Chapter 263: The killing blow
Chapter 263: The killing blow
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
...
Fang Zhengzhi found it difficult to tell Zhang Yangping the origins of these silver. After all, a significant amount had come from the sale of Ping Yang’s Snow Jade stallion.
As such, he simply reiterated that these silvers were all earned legitimately.
Even though Zhang Yangping was not fully convinced, he ended up buying the story. After all, if Fang Zhengzhi could become a rank four official, what couldn’t he do?
Then, Zhang Yangping had Zhang Li father all the villagers at the square. He wanted to formally welcome Fang Zhengzhi back and announce Fang Zhengzhi’s plans to build the academy and highway.
After a whole afternoon, red silk hung from the top of the shrine. The shrine was cleaned and new cushions were placed in front of it.
Fang Zhengzhi did not want to have the red silk. After all, the events of yesterday were still fresh in his mind.
However, Zhang Yangping insisted on it, all of the other villagers were also of the opinion that the events of yesterday should not dampen the festive spirit.
Furthermore, some of the villagers wanted to use this joyous occasion to rid the village of the ‘bad omens’.
Fang Zhengzhi did not say anything else. He arranged for those injured villagers and their families to sit at the top table.
Ping Yang and Chi Guyan arrived on scene. The entire area seemed to brighten up, energizing all the villagers. Just as they were about to kneel, Fang Zhengzhi stopped them.
Then, Fang Zhengzhi placed Ping Yang on one of the tables next to the main table.
Ping Yang immediately pouted.
As the beloved princess of the empire, she had never been treated this way. However, just as she was about to flare up, she realized that Qin Xuelian and Fang Houde were also at this table.
Fang Zhengzhi also took his seat here.
Ping Yang’s eyes glimmered when she saw this. She stopped pouting almost immediately.
Chi Guyan was calm and composed from start to finish.
After a round of prayers to the shrine, the rosewood tablet was placed next to the ancestral one. They were placed on the same level, representing similar status.
Once most of the ceremonial events were finished, Zhang Yangping cleared his throat and motioned for silence. Then, he glanced at Fang Zhengzhi, wanting him to announce the news.
Fang Zhengzhi shook his head and insisted on staying where he was.
Zhang Yangping had no other choice. He stood on stage and began announcing the plans for the renovation and rebuilding of the school. He also mentioned the building of the new road to Huai An County.
All of the villagers were stunned when they heard what Zhang Yangping proposed.
"Where would we get so much silver?"
"We barely have enough to feed ourselves."
Zhang Yangping fully understood the thinking of the villagers. He motioned to Zhang Li and a few other youths. They began lugging the boxes of silver up on stage.
All of the villagers could not believe their eyes. They looked at each other in disbelief when they saw the boxes of silver, the ingots of gold, and the stack of cheques.
They had never seen such fortune in all their lives.
Zhang Yangping saw the suspicion in their eyes. He began to reassure everyone that this money was donated by Fang Zhengzhi. Zhengzhi had used purely legitimate means to get this money.
All of the villagers whooped and cheered Fang Zhengzhi’s name when they heard this.
Ping Yang could not believe her ears.
"How is that legitimate? He got it from the sale of my Snow Jade stallion! He had gotten the rest of it by scamming me!" Ping Yang said in discontent.
However, she was surprised to hear that Fang Zhengzhi was going to use the money to build a school and roads.
All this while, she had thought that Fang Zhengzhi valued money as much as his life. She never expected him to invest his entire fortune in the future of his village.
He was actually doing something to better the society.
In that moment, she felt like she did not understand Fang Zhengzhi as well as she thought she did. Just as she was about to compliment him, she saw Fang Zhengzhi offer her a cup of tea.
"Erm... as a princess, would you like to make a donation? This school is for the betterment of the empire after all. How about 80,000 silvers?"
"Go to hell!" Ping Yang rejected him unequivocally. This guy was just as greedy and shameless as before! 80,000?! That was daylight robbery!
"Are you really going to make the school that big?" Chi Guyan asked.
"Of course! If I want to do something, I’ll make sure it is the best!" Fang Zhengzhi asserted.
"However, the funds required to run this school will be immense. The Divine Constabulary can cover the expenses of the teachers. However, the empire simply cannot fund the maintenance of such a school. You need silver to maintain the library and hunting grounds. The Qingfeng Academy in Huai An County is funded by the empire and other large families. However, the Northern Mountain Village..."
Chi Guyan had made her point very clear.
With the Qingfeng Academy in Huai An County, the empire could not possibly build a second one here, and definitely not one on such a scale.
If it was just a small one, Chi Guyan may have some methods to keep it running. However, a school of such scale would require at least 100,000 silvers to run annually.
