Chapter 278: Unexpected Team
For someone with Sima Guang’s moral fastidiousness, this truly was a single misstep that would haunt him forever.
He had originally only wanted to play a prank on Zhang Fei.
But how could he have anticipated that Zhang Fei would directly return him a nightmare.
This was truly a super double-down.
If his arrangements and Zhang Fei’s actions were connected, the nature would completely change—one was merely an elder’s “care” for a junior, harmless enough, while the other was political maneuvering.
Naturally, Xu Zun and his daughter were quite shocked by this as well.
Right after Sima Guang and Wang Anshi left, Xu Zun and his daughter emerged from behind the main hall.
“I truly never expected that this matter was their doing.”
Xu Zun shook his head.
Who could have imagined that Sima Guang and Wang Anshi would set aside their past grievances and collaborate, all just to prank Zhang Fei. This…
Thinking of this, Xu Zun added another comment: “If word of this gets out, I’m afraid no one would believe them.”
Zhang Fei laughed: “If those two wish to obstruct me, I would have difficulty succeeding as well.”
Originally, he had planned to use the old routine—first go find Wang Anshi, because he knew Wang Anshi would definitely agree. Not only could it fire the first shot for his new policies, but it could also keep Sima Guang awake at nights.
He just hadn’t expected Cao Dongdong to parachute in, so Zhang Fei chose to seek help from Emperor Zhao Xu instead.
He got Zhao Xu to grant Cao Ping authority.
Xu Zhiqian asked: “When did you figure it out?”
Zhang Fei thought for a moment: “It should have been when I met Remonstrator Fan. I had some suspicions at that time, and later, combining it with what father-in-law said, I was fairly certain that this matter was absolutely their doing.”
“I see.” Xu Zhiqian nodded, then smiled: “This move of yours truly killed two birds with one stone—both getting revenge and making those high officials and nobles pay license fees to pay the corvee runners.”
Xu Zun waved his hand: “This matter isn’t so simple. If they could be made to pay money just like this, there wouldn’t be so many conflicts in court.”
Zhang Fei chuckled: “Father-in-law speaks truly. Of course it won’t be that simple. This small amount of license fee might not be enough to exempt me from corvee labor, so in the future I’ll also establish traffic regulations and clean up those street encroachment situations.”
Street encroachment in Bianjing had become extremely serious. It wasn’t that no one had brought it up before, but since most of those doing this were high officials and nobles, it faced tremendous obstacles. It wasn’t until Emperor Huizong’s reign that laws were enacted to tax this.
Xu Zun asked in surprise: “You, a mere corvee runner, can accomplish this?”
Even Fan Zhongyan had brought up this matter, but it too came to nothing.
Zhang Fei grinned: “Father-in-law speaks incorrectly—your son-in-law is now the number one corvee runner in the capital.”
Xu Zun paused, then stroked his beard and laughed: “Then this old man will wait and see.”
The next day.
Zhang Fei stepped out with enthusiasm, but saw two carriages stopped at his door.
Long Wu said in a low voice: “This carriage has been parked here since early morning.”
At that moment, the curtain of the rear carriage suddenly lifted, revealing a pair of eagle eyes staring at him.
“Follow me, don’t stay too far away. I could be dismissed at any time.”
Zhang Fei gave Long Wu an instruction, then went to the rear carriage.
Beside the carriage, he first bowed respectfully: “Patrol Officer Zhang San pays respects to Deputy Commander.”
“Get in the carriage.”
“Yes.”
The owner of this carriage was none other than Cao Ping.
Once inside the carriage, Cao Ping frowned: “You little rascal really know how to stir up trouble. Even as a corvee runner, you can cause so many incidents.”
Zhang Fei replied: “In response to the Deputy Commander, previously I had repeatedly filed lawsuits on behalf of corvee runners, but only after truly becoming a corvee runner did I finally experience the suffering involved. Every day we do dirty and exhausting work, even cleaning up after some people, but if problems arise, it’s always us who bear responsibility. This isn’t fair, so I hope to improve this situation.”
Cao Ping smiled without warmth: “You certainly have a glib tongue.”
He spoke of corvee runners, but was implicitly alluded to the situations his Imperial Guards faced. He then asked: “So what do you plan to do?”
Zhang Fei said: “I hope to use this matter to build a force that enforces laws strictly. Only when everyone is equal before the law can we still reason with each other.”
Cao Ping pondered for a moment. “Things have come to this point, and saying more is useless. No matter what, this matter was stirred up by you, so if you can’t handle it well, you’ll bear all the responsibility yourself.”
“Yes.”
Zhang Fei nodded. “Although I’m just a minor corvee runner, I believe I have the ability to bear all of this, because many people can’t wait to get rid of me.”
Cao Ping first chuckled, then frowned and said, “Get out of the carriage.”
