Chapter 367: The Dust Settles
Chapter 367: The Dust Settles
The most formidable aspect of the eunuchs was not their power, for if one were to trace it back to its essence, they themselves possessed no power at all. However, the person behind them was the most powerful individual in the entire realm. Often, the eunuchs didn't need to go through the court to accomplish their tasks; they could do so quietly and efficiently.
The same was true for Lu HaiKong's matter. Zhang Ran only needed to enter the palace once, and the matter was settled.
Zhang Ran did not disclose the specific process, and Zhang Li didn't ask. For Zhang Li, the outcome was more important than the process.
After Zhang Ran emerged from the palace, he brought out an imperial edict. Lu HaiKong was directly appointed as the County Magistrate of Qiangyin, and Zhang Li was promoted to the position of Governor of Yanmen Commandery.
This move was a clear announcement that Zhang Li and Lu HaiKong were now under Zhang Ran's influence, branded with his mark.
Once this imperial edict was issued, the nature of the situation in Bingzhou changed. Originally, it was a conflict between He Jin, an influential maternal relative, and Zhang Yi, a local aristocrat from Bingzhou, with Lu HaiKong being an unwitting victim caught in their struggle. But with the edict, the situation transformed into a confrontation between He Jin and Zhang Ran. Ding Yuan, representing He Jin, and Lu HaiKong, now seen as Zhang Ran's proxy, along with Zhang Yi, created a tripartite balance of power.
In this new dynamic, Lu HaiKong appeared in the court as a supporter of the eunuchs, a role he now played.
Despite no longer being a bandit, his status hadn't improved much.
However, Lu HaiKong was currently unaware of and uninterested in the political machinations in the court. Those matters were too far removed from him, even though the court's struggles might directly impact his interests.
But what could he do about it? Those matters were beyond his control. For now, he could only focus on what was in front of him.
After Ding Yuan's retreat, Lu HaiKong became busy.
Currently, Ding Yuan's forces had no capability to continue the siege against Lu HaiKong, and the Zhang family, after Ding Yuan's retreat, did not take over the responsibility of pursuing him.
The incident in Jiuyuan County was far more significant than the pursuit of Lu HaiKong.
Initially, Lu HaiKong had only killed over a thousand county troops in Dingxiang, and the Zhang family was immediately targeted, forcing them to attack Lu HaiKong, the cash cow.
Now, the entire Jiuyuan County had been overrun, and although Jiuyuan County was Ding Yuan's territory, it so happened that Ding Yuan was following Zhang Yi's orders to besiege Lu HaiKong.
With the Jiuyuan County incident, Zhang Yi had no interest in pursuing Lu HaiKong.
His entire attention was now on the court, fearing that someone might take advantage of the situation to strike him down.
This situation directly led to no one paying attention to Lu HaiKong.
Lu HaiKong, on the other hand, began to clean up the battlefield and handle post-battle affairs.
After all, there were over ten thousand corpses in his fort. It was no longer the dead of winter; it was now mid-summer, and the weather was gradually warming. If these bodies were not properly handled, they could easily cause an epidemic.
While dealing with the corpses, Lu HaiKong's side also began to tally the casualties.
The battle against Ding Yuan, though lasting only a day, resulted in over ten thousand casualties on both sides.
Most of these were county troops, with a portion being Lu Bu's Flying Wolf Cavalry, and Lu HaiKong's side also suffered several thousand casualties.
Among Lu HaiKong's casualties were not only a large number of bandits but also some elite-level troops and a certain number of bandit bodyguards.
In this battle, the majority of the casualties were concentrated within the walls, amounting to nearly eight layers of casualties and a total of over eight thousand. Even after subtracting the more than five thousand bandits, there were still nearly three thousand casualties.
Similar to the previous time, the bodies of the fallen soldiers were uniformly cremated, and Lu Hai Kong personally led the transport of their ashes into the Hall of Spirits.
However, this time, in addition to the soldiers, Lu Hai Kong's Hall of Spirits had one more name added to it—the name of the general Wang Chao, who had been killed by Lu Bu.
Lu Hai Kong's busy work took him almost five days to complete.
On the other side, Zhang Li, accompanied by a Minor Eunuch, arrived in Jinyang, Bingzhou, carrying an Imperial Edict.
Upon arriving in Jinyang, Zhang Yi was initially so nervous about the word "Imperial Edict" that he thought he was going to be punished.
As the Minor Eunuch read through the edict, Zhang Yi realized that it had nothing to do with him. The edict's main point was the promotion of Lu Hai Kong to the position of County Magistrate of Qiangyin, and the appointment of Zhang Li as the new Governor of Yanmen.
In a 16-19-1-8-1-0-version!
Interestingly, the first half of the edict did not mention pacification at all. It directly stated, "Lu Hai Kong has merit in suppressing bandits and is promoted to County Magistrate of Qiangyin." This forced whitewashing was both direct and domineering.
When Zhang Yi heard this, he was stunned. Originally, the court had sent a 100,000-strong army to surround and suppress the bandits, but now, with the words "merit in suppressing bandits," they had directly become a county magistrate. This was considering Lu Hai Kong's previous identity as a bandit, otherwise, casually giving him a position like governor would not have been impossible.
Upon receiving this absurd edict, Zhang Yi dared not say a word. He was well aware that from now on, Lu Hai Kong, whom he had never taken seriously, would become a powerful figure in Bingzhou.
Zhang Yi had no way to refute Lu Hai Kong's bandit background, and he even had to vouch for Lu Hai Kong, because the "merit in suppressing bandits" in the edict was clearly reported by Zhang Yi himself.
Zhang Rang played this hand beautifully. While pulling Lu Hai Kong up, he also dragged Zhang Yi along with him. From now on, if anything happened to Lu Hai Kong, Zhang Yi could directly take the blame.
Facing this, Zhang Yi could only bitterly smile, having no other choice. How could he possibly point at the edict and say it was nonsense? That would be no different from asking for death. In the end, Zhang Yi could only grit his teeth and accept it.
Almost at the same time that Zhang Li arrived in Jinyang with the Minor Eunuch, Lu Hai Kong, busy at the fort, also received the news.
Upon learning that Zhang Li had completed the task and was coming with the edict, Lu Hai Kong wasted no words and directly released all the captured county troops. For Lu Hai Kong, this battle was essentially over, and keeping these troops served no purpose.
However, Lu Hai Kong did keep the mid to high-ranking generals among the county troops. These individuals were almost all aristocratic offspring, and Lu Hai Kong had no intention of letting them go so easily.
Initially, the aristocratic families of Bingzhou did not understand Lu Hai Kong's actions. Why would he suddenly release the county troops? This situation seemed odd, but soon, news from Jinyang arrived.
In less than three days, almost all the aristocratic families in Bingzhou knew that Lu Hai Kong had become the County Magistrate of Qiangyin, and the Governor of Yanmen had been replaced.
Everyone was shocked for a long time. They cursed the eunuchs for their domineering and unpatriotic ways, but more people quickly accepted a fact: from now on, Bingzhou had gained a new power, and it was a force backed by the wealth in the hands of the eunuchs. Some quick-thinking individuals even considered whether they should align themselves with Lu Hai Kong.
(End of Chapter)
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