The establishment of the Department of Commerce caused a huge uproar in Lantian County!
The merchants were all discussing about the new business tax ratio. Most of them were against it. After all, it used to be 1 out of 30, but now it was 1 out of 6. This was a five times increase. The merchants found it hard to accept at that moment!
But there were also a small number of merchants who agreed. The main reason was that when the government increased the business tax ratio, it also raised the social status of the merchants. Spending money to buy recognition was a good deal in the eyes of the far-sighted merchants!
Other things aside, just the preferential policy of allowing the children of merchants to study in the county schools was enough to offset the increase in business tax! Whether it was modern or ancient times, which parent didn't want their children to succeed? Studying was a very good way to stand out. But ever since the rise of the social hierarchy, merchants had always been looked down upon. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the children of merchants were not allowed to enter government schools or take part in the imperial examinations. This completely blocked the future of the children of merchants!
Today, Lantian County treated merchants as commoners on equal footing with farmers. Furthermore, they allowed the children of merchants to study in the county school. This county school was rebuilt by Li Zexuan after he took over Lantian County, spending a lot of manpower and resources. The curriculum within was infinitely close to the engineering taught by Yanhuang Academy. In other words, students in the county school had a higher chance of enrolling in Yanhuang Academy in the future than students outside!
This was undoubtedly a fatal temptation to those merchants who wanted their children to succeed!
Apart from that, if it was only in terms of monetary gains and losses, although the new business tax law required the merchants to pay more business tax, but the government was willing to protect the legal property of the merchants. This meant that in the future, if they encountered a situation where the local ruffians demanded protection fees, the merchants could request the Department of Commerce to step in and deal with it. In this way, the monthly expenses of the merchants in Lantian County did not increase. Instead, it might decrease! It was equivalent to handing over the protection fees to the Department of Commerce, the official organization that managed the merchants!
But many people were doubtful of the government's determination to deal with the local ruffians!
This was the reason why most of the merchants were unwilling to support the new business tax law!
The strange thing was, the government seemed to know what the merchants were thinking.
That afternoon, a large group of Lantian County yamen bailiffs, led by over ten personal guards of the Marquis of Eternal Peace's Marquis Household, left the county yamen and headed straight for Taikang Market in the southwest of the county. The fuse was that a merchant in the market had reported to the authorities that he had encountered a local ruffian named Lai San who had come to extort protection fees!
At the same time, the four city gates of Lantian County were all closed. Only people were allowed to enter and not leave. Combined with the actions of the county yamen constables, the answer was obvious. As the saying goes, justice has a long arm, but nothing escapes. Under Li Zexuan's instructions, County Magistrate He finally gave the order that all the "dark" evil forces in Lantian County would be wiped out today!
As for the closing of the four city gates, it was just to catch a turtle in a jar and prevent those ruffians from escaping the city!
"General Liu, this Sun has already investigated Lai San's background. He is a subordinate of Jin Wanbiao from Taikang Market. This Jin Wanbiao used to be a government soldier in his early years and is good at using knives and sticks. He is a ruthless character and has over fifty ruffians working for him. They call themselves the Golden Stone Gang.
In the past, the Golden Stone Gang relied on helping merchants from other places to make a living. But ever since the number of merchants in Lantian County increased, Jin Wanbiao had his eyes on this fat piece of meat in the city. Every month, he would send people to collect protection fees from all the merchants on the South Street of the market. If anyone didn't pay, he would cause trouble every few days and make it impossible for them to do business!
If a merchant reported to the authorities, his revenge would be even more vicious. If it was light, he would beat them up. If it was heavy, he would send people to burn down their shops. A few months ago, a cloth shop in the market caught fire and it was done by Jin Wanbiao's subordinates! "
Constable Sun Qing of the Lantian County government walked beside Liu Feng. As they walked, he carefully reported to Liu Feng about the power behind Lai San.
Ever since he knew that Li Zexuan planned to recruit three more teams of yamen runners and deal a heavy blow to the public security and business environment of Lantian County, Constable Sun began to seriously investigate the source of the disaster in the market. He had been waiting for this day!
"Hmph! This kind of villains who use their strength to commit crimes and bully the weak do not deserve to be called a government soldier of the Tang Empire! "
After listening to Sun Qing's report, Liu Feng couldn't help but snort coldly. He then asked doubtfully, "This Jin Wanbiao has been committing crimes for so long. Could it be that County Magistrate He can't do anything to him?"
