"Hey! Have you heard? The Jinshi Gang in the southwest of the county was wiped out by the county government's bailiffs yesterday afternoon! "
"What? Has Jin Wanbiao been caught? "
"Caught! Caught! I heard that all 58 members of the Jinshi Gang have been locked up in the county government's prison! "
"That's great! That's great! The Jinshi Gang has done all kinds of bad things. Jin Wanbiao is even more brutal. Who knows how many merchants have been blackmailed by him! They should have been locked up long ago! "
"Do you think that County Magistrate He didn't want to catch Jin Wanbiao before? Isn't there no evidence then? "
"What? There's evidence now? "
"Hey! It's different this time! The one leading the team this time isn't Constable Sun from the county government. It's the Hou Fu's personal guards. Even if Jin Wanbiao had ten times the guts, he wouldn't dare to say anything! "
"Whoa! Looks like Marquis can't stand these bullies anymore! "
"Isn't that so? I heard that the Canghai Gang in the north of the county was wiped out yesterday afternoon! Although their gang leader, Xiao Haitian, isn't as despicable as Jin Wanbiao, he still collected protection fees from many merchants! "
"It's not just that! Other than these two gangs, many of the hooligans in the county were locked up yesterday afternoon. I have a nephew who works in the county government. I heard from him that the county government's prison cells are overcrowded. Officer Hu, who is in charge of these prisoners, didn't sleep a wink last night! "
"Whoa! That's too exaggerated! Looks like Marquis really did make a move! Otherwise, no one would have such powerful means to capture all the hooligans in Lantian County in one fell swoop! "
"No wonder yesterday afternoon, the four city gates of Lantian County were suddenly closed! Marquis wanted to get rid of these malignant tumors in the county! Now that these hooligans are gone, it feels like the security in the county is much better! "
"Did you notice that there are a few more teams of bailiffs patrolling the streets today? I don't know if they're just patrolling for the past few days or they'll be patrolling in the future. If it's the latter, then there won't be any more hooligans extorting protection fees from merchants! "
"Haha! What did I say yesterday? The establishment of the Department of Commerce by the county government is definitely a good thing for us merchants! Although they had to pay more business tax than before, without bullies like Jin Wanbiao and Hai Xiaotian extorting protection fees, the money saved was enough to pay the business tax! What's more, the merchants of Lantian County, other than being able to obtain priority supplies from the Yan Huang Chamber of Commerce, their children can also attend the county school. All in all, this is definitely a good thing! "
"That's right! If he were to do business in other counties, he would also be blackmailed by bullies like Jin Wanbiao. His monthly expenses might not even be less than the expenses of running a shop in Lantian County! That's why I support the Department of Commerce from the bottom of my heart! Just based on the fact that the Marquis has dealt with the bullies in the city in one fell swoop and helped us vent our anger, I, Jin Fugui, will support the Marquis no matter what! "
"Yes, yes, yes! We must support Marquis! "
The next day.
The citizens of Lantian County who had woken up early could not help but gather in groups of three to five to discuss. The focus of the discussion was naturally the Heavenly Net operation in Lantian County yesterday!
The merchants who were previously unhappy with the Department of Commerce and the new business tax law all changed their attitudes and began to praise the Department of Commerce!
"Quick, go take a look! The county government has put up a new notice! "
Coincidentally, at this moment, someone ran over and shouted, "You're too late.
"A new notice? It must have something to do with Jin Wanbiao and those bullies! Let's go! Let's go take a look! "
No one knew who shouted, but immediately, the merchants and citizens gathered in groups of three to five and walked quickly towards the county government!
In front of the county government's notice board, there were already 20 to 30 citizens gathered. A scholar read as he read, "Members of the Golden Stone Gang and Vast Ocean Gang have been extorting merchants in the city for the past few months, demanding protection fees, and committing crimes such as assault and arson. After the county government's trial, the criminals confessed to their crimes. The county magistrate has decided to send these human traffickers to the mines to serve three years of their sentence! The leaders of the two gangs will be exiled to Jingzhou!
