By Purple Creek River lay Changhua County. There was a wealthy Xu Family, with ten thousand qing of land and untold riches. They did good in the community, always providing relief to the villagers in times of disaster. They truly were a kind and virtuous family. Yet good times never lasted. On the ninth day of the tenth month, several dozen bandits used the cover of night to break into their estate. More than a hundred people—old and young, masters and servants alike—were all killed...
Once news of such an atrocious crime emerged, Changhua County reacted swiftly, sending a document to the prefectural yamen requesting that elite combat troops from the garrison army be dispatched to suppress the bandits.
Yes, "elite combat troops of the garrison army." This excessively flattering term for the garrison army had, after the first official-business negotiation meeting, been spread around by the attending wealthy families as a joke.
And so, in official documents now, the garrison army's substitute name had become "elite combat troops of the garrison army." Naturally, none of the county officials in this prefecture had the nerve to mock Wang Yan. The county magistrates did not dare, and the county chiefs dared even less. They were merely currying favor with their superior.
After receiving the document sent up by the county and learning the details, Wang Yan once again convened a high-level Hangzhou meeting. They concluded that the current garrison army was still unfit for battle and urgently needed military funding.
Thus, after more than half a month, the prefectural yamen convened its second official-business negotiation meeting.
But since the purpose had already been made clear the last time, the wealthy families naturally had no intention of playing along. In the end, only a few dozen people attended, and the matter of