Thief Emperor

Chapter 41: Tips for making money!

"Everyone."

In a restaurant in Qingyang County, Li Dadutou raised a glass of wine, looked at the merchants in front of him, and said, "On behalf of the anti-theft team, I toast to you all."

No one was willing to stand up and drink the wine. Finally, it was Mr. Zheng who took the lead and everyone gave Li Dutou this face.

After drinking a glass of wine, Li Dadutou sighed and said, "I know why you are looking for me, Li. It's nothing more than suppressing bandits."

"Li is already suppressing the bandits. More than 20 bandits from Black Crow Mountain have been arrested and taken to the county jail. If you want to see them, you can go and watch them anytime."

"In addition to the village in Black Crow Mountain, we have more than a dozen or even more villages in Qingyang. The anti-theft team has so many people, and I am too busy to wipe them all out in a short period of time."

"You all should know that Li just came back from outside the city to investigate and locate the bandits' lair."

"Don't worry, everyone. The anti-bandit team has already formulated a plan to eliminate the bandits. In the future, we will eliminate at least one mountain stronghold every month. After a long time, there won't be even a single bandit den in Qingyang County."

At this point, the great village chief Li shouted with great pride: "Come, drink this cup to the full!"

Zheng Yuanwai and the others raised their glasses and clinked them with Li Yun's. Then the largest landlord in Qingyang County looked up at Li Yun and sighed, "Captain Li, we all know that you just returned to Qingyang not long ago. During this period, you have been doing things for us in Qingyang. But you also said that we have more than ten or twenty villages in Qingyang..."

"Plus, the government has recently increased taxes, and no one knows how many new unruly people have emerged and become bandits."

"According to the methods used by your anti-theft team, wouldn't it take two to three years to complete the elimination?"

Li Dadu frowned and said, "The anti-theft team is not big enough, what can I do? Mr. Zheng may not know that even the last time we went to suppress Black Crow Mountain, we relied on the local militia recruited by me. Otherwise, we might not even be able to capture Shuangya Mountain, let alone other things."

The merchant surnamed Hu, who was selling medicinal herbs, looked at Li Yun and said, "Captain Li, whether we suppress the bandits or not is not that important. What we are doing here is business that concerns the people's livelihood, and this is the most important thing."

Li Yun put down his wine glass and frowned, "Who is this?"

"My last name is Hu, and I'm in the medicinal materials business."

"What does Boss Hu mean?"

The businessman surnamed Hu gritted his teeth and said, "What I mean is that Captain Li's suppression of the bandits can be postponed for a while, and there is no need to rush. However, we must ensure that our business is not affected."

"If we continue to be harassed by those bandits, we won't be able to do business for two years, and we won't be able to import medicinal materials, cloth, and food. How will the people in Qingyang City survive?"

Li Dutou stroked his chin, pondered for a while, and continued: "Then how can Boss Hu guarantee that your business will be normal?"

"Of course, Captain Li sent someone to protect our goods along the way."

Boss Hu said in a deep voice: "Only in this way can those villains retreat in the face of difficulties!"

"That's a good idea."

Li Dadu thought seriously for a moment, then looked at everyone present and frowned, "There are only five or six merchants present today. There are probably dozens of businesses in Qingyang County. With so many people, we don't have many yamen runners, and we have to focus on suppressing bandits. How can we protect the goods of all the merchants?"

Zheng Yuanwai said, "Food is the most important thing for the people, so the grain route is naturally the most important. Li Dutou must send people to protect the Zheng family's grain transport vehicles!"

"Bullshit! The people of Qingyang only eat and don't wear clothes?"

The owner of a cloth shop expressed his anger.

For a while, everyone present was arguing endlessly.

Li Dadutou coughed, pressed his hands down, and then said in a deep voice: "Everyone, the county government's anti-theft team has to go to suppress bandits, and the other yamen runners have to maintain public order on weekdays. There are not many people who can be spared. How about this, each of you will send your cargo carriages on staggered days, and then write a list and send it to me, stating which family will transport the goods from which place to Qingyang on which day."

"I will try my best to arrange for yamen runners to protect you."

All the businessmen nodded and said, "This is a good idea. Captain Li is really a practical man!"

