Since Wei Cen said Yang Zhengshan was to take the lead, Yang Zhengshan handled what came next according to his own ideas.
Compared with investigating the smuggling case, Yang Zhengshan's most urgent priority was naturally to seize control of the Garrison Commander's Office and the Garrison Battalion.
So after meeting Wei Cen, Yang Zhengshan first began handling matters inside the Garrison Commander's Office.
While he went to Chengguan Fortress, Yang Minghao also made a sweep through the clerks and runners in the office. Compared with the problems in the Garrison Battalion, the clerks and runners in the office naturally did not count as any great trouble.
Do not look at how these clerks and runners threw their weight around before ordinary commoners, arrogant and overbearing; before true power, they had no right to resist at all.
Yang Minghao's method of investigation was also very simple. Combining it with the investigations they had done previously, he called everyone over alone and questioned them one by one, offering merit for reporting others. Those clerks and runners then began exposing their colleagues' dirty histories.
Who had done wicked deeds, who was close to whom, who had taken money and abused power for personal gain, who had neglected their duties, and so on—one by one, they all started reporting on each other.
If they were truly to be dealt with severely, every single person in this office ought to be dragged out and beaten. Beheading them all was not to the point of being necessary, but not one of them would be wronged by twenty strokes of the board, including Zhou Ren, the clerk.
Of course, Yang Zhengshan could not possibly dispose of all the clerks and runners. The office's operations could not do without them, so Yang Zhengshan handled more than a dozen