In Jinchuan County yamen, the county magistrate stared at the pigeon-transmitted letter in his hand and remained silent for a long time.
Cai Liuyang and Zhou Youda were quite similar. Both were well-known local talents who had passed the jinshi examination at a young age.
Their ancestors had also held official positions, though none were high-ranking.
Strictly speaking, Cai Liuyang had it even worse than Zhou Youda.
He was more than ten years older than Zhou Youda. After becoming a juren, he went on to pass the jinshi exam.
In the feudal era, educated scholars were a scarce resource.
A xiucai was already considered a notable figure within a radius of several villages.
Juren were even rarer.
Passing the juren examination was equivalent to receiving an “entry ticket” to become an official.
As for jinshi, that was truly extraordinary.
Although juren and jinshi differed by only one level, the difficulty and the gap between them were as vast as heaven and earth.
The court held the metropolitan examination once every three years, and across the entire Great Kang, only a little over two hundred jinshi were admitted each time.
The level of competition was at least comparable to the top scholar in the college entrance examination of a prefecture-level city in Jin Feng’s previous life.
Every single one was a favoured child of heaven.
In the early years of the Great Kang dynasty, even the lowest-ranked jinshi could become a county magistrate in the same year.
The most outstanding among them could even be appointed as prefect that very year.
Their prospects for advancement were especially bright.
Unfortunately, class solidification in Great Kang had become far too severe by now. Cai Liuyang had passed the jinshi examination nearly five years ago, yet he had still not been assigned a real post.
It was only after he made the acquaintance of a playboy from a prominent family in the capital that things changed.
To climb onto that family, Cai Liuyang sold off a large portion of his family’s ancestral land back home to raise silver. He used the money to buy beautiful women and all sorts of rare trinkets as gifts.
His money was not wasted. The other side truly arranged a real county magistrate position for him.
But the price was that he had to serve that family for ten years.
Cai Liuyang understood clearly that if he accepted this condition, he would become a puppet who did their dirty work.
Yet he also understood very well that class solidification in Great Kang would only grow worse with time. For scholars from humble backgrounds, the path to success would become increasingly difficult.
This might be the only chance he would ever have in his life.
Beyond that, a trace of luck lingered in his heart.
The Great Way has fifty paths, heaven derives forty-nine, and one escapes.
Nothing in the world is absolute.
Although it was extremely difficult for sons of humble families to produce great nobles, it was not entirely impossible.
The son of a prime minister could easily become a prefect, but to then become prime minister himself was almost impossible.
Power struggles also existed among the nobility. There would always be losers who got eliminated.
This gave people like Cai Liuyang a sliver of hope for upward mobility.
Because his grandfather had once been a deputy county magistrate, he had the opportunity to study under famous teachers, pass the jinshi examination, and become a county magistrate.
If he became a county magistrate, perhaps his son could become a prefect.
And if his grandson was capable enough, perhaps he could advance even further.
With such thoughts in mind, Cai Liuyang knew full well that the other side was using him, yet he still agreed in the end.
Then he was arranged to be sent to Jinchuan County.
Jinchuan was the fief of Marquis Qing, and it was also the lair of a giant crocodile like Jin Feng. For Cai Liuyang to take control of Jinchuan County was far more difficult than it had been for Xie Xiguang to take over Guangyuan City.
However, Cai Liuyang was not angry or sad. Instead, he felt somewhat fortunate.
Jinchuan could be said to be the territory of the Qing family. For the other side to place him here as county magistrate must have required considerable effort.
Since they had expended resources, they would not abandon him lightly.
Therefore, Cai Liuyang believed that the other side would first help him establish a firm foothold in Jinchuan before asking him to carry out tasks.
But who could have known that the order would come so soon.
And right from the start, they wanted him to strike at the very heart of Jin Feng’s base.
In his mind, Cai Liuyang cursed the other side’s ancestors for eight generations countless times.
But he had no way back now.
The other side could put him in the county magistrate’s seat, and they could also strip him of it.
