Chapter 167 - Everyone Comes to Find Fault
At Emperor Jing’s command, the carriages began to turn around.
Fang Zheng didn’t rush to follow. He jumped back onto his own carriage.
The group of Hanlin scholars before him still had their heads lowered, not making a sound.
Fang Zheng continued, “Don’t you all want to see how the Crown Prince and I have managed the district?”
“By all means, go and find any faults you can. I’ll accept them all!”
Many people’s knees were already unbearably painful, and now quite a few were hesitating to stand up.
But Yang Yingcai, the leader, still had his head lowered and showed no sign of moving, so no one dared to rise rashly.
Seeing no one move, Fang Zheng continued, “Master Yang… please rise.”
Yang Yingcai raised his head and glared at Fang Zheng hatefully, sneering, “Minister Fang, you have quite the silver tongue. His Majesty now follows your every word. I must admit defeat.”
Fang Zheng scoffed, “When benevolence is not practiced, the balance of attack and defense changes.”
“I am truly implementing benevolent governance, but what about you lot? Sitting around discussing empty theories, shouting slogans that shake the heavens.”
“Good advice can’t persuade those destined to die, and mercy can’t save those who’ve given up on themselves.”
“Sigh, I, Fang Zheng, am too kind-hearted to say so much to you.”
“Alright, I’m leaving. If you want to go to Banshan District, just go directly. If you don’t want to go, keep kneeling. I’ll have someone watch over you.”
“But I advise you to leave now. With all those farts, your walking might be a bit lighter~”
With that, Fang Zheng climbed back into his carriage, which quickly sped away.
The Hanlin scholars cursed loudly behind him.
After a long hesitation, Yang Yingcai finally stood up trembling.
At this moment, he felt pain all over his body, especially in his knees. After kneeling for a full day and night, who knows what lasting damage there might be.
The group of Hanlin officials behind him were largely in the same state, rubbing their knees as they stood up.
Yang Yingcai turned back and said, “Let’s go! We’ll see how well Fang Zheng has managed Banshan District!”
“If we let such a petty man continue to strut around, what face will we have left?”
Everyone smiled bitterly.
Where was there any face left now? It had probably all been lost long ago…
Gu Tian spoke up hesitantly from the crowd, “What if Fang Zheng has really managed it well? What should we do then?”
Yang Yingcai angrily retorted, “What do you mean, managed it well! Such heavy rain hits the capital every year or two. Does Fang Zheng know magic? How could he possibly solve it!”
“But His Majesty has clearly been to Banshan District, and that Fang Zheng seemed so confident. I’m afraid…”
Yang Yingcai spat, “Bah! Such a petty man has probably only done superficial work. You’re all brilliant people, can’t you see through Fang Zheng’s little tricks?”
“I see he’s just a small man who’s gotten lucky, forgetting himself in a moment of success. We’re going there to expose his facade!”
The Hanlin scholars responded weakly, “We’re willing to go with you, Master Yang.”
“Everyone’s bodies are at their limit. Does anyone still have silver to hire a few carriages?”
Hearing this, people began searching their belongings for money.
Then, one by one, their faces began to change.
“My money’s gone!”
“Ah! Mine too! I brought ten taels out and only spent five, where… where’s the rest of my silver?”
“My silver is gone too!”
Yang Yingcai watched the crowd searching for their silver, tears nearly bursting from his eyes. He wailed, “All gone?”
Someone gnashed their teeth, “Gone! All gone! It must have been those troublemakers, there were thieves among them! Damn it!”
“Yan Guoan deserves death! The district’s security is so poor! Useless! Wasting the Emperor’s salary!”
“Should we still go to Banshan District?”
“Go! Things have come to this, what else can we do!”
………….
In Banshan District, Fang Zheng had already arranged for Zhang San to give Ding Quan advance notice.
So he urgently notified the street residents.
The streets must be kept spotlessly clean, and any outsiders who don’t follow the rules should be driven away!
Those who don’t listen will be taken away to sift sand.
