yang was a boss with money when he wanted money, grain when he wanted grain, and soldiers when he wanted soldiers—and he was valued by his superiors as well. Calling his prospects boundless was no exaggeration. If you didn’t follow such a man, who else would you follow?

Staying in Yingzhou or Wuli Stockade might indeed mean a comfortable life, since everything there was already on track. But that would also mean drifting away from Yue Yang, the very core of their future. Only a fool would choose that.

Seeing everyone eager to go with him, Yue Yang was greatly gratified. He smiled and waved his hand. “All right, stop arguing. Yingzhou and Wuli Stockade still need people to guard them—I can’t take you all with me. This time, I’ll take two thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry to Hunyuan, led by Hu Laosan and Wu Chengfeng. The rest of you will stay here for now. When I need you later, I’ll transfer you over.”

“My lord, that’s too few men! I also want to go with you,” Feng Xiaoming said boldly.

“You want to go too?” Yue Yang thought for a moment, then nodded. “All right, you can come. But remember, once you’re in Hunyuan you must keep your men under control. That place isn’t Wuli Stockade—we can’t let people laugh at us.”

Yue Yang said this because Feng Xiaoming had risen from the guard battalion system and was full of old soldier habits. The thousand men under him were often worse in discipline than the other units, so Yue Yang had to give him a special warning.

Feng Xiaoming thumped his chest loudly. “My lord, don’t worry! Once we get to Hunyuan, if any bastard dares to cause trouble for you, I’ll be the first to deal with him!”

“If anything really happens, I’ll be the first to deal with you,” Yue Yang shot him an annoyed look. Feng Xiaoming gave an awkward laugh and scratched his head.

After these matters were arranged, on the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month, Yue Yang set out first for Hunyuan Prefecture, taking with him the thousand men under Feng Xiaoming and the two thousand led by Wu Chengfeng…

Inside the inner hall of the Hunyuan Prefectural Office, a low voice sounded.

“My lord, how could that Yue Yang come here to take up a post? We have to make preparations early!”

The speaker was a thin, dark-skinned man in a green official robe embroidered with a colorful egret on the chest. He looked gloomy and sinister. He was Fang Diying, the chief clerk of Hunyuan. Several other officials were seated beside him, including the former Hunyuan garrison commander, Lu Youyuan.

Prefect Jiang Xin sat in the main seat with a dark expression, eyes half closed as if resting, as though it had nothing to do with him.

Jiang Xin had long received notice that Yue Yang was coming to Hunyuan. Toward this sudden newcomer, everyone in Hunyuan was on guard.

Lu Youyuan said with a mournful face, “My lord, why doesn’t this Yue Yang just stay in his Yingzhou? Why does he have to come here to Hunyuan? He really has nothing better to do.”

Jiang Xin finally opened his eyes and shot him a glare. “Why do you think? When the Manchus came, what did you, the garrison commander, do? He dared to lead several thousand elite troops to fight the Manchus head-on and cut down over two thousand of them. And you—besides hiding behind the city walls, what else can you do?”

After being scolded, Lu Youyuan fell silent, though inwardly he muttered, He has elite troops. Do you expect me to take my bunch of trash out to fight the Manchus? That would just be serving ourselves up as food.

Seeing that Lu Youyuan did not reply, Fang Diying spoke up in his defense. “My lord, we can’t blame Lord Lu entirely. The Manchus are ferocious—even Datong Prefecture didn’t dare go out to fight them. How could little Hunyuan compare? Lord Lu had no choice.”

“Hmph. ‘No choice,’” Jiang Xin muttered a couple of times and then said nothing more. He knew that blaming Lu Youyuan now was pointless.

Fang Diying’s expression grew even darker. “My lord, arguing about the past is useless. What we should be discussing now is how to deal with this Yue, the Vice Commander, who is about to arrive. From what I know, he is no easy opponent. Almost all the salt consumed in Shanxi now comes from his hands. And of the four great merchant families of Yingzhou, he has already crushed two, while the remaining Li family is barely hanging on. If he comes to Hunyuan, I’m afraid we people won’t even get a sip of soup.”

“Exactly, my lord. This Yue Yang is a real river-crossing dragon. We must find a way to drive him away,” the others chimed in.

“All of you, shut up!” Fang Diying snapped, glaring at them. “I know you’re all worried about your own little pots and jars. But Yue Yang’s appointment as Vice Commander is from the court—what can I do about it? Besides, no matter how arrogant he is, with me here he’ll have to show some restraint. What are you panicking for?”

Fang Diying understood their little schemes perfectly well. All of these people were tied to local merchant families in Hunyuan, so the arrival of a crocodile like Yue Yang naturally terrified them. But what could he do? In terms of rank, Yue Yang was actually half a step above him.