The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror
Chapter 415 - 182: Mountain Bandits and the Heavenly Master Mansion (2nd Update, Please Subscribe)

Chapter 415: Chapter 182: Mountain Bandits and the Heavenly Master Mansion (2nd Update, Please Subscribe)

Although Xu Qing repeatedly declined County Magistrate He’s kind arrangements, he was still very pleased with the younger brother’s attitude and asked, "Councilor Anping, is there any difficulty?"

Councilor Anping was Mr. He’s self-styled honorific.

The words of the bureaucratic sycophants should be heard in reverse.

To style himself ’Anping’ suggests that he is in dire need of money.

Xu Jieyuan conducts himself in such a way that, if you have a problem, come to me; if you want benefits, also come to me. Xu Jieyuan never lets his own people suffer or be disappointed.

Mr. Wu is Xu Qing’s golden signboard.

County Magistrate He’s eagerness to please surely means he has a request to make, otherwise there would be no need for such flattery.

Seeing Xu Jieyuan as generous as the rumors in the worldly society suggested, County Magistrate He also didn’t hold back and said, "Jieyuan Gong, I indeed have a matter that requires troubling you. I heard that when Mr. Wu was suppressing bandits in the Southeast, it was Jieyuan Gong who was strategizing behind the scenes. You must have some insights into the matter of suppressing bandits. The biggest issue in Xijiang Province is the multitude of bandits. To my embarrassment, since taking office, there have already been three instances of bandits raiding the vicinity of the county town to glean the harvest."

The bandits of Xijiang Province are numerous, and they have plagued the officials of the province for decades.

This banditry issue has already interfered with everyone’s ability to make money.

Because of the numerous bandits, merchants are also unwilling to come. Moreover, Xijiang Province is adjacent to South Zhili, which for many years has been a place where large amounts of overseas silver flow in. Seeing the glittering silver, Xijiang Province has been unable to reap much benefit, which naturally worries the nobles.

Xu Qing pondered for a moment, then asked, "Why are there so many bandits in your province?"

County Magistrate He: "The military service in our province is indeed heavy, and although we are not as wealthy, our scholarly atmosphere doesn’t lag behind South Zhili at all. But supporting scholars is extremely arduous and costly, so..."

Xu Qing had to admit, reality is indeed quite absurd, but also reasonable.

Becoming bandits was to support family members in their studies, studying was to take the Imperial Examination, the Imperial Examination was to become an official and make a fortune, and to make their fortune they had to exploit the common folk just like themselves, who could no longer bear it and thus would become bandits...

Xu Qing: "Since the root of the problem lies in military service, has your province no high officials at court to propose reducing the taxes of Xijiang Province?"

He was speaking with his eyes wide open but talking nonsense.

However, there are some things he couldn’t say outright, and it had to be County Magistrate He who said it.

"Jieyuan Gong may not be aware, but reducing taxes is not something that can be done just by saying so. A lot of the province’s land before Emperor Wan Shou was occupied by the Imperial Family, but since Emperor Wan Shou ascended the throne, there have indeed been many restrictions placed on the Imperial Family, and a lot of the illegally obtained lands have been taken back, but..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing nodded. Civil Servants are very keen on dealing with the Imperial Family, because the Imperial Family has little power, so taking action against them has no consequences and can even bolster one’s reputation.

The old emperor limits the Imperial Family and reclaims land; Civil Servants would surely work hard.

As the saying goes, one would rather see a fellow Taoist die than be a poor Taoist, let alone the fact that, to Civil Servants, the Imperial Family couldn’t even count as fellow Taoists.

"But what?" Xu Qing, seeing that County Magistrate He had an unspoken difficulty, continued to inquire.

"Your Majesty favors the Dao, and the Heavenly Master Mansion is the Yansheng Gong Mansion of the Taoist. Therefore, many of the lands reclaimed from the Imperial Family have also been occupied by the Heavenly Master Mansion."

Xu Qing obviously understood that these lands did not pay taxes.

The peaceful days of the nobles and scholars rest on the common cattle and horses bearing the burden for them.

Therefore, they would never allow the cattle and horses to lay down and rest.

Thus, the taxes that were not paid by these nobles of Xijiang Province had to be borne by the cattle and horses; not only did they have to work hard to pay taxes and render service, but the nobles also had a share of these taxes and services, and who knows how much actually reached the National Treasury.

Tsk, tsk!

Xu Qing then realized that little He was being dishonest by deliberately mentioning that the Heavenly Master Mansion was the Yansheng Gong Mansion of Taoism.

What do you mean by that?

Don’t you know I, Xu Qing, am known as the bane of Duke Yan Sheng?

Xu Qing was sharp after all, grabbing onto Mr. He’s slip-up and pressing him, "Mr. He, it seems you’ve prepared these words for quite a while; I wonder which immortal is behind you."

Seeing that Jieyuan Gong indeed had the eyes of a hawk, County Magistrate He clasped his hands and said, "In all honesty, Jieyuan Gong, Grandpa Taia was my mentor during the year of my county examination."

That explained it!

Xu Qing knew in his heart that Little He definitely wanted to deal with the bandits, but it seemed that behind him there might be the intent of the Grand Secretary or the old emperor to deal with the Heavenly Master Mansion.

Moreover, as the Chaotian Temple Master and one of the current co-leaders of the Dragon Gate Sect, he intended to send his close disciple Wei Yuan to Dragon Tiger Mountain.

All these matters, when linked together, revealed a pattern.

"Does the Grand Secretary want me to deal with the Heavenly Master Mansion?"

"I, the lowly official, do not know. I only received a letter from Grandpa Taia saying that I could consult Jieyuan Gong regarding the bandit issue in Xijiang Province."

Xu Qing said, "Aren’t there many Dao-believing bandits among those bandits?"

"How did Jieyuan Gong know?"

Xu Qing suddenly realized that many of these bandits might actually be soldiers of the Heavenly Master Mansion.

This was an old tradition.

The Yellow Turban Dao, Heavenly Master Dao... they were all experts!

However, there was something Xu Qing couldn’t quite understand: with the chaos in East Mountain Province being so extensive, why did the Grand Secretary still have the mind to deal with the Heavenly Master Mansion?

Rather than offending the entire class of scholars and nobles, the Grand Secretary would rather forcibly suppress the people of East Mountain Province.

While the Heavenly Master Mansion could not represent all the scholars and nobles, during such times, it felt somewhat strange to add branches out of season.

As if the Grand Secretary was deliberately creating a rebellion.

Earlier, Xu Qing had seen the weaknesses of the Grand Secretary and the old emperor, but at this point, he felt there must be some aspects he had not been able to see before.

"Could it be a ploy to lure the snake out of its hole?" Xu Qing thought of the two Martial Saints of the Great Yu Dynasty who had always been elusive like a dragon seen only in glimpses.