Chapter 155: I Told You to Raise a Militia, Not to Start a Rebellion

Even though the imperial court made an exception and allowed local regions to raise local militias, it was certainly not something just anyone could do as they pleased.

Even though the ruling apparatus of the Great Yan Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, the established rules and regulations could still not be omitted.

The formation of local militias had to be strictly limited by scale and reported to official authorities of various levels for review and approval. Take Dangyang County, for instance. There were quite a few wealthy gentry who wanted to establish militias, but their so-called militias were merely trained domestic servants—small in number and incapable of growing larger. For anything under three hundred men, County Magistrate Liu Rui had the final say.

Zhao Hengyi, however, was a different case. When he proposed raising a militia, he immediately demanded an establishment of three thousand men. This startled Magistrate Liu into offering earnest advice, and the scale was finally settled at one thousand men. Even so, this still required the personal review and approval of Jiangling Prefect Zhang Qicheng.

Upon receiving a confidential reply from his senior fellow apprentice, Prefect Zhang Qicheng, Liu Rui gave the green light to Zhao Hengyi's militia-raising endeavor within the legal framework of his jurisdiction.

Whenever Liu Rui mentioned his senior fellow apprentice, he would open and close his mouth with complaints about how despicable that old scoundrel was, yet deep down he knew very well that in the realm of officialdom, his senior could outclass him by eighteen streets!

Regarding such far-reaching matters—although it was an explicit decree issued by the imperial court to the entire realm—he could neither clearly foresee nor explain what it would ultimately evolve into.

In times like these, it was much safer to follow the advice of Zhang Qicheng, who truly understood the art of officialdom.

Liu Rui was no longer the hot-headed youth of yesteryears who believed that reason surpassed everything else in this world.

Having experienced the failure of rescuing his esteemed mentor Yu Qingzhi, and having been trapped in the capital with his junior sister in constant terror day and night, Liu Rui had gained a profound and direct understanding of the damned world of the Great Yan Dynasty.

His mentor had died an obscure and suspicious death in prison, and to this day, there was still no official explanation regarding the case connected to Yu Qingzhi. On top of that, his junior sister still did not dare to appear under her true identity. To say that Magistrate Liu held no resentment toward the imperial court or the reigning sovereign would be utterly impossible.

Yet even so, what could he possibly do?

If he wanted to continue muddling through within this system, he had to abide by its rules. Concepts like joining hands in corruption were things told only to children; if one truly wished to survive and muddle through safely, one had to proactively muddy the waters even further!

The reason Liu Rui had urged Zhao Hengyi to limit the size of his militia was that a force of one thousand men was the absolute upper limit that the Prefect of Jiangling could review and approve.

If the number were any higher, Zhang Qicheng, as the newly appointed prefect, would not be able to make the decision alone. Once the higher authorities were alarmed, it would inevitably invite all sorts of trouble and could even plunge Zhao Hengyi himself into a desperate predicament.

"Lord Liu is truly my guiding light and candid friend!"

Now that Zhao Hengyi no longer concealed his peerage as the Baron of Cangwu, he was more than adequately qualified to sit on equal footing with Liu Rui. "If not for Your Lordship's such thoughtful care, I fear I would have unknowingly violated taboo."

This statement was not an exaggeration. While the imperial court permitted the raising of militias, it simultaneously restricted their scale. To put it bluntly, allowing everyone to form militias was meant for local self-defense, not for gathering troops to rebel!

"The Baron flatters me too much."

A look of profound exhaustion covered Liu Rui's face. "Alas, state affairs are arduous, making it truly difficult for one to act. Once these militias are raised, local conflicts will inevitably multiply in the future. Call them militias, but aren't they just wealthy families arming their servants with sabers and spears? They might be somewhat useful for intimidating and bullying ordinary commoners.

Let alone facing barbarian cavalry, I fear they would crumble at a single blow even against ordinary mountain bandits!"

Liu Rui was not intentionally cursing the bald man in the monk's presence; he was truly speaking from the heart.

