Chapter 811: Iron-Faced and Impartial He Lingchuan

“Yes, it’s here.” Magistrate Wu quickly handed over the county government’s roster. “Each person’s salary, background, and specific skills are listed here for your review, Special Envoy.”

He Lingchuan praised him, “Magistrate Wu, you’re very thorough.”

Magistrate Wu chuckled, “You flatter me, Special Envoy.”

He Lingchuan, however, didn’t even open the roster. He simply tossed it onto the table, took a sip of tea, and asked, “In Shihuan City, which is the most common surname?”

“Huh?” This sudden change of topic startled Magistrate Wu, who took a moment to process it. “Oh, there are the most people with the surname Li!”

“How many do you have in your office?”

Magistrate Wu silently calculated for a few moments. “About… seven or eight?”

“Quite a few indeed,” He Lingchuan said, tapping the roster twice with his middle finger. “Everyone with the surname Li on this roster, dismiss them all.”

“What?!” Sweat immediately trickled down Magistrate Wu’s forehead. “Special Envoy, isn’t this inappropriate?”

Laying off people based on their surname—how could it be handled so lightly?

“What’s the second most common surname?”

Magistrate Wu stared, wide-eyed.

Was the Special Envoy truly asking him to dismiss people like this? Without considering their resumes, abilities, age, or qualifications?

This was far too simplistic and crude!

“I don’t know them, I don’t want to assess them, and I don’t care about their difficulties. None of that concerns me. In this time of national crisis, everyone, from the common people to high-ranking officials, must face the challenges together.” He Lingchuan gestured like a knife with his left hand over the roster. “Shihuan County Office can only have three salary tiers, and no more than twenty people can be paid. Magistrate Wu, if you don’t want me to make a clean cut, go back and carefully revise the list. At least keep some capable people for yourself.”

He said leisurely, “If you can’t even make decisions about something this small…”

Those who couldn’t handle layoffs would themselves be laid off.

Magistrate Wu shivered inwardly and quickly said, “I, I’ll go back and carefully prepare the list!”

“Make it quick!” He Lingchuan held up two fingers. “You have two days. Oh, by the way, the lame stableman can stay. Everyone has some compassion, after all.”

His stance was clear. Magistrate Wu could only leave, crestfallen, holding the roster.

He Lingchuan watched his retreating back and shook his head to himself.

He knew without opening it that there were tricks within the roster. If he were to play the “who stays, who goes” game with Magistrate Wu, the whole messy business would never end.

But what did that matter to He Lingchuan? He only cared about the outcome, not the process.

The process was for the officials themselves to grapple with.

The country’s bureaucratic system was far too redundant and inefficient. What two people could accomplish, twenty were assigned to do. The Yuan Kingdom faced both internal strife and external threats; if it wished to endure, it had no choice but to downsize, reduce personnel, and increase efficiency.

Otherwise…

Heh.

Because the Special Envoy’s expenditure audit was so strict, the Yuan court was also in an uproar.

Many elder ministers complained that while the wars on two fronts were important, the Yuan Kingdom’s crucial affairs were not solely about fighting; they also included national economy and the people’s livelihood. For instance, the embankments of the two major rivers in the southeast needed reinforcement, or the summer floods would destroy countless fields and harm innumerable people, and so on.

Since overseeing the expenditure items, He Lingchuan realized that a country’s spending was immeasurable, from trivial matters to the livelihoods of millions. The initial payment of over 3.7 million was just a drop in the bucket; if he were to loosen his grip even slightly, not a single coin would be left.

Money. This country was so desperately short of money.

After a few busy days, Madam Ying heard the two brothers discussing finances while eating at the dinner table and suddenly asked,

“Chuan’er, how long will you be the Rongshan Special Envoy?”

“Huh?” It was the first time anyone had asked this question. He Lingchuan paused before replying, “Until all seven million taels of the loan have been spent. It’ll be soon; I’m reviewing the last few items these two days, and the final payment should be transferred shortly.”

By then, his mission as Special Envoy would largely be complete.

“It’s good that you’re an impartial Special Envoy, but you are, after all, a Yuan citizen. You’ve already offended so many elder ministers; I fear they will make things difficult for you after you resign as Special Envoy.”

His mother was thinking of him. He Lingchuan said, moved, “Mother, you’re very thoughtful. However!”

Hearing his tone, Madam Ying knew he was about to be mischievous and pursed her lips. “However, what?”

“Don’t you even consider who my father is!” He Lingchuan said triumphantly. “As long as Father keeps getting promoted, what can anyone do to me?”

He couldn’t very well say that he didn’t care about the Yuan court or anything here, could he?

This was the underlying reason for his impartiality and “devotion to public service”:

He simply didn’t care.

The Yuan officials always thought he looked down on them and deliberately made things difficult for them.

In reality, He Lingchuan simply didn’t see them at all.

Madam Ying gave him a look, but knowing he was right, she felt a little happy inside.

She had drawn a top-tier fortune stick by Xianling Lake, which predicted a smooth and prosperous future for her. Could it be that it was coming true now?

The meal wasn’t even finished when Steward Wu suddenly rushed in, exclaiming, “Good news, good news! Madam, young masters, our master has won a great victory in the south!”

Madam Ying rose at the sound, her phoenix-like eyes wide.

Steward Wu pointed to the dust-covered messenger beside him and said, “Tell them, quickly tell them what happened!”

The man was disheveled, still catching his breath, and smelled of horse sweat, clearly having traveled a long distance. “The General arrived with his army in seven days, unbeknownst to the rebels. The General then used old, weak, and injured soldiers as bait at Buxin City, luring the main rebel force to attack the city. Meanwhile, our forces circled around to capture the rebel main camp and set an ambush for the rebel main force on their way back to reinforce. We waited at leisure for the exhausted enemy and achieved a great victory!”

Madam Ying pressed her hand to her chest, too excited to breathe. “This is wonderful!”

A great victory indeed, one battle to decide everything!

Her husband’s great victory was a timely godsend for the Yuan Kingdom!

He Lingchuan and He Yue immediately pressed for more information. “And then?”

The messenger’s words were concise, but the brothers still sensed the bloodshed and brutality of the battle. After this engagement, who knew how many lives had been lost.

He Chunhua’s strategy was clever, primarily exploiting an information gap. The rebel army’s northward advance had been smooth; the cities they encountered either surrendered or offered weak resistance, quickly laying down their arms. They had no idea that General Changning had already led a large army south. They thought taking Buxin City would be easy pickings, but He Chunhua, with his calculated plan against their unpreparedness, caught them off guard.

This kind of advantage could only be used once. Fortunately, He Chunhua did not waste it at all, essentially achieving a swift victory and routing the enemy’s main force.

This great victory had truly not come easily.

“Of the two main rebel leaders, one was slain on the spot, and the other fled west with the remaining forces. Zhao Qinghe and Wu Shaoyi divided their troops to engage them, wiping out over three thousand more. Additionally, Zeng Feixiong’s unit was ambushed at the western entrance of Longchuan, carrying out the final interception,” the messenger reported. “As a result, only about eight hundred rebels escaped into Longchuan!”

Madam Ying asked again, “Didn’t you say there was another rebel leader?”

“His name is Tan Xian, and he fled into Longchuan.”