Chapter 26: The Commandery Governor

A silver seal with a cyan ribbon—this was unmistakably the seal and ribbon of a commandery governor of two thousand shi.

In the entire Xiami Commandery, the only person holding such an official rank could be none other than Yuan Fan, the Governor of Xiami.

Wang Zhenling naturally did not dare to be negligent. He bowed, stepped forward, prostrated himself on the ground, and cried out, "Your subordinate Wang Zhenling pays respects to the Honorable Governor!"

"You are Wang Zhenling of Danling?"

The governor glanced at him indifferently, a cryptic smile playing at the corners of his lips as he said, "I have been waiting for you for many days! Come, present the seal and ribbon!"

As Wang Zhenling stole a glance to observe the governor’s aura, he saw that the official’s destiny energy was vast like the azure sky, merging seamlessly with the official aura hovering above the entire commandery government office. In its shifts and stillness, it seemed to encompass the entire firmament.

Overcome by a sudden, profound shock within his heart, he pressed his forehead deeply against the ground. This level of power was probably comparable to that of immortals and Buddhas!

This was no mere imperial official; he was clearly... practically a deity of the heavenly court!

"And this is merely a lower commandery like Xiami, yet the prosperity of its aura is already to this degree. What would it be like in an upper commandery?"

While he was silently marveling, two minor officials stepped forward, removed Wang Zhenling's old seal and ribbon, and replaced them with new ones.

"Why is it a bronze seal with a black ribbon?" Wang Zhenling asked, dumbfounded.

Logically speaking, since he was being promoted to the post of Commandery Commandant, he should wear a bronze seal, but the ribbon ought to be yellow. That was the insignia for high officials of two hundred to four hundred shi, the so-called assistant officials of a county.

Yet a bronze seal with a black ribbon was the insignia for county magistrates, whose rank ranged from six hundred to a thousand shi!

Could this be a mistake?

Seeing Wang Zhenling's astonishment, Governor Yuan Fan's smile grew even more peculiar. Unhurriedly, he said, "How can imperial official posts be treated as child's play?

I have already recommended you to be the magistrate of Xiji County, with a stipend of six hundred shi.

Since the imperial court has not yet approved it, you shall temporarily act as magistrate!"

Even this was allowed?

Shock rippled through Wang Zhenling. He knew full well that his appointment as county magistrate would certainly never pass.

The Son of Heaven held deeply ingrained prejudices against him; how could he possibly allow him to become a magistrate?

Was this not clearly Governor Yuan Fan making the decision first and reporting it later?

Was it truly wise to directly defy the Son of Heaven like this?

Where on earth did Yuan Fan get such audacity?

At the same time, struck by a sudden realization, Wang Zhenling blurted out in astonishment, "Aren't the people of Xiji County city..."

Having said this much, he abruptly caught himself. How could such a foolish remark escape his own lips!

Indeed, the people within Xiji County city might have perished entirely, but the inhabitants of the surrounding villages were still there!

Even if the people in all the subordinate villages were gone, populations could still be migrated over from other counties.

To the government authorities, none of these were insurmountable problems.

It was impossible to simply abandon a county administration in vain!

"Do you know why this official recommended you to the imperial court as the magistrate of Xiji?"

"Your subordinate does not know, and begs the Honorable Governor to enlighten me!" Wang Zhenling bowed respectfully, deeply puzzled at heart.

"The reconstruction of Xiji County requires capable officials. Your performance during the plague this time was quite commendable..." Governor Yuan Fan smiled.

"Your subordinate wouldn't dare; I merely fulfilled my duty!"

"Well spoken, 'fulfilled my duty,'" Yuan Fan said with a faint smile. "Pity that many officials are unwilling even to fulfill their duty. The moment danger arises, they abandon the people under their governance to fend for themselves, actually discarding their official posts and fleeing..."

A chill ran through Wang Zhenling's heart. He naturally knew whom Yuan Fan was referring to—it was precisely Yang Ting, the Inspector of neighboring Yuzhou Inspectorate.