From today onwards, if anyone dares to extort merchants again, the county government will punish them severely! In order to maintain the public order of the city square, there will be bailiffs patrolling the city square every day. At the same time, the patrols in the city will be strengthened. We must ensure that the merchants have a good business environment and that the citizens have a stable living environment! "
If one looked closely at the relevant laws of the Tang and Song Dynasties, they would find that the longest prison term in these two dynasties did not exceed three years. In other words, criminals would only be sentenced to three years of imprisonment or less. Most criminals would only be sentenced to two years of imprisonment or less. The laws of the Tang and Song Dynasties used three years as the upper limit of the prison term. There were five levels of punishment from one to three years.
The reason why there were no longer longer prison terms was mainly because the population in ancient times was not as large as in modern times. Human resources were also not as worthless as in modern times. In this era, every person was a very precious labor force that was used to develop production and farming. Once criminals were detained for a long period of time, it would have a huge impact on the production of the entire society.
Moreover, the prison term in this era could not only be used to lock the criminals in prison. These criminals would also have to complete a high degree of forced labor in addition to being detained. This method was roughly similar to the prison term and reform through labor in modern times!
Therefore, the punishment given to the hooligans that were arrested yesterday was still very heavy!
"Great! This is great! In the future, no one in the city square will dare to collect protection fees! "
"Marquis is really considerate of us merchants! This Department of Commerce is built well! "
"That's right, that's right! In the future, we can be at ease and do business in a down-to-earth manner! Although the tax is too much, this old man is willing to pay! "
"No! This old man also wants to buy a shop in Lantian County. Who has a shop and wants to sell it? The price is negotiable! "
After seeing the notice at the entrance of the county office, the citizens and merchants finally saw the determination of the county office to restore order in Lantian County. The merchants all heaved a sigh of relief and were even more elated!
"Eh? Isn't that Boss Cao from Chang 'an City? Why did he bring so many cars with him? What's in those cars? "
"Why don't we go and ask? Boss Cao is still very easy to talk to! "
While the crowd was discussing, they caught a glimpse of a carriage coming from the west side of the county office. The person in the lead was Chang 'an City's number one cloth merchant, Cao Wendong! Seeing Cao Wendong bring so many carriages to Lantian County, the citizens at the entrance of the county office could not help but discuss.
Naturally, there were bold busybodies who came forward to ask, "Boss Cao, what are you going to do with such a large group of people?"
Cao Wendong did not put on airs as he chuckled and said, "Yesterday, I heard that Lantian County has established a Department of Commerce that treats merchants, citizens, and craftsmen equally. Furthermore, the children of merchants can attend the county school. This made me very excited! Because with the Department of Commerce, we merchants will no longer be looked down upon and bullied! Hence, after thinking about it, I decided to completely move my family to Lantian County. Anyway, there are a few shops in this city that I can use to let my son enter the county school! "
Last year, before Yanhuang College was established, Cao Wendong had repeatedly sought out Li Zexuan, wanting the latter to establish a chamber of commerce and help merchants raise their social status. At that time, Li Zexuan rejected his request due to personal reasons. Later, Li Zexuan established the Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce. Although Cao Wendong joined the Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce, the status of merchants in society did not change!
No matter where they were, merchants were lowly citizens who were despised by others!
Now, Li Zexuan planned to establish a Department of Commerce in Lantian County, specifically to protect the status and interests of merchants in society. Furthermore, it was clear that there was no difference between the status and social status of merchants and citizens. After receiving the news, Cao Wendong was overjoyed. He quickly packed up and moved his family to Lantian County!
After all, it could be said that Lantian County was the only, and possibly the last, pure land for merchants in Tang Dynasty! Only here could the merchants obtain fair and just social treatment and social status. Furthermore, they could obtain the opportunity to enter the county school. In Cao Wendong's opinion, these two things were good "things" that couldn't be exchanged with money!
"What? Boss Cao? You want to move to Lantian County ~? "
After hearing Cao Wendong's words, the merchants could not help but exclaim.
Cao Wendong smiled faintly and said, "Why? Don't I look like it? This old man has already bought a mansion in Lantian County, in Yong 'an Lane. When the time comes, I can even become Marquis's close neighbor! "
"But Boss Cao, what about your cloth shop in Chang 'an City?"
