In fact, whether it was the original Huns, the later Turks, or the current Khitans, they all made great achievements in diplomacy. They were not the reckless men that people imagined, who just did things without saying a word.

Even the later Jurchens destroyed the Liao Dynasty through diplomacy.

In the early days of the Song Dynasty, that is, during the reigns of Taizu and Taizong, the goal was to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. The Liao Kingdom then adopted the strategy of supporting the Western Xia to balance the Song Dynasty.

However, after the Treaty of Chanyuan, the relationship between the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty eased, and conflicts arose with the Western Xia again. That is, during the Li Yuanhao era, the diplomatic strategy was changed to reduce support for the Western Xia and strengthen relations with the Song Dynasty.

However, Li Yuanhao was also very smart. After successively defeating the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty, he immediately improved relations with the two countries, because he knew that the small Western Xia could not fight against both the Liao Dynasty and the Song Dynasty at the same time.

In the post-Li Yuanhao era, the Liao Kingdom saw that the Song Dynasty was making frequent moves and Western Xia was in a weak position, so it adjusted its policy and began to support Western Xia, but at the same time maintained a close relationship with the Song Dynasty.

Try to make the Song Dynasty consume its national strength on the land of Western Xia, so as to maintain the Liao Kingdom's advantage over the two countries.

Why the Song Dynasty couldn't destroy Western Xia was not because it couldn't win. After all, the national strength crushed Western Xia, and they could have worn them out. It was because as long as the Song Dynasty sent large-scale troops to Western Xia, the Liao Kingdom would inevitably mobilize heavy troops on the border and be ready to move south at any time.

However, since most of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were in the hands of the Liao Kingdom, the Song Dynasty had to stockpile heavy troops for defense, which required a huge amount of financial expenditure.

At the same time, there was also the consumption of annual tribute on the Song Dynasty's finances.

...

...

The Song Dynasty could never attack Western Xia with all its strength. Whether it went to war or not, it would always face the dilemma of fighting on two fronts.

This time the Song Dynasty made such a big move in Xihe. How could the Liao Kingdom just sit there and watch the Song Dynasty slowly encircle and suppress Western Xia? It was necessary to send people to take some action.

Fortunately, the disaster has just eased a little, otherwise Zhao Xu would really have suffered from depression, and once a problem occurred, all the problems would come out.

What a fucked up situation.

But even so, Zhao Xu still felt a lot of pressure. The key point was that the Xihe area was still in battle and the outcome was currently unknown.

Zhang Fei also felt the pressure Zhao Xu was under, so he said: "Your Majesty, between countries, we cannot expect Liao to be kind, or to let us destroy Xixia out of old friendship. Anyone else would do the same. This has nothing to do with morality, it's only about interests.

Therefore, I have always advised Your Majesty to be prepared to deal with both countries at the same time in case of emergency, but you must also use diplomatic mediation to try to avoid our army fighting on two fronts. "

Zhao Xu nodded slightly and asked again: "Then how do you think I should deal with it?"

“Strong.”

Zhang Fei said: "Your Majesty should be more assertive now, both externally and internally. Otherwise, you will be attacked from all sides like you were three months ago. Your Majesty has decided to switch to defense on the western front and has no plans to attack Xia now, so there is no need to worry too much about Liao taking advantage of the situation. We should put out the fire first."

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "You are right. Fortunately, I listened to your advice. Otherwise, we would be controlled by the Liao Kingdom again. But don't tell anyone about this for now. This is news from the Imperial City Department, and they don't know about it yet. Don't let those people get lucky and cause trouble for disaster relief."

Zhang Fei nodded, "I understand."

After talking with Zhao Xu, Zhang Fei left the palace and got on his carriage. A slight smile appeared on his face, and he said to himself, "If a system has not been tempered by the flames of war, it will definitely not be stable."

Li Si outside the car suddenly asked: "Third brother, where are we going now?"

Zhang Fei said: "Let's go home."

"yes."

But after a while, the carriage suddenly stopped.

"What's up?"

Zhang Fei lifted the curtain and saw a prosecutor standing next to the carriage.

"Prosecutor Zhang, Chief Prosecutor Xu wants you to go to the procuratorate."

"I know."

When I arrived at the procuratorate, I saw Xu Zun and Lu Dian sitting inside.

