Chapter 95: I Do Not Agree
"Do you think you can take Qiao Xiao away today?" Zhang Hongjiang sneered.
"Does Tang Qingfeng still dare not let them go?" Tang Wen asked back.
"Haha, I, Zhang Hongjiang, will wait and see." Zhang Hongjiang said with a smile.
"Then please ask Lord Zhang to accompany me to the Liushen Yamen." Tang Wen said.
"Of course, because I want to see what Qin Botong is capable of." Zhang Hongjiang said, flicking his sleeves.
Soon, the group arrived at the Liushan Branch.
"Haha, Lord Tang is very powerful." Kang Qingfeng said sarcastically as soon as he saw Tang Wen.
"It's amazing, but I don't think so." Tang Wen shook his head seriously.
"You are so young, but you have learned to find someone superior to you to put pressure on me?" Kang Qingfeng said.
"You have been refusing to release the people. Do you want me to kneel down and beg you?" Tang Wen replied coldly.
"We are all serving the country. As the war in the northwest is getting tense, spies from the Qin State have repeatedly invaded, and the heroes in the martial arts world are ready to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble.
Our Liushenmen shoulders a heavy responsibility. On the one hand, we have to catch spies, and on the other hand, we have to maintain the peace in the martial arts world and punish thieves and troublemakers.
But we are devoted to the court, and now we are so poor that we don’t even have a place to work.
As a royal noble and a first-class earl, what's wrong with donating a house?" Kang Qingfeng said angrily.
"Did I say I wouldn't donate? But what did you, Lord Kang, say? You actually gave me credit for my military merit based on the price of the mountain.
Qianyefang is located in the downtown area. I spent hundreds of thousands of taels, and you took sixty or seventy acres.
How many military merits are awarded according to mountain merits?
"Master Kang, you are clearly bullying me, Tang Wen, aren't you?" Tang Wen asked.
"Hehe, Lord Tang, that was in the past. We are different now." At this time, a middle-aged man with a thin and long face who had been standing next to Kang Qingfeng laughed.
"Who are you?" Tang Wen looked at him and asked.
"I am Chen Changkong, the helmsman of the Yanling branch." Kang Qingfeng said.
"Lord Tang, the Six-Handed Branch has always had two positions: the helmsman and the supervisor.
The two are of the same rank, both are fifth grade.
The helmsman is in charge of all affairs of the sub-helmsman, while the supervisor oversees the affairs of the helmsman and is in charge of money and grain, etc. "At this time, Yang Yun said.
Tang Wen understood that this was the government's means of checks and balances.
To put it bluntly, it is the art of balancing in the officialdom. The higher-ups are afraid that the helmsman will do something wrong, so they send a supervisor to supervise the helmsman in performing his duties.
In modern terms, the helmsman is a senior city official, and the helmsman is a combination of the mayor and the disciplinary official.
"Sir Chen, what's different now?" Tang Wen asked.
"The Yanling branch is not only in charge of the affairs of the Yanling County, but also the affairs of the neighboring Taizhou and Youyun Prefecture.
Our Linghai Province has seven prefectures and six states, and Yanling County governs three prefectures. Therefore, the staff must be expanded.
All together, including servants, constables, reserve members, and formal members, the total number of people reached more than 200.
These more than 200 people need food, clothing, a place to live, a place to work, and a place to practice.
We also have to build prisons and government offices, raise horses, etc. The area is too small to move around freely.
Therefore, Shodo thinks that your Chibabo should be completely requisitioned.
But don't worry, we will convert your military merits into the price of downtown, no more, no less." Chen Changkong said.
"Aren't you bullying people? This is a robbery in vain." Luo Yiwu was furious .
"How can you say it's robbing? This is requisitioned by the court. We have a written order from the provincial court. Lord Tang, please take a look." Chen Changkong laughed dryly and took out the written order. "Look carefully, this is the handwritten order from Lord Luo Ping'an, the head of the provincial court. It's also stamped with the provincial court seal."
"I don't agree." Tang Wen said.
"Does Lord Tang intend to disobey the provincial court's order?" Kang Qingfeng's face turned stern and he approached with an imposing manner.
