Chapter 106
106 Shakedown (2)
Besides, although the night watchman was feared by the officials due to his organization, Fu Xiang’s position was more than enough to be a concubine of a fourth-rank official.
“There’s no hurry. I’ll redeem you after I’ve saved some silver.” Xu Qi ‘an replied perfunctorily. He hugged the courtesan’s smooth body and let himself fall asleep in three seconds.
In the dark, Fu Xiang quietly stared at Xu Qi ‘an’s face, her eyes bright.
…..
The next morning, a group of people left the Imperial Academy.
When his colleagues saw Xu Qi ‘an, they greeted him with a smile, and their relationship became closer. If she had only treated Xu Qi ‘an as a colleague before, now she treated him as a little friend.
The effect was very good.
In fact, as long as he was not too jealous or had a high status, copper Gong, who was at the same level as him, would not mindlessly hate him.
Most people would be willing to befriend Xu Qi ‘an if they were more flexible, cater to his interests, and show goodwill.
Because in this way, the identity of a lucky bastard who was chosen by two golden gongs would be changed to:This guy who caught Jin Luo’s eye is my friend.
They walked and chatted along the way. A copper Gong suddenly laughed and said, “”Ningyan, you’re really a talent. You’ve let me know how ignorant and boring I was in the past.”
His colleagues let out kind and ambiguous laughter.
Xu Qi ‘an shrugged. I’ll teach you a few more interesting ways to play later.
What was more interesting was … Everyone’s eyes lit up.
They arrived at the watchman’s Yamen at dawn. After the roll call, Xu Qi ‘an and song tingfeng went to the side hall of spring breeze Hall. They had a few sips of tea and were about to go out to patrol the streets when an official rushed in.
“My Lords, Lord li has invited you.”
There’s a job … Xu Qi ‘an and the other two hung their sabers and walked side by side to spring breeze Hall.
Li Yuchun, who was meticulously dressed, perfectly blended in with the equally neat and orderly spring breeze Hall.
Brother spring, it’s very tiring for you to live like this … Xu Qi ‘an sympathized with her boss’s OCD.
Li Yuchun pointed at the three cards on the table. “We’re going to raid a house today. The three of you will go on my behalf. I’ll repeat the same words again, don’t do anything unnecessary.
“In 15 minutes, gather in the front yard and go with the other colleagues.”
It was actually a house raid?
Xu Qi ‘an was shocked. Shakedown was one of the jobs of night watchmen, and their targets were criminals.
“This is the document.” Li Yuchun showed the three of them the documents that had been sent to him.
The target of this raid was the head of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of gold, a rank six official. Exiles and shakedowns for corruption and dereliction of duty.
The so-called “shakedown” referred to the seizure of the property and the confiscation of all property. In Xu Qi ‘an’s previous life, it was equivalent to depriving the criminal of his personal property.
Li Yuchun glanced at Xu Qi ‘an and said, “”This person is a subordinate of Vice Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Revenue.”
He was telling Xu Qi ‘an that this was a follow-up to the tax case.
The fall of a Big Shot in the Imperial court was bound to be accompanied by the dismissal and punishment of the officials attached to him. It was like the mud brought out by pulling out a radish.
Xu Qi ‘an and the other two left. On the way to the front yard, song tingfeng said, “”This is your first time participating in a raid, so there are some rules you don’t understand.
“When the property is seized, the clerk will count all the valuable items in the front yard, record them, and then bring them back to the Yamen. However, they won’t participate in the plundering.”
At this point, song tingfeng gave him a look that said ‘you’ll understand’.
An old fox like Xu Qi ‘an immediately understood what he meant.
“From what the boss means …” Xu Qi ‘an asked.
“Hey, don’t mind him.” Song tingfeng pursed his lips,”the boss is so stubborn.” We have to reasonably seek benefits for ourselves.”
Xu Qi ‘an nodded. This was indeed a more reasonable way of seeking benefits.
Like him, song tingfeng didn’t want to extort money from merchants or people, but he was going to confiscate the property of a corrupt official.