They would not even need to do anything complicated. Simply withdrawing support would be enough for the Qing family to drive him away.
After thinking it over carefully, Cai Liuyang summoned the trusted aide he had brought from his hometown in Jiangnan.
They plotted through the night. Early the next morning, the trusted aide set off with a group of yamen runners, heading straight for West River Bay.
Since Jinchuan was Jin Feng’s old lair, Xiao Yu and the Zhong Ming team naturally kept constant watch.
From the very first day Cai Liuyang arrived in Jinchuan, Xiao Yu had already been wary of him.
Even though Cai Liuyang had behaved quite normally after taking office, Xiao Yu had never relaxed her vigilance and had listed him as a key surveillance target.
Less than an hour after Cai Liuyang’s trusted aide and the yamen runners left the county town, Xiao Yu, far away in West River Bay, already received the report.
The message not only reported that the yamen runners had left the city, but also clearly revealed exactly what they were going to do.
Cai Liuyang’s trusted aide would naturally not leak the information himself, but he was only one person and did not even know the way to West River Bay. He naturally needed helpers.
Inside and around the Jinchuan County yamen, Xiao Yu had placed eyes everywhere. Every word the trusted aide spoke would reach the ears of the Zhong Ming team verbatim within half an hour.
Xiao Yu did not dare delay. She immediately went to find Guan Xiaorou and at the same time sent someone to the textile factory to summon Tang Dongdong.
Tang Dongdong’s factory director office was only separated from Jin Feng’s home by a single wall. By the time Xiao Yu reached Jin Feng’s house, Tang Dongdong had already arrived.
“Xiao Yu, what has happened now?” Guan Xiaorou asked.
“I just received news that County Magistrate Cai Liuyang has sent people to West River Bay,” Xiao Yu replied.
“So Cai Liuyang really is one of them!” A flash of anger passed through Tang Dongdong’s eyes. She asked, “What does Cai Liuyang intend to do?”
“According to the message, Cai Liuyang claims that our textile factory, soap factory, and iron smelting factory have all illegally employed a large number of workers. They plan to come and seal up the factories.”
Xiao Yu handed the note passed back from the Zhong Ming team in the county town to Tang Dongdong.
“Isn’t this nonsense? All the workers in the factories are paid wages. How can that be called illegal employment?” Guan Xiaorou frowned and asked, “In the entire Great Kang, who treats workers better than our master?”
“It is useless to talk about that now. Since Cai Liuyang dares to send people to find fault, he must have some backing,” Tang Dongdong said. She then asked, “Do we know what reason he is using?”
“More than a hundred years ago, an emperor once said that merchants do not engage in labour and only seek profit, so he issued an order forbidding merchants from employing more than thirty workers.”
Xiao Yu continued, “Before coming here, I specially went to ask the legal affairs department. The record does indeed exist.”
“Another imperial decree from an emperor!”
Tang Dongdong rubbed her brow in frustration.
The Great Kang dynasty had lasted several centuries and had dozens of emperors.
Each emperor spoke countless words in his lifetime.
The feudal era placed the greatest emphasis on filial piety, and even emperors were no exception.
Words once spoken by a previous emperor could not be denied by the current one, or it would be considered unfilial.
Cai Liuyang using this to pick a fight was actually flawless.
“Sister-in-law, Factory Manager Tang, Cai Liuyang’s trusted aide is already on the way. We need to think of a solution quickly. If they really come and seal the factories, the consequences will be too severe,” Xiao Yu urged.
Withdrawing the trading company and escort agency from Guangyuan was still within tolerable losses.
But if all the factories were shut down, the losses would be enormous.
“We absolutely cannot let them seal the factories. Before Brother Feng left, he entrusted me to take good care of the village. If the factories get sealed, I will have no way to explain it to him when he returns!” Tang Dongdong shook her head without hesitation. “But what should we do?”
“Dongdong, I actually have an idea, though I do not know if it will work…” Guan Xiaorou said softly.
