“Of course, of course.” Ren Yuankui nodded repeatedly, then lowered his voice and asked, “What did Overseer Shen say? Has it been decided?”
“Heh, I was waiting for you to ask.” Wei Xiong took a sip of wine and said with a smile, “30% of 10 years’ tax for Fengzhou’s 12 counties. Lu County is rich and prosperous, so we want an additional 20% from there. How about that?!
“This…” Ren Yuankui’s eyebrows twitched when he heard this. He smiled bitterly and said,” You know that in order to gain the support of the Ye and Jiang families, I’ve already given 40% of Fengzhou’s taxes to them. If I give 30% more…”
“Hehe, Governor Ren, don’t hide it from me.” Wei Xiong sneered and said, “I don’t believe that you won’t increase the taxes after you take office. What we’re setting now is only the current tax rate!
“Even if you give out 100%, as long as you become the Governor of Fengzhou and double the tax rate of those bumpkins, won’t you earn it all back?”
“If the taxes are too high. I’m afraid the officials will lead the people to rebel!” Ren Yuankui still had a bitter expression.
“F*ck you, are you pretending to be a loving parent now?” Wei Xiong scolded jokingly, “There are people starving to death by the roadside every day in your county city. I don’t see anyone rebelling.”
“This, hehe…” Ren Yuankui was speechless. Actually, under his rule, in order to ensure the expenditure of the army, countless citizens had already starved to death.
“When I came, Overseer Shen had already told me.” Wei Xiong followed up with another killing move. “If we can’t reach an agreement here, we’ll have to ask the Governor of Lu County.”
“You want to ask Cui Heng?!” Ren Yuankui’s eyes widened when he heard that. He stood up and said, “How can you look for him? That fellow is enforcing government orders in the various counties under his rule and forcefully buying the assets of the various large factions at 10% of the market price. If he becomes the State Overseer, we won’t have a good time.” “Moreover, he even destroyed the Wang and Xie alliance army and captured Wang Qinghe and Xie Beixing. He has offended the Wang Family of Langya and the Xie Family of Pingshan thoroughly. How can we let him be the State Overseer? No, definitely not.”
After the destruction of the Wang and Xie allied forces, the various counties in Fengzhou had sent spies to investigate and find out the truth. The results were that Governor Cui Heng had used a great divine power to kill all the soldiers of the Wang and Xie allied forces, and there was also the river and lake as evidence. However, not many people believed this.
This was because it was too unbelievable. It was a complete challenge to one’s common sense. At most, they were a little skeptical. Most people thought that they had used the terrain to set a trap in advance and drowned the army.
Unless one had personally experienced or seen it with their own eyes, it was very difficult to truly believe such an outrageous
thing.
“Hehe, whether it happens or not, it’s still up to you, the Governor of Luo’an County.” Wei Xiong took a slow sip of wine and said with a smile, “30% of the taxes of Fengzhou’s 12 counties for ten years. Lu County’s share will increase by 10%. This is the bottom line.”
“…” Ren Yuankui’s expression kept changing. For a moment, many thoughts flashed through his mind. He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. “Alright, I’ll do it!”
A grand banquet was being held in the Luo’an County Governor’s Office.
However, the streets outside were filled with cold winds. The doors of the houses were tightly shut, and many beggars were hiding in the alleys to avoid the cold wind. All of them were shivering from the cold.
It was already night when Hui Shi arrived. The road was quiet and deserted. It was dark and he could hear a dog barking. He turned to see a beggar fighting a dog for a bone.
Not far from the beggar lay a child who looked to be less than ten years old. His body was stiff and motionless. It was obvious that he had been dead for some time.
“This is a county city?” Hui Shi frowned slightly. Before he came to Luo’an County, he had heard that this was the most powerful county besides Changfeng County. He did not expect it to look like this.
However, he couldn’t care less about such matters for the time being. Hence, he walked straight towards the governor’s office.
There were two bailiffs in front of the Governor’s official office.
When they saw Hui Shi walking over, their eyes lit up and they muttered, “Haha, there’s actually someone who’s not afraid of death and dares to walk around in front of the Prefectural Governor’s mansion at night. We have money for wine now!”
Hence, the two baliffs immediately stepped forward and stopped Hui Shi. They shouted sternly, “Stop! Where did this unruly commoner come from? How dare you barge into the Governor’s Mansion at night?!”
“I’m an envoy sent by Governor Lu, Cui Heng, to deliver a letter to Governor Luo’an.” Hui Shi’s temper has improved a lot recently. He explained patiently, “I’m not some unruly person, nor am I here to break into the Governor’s Mansion at night. Please let me through.”
“What bullsh*t Governor of Lu County? I’ve never heard of him! I think you just want to barge into the Governor’s Mansion at night!” How could the two constables understand human language? They directly stretched out their hands and sneered, “Five taels of silver, or go to jail!”
“Oh?” Hui Shi suddenly grinned. “Is that
SO?!”
