Royal Gold Magistrate

Caught between the fear of trouble from those ruffians and the dream of getting rich, Shopkeeper Chen was momentarily in a dilemma.

Fang Zheng stood with his arms crossed, watching him with a smile.

He wasn’t in a hurry. Judging from Shopkeeper Chen’s appearance, he knew the man was used to being bullied and hadn’t reacted yet.

As long as he thought it through, he would make a wise choice.

Secondly, the government’s credibility was too poor. In this era, there was no concept of “serving the people.”

The officers were merely there to maintain stability.

Small shops like Shopkeeper Chen’s that were regularly extorted normally received no attention. There might even be collusion between the officials and the gangsters.

But Li Yuanzhao, who was watching from the side, couldn’t take it anymore.

They had clearly come to do a good deed, so why was this old fool still hesitating and fretting?

He walked over to Shopkeeper Chen and said loudly with impatience, “Old man, what the hell are you still thinking about? Can those ruffians and rogues provoke us?”

“You’re afraid of them but not us?!”

Shopkeeper Chen forced a smile and said nothing.

In terms of strength, he indeed couldn’t compare to them, but the real issue was that they could never be completely eradicated, right?

You’re strong, but you don’t disturb the people, so I’m not afraid!

After waiting for a while, Fang Zheng also became impatient and said, “Fine, since Shopkeeper Chen can’t make up his mind, I’ll take my business elsewhere. The deal may be off, but at least my conscience is clear.”

“This advertising opportunity with thousands of people is five taels of silver now, but it won’t be this price later.”

“Then… we’ll be going.”

With that, he pulled Li Yuanzhao and started to leave.

Shopkeeper Chen quickly called out to Fang Zheng and said through gritted teeth, “Mr. Fang is right! How could this humble one not cherish the chance to get rich delivered by you two noble persons? I’m in!”

“Then I’ll tell you everything!”

“There are a total of three biggest gangs of ruffians in the district. Originally, these three gangs took turns extorting money fiercely… but ever since you, sir, and the young master arrived in the district, these three gangs began to lay low for a while.”

“When they reappeared, only one gang came to collect money from me. Later, I learned that during the time they laid low, the three gangs had reached a verbal agreement. They divided the territory and collected money from different shops.”

“The lowest gang is responsible for collecting money from small stalls and shops. Their leader is called Black Snake… He’s the one who comes to my shop every month to extort.”

“The second largest is led by Chen Meng. They specialize in collecting money from restaurants and large stores.”

“The boss of the biggest gang is called Lord Ji Er… They specialize in gambling dens and brothels…”

Shopkeeper Chen said with a bitter face, “It’s not that the yamen officials haven’t investigated before, but after a period of crackdown, these people would somehow emerge again from somewhere.”

“Over time, everyone knows these people can’t be eliminated, so no one pays attention to them anymore.”

“Young Master Li, you must seek justice for me! My family, old and young, all rely on this shop to make a living!”

Fang Zheng didn’t expect that his arrival in Banshan District would make those few gangs of ruffians become more professional. This was something he hadn’t considered.

But seeing Shopkeeper Chen’s deeply aggrieved appearance, he couldn’t help saying, “Don’t worry! You’ve seen the recent changes in the district with your own eyes.”

“These are all thanks to Young Master Li. With Young Master Li here, the sky is clear!”

“Before long, under Young Master Li’s governance, those ruffians and rogues will vanish without a trace!”

“Don’t be afraid. If any of them try to extort you again, come directly to the yamen to find us. Don’t engage in conflict with them.”

“Come, hand over the silver first!”

Shopkeeper Chen sized up Fang Zheng suspiciously, suddenly feeling something was off.

How come… his way of asking for money seemed even smoother than those rogues?

But even though he thought so, he still hesitantly took out five taels of silver and handed it over.

Fang Zheng’s hand swept across his palm, and the silver miraculously disappeared.

“Good! Now that I have your silver, I can help you advertise far and wide. But we can only do one product. Take a look and choose what you want to promote.”

Shopkeeper Chen’s gaze swept around the room.

Then he said with an embarrassed smile, “Can you directly promote my entire shop for me, this old man?”

“Hehe, clever, Old Chen. No problem! Wait for our good news.”

Afterwards, Fang Zheng and Li Yuanzhao left the shop.

Li Yuanzhao felt a bit happy in his heart. The way many commoners looked at him had changed since he led the sanitation team.

But he always felt something was missing.

Now he finally found the feeling. It seemed what he lacked was a tough battle!

Doing work certainly gave a sense of accomplishment, but he wanted to be a general!

It would be good to practice on some thugs!

So he said to Fang Zheng excitedly, “Old Fang, when do we make our move?”

Fang Zheng glanced at him and said, “What’s the rush? Do you know where those people are? And are you sure what Shopkeeper Chen said is reliable? Let’s ask a few more shops.”

Li Yuanzhao also reacted and nodded repeatedly.

The two then asked several more shops, and the results were more or less the same as what Shopkeeper Chen said.

However… simply beating up those people and throwing them into prison probably wouldn’t have much effect.

They would go back to their old ways after getting out.

After all, it wasn’t the first time there had been crackdowns. After a campaign, these people would still spring up like bamboo shoots after a rain.

This matter required careful planning. It was better to think about resolving the advertising issue first.

After all, it was also a potentially sizeable source of income and could help small merchants increase their revenue.

Back at the yamen, Fang Zheng and Li Yuanzhao sat facing each other. Fang Zheng picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Li Yuanzhao.

“Your Highness, this is my plan for the next step.”

“We’ll use the sanitation team to help businesses advertise, and then we’ll take a cut from it.”

“For the advertisements, we’ll first make woodblock prints and print them on paper, then paste the paper on the backs of your subordinates.”

“During the day, when they’re sweeping the streets, we’ll also have people get them to shout a few lines.”

“This way, those merchants will make money from it, and we can also profit quite a bit. We might even make a fortune!”

Li Yuanzhao raised an eyebrow. “Old Fang! I knew you had a way to make money all along! Then why did you make things difficult for my brothers and want to lay off some of them? Wouldn’t it have been good to do this earlier?”

Fang Zheng waggled a finger.

“No, no. Let’s not even talk about whether it will make money or not.”

“Your Highness, aren’t the sanitation team’s clothes provided by this minister? Don’t the woodblocks for the advertisements cost money? Doesn’t the paper cost money?”

“These are all paid for with Taoyuan County’s money!”

“Our first order is definitely a money-losing business. It’s hard to say about the future ones too.”

“If it doesn’t work out, is Your Highness willing to bear these costs?”

Li Yuanzhao blushed and laughed awkwardly. “You have a point… So when are we going to beat up those ruffians and rogues?”

“Those can wait. This minister will first send people to investigate thoroughly. Let’s not alert them. Once we’ve uncovered all their information, we’ll launch a big sweep!”

“Ah! I forgot about something important!”

Before he could finish, Fang Zheng suddenly looked anxious, stunned on the spot.

Li Yuanzhao also became anxious when he saw this and hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

“Oh no! I’ve been so busy these past few days that I forgot to write a memorial to His Majesty. This is truly unacceptable!”

“Your Highness, go take care of your business first. I’m going to write the memorial!”

With that, Fang Zheng ran off in a hurry, leaving a bewildered Li Yuanzhao behind.

Write a memorial? He didn’t see Old Fang being so proactive during the previous court sessions.