Walking the Path of a Workaholic in Cliché Novels (QT) Chapter 94

An Yinong was still wearing blue cloth at that time, so he was surprised.

The county magistrate on the side shouted, “How dare you be so rude to the prefect?”

“Prefect?” Zhao Wu took a step back in disbelief. “You, you are the new prefect?”

He originally thought that he was just an insignificant person, but he didn’t expect that this person was actually the rumored new magistrate of the state. Zhao Wu looked dejected. For a moment, he suspected that he had caused such a disaster.

An Yinong probably knew what he was thinking: “I am standing here just because I am the magistrate appointed by the imperial court, and it has nothing to do with anything else.” It had nothing to do with personal matters, and he had no intentions of beating up the drowned dog.

“That’s right, otherwise Shen Er…” Zhao Wu wanted to mock him, but couldn’t speak in front of An Yinong’s upright face. It’s not that his conscience turned him into a good person, but that he was afraid of An Yinong’s current status and didn’t dare to speak nonsense.

An Yinong had already skipped Zhao Wu at this time and went to the last cell, where ‘Zhao Chengbei’ was being held.

Hearing the noise, the man in the cell raised his eyes and saw An Yinong: “The magistrate of Dingsha County?”

“Yes, I am now serving as the magistrate of Zhanghua County.” An Yinong half squatted down with a smile on his face, “Did it feel very sudden? There was no sign at all, and hailstorms started falling from the sky.”

“I really didn’t expect you to come to Zhanghua County. Are you here for trade?” Zhao Chengbei looked at him, “If I had a way to contact the royal families of those countries in the Western Regions…”

An Yinong laughed. Zhao Chengbei was indeed a character. Even when his death was imminent, he still maintained his sanity and tried to find a way out of the predicament. Unfortunately, he met the stubborn An Yinong.

“The world is bustling with people, all for profit, and trade is the greatest profit. As long as this news is sent out, no one will not be tempted. All your connections are of no use to me.” Most of the time, An Yinong looked like a harmless scholar, but when he was willing, people could see his hidden edge.

Zhao Chengbei suddenly realized that the man in front of him was not an ordinary scholar who had passed the imperial examination, but a killer who had chopped off more than a hundred heads and wiped out the horse bandits in Dingsha County.

“My Lord, do you want to know why my Zhao family has been living in Zhanghua for so many years without anyone investigating? You also don’t want to know how those women got to the remote Zhanghua?” Zhao Chengbei was gambling, betting that An Yinong needed him.

An Yinong looked at him for a long while, then suddenly approached the cell and whispered two names. Zhao Chengbei’s eyes suddenly widened, but An Yinong just smiled. To be honest, when he saw the first cockroach, he had already prepared medicine to kill the entire cockroach family.

The account books sent to the capital included not only those of the Zhao family and the county magistrate, but also those of the protectors who secretly dealt with them. Empress Qi was probably already dealing with these matters. She was a much more ruthless person than An Yinong, and was the founding emperor who would execute three clans if she said so.

As for the gangs that were trafficking people everywhere… they’ve already been pursued. In other words, Zhao Chengbei was now useless.

An Yinong stared at him: “When I see a pillar full of holes bitten by termites, I usually don’t think about how to fill the termite holes, but burn it directly and replace it with a new one.

“Zhao Chengbei, have you seen the woods behind Xiaoyao Pavilion? I have, and it is truly magnificent. I’m usually easy to talk to, as long as you don’t cross the line.”

Zhao Chengbei tightly held the fence, he looked at An Yinong, as if he wanted to see through this man. He had seen countless people, rich and powerful, but he still couldn’t see through the young governor in front of him, let alone find the weakness of his heart.

“Everyone in the world has hobbies. Some are greedy for money, some are lustful, and some pursue fame and fortune. What do you like?”

“I want peace in the world.”

“Peace in the world?” Zhao Chengbei sat on the ground, staring at him blankly, as if he couldn’t understand.

“What a pity! It’s such a big pie and anyone can have a bite, but the Zhao family’s seat is left vacant.” An Yinong stood up. He had already looked at Zhao Chengbei and had no interest in continuing to look.

When the Zhao family saw that he was about to leave, they all rushed over to him, either spitting at him or begging him, but An Yinong remained indifferent. The moment he walked out of the cold and damp prison, the warm sunlight shone on his body. An Yinong squinted and it took him a while to adapt to the light.

“What do you think about promoting sugar beets in Zhanghua County?” A dark shadow appeared beside him, but did not speak.