"Prosecutor Zhang is here."

Lu Dian stood up and bowed.

Zhang Fei returned the greeting and asked, "What happened?"

Xu Zun said: "It is like this. Recently, those students found out that some officials took advantage of the disaster to embezzle and accept bribes."

Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "Really?"

Lu Dian said, "Prosecutor Zhang, it is common for people to take advantage of disaster situations to fish in troubled waters."

"I know." Zhang Fei nodded, and then said: "I'm just surprised that those corrupt officials are too arrogant. They didn't even try to cover up and were caught by a few fledglings. This is different from the corrupt officials I have in mind!"

"Well."

Lu Dian was speechless.

Xu Zun said: "Don't worry about these things for now. The key is the punishment for corrupt officials. There are many contradictions. The main reason is that every monarch has issued an imperial decree for this situation. Some are very lenient and just demote them, but some are very strict and punish them with death penalty. If there is only one person, then it is easy for us to make a decision, but when there are more people, we must act in accordance with regulations."

Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment and said, "Our procuratorate should be more assertive and prosecute all cases with the most stringent punishment. Death penalty means death penalty. Anyway, the final judgment is not made by our procuratorate. This way, we can force the Legislative Council to legislate on this."

Xu Zun's eyes lit up and he nodded, "That's a good idea."

Suddenly, a clerk came to the door and said, "Prosecutor Zhang, Mr. Wang is here and he wants to see you."

"Why are there so many things going on today?"

Zhang Fei muttered softly.

Xu Zun said: "Go and see what's going on first, we'll talk about this later."

"yes."

"I came to you today because I want to ask your opinion on something."

Wang Anshi went straight to the point.

Zhang Fei asked hurriedly: "What's the matter?"

Wang Anshi said, "It's about coal."

"coal?"

"Um."

Wang Anshi nodded and said, "According to the observations of the Three Departments and the Ministry of Revenue, coal has become scarce recently. However, this situation usually only occurs in the deep winter. The reason for this is the prosperity of business."

Zhang Fei suddenly remembered that Hou Donglai had also mentioned this matter, and nodded, "I have heard about it too."

Wang Anshi said: "If business is more prosperous in the future, the demand for coal will certainly increase a lot."

Zhang Fei asked, "Does Wang Xue Shi want to control coal?"

Wang Anshi nodded and said, "Although many coal mines are currently mined by merchants and wealthy people, according to the system, the mountains, lakes and fisheries all belong to the court.

During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, a high tax was imposed on coal, which resulted in a sharp drop in the amount of coal coming to the capital. It was not feasible to collect taxes, so the state had to mine coal itself.

The country makes this money, so you all get out of here.

Zhang Fei said: "But the salt monopoly system has taught us that mining on our own will only breed corruption."

Wang Anshi said, "Aren't there your public security, procuratorate and courts supervising us?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Let me tell you a little secret, Master Wang. We have found out that during this disaster relief process, many people took advantage of the situation and accepted bribes."

Wang Anshi was shocked and asked, "Really?"

Zhang Fei said: "At present, they are just some minor officials."

Wang Anshi still frowned.

Damn it.

Taking advantage of the disaster to embezzle money is just showing disrespect to me, Wang Anshi!

Zhang Fei added: "What I want to say is that people die for money and birds die for food. The police, procuratorate and courts cannot suppress their greed."

Wang Anshi asked, "What suggestions do you have?"

Zhang Fei said: "Just like the wine koji, the state will provide funding and cooperate with merchants to mine, but the merchants must take full control. As for taxes, they must be paid, but they are also collected from profits. All taxes will be waived. This will reduce the cost of coal mining and promote commercial prosperity."

Wang Anshi nodded.

Soon after nightfall.

Han Mansion.

"Your Majesty."

Han Qi, supported by his son, slowly walked out from the back hall. He was somewhat surprised to see the young man sitting in the hall.

The person who came was the emperor.

It was really scary that the emperor suddenly came to his house at night.

Han Qi thought, all the food in my house has been taken away. I have been very low-key recently!

When Zhao Xu saw Han Qi, he immediately stood up, stopped Han Qi from bowing, and asked with concern, "How is Mr. Han?"

Han Qi hurriedly said, "Thank you for your concern, my health is better now, but this stubborn disease is hard to cure!"

