```
Upon hearing these words, Wei Heng by his side shuddered and opened his mouth to speak.
But Yang Ge preempted him, cursing loudly, "The man has been captured and you’re still asking me? Do I need to personally teach you how to torture? Just don’t kill him. Beat him to an inch of his life, and dig along The Canal Transportation connection. Whoever you uncover, seize him immediately for the case... Even if they are from the Jiangzhe Provincial Administration, any bureau, or the judiciary, no exceptions!"
Fang Ke immediately saluted and, with a loud response, turned and strode out the door.
Yang Ge turned back, with a smile on his face and a sword in hand, and saluted, "My subordinates lack experience; you’ve been amused, I’m sure!"
Wei Heng extended a shaking finger towards Yang Ge, stuttering, "You, you, you... You really aren’t afraid to die!"
He knew that Yang Ge was a man of audacity.
On his way here, he had anticipated that Yang Ge, with the imperial sword in hand, would probably create an upheaval in Jiangzhe.
But what he never expected was Yang Ge’s first strike would stab right at the local military’s flank.
The Canal Transportation?
Could that be investigated?
Would it withstand investigation?
Just on this one line alone, the heads of high and low officials could circle Luoyang several times!
Yang Ge smiled in surprise, "So if I’m afraid to die, that means I won’t die?"
Wei Heng slapped his thigh and exclaimed in fear, "Too much is as bad as not enough and the law doesn’t punish the masses!"
Yang Ge’s smile faded, and he said solemnly, "It’s precisely because too many people think that too much is as bad as not enough, and the law doesn’t punish the masses, that these corrupt officials dare to be so unbridled and presumptuous... Not up to me who the sword kills, it’s up to the one who wields it. The harsher I am, the easier it will be to clean up the mess afterwards!"
"What do you think?"
Wei Heng’s worries subsided upon hearing this, but then he shook his head saying, "That won’t do, I have to stay with you and keep you from your reckless ways!"
Yang Ge, "If Wei is willing to protect this official, it would be more than I could ask for... Please!"
He gestured with his hand towards the gate with a "please" motion.
Wei Heng helplessly returned the gesture, "You are the imperial envoy after all. Please, lead the way!"
Yang Ge, "Then I shall presume — Gu Tong!"
He strode out, calling out loudly.
The attendant Gu Tong responded and came in, saluting, "At your service!"
Yang Ge, "Bring Xiong Jun!"
Gu Tong, "Yes!"
Wei Heng followed him and interjected, "This Xiong Jun, he’s the Gang Leader of the Changfeng Gang, right?"
Yang Ge, "Exactly, he holds most of the evidence of Jiangzhe officials exploiting the people, embezzlement, and bribery."
Wei Heng felt an immense headache coming on and rubbed his temples.
First, a stab at the local military’s flank.
Then, a stab at the local government’s weak point.
You really want to stir up as much trouble as possible...
After pondering for a long while, he suddenly asked, "Lord Yang, are you interested in practicing the ’Golden Bell Shield’?"
Yang Ge laughed, "What, is Wei worried he cannot protect this official?"
Wei Heng nodded honestly, "You’re targeting their weak points with every move. They won’t just stand by and watch you ruin their future generations... There have been precedents in Yangzhou!"
Yang Ge thought for a moment and nodded, "Then I shall respectfully accept Wei’s esteemed teachings!"
Wei Heng measured him up and down, then shook his head in regret, "What a pity. With your talent, if your primal Yang were intact, you could have cultivated the ’Sky Gang Youth Skill’ to an ethereal realm!"
Yang Ge’s face turned red, "Ah... ha ha ha ha..."
Despite having the visage of a young man in his twenties, it was indeed a bit embarrassing to be seen as not a virgin.
Wei Heng, "If you want to stay alive, put in more effort. I can protect you for a while, but not for a lifetime."
Yang Ge, "In that case, does Wei have any spare Internal Cultivation Methods? This official is willing to pay a high price for them."
Wei Heng looked at him in surprise, "Didn’t Lei Heng and Jiang Kui pass on to you the ’Ling Frost Blade’ and the ’Floating Snow Palm’? They didn’t give you the ’Five Elements Return to Origin Energy’?"
This made Yang Ge feel as though he were naked, but still, he honestly shook his head, "Indeed not..."
After wiping out the Changfeng Gang, he had also searched for Internal Cultivation Methods.
But the bottom of the barrel Internal Cultivation Methods from the Changfeng Gang were not even comparable to the ’Snow Drift Secret’, so how could he be interested?
```
Wei Heng pondered for a moment before shaking his head regretfully, "If you were willing to purify yourself, I do have a few excellent Internal Cultivation Methods at hand..."