"I have my methods for finding the funds." Fang Zhengzhi said confidently.
The best fields for money making were education, healthcare, property, food & beverages... basically, anything that was a necessity.
Of course, in this world, property, healthcare, and F&B were not too suitable.
As such...
Education was his best bet.
The families funding Qingfeng Academy were doing so in order to guarantee their sons a place in there. This was the same concept he was going to use here.
He would have 50 of the best sensei in all the North.
He had already solved the most pressing issue, quality of teachers. All roads lead to Rome. With a few "little tricks", all of the problems would be resolved in due time...
...
Inside a quiet residence in Huai An County.
Bai Xing looked extremely haggard. He was the commanding officer for this plot on Cang ling Mountain. However, he was the only demon who made it back.
More importantly, he had lost both The Vast World and the Heaven Dao Sage Tablet.
"Please punish me!"
"Domain Chief Bai, you said that The Vast World had already been taken when you returned?" A crisp voice could be heard from behind a curtain. There was a figure in a white dress sitting behind it.
It was Yun Qingwu.
"Yes, after The Vast World had absorbed Cang Ling Mountain, its weight was not something a normal person could move. One would need the power to move mountains and fill oceans. I believe that there are only two possibilities. One, the Four Sages had intervened. Two, our opponent had a treasure which countered The Vast World."
"Which do you think is more likely?"
"The former. The chances of the latter happening are negligible."
"Mm, I can’t blame you entirely for this. I had forgotten to account for two people. I never expected Fang Zhengzhi and Chi Guyan to appear in The Vast World at the same time."
"Master, what is our next course of action?"
"Xing Qingguo has seen Shan Jia. This may not be a bad thing. Shan Jia comes from the top family in the Southern Mountain Range. They are highly valued by the Great Xia Dynasty. Take this opportunity to take over the Southern Mountain Range. That will be your task!"
"But, master... Fang Zhengzhi, he..."
"Fang Zhengzhi? I received news that he killed nearly 100 soldiers in the Northern Mountain Village. Even with Chi Guyan supporting him, he will not have a good life in the capital. I think it is time for me to meet him as well. You don’t have to worry about him!"
"Yes master!"
...
In the days after that, Fang Zhengzhi began his road of cultivation. Understanding the different Daos was the most difficult step, cultivating them was the easy part.
They were like snowballs. One just needed to make a small one and roll it down a hill. When it reached the bottom, it would have naturally grown in size.
Fang Zhengzhi was basically trying to roll all two to three hundred of his snowballs. His biggest question was whether he should roll them one at a time, or all at once.
The answer was simple.
He would roll them all at the same time.
It did not seem very rational.
However, Fang Zhengzhi like the feeling of rolling them all. That was reason enough for him. After all, he had many snowballs to play around with.
As Fang Zhengzhi was cultivating, the Northern Mountain Village was busy.
After hearing that the Northern Mountain Village was going to build an academy, the surrounding villages sent people to check out the validity of the information. This was earth shaking news.
Did the Northern Mountain Village have this much silver?
No one believed it.
However, when Zhang Yangping showed them the "mountain of silver", they bought it.
All of the strongest in the villages congregated here. They claimed that they would want to play a part in the building of the academy, even if they were not being paid!
This was the innocence of the villagers, and it was the unity between villages when they saw a glimmer of hope. After all, once the academy was built, the most important phase would commence.
Recruitment!
They all had a reason to help out in this project. The thinking was, the more one contributed, the higher the chances of being recruited.
In the east, an entire hill was flattened as soil and timber were lugged to the Northern Mountain Village for the construction of the academy.
The building of the road to Huai An County was also moving in tandem.
It was quite a distance to Huai An County, and the road would pass through many villages. When everyone heard that the road was being renovated, they rushed to contribute. When they heard that there was a pay for builders, even those who worked the fields dropped everything to come and help.
Fang Zhengzhi explained the building concepts, then handed the project to Zhang Li to run. After all, Zhang Li was young, and could easily handle the project.
...
Yan Capital was in chaos at this moment in time.
In the throne room, letters streamed onto the emperor’s table. They all reported Fang Zhengzhi’s massacre of the soldiers.
"Emperor, Fang Zhengzhi has complete disregard for the law. If we do not punish him severely, how can we maintain the reputation of our army?"
"Fang Zhengzhi has muddled up his personal affairs with his official ones. Even if the army had committed transgressions, they did so under direct orders. How can Fang Zhengzhi kill the soldiers?
"One of our generals and many of the deputies died horrible deaths there. The army has been affected by this incident. I hope that the emperor will have the law ministry investigate this!"
