IBGSW Chapter 134
A Temporary Peace
While everyone was heaping on the flattery, Zhao Fusheng said nothing.
She looked up at the plaque above the Demon-Suppression Bureau. The plaque, which had seemed coated in gray grime, had somehow been wiped a little brighter again, and the three characters for "Demon-Suppression Bureau" were faintly visible.
The plaque confirmed her guess. Zhao Fusheng smiled.
The crowd escorted her into the bureau, and good news came one piece after another.
Besides Yu Weide having survived by luck, Magistrate Pang received word from his secretary that his wife had recovered her senses, though after this ghost calamity she said her chest still ached and her spirits were low.
She had no memory of the previous night's events. Her memory stopped at the point after she first heard the chiseling on the first night.
On learning his wife had woken, a stone fell from Magistrate Pang's heart.
He had taken part in this ghost case personally, and had gained a direct sense of Zhao Fusheng's strength. He had thought Wan'an County would be where he met his end, but now the old magistrate changed his mind and thought that Wan'an County might be the starting point of his rise.
With Zhao Fusheng there, his term in Wan'an County might be steadier. He had only to concentrate on internal affairs and need not worry about ghost calamities striking over and over.
At the thought, his enthusiasm flared. He couldn't sit still, and while everyone was present he asked to take his leave:
"My lord, since this ghost case is concluded, I'd like to take everyone back to the yamen first."
The case might be closed, but there were still many small matters to settle.
Zhao Fusheng meant to make a great push in Wan'an County, and he had to do the work of supporting her.
Many people had died in this calamity. He needed to recount the county's population, put together a register of the dead, and think of a way to get these dead buried.
"Good."
Zhao Fusheng nodded:
"For the silver you need, work out the figure later and give it to Brother Fan."
Magistrate Pang nodded.
At the word "silver," Yu Weide perked up:
"Silver?"
Magistrate Pang nodded and said, a little ashamed:
"The county government lacks silver. My lord is kind-hearted and is willing to draw some silver from the bureau's treasury to bury the people who died in this ghost calamity."
Yu Weide hurried to speak up:
"Why should my lord pay? In this case my lord worked so hard and saved my life. I am willing to donate two thousand taels of silver to bury the dead."
With him speaking first, the other gentry and wealthy households spoke up one after another.
...
When Fan Bisi had seen them all out of the bureau, the sky was beginning to dim.
This nightfall was different from the past two nights.
Perhaps because Wan'an County now had Zhao Fusheng presiding over it tonight, everyone felt rather at ease.
After a day of upheaval, Zhao Fusheng washed up, lay back on her bed, and finally had time to tally her gains and losses.
After returning from Baozhi County she'd had 2,343 merit points in all. Inviting out the Door Gods and stamping the divine seal had cost 1,500.
Then, because some of the people had died in the Mausoleum case, which had affected popular morale, another 500 merit points were deducted from her.
Fortunately the ghost case had been successfully resolved, and she had received 3,000 in rewards in the end.
In other words, Zhao Fusheng now held a total of 3,343 merit points.
Hell had already opened two levels, and the third level and the second divine-position slot each required 10,000 merit points.
"Haah."
Zhao Fusheng sighed deeply:
"Looks like I need to work even harder at handling ghost cases."
She had handled two ghost cases in a row. Though both had had their scares and in the end gone safely and smoothly, the mental fatigue was real.
On top of that, she had spent last night sharing a roof with the Ghost Carriage and hadn't rested well all night. Back on her own ground now, exhaustion washed over her, and she soon fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke again, it was broad daylight.
Outside came a clang-clang of hammering. At the sound, her scalp prickled and she sat bolt upright.
Then came the sound of people calling work chants, which dispelled the lingering dread brought by the hammering.
Only then did Zhao Fusheng remember that the Mausoleum case had been resolved and these clanging sounds weren't coming from a malignant ghost in the Mausoleum.
She opened the door. Today was a rare fine day in Wan'an County.
Sunlight shone straight down, and she narrowed her eyes.
The menial workers in the yard heard her moving and reported to Fan Bisi.
Learning she had woken, Fan Bisi came over quickly and told her:
"My lord, Magistrate Pang is already here."
As he spoke, Fan Bisi beckoned, signaling the workers to bring hot water and breakfast.
She rinsed her mouth and wiped her face, and Fan Bisi said:
"Wujiu and I walked all the way around Baoding Road today. Apart from Old Zhang's coffin shop and Boss Zhu's joss stick shop, nearly every shop on this street has closed."
In other words, in a sense these shops had no owners.
