Scumbag Chapter 162 The Reformed White-Eyed Wolf General (28)

The impeachment was within Mingting’s expectations. But when the news reached Qi Ming, he was almost anxious to death.

When Qi Ming came to Wei Family’s residence, he saw Mingting lounging about leisurely, which nearly sent him into a rage.

"You… you… Why didn’t you tell me before writing to the emperor about forging cannons? Now you’ve got the entire court cursing you. Why go looking for trouble like this?!"

Qi Ming had just finished setting up the kindergarten and getting it running smoothly. He heaved a sigh of relief, feeling he hadn’t betrayed Mingting’s trust… only to find out Mingting had stirred up trouble again elsewhere.

‘This was the problem with military men, they thought too little.’

Though Qi Ming was rigid and didn’t know how to flatter, he is not stupid and could see the political landscape clearly.

Mingting was far from the capital, so naturally, few would speak up for him.

As the saying goes, three men make a tiger. If Emperor Chang truly listened to biased words, Mingting would be the one to suffer in the end. (T/N: Three men make a tiger is an idiom which means, repeated rumors can make the false seem true.)

"I’ll submit a memorial to His Majesty at once! I won’t let those petty slanderers harm you!"

"Brother Qi, don't be anxious. Have some tea first…"

Mingting brewed tea and urged Qi Ming to rest for a while.

"I’m not even anxious, so why are you anxious? His Majesty is wise and will make his own judgment. Even if he believes the slander, at worst, I’ll just resign."

"No! How can you resign?!" Qi Ming was counting on Mingting to drive out the Eastern Sea pirates. If someone else took over, they wouldn’t be as diligent and proactive as him.

The more he thought about it, the more restless Qi Ming became. He hurried back to the government office and began to write a memorial defending Mingting.

Mingting had intended to tell Qi Ming that Emperor Chang would surely agree, but before he could say a word, Qi Ming had already rushed off.

"Magistrate Qi is truly a good man!" Mingting exclaimed to Huiniang.

Just look at Qi Ming, not only did he handle his official duties, but he also managed recruitment, provisions, and cement production. He even helped set up the kindergarten.

The Ministry of War was responsible for forging cannons, but if nothing unexpected happens, the shipbuilding will fall on his shoulders...

Such a capable minister truly worked diligently, like a worker ant.

‘No wonder Emperor Li liked to exploit his officials so much in the past. With such a minister, a ruler could indeed sit back and relax.’

"Husband, how can you compare Magistrate Qi to an ant?!" Huiniang chuckled while rubbing her large belly, "If Magistrate Qi hears it, he will definitely be angry."

"You’re right. I shouldn’t say such things, it’s bad for prenatal education."

Mingting felt that having just one Qi Ming was far from enough. He needed to recruit more people and keep them all busy.

Only when everyone had tasks to focus on, working together toward a common goal, could he lie back and be a carefree salted fish...

The kindergarten is on the right track.

The first batch had over sixty children, divided into three classes. Each class was supervised by four soldiers’ wives, with eight guards, and even the cooks were military spouses.

Xiao Huan was responsible for teaching literacy, nursery rhymes, and leading games.

Two of the soldiers’ wives were older, steadier, and literate. As leaders among the military wives, they were appointed acting principal and vice-principal of the kindergarten.

At the same time, the restaurant also opened for business.

Liu Cheng had previously trained under Liu Yongshan, but now he was managing things independently. Though he was flustered at first, with his father overseeing things behind the scenes, he didn’t make any major mistakes.

In short, everything was moving in a positive direction.

In comparison, the officials Emperor Chang had sent down weren’t having such a comfortable time.

Before leaving the capital, Emperor Chang had repeatedly emphasized that this was grassroots research, so they couldn’t make a grand spectacle or disturb local officials.

They were acting as the Emperor’s incognito inspectors, and everything had to remain confidential.

Over a dozen men were scattered across various parts of Yaozhou, sent in pairs to different locations.

It was already deep winter, with terrible weather and difficult roads.

When they finally reached their destinations and saw how poor and desolate these places were, these privileged officials from the capital nearly wept.

Even though they had endured hardship during the rebellion, after the new dynasty was established, they had all risen in rank, grown wealthy, and become comfortable. Suddenly being subjected to suffering again was hard to bear.

Especially since Yaozhou was truly impoverished. Seeing the bleak streets and the panic and numbness on the people’s faces touched some of their hearts.

It turned out that these were all caused by the Eastern Sea pirates, and the pirate threat had already crippled an entire prefecture.

If left unchecked, the Eastern Sea pirates would only grow bolder and might even start ravaging other regions.

Originally, a few had come with ulterior motives. Before leaving, the princes behind them had instructed them to find a way to smear Count of Dingyuan.

But before they left, Emperor Chang assigned them a task: upon arrival, they were to conduct surveys, interviewing a hundred local residents each.

Every question on the survey had to be answered truthfully, then compiled into reports.

Reading these surveys, they saw how many commoners had lost family members, property, and homes to the Eastern Sea pirates… families were torn apart, forced to flee their ancestral lands.

At this point, they couldn’t bring themselves to falsely accuse Mingting in bad conscience.

Moreover, Emperor Chang had made it very clear that he had sent inspectors to secretly monitor their activities.

These officials didn’t dare falsify anything, and they obediently carried out their surveys one by one.

The survey results were shocking. Men and women, young and old, in Yaozhou, everyone hated the Eastern Sea pirates without exception.

Whether wealthy households, commoners, or even beggars, every mention of the Eastern Sea pirates was met with gnashed teeth, as if they wished to devour the pirates' flesh and blood.

Only after personally interacting with so many locals did the dispatched officials understand why Count of Dingyuan, despite knowing the financial strain, had urged Emperor Chang to build ships and cannons.

Surely, he had witnessed too many tragedies, stirring his righteous fury.

Many officials' attitudes shifted from ‘We must find dirt on Wei Mingting this time so that Your Majesty can punish him’ to ‘Count of Dingyuan is a true man… with the people suffering like this, we must crush those damned Eastern Sea pirates!’.

Even the princes in the capital probably never expected their own men would switch sides so quickly and stand on Mingting's side.

The people sent by Emperor Chang to the naval training camp witnessed soldiers reclaiming wasteland, growing vegetables, and raising pigs, chickens, and ducks.

Upon learning this was Mingting’s idea, they were so moved that they praised him endlessly in their memorials.

‘What a good Count of Dingyuan!’

‘To save military expenses for the court, he had soldiers farm and raise livestock in their spare time… Wasn’t this all for the sake of the imperial treasury?’

At the same time, they also complained for Mingting in their memorials:

"The soldiers suffer too much! The sea wind cuts like knives, lashing their faces. I personally experienced a day of naval training. After disembarking, I vomited for a day, slept for another, and even now, I’m dizzy when walking. And yet, they endure this daily, training three to four hours at sea under such harsh conditions..."

Numerous memorials from across Yaozhou were sent to the capital.

Emperor Chang had dispatched these men for two reasons: to let them taste hardship and to understand Yaozhou from multiple perspectives.

A ruler must not listen to biased accounts, and he couldn’t rely solely on Mingting’s reports.

After reading the varied memorials and survey results, Emperor Chang sighed.

‘Count of Dingyuan is right. If the Eastern Sea pirates weren’t dealt with, they would become a festering threat.’

With Emperor Chang’s approval, the Ministry of War’s firearms workshop sprang into action.

Mingting’s blueprints proved invaluable, saving them from starting from scratch.