The strong man started stuttering again, unable to speak. He was obviously very intimidated. They didn’t know what the actual identities of Xie Jue and Fang Chuning were, but the more they insisted on getting to the bottom of things, the more Fang Chuning and Xie Jue felt that sothing was amiss.
The governnt office had its own set of operational rules. The towns and villages surrounding Pingnan County had a population of about ten thousand, all under its jurisdiction. Although there were only a hundred or so governnt officials, managing the area didn’t pose too many problems. This was because governnt officials were all representatives of authority, and the people naturally feared them. Everyone was just ordinary farrs and rchants; no one would dare to oppose the officials. If the governnt office wanted to make things difficult for you, it would be nearly impossible for you to live in the county or village. They could impose fines on you under any unwarranted accusation, making life quite difficult.
In a small place like this, both the County Magistrate and governnt officials had considerable power, which was different from the capital. In the capital, everyone was a noble, and no one paid much attention to the Capital Governor. The Capital Governor also dared not offend the citizens, for you never knew which influential figure stood behind a re shopkeeper. The County Magistrate in Pingnan County had no reason to shelter this group of bandits unless there was a special reason.
Xie Jue lost patience as he saw them trying to avoid direct answers. He gave Fang Chuning a look, who stepped forward and directly broke the strong man’s other leg, causing him to scream in pain.
Xie Jue said calmly, "If you truthfully tell us everything and then go seek treatnt, you might still keep your legs. But if you waste ti here, you’ll spend the rest of your life on crutches, as these legs will be permanently crippled."
The strong man was sweating profusely from the pain. Fang Chuning couldn’t stand it and advised, "Big brother, say what you must. Your limbs are your own; why make things difficult for yourself? This beauty here has a heart of stone, and if you don’t speak, he’ll ask to pull out your tongue and gouge out your eyes. You should..."
"I’ll talk, I’ll talk...," unable to bear the pressure, the strong man gave in. This oppressive feeling was too much for him, and Xie Jue indeed looked like King Yan, about to take his eyes and tongue.
"The area on the east side of Pingnan County, Gao Liang Village, is rich and fertile and was originally the County Magistrate’s land. After the new policy was implented, the County Magistrate didn’t want to give back the land, so he ca up with a plan. He falsely reported the population of the nearby villages and hired them as tenant farrs, renting the land to them but still holding onto it for himself. Soon, Beiman settled next to Gao Liang Village in Lin Village, and the land was divided according to the number of people. The County Magistrate didn’t want that piece of fertile land to be divided, so he bullied the Beiman, who couldn’t speak the language, by dividing the land according to household instead of individuals. The land given to Beiman was all dry fields. The Beiman protested, but with the language barrier, the County Magistrate turned a blind eye. However, after so ti, the Beiman noticed the discrepancies; with similar family sizes, others had more land, including both water fields and dry fields. They went to the county to protest. The County Magistrate, fearing the issue would escalate, couldn’t have the officials suppress the Beiman, so they had to...find nearby bandits and robbers, giving them incentives to suppress the Beiman, killing a few of their leaders to quiet them down. But who would’ve thought the Beiman would have guts, and beca more rebellious after realizing the governnt office’s conspiracy. When the authorities couldn’t handle it, they ca to us bandits to suppress them, and that’s why they shelter us."
Xie Jue and Fang Chuning were furious upon hearing this. No wonder the governnt office was so dismissive towards them, and even let the bandits know where they were. Likewise, the townsfolk in Shiling Town dared not provoke these bandits, due to the collusion between officials and bandits—these bandits did the dirty work for the governnt office. They also stirred up conflicts between Beiman and Beining people. If it was truly hatred between both sides causing the trouble, the governnt office would diligently diate and resolve things fairly, and the people would naturally be convinced. But if the governnt office intentionally incited conflict for the sake of land and profit, there would never be a day when Beining and Beiman would shake hands and make peace.
Harmony in society, so to speak, is rely the naïve fantasy of those in power. There are always places in this world where filth and dirt are hidden, where sunlight never reaches.
"What all have you done under the orders of the governnt office? Tell everything!" Xie Jue said gravely, wanting to uncover what injustices were hidden in this little Pingnan County.
"Who are you people, really?" The strong man wasn’t foolish, having worked as a thug for the governnt and gained shelter from them, he was inherently smart. Xie Jue and Fang Chuning didn’t appear to be ordinary.
"Never mind who he is, just spill everything you know and maybe you’ll be let off lightly!"
*
The County Magistrate in Pingnan County was surnad Zhou, and Pingnan was located at the junction between the Twelve States and Zhongzhou, under the jurisdiction of Yunzhou within the Twelve States. Although the distance from Yunzhou was two days’ journey, geographically, Pingnan County was closer to Salt City. For those traveling from Zhongzhou to Salt City via land, Pingnan County was a necessary path. Therefore, Pingnan County enjoyed a superior geographic location, being close to Bei River and Salt City, allowing its people to live prosperously. Since the Yuwen Dynasty, Pingnan County was considered a major county, and County Magistrate Zhou was appointed during the Yuwen Dynasty. With the Beining regi and new policies in place, as long as local authorities carried out their orders, the cabinet didn’t interfere much. Hence, Pingnan County retained its governnt officials from the Yuwen Dynasty.
The County Magistrate had so genuine skills; during his term, Pingnan County developed steadily, without getting involved in the chaos between Zhongzhou and West State. However, the County Magistrate practiced nepotism, filling Pingnan County from top to bottom with his relatives. Outsiders seeking to establish themselves within Pingnan’s governnt office needed to hold good relations with County Magistrate Zhou. Aside from this, the wealthy rchants in Pingnan largely had close ties with the governnt office, and even the officials were mostly relatives and friends. Within the whole of Pingnan County, the County Magistrate was like a local emperor.
It was precisely because the County Magistrate was akin to a local emperor in Pingnan County, having personal intentions, that much of Pingnan’s resources and properties were controlled by the County Magistrate’s family.
The cabinet wouldn’t begin reforms and rectify administrative issues until the end of the year; the problems leftover from the Yuwen Dynasty needed to be addressed one by one. Lin Helin would dispatch people to conduct undercover visits to various counties in order to gather information about the governnt order implentation and the officials’ achievents. Xie Jue could wait until then to deal with it, but knowing of the issue, he wouldn’t turn a blind eye. If it concerned Beiman, an ongoing hostile conflict would inevitably lead to major instability throughout Pingnan County.
The Beiman were now rallying due to the County Magistrate’s oppression, and solutions must be found swiftly.
Pingnan County.
The strong man’s surna was Gao, nad Bao, age thirty-two. He was originally from Gao Liang Village. Following so conflicts with Beiman, his family’s land was seized, resulting in him becoming a bandit. He also harbored resentnt towards Beiman, willingly serving as a lackey for the governnt office, handling tasks inconvenient for the governnt to directly tackle.
He hadn’t expected to cross paths with soone formidable. Though Xie Jue’s identity remained undisclosed, he let them go, instructing the strong man to seek dical treatnt within Pingnan County. Gao Bao was a clever man; judging by Xie Jue and Fang Chuning’s deanor, he guessed their status was far above the County Magistrate’s. Therefore, he didn’t dare offend them, hurrying to send people to retrieve and return the stolen goods to Pingnan County.
"Where is my Jade Pendant?" Xie Jue sifted through the returned goods, not finding his Jade Pendant, his expression turning slightly stern.
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