Li Dadutou smiled and continued, "There is one more thing. Since we need to assign people to protect your goods, the current manpower in the government office is definitely not enough. I hope that each of you can contribute a little money and pool some money so that I can temporarily hire some local warriors and incorporate them into the anti-theft team."

"This way, we will have enough manpower for the time being."

Upon hearing this, Zheng patted his chest and said loudly: "Don't worry, Captain Li, since you are working for Qingyang, we Qingyang people have no reason not to help. I will give you a hundred strings of cash!"

"I'll give you fifty strings of cash!"

Boss Hu also spoke.

Li Yun looked at Mr. Zheng with a half-smile and said, "Mr. Zheng probably doesn't know that our Qingyang anti-bandit team was built with money from the Gu family. The Gu family is from Shidai, and they paid a thousand strings of cash in one go to suppress the bandits in Qingyang."

"Mr. Zheng is the richest man in Qingyang, how come..."

He smiled and said nothing more.

Zheng Yuanwai blushed a little at what he said, and couldn't save his face. He could only say loudly: "As long as Li Dutou can guarantee that my grain transport truck will be safe in the future, Zheng is willing to pay 500 strings of cash!" "Okay, Zheng Yuanwai is generous!"

Li Yun clapped his hands and said with a smile: "But doesn't Mr. Zheng have many farmhands at home? Why didn't they come in handy this time?"

"Don't mention it."

Zheng Yuanwai's face darkened and he gritted his teeth and said, "A bunch of rubbish!"

These days, the Zheng family's grain transport carts were robbed twice. The second time, Mr. Zheng sent nearly twenty farmhands to escort them. However, they were beaten to death or injured by those vicious bandits as soon as they met them!

Naturally, the grain carts were not saved either.

This incident made Mr. Zheng very angry.

Mr. Li had a playful smile on his face.

He was the one who personally robbed the Zheng family's grain cart!

After a long while, Li Dadutou coughed and once again quieted the scene: "Okay, everyone, if you are willing to donate money to suppress the bandits, come and write a note."

A merchant asked cautiously, "Captain Li, is it okay if we don't donate money?"

"Of course."

Li Dadutou smiled kindly: "It's all voluntary, it's all voluntary!"

……

Half a day later, Li Dadutou, with Zhang Hu and Li Zheng, walked towards the county government office, bringing with him several notes with money written on them and a "shift roster" for transporting goods in shifts drawn up by a group of merchants.

Li Zheng took the shift schedule curiously.

It only stated in detail which company would purchase goods from where and when to Qingyang, and even indicated where they came from.

Li Zheng knew Braille, and although he didn't know many words, he understood the general meaning. He swallowed his saliva, looked up at Li Yun, and asked, "Second brother, this, this is..."

"Is this the list for us to use for robbery?"

Li Dazhaizhu was stunned by his question, took the list back, and cursed with a smile: "What nonsense!"

“This is the list we need to protect!”

Li Yun scanned the list and said calmly, "But there were two stingy people who didn't pay."

Zhang Hu, who was a bit honest, grinned and said, "Then we won't protect them."

Arriving at the county government office, Li Yun glared at the two men, walked in with the list, and came to the study of County Magistrate Xue. He handed the list to County Magistrate Xue and said, "County Magistrate, it's almost two thousand strings of money."

"The county magistrate has ordered that the tax increase be reduced by half this time."

Magistrate Xue looked at the notes and glanced at Li Yun again: "I thought you could really bring back 5,000 strings of cash."

"Perhaps I can really get 5,000 strings of cash, but not now. Besides, if I collect all the taxes, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to be a county magistrate."

Master Xue snorted, "What's so difficult for me to do?"

Li Yun was surprised and asked, "Does the imperial court not care?"

The imperial court wanted to collect taxes, but you, a county magistrate, not only refused to collect them, but also paid for the people, and immediately gained the support of the people!

So what do you want to do as a county magistrate?
Mr. Xue was startled, then shook his head and sighed: "If it were in the past, the court might have asked about it, but now, they have stopped asking."

The administration is corrupt.

Li Yun nodded silently and said, "No matter what, this is the only amount of money that Li can get for now."

He patted his chest and said with a smile.

"Next month, I will lead the anti-theft team to destroy another village and make the county magistrate happy."

Mr. Xue glared at him and then let out a long sigh.

"I'll be thankful if you don't cause trouble!"

(End of this chapter)