Chapter 56: The Prefect's Secret Order
Lord Sun Xiuting has been living a very happy life these days.
He had been banished to Fengshan by the previous governor to work as a mine supervisor for five or six years. He had originally thought that his career was over, but relying on the scholar's spirit in his heart, he was not willing to go along with Ruyifang.
This resulted in Lord Sun living a rather depressed life during his time in Fengshan.
On the one hand, he witnessed the evil deeds of wealthy merchants deceiving their superiors and stealing national property, but was powerless to punish them.
On the other hand, there are trivial matters at home. His wife is very ignorant and likes to compare with others. He is unwilling to lower himself to make money, which leads to the family having to live a poor life with him.
This kind of pressure on both the physical and mental levels made every day in the mountains seem like a year, and he could only pass the time by reading literature and history.
But things took a 180-degree turn in the fifth year of his sitting in Fengshan.
Lord Sun does not believe in ghosts and gods.
Otherwise, he would have said that it was a blessing from heaven and earth and that his luck had come.
Jiangxia overthrew Ruyifang's local rule and sought out Lord Sun to act as a shield.
This was of course semi-forced, and Lord Sun was reluctant at first, but the feeling of having real power was really good, even if it was just managing a few hundred people on Fengshan Street.
But what he had learned throughout his life, the skills of stabilizing the country and ensuring the people's safety, finally came in handy.
Especially after Jiang Xia and Rogge defeated Ruyifang's first encirclement and suppression campaign without sustaining any casualties, Lord Sun's job as the mine supervisor became more and more enjoyable.
Twice a day, morning and evening, he would ride an old horse and patrol Fengshan Street under the protection of the mining protection team he organized.
He also listened to the opinions of the villagers, made reforms in all aspects of food, clothing and daily necessities, and upheld justice by publicly hanged several people who were idle, harassing the public, and doing bad things.
In less than half a month, this place where miners gathered was turned upside down.
Jiangxia doesn't care about these governance matters.
He had a full hand, including Rogge's men, and the people he truly trusted were no more than 30 people. With such a small number of people, it was not enough to deploy defenses in Fengshan.
Therefore, all the internal affairs of Fengshan Street were thrown to the charge of Mine Supervisor Sun. It must be said that even from Jiang Xia's critical eyes, Lord Sun has done a really good job these days.
There is no such thing as leaving doors unlocked at night or picking up lost items on the road.
But the four words "people's livelihood is roughly stable" are worthy of it.
On the third day after the monks from various sects took away the troublesome disciples, it was the first day of the new month. It was the day when merchants from outside the mountain came into the mountain to collect mines.
The good official Lord Sun got up early, put on his official uniform, and waited at the mountain pass.
He felt a little uneasy.
In the past, all the mines in the mountains were sold to Ruyifang.
Ruyifang would then resell it to other merchants, earning the difference and making profits. The mining industry in the entire Fengming Kingdom was almost entirely monopolized by Ruyifang, following this model.
Now all the managers of the local Ruyifang businesses have been fired, and the company is leaderless, even though Lord Sun wrote letters in his own name to several miners outside the mountain, asking them to take over the mines.
He also said that the prices were fair and there were no middlemen making a profit from the price difference.
But it is a big question whether the merchants outside the mountain who were exploited by Ruyifang dare to enter the mountain to mine today.
If they are afraid of Ruyifang's power, they will not dare to come.
The mined ore was piled there.
Unable to sell the ore, no money could be earned, and no way to pay the miners this month's salary could be made. In addition, no way could I purchase various supplies and rice outside the mountain through these merchants.
At the current rate at which Fengshan Street Canteen is producing rice every day in order to reassure the people, the rice stored in the street warehouses will probably run out in two or three days.
These bad things happen one after another.
The miners can't get paid and don't have enough food to eat. No matter how much you try to comfort them, they just can't settle down.
"Old Four, your leader has no idea?"
Lord Sun waited from morning until noon, but there was still no one on the mountain road leading into the mountain. This made him a little anxious, so he rode on his horse, glanced at Liu Laosi who was squatting on the side in a daze, and asked a question.
The fourth brother was staring in a daze.
In fact, I was chatting with Miss Julie whom I met a few days ago through chip communication.
Those wasteland warriors were bold and exotic, and they knew how to exercise to maintain a good figure. The first time the fourth brother saw Miss Julie parading on the street in a vest and hot pants, he almost had a nosebleed.
He also learned about Miss Julie's personality and hobbies from the soldiers who often drank with her, and in recent days, he has been trying to be attentive to Julie.
Of course, the purpose was not simple. He wanted to get her into bed and have an in-depth conversation with her.
Men are all like this.
Things are going well at this moment. Miss Julie just sent a very cool picture in private chat. Before the fourth brother had time to take a closer look, he was interrupted by Lord Sun's question.
This made the fourth child very dissatisfied.
Without even looking up, he said impatiently:
"Don't worry about this, Boss. We agreed that these matters are to be handled by you, Lord Sun. It is your job to serve as an official and protect the country and the people. What does it have to do with us?"
After saying that, Lao Si continued to be in a daze, admiring the real-life pornographic pictures in his mind.
His words left Lord Sun speechless. He thought these bandits were rude, but what good solution could a mere mine supervisor like him have?
"Master, why don't you go back? No one may come today."
The old servant of the Sun family looked towards the mountain road and whispered:
"Tomorrow, I, the old man, will go down the mountain to lobby again."
"Can you still walk?"
Lord Sun was in a bad mood at the moment, so he made a joke.
