47 Establishing Prestige
In the eyes of the local gentry, even though Ming Zhiyan was the Emperor’s nephew, it was still impossible for him to suppress them in Shifeng County, which was far away from the Capital.
Early in the morning, the gentry came to the government office under the lead of the head of the Jia Clan, the number one aristocratic family in Shifeng County.
As soon as they arrived, they put on an imposing manner.
“Sir, we know that you came to Shifeng County to make a difference, so that you can return to the Capital and be promoted. However, if you want to make a contribution, you can’t harm our interests, right? How many generations have our families lived in Shifeng County? You can’t just drive us out the moment you arrive, right?”
The Jia Clan leader was a fat man in his fifties. Seeing Ming Zhiyan was so young, he did not respect him in the slightest. Even when he was asking for peace, he still put on the airs of an elder.
He clearly knew that Ming Zhiyan was sitting at the head of the table and was slowly wiping a sharp dagger. Hearing this, he did not even raise his eyes. His thin lips opened slightly, “So you’re saying that the rules set by your Shi Family are more important than the laws of the Imperial Court? The Imperial Court allows the commoners to open up wasteland. How can the rules of your tiny Shifeng County be above the laws?”
The Jia Clan leader’s expression was arrogant, “We do not mean to put our rules above the Imperial Court, but the wasteland belongs to our Shi Family. This was a rule set by our ancestors many years ago. Even if there is the Imperial Court’s laws, it would not be good to change our rules that have lasted for a hundred years!”
Ming Zhiyan was wiping the dagger, and he paused for a moment. Following that, the dagger flew out from his hand and stabbed straight into the throat of the Jia Clan Leader. His action was so fast that it was hard to see clearly.
The Jia Clan Leader’s eyes were wide open. He raised his hand and touched his neck. As if he did not understand what had happened, he fell straight to the ground. Large mouthfuls of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
“Brother Jia!” Seeing the Jia Clan leader being killed, the gentry that followed were greatly shocked. One after another, they pounced and shouted.
“Child of the Ming Clan! Why did you randomly kill people?!” one of the gentry shouted angrily, his eyes about to pop out of their sockets.
Although they had heard of Ming Zhiyan’s reputation in the Capital, they had never seen it with their own eyes. They could only treat it as a joke. Thus, even though they had come with nothing to fear, they had never thought that he would kill people.
Ming Zhiyan stood up and slowly walked down. The gentry around the Jia Clan leader retreated in fear as if they had encountered a ferocious tiger.
He pulled out the dagger that had been stabbed into the Jia Clan leader’s throat and threw it to the guards by his side.
“What? This Shifeng County is the land of Great Wei. Any law is applicable to the land of Great Wei. Are you secretly ignoring the laws of the Imperial Court? Are you a rebel?”
Even though Ming Zhiyan’s voice was slow and unhurried, it felt like a thousand pounds in the hearts of the gentry. The Jia Clan’s leader was the backbone among them, but now that the backbone was dead, hearing that such a big accusation would be placed on their heads, they were momentarily thrown into chaos.
The gentry knelt down one after another. “My Lord, please be merciful! We are just a small noble clan. How dare we have such rebellious thoughts?”
“That’s right, My lord. All of this was instigated by that old thief of the Jia Clan. Even if we had the greatest courage, we wouldn’t dare to rebel!”
“That’s right. We all trusted that old thief of the Jia Clan. We were foolish. We don’t know anything! Please understand, My Lord!”
The gentry all cast aside their relationship with the Jia Clan and even retaliated.
Seeing that they had finally calmed down, Ming Zhiyan said, “I don’t care about what happened in the past, but since I’m here, everything has to follow my rules. As for any violators…”
Ming Zhiyan spat coldly. “I’ll kill them all!”
The gentry knew that they could not contend with Ming Zhiyan. Although they felt extremely humiliated, they still bowed. “Yes!”