When the tree falls, monkeys scatter. When the Zhao family fell, the vassal families scattered, and the evil deeds the family had done in the past came to light. An Yinong had to try more than a dozen old cases of the Zhao family every day, and those who deserved compensation would be compensated, and those who deserved be beaten would be beaten.

In addition to the Zhao family, other big businessmen in Zhanghua County were also summoned to pay taxes for the past five years.

The Shen family was very wealthy and had to pay the most taxes, but Shen Da did not hesitate to bring things from home because there was not enough gold and silver, and a lot of it was paid in spices. When the others saw that the Shen family had agreed, why didn’t they pay the five years of taxes?

“Sir, the warehouse is full.” The local police captain came over in a hurry.

In the end, An Yinong cleared out the backyard of the county government office to accommodate so much backlogged taxes. When everything was settled, his memorial was delivered to the capital, and the prison cart of the offending magistrate was also pulled all the way there.

Empress Qi was furious. How could such a cancerous tumor be found in such a small border town? She issued an order to execute all the family members except the women and children under ten years old. So everyone in the Zhao family and those who had committed serious crimes were killed, and the rest were exiled.

All brothels in Zhanghua County, whether public or private with official approval, were closed down, and all persecuted women were allowed to leave. Their indentures were burned and official records erased.

The wealthy families were raided, but the officials in the county government did not say anything. However, when the brothels were banned, many people came out and said that Zhanghua’s tax revenue depended entirely on brothels. If the officials closed all the brothels, where would Zhanghua County get money from in the future?

Some people also advised him that he could take over the former private brothel and make it a formal one, so that the customers could enjoy the services and the county could also be happy to collect the money.

“You reminded me that since we don’t have enough money, why not rob a few more houses? How about starting with yours?” An Yinong smiled.

“Your subordinate is terrified.”

They finally saw An Yinong’s determination to eliminate the brothels, and no one said anything more. It was not enough for prostitutes to just leave the brothel physically. If they wanted to leave the brothel completely both physically and mentally, they must be arranged with jobs and caring sisters to comfort and encourage them. An Yinong’s predecessors had already shown him the way, and the grievance meeting can be held.

So the prostitutes who regained their freedom could go to work in the newly opened wool textile workshops to support themselves, or continue to play musical instruments, sing and dance – but this time not in a brothel, but in “Lan Xiu Fang”, a place for enjoying singing and dancing, and anyone who bought a ticket could go in and enjoy the singing and dancing performances. They were no longer prostitutes, but singers and dancers who work honestly to support themselves.

Not to mention Zhanghua County, there were no brothels or gambling houses in the entirety of Xizhou. An Yinong admitted that he was a tyrant and had the final say. If he said no, it was no. Anyway, the court had strict control over these things, and a complete ban did not violate the law.

The next thing to be redistributed was the Zhao family’s property and collected taxes. The land and houses were all nationalized, and half of the gold and silver was just enough to build the trade venues, and the manpower was also ready. The fall of the Zhao family fed the entire Zhanghua County.

“What a pity, there is only one Zhao family.” An Yinong muttered to himself while biting the tip of his pen.

The county magistrate who was following orders was trembling with fear: Was he addicted to confiscating property?

Once the location of the trade fair was chosen, the laborers were prepared, and the funds were ready, construction began in earnest. Merchants from Zhanghua County visited the construction site every day to check on the progress, while thinking about how to get in touch with the prefect so that they could get a ticket.

The same was true for businessmen in other counties. They were all thinking about this quota. Only the Shen family was worried, and Shen Er almost hits the wall with self-blame.

“Forget it,” Shen Shan frowned, “The matter has come to this, there’s no use blaming ourselves. Even if we don’t get the quota, it doesn’t mean we won’t be able to do business in the future.”

The limping Shen Er looked at his elder brother who had a few more white hairs on his temples, stretched out his hand and gave himself a slap: “It was me who was obsessed with lust, and it was my lust that harmed my elder brother.”

He knew clearly that his eldest brother had been thinking about mutual trading for so many years. For this reason, he always restrained his clan members and even brought local scattered merchants with him when he went to the Western Regions to do business, just to increase more possibilities. The results of it? It was all ruined on him.

“Brother, I’m going to apologize to Zhizhou. He can kill or behead him as he pleases!” Shen Er stood up immediately, but almost fell down because of the inconvenience of his legs and feet.

“Shut up!” Shen Shan shouted, “I will find a way.”