All of the officials were unified in their opinions and suggestions.
If not for the fact that Fang Zhengzhi was the Sword Envoy, a rank four official, the law ministry would have already issued an arrest warrant without consulting the emperor.
"Your highness, I know that you care for such a talent. Fang Zhengzhi had just been promoted recently. You’re concerned that arresting him now may affect him adversely. However, he has gone overboard this time!" Minister Wan Chong said in fury.
Emperor Lin Mubai frowned.
The army had sent news of the massacre to him. Then, he received a letter from Chi Guyan. Chi Guyan had detailed everything to him.
It was clear who was in the wrong here.
However...
The army had to maintain their standing.
If anyone could just massacre the soldiers, albeit with good reason, then the laws of the country would not be respected. More importantly, the number of soldiers he had killed were too many.
He had killed nearly a hundred, and injured hundreds more. He was not just protecting his village and stopping the army from invading. This was a massacre.
There were too many dead soldiers.
The army’s reputation would be destroyed if there wasn’t even an investigation.
However, should he let Fang Zhengzhi be investigated by the Law Ministry?
Emperor Lin Mubai hesitated. In the letter, Chi Guyan had described the entire process and explained that Fang Zhengzhi was infuriated as a result of his filial piety, and killed to protect his family.
"Your highness, I think that Fang Zhengzhi should not take all the blame for this!" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping stood out.
"Oh, what does Minister Yu think?" Lin Mubai was slightly shocked to hear Yu Yiping’s words. After all, Yu Yiping had a run in with Fang Zhengzhi previously.
How could he not have seen it?
"According to my own investigations, the army had bullief the villagers, eating and drinking like kings whilst in the villages. Then, they were ordered to massacre an entire village. That general even injured quite a few villagers. They are a disgrace to the army and should be dealt with!" Yu Yiping glanced at King Duan as he spoke.
"Minister Yu has a point. Sixth brother, you have done wonders with the army, and your achievements are there for all to see. However, their discipline... still needs some work. This could have been prevented!" The Crown Prince added.
King Duan’s expression darkened. He knew what Yu Yiping and the Crown Prince were getting at. However, the army was at fault here, and he could not possibly deny that.
"Thank you for the reminder. I will definitely tighten my grip on their discipline. I will also account for their actions in due course!" King Duan did not push the blame away.
He would admit his mistake.
This was much better than trying to argue his way out. After all, everyone knew that the army was humongous. It was only natural for mistakes to occur from time to time.
This was just a small one. Taking responsibility for it would not harm him in any way.
"With King Duan at the helm, I am sure that their discipline will improve!" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping answered immediately.
One of the officials behind King Duan was about to step out. However, upon hearing Yu Yiping’s words, he stepped back in line, visibly confused.
Yu Yiping stepped forward once again.
"Plonk!" He fell to his knees.
The emperor gestured for Yu Yiping to recover. "Minister Yu, what did you do that for?"
"Your highness, as the left prime minister, I should be virtuous and help you solve your problems. However, I have something on my mind that I would like to say, but it is not something an official should say!"
"Please go ahead!"
"Yes your highness. I don’t think that it is important to determine if the army was in the wrong first, or if Fang Zhengzhi’s massacre came first. The Law Ministry is in charge of finding that out. My opinion today does not concern any law, it concerns loyalty, moral and values. Fang Zhengzhi tends to overreact and kills without hesitation. He had completely ignored the army and this is not a good sign! I hope that your highness will be careful when using him in the future!"
Yu Yiping kowtowed one more time, tears welling up in his eyes. He looked as loyal and sincere as humanly possible.
All of the officials were stunned by Yu Yiping’s words.
Then, they were in awe.
Yu Yiping first helped get Fang Zhengzhi out of trouble, attributing it to the lack of discipline in the army. Then, he resolved that issue easily.
His position was well considered and measured. Furthermore, he had helped the emperor solve the problem.
This was a near perfect act.
Then, he had dealt the killing blow.
He did not talk about any law. He simply talked about loyalty, moral, and values. These seemingly irrelevant points were his method of sealing Fang Zhengzhi’s fate.
Loyalty was always the more important. Even when filial piety and loyalty were at conflict, loyalty was always meant to come first.
Yu Yiping had condemned Fang Zhengzhi, claiming that he had no regard for the army or for power.
He was simply calling Fang Zhengzhi disloyal!
With such a passionate plea and a well measured position, the emperor was bound to give it some thought!
Experience does count!
"Your highness, Xing Hou has requested an audience with you!" Just as everyone was admiring Yu Yiping’s act, a voice rang out from outside the throne room.