“Zhang San obeys.”
Zhang Fei clasped his fists in salute, but just before getting out of the carriage, he suddenly turned back around. “I hope to see the Deputy Commander be the first to apply for a license when the time comes. Otherwise, if you get caught later, it would be embarrassing for everyone.”
Having said this, he jumped down from the carriage.
Cao Ping cursed with a smile, “You little rascal.”
He had never forgotten that he too was nobility, he too was an imperial relative by marriage, and he too would have to pay this money.
But if Zhang Fei could succeed, the power of the Three Military Divisions would inevitably be expanded as well.
This was a sure-win deal!
At the Patrol Inspection Office.
The already small courtyard was packed with about a hundred people, making it extremely crowded.
“Zhang San, these are patrol officers carefully selected from our military patrol stations. More than half are corvee runners. Though they’re not as good as fire guards, you’ll have to make do with them.”
Cao Dongdong spoke to Zhang Fei in a low voice.
Cao Dongdong’s responsibility was only to manage patrol officers, not fire guards. That position wasn’t something just anyone could hold—it required extensive experience.
“This is about right.”
Zhang Fei nodded, then said to Ma Xiaoyi, “Little Ma, how are the preparations for what I asked you to prepare?”
“Brother San, rest assured, everything is ready.”
After Ma Xiaoyi finished speaking, he waved his hand, and an idle man came forward carrying a tray. On the tray were many small cloth strips, and at a glance, one could faintly see symbols embroidered on the strips that were the same as license plate numbers.
They were actually Arabic numerals.
Zhang Fei picked up the cloth strip marked 001 and handed it to Cao Dongdong. “You’re the boss, so you should use the top number.”
Cao Dongdong took it and chuckled, “When I go to brothels, I also want the top courtesan.”
Zhang Fei glanced at him enviously, then picked up the cloth strip marked 002 and handed it to Ma Xiaoyi. “Little Ma.”
“Thank you, Brother San.”
Ma Xiaoyi excitedly took it, then asked, “Brother San, what’s this for?”
Cao Dongdong also looked at Zhang Fei curiously.
“You’ll know in a moment.”
Zhang Fei said this while taking the cloth strip marked 003 for himself, then instructed the idle man, “One strip per person, distribute them.”
After a while, each patrol officer had a cloth strip, but their eyes were filled with confusion.
Zhang Fei stood in front of the formation and announced loudly, “After you return, sew these cloth strips on your left shoulders yourselves. The symbols on them are your identification numbers.
The reason I’m doing this is to make it convenient for the people to remember you, so they can file complaints against you. Therefore, when you carry out missions in the future, you must show your identification number to the people and solemnly tell them, ‘If you are dissatisfied with the punishment, you may choose to file a complaint against me at the Legal Aid Office. My police number is 003.’ If you don’t say this, it will be considered dereliction of duty.”
Upon hearing this, Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi quickly covered the cloth strips in their hands, afraid of being seen.
So this thing was meant to make it convenient for others to complain about them!
This absolutely couldn’t be seen by anyone.
Suddenly, someone in the formation muttered, “Who would be so foolish as to let people complain about themselves?”
Zhang Fei immediately asked, “Who was just speaking?”
No one in the formation answered.
Zhang Fei waited for a while, then said, “In that case, you’ll all be responsible for dredging water channels today.”
“Him!”
More than ten people simultaneously pointed at a young man in his early twenties beside them.
The young man was extremely depressed and raised his hand, saying, “It was me who said it.”
Zhang Fei pointed to the side. “Go over there and repeat what I just said along with your identification number five hundred times.”
“What?”
“One thousand times.”
“Yes.”
The man immediately ran to the corner and began shouting loudly.
The rest fell silent as cicadas.
“Zhang San.”
Cao Dongdong came to his senses. “What is this Legal Aid Office? I’ve never heard of it.”
Zhang Fei replied, “This Legal Aid Office was just established—”
Before he could finish speaking, suddenly someone shouted, “Sorry! Sorry! I’m late.”
Cao Dongdong’s eyes widened. “Remonstrator Fan?”
The newcomer was indeed Fan Chunren.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, “Mr. Fan is the head of the Legal Aid Office.”
“Ah?” Cao Dongdong couldn’t help but look shocked.
Zhang Fei stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting. “I apologize for troubling Mr. Fan to make this trip.”
Fan Chunren laughed and said, “If you hadn’t invited me here, I would have had to submit a memorial impeaching you.”
“Mr. Fan doesn’t seem to have that authority now.”
“Don’t underestimate me. I still have quite good connections in the court.”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
Zhang Fei nodded repeatedly, then gestured to the side. “Please, Mr. Fan.”