Xiami Commandery belonged to Liangzhou Inspectorate, and right next to it lay Lizhou Inspectorate!

Inspectors belonged to supervisory districts rather than administrative ones. Generally speaking, inspectors were personnel dispatched by the imperial court to oversee local regions; their authority was high, but their formal rank was low.

Commandery governors usually held two thousand shi, whereas inspectors held merely six hundred or eight hundred shi.

However, in times of emergency, to unite the forces of all commanderies within a province, inspectors were granted special privileges empowering them to command all commanderies in the province.

This special privilege was known as holding the tally (chi jie).

During the plague that raged last year, Yuzhou had been one of the hardest-hit disaster areas, and the imperial court had bestowed the power of the tally upon Inspector Yang Ting of Yuzhou so that he could unify authority and lead Yuzhou in combating the plague.

Yet, upon seeing how severe the plague had become, this tally-holding inspector had fled in the face of battle.

In short, his flight caused the already strained situation in Yuzhou to collapse beyond redemption.

Throughout the entire plague last year, Yuzhou—originally an upper province and one of the wealthiest regions in the realm—suffered catastrophic casualties.

There were even horrifying instances where the entire populations of several county towns died of plague infections.

The death toll throughout Yuzhou soared to over a million!

Consequently, Inspector Yang fled back to Shenluo. Not only did he escape unscathed and unpunished, but he was even appointed as the Minister of the Retinue (Dianke) among the Nine Ministers.

Such an affair naturally caused an uproar across the court and the public, and the entire imperial court nearly argued themselves hoarse over the matter.

Scores of censors impeached and sought to hold Yang Ting accountable, but the Son of Heaven not only ignored them but instead threw the censors who submitted the memorials into prison.

This incident shook the entire realm, arousing nationwide discontent and severely damaging the authority of the Son of Heaven.

And all of this happened simply because Yang Ting was the father of the Son of Heaven's favorite imperial concubine!

At this moment, for Yuan Fan to recount these events with a tone of disdain was clearly an insinuation of his dissatisfaction with the Son of Heaven!

"Right now, both the province and the commanderies are in a precarious state, requiring capable officials to maintain order. I heard that your performance during the plague last year was quite remarkable, earning you the moniker of the Plague Deity..." Governor Yuan Fan smiled.

Even this had reached his ears?

"What makes this commandery appreciate you even more is that you once proposed the strategy of imposing heavy taxes on the adherents of the Avenue of Becoming Heaven..."

Wang Zhenling was slightly startled, and hastily said, "Your subordinate is terrified!"

"There is nothing to be terrified of; this is your ability. Employing such a method against the followers of the Avenue of Becoming Heaven resolved a major difficulty for this commandery.

As for saying you have talent, you need not be modest. Of course..."

Wang Zhenling knew well that in official circles, whatever was brought up first was definitely not the most important factor!

For all he knew, the governor would soon tack on a "however," making a sudden pivot...

And indeed, Wang Zhenling's guess was not wrong at all. He only heard the governor smile and say, "Of course, most importantly, you happen to be a seed of classical scholarship.

Moreover, you refused to enter the Imperial Gate Academy (Hongdu Mengxue), insisting instead on studying at the Imperial Academy (Guozijian). This is very good, exceptionally good!"

As he spoke, Yuan Fan looked toward Wang Zhenling, his eyes brimming with appreciation.

Wang Zhenling was suddenly enlightened, and comprehension dawned in his mind: "This Governor Yuan must be a true follower of Confucianism!"

Wang Zhenling's guess was entirely correct, for this governor was indeed a genuine man of the Confucian school.

He held great admiration for Wang Zhenling, the legendary seed of Confucian scholarship.

At that moment, testing Wang Zhenling's scholarship once more, the governor asked, "After the waters of Yao, disasters of fire struck the soup; thereafter minor floods and fires spread everywhere, their crimes heavy yet drawing retribution, not amounting to the Great Yangjiu or the Great Bailiu. What are your views on this?"

The Confucian scholarship of this world was naturally different from what Wang Zhenling had seen and studied in his previous life.