Chapter 483: Appointment
Editor: Atlas Studios
On the seventh day of the first month, the government office opened its seal. After the first day of court, the Emperor appointed Qi Haoran as the assistant commander of Hengzhou’s garrison. He had to eliminate the rebels in Jinghu as soon as possible.
Not only the courtiers, but Qi Haoran’s mouth was also wide open. Didn’t they say that they would return to the north after the New Year? Why did it change to Jinghu?
After that, the Emperor brought Qi Haoran to the back palace and placed high hopes on him. “All the officials in the south of Jinghu were under Minister Qin’s tutelage. I have the intention but I’m powerless, so I need Minister Qi to deal with them.”
Qi Haoran knew that his mission this time was equivalent to being half a secret guard, but how could the Emperor be assured enough to let him do such a thing?
Unable to figure it out, Qi Haoran could only thank him. “I accept the decree.”
There were a total of three assistants that the Emperor had given Qi Haoran. They served to both assist and monitor.
Fortunately, Qi Haoran had three days to prepare as he only had to set off three days later. As soon as he left the palace, Qi Haoran ran to the Chen family’s villa to look for Fan Zijin.
The secret guard reported, “Your Majesty, Qi Haoran is too fearless. He actually openly asked Fan Zijin for ideas.”
The Emperor smiled and said, “I like his personality. He might know that I asked someone to monitor him, but he’s open and aboveboard. It’s much better than Minister Qin being secretive.”
At this moment, Qi Haoran, whom the Emperor thought was honest, was holding Fan Zijin’s hand as he spoke. His hands did not stop moving as he wrote down the questions that could not be uttered out loud.
This was the way they learned to communicate after being monitored for a long time.
Fan Zijin lowered his head and pondered for a while before saying, “I’m afraid the Emperor wants to use you to eradicate dissidents.”
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Hearing Fan Zijin’s blunt words, Qi Haoran suppressed the urge to turn around and look at him. He only blinked at him hard. Smiling, Fan Zijin wrote on the paper, “Even if you can’t achieve 70% truth, you have to speak 50% truth. That way, the Emperor won’t be suspicious. Haoran, you’re a person with flaws and selfish desires. However, you’re more loyal to the Emperor and have a sense of justice. As long as you grasp this level well, even if you go against the Emperor, he won’t kill you even if he’s angry. He won’t suspect our matters either.”
Qi Haoran fell deep in thought.
Fan Zijin continued, “The south road of Jinghu has always been Minister Qin’s sphere of influence. The generals are fine, but the local officials are all Minister Qin’s disciples. You have to be careful when you’re there. Don’t let them catch you red-handed. Also, you have to think twice before doing anything. Even if you have the Emperor’s support, you have to be careful. Don’t rush forward rashly. Minister Qin’s power is quite significant. If he says a word in the Imperial Court, at least half of the Imperial Court will do as he wants. When that time comes, even if the Emperor comes forward, I’m afraid he won’t be able to protect your life…”
Seeing that Fan Zijin did not forget to slander Minister Qin, Qi Haoran smiled silently.
“Although the military and government are separated, your mission is to suppress the bandits. If you want to suppress the bandits, you will need to contact the local officials. You just have to find an opportunity to complete the Emperor’s instructions. Don’t create trouble just to complete the mission, understand?”
Qi Haoran nodded impatiently. He looked at the second and third methods that Fan Zijin had written down on the paper and waved his hand before running away. “Remember to come down the mountain to send me off in three days.”
Fan Zijin pursed his lips and soaked the paper on the table into the copper basin. The ink spread in the water. At this moment, the secret guard lying at the back of the house and using the receiver to eavesdrop at the corner of the wall carefully put away his things. Looking around, he saw that there was no one around, so he slowly slipped out of the villa and went to the palace to report.
Indeed, after listening to the secret guard’s report, the Emperor was even more wary of Minister Qin. Even an unofficial juren knew that Minister Qin wielded such great power, but he had been kept in the dark all this while.
At this moment, Emperor Jingyan chose to forget his previous full confidence in Minister Qin when Grand Tutor Yan and the others had admonished him. He pushed all the responsibility to the courtiers.
After getting Fan Zijin’s ideas, Qi Haoran ran back to look for Mu Yangling.
Already visibly pregnant, Mu Yangling was taking a walk in the small garden. When she saw Qi Haoran return, she smiled widely.
Her smile, which was gorgeous like a spring flower, made Qi Haoran’s nose sting. He went forward and touched Mu Yangling’s stomach. “Ah Ling, I’m leaving the capital.”
Mu Yangling was stunned. Heart filled with sorrow, she forced a smile on her face. “Are you going back already? That’s good too. You can help Big Brother.”
Qi Haoran shook his head and said with tears in his eyes, “Not back to Jingzhao Prefecture, but to Hengzhou.”
“Hengzhou?”
Qi Haoran nodded. “The Emperor appointed me as the assistant commander of Hengzhou’s garrison and tasked me to eliminate the traitors in Jinghu.”
“The Jinghu area has always been the largest food production base in the country. How many rebels can there be? Where’s the original assistant commander?”
Qi Haoran pursed his lips. “The previous assistant commander was executed for hiding the news of the rebellion. Now, there are the most rebels in the Jinghu area in the Great Zhou. The officials forced the people to rebel, and the local officials colluded with the army to hide the news. Otherwise, once the rebellion data was reported, everyone would know that there was something fishy.”
Jinghu had excellent soil and water, and it was mostly plains. The population density was lower than Jiangnan, so the agricultural economy had always flourished. Being far from the border, there were no wars. Logically speaking, the people here should be living well. As long as there was a way out, very few people were willing to rebel or become bandits.
Therefore, with so many people rebelling in Jinghu, everyone knew that there was definitely something fishy going on. This was why the local officials colluded with the military camp and hid the number of rebels. In private, they secretly sent troops to quell the rebellion. The Emperor was furious to see this matter exposed right before the new year. On the one hand, he dismissed many military officials in the military camp, and on the other hand, he sent the imperial censor to investigate the details.
Qi Haoran said disdainfully, “Those imperial censors went to Jinghu for the New Year. When they came back, they only said, ‘The commoners are unruly and disobedient.’ We’re not fools, so we naturally won’t believe them.”
Qi Haoran whispered into Mu Yangling’s ear, “The Emperor is also strange. In the past, he firmly believed in Minister Qin. Even if someone risked their lives to tell him that Minister Qin wanted to rebel, he wouldn’t believe it. Now that he suspects Minister Qin, he can suspect Minister Qin in every matter without anyone saying a word. This time, I’m probably going to Jinghu to be his lackey and help him clean up the people Minister Qin left behind.”
Mu Yangling immediately grabbed his hand and said, “Will many people die?”
Qi Haoran patted her hand and said, “Those people are not innocent.”
“I know. Most of them deserve to die, but there are always innocent people among them. Be careful when you do things. Don’t implicate passersby. Just treat it as a blessing for our child.”
Qi Haoran touched Mu Yangling’s stomach and nodded slightly. However, Mu Yangling hugged him again and said, “But the most important thing is to protect yourself. No one is more important than you. Just treat it as me being selfish.”
Qi Haoran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Was he that noble in Ah Ling’s eyes?
Of course, he had to protect himself first. Unlike General Yuan, he did not have the courage to sacrifice his life to protect others. This was officialdom, not a battlefield.