Fan Chunren stood at the position Zhang Fei had indicated. Zhang Fei then addressed the patrol officers in front of him: “This is Mr. Fan Chunren. Remember his appearance, because he will become your nemesis, specializing in handling cases where citizens file complaints against you. If he’s unhappy, he might take you to court.”
Fan Chunren quickly said, “Inspector Zhang is joking. I wouldn’t do such a thing. I only deal with matters based on facts.”
Initially, he had been very opposed to this license plate system, believing that Young Master Cao was just trying to make money for the Military Patrol Office, competing with the people for benefits, which would inevitably breed much corruption.
This was absolutely unacceptable.
But after Zhang Fei explained the Legal Aid Office concept to him, he immediately agreed.
He thought the idea was excellent—on-site complaints, on-site lawsuits. The key was that this Legal Aid Office didn’t report to the Three Military Divisions, so it could effectively check and balance all parties.
Therefore, he had excitedly agreed to it.
Fan Chunren cupped his hands toward the patrol officers and said, “I hope I won’t see any of you in court in the future.”
Though he said this, the patrol officers all looked ashen-faced.
At this moment, they really wanted to take off their uniforms. When others enforced the law, they earned money; when they enforced the law, it cost lives—their own lives!
Zhang Fei continued, “Therefore, over the next month, you will receive some training during your duties. Simply put, we’ll teach you a set of law enforcement procedures. From now on, everyone must enforce the law according to these procedures. Otherwise, you’ll only be hurting yourselves.
After all, we can’t help you with matters in court.
Of course, our Patrol Inspection Office will also double your wages. Additionally, if you make it through the year without being complained about, or if you are complained about but all complaints fail, you’ll receive bonuses at year’s end, and even promotions to official positions.”
Upon hearing this, the patrol officers who had looked ashen-faced moments before all straightened their backs.
Why didn’t you say so earlier!
Both raises and promotions!
Then we have nothing to complain about.
You can’t make the horse run without letting it eat grass.
But Cao Dongdong had something to say, calling out quietly from behind: “Zhang San! Zhang San!”
Zhang Fei turned around. “What’s the matter?”
Cao Dongdong said in a low voice, “Come inside with me for a moment.”
Zhang Fei said to Fan Chunren, “Sir, please introduce yourself to them first. Perhaps they don’t know your background.”
Fan Chunren quickly said, “I didn’t come here intending to intimidate people with my credentials. Whether something is illegal or not must still be determined according to the law.”
Zhang Fei smiled and said, “Then you can handle it as you see fit, sir. Please excuse me for a moment.”
With that, he entered the house with Cao Dongdong.
“Zhang San, what are you bringing Remonstrator Fan here for?” Cao Dongdong said excitedly. “Don’t you know that even my father is very afraid of him? By doing this, aren’t you just delivering ourselves to his doorstep for impeachment?”
Zhang Fei said, “I have no choice. Our military patrol stations lack supervision. We only have two pairs of eyes and simply can’t keep watch over them all, especially at this moment. If they commit any wrongdoing, the consequences would be very serious.”
“That still won’t work.”
Cao Dongdong shook his head vigorously. “If I commit any wrongdoing, Remonstrator Fan will report me too. He’s Lord Fan’s son – he’s not afraid of us.”
Zhang Fei said, “Young Master, please close your eyes first.”
“What for?”
“Just close them first.”
Cao Dongdong looked at him suspiciously, then obediently closed his eyes.
Zhang Fei said, “Young Master, imagine that under your leadership, in Bianjing city, people don’t pick up items on the road that are not theirs, doors remain unlocked at night, the streets are clean, traffic flows like water, and everywhere there are sounds of joy and laughter.
This is something many worthy ministers have never accomplished. So how would His Majesty praise you then? And how would Empress Dowager Cao praise you?
I think the Empress Dowager would surely say you’re unfilial – at such a young age, your political achievements already surpass your father’s, making your father appear so mediocre. Before reaching thirty, you’d become the youngest Deputy Commander of the Infantry in our Great Song, forcing your father into retirement to enjoy his remaining years at home, while you would become the youngest family head of the Cao clan.
Thinking of all this, does the Young Master still feel it’s not worth it?”
Cao Dongdong suddenly shuddered, as if struck by divine inspiration, opened his eyes, and said excitedly, “Worth it! So worth it!”
But then he said with some worry, “But if I get complaints filed against me, then my great-aunt…!”
Zhang Fei clicked his tongue. “You’re being foolish! As long as you restrain yourself a bit, you’ll never have complaints filed against you. After all, you don’t need to go on patrol duty yourself. As the leader, the credit is yours and the blame belongs to others. You should understand this principle better than I do.”
Cao Dongdong’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! We’ll just take the credit. Anyway, everyone will know by then that this was all your idea, Zhang San. If there’s trouble, they’ll come looking for you. You really are clever. Alright, let’s do it this way.”
“…?”