Ping ping pang pang~~
Ding ding dang dang~~
Seeing the dark gun muzzles, the first reaction of the people in the alley was to drop their weapons.
Short knives, wooden clubs, bricks, and dung forks were scattered on the ground.
Lai Yifa laughed, pointing at the crowd: "A bunch of cowards! Tie them all up and take them back to the Eastern Depot!"
"Yes!"
The guards behind him leaped down from the rooftop, apprehending all these intending wrongdoers and escorting them back to the Eastern Depot.
The Duke's Mansion, the Eastern Depot courtyard.
Fang Er and Chai Shao sat in the courtyard.
Liu Dacheng, who had been dragged from the prefectural office by Chai Shao's personal guards, sat awkwardly on the edge of his chair.
He was neither standing nor sitting properly at the moment.
Fang Er had never interfered with the security of Shenyang City. However, today, the bank had just opened for business. People had borrowed money from the bank and were subsequently targeted by the city guards and local ruffians.
If Fang Er had not instructed Lai Yifa to secretly follow, that old man would not only have lost his money, but possibly his life over these ten strings of cash.
Fang Er remained silent, as did Chai Shao. They both drank their Yuèdòng liquor intermittently, waiting for Lai Yifa's return.
In the courtyard, thirty-four people were already kneeling in neat rows.
Four Shenyang guards, the leader, and Guang Tou (Baldy) and his subordinates.
The courtyard gate was pushed open once more, and ten guards entered, escorting four people.
The captain among the guards walked up to Fang Er and saluted: "My Lord, these four are subordinates of that person. I have brought them back under Lord Lai's orders."
Fang Er gestured to an empty space in the courtyard: "Take them there."
"Yes, my Lord."
The four criminals were led to the open space.
"Kneel!"
A guard sternly ordered the criminals and simultaneously kicked them hard in the back of their knees.
*Pa!*
The four criminals fell to their knees, their kneecaps striking the stone slabs heavily, accompanied by screams.
Geigeigeigeigei~~~
Just then, from the kneeling crowd, a strange laugh suddenly erupted. This person was none other than the leader.
The four people brought in were precisely the subordinates who had abandoned him earlier.
"Damn it! Laughing! Still daring to laugh! Beat him up!"
Hearing the laughter, the captain casually pulled a guard over and cursed at the leader.
"Yes, Captain!"
One person stepped out from the guards, approached the leader who was laughing, and swung a whip at him.
"Aow~~!"
This whip strike was solid.
The leader, who had just begun to feel a sense of relief seeing his runaway subordinates captured, instantly developed a bloody gash on his face.
Now, only the pain remained, the initial joy gone.
Similarly, as the whip fell from the guard's hand, Liu Dacheng's mouth twitched involuntarily.
These blind fools, damn them, don't they know debtors are the masters?
They even dared to rob the Duke's superior!
This was making him look bad, even implicating himself.
Lai Yifa and the Eastern Depot guards had searched Shenyang City for a whole day.
Besides those who had attacked Mo Di earlier, there were also the hooligans and ruffians who later attacked other borrowers.
Fang Er remained seated, unmoving.
Chai Shao casually placed the empty Yuèdòng bottle in his hand on the table, stood up, and looked at the people kneeling on the ground.
"Good! As soon as I, this Governor-General, arrived in Shenyang, I witnessed such a spectacle!
Robbery in broad daylight!
Count them, there are at least a hundred people kneeling in this courtyard!
In the dignified Shenyang City, appointed by the Emperor as the Governor-General of the Northeast, it has become this chaotic. Liu Dacheng, what crime should you be punished for!"
As his voice reached the end, Chai Shao suddenly changed his tone, staring angrily at Liu Dacheng.
"Your Grace, please calm your anger. It is my fault. I have failed in my oversight."
Liu Dacheng quickly admitted his mistake, bending his waist to a ninety-degree angle.
"Please address me as Governor-General Chai!"
Chai Shao was displeased with Liu Dacheng's address.
"Dukes are as common as grass, easily found! They are not valuable!
But Governor-General is different. Throughout the Great Tang, there are only nine, and one of them is the Emperor himself.
Compared like this, who is more noble is self-evident."
"Yes, yes, Governor-General Chai, it is all my failure in supervision.
Please be assured, Governor-General Chai, I will strictly rectify the situation upon my return."
The weather in early winter, Liu Dacheng, however, had broken out in a fine sweat. As the north wind blew, he couldn't help but shiver.
"Humph!"
Chai Shao let out a cold snort and said to Liu Dacheng, "There's no need for Magistrate Liu to trouble himself.
From now on, in the Liaodong region, such matters will be handled by the Governor-General's staff!
Collect your taxes diligently and manage your subordinates!
If any official from the prefectural office dares to extend their claws towards the common people again, I will deal with you along with them!"
Liu Dacheng breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this: "Thank you, Governor-General Chai, for your leniency. I will ensure my officials are strictly managed in the future."
The imperial decree from above was very clear.
"Governor-General, on horseback, you command the troops; dismounted, you protect the people!"
If it were several hundred years ago, it would be like a feudal lord. In the Liaodong region, unless the Emperor himself came, Chai Shao was the law.
Seeing Liu Dacheng's sincere attitude, Chai Shao nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the people on the ground.
"Since you all wish to reap without sowing, I, this Governor-General, sentence you to three years of hard labor!"
Having said that, he waved to the Eastern Depot guards: "Take them away!"
"Yes, Governor-General!"
As guards of the Eastern Depot, their primary job was to gather information, so they understood who was who in this courtyard.
This person was the father-in-law of their boss's boss. Following his word was the correct course of action!
Upon hearing Chai Shao's verdict, the hooligans and ruffians on the ground immediately began to cry out in protest and plead for mercy.
The guards paid no attention. They had all been caught red-handed, so who was innocent?
After a round of whipping, they were escorted out of the courtyard.
Awaiting these people would be three years of arduous labor.
The events of today served as a reminder to both Fang Er and Chai Shao that the idle ruffians and so-called chivalrous individuals on the streets were all destabilizing factors to the peace in Liaodong.
Chai Shao directly dispatched the personal guards who had accompanied him, carrying his insignia, to summon the soldiers originally stationed there by the Ministry of War in various prefectures and counties of Liaodong.
Although the Governor-General's mansion had not yet begun construction, his presence as Governor-General had arrived. With nothing else to do, he might as well begin the reorganization and integration early.
As for Fang Er, he assigned a task to Lai Yifa: to cleanse the region of unstable elements.
There were two options: either be recruited as guards for the Eastern Depot, or be sent for hard labor.
The Liaodong region absolutely would not tolerate the breeding and development of dark and evil forces!