The silver itself was not clean, and it was used to pick up Da Feng’s wool, not the People’s wool.
He had seen this kind of thing too many times in both his previous life and this life. Xu Qi ‘an adopted an attitude of neither objection nor agreement.
This time, the shakedown was led by a silver Gong, four groups of copper Gong, and 24 bailiffs.
Every three copper gongs belonged to different silver gongs. The system of multiple teams was to monitor each other and report each other.
The system was good, but after a long time, everyone had a tacit understanding. If everyone took a little, it was equivalent to no one taking anything.
After listening to song tingfeng’s explanation, the three of them came to the front yard and saw that there were already gongs gathered.
The leader was a young man in his early 30s. He had thin lips and an unruly look in his eyes. Just by looking at his face, one could tell that he was not an easy person to get along with.
Song tingfeng led his two colleagues over to Yin Luo and took out their vouchers.
When Yin Luo saw the three of them, his eyes suddenly turned sharp as he said in a deep voice, “”You three are late.”
“We’re not late,” Xu Qi ‘an said in surprise.
They came over as soon as they received the news. Although they talked on the way and walked slowly, it definitely didn’t take more than 15 minutes.
Hearing this, Yin Luo’s eyebrows shot up, and his eyes suddenly became sharp. He took off the knife on his waist and aimed it at Xu Qi ‘an’s face.
Xu Qi ‘an leaned back and avoided the fierce whip in an instant.
As if he didn’t expect Xu Qi ‘an to Dodge, the silver Gong smacked and laughed evilly, “”You still dare to Dodge?”
“Lord, Lord …” Song tingfeng quickly stepped between the two of them and smiled apologetically, ” yes, we’re late. Please don’t be angry, Sir. We’ve delayed our work. There’s still good work waiting for you.
He could bring up the matter of shakedowns.
However, the silver Gong did not give him any face at all. It lifted its leg and kicked song tingfeng’s lower abdomen, sending him flying. He struggled for a while but could not stand up.
He’s targeting me … ‘But I didn’t offend him … Anger surged in Xu Qian’s heart, and he subconsciously pressed on the handle of his knife.
Yin Gong narrowed his eyes and laughed instead of getting angry. He swung his scabbard again and sneered, “”What? you want to draw your saber? are you worthy?”
I’ll be dead if you pull out your knife … Xu Qi ‘an raised her hand to block a few hits, and her arm bone was burning with pain from the whipping.
It was a little embarrassing to have so many people watching.
Seeing Xu Qi ‘an admit defeat, Yin Luo sneered and said, “”Get in.”
Xu Qi ‘an and the other two joined the team.
Following that, more copper gongs arrived one after another, but that silver Gong didn’t care and allowed them to enter.
Seeing this, Xu Qi ‘an was certain that the silver Gong was targeting him. However, he was puzzled because he had not offended him.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t pull out your knife just now, or you’d be dead.” Someone behind him said.
Xu Qi ‘an turned around and saw that it was the gong that they had drunk with last night.
I’m not that stupid. It’s a big crime to draw my saber against a silver Gong. He said.
“His surname is Zhu, and he’s the youngest Yingluo in the Yamen,” Tong Gong said in a low voice.
“I don’t know him,” Xu Qi ‘an said gloomily.
“His father’s surname is also Zhu,” Tong Gong said.
Xu Qi ‘an thought to himself,’ isn’t this nonsense?’then, he heard Zhu guangxiao beside him say in a low voice,”Red golden gong?”
The copper Gong that was drinking wine made a sound of acknowledgment and added, “”He is the youngest silver Gong, and also the most promising young man in the capital Yamen.
the day before yesterday, I was drinking with his subordinate, Tong Luo.. heard him say that Zhu yinluo doesn’t like you very much. He said more than once that you’re just a mere Gong …
At this moment, Zhu yingong’s sharp gaze swept across the crowd, and the gong immediately fell silent.
[ PS: there’s still one more chapter. I’ll go to sleep after I post it. ]