Chapter 2616 - 2589: Governor Yu

Lord Tang took Bai Shan and Censor Ren to go see what was going on, but they had barely ridden half a street when they ran into Governor Yu’s grand procession returning.

Censor Liang’s face was dark; he was only forcing himself to keep quiet in front of everyone.

Governor Yu had an ape-like back and a wasp waist, a full beard on his face, and eyes like blades. He merely sat quietly on horseback, yet gave people the feeling of a half-drawn knife, sharp and dangerous.

Lord Tang pulled his horse to a stop, lowered his voice and said to Bai Shan, "He really is tough. His rank is higher than ours, but we’re here on an imperial inspection, and we have censors at our side, so there’s no need to cower. In a bit, just follow behind me."

Bai Shan nodded slightly.

The two sides met head-on. Lord Tang sat on his horse with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth and clasped his fists to the man opposite. "Might you be the newly appointed Governor Yu?"

Governor Yu also smiled and returned the salute with clasped fists. "I am indeed Yu. Might you be Lord Tang from the capital?"

Tang He answered, "Yes," and then both sides dismounted to exchange formal courtesies, before returning together to the governor’s residence.

Lord Tang glanced back and saw that Governor Yu had brought quite a few men. Besides the ones who had gone out to greet him, there were still about a hundred left, all clad in armor.

He smiled and nodded to Governor Yu, then rode back shoulder to shoulder with him.

Once they entered the main hall of the governor’s residence, Lord Tang finally asked, "When did Lord Yu arrive in Qizhou?"

"Last night." Governor Yu sat down in the chair in a bold, sprawling manner, took off the knife at his waist and set it aside, then smiled at Lord Tang and said, "When I reached the city outskirts last night, the city gates had already shut. It would not have been proper for me to order them opened again, so I camped outside with my men."

"Then why not enter the city first thing this morning?"

"Before dawn today, I ran into tenant farmers who were heading into the city to seek justice. When I questioned them closely, it was clear they’d been incited by someone. I wanted to have a little chat with whoever was behind them, but unexpectedly these people resisted desperately and even tried to harm me. Fortunately, the personal guards I brought are capable; they cut down those three bandits from horseback in one stroke."

Censor Liang could listen no further. He sprang to his feet and said, "Governor Yu, His Majesty intends to handle these people with conciliation, yet you killed men as soon as you took office, without going through the public court, without review by the Ministry of Justice. How is this any different from tyranny?"

Governor Yu said, "I acted in self-defense."

"Whether it was self-defense is not for you alone to decide. When we return to the capital, I will impeach you and report the truth to the officials and His Majesty."

Governor Yu said, "You weren’t there. How do you know I’m not telling the truth?"

"You—"

"Enough, enough," Lord Tang hurriedly stepped between the two. It was hard to imagine that he’d ever end up playing peacemaker. He said, "What’s urgent right now is not assigning blame. That can be dealt with later. What’s most pressing at the moment is how to handle these fields that people want to redeem, and how to properly manage the relationship between the yamen and these great clans."

Lord Tang turned his head to look at Governor Yu. "Lord Yu, this isn’t your first day in office, and you’ve served as governor before. You should know how important these local great clans are. Since you dared to kill, I take it you’ve already thought through how to deal with the fallout. You are the governor of Qizhou; we have no intention of meddling excessively."

Censor Liang disagreed. "Lord Tang—"

Tang He reached out to press down the words he was about to say. "Censor Liang, supervising the hundred officials is your censors’ responsibility, not mine."

Governor Yu’s eyes brightened slightly, his gaze burning as he looked at him.

Lord Tang said, "I’m here in Qizhou by imperial command only to handle the redemption of the lands and to settle the matters of the tenant farmers involved. Everything beyond that falls under Qizhou’s local affairs, to be handled by Qizhou’s governor."

Governor Yu burst out laughing when he heard this, rose to his feet, and strode forward to seize Lord Tang’s hand. "Lord Tang is truly perceptive. For these words alone, I ought to drink three big bowls in your honor. Someone, go tell the kitchen to prepare wine and dishes. Today I’ll host a banquet here in the governor’s residence for Lord Tang... and these three lords, as a welcome feast to wash away the dust of your journey."

Bai Shan and the other three: ...Who’s welcoming whom, exactly? They’ve already been here ten days.

Fine, whatever. If there’s food, they’ll all just go eat.

Bai Shan rubbed his stomach. They’d eaten their working meal early; if he’d known, he wouldn’t have.

He snuck a glance at Censor Ren, but unfortunately Censor Ren’s brows were tightly knitted; he wasn’t thinking about food at all.

Lord Tang felt that this Governor Yu’s style of handling matters meant they would have to adjust some of their strategies. Mainly, there were certain things on which they needed to reach a consensus, or future work would be very hard to carry out.

Though they’d been here ten days and had temporarily calmed the tenant farmers currently making trouble, the issue was actually far from resolved.

Until the land was fully redeemed and the formal separation procedures completed, the matter could not be considered finished.

Up until now, Lord Tang and his people had used a mix of kindness and authority, but in truth they focused more on soothing people, using profit and persuasion as the main approach, with threats only as a supplement.

This Governor Yu showed up and directly chopped down three men, completely flipping the strategy they had been carrying out.

And the key thing was, his position was perfectly legitimate. Tang He did not want to be fighting the local great clans while also fighting people inside the governor’s residence, so he planned to have a proper talk with Governor Yu.

From that exchange just now, Governor Yu also felt that this Lord Tang knew when to bow out and was a lot more tactful than the censor beside him who seemed ready to curse him bloody.

So he was also willing to talk.

Thus, the moment their gazes met, both made up their minds, and the two of them dodged the censors and huddled together.

Well, using Governor Yu’s excuse of needing to bathe and change, while Lord Tang also claimed he’d been busy with official affairs all day and needed a rest.

Of course, it wasn’t just the two of them. Lord Tang brought Bai Shan along, and Governor Yu brought his deputy general.

The two sides smoothly met up in the main courtyard of the governor’s residence.

Censor Liang and Censor Ren were no fools. When they went to find Lord Tang and Bai Shan to discuss the next steps and discovered the two were not in their rooms, they guessed at once that they’d gone privately to meet Governor Yu. This made them somewhat angry. "What do they mean by this? Does Lord Tang approve of Governor Yu’s actions?"

Censor Ren was also furious. "When we left the capital, Lord Wei and Lord Tang repeatedly reminded us that Qizhou had a great many lost lands, and many people were involved, so we had to prioritize conciliation to avoid setting off a major incident. Qizhou is not far from the capital; if it really falls into chaos..."

Censor Liang was angry for another reason as well. "We four at least have faced life and death together, yet the two of them just ditch the two of us like this?"

Censor Ren: Exactly, they’ve faced life and death together.

Lord Tang introduced Bai Shan to Governor Yu. "This is a Palace Secretariat official by His Majesty’s side, Bai Zhishan."

Before coming, Governor Yu had naturally inquired about the team sent out under imperial edict. He knew Tang He was the one in charge, while Bai Shan was young and of shallow seniority. Though his rank was not low, he looked more like he’d been sent to gain experience and pick up some achievements. So after a brief smile, he said, "Lord Bai is truly young and promising."

Bai Shan smiled and said, "I have long heard of Governor Yu’s valor in battle. Seeing you today, the reputation is well deserved."

Governor Yu’s lips curled in faint pleasure. After inviting them to sit, he said, "Lord Tang, you’ve been in Qizhou for a full ten days now, haven’t you? How goes the work?"