Zhao Fusheng had been in the Great Han for a month, and it was the first time she'd heard the name of the road in front of the bureau. She nodded and sipped her tea. Fan Bisi went on:
"We counted them. There are forty-six shopfronts on Baoding Road. Would my lord prefer to repair some of them, or tear them all down and rebuild?"
He saw Zhao Fusheng's tea-sipping pause and explained:
"The shopfronts have been there for a long time and look shabby on the outside, but with simple repairs they'd be usable."
Besides, with Zhao Fusheng presiding over the bureau and showing such formidable strength, never mind repaired shops, even a hovel could be rented for 2,000 taels of silver a year and people would fight over it, all to buy Zhao Fusheng's protection.
The ghost calamity that had struck Yu Weide this time was the best example.
In the earlier donations, this old gentleman had been the most enthusiastic. He was respectful to Zhao Fusheng, and even followed her instructions and wrote to invite old friends to settle in Wan'an County.
And last night, the moment he was marked by the malignant ghost, Zhao Fusheng had gotten up and gone out at once without wasting any time, and had quelled the calamity just before Yu Weide died, saving the old gentleman's life.
That had firmed up the resolve of the wealthy households and gentry remaining in Wan'an County.
They had lived many years, and probably had never received the kind of protection a commanding officer gave them.
As long as Zhao Fusheng didn't completely lose control, these people would probably never leave her.
"So even if my lord doesn't spend a lot of money, these shops can still be rented out." Having heard this much, Zhao Fusheng understood what he meant:
"No. Knock them down and rebuild."
Fan Bisi's face froze for a moment.
In fact, Zhao Fusheng's answer was within his expectations.
She was an odd person. She was neither wholly a paragon of noble character nor above using threats and inducements when needed. Her temperament was forceful and she didn't go soft when she acted.
But she seemed to follow a set of principles of her own, and in some places where money should be spent she was never stingy.
"It's just that rebuilding will take a lot of time and will delay when the shops can be rented out," Fan Bisi answered.
"Don't worry."
Zhao Fusheng shook her head:
"Fix half first, rent out the other half in the meantime, and repair the roads in and out as well—"
She thought of her harrowing gallop on the way back yesterday, when she'd been jolted green in the face:
"In the future, when Wan'an County's population has grown, we'll have to deal with the other counties. Once the roads are good, travelers will find it more convenient."
"Yes."
Fan Bisi nodded:
"But that might mean we don't have quite enough silver."
"Don't worry, more money will come from Baozhi County later."
Zhao Fusheng thought of the Door God imprint she'd stamped last night.
After that first trial run, she had a sense of how stamping ghost seals went.
"Zheng He is about to have his malignant ghost revive. If he's smart and wants to live, he'll have to come to me—" At the thought of Zheng He, Zhao Fusheng couldn't help smiling the smile of someone who has spotted a "god of wealth":
"He's been at it for years, and Baozhi County is rich. Zheng He's fortune can't be small."
"..."
The corner of Fan Bisi's mouth twitched. He also remembered the ghost seal she'd stamped last night, and his heart stirred:
"My lord, do you mean you want to stamp a ghost seal on Deputy Commander Zheng and seal the ghost inside him?"
"If Zheng He can pay the price," Zhao Fusheng replied with a smile.
Fan Bisi had only been probing, and hearing this, he was shocked: "My lord can really seal the ghost inside him?"
In the Great Han, there were quite a few ghost-controllers who could stamp ghost imprints. The cemeteries of the various Demon-Suppression Bureaus, for instance, had their seals stamped by people the court dispatched.
But the higher the rank of the ghost a ghost-controller controlled, the more easily they lost control.
Stamping a ghost imprint was also one of the actions that made use of the controlled ghost, and ghost-controllers who did it too often would still fall into danger.
So the court did in fact know that ghost seals could ease the danger of a ghost-controller's ghost reviving. But among the many ghost-controllers in the bureaus of the Great Han, the ones who reached the level of stamping ghost seals were without exception general-rank talents.
In ability, usefulness, and rarity, these people were far more precious than ordinary commanding officers.
Besides, malignant ghosts weren't tamed animals. Even someone who controlled a ghost couldn't necessarily fully master it.
Even stamping a seal in a ghost mausoleum sometimes risked failure or even loss of control, never mind stamping a ghost seal on a living person.
And what Zhao Fusheng meant was that, as long as Zheng He could pay the price, she was willing to use her ghost's power to seal the ghost inside him.
"Of course," Zhao Fusheng nodded.
Fan Bisi still couldn't quite believe it:
"But in that case, my lord, aren't you afraid the ghost will go out of control?"
"I'm confident it won't, for the time being. And of course I won't take his life."
Zhao Fusheng said confidently.
As long as the Investiture of the Gods was still there and she had enough merit points, stamping a ghost seal on Zheng He's chest to seal the malignant ghost was easy.