In his perception, the militia raised by Zhao Hengyi was fundamentally different from those wealthy families arming their own domestic servants.

This Lord Baron was genuinely and truly raising a formidable militia!

Liu Rui was well aware of how elite and fierce the guards of Yushu Bay were. The reason he took the initiative to bring up such taboo topics—which bordered on discussing imperial decrees—in front of Zhao Hengyi was twofold: first, he genuinely felt depressed in his heart and wanted to vent to someone; and second, it demonstrated that he regarded Zhao Hengyi as one of his own inner circle, allowing him to speak freely without reservation about such forbidden matters!

To put it bluntly, it was still because of the half-man-tall silver mirror that Zhao Hengyi's wife had sent to the inner courtyard when the Baron arrived earlier, which had thoroughly startled Magistrate Liu.

A palm-sized round silver mirror sold on the market for ten taels of pure silver. Had Liu Rui not been utterly infatuated with his junior sister, he would never have known the price of such a luxurious item...

As a county magistrate, his heart ached just thinking about buying a palm-sized silver mirror, yet this Lord Baron had casually given away a half-man-tall silver mirror that had never even been heard of on the market... With such a lavish gesture, even if Liu Rui was not as adept at officialdom as his senior fellow apprentice, he still understood that he ought to show a proper response!

Even in the city of Jiangling nowadays, only a few slightly larger silver mirrors were sold. They were about half as large again as the standard palm-sized ones, yet their price would double, and they were constantly in demand with no stock available.

Rumors had it that these silver mirrors were extremely difficult to polish, with glass infused into them, making larger pieces more valuable and harder to come by. If that were truly the case, how much should that gigantic, half-man-tall silver mirror be worth?

To be honest, Liu Rui had accepted the gift set of Nine-Flower Dew with a clear and calm conscience, but this half-man-tall silver mirror filled him with trepidation. If his junior sister hadn't been holding that palm-sized silver mirror every single day in the inner courtyard, unable to put it down, Liu Rui would never have accepted such a precious gift, no matter how greedy he might be!

"The troubles that Lord Liu worries about are indeed things we cannot afford to neglect!"

The drawbacks of the militias mentioned by Liu Rui were things Zhao Hengyi had anticipated long ago. His deliberate visit to meet with him today was precisely to nip these unfavorable trends in the bud.

"I am merely a rough man without the grand sense of duty to worry about the world, but Dangyang County is my home, the place where I settle down and make my living. Anyone who dares to throw the situation in Dangyang County into chaos is my enemy!"

You bloody well wrote *Qing Yu An: A Millennium* and *Shui Diao Ge Tou: When Will the Bright Moon Appear*, yet you call yourself a rough man—are you trying to leave the scholars of the world no way to live?

Liu Rui complained inwardly, but he could not voice it. After all, he was also a scholar, and before the two peerless lyrical masterpieces composed by Zhao Hengyi, he too looked up with reverence and profound admiration.

As for Zhao Hengyi's declaration that whoever threw Dangyang County into chaos would be treated as an enemy, Liu Rui acknowledged from the bottom of his heart that the Lord Baron was fully qualified to say such words!

If anyone refused to accept it, let them go ask the vanished mountain bandits of Dangyang County before coming back to debate!

"With the Baron's words, Dangyang County is worry-free!"

Liu Rui instantly beamed with joy and initiated a pattern of mutual flattery. "However, those who have the money and resources to raise militias are all wealthy gentry in the county. We certainly cannot rely purely on brute force; the Baron must have a proper method in conducting this."

Magistrate Liu was afraid that Zhao Hengyi would directly lead his men and wipe out other militias under the guise of suppressing bandits...

"I certainly won't make things difficult for Lord Liu!"

Mentioning this, Zhao Hengyi perked up. This was the real purpose of his trip to the county seat! "Has Lord Liu ever heard of military drills? What if we gather all the militias together and conduct a joint drill? I presume that once the others witness my men, they will naturally know where they stand."