Constable Sun smiled bitterly. "General Liu, you don't know. Jin Wanbiao's subordinates are very stubborn. Even if they were caught by us, they would never admit that they were ordered by Jin Wanbiao! Moreover, Jin Wanbiao himself is very cunning. When he does something bad, he will not leave any evidence behind. Without evidence, the county government can't just casually arrest people! This is because it's said that one of Jin Wanbiao's good brothers is a lieutenant of the Left Guard! "
"What's there to be afraid of a mere lieutenant of the Left Guard?"
Liu Feng glared with disdain. After all, he was a commander of the Imperial Guards. The Imperial Guards were the personal guards of the Emperor. They had their own pride. Naturally, he wouldn't care about a lieutenant of the Left Guard. After a pause, Liu Feng continued.
"Before we came, Marquis told me that as long as there is no evidence, we can directly arrest people who have caused trouble in Lantian County. After we return, we can slowly interrogate them. We must return Lantian County a Clear Sea Banquet and a bright world! If there are any criminals who dare to resist, kill them all! "
"Yes, sir!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the dozen or so personal guards of the Marquis' residence who followed Liu Feng all loudly acknowledged the order.
At this moment, Constable Sun could clearly feel that the surrounding air had become much colder! Murderous aura! This was a murderous aura!
Constable Sun and the others had been constables in the yamen for more than ten years. Although they had seen dead people, when it came to killing people, they hadn't experienced it that many times. Naturally, they were far inferior to Liu Feng and the other imperial guards who had walked out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood!
"Boss! Boss! Not good! The people from the county government are coming here to kill us! "
At Taikang Square in the southwest of Lantian County, a hooligan hurriedly ran into a large courtyard and anxiously reported to the scar-faced man who was hugging a beautiful concubine and enjoying the shade under a tree.
"What?"
When the scar-faced man heard this, he pushed away the beautiful concubine in his arms and stood up with a whoosh. He looked at the hooligan and said, "You're saying that the constables from the county government are coming here? Which blind dog complained about us to the county yamen? Find out who it is and burn his shop! "
This scar-faced man was Jin Wanbiao. Back then, he had also been a government soldier and fought in wars. However, because of a leg injury, he had retired from the military camp. At first, his life was rather poor. Later on, he realized that with his ferocious looks and decent martial arts skills, he could earn quite a bit of money by helping some merchants escort goods. Thus, he gathered a few fighters who knew a little about martial arts and started this business together! This was a bit like the escort agencies of the later generations!
However, human greed could never be satisfied. Jin Wanbiao later realized that this business was still too slow to make money. Thus, he started a business of collecting protection fees from merchants. In his opinion, this business was actually no different from helping others escort goods in the past. It was all about the merchants spending money to ensure their safety!
A few months ago, Lantian County held a football league tournament. Various shops opened like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Lantian County became the most prosperous county in the surrounding counties of Chang 'an City. Jin Wanbiao saw a "business opportunity" in this and brought a group of underlings to enter Lantian County and started collecting protection fees!
Relying on his ruthless way of doing things, he quickly earned a lot of money. His place of residence was also changed from the original dilapidated courtyard to the current luxurious courtyard. Moreover, he was able to have a beautiful wife by his side to serve him, which made Jin Wanbiao feel that he had walked to the "peak of life"!
However, he didn't know that this "pinnacle of life" was actually the end of the road!
The hooligan's face was bitter as he said, "Boss, it's not just the constables from the county government. I saw that Constable Sun had more than ten martial arts experts by his side. Looking at their armor, they seem to be the Hou Fu's personal guards!"
"The Hou Fu's personal guards!!"
Jin Wanbiao's face instantly turned ghastly pale. Although he had some martial arts skills, this little bit of skill was enough to bully ordinary people, but it was completely insufficient to deal with the personal guards of the marquis's household!
After all, he also knew that among the Hou Fu's personal guards, many were from the Imperial Guards. Jin Wanbiao wasn't arrogant enough to go against the Imperial Guards!
"Retreat! Retreat quickly! "
Jin Wanbiao's expression changed. He instantly made a decision in his heart. He hurriedly ran into the house and hugged all his assets — a box of Tang Yuan — in his arms and prepared to escape through the door!
Speaking of which, he had to thank Li Zexuan for introducing Tang Yuan back then to replace copper coins. Otherwise, with his current wealth, if it were to be converted into copper coins, ten carriages wouldn't be able to carry them all. If it were to be converted into gold, it would probably be enough for him to carry. It was absolutely impossible for him to escape with the money in a short period of time!
