The Prime Minister of Le'an felt his legs go weak.
That staff—bestowed by Liu Hong—was no ordinary token.
It represented imperial authority in the field.
Once military law was invoked, this was no longer a matter of civil administration.
It became life and death.
"I… I would not dare…" Le'an Xiang's voice trembled as he quickly bowed, cold sweat pouring down his back.
Zhang Xin looked at him for a long moment, then spoke slowly:
"Good."
Then his tone turned cold again.
"Since you do not dare—then stand aside and watch."
—
Zhang Xin rose, picked up the staff, and walked out of the hall.
Dian Wei and the guards immediately followed.
Outside, the noise of the gathered retainers could already be heard—shouting, protesting, creating chaos under the banner of being "unarmed commoners."
Zhang Xin stepped onto a raised platform.
His gaze swept across the crowd.
Thousands of people.
Messy, loud—but not afraid.
Because they believed one thing:
Unarmed people cannot be punished.
Zhang Xin suddenly laughed.
"A fine trick."
His voice wasn't loud—but it carried.
"You seize land, hide households, resist measurement… and now call yourselves commoners?"
No one answered.
But the murmuring grew louder.
Zhang Xin raised the staff slightly.
"In times of war," he said calmly, "disturbing military operations… is a capital offense."
The crowd froze for a split second—
Then erupted.
"We are commoners!""We have no weapons!""You cannot kill us!"
Zhang Xin nodded.
"Yes."
"You have no weapons."
He paused.
"Then let me ask you—"
His eyes turned sharp as blades.
"Who gathered you here?"
Silence.
"Who told you to resist the survey?"
More silence.
Zhang Xin's smile faded.
"Behind unarmed men… are armed masters."
He lowered the staff.
"Xu Huang."
A figure stepped forward.
"Yes, my lord."
"Take your men," Zhang Xin said coldly, "and surround the manors of the leading families."
"Anyone who dares move troops—"
"—execute on the spot."
Xu Huang's eyes lit up.
"Understood!"
He turned and left without hesitation.
—
The crowd began to waver.
This wasn't going the way they expected.
Zhang Xin didn't even look at them anymore.
Instead, he gave the next order:
"Record their names."
Wang Ling stepped forward with clerks.
"Yes, my lord."
"Anyone who refuses the land survey—mark them."
Zhang Xin's voice was calm, almost indifferent.
"From today onward, they are no longer registered as civilians."
The crowd went quiet.
A bad feeling crept in.
Zhang Xin continued:
"No land."
"No protection."
"No rations."
"And if they gather again—"
He raised the staff slightly.
"—treat them as bandits."
This time—
Panic spread.
They could shout.
They could protest.
But if they were stripped of status—
They became nothing.
No law. No rights.
Only targets.
—
Someone in the crowd finally broke.
"We… we'll cooperate!"
"I'll measure! I'll measure!"
Once one person yielded, the rest followed like collapsing dominoes.
"I'll go too!""Don't remove my household!""We'll listen to the governor!"
The chaos dissolved almost instantly.
Zhang Xin watched quietly.
No anger.
No satisfaction.
Just calculation.
—
Beside him, the Prime Minister of Le'an stood frozen.
He had seen officials use force.
He had seen them compromise.
But this—
This was something else.
Zhang Xin didn't fight the crowd.
He simply redefined the rules they relied on.
And once those rules were gone—
So was their courage.
—
Zhang Xin turned and handed the staff back to a guard.
Then he looked at Le'an Xiang.
"See?"
His tone was calm again.
"Much easier than you thought."
Le'an Xiang forced a stiff smile, but inside, his heart was shaking.
Easy?
No…
Not easy.
Just—
Ruthless.
—
As the crowd dispersed and the land survey resumed, Zhang Xin looked out over the plains of Qingzhou.
Flat land.
Rich soil.
But beneath it—
Decades of hidden rot.
He murmured softly:
"Step by step."
"First the land."
"Then the people."
"And finally…"
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"The whole of Qingzhou."
Because now—
No one could stop him anymore.