Yang Ge immediately changed his tune, "I just remembered, the Mount Lu Tianhe Sword Sect has yet to be punished for offending the Embroidered Uniform Guards, this would be a good opportunity to seize their Internal Cultivation Methods."
Wei Heng let out an annoyed snort of displeasure.
...
As soon as the imperial edict and the Sanyi Sword were in his hands,
Yang Ge was like a Husky that had broken free from its leash, completely unrestrained!
Stationed in Yangzhou Prefecture, he issued arrest warrants by the kilogram every day!
The over four hundred staff of the Top Right Bureau were spurred on by his arrest warrants like mad dogs, running amok throughout Jiangzhe!
The strongman, acting as the chief banner officer, led a few low-ranking soldiers and went to arrest a County Magistrate.
The junior banner officer, acting as a commander of a hundred, took dozens of guards and went to arrest a deputy magistrate of a prefecture.
The chief banner officer, acting as a commander of a thousand, led hundreds of guards and soldiers to arrest a Magistrate.
As for the commanders of a hundred and a thousand, each acted as the personal representative of an imperial envoy, waving the banner of an imperial minister and directly storming into the garrisons in Jiangzhe to arrest a batch of commanders.
Evidence?
Although Yang Ge had only handled cases in Yangzhou Prefecture previously,
The evidence confiscated from the Changfeng Gang had already encompassed all eleven prefectures of Jiangzhe!
Even if occasionally there was insufficient evidence against a criminal official, it was no big deal!
An unclear evidence trail did not prevent him from summoning people for questioning.
Once people were in the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, it was much easier to supplement evidence than to find evidence before making arrests!
And indeed, as Yang Ge had predicted before...
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Emperor Xiping, riding on the momentum of his great victory in the Northern Desert Grasslands, turned to reform the bureaucracy.
These so-called local emperors, who had once flaunted their power, didn’t dare openly resist the overwhelming force of the imperial court.
They could only watch, wide-eyed, as the ferocious Embroidered Uniform Guards stormed into their yamens and dragged their colleagues away,
all the while praying that their past misdeeds would not be unearthed by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
Simultaneously, they frantically wrote letters begging for help from the powerful figures of their faction in the imperial court.
For a time...
The land of Jiangzhe was in a state of panic, where even the rustling of grass and trees put people on edge.
On the imperial court, civil and military officials were unprecedentedly united, and the memorials impeaching Yang Ge and the Embroidered Uniform Guards piled up by the ton!
They impeached Yang Ge for overstepping his authority without a joint trial by the three departments, privately arresting high-ranking officials of the fourth rank or above.
They impeached the Embroidered Uniform Guards for interfering in local military affairs without going through the Five Armies Dudufu, oppressing military households...
Emperor Xiping, who was usually lenient, was uncharacteristically firm this time!
No matter how many memorials the officials presented, all were retained and left unissued!
When the officials jointly challenged him during the court assembly, he repeatedly responded with just three words, "Wait for the results."
The powerless and furious officials could do nothing to Emperor Xiping, so they turned their guns on the Northern Town Prefectural Commissioner.
Within just half a month, terrible accusations such as harming the loyal and good, oppressing the people, applying brutal interrogation, and obtaining confessions through torture were once again spread throughout the Heluo region, with countless people in Heluo fearing the mention of the Embroidered Uniform Guards!
And the current Northern Town Prefectural Commissioner Shen Fa, had in just half a month, acquired over a dozen more concubines, tens of thousands more acres of land, and a few hundred thousand taels more in family wealth. Every day, there were elderly, weak women, and children going to the administration outside the three departments, vividly recounting in public how Shen Fa became lustful upon sight, forcefully abducted young women, and peeked at elder women bathing...
Shen Fa’s bit of good reputation built up over a decade of chivalrous acts and campaigns, in the north and south, was lost overnight!
Every day, large numbers of ragged individuals with ulterior motives gathered outside the Northern Town Prefectural Commissioner’s office, ready with dung, waiting to ambush him as he left his house...
Shen Fa, the imposing Northern Town Prefectural Commissioner and second son of the Shen Family, was blockaded by these people to the point where he didn’t dare to step out of his main or side doors.
What? Drive them away?
That is precisely what they were waiting for the Northern Town Prefectural Commissioner to do!
As long as the Northern Town Prefectural Commissioner dared to take action, someone would dare to die outside its gates.
Those baseless rumors would immediately turn into reality!
Political struggle descended to such despicable depths had reached the point where faces were completely torn, and not even the least bit of dignity was spared.
But Shen Fa still withstood the pressure and did not send a single letter to Jiangzhe.