"You are just trying to grab some military achievements. Do you think we don't know? It's you, Kang Qingfeng, who did it." Gu Hanyan was furious and took a step forward with a surge of energy.
Suddenly, a terrifying light green aura hit Kang Qingfeng, and Kang Qingfeng took three steps back.
Suddenly, his blood boiled, his face turned livid, and he pointed at Gu Hanyan and said, "Where did this troublemaker come from? Catch him and beat him to death!"
“Power!” Immediately, several disciples of the Six Gates rushed up with murderous intent.
"How outrageous!" Tang Wen snorted.
Luo Yiwu took a few steps forward and stood in front of Tang Wen, staring at Kang Qingfeng with a fierce look.
"Are you going to rebel?" Kang Qingfeng slapped the table next to him.
"I am the deputy commander of the Jiangzhou militia, and my rank is the same as yours, Lord Kang. Gu Hanyan is my personal servant. Lord Kang, where did this unruly person come from?" Tang Wen asked.
"Fifth rank, hahaha, do you call that an official? Tang Wen, don't use a nominal position to fight against me? You are not qualified." Kang Qingfeng laughed.
"How dare you! Kang Qingfeng, have you forgotten that I am still a first-class earl?
Royal noble, how dare you mock me like this?
Are you mocking the Chu royal family? Do you want me to report you right away?" Tang Wen said sternly.
Kang Qingfeng was startled and immediately shrank his neck.
This title is just empty if there is no official position to support it, but once there is a position of deputy envoy of the militia.
With the two honorary titles put together, plus Tang Wen has people under his command, money in his pocket, and masters like Gu Hanyan, he has some power.
Naturally, Kang Qingfeng became a little wary.
"Lord Tang, don't be angry. Harmony brings wealth. Harmony brings wealth. It's all for the court." At this time, Chen Changkong came out to smooth things over.
"Lord Tang, this is the intention of the provincial governor, not my personal behavior.
Moreover, Chibafang has 250 acres, and you bought it for just over 300,000 taels of silver, which is only worth 3,000 military merits based on the silver.
We gave you some extra points, and gave you 4,000 military merits. You are not at a disadvantage, right?" Kang Qingfeng said.
“That’s because the previous owner urgently needed money to pay off his debts, so he sold it at a 50% discount.
I am not in a hurry as I still need to use Qianyefang to do business.
Moreover, over the past few months, I have invested hundreds of thousands of taels in Qianyefang.
Your 4,000 military merits will be deducted, but I will never agree to that." Tang Wen said.
"So how much military merit do you want to convert into?" Chen Changkong asked.
“Once Qianyefang was developed, all the shops there were prosperous.
According to the current market price, it can be sold for at least 700,000 taels.
Add to that the hundreds of thousands of taels I invested in building the house, and the total is more than one million taels," said Tang Wen.
"Ten thousand military merits? Lord Tang, how dare you say that?" Kang Qingfeng was so angry that his teeth were chattering.
"If you offer me 10,000 military merits, I will have to think about it again." Tang Wen said.
"You're going too far! This is simply robbery. The court's military merits cannot be given away casually. They are all silver. Ten thousand military merits is absolutely impossible." Kang Qingfeng shouted with shaking lips.
"Forget it then. If you dare to enter Qianyefang, I will report you to the court for trespassing and occupying the private residence of a court noble." Tang Wen said sternly.
"Then I will handle this matter impartially. When the time comes, you just wait to receive Qiao Xiao's body at the execution ground." Kang Qingfeng was furious.
"Qiao Xiao was originally a servant of my Gu family. If you, Kang Qingfeng, dare to kill him, I, Gu Hanyan, will not live anymore. Unless you, Kang Qingfeng, hide back in the provincial government, there will be a day when you will be stabbed." Gu Hanyan was murderous.
"Get out! Get out now! You are not welcome in my Liushan branch." Kang Qingfeng was so angry that he was hysterical.
"Haha, Lord Kang, don't get angry and hurt yourself. Take care of yourself." Zhang Hongjiang smiled, turned around and left.
"Let's go!" Tang Wen waved his hand and turned away with his men.
"Sir, why did I tell you it wouldn't be that simple? Now you finally see it. In fact, it's not just you. We have also lost a lot of land to him." After coming out, Zhang Hongjiang sighed.