Brothels are not allowed to actively solicit customers. When scholars walk on the streets, they should recite poetry and compose verses loudly by the tea stalls!
All service establishments should welcome distinguished guests with open arms.
Even the children were arranged, at least to be well-mannered, not noisy or disruptive.
The Sanitation Team was large in number and had strong mobilization capabilities!
Although it wasn’t Taoyuan County, Fang Zheng was still very confident in handling these small matters.
……..
After some time, the Hanlin scholars finally arrived, dragging their feet.
Walking was out of the question; their bodies had reached their limits. Fortunately, one of them had managed to go home, fetch some silver, and hire carriages to transport the group.
Naturally, there was constant cursing in the carriages along the way.
However, it was no longer clear whether they were cursing Yan Guoan or Fang Zheng.
After much difficulty, when the Hanlin scholars arrived at Banshan District, they were dumbfounded.
There weren’t many people on the street before them, but there certainly weren’t few either.
In Dengjin District, apart from the people Fang Zheng had brought, not a single citizen could be seen.
The stone-paved road was spotlessly clean. Although there were some small puddles in places, overall it seemed insignificant.
Everyone stood on the street, bewildered.
Someone asked Yang Yingcai, “Master Yang… what do we do now?”
Yang Yingcai gritted his teeth, “Education is key. The lack of standing water on the roads must be because Fang Zheng spent money to renovate the drainage system… Let’s look at their security and education. We’ll split up!”
Hearing this, the sickly crowd dispersed.
They were tired, truly tired.
At this point, continuing to deceive themselves would be meaningless.
I just want to admit defeat now…
The Hanlin scholars split into several groups and began to investigate various parts of Banshan District.
Yang Yingcai walked down the main street, feeling increasingly desperate as he heard the sound of reading from the teahouses and restaurants.
The minor officials on the street wore swords at their waists and walked with straight backs.
The surrounding citizens paid them no mind.
They even bought vegetables from the citizens’ stalls, and the citizens dared to haggle with them.
When there was trash on the ground, the minor officials even picked it up voluntarily.
This scene shocked Yang Yingcai to his core.
Usually, due to the inherent arrogance of scholars, these Hanlin scholars and all officials looked down on these civilian minor officials.
In the government system, they were the lowest screws in the machine.
And they weren’t even officially part of the system.
Moreover, they were full of “qualities” that only common, ignorant people should have.
Lazy, greedy, cunning, and deceitful – this should have been the norm in his impression.
So usually, when officials managed these minor officials, they had to use both rewards and punishments to make them behave and work diligently.
They wouldn’t listen without the whip.
But the minor officials in Banshan District were neatly dressed, spoke reasonably, and showed no arrogance towards the citizens.
This was completely beyond Yang Yingcai’s impression of minor officials.
What he didn’t know was that the security of Banshan District was a task that Fang Zheng personally took charge of.
The Sanitation Team was left to Li Yuanzhao, but when it came to security, Fang Zheng couldn’t tolerate any nonsense.
In Fang Zheng’s eyes, although sanitation was very important and had strong chain reactions,
What he valued most was safety. If citizens couldn’t ensure their personal safety, everything else was pointless.
So Fang Zheng was particularly strict in managing the minor officials, using both rewards and punishments.
The method he used was a cumulative complaint system.
Each minor official had their own record. If they received complaints from citizens, after investigating the cause, a mark would be made on their record.
If they accumulated too many, they would be severely punished and then dismissed.
In this world, no one talks about human rights. Fang Zheng preferred to solve problems with direct violence.
In the early stages, Fang Zheng personally supervised the punishment of offending minor officials.
For small matters, like secretly extorting citizens, Zhang Biao would drag them onto the street and break several thin rods on them.
All the watching minor officials were terrified.
Of course, Fang Zheng was never stingy with money. He would regularly distribute eggs, rice, flour, and oil, which improved the lives of the minor officials considerably.
If citizens came to the yamen to express their gratitude, there would be special rewards.
So the atmosphere among the minor officials in Banshan District quickly changed, and very few expressed dissatisfaction.