During Wang Yan's time in Jiliao, only the initial struggle had been truly fierce, with both sides fighting to the death.
That was because he had just touched upon others' fundamental interests, provoking a fierce backlash. This was also the hardest part of reform: suppressing these people's counterattacks.
What set Wang Yan apart was that he had stood firm against them from beginning to end, fighting them all the way through. He would not stop until one side was dead. He was even more ruthless and intense than the powerful households whose core interests had been harmed.
At the same time, he had his methods. So long as something remained within the rules, no matter what sort of trouble they stirred up, he could settle it. Impeachments were useless if Jiajing refused to act on them. If the central treasury imposed sanctions, Shuntian Prefecture would make up the shortfall. And after Jiliao had been reorganized, the silver collected there was more than double what it had been before.
As for stuffing people under him to hold him back, he simply invoked military law and cut off heads.
And for anything outside the rules, Wang Yan directly deployed troops to suppress it. After all, truth was in his hands, and the depot and guards stood at his side. Hu Zongxian had once requested the Emperor's command flag and tally to execute the prefect of Hangzhou and the river administration officials. Wang Yan could kill people just the same. The formalities could be filled in afterward. Whoever he said was guilty was guilty; whoever he said deserved death deserved death.
That was the advantage of being a favored minister, a treacherous minister—monopolizing power, abusing power, framing others... Yet it all seemed perfectly reasonable. No one thought there was anything wrong with what