sovbooks Chapter 54 A Bustling Crowd
Chapter 54 A Bustling Crowd
Shortly after Jia Zhuo and his group decided to try contacting Li Chong, the atmosphere at the yamen gate quietly changed.
It's been almost half a month since Li Chong took office. According to Yang Chengde's plan, Li Chong should be busy with trivial matters and have endless cases to handle every day.
This situation is likely to continue until the summer taxes are collected before it eases.
At that time, Yang Chengde will naturally use other means to prevent Li Chong from seizing power.
After taking office, Li Chong raised funds and suppressed bandits, which pleased Yang Chengde even more. As long as Li Chong did not compete with him for power, he could do whatever he wanted.
But today, he felt that something was wrong.
It was still an ordinary day. In the morning, Li Chong held court as usual to hear cases, but in the afternoon he began to meet with his subordinates.
With hurried steps, Xu Chang, the county magistrate in charge of the warehouse, came to report to Li Chong.
"Your Excellency, I have already found a suitable place in Zhu Family Village. When Your Excellency goes out of the city to suppress the bandits, you can store the grain, fodder and weapons there."
Li Chong put down his brush, which was used to review official documents, and looked up at the ground below: "Zhu Family Village, is that Old Master Zhu's territory?"
Xu Chang smiled broadly: "Indeed, when I heard that I needed to rent a place to use as a warehouse, the Zhu family generously offered me several rooms. I went to take a look, and the place is quite spacious; it's more than enough to store some grain."
"Hmm." Li Chong smiled and nodded. "You did a good job. Since the Zhu family is so generous, we officials can't let things slide. Here, take the county's slip to collect the money. We can't let the people down."
Seeing that Li Chong was indeed generous, Xu Chang became even more attentive, stepping forward to accept the note with both hands, bowing before retreating.
Not long after Xu Changgang stepped down, other officials came to report that he had helped contact grain merchants and that they could purchase grain to support the army's needs.
Since the mission was to suppress bandits, logistical support was essential, and Li Chong used this as a pretext to assign tasks.
Faced with the grain price offered by the other party, which was clearly higher than the market price, Li Chong seemed oblivious: "Alright, keep a close eye on it and don't let those unscrupulous merchants shortchange you. When the grain arrives, go and find Clerk Sun to inspect it. This matter concerns the important task of suppressing bandits, and we absolutely cannot afford any mistakes."
"I understand."
The visitor left in high spirits.
Although he couldn't fleece the government like the previous person, he secured such a large order for the grain merchants that the kickbacks alone would be enough to make him rich.
Next, the yamen runners from the outer yamen came to report to Li Chong that they had found enough laborers to carry the loads.
At that time, the transportation of food and equipment will depend entirely on these recruited laborers.
Of course, these people need to be paid wages.
Li Chong slowly shook his head: "Since they are working for the government, how can just taking wages be enough? This county is here to quell the bandits. What if they don't do their job well? Wouldn't that ruin everything? Give the order that all the laborers who come to volunteer will be provided with an extra meal every day."
The visitor was surprised by this unexpected turn of events and immediately flattered him, saying, "Sir, you are truly benevolent and righteous. I am completely convinced."
He mentally calculated that with this extra expense on food, he could squeeze out a considerable amount of money and grain, which would be another substantial source of income.
How could he not be happy?
"Why should I need your approval?" Li Chong waved his hand. "Go down and do your job well, don't mess things up."
Despite being rebuked by Li Chong, the visitor felt no displeasure whatsoever; after all, the God of Wealth deserved to be treated with more respect.
After that, a steady stream of people came to report.
That afternoon, Li Chong's residence was bustling with activity, as officials of all ranks from the yamen joined in the campaign to suppress the bandits.
While we're at it, let's also make a small fortune.
Li Chong was very happy about this, because his plan was progressing step by step.
The clerks in the county government were also very happy because they could earn some extra money.
However, one person was quite unhappy and even lost his appetite.
Inside Zuiyun Tower, Zhu Binghe got up and filled Yang Chengde's wine cup, but Yang Chengde didn't move at all, and seemed a little distracted.
"Registrar Yang?" Zhu Binghe called out tentatively.
"Huh?" Yang Chengde snapped out of his daze, picked up a wine cup, and said, "Let's drink, let's drink. I've been busy running around to various villages these days. I'm sorry to have troubled you, Binghe."
Zhu Binghe raised his wine cup, deliberately lowering it a few inches: "Registrar, what are you saying? Serving the court, this is the salary we receive, how can you call it hard work?"
Yang Chengde smiled and said, "If everyone in the yamen could be as kind as Binghe, I would be much more relaxed."
He tilted his head back and drank the wine in his cup, but the gloom between Yang Chengde's brows did not dissipate.
Zhu Binghe asked softly, "If I may be so bold as to ask, did the registrar invite me for drinks today because of something on his mind?"
Yang Chengde gave a wry smile: "As expected, I couldn't hide it from you. It's nothing more than the bandit suppression campaign that the county magistrate has been stirring up trouble among the lower-ranking officials in the yamen these past few days. With the summer tax season fast approaching and the prefecture about to issue an order to reclaim land, I'm about to be unable to carry out my official duties."
"But the county magistrate is, after all, the county magistrate. As his subordinate, I can't say much. I can only ask you for advice."
Although there were only the two of them in the room, Yang Chengde remained cautious. To prevent being overheard, he certainly couldn't openly express his concern about Li Chong seizing power.
Therefore, he could only express his meaning in such a veiled way.
Initially, Yang Chengde thought that Li Chong's plan to suppress the bandits was aimed at County Lieutenant Fu Shun, and that he wanted to seize power from him.
Yang Chengde was pleased with this outcome.
But as Li Chong's business gradually expanded, things started to go wrong.
Under the guise of suppressing bandits, Li Chong issued orders indiscriminately, and the money raised was spent like water.
Such generosity naturally drew envy from others.
Even if Yang Chengde was only a registrar, he couldn't possibly order his subordinates not to take money. Moreover, Li Chong was the county magistrate, so his actions were perfectly legitimate, and Yang Chengde had no room to object.
However, seeing the bustling crowd in front of Li Chong, it was impossible for Yang Chengde to simply sit idly by.
Now he finally understood that Li Chong, who seemed to be suppressing bandits, was actually after him.
Once Li Chong has won over the people, how can a mere clerk like myself contend with the county magistrate?
Therefore, Yang Chengde also had to find a way to retaliate, and the best way to retaliate was naturally to completely thwart Li Chong's anti-bandit slogan.
If the bandit suppression fails, Li Chong's authority as magistrate will be greatly damaged, and we'll see what excuse he has left to seize power.
Therefore, Yang Chengde invited Zhu Binghe.
Of course, while that was his intention, he needed a plausible reason to justify his words, hence these high-sounding words.
Zhu Binghe was naturally aware of the deeper meaning behind Yang Chengde's words.
His expression remained unchanged as he replied, "Perhaps it's only temporary. Once everything settles down, people's hearts will naturally be at peace, and it won't be too late then."
Yang Chengde looked displeased. He hadn't invited Zhu Binghe here to hear these things, and immediately spoke again.