"Ha! Our great Gang Leader Jin, where are you planning to go? "
Coincidentally, just as Jin Wanbiao was planning to escape, Liu Feng led Constable Sun and the others in breaking down the door. Seeing Jin Wanbiao hugging a red sandalwood box, Liu Feng said with a hint of mockery.
When Liu Feng entered Taikang Square, he discovered a wretched man who immediately ran towards this yard upon seeing them. He guessed that the man might be reporting to Jin Wanbiao, so he hurriedly ordered them to speed up. That was how they managed to arrive before Jin Wanbiao escaped!
"Surround them all! Don't even let a fly escape! "
Constable Sun waved his hand at the yamen runners behind him and shouted loudly.
Currently, the number of yamen runners in the county yamen had increased to 180 people. Compared to the previous 50 people, it had more than tripled. This time, he brought more than 100 people with him. In addition to the Imperial Guard experts that Liu Feng brought along to "hold the line", Constable Sun finally had the confidence to face off against Jin Wanbiao and the others today!
“.....！ General, Constable Sun, what's the meaning of this? I've always abided by the law and have never done anything evil. Why did you bring so many people here? "
In the blink of an eye, all the members of the Goldenstone Gang in the courtyard were surrounded by bailiffs with weapons in their hands. Jin Wanbiao couldn't help but turn pale. He stiffened his neck and forced himself to look at Constable Sun and Liu Feng as he spoke.
Liu Feng didn't care about a small fry like Jin Wanbiao at all. He couldn't be bothered to talk nonsense with Jin Wanbiao. He directly said coldly, "Golden Stone Gang members are suspected of disrupting the law and order of Lantian County and extorting protection fees from merchants. Arrest all of them and escort them back to the county yamen for trial! Anyone who resists will be punished! Killed! Not! Killed! "
The words "kill without mercy" came out of Liu Feng's mouth. It was especially imposing, and also especially cold and threatening!
The hooligans in the yard were all people who bullied the weak and feared the strong. They had never seen a proper soldier like Liu Feng, who exuded a murderous aura. When they felt the air suddenly turn cold, the Golden Stone Gang members were so scared that they wet their pants. Those who had weapons in their hands quickly put them down. Those who didn't have weapons quickly raised their hands and knelt on the ground to beg for mercy!
When Jin Wanbiao saw how cowardly his subordinates were, he couldn't help but burn with anger. However, he knew that now wasn't the time to lose his temper. He looked at Liu Feng and asked, "General, the Golden Stone Gang members have always abided by the law. Even if there are a few people who have broken the law, the general should just arrest them. Why do you want to arrest all of us? You want to arrest all of us without any evidence. You … you're doing something wrong! "
You're doing something wrong!
Even though everyone knew that this was a very serious situation, when they heard Jin Wanbiao's words, they still couldn't help but want to laugh!
Big brother, you're the leader of the hooligans, the boss of the gang. How can you say something so stupid?
At that moment, Jin Wanbiao realized that he had said something that he shouldn't have in a moment of anger. His face instantly turned as red as a monkey's butt!
Liu Feng tried hard to hold back his laughter. With a straight face, he snorted coldly and said, "I don't need any evidence to arrest you. If you don't agree, you can go to the county jail and let the county magistrate decide! Now, either you come with me or you die. You have no choice! "
Domineering!
Only now did Jin Wanbiao realize that there was someone who was even more domineering and unreasonable than him! When a bully met someone who was even more domineering than him, the feeling was simply too bitter!
"… General, please calm down. I'll go back with you!"
Jin Wanbiao gritted his teeth. He struggled in his heart. Several times, he wanted to directly resist, but in the end, his rationality prevailed over his impulse. This was because he knew very well that in this situation, if he stubbornly resisted, it would be no different than courting death. He might as well go back with them to the county office. After all, the crimes he had committed were not enough to warrant the death penalty!
"Hmph! Tie them all up and take them away! "
Liu Feng snorted coldly. He released his hand from the hilt of his saber and gave Jin Wanbiao a look that said, "At least you know your place!"
"Yes! General Liu! "
A group of yamen runners quickly took out the ropes that they had prepared and began to tie up the Golden Stone Gang members.
"Constable Sun, who's the next target?"
After arranging for more than 30 yamen runners to escort the Golden Stone Gang members back to the county office, Liu Feng looked at Sun Qing and asked calmly.
"General Liu, the next target is the Vast Sea Gang. Their gang leader is called Xiao Haitian. He's in charge of collecting protection fees for the shops on North Street …"
"Let's go! To the Vast Sea Gang! "
…
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