Zhao Xu said: "Mr. Han, you must take care of your health. I still need your assistance."

Han Qi chuckled and said, "Nowadays, our dynasty has many talented people, and each of them is more powerful than the other. There is no need for an old man any longer."

"That's not the case." Zhao Xu shook his head.

Han Qi was stunned for a moment, then said to his son, "Go back to the house first."

"yes."

Han Zhongyan bowed to the emperor and left.

After Han Zhongyan left, Zhao Xu informed Han Qi of the matter of the Liao envoy.

Han Qi sighed and said, "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, this is what I expected, and it is also the main reason why I oppose Xihe's border expansion."

Zhao Xu said: "But if we don't destroy Xixia, our Song Dynasty will always be controlled by Liao. Don't you think it's wrong, Mr. Han?

"

Han Qi was silent.

Zhao Xu said anxiously, "There are only the two of us here, so if you have anything to say, please speak up."

Han Qi sighed, "In fact, your majesty is worried about, how could this old minister not know, in fact, Fu Yanguo is also very clear in his heart, but... but since the Chanyuan Alliance, Hebei's military preparations have been slack, and the army's morale has been weakened. They are no match for the Liao army at all. If a war breaks out, they will surely lose, and then they can only use the imperial guards of the capital to defend themselves."

"What?"

Zhao Xu was shocked and excited: "Since Han Xianggong knew this, why didn't he strengthen the military training when he was in charge of Hebei?"

Han Qi just sighed and said, "I am an incompetent old minister and I have disappointed Your Majesty."

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment, and said, "Prime Minister Han, please don't sigh first. I want to know why this happened."

Han Qi glanced at Zhao Xu, hesitated for a while, and then said: "Since the Treaty of Chanyuan, Ma Zhijie, Cao Wei, Wang Deyong and other military officials have been marginalized. There have been no wars for decades, and the military preparations have been abandoned. The soldiers have long lost their fighting spirit and have no strength to fight. They are almost the same as the Qingping Army in the East Route of Jingdong. And the finances of Hebei have also been exhausted by the flood."

Is it the Qingping Army that can even threaten bandits?

Zhao Xu just felt dizzy.

Whenever he thought of this, he felt so angry that his teeth itched.

Han Qi added: "At present, the only combat-capable army in our dynasty is the Western Army. Once the Western Army is held back by the Western Xia, it will be completely unable to defend against the Liao Kingdom's southward advance."

There was despair in his tone.

Neither he nor Fu Bi is actually a coward. Many people look at the historical results and always think that they are overly worried, but in fact, it is not the case.

Fu Bi was very strong in diplomacy towards the Liao Kingdom and would rather die than give up an inch of land. But when it came to going to war, Fu Bi was firmly opposed.

The reason is simple, that is, they are too aware of the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Guards.

I can’t beat him!

However, they could not tell the emperor about this matter directly, because it involved the conflicts of interest between the emperor and military generals, and between civil officials and military generals.

After the Treaty of Chanyuan, the peace faction gained the upper hand and the capable military generals were marginalized, which was a case of destroying their own military prowess.

But if we don't suppress the military generals, we're afraid that the situation of the Tang Dynasty's military governors will happen again.

They are actually helpless too.

If Han Qi had not completely left the court and the emperor had not come to him in person, he would not have said it so clearly.

After leaving the Han family, Zhao Xu looked up and sighed. After a while, he called the guard beside him and said, "Send someone to Jingdong East Road immediately to see how the royal police there are trained. If they are well trained, let the commander go to Hebei to train the royal police."

"As you command."

Before, Zhao Xu had always been a little hesitant and had never made a statement on the warehouse tax. He still left room for himself, that is, retaining the option of going to war with Western Xia. But now with the arrival of the Liao envoy and Han Qi's advice, he completely gave up. He must adopt a more conservative strategy on the western front, develop the country first, and concentrate on dealing with the threat from the Liao.

On the second day, he suddenly issued an edict to the Zongzheng Temple, stating that if any relatives of the imperial family evaded taxes in the future, they would all be handed over to the public security, procuratorate and courts for trial.

This of course includes warehouse tax.

This was also the first time that Zhao Xu expressed his attitude, and he directly targeted the royal family and relatives, with a very tough attitude.

