Infinite Professions from a Pearl Collector

Meng Mansion, Great Yong Capital City.

Inside the study, candles burned brightly.

Meng Yi couldn’t help but smile after reading the reply in his hand.

"Father, do you really trust that Chen Ye so much? For his sake, we’ve offended nearly half of our colleagues at court. Is it worth it?" A young disciple of the Meng Family stood to the side, his face a mixture of confusion and defiance.

He wasn’t the only one; many within the Meng Family did not understand Meng Yi’s decision.

Meng Yi held the letter to the candle flame, watching it turn to ash. "I wasn’t sure before," he said lightly, "but now, I can only say that it is worth it."

With that, he rose and walked to the window. He gazed at the bright moon in the sky, his tone cool.

"Do you know why you are not yet ready to lead troops as a general?"

"I do not, Father. Please enlighten me," the young man said, bowing his head.

"Because you only see immediate gains and losses. You fail to look at the bigger picture, to see what lies further ahead."

"This Chen Ye is a clever man, and a ruthless one. Of that, there is no doubt. Because that madwoman, Bai Yuge, sometimes has a better eye for people than I do."

Meng Yi turned to face his sons and nephews. "I have a feeling," he said in a low voice, "that this will be the most worthwhile investment the Meng Family has ever made."

"If you don’t believe me, we’ll just wait and see."

...

The former Great Liang Imperial Palace was now a temporary Jiedu Prefecture.

Chen Ye sat on the commander’s throne, his gaze sweeping over the dozens of Great Yong generals standing below.

The atmosphere was a little tense.

These were all battle-hardened generals who had fought their way here alongside Bai Yuge. Every one of them was fierce and untamed. Now, their eyes on Chen Ye held scrutiny, disdain, and, more than anything, jealousy.

’On what grounds does this upstart brat, who only got his position through Bai Yuge’s last command, get to control us?’

"Envoy Chen, you have just taken command of Great Liang. I wonder what your plans are, so that we may all follow them accordingly." A deputy general with a full beard spoke with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, his tone anything but respectful.

All eyes focused on Chen Ye.

"That’s right, General. The people in Luojing City are in a panic, and bandits are running rampant outside the walls. This mess won’t be easy to clean up."

"If you ask me, we should do as Grand General Bai did and just kill them! Kill until the world is turned upside down, and see who still dares to defy us!"

The men all spoke at once. They seemed to be offering advice, but in reality, they were all waiting to see Chen Ye make a fool of himself.

Chen Ye said nothing, listening quietly.

This was not the first time he had faced such a situation.

He remembered his ascension to the throne in the first world. He had faced true internal turmoil and external threats, and the imperial court was filled with sycophants who were outwardly compliant but secretly defiant. That was a time when every step had been a struggle.

So, a scene like this was nothing.

"Wang Xing," Chen Ye said suddenly.

"Here, sir!" Wang Xing snapped to attention and quickly stepped forward.

He had been one of the first to join Chen Ye and was now one of the most favored figures by his side. Naturally, he had to show sufficient loyalty.

"Relay my orders." Chen Ye’s voice was not loud, but it carried clearly throughout the great hall.

"First, open the granaries and distribute food. Relieve the starving people of the city. As long as they register, every person may receive three days’ worth of rations."

"Second, post notices throughout the city to pacify the populace. Announce that past transgressions will be forgiven. However, if any treacherous merchants are found taking advantage of the chaos to hoard goods and drive up prices, or any local tyrants are found using the unrest to bully the innocent, they will be executed without pardon upon confirmation!"

Chen Ye’s gaze swept over a few inconspicuous, low-ranking military officers in the corner. "You few will be in charge of this matter. If you do it well, I will reward you handsomely."

The officers who had been called out were stunned for a moment, then their faces filled with ecstasy. They dropped to their knees in excitement.

"We will not fail the task you have entrusted to us, Your Excellency!"

They were all low-ranking officers with no background or backing. They had thought their lives would amount to nothing, but they never expected the new Jiedu Envoy to entrust them with such an important task!

With this move, Chen Ye bypassed all the high-ranking generals and delegated authority to newcomers. His intentions could not have been clearer.