At this moment, someone asked again.
Cao Wendong did not care and said, "Then just treat it as a branch. In the future, the Cao Family's shop in Lantian County will be the main shop!"
When everyone heard this, they instantly looked at each other. In their hearts, they naturally categorized Cao Wendong as the "rich and willful" type of person! After all, although the commercial scale of Lantian County today was many times larger than before, compared to Chang 'an City, Lantian County was still far behind! Now that Cao Wendong was willing to treat the shop in Chang 'an City as a branch and move his entire family to Lantian County, he was really rich and willful!
…
"Now that most of the local ruffians in the city have been arrested, the Department of Commerce will officially begin to carry out its tasks. However, we must always pay attention to the public security in the city to prevent evil forces like Jin Wanbiao from reviving. After all, it was not easy to stabilize Lantian County. Once it becomes chaotic again, it will be really difficult to govern!"
At the back office of Lantian County, Li Zexuan said to the officials in the county office.
Yesterday, it was indeed Li Zexuan's idea to let Liu Feng take the lead to help the county office arrest the ruffians. Although he did not manage to arrest all of the local ruffians in the city, the majority of them that he caught could at least have a deterrent effect. Those who escaped the net would not dare to cause trouble in the city anymore!
Of course, the reason why he chose to rectify the public security in Lantian County at this time, other than to establish prestige for the Department of Commerce and let more merchants believe in the Department of Commerce, Li Zexuan also had a small selfish motive. That was, his family had now all moved to the Hou's Mansion in Yong 'an Lane, including Lan-er and Han Yuxi. They had all moved over two days ago! Li Zexuan did not want those local ruffians in the city to affect his family!
Although the people in the Hou's Mansion would usually have attendants or guards when they went out, who could guarantee that they would have guards with them every time they went out? What if there were no guards and they met some ruffians who did not know their place? How bad would that be?
Therefore, instead of being on guard all day and night, it was better to directly wipe out all the major evil forces in the city. This way, those small fries that had escaped the net would be quiet for a very, very long time, and would not have the chance to continue doing evil!!
"This official will remember Marquis's teachings!"
County Magistrate He cupped his hands towards Li Zexuan and replied.
Li Zexuan nodded and asked again, "How is the construction of the canal in the county going? How is the installation of the water wheel going? "
It was almost the middle of May. Looking at the weather that was getting hotter by the day, it was impossible for Li Zexuan not to be anxious!
County Magistrate He cupped his hands excitedly and replied, "Marquis, under the joint efforts of the county's citizens, the construction of the cement canal in our county is nearing completion. As for the installation of the water wheels at the various key points, there are less than five water wheels that have not been installed yet! It is estimated that by the day after tomorrow, the reservoir can be opened and the water can be checked to see if our canal and water wheels can operate normally! "
"So fast?"
Li Zexuan raised his eyebrows and was very surprised.
Counting the days, it had only been ten days! A county's cement canal was almost completed? This construction speed would make countless people in the modern era blush with shame!
County Magistrate He smiled and said,
"Marquis, you may not know, but after the citizens of Lantian County knew that you had built a water wheel that could automatically move water, their enthusiasm for the canal construction immediately rose. Men, women, old, and young, regardless of age, all joined in the construction of the canal.
Even if they did not receive wages, those people were still willing to help with the canal construction! In addition, in order to rush the work, some villages even adopted a two-shift system of working during the day and at night. It was because of the villagers of the various villages that the construction progress was so fast! "
The current situation was all thanks to the news on Datang Daily a few days ago. It had completely encouraged the citizens to build the canal! Compared to the number of people reported to the county government, the number of people building the canal was three times more than before!
With so much enthusiasm and so many people accumulating strength to make the choice.
Li Zexuan smiled with satisfaction and said, "Good! Very good! Once the canal is completed, immediately send someone to inform me! Time waits for no one. Our county needs to start watering the land as soon as possible! "
"This official obeys!"
Librarian Hu, Constable Sun, County Deputy Meng, County Magistrate Wang, and Registrar Zhang all bowed and replied.
…
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