At this critical moment, he must be strong.

Two months ago, he just hesitated for a moment, and internal forces began to put pressure on him in all aspects. When dealing with the Liao issue, if internal unrest arises again, he will face double pressure from both inside and outside.

Let’s make this matter a decision first, it cannot be changed, don’t hold on to any more luck.

Of course, the reason for targeting the royal family was also for financial reasons. How can you fight a war without money?

This time he was really cruel.

As soon as he made up his mind, the powerful and wealthy immediately gave up and no longer thought about him. Every household kept 500 shi to live on, and sold the rest.

Warehouse tax?

It's impossible to hand it over.

It’s impossible to make friends in this lifetime!

Why?

Fifty percent, why don’t you go and grab it.

After some initial confusion, the Ministry of Works finally came up with a relatively complete plan, which prioritized consolidating the river, followed by building public security, procuratorial and judicial offices, and finally, developing water conservancy projects.

Because water conservancy projects require on-site investigations, but the victims cannot wait, they need to obtain their livelihoods immediately, so this is implemented last.

Southern suburbs.

Wen Yanbo, Lu Gongzhuo and Sima Guang, three old men, came to the suburbs to inspect the people's conditions.

Upon closer inspection, the road was still crowded with food teams.

"How many days have passed? Why is there still so much food on the road?"

Sima Guang couldn't help but wonder.

Wen Yanbo smiled and said, "You'll have to ask Uncle Hui about this. I heard that his family's food has not yet been transported away."

"Please show some mercy, Lord Wen."

Lu Gong bowed and said, "Many people estimate that the grain in their warehouses is at least equivalent to the annual harvest of the capital. If they are released at the same time, they will definitely not be transported away in a short time."

One year? Sima Guang shook his head and said, "But I never thought that the warehouse tax could be implemented so smoothly."

He used to think that there was no lack of good laws, but a lack of execution, and that it was impossible to do anything. When the warehouse tax was first introduced, he also thought that it was absolutely impossible to do anything. But he did not expect that it would actually be accomplished. Although there were twists and turns in the middle, it was beyond his expectations.

Lu Gong said: "To be honest, this warehouse tax is not excessive. It is just asking you to sell the grain. In our capital area, how can the grain not be sold? And we don't collect business taxes. If it is a little excessive, it will definitely not be enforced."

Sima Guang nodded slightly, knowing that this was all thanks to Zhang San. His bills always made people feel painful, but he couldn't say it out loud.

Unlike Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi, who were eager to go all the way, but ended up in failure.

As they were talking, they suddenly heard a commotion coming from the front, and the three elders looked up.

Wen Yanbo was slightly surprised, "When did a small town appear here?"

But in front of us, there were numerous straw huts, wooden huts and several buildings standing among them. It looked like a small town.

Lu Gong said, "This is the headquarters of the Royal Police in the southern suburbs. It just so happens that a river is being repaired nearby, so there are a lot of workers working nearby. Now their food, clothing, housing and transportation all need money, so more and more vendors come here to do business."

Wen Yanbo nodded and said, "It seems that there are indeed many more vendors and craftsmen recently. In a year of disaster, this is extremely rare."

Lu Gong said: "This is not only rare, it is unprecedented. This doesn't look like a disaster at all."

Sima Guang said: "But the court did not send millions of strings of cash to provide disaster relief when the disaster first started. This is only temporary. When the people go back home to farm, these vendors will disappear. In addition, the tax revenue in the disaster area this year is expected to drop sharply, because all the money collected is tax coins. The fiscal burden will definitely be heavier next year."

Lu Gong said: "But the three officials said very clearly at the hearing that if the court issued a thousand strings of cash, it could lead to the arrest of tens of thousands of strings of cash."

Sima Guang said: "Even if tens of thousands of taels of silver are seized, the profit will not be that much. This money is only so much after being circulated around."

Wen Yanbo also nodded and said, "Junshi is right. After all, this is all made possible by the money given by the court. The financial pressure next year will definitely be great."

Why is it so prosperous during disasters? It’s because of the money thrown at it. There must be hundreds of thousands of consumers in Beijing alone. How can business not be prosperous?

The key salary is not low.

The court must have suffered the most.

But what they didn't expect was that production was also increasing. As the consumer group grew, production had to keep up, and that was the extra wealth.

