Chapter 52 Sweeping the Entire City

At Xu Feng's command, the men immediately sprang into action.

The charges were listed clearly in black and white, leaving no room for wrongful accusations. Every single one of Zhou Tong's lacklings present was nothing good.

Worse still, some had more than one human life on their hands yet had never faced justice.

"Who dares lay a hand on me? I am the magistrate's brother-in-law! I have nothing to do with them, you are framing me!"

"It was all forced upon me by Zhou Tong! Spare my life, and I am willing to confess everything they have ever done!"

……

The scene descended into utter chaos. Some tried to leverage their connections to escape with their lives, while others expressed willingness to compromise and make a clean breast of things.

This left the several hundred-man commanders in a difficult position, unsure of how to proceed. They lacked Xu Feng's sheer ruthlessness and lack of scruples.

Xu Feng did not step forward immediately. He was observing. Strictly speaking, the Brocade Guards were an organization belonging solely to the emperor—how could they be held in such low regard by others?

Now, he finally understood part of the reason.

They came from military backgrounds, which had both pros and cons. The advantage was their formidable strength and strict obedience to orders.

The drawback was that their mindset had not yet adapted; they preferred to rely on evidence and insisted on going through a whole series of bureaucratic procedures after obtaining it.

No wonder so many matters were delayed. By the time a full set of procedures was completed, more than half a month would have passed.

Handling cases normally naturally posed no problems, but they were the Brocade Guards. Following standard procedures blindly was a waste of the many privileges bestowed upon them by the emperor.

He intended to use this opportunity to teach everyone a lesson: stop operating with outdated mindsets. They were a blade in the emperor's hand, the hunting hounds under the sovereign's command.

What was a hunting hound? They did not care about evidence; they killed whoever the emperor told them to kill, disregarding consequences and processes, and simply brought the target's head back to lay before the emperor.

Being plagued by hesitation and second-guessing would only drastically reduce administrative efficiency.

Seen in this light, the imperial court must be in an even worse state.

It was entirely natural that the ministers did not take the Brocade Guards seriously. If the emperor were to learn of this philosophy of his, the ruler would surely pat him on the shoulder and lament that they had met too late, because this was precisely the outcome the emperor desired.

The current emperor had ascended the throne during a time of crisis. Under normal circumstances, seizing power was no easy feat, leaving no choice but to take unorthodox paths.

"Enough!"

Seeing that some people had already taken out brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones with the intention of conducting interrogations on the spot, Xu Feng finally spoke up to stop them.

"Were the charges I gave you not clear enough? Or do you not trust me and require a secondary interrogation?"

Hearing this, the men froze, unsure of how to respond. Eventually, a hundred-man commander stepped forward to explain.

"Reporting to my lord, according to past rules, we are required to keep a criminal record to be submitted to the emperor for review."

"Then kill them first. I believe that compared to the case files you submit, His Majesty would much rather see their heads placed right before the imperial throne."

The moment those words were uttered, the scene plunged into chaos once again. No one doubted that Xu Feng was joking.

Zhou Tong had died right before their eyes, his eyes still wide open.

"I want to see Magistrate Lord! You cannot kill me, I am a imperial scholar……"

"Take the one who was yelling the loudest just now to use as a sacrifice to the flag."

The men had no taste for roundabout tactics either. At Xu Feng's command, a blade flashed and severed the man's head on the spot.

Doing things this way was indeed exceptionally efficient.

In the span of just a single hour, those slated for execution had already been beheaded. After pressing their fingerprints in blood, their corpses were simply tossed out the front doors.

The premises instantly grew much quieter. The next task was to clean up the filth; the place had been made utterly foul by Zhou Tong, and it would likely be impossible to settle in for a short while.

"My lord, what should we do with these gamblers? Should we let them go?"

"Gathering for illegal gambling—lock them all up and make their families pay a ransom to bail them out. In addition, confiscate all gambling funds. Start taking inventory of the assets now."

No one had anticipated such a sweeping purge today. In total, three hundred thousand taels of wealth were dug up from the site, and that was just the silver displayed out in the open.

Beyond that, there were various high-value collateral items whose worth could not yet be estimated and required careful auditing.

"It feels much more comfortable now. What's next? Are we going to keep killing people?"

Red Lotus had already handed decision-making power over to Xu Feng. She had to admit that working under Xu Feng was genuinely gratifying.

From top to bottom, the efficiency was astonishingly high.

They encountered virtually no resistance—or rather, whatever resistance they did encounter had been completely swept away by Xu Feng.

"Naturally, we must clip their wings. None of these people's hands are entirely clean."

"However, there's no need to be as extreme as before this time. First, let rumors spread to test their reactions. If anyone dares to keep jumping around in front of us, we will pay them another visit."

Soon, a piece of news spread: the Brocade Guards were about to cleanse Gusu City, strictly ordering all gambling dens and opium houses to close within a specified time limit and submit their account books for investigation.

Otherwise, let it not be said that they were not warned.

Upon hearing the news, the head of the External Affairs Hall of Jianfeng Mountain flew into a rage.

He had received word the very moment Zhou Tong was surrounded, but he had chosen not to launch a rescue operation, wanting to see what the Brocade Guards intended to do. Who could have known that by simply watching, Zhou Tong would lose his life?

Had he known this would happen, he absolutely would not have stood by with his hands folded, especially since Zhou Tong brought him thousands of taels in tribute every month.

Now, it had thrown the subordinates under his command into a panic, especially after the news leaked, prompting many to visit him seeking shelter.

"What is there to panic about? The sky isn't falling. Go back for now, shut down your gambling houses, and cooperate with their investigation. As for the account books, you can just forge them however you like. Leave the rest to me to arrange."

"But Elder Song, the Brocade Guards are acting aggressively. They really might kill people."

Faced with Song Heng's perfunctory attitude, the crowd remained uneasy and reluctant to leave until Song Heng made a public promise, after which they dispersed one by one.

"Rest assured, I have already met with the magistrate, and he certainly will not stand idly by. Besides, what are the Brocade Guards? Gusu City is protected by the lords of the Six Fan Gates; those men are merely outsiders."

Invoking the magistrate and the Six Fan Gates finally managed to pacify the crowd, but in reality, Song Heng was not nearly as calm as he appeared on the surface.

That very evening, bearing gifts once again, he arrived at the magistrate's residence.

"My lord, you must save me! The Brocade Guards come with ill intent, and I can tell they won't let this matter rest easily."

The magistrate was in the middle of a meal. Judging by the exquisite variety of dishes on the table, it was the epitome of luxury.

There were all sorts of rare delicacies and even out-of-season vegetables. To have such items presented before him was no small feat.

After all, these were things the emperor himself might not even get to taste, bought with an untold amount of the common people's hard-earned fat and blood.

"They're just a bunch of brats. Can they really turn the world upside down?"