"Are you threatening us?" The middle-aged Jew seemed to have heard a funny joke. "With the current manpower of your patrol team? Even if you include those forces that have sided with you or are secretly controlled by you, how many people can you gather? Do you know how many people the Jewish gang has? If necessary, we can even turn the 30,000 Jews living here into our men. What right do you have to threaten us?" "The threat I'm talking about is not coming from us," Zhang Heng said. "I believe some of you have heard some rumors during this period.
Our young emperor has just returned from the battlefield and ascended to the throne. He is eager to do something that can win the people's praise and support. Holding a gladiatorial show is just the first step. Next, he intends to turn his attention to the issue of public security. His Majesty has noticed that the southeast city has always been in an extrajudicial state and expressed his concern for the empire's people living here. No matter what you think, in His Majesty's eyes, you are all the empire's people. And the situation here has indeed affected the surrounding areas. Otherwise, why do you think I joined the patrol team here? "
"My arrival is only the first step. If I fail to improve the security here, a thousand imperial guards will be stationed here to take over the security and defense work. By then, you will have to face the imperial guards' spears and daggers. So, are you sure you want to drive me away?" Zhang Heng paused for a moment before continuing, "My arrival is only the first step.
As soon as Zhang Heng said that, an uproar suddenly occurred.
The various forces did not expect that the imperial guards would be involved in this matter, especially when they heard that the newly appointed emperor was going to take action against the southeast city. Everyone's heart tightened. They could bully the patrol team because they had no money or manpower. However, if their opponent was the imperial guards, a thousand imperial guards at that, all the small and medium-sized forces would have to bear the consequences.
As for the top forces like the Jewish gang, they could indeed mobilize 30,000 Jews. But let's not talk about whether these civilians could defeat the imperial guards. Even if they could, they would not be able to rebel. Although they were all criminals who engaged in criminal activities in the city of Rome, they only wanted to earn money. They had no intention of committing treason. Spartacus and his gang were a living example.
What's more, Rome was now at its peak, and the war with the Germanic had ended. A group of seasoned veterans had returned to Rome. Even if they could not defeat the Germanic, suppressing a civilian uprising was not a problem.
However, everyone was skeptical about this matter. The security problem in the southeast city had existed since the first group of Jews settled in Rome. The history of the problem was much longer than the Jewish gang. However, none of the emperors could solve it. It was not because they were incapable, but because it was a laborious and unrewarding task.
The southeast city was a chronic problem for the city of Rome, but it also provided a steady stream of cheap labor for the city. Sometimes, the price of their labor was even cheaper than that of slaves. After all, when the slaves died, the owner would lose a fortune. And no one cared if the civilians died here. For example, the laborers who cleaned the sewers and unloaded goods on the Tiber River were basically from the southeast city.
Many of them were the businesses of criminal forces like the Jewish gang. If all the criminals here were to be wiped out, the cost of labor in the city of Rome would increase. This was something that all businessmen and nobles did not want to see.
That was why the problem had been put on hold. Now that Commodus had just come to power, most people still had no idea what the young emperor's temper was. No one knew what he was thinking, and they wondered if he would suddenly attack the southeast city.
They had investigated Zhang Heng during this period, and they knew that he was indeed someone Commodus valued. It was quite strange that he was assigned to the patrol team here. If Commodus wanted to deal with the crime in the southeast city, it could explain why Zhang Heng was sent here.
A thousand imperial guards? If there were really 1,000 Imperial Guards stationed here in the future, it wouldn't be a matter of whether their businesses would be affected. Instead, it would be a matter of whether they could continue doing business. Therefore, the various forces in the tavern started whispering to each other after hearing this explosive news.
The middle-aged Jew coughed softly when he saw this, signaling everyone to stop talking. He then shook his head and said, "Trying to scare us with this kind of groundless news? You are too naive. We have been through all kinds of storms for so many years, but this place still belongs to us."
"You know very well whether it's groundless news or not," Zhang Heng responded calmly. "I believe you have some connections with the Senate. It seems that you have spent a lot of money on it. This is the main reason why the southeast city has been maintaining its current state. In that case, your people must have passed the news to you."
"It's not even a proposal. It's just the emperor's whimsical idea a few days ago. How could the Senate approve such an absurd thing? Most likely, you are just trying to scare us. Didn't you go to Clint's house after you were invited? The news came out after that … "the middle-aged Jew said angrily. However, as soon as he blurted out those words, he realized that he had made a mistake.
That was because he had helped to confirm Zhang Heng's previous threat. Sure enough, after he said this, everyone in the tavern showed varying degrees of worry on their faces.
Although they had been living a very uncomfortable life recently, they were more reluctant to see the imperial guards stationed here than to let Zhang Heng lead the patrol team to mess around. That was because it would be devastating to the local forces here.
Of course, if the stalemate reached the end, the young Emperor's side would probably not be able to gain any advantage and would once again realize that if they wanted cheap labor, they would have to return this place to the local powers. But how many of them would still be around then?
Even if it was just a possibility, it was still worrying.
This was the purpose of Zhang Heng's visit to Clint some time ago. He proposed a plan to Clint that would benefit both sides. Zhang Heng had caused a lot of trouble in the southeast city, and it was only a matter of time before the three major forces, led by the Jewish gang, targeted him. And Zhang Heng's solution to the problem was very simple. He wanted to create external pressure and divert the conflict.
On the surface, the reason why the patrol team could not expand in the southeast city was that they lacked manpower, money, and powerful forces that they could not afford to provoke. However, in essence, the patrol team and all the forces in the southeast city had different interests. This was the fundamental reason why the patrol team was not allowed to stay in the southeast city.
If this problem was not solved, the patrol team would not be able to expand. Hence, Zhang Heng needed Clint's help to create the news that a thousand imperial guards would be stationed in the southeast city. And Zhang Heng did not mind giving Clint part of the credit. He even gave most of the credit to Clint. Anyway, he just needed to complete his first task perfectly and return to Commodus's side.
Clint, on the other hand, got a political credit from this incident. Together with Zhang Heng, he solved the long-lasting security problem in the southeast city. Of course, he could also choose to stand by and stab his potential competitor in the back. But as Clint said, he believed that Zhang Heng would not be the only solution. Zhang Heng knew that the Balance Blade also had a political force behind it. If Clint did not intend to help him, he could go to the priestess of the Balance Blade. However, if he did that, he might have to pay a price. It would be better for him to work with Clint.
Zhang Heng looked at the middle-aged Jew, "This is not something you can decide. Why don't you ask Mr. Lockheed and other big shots to come down and talk to me? Or should I bring my men to the second floor?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