Previously, the fourth brother sent the most famous top prostitute in the brothel on Fengshan Street, but Lord Sun, who was very self-disciplined, gave her to his old servant.
The old man has been very tired these days and has more white hair on his head.
Hearing his master's joke, the old servant smiled awkwardly and patted his waist, thinking about going to the old Chinese doctor on the street to buy some medicine and boil it.
After waiting for another half an hour, Lord Sun finally became completely disappointed, and he whipped his horse whip and said to the people around him in a rather depressed tone:
"Let's go back."
The fourth child was the most excited. No one knew what he talked about with Julie, but when he heard about going back, he was the first to jump up, pulled his belt, and walked back in a heroic manner.
But after taking a few steps, the fourth brother suddenly stopped and turned his head to look outside the mountain.
"There's news about the magic weapon there."
He said:
"There's a large group of people coming this way."
The "magic weapon" that Lao Si mentioned is actually the solar-powered drones deployed around the foothills by the wasteland warriors.
It has no combat capabilities and can only perform reconnaissance.
He couldn't understand the principles behind these machines, so according to his own understanding, he called these things that could transmit image information back, although he didn't understand the principles, "magic instruments."
"Um?"
Lord Sun also knew that Jiang the bandit had some abilities, and he knew how to transmit messages over a thousand miles. When he heard what the fourth brother said, he immediately became nervous, grabbed the reins, and asked in a low voice:
"Yes, Ruyifang is here again?"
"no!"
The fourth brother fine-tuned the chip signal, projected the images of several drones into his mind, carefully distinguished them, and then said to Lord Sun:
"They were people I had never seen before. They were carrying flags of several businesses and were escorted by a group of soldiers."
"Are there any more soldiers?"
Lord Sun's mind raced, and he immediately thought of a possibility, with an expression of anticipation and anxiety on his face.
He was waiting at the mountain pass. The twenty or so men from the mining protection team around him, under the scolding of the fourth brother, each clenched their rusty official swords in their hands.
The fourth brother himself grabbed the two Colts in the leather gun bag on his waist and was ready to call for support at any time.
Soon, the group of people that Lao Si mentioned appeared on the mountain road.
A very large team.
In addition to the people, there was also a convoy of more than 30 large ox carts with flags on them. When they got closer, Lord Sun could see clearly that those flags were the logos of various businesses outside the mountain.
He let out a long sigh.
As expected, these businessmen finally came.
It seems that businessmen are indeed profit-driven.
But is a letter written by me so powerful?
Judging from the current situation, it seems that all the large and small miners from several towns outside Fengshan have arrived.
Then Lord Sun's gaze fell on the soldiers who were not wearing armor. Although they did not have standard armor, more than 30 people were riding on horses, guarding the convoy on both sides.
The formation is clear and awe-inspiring, and it is clear at first glance that the soldiers are elite soldiers who have fought in many battle
In front of the carriage, there was a man in black clothes and a bamboo hat, talking to several businessmen.
Lord Sun has never seen him.
I don't even have any memory of this person.
When the two sides met and exchanged pleasantries, the merchants did not hesitate and said directly that they were here to buy ore and had brought cash. Lord Sun then asked his old servant to take them to the ore warehouse outside Fengshan Street to make the purchase.
But he didn't leave.
After the merchants left with the ox caravan, the man in black, who was guarded by elite soldiers, came forward, rode on his horse, took the initiative to bow to Lord Sun, and introduced himself, saying:
"My surname is Hong, and I am a member of the governor's family. I came here this time to help my master see with my own eyes the 'Sun Qingtian' who has eliminated harm for the people."
"Ah, so you are from the family of Governor Hong."
Lord Sun was half surprised and half happy. He immediately returned the gift and warmly invited the butler to his yard.
He already understood it in his mind now.
The reason why these businessmen dared to come to Fengshan to buy mines despite the threat of offending Ruyifang was not because of his letter, but because of the mysterious man's behind-the-scenes support.
This action also secretly proved that the masked Governor Hong, whom he had never met before, supported him. The bandit Jiang's confident assassination of the manager of Ruyifang as a token of his loyalty finally received a response.
Butler Hong did not act in a pretentious manner and was very gentle, and he had a very pleasant conversation with Lord Sun along the way.
In fact, he arrived at the small town outside Fengshan four or five days ago.
But he never came. He kept his troops inactive for the past few days, observing the changes. He also learned through his own information channels that the conflict between the Fengshan bandits and the monks had been resolved.
Yesterday, even Sanque Mountain, which is very prestigious in the local spiritual world, came out with news that it was endorsing the spiritual stones of Fengshan Kunlun Square, saying that not only were the prices favorable, but the quality was also excellent.
Invite independent cultivators and small sects to go to Fengshan to purchase.
This incident shows that the mysterious man behind this "Sun Qingtian" in front of us does have the means. He not only resolved the crisis, but also found opportunities to win from it, and directly cut off the source of the problem for Ruyifang.
This kind of murderous and heart-breaking method made Butler Hong sigh in his heart, and he also knew that it was time to move on to the next step of what the master had ordered.
It's time to have a talk with the person in charge of that big business that is as big as Ruyifang's foundation.
The news of this man's arrival was soon sent to Jiang Xia through the fourth brother's spy. Jiang Xia, who was talking to Rogge at the time, was suddenly enlightened when he heard this.
Good things take time, but it has been delayed for so long, it’s time to get serious and do some real work.
"Su, pack your things, dress presentably, and follow me to meet the client."
