Royal Gold Magistrate

The next day.

Fang Zheng and Li Yuanzhao stood on a street in Banshan District, accompanied by a stranger.

Observing the surroundings, the street was full of dust, flanked by dilapidated houses. A little boy had even pulled down his pants and was peeing in a corner.

The corners of Li Yuanzhao’s eyes twitched a couple of times before he fell silent. This scene was quite different from what he had imagined.

The environment in his mind should have been similar to Taoyuan County. At the very least, it should have been a district in the inner city.

Then he turned to Fang Zheng with a disappointed look, “Old Fang, this is the place you picked?”

Fang Zheng smiled smugly, “That’s right. Like it? I carefully selected this. I guarantee you won’t find a better place than this in the whole capital!”

“Come, let Lord Zhao Gang explain it to you.”

Having said that, he pulled over the person who had been standing beside them.

Zhao Gang looked at Li Yuanzhao with a fawning expression and quickly bowed. He said, “Banshan District is under the jurisdiction of the North City Garrison, and I am Zhao Gang, the Commander of the North City Garrison. Your Highness, allow me to introduce Banshan District to you.”

Yesterday, as soon as he got off work, Fang Zheng had gone straight to the North City Garrison to give them a heads-up.

The Five City Garrisons were specialized institutions responsible for public security, firefighting, urban management, market regulation, and other functions in the capital area, basically an agency combining the modern-day functions of the police, fire department, urban management, and market supervision into one, with the official rank of regular sixth pin.

Although it sounded impressive, it was actually a minor and thankless post with many responsibilities and little pay. In the capital where high officials were everywhere, it was basically a fringe agency that took the blame for everything.

And the rank of the Commander of the Garrison was only a measly regular sixth pin. Moreover, positions like this were mostly held by the relatives of concubines and such in the palace, basically a position in name only without doing any actual work.

Zhao Gang had no connections and had worked his way up to today’s position through sheer effort. He had probably reached the end of the line, so he was especially excited to see the Crown Prince this time.

He gave Fang Zheng a grateful look and hurriedly took out a dossier from his bosom and began introducing it to Li Yuanzhao.

“Reporting to Your Highness, Banshan District was initially built five years ago. At that time, it was a period of chaos and a large number of refugees poured into the capital, so the nearby few districts were all established then.”

“Because it was built in a rush that year and the allocation of funds was insufficient, it looks a bit crude.”

“But after a few years of development, many places have improved quite a bit.”

“Banshan District now has twenty taverns…”

“Lord Zhao, there’s no need to talk about those. Just directly tell His Highness how many criminal incidents occur here in a month, including big and small,” Fang Zheng interrupted Zhao Gang.

Zhao Gang’s face stiffened. He had no choice but to steel himself and continue reading from the dossier, “Taking last month as an example, there were 177 theft incidents, 12 armed robberies…”

Zhao Gang listed the incidents one by one. The more Li Yuanzhao listened, the darker his face became.

He knew the common people lived in hardship, but he never imagined that a single district could have so many petty criminals.

Living in such an environment was truly horrifying.

“239 fights and brawls…”

“Enough! Don’t say anymore!” With that, Li Yuanzhao tightly pursed his lips, his face solemn.

Zhao Gang immediately fell silent, feeling a bit apprehensive in his heart.

Li Yuanzhao really couldn’t bear to listen anymore. This was simply a rotten mess. Taking over such a place was purely asking for trouble.

He turned his head and angrily looked at Fang Zheng, “Old Fang, you’re trying to screw me over, aren’t you!”

Fang Zheng smiled without answering. Instead, he surreptitiously slipped a banknote into Zhao Gang’s sleeve.

Zhao Gang’s whole body trembled, instantly filled with solemn respect.

As expected of a noble from the palace! Such technique… such speed… it was unheard of.

“Lord Zhao has worked hard today. I’ll just walk around with the Crown Prince and have a look at what’s left. The palace should be issuing a decree in the next couple of days. In the future, we’ll have to trouble Lord Zhao a lot,” Fang Zheng said.

Zhao Gang let out a long breath upon hearing this, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

He thought to himself, this Fang Zheng doesn’t seem as domineering and unreasonable as rumored. On the contrary, he’s refined and cultured, without any airs, and his actions are impeccable. He even gave me, a lowly official, money. The rumors were wrong!