As they were talking, they arrived at the "small town", and suddenly an inspector and four royal police went straight to the temporary disaster relief agency.

But after a while, they came out with a middle-aged man in official uniform.

What's going on?

Is it just that smooth?

Wen Yanbo and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

The people who were brought out were not clerks, but officials, although they were of the lowest level.

Wen Yanbo hurriedly shouted, "What's the matter?"

The official seemed to recognize Wen Yanbo and hurriedly shouted, "Mr. Wen, help me! I have been wrongly accused."

The prosecutor and four royal police officers also realized who the old man was and hurriedly saluted.

"No need to be so polite."

Wen Yanbo asked again: "What happened?"

The prosecutor said, "In reply to Lord Wen, this person is involved in embezzling disaster relief funds."

"Yeah?"

Wen Yanbo couldn't help but be shocked. This was really a crime against the wind.

The official tried to explain: "Don't believe him, Lord Wen. The Ministry of Revenue is keeping an eye on these accounts. I wouldn't dare to do this even if I had ten guts."

The prosecutor said, "You didn't embezzle directly, but we found that there was a discrepancy of more than 20 positions between the number of people on the recruitment list and the number of people actually working. Now we have arrested all of those people, and they all testified that you arranged it."

Wen Yanbo immediately realized that one hundred coins a day for twenty people would be two strings of coins a day, and sixty strings of coins a month. For a minor official like them, it would improve their lives. He said, "I'm just asking casually. Take him for questioning."

When the official heard this, his face turned pale.

After they left, Wen Yanbo sighed

"With the public security, procuratorial and judicial authorities so powerful, they dared to fish in troubled waters. This person's greed is really terrible!"

Lu Gongzhuo said, "I guess this was the norm in the past. They didn't expect the public security, procuratorate and courts to investigate such a small matter."

As they were talking, they suddenly saw Sima Guang put his hands into his sleeves and looked nervous.

Wen Yanbo asked, "Junshi, why are you so uneasy? This matter has nothing to do with you, right?"

Sima Guang said hurriedly: "I am worried about other places. With such a large sum of money thrown out, there will definitely be many people who will take risks. Can Qi Xiye and his men handle it?"

This is the largest expansion since the emergence of public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.

However, as the vanguard, the Royal Police were relatively successful.

It’s really interesting to say, all thanks to Wang Anshi and the Qingmiao Law.

Since the disaster, the Qingmiao Law has become a lifeline for the people. Officials dare not refuse it, and can only force the people to lose their homes and lives.

As soon as Ma Xiaoyi, Fu Shichun and others arrived, they immediately suspended the debt collection under the Qingmiao Law, which immediately won the trust of the people.

It can be said to be effortless.

Xuzhou.

The police station, which had just hung its sign, immediately became bustling with activity.

I saw a group of landlords sitting in the police station and banging their heads on the table, while a group of old farmers stood beside them with their heads down.

The Qingmiao Law was only secondary; the key issue was also the usury among the people.

The Royal Police has established its personnel to defend the legitimate rights and interests of the people, so people who are being forced to pay their debts come to the Royal Police for help.

The Royal Police have no time to worry about the disaster now and are busy dealing with debt issues all day long.

Fu Shichun suddenly came out from the inner room and asked the civilian police, "Have you recorded everything?"

"Everything has been recorded." The policeman nodded.

"Stop making noise!"

Fu Shichun stopped the complaining landlords and said, "Our police station does not have the power to judge, and the government does not have the power to judge at the moment. We have to wait until the imperial court and the procuratorate arrive before we can make a decision."

A well-mannered young man said, "But Master Fu, the loan contract has expired. If you delay it any further, the interest will only be higher."

Another wealthy man with a face full of flesh stood up and said, "We can wait for the imperial court, but we have to pay the interest."

The landlords here are not afraid of the public security, procuratorate and courts at all, and this is all thanks to Su Shi. Before, Su Shi came here to build the public security, procuratorate and courts, but was ruined by these officials and landlords.

Fu Shichun smiled slightly and said, "We will pay what we should pay, don't worry about that, but during this period, don't bother them again. If they hurt anyone, the interest may not be enough to compensate them."

"Okay, since Master Fu said so, we have to give him the honor. I'll leave everything to you."