The great hall fell silent in an instant.

The generals were all stunned. They had been ready to watch a comedy, but they hadn’t expected Chen Ye to react so quickly, and with such clear, well-thought-out orders.

Wang Xing accepted the order and left excitedly with his men.

Soon, the first fire of Chen Ye’s new administration began to burn.

When cart after cart of grain was transported from the prefecture’s storehouses and porridge stalls were set up throughout the city, the people of Luojing, who had been struggling through war and plague, could hardly believe their eyes.

A flicker of life finally returned to their numb faces.

And when a dozen treacherous merchants who had seized the opportunity to raise grain prices and local bullies who had terrorized the neighborhoods were dragged to the public execution ground and beheaded, the common folk rushed to spread the news. They began to feel a sliver of acceptance for this new Jiedu Envoy, who had come from an enemy nation.

However, trouble arrived soon enough.

The grain had run out!

It turned out that the city’s major granaries only had a thin layer of grain on the surface; underneath, they were completely empty.

A Great Liang Civil Servant in charge of the granaries was brought in. He knelt on the floor, trembling as he spoke, "Your... Your Excellency, before the city fell, the officer in charge of logistics conspired with several of Luojing’s great Noble Families to sell off all this grain in secret!"

Hearing this, everyone’s eyes turned to Chen Ye once more.

After all, having no grain was a major crisis. Everyone wanted to see how Chen Ye would handle it.

Just then, Chen Ye smiled. "Excellent!"

"I was just worrying about not having a pretext to move against them, and here they are, handing me the hilt of the blade themselves. In that case, they can’t blame me for being impolite."

"Wang Xing!"

"Here!"

"Assemble the troops! Every last person on this list—arrest them all and bring them back to me. Seize their mansions. If anyone resists, kill them on sight!"

"Yes, sir!"

A chill ran through everyone’s hearts.

Only then did they realize that while this young man might not be as wild as Bai Yuge, his decisiveness and ruthlessness were in no way inferior.

That night, the troops of the Jiedu Envoy’s Mansion descended like ravenous wolves and tigers, raiding the manors of more than a dozen powerful families in the city.

The sounds of crying, begging, and clashing weapons echoed throughout the night.

By dawn, the dust had settled.

The Noble Families, so arrogant and untouchable just yesterday, had become prisoners overnight.

The gold, silver, jewels, grain, and cloth confiscated from their mansions piled up like mountains.

Chen Ye showed no courtesy. He directly added these ill-gotten gains to the prefecture’s treasury and distributed the fertile lands they had seized to the landless Refugees.

At the same time, he promoted several old officials who had proven effective at their duties. He also identified a group of talented but suppressed officials from among the surrendered ministers and entrusted them with important positions, quickly building his own power base.

This thunderous move completely uprooted the deeply entrenched old powers within Luojing City. It also made the arrogant and battle-hardened generals in the army shut their mouths for good.

They finally understood that this new Jiedu Envoy was far more heavy-handed than they had imagined.

With preliminary order established in the city, Chen Ye immediately set about dealing with the plague.

He conscripted all the Physicians in the city to set up free medical tents. He also organized men to clean the corpse-contaminated river channels and bring in fresh water.

This series of measures, like a gentle spring breeze and timely rain, slowly healed the wounds left by the war. It also steadily raised Chen Ye’s prestige among both the common people and the army.

But there were always those who did not wish to see this happen.

Great Liang may have fallen, but its remnant forces still lingered.

Unwilling to accept defeat, these people secretly colluded with gangs from the Martial World and mountain bandits to constantly stir up trouble outside Luojing City, harassing official roads and sabotaging the farming settlements.

「One day, terrible news arrived.」

A newly established farming village outside the city had been massacred by a group of mountain bandits.

The entire village, young and old, one hundred and thirty-seven people in all, had been wiped out. Not a single person survived.

Even more cruelly, the bandits had decapitated all the villagers, impaled their heads on bamboo poles, and planted them along both sides of the main road at the village entrance, creating a terrifying forest of human heads.

When the news reached Luojing, the entire city was shaken.