Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Back at the newspaper office, the two chose an empty room and sat facing each other, speechless.

Li Yuanzhao sat on the chair, lost in thought.

Seeing him like this, Fang Zheng didn't want to disturb him, so he poured two cups of tea and drank them himself.

Outside the door, the reporters were constantly discussing loudly, seemingly talking about a certain news story.

Just like that, until the tea was cold and finished, after Fang Zheng drank three cups in a row, Li Yuanzhao finally opened his mouth with a hoarse voice.

His tone was filled with heartache and unconcealable disappointment: "How could this be? I didn't tell them to extort the people."

"They are also the people; they would also try their best to help with disaster relief when there were floods in the neighborhood."

"They drink and eat meat with me... There were no problems before... How could this happen now..."

His words were full of disappointment.

Fang Zheng could only listen quietly. He had also experienced betrayal, and he understood that kind of feeling of being deceived.

A simple little clerk in the workplace suddenly became a county magistrate overnight, bearing burdens that didn't belong to him, and he couldn't shake them off.

He struggled with these "burdens," and finally, when it came time to eat meat and share the silver, some of those who had shared weal and woe would inevitably develop ulterior motives.

The aura of the county magistrate on him could not deter everyone.

Those great figures who seemed unattainable and untouchable to outsiders, until you walked into their lives, the physical distance was shortened.

The light of the aura would gradually dissipate... The sense of awe and boundaries would also disappear, which is human nature.

This is also part of the reason why the Sanitation Team dared to deceive and abuse their power for personal gain.

The Crown Prince often mingled with his subordinates, which seemed harmonious and beautiful. But it contained hidden worries. Fang Zheng never said much, just watched quietly. Some things could only be learned through personal experience. It always felt different when told by others.

Li Yuanzhao sat in place, looking somewhat at a loss.

Fang Zheng then said softly: "Has Your Highness ever thought that this is actually your problem?"

"My problem?! What problem could I have?" Li Yuanzhao felt a tightness in his chest: "I just want the people to have a better life. It's the people below who are deceiving me!"

"Your Highness, what kind of people are they? They were originally just a group of people who emptied latrines, not knowing a single character."

"They have to get up early and work late every day to earn a penny, barely making ends meet."

"Now that they have the opportunity to make money, how can they not do it? Even if it means oppressing others!"

"Even if their lives have improved compared to before, their horizons have also broadened, and their desires have grown."

"Now that Your Highness has handed the power into their hands, will they give up this opportunity?"

"Has Your Highness realized how important the two words 'Crown Prince' are? You represent the imperial court, the country."

"Now that you stand behind the Sanitation Team, it means that the imperial court stands behind them."

"How can they not take advantage of their advantages? Perhaps they have never deceived Your Highness, but simply submitted proposals layer by layer to Your Highness, which Your Highness approved one by one, and then the Sanitation Team added pressure to the merchants layer by layer."

"They raise the standards to an impossible level, on the one hand, they are using you to expand their power, and on the other hand, they are trying to shift the responsibility to the merchants in case you inquire about the situation below one day."

"Anyway, the Sanitation Team has set standards in their hearts, it's just that the merchants don't obey the management and can't always achieve them."

"They will always extract benefits from it, and the merchants are always making mistakes." Fang Zheng said slowly, his voice unhurried.

Li Yuanzhao became more and more depressed. After Fang Zheng finished speaking, he swallowed and retorted: "Lao Fang, you're being too harsh."

"Even if they don't know a single character, even if they used to be latrine cleaners, I still have many good people under me."

"Do you remember Captain Wang who rescued people during the disaster relief? He risked his life to rescue injured people from collapsed houses."

"He is now in charge of the largest area in Banshan Ward. I don't believe he could do such a thing!"

"Shen Yi!" After Li Yuanzhao finished speaking, Fang Zheng shouted directly.

Shen Yi pushed the door open and entered.

"Bring me the materials I asked you to prepare!"

Hearing this, Shen Yi turned and returned to his workstation, and soon brought back a few pages of materials and placed them on Fang Zheng's table.

"Thank you, leave the door open, go and get busy." Fang Zheng picked up the materials: "Your Highness, this is the evidence of the Sanitation Team extorting merchants."

"Moreover, this is only a part of it. On the surface, they are still the Sanitation Team, but in private, they have long become a gang of robbers."

"And Captain Wang, whom Your Highness mentioned, he is greedier than anyone else. As long as a large restaurant pays him twenty taels of silver a month, it can be exempted from all inspections!"

"All in all, he can collect at least hundreds of taels of silver a month. If he works hard for a few months, he can live a life of carefree wealth!"

"If Your Highness doesn't believe it, you can call him over for a face-to-face confrontation!"

Li Yuanzhao's eyes were distracted. He grabbed the materials and pointed at the words on them, reading them carefully.

He muttered to himself: "Impossible, I have drunk with him three times. He is a generous person, and the people below all love him. There is no reason for him to do such a thing. If it's really as you said, how could he be the kind of person who risked his life to save others?"

As he spoke, he couldn't continue. Following his finger, the details of Captain Wang's deeds were recorded in detail.

Gradually, Li Yuanzhao's eyes turned red.

The reporters who walked the streets and alleys every day and visited everywhere were very professional, with a level of professionalism comparable to that of detectives. As a result, the content above was written in too much detail, with the specific locations, the amount of money exchanged, and even the time written clearly.

Combined with today's on-the-spot investigation, there was almost no possibility of any falsification.

Li Yuanzhao gave up and leaned back in his chair in dejection.

He spread his hands, and the papers scattered on the ground.

Fang Zheng got up and picked up the materials, and said lightly: "Does Your Highness need to call Captain Wang over for a confrontation?"

"No... no need..." Li Yuanzhao said dejectedly: "Where did I go wrong... Am I not good to them? Why do they treat me like this?"

"Of course they are not targeting Your Highness." Fang Zheng smiled slightly: "But these disasters can be said to be caused by Your Highness."

"Power is like fine wine, it is addictive and can corrupt a person."

"They are not strong enough to bear this power... Naturally, they cannot control it."

"As a result, they use the power in their hands to make things difficult for merchants... Mutual oppression between the bottom layers."

........