"It's my job."

"Goodbye."

"Everyone, take care."

After all these people left, a royal police officer said, "Master Fu, the presidents and prosecutors are walking slowly. If this drags on, the interest will have to double."

Fu Shichun said: "When you have nothing to do, read the law more and don't embarrass our Royal Police."

The royal police officer was immediately confused.

Another Royal Police officer said, "Old Liu, have you forgotten that we have to follow the case of Prosecutor Zhang? These interests are all more than double. If we judge according to the law, we have to reduce the interest by at least three quarters. Even if the farmer can't pay it back, he can still pay it back in installments."

Fu Shichun ignored them and called one of his trusted followers over, whispering, "Please make another copy later and send it to the tax commissioner."

"Yes, sir."

On the surface, the Royal Police were the first to arrive, but in fact the Commissioner of Taxation was the first to arrive, and they had been operating here for a year.

Loan sharks also need to pay taxes!

Suddenly I heard a commotion outside.

A Royal Police officer immediately stood up and said, "Captain Ma is back."

"It seems like we've gained a lot today!"

The Royal Police in the house came out immediately, only to see Ma Xiaoyi and a group of other Royal Police officers escorting more than a dozen big men into the yard.

“Get down!”

"Everyone, get down right there. You're just showing off your skills and trying to imitate others in collecting stall fees. You really don't know what's good for you."

Ma Xiaoyi kicked one of them down, then strode towards Fu Shichun who was in front of the door.

Fu Shichun walked over and asked, "What did you do wrong?"

Ma Xiaoyi said: "They say that there are strongmen on the river. People have to pay them money to fish in the river. Now it is even more outrageous. During the drought, people have to pay them money to get some muddy water in the river."

Then he whispered, "I heard there's a wealthy man behind them."

Fu Shichun nodded and said with great satisfaction: "I didn't expect that there are so many kind-hearted people in Xuzhou. The bonus of our police station now depends entirely on them."

There is a special case for the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments. When a person first arrives at a place, if he has not committed a major criminal case, he will not be given a heavy punishment. He will either be forced to work or be given a ransom.

Wherever Ma Xiaoyi went, he would first deal with the strong men on the road to stretch his muscles. Now the morale of the royal police is high, and there are still a lot of them. Compared with the few people who went to Hezhong Prefecture at the beginning, this time Ma Xiaoyi directly led 5,000 royal police south. It can be said that this is the most powerful armed force in the Song Dynasty except for the Western Army.

It’s not that the royal police are so talented that they can fight against the regular army of Liao. It’s just that the combat effectiveness of the imperial guards is too poor. Even a bandit like Wu Tian can threaten the imperial guards.

It's not that I'm incapable, but that I've lost my backbone. As the saying goes, it's better to live a miserable life than to die. What can I get by fighting with Wu Tian?

However, the Royal Police could get promoted and receive bonuses if they fought the robbers desperately, so they were all very brave. The first batch of Royal Police were almost all at the level of sheriff.

All the royal police rushed to go south, because it was too difficult to get promoted in the capital and there was almost no room for promotion. After making meritorious services in the south, they would be the police chiefs in the Hunan, Hubei and Guangdong regions.

When the disaster struck, the world was in chaos, with thieves and robbers everywhere. But when the Royal Police arrived, they immediately wiped out the situation. The robbers were arrested in groups, and the scoundrels on the streets disappeared, having completely lost their will to fight.

I really can’t beat him!

Subsequently, the imperial court, public security, procuratorate and courts arrived in Xuzhou.

Immediately start reviewing the cases squeezed by the police station.

It is no exaggeration to say that there are more than ten to twenty cases a day, because there is no need to examine them or think too much. They can just be judged according to Zhang Fei's precedents in Hezhong Prefecture.

Exactly the same.

Don't take it too easy.

Because the disputes in ancient times were just a bunch of trivial things, there was no way to come up with new ideas.

Of course the landlord was very unhappy. It would have been fine if they had just reduced the interest rate, but he also wanted to pay in installments. The key point was that they didn't increase the interest rate during the installment period. It was bullying, wasn't it?

Yes.

What do you want?

Ma Xiaoyi and his men have been training in Hezhong Prefecture for several years and are already familiar with this situation.

Not panicking at all.