Since Yang Biao took office as the governor of Liaoxi, in addition to being busy with the restoration and development of people's livelihood in Liaoxi, he has never let his guard down against those local powerful families.

Although they didn't openly make things difficult for Yang Biao because of the Yang family's reputation, they secretly created many obstacles for him, because Yang Biao's various policies did indeed harm their interests.

As a result, in the few months since Yang Biao took office, the policies he formulated have consistently failed to be implemented!

This had long been a source of resentment for Yang Biao. If he couldn't achieve anything here, how could he prove his abilities to the emperor? And how could he possibly rise to the position of prime minister in the future?

Yang Biao also sent people to investigate those people, trying to find evidence of their crimes, but because he didn't have many people at his disposal, he was unable to find anything useful.

However, now that these powerful families from the Sili region have used all sorts of methods, the various crimes committed by the local powerful families in western Liaoning have been clearly presented to Yang Biao.

Seeing that the grain and people hoarded by these local powerful families were more than the entire Liaoxi prefecture, Yang Biao finally couldn't hold back any longer and exploded.

Seeing Yang Biao's furious outburst, Xiahou Cai, Yuan Yi, and the others in the hall couldn't help but smile knowingly; this time, things were settled.

So everyone looked at Yang Biao expectantly, waiting for his order.

However, to everyone's surprise, after reading the charges against the local tyrants, Yang Biao was furious, but he did not take any further action. He just sat there hesitantly, remaining silent.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Ning, who was in the crowd, felt a sudden urgency and quickly stood up to bow to Yang Biao.

Zhao Ning said earnestly, "Prefect Yang, these people have committed numerous evil deeds and must be eliminated as soon as possible. The longer they remain, the more damage they will cause to our Han Dynasty!"

"Yes, Prefect Yang! We urge you, Prefect Yang, to uphold justice and act in the best interests of the people!"

In an instant, everyone in the hall also pleaded with Yang Biao on behalf of the people with righteous indignation.

"Alas, I also hate these people to the extreme, and I wish I could confiscate their property and exterminate their entire clan!!"

But right now I only have a hundred constables under my command, and you should know that almost every household here keeps a large number of bodyguards! If they fight to the death, I'm afraid we will all be killed by them...!

Yang Biao couldn't help but sigh, and a troubled look appeared on his face as he finished speaking.

Yes... these people have been running rampant here for so many years, their entrenched ways mean there's nothing they wouldn't dare to do. If they knew they were going to die, it wouldn't be impossible for them to do something extreme.

Upon hearing Yang Biao's words, everyone present couldn't help but change their expressions, just like Yang Biao, their faces showing bitterness.

As expected, I had been too naive. I thought that since this was Luoyang, I could put the other party to death as long as I had enough evidence.

Unfortunately, this is a remote area. If you try to reason with them, they might not only ignore you, but if you push them too far, they might actually try to attack you with a knife.

If I can't kill them, I'll suffer heavy losses. But if I push them to the brink, I'll be in danger.

Money or life? These were the two choices facing everyone, and the hall fell silent for a moment.

"Hehe~, are you all scared?"

Just when everyone was at a loss, Zhang Rang's contemptuous voice reached their ears, and they couldn't help but turn to look at him.

"I wonder if Attendant Zhang has any good ideas?"

Seeing Zhang Rang's calm and collected demeanor, Xiahou Cai couldn't help but look at Zhang Rang anxiously. In his opinion, this eunuch must have some trick up his sleeve, otherwise he couldn't be so calm.

Everyone else, like Xiahou Cai, looked at Zhang Rang with hope in their eyes.

Zhang Rang shrugged. "What good ideas do we have? These people are utterly depraved. The only way to deal with them is through force!"

"Then what did Attendant Zhang mean by what he just said?"

Xiahou Cai looked at Zhang Rang with a puzzled expression, thinking to himself: We are afraid, but you don't seem like the kind of person who would bravely face death!

"Prefect Yang's men are not enough, there are also two thousand soldiers from the commanderies and kingdoms of Liaoxi, and one hundred Imperial Guards that I brought. Isn't that enough?"

Zhang Rang looked at everyone with a smile in his eyes, giving people a feeling of being as steady as Mount Tai.

"Alas, Zhang Changshi, you are unaware of this! These people have been operating here for a long time, and I'm afraid that each of them has more or less kept a large number of slaves and some assassins in their homes!"

If we can't wipe them all out in one fell swoop, and the remaining people unite, the slaves aren't so bad, but their loyal followers are likely quite numerous, and we might not have enough men at our disposal!

Yang Biao couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. Everyone knew that powerful families kept assassins, but no one knew how many they kept!

"That's alright! Didn't you all bring quite a few guards with you? Those are top-notch fighters, there must be over a thousand of them, right? That's more than enough to deal with them!"

Zhang Rang smiled and waved his hand, then looked at everyone in the hall, "Don't you all agree?"

“Uh… our guards can handle them without any problem, but we’re not government officials. Would it be inappropriate to act rashly?” Yuan Yi looked at Zhang Rang and said hesitantly.

"It doesn't matter, you don't have the right, but someone else does!"

"who??"

Upon hearing Zhang Rang's words, everyone was taken aback. In peacetime, even Yang Biao, as the prefect, did not have the right to arbitrarily conscript unofficial forces.

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