"If that's true—"
Fan Bisi murmured:
"Then Zheng He would probably empty out his coffin money1 and be glad to do it."
Having said so, he shook his head:
"No, not only Zheng He. Once word spreads, who knows how many ghost-controllers would be willing to come to Wan'an County—"
Many people on the edge of their ghosts reviving would try every means to beg Zhao Fusheng to help them stamp a seal. By then, Wan'an County would probably be far richer and stronger than Baozhi County is now.
"Once the ghost fog thins a bit, we'll see when Zheng He can put up the stakes."
Zhao Fusheng smiled lightly.
Fan Bisi was stunned for a while. After a long time his expression turned stern and he became more respectful:
"By the way, my lord, besides Magistrate Pang, Liu Yizhen from the Confucian Temple in Beggars' Alley also sent a verbal message via a yamen man, saying he'd like you to visit when you have time."
At "Confucian Temple," Zhao Fusheng's heart jumped:
"Did the messenger say whether he's in a hurry?"
"No. The messenger just said you could go when you have the time, my lord," Fan Bisi said.
With that, Zhao Fusheng had a good idea of the situation.
The Ghost Carriage had originally been parked at the Liu Clan Ancestral Hall of forty years ago. Its presence had upset the balance in Beggars' Alley and put the Confucian Temple in danger.
After the Baozhi County trip, the Ghost Carriage had been called away from Wan'an County, so the two ghosts in the Confucian Temple should have gone back to restraining each other. Liu Yizhen had probably sensed this and wanted to discuss it with her.
"I need to see him anyway. I'll find some time to drop by."
Fan Bisi nodded.
When the two had finished the real business and entered the hall, Magistrate Pang had already been waiting for quite some time.
He knew that Zhao Fusheng had been rushing about day after day and must be tired. So after arriving he had simply sat in the hall and waited. Now, seeing her, a smile appeared on his face:
"My lord, the list of those who died last night has been compiled. There were seventy-six deaths in all—"
When he reached the death toll, his face turned grave.
Most of the houses in the county town were now empty, and many people had fled the county long ago. The population left was small to begin with, and now seventy-six more had died. Even Magistrate Pang felt the pain.
"Buying a coffin and choosing a plot for each person will cost at least 1,800 wen each2."
Converted to silver, each person's funeral needed about 1.8 taels, and burying everyone would take a little over a hundred taels.
The sum didn't seem large, but this was only the cost of one ghost case.
The ghost fog in Wan'an County never went away, and there would only be more cases in the future. Once Zhao Fusheng had set this precedent, the government would still have to clean up after any similar case.
Besides burial costs, the county government also had to pay for hiring runners, and all of it added up to no small sum.
"Hiring people to carry the coffins and watch the bodies is unlucky work, and each has to be paid at least twenty wen a day—" the secretary who'd come with Magistrate Pang added:
"We asked Master Zhang this morning when we came. With Wan'an County sealed off lately, he doesn't have much timber in stock and would have to order more from outside. It would probably be more than a month before that many coffins could be delivered to Wan'an County—"
It was now the eighth month, and the bodies could not be kept that long. They could bury one batch first, and for the coffins still lacking, borrow from some households in the county.
Households with a bit of surplus, wherever there were old people, had the custom of preparing coffins in advance.
"Borrow first and repay later, burying the bodies in turn. That would also cut down on labor costs."
The secretary said:
"That way we could finish within half a month. But last night I worked it out with the accountant, and labor alone comes to five hundred taels—"
Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng's face showed bewilderment:
"That much?"
The secretary nodded.
"Have you ever considered hiring people a different way?" Zhao Fusheng asked.
Magistrate Pang and the secretary exchanged a glance and hesitated:
"A d-different way of hiring?"
"That's right."
Zhao Fusheng nodded:
"Suppose it costs twenty wen a day to hire one person, for at least half a month. That's about three hundred wen per person."
"Yes—"
The secretary nodded.
Zhao Fusheng smiled: "That cost is too high. And people hired like that are usually idlers who wander around and pick up odd jobs, with no stable livelihood at home. Money that comes so fast gets spent fast, leaving them living hand to mouth."
She thought of some idle loafers she'd run into earlier while having congee at Meng Po's stall. Seeing her alone, they'd been ignorant enough to try something on her, and Meng Po had scared them off.
Zhao Fusheng said:
"Let's instead sign contracts with such people and take them into the yamen as temporary workers. We set up posts and hire them at a monthly salary of eighty wen—"
As long as they had a stable job, "they'll strive hard for the chance."
"Ah, th-this—"
Magistrate Pang and the secretary were stunned.