Then he leaned in close to Fang Zheng’s ear and whispered, “Lord Fang, this humble official will take his leave then. If there’s any trouble, find me anytime. The Crown Prince coming from the palace must love cleanliness. If you want to renovate Banshan District, there’s one thing I need to remind you of. Be careful of the latrine cleaners in the district!”

With that, Zhao Gang hurriedly left.

Fang Zheng raised his eyebrows. The money wasn’t spent in vain.

He turned to Li Yuanzhao, “What kind of nonsense are you saying, Your Highness? I, Fang Zheng, only screw over rich people! Do you have money?”

“…”

Li Yuanzhao’s face flushed red, “Then you pick such a place with nothing. How is this prince supposed to do anything?”

Fang Zheng glared at him, “Your Highness, if a person truly has grand ambitions, he can start with just a bowl and conquer a vast territory. Now you’re so reluctant to govern a single district, and you even have me accompanying you. What are you afraid of?!”

“Look, the common people here live in such poverty. They’re all counting on you!”

Hearing this, Li Yuanzhao’s face turned slightly red. He mumbled, “One day is fine, two days is also fine, but this prince can’t stay in such a place every day… It’s dirty and messy with nothing. It’s even more boring than the Eastern Palace…”

“Someone who just idles their days away in the Eastern Palace is no brother of mine!” Fang Zheng declared.

“I know, I know!” Li Yuanzhao shouted unwillingly.

Seeing this, Fang Zheng put his arm around his shoulder and started grinning as he painted a grand picture for him, “Don’t worry, Your Highness. The moment I saw you, I felt you were a wise ruler for the ages. Since you’re a wise ruler, would you rather establish glory from ruins or inherit His Majesty’s glory? Your Highness can’t always live in His Majesty’s shadow.”

“Think about it, in the future, the people will respect and admire you, lining the streets to welcome you. Won’t that make you happy? But when others bring it up, they’ll say it’s actually your father’s achievement and you just reaped a big windfall. What will you think in your heart then?”

“Moreover, I have money… Don’t look at how there’s nothing here now. Throw in a few tens of thousands of taels of silver and it’ll take on a brand new look tomorrow!”

“Also…”

Li Yuanzhao still had a youthful temperament after all. After being painted such a grand picture, his complexion gradually turned rosy and his entire being started to perk up.

He said excitedly, “There’s some truth in what you say. Then where should we start?”

Fang Zheng pointed at the street, “Look how dirty this place is. We need to tidy up the sanitation first. Start by sweeping the streets!”

“Oh, there’s a broom in the corner. Your Highness can personally experience it. Do you know how to sweep?”

Li Yuanzhao gave Fang Zheng a disdainful look, “This prince doesn’t want to sweep the streets. Old Fang, don’t try to fool me. With how lazy you are, I’m afraid you don’t even know how to sweep yourself!”

Fang Zheng sneered, “Sweeping the streets is nothing. I’ve even drunk kitchen scraps before. Do you dare drink it!?”

Kitchen scraps? Is that something people eat?

Li Yuanzhao’s gaze swept over Fang Zheng’s face in shock and doubt. Then he gritted his teeth and said, “It’s just sweeping the streets! How could this prince not know how to do such a little thing? Just you wait!”

With that, he strode towards the broom with big steps.

Fang Zheng crossed his arms and watched the show. Ah, this chuunibyou youth! He was going to enjoy teasing him and giving him a taste of reality.

Although the Crown Prince’s conduct wasn’t bad, he was still spoiled. Usually he acted like a rough fellow, but when he really saw dirt, he ran away faster than anyone. This bad habit of his needed a good cleansing.

The Crown Prince picked up the broom and started “dancing” with it in the middle of the street. In an instant, dust filled the air.

Passersby cursed in succession.

“Damn it, stirring up dust in broad daylight. Want to get yourself killed?”

“Who’s the asshole lacking any shred of decency? I’m reporting this to the officials!”

“Eat shit!”

Seeing this, Fang Zheng covered his face with his sleeve and slowly walked to the corner…

Not long after, Li Yuanzhao’s startled cry came from the dust, “Old Fang!! Old Fang!!”

Fang Zheng hurried over but retreated because the dust was too thick.

The dust slowly dispersed. Li Yuanzhao was seen leaning on the broom with one hand, looking at Fang Zheng with a horrified expression, his voice choked with sobs, “Old Fang, I think I stepped in poop!”

Fang Zheng: “…”