“Uncle, second master.”

The two brothers were thinking about countermeasures in the main hall. The concierge hurried over. He knelt down with a bang and spoke very quickly: “There is a guest at the door who wants to see you two. This guest’s surname is Tian, and he is… a civil servant.”

Chen Shan and Chen He looked at each other, stood up and walked out.

Outside the door was An Yinong. He was still wearing a green cloth shirt and a scholar’s square scarf, but he was wearing cotton clothes and a fur-edged cloak. He still looked elegant. There were two tall guards standing behind him, they were the two masters from Wei Tian.

Before we knew it, it was the coldest season in Xizhou.

“Master Shen, long time no see.”

“Tian, Mr. Tian, please come in.” Shen Shan didn’t know whether An Yinong came to ask for help or something else, but there were many people talking at the door, so it was better to go in and talk slowly.

An Yinong entered the Shen family for the second time. This time he sat in the main hall, holding the fragrant tea offered by the servant. Opposite him, Shen Er shrank his neck and legs, occasionally raising his head to look at him secretly, but he didn’t dare to have that kind of thoughts again, at least not on his face.

He was curious about why Shen Er seemed to have a broken leg, but he didn’t ask any more questions.

“The common people pay their respects to Mr. Tian.”

“Excuse me.” An Yinong excused them without waiting for them to bend down. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to cause trouble.”

He was a pragmatic person and was too lazy to bother, so he did not deliberately tease the two brothers: “I have fifty of the first batch of mutual trading licenses, and you, the Shen family, have one.”

Chen Shan didn’t expect An Yinong’s first sentence to be this. His face was full of shock and he couldn’t react.

“Sir, is it really possible for our Shen family?” Shen He was even more surprised and asked directly.

“Yes.” An Yinong took a sip of tea, “This is what I and other county magistrates discussed and decided together. The Shen family has been honest and law-abiding in recent years, and has a good reputation in the township. Moreover, they have to deal with foreigners when doing business with each other. It’s hard to find someone who has experienced this. Experienced businessmen are more suitable.”

The fifty quota was only for the first year. When businessmen from all over the country come over, the quota may be expanded to two hundred. But no matter what, this year’s fifty businessmen will definitely be the ones who get the first bite of meat.

“Thank you, Sir.” Shen Shan stood up and bowed. He did this willingly, and he really admired this official’s open-mindedness. If it were him, he might not be able to do it.

“Don’t be happy yet.” An Yinong put down the tea cup, “A license corresponds to one commodity. This is also to prevent the same commodity from being consumed by internal competition among merchants. The Shen family has two businesses: horses and spices. The owner of the Shen family can take care of it. Think about it, which one will be the main one and which one will be the auxiliary one in the future.”

An Yinong thought they would have to hesitate for a long time, so he stood up and prepared to leave. Who would have thought that Shen Shan only hesitated for a moment before making a decision: “Sir, the common people want to do the spice business.”

“Have you decided yet?”

“Yes.” Chen Shan said again, “One more thing. Sir Su Wen has a keen eye for pearls. Insignificant products from all over the world can turn into a thousand-mile horse with your hands. Sir, I have a real thousand-mile horse here. I hope If you are capable, please take over the Shen family horse farm.”

“Brother?” Shen He’s eyes widened: Was he planning to give away all the Shen family’s horse breeding industry?

Is this going to be handed over to the state? However, An Yinong was not particularly happy. He said with some displeasure, “I said I would never let go of the past and I would not dwell on these trivial matters again. The Master of the Shen family does not have to be like this.”

“This is not to apologize, but to hope that one day in the future, our horses in Zhanghua County will be as famous as the cattle in Dingsha County. This is something that only Lord Zhizhou can do.” Shen Shan said seriously.

Chen Shan had thought before that if Zhizhou was stuck in the quota, he would be willing to give up his horse breeding industry in exchange for a ticket. Unexpectedly, in the end, I would judge a gentleman with a villain’s heart.

But if the Shen family wanted to focus on developing one industry in the future, they will have to abandon another. Horses could be used as war horses, and there were many restrictions on running them. It was better to give them away and sell them now.

“I can’t make the decision on this matter. I need to report it to the Holy One, who will make the decision.” After thinking about it, An Yinong said his second purpose of coming here, “In a few days, I will have talks with the leaders of the tribes. I heard that the Shen family leader knows several languages…”

Chen Shan clasped his fists: “The common people are willing to work like a dog and horse!”