CH 82

The warm sun shines brightly.

The wind is gentle and the weather is beautiful.

But in the luxurious villa on the top of Qingcheng Mountain, Lai Juncheng's face is clouded with gloom.

Recently, everything has been going wrong for him.

Originally, he thought Changshan County was just a broken car that could be kicked down with one kick.

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But unexpectedly, the first kick resulted in a broken bone.

After discovering that Changshan County was actually tight on the outside and loose on the inside, Lai Juncheng dispatched a large number of spies. As long as they passed the peripheral checks, there would be no danger in entering Changshan County.

These spies continuously reported a large amount of accurate firsthand information to him.

This was the first time Lai Juncheng truly understood the internal situation of Changshan County.

The first issue was the problem of the disaster victims. The scene of famine, resentment, and conflict between officials and the people that he had anticipated simply did not exist. According to the reports sent back by the spies, the lives of the disaster victims were even better than that of the local farmers. They could have two to two and a half bowls of porridge a day, at least 150 grams of vegetables, and sometimes even 5 to 10 grams of meat.

Not only that, they were not lacking clean water, were not lacking in warm supplies, and even medicine was not particularly scarce.

This was simply unimaginable. With this level of consumption, the 300,000 disaster victims would need at least over 1 million a day, and with various supplies, it would take at least 50 million a month to sustain them. Changshan County was extremely poor, and there was no imperial assistance. Where would they get so much money?

Sheng Huaixuan did indeed steal a lot of gold from Longzhou, and cleverly avoided the blame and punishment from the imperial headquarters. He only received a small punishment and seemingly severe but actually useless criticism.

From this incident, one could indeed see Sheng Huaixuan's high political level and his skillful and flexible methods, as well as his bold and meticulous style of doing things.

However, even so, he could only have taken 2-3 tons of gold from Longzhou at most, and most of it was returned. Otherwise, even if the emperor personally intervened, he wouldn't be able to cover it up.

The current value of one ton of gold is 340-380 million, which means Sheng Huaixuan's net profit would not exceed 1 billion. How much could he distribute to Changshan County with so many hungry wolves under his command?

According to Yue Nian's estimation, even if Sheng Huaixuan favored Changshan County, he could only give them a maximum of 40 million. If it was more, there would definitely be people who would rebel.

In other words, can Changshan County's funds not even last for a month?

Moreover, Changshan County's expenses are not just limited to this. Adding other expenses, they might not even last for half a month.

Has that brat gone crazy?

Lai Juncheng and Yue Nian were both puzzled by this.

They could only understand it as a temporary policy, just to resist their attacks and the upcoming Thirteen States Joint Conference.

There was even worse news. It seemed that because the supplies were given so generously, the new county sheriff's reputation among the disaster victims was extremely high, to the point where it was untouchable.

Their plan to instigate the disaster victims to rebel and attack the county government now seemed almost impossible to succeed.

"This brat is not someone we can easily deal with. He was already prepared for this. It seems that he had made preparations long ago."

Lai Juncheng said with a gloomy face.

Yue Nian nodded, "Yes, he can gather the people's hearts so closely. He is indeed extraordinary and must be an absolute confidant secretly cultivated by Sheng Huaixuan. This kind of person is willing to stay in the position of a town mayor for three years without making a move. He is truly loyal."

Lai Juncheng agreed, "Yes, Sheng Huaixuan released him at this time just to ambush us. He is indeed a former Southern Heaven King, able to plan so far ahead."

"What should we do then?" Yue Nian asked.

Lai Juncheng sneered, "Sheng Huaixuan is indeed meticulous and has unparalleled strategies, but the situation is much worse than they imagined. Sheng Huaixuan is too arrogant. Does he really think that a brat who has just started out can withstand my attack as the Yellow Corpse Lai Juncheng?"

Yue Nian knew that Lai Juncheng had already made up his mind to take action and smiled, "Is Director Lai going to take real action?"

Lai Juncheng sneered, "He is not worthy yet. I have my own ways."

Just then, an inspector ran up, shouting loudly, "Report! Director Yue, Director Lai, the arrest operation was a great success! The illegal party, the Democratic Party, has been completely wiped out, uprooted. We have detained a large number of members of the Democratic Party and seized at least 150 tons of illegal goods. In their stronghold, we also found a large amount of evidence of illegal activities..."

Bang!

A bullet grazed past the inspector's face, leaving a bloodstain on his fat face.

He stood still for a second, his knees went weak, and he knelt down with a thud, crying out, "Director Lai, spare me!"

Lai Juncheng put down his gun and coldly said, "Don't play this game in front of me. Tell me the truth."

Yue Nian nodded, "Tell the truth, Xu Fatty. If there is even half a lie, I can't guarantee your safety."

Cold sweat dripped from Xu Fatty's head, but he dared not wipe it off. Trembling, he said, "Th-the Democratic Party has indeed been disbanded, but they still have branches in Mingzhou and Longzhou. The leader of the Democratic Party, Chen Xingtai, has been arrested, but other cadres have already escaped. They took away the most important evidence, as well as the contact book and password book."

Lai Juncheng looked at his gun and said coldly, "What else?"

The senior inspector choked up, as if he was about to cry.

"We failed in the pursuit and suffered a lot of casualties. They finally bypassed the Cold Valley Pass through a small road and reached the territory of Changshan County. Brothers didn't dare to continue pursuing them."

Lai Juncheng glanced at him, "Is there anything else?"

Xu Fatty cried, "There really isn't, Director Lai. That's all."

Lai Juncheng's face cleared slightly, "Get up. Although we didn't achieve complete success, we did destroy the illegal party's hiding places in the area. It can be considered a contribution. You can leave now."

Xu Fatty was overjoyed, "Thank, thank you, Director Lai!" He quickly got up and ran towards the stairs.

Bang!

A bullet hit the back of his head.

Xu Fatty fell to the ground, blood flowing all over.

Lai Juncheng didn't even look at the body, turned his head, and said to Yue Nian, "How did you let such an incompetent waste get in here? Despite all the preparations, they still managed to let the key figures and evidence escape."

Yue Nian's face was also not good, "It's really difficult now. Without crucial evidence, it's impossible for us to successfully accuse Changshan County of colluding with the illegal peasant party."

Lai Juncheng fell silent for a moment and said, "I will make some more efforts. Maybe I can still salvage the situation."

Yue Nian nodded, "There's no other way. Fortunately, we have also dealt a blow to Changshan County's procurement channels, causing their costs to rise significantly. I will continue to closely monitor this area. As long as there is an opportunity, we will cut off their channels and strike their logistics and transportation. That brat is not a god. As long as they don't have enough to eat, we don't have to worry about the disaster victims not rebelling. Even if it means starving a group of people to death, it will be enough for us to make a move."

Just then, a black-clad person appeared silently in front of them, bowing half-kneeling.

"Director Lai, the latest news. The 27 spies we infiltrated into the county government have all been wiped out."

"What?"

Lai Juncheng and Yue Nian stood up at the same time.

With a bang, the bone china teacup in Lai Juncheng's hand was crushed.

"Explain clearly. What happened exactly?"