"I'll strangle you to death!!"
Seeing Fang Zhengyi's smirk, Li Yuanzhao finally couldn't hold it in any longer and rushed forward to strangle Fang Zhengyi.
Then a large silver bill was pressed against his forehead, and he was frozen in place.
Li Yuanzhao took off the banknote and put it in his sleeve, saying angrily, "You are quite rich, aren't you? How come you are short of this little money for the medical team?"
Fang Zheng reached into his sleeve and pulled out the banknote.
Li Yuanzhao immediately bared his teeth and wanted to pounce on him, but Fang Zheng quickly said, "Alright, alright."
It seems that the prince can't think of any solution. If he continues to make trouble, the money he has on hand will not be enough.
"I have calculated that if we add five more workshops, we can achieve a balance in workload."
"Look at the people under you. What kind of vehicles, horses, and tools do they use? How are their working hours arranged?"
"Also, can we try to raise the price when dealing with the manure collector?"
"Your Highness, this is how we do things. It's useless to just do it blindly. We need to change from the bottom up and find ways to optimize the work process... We can do more with the same amount of effort."
"Okay, I will stop here. Your Highness, please take your people to handle the rest."
Li Yuanzhao calmed down after hearing this and looked thoughtful, as if he had grasped something, but it was not quite clear.
After thinking for a while, he felt a little annoyed, so he changed his mind and asked Fang Zhengyi again.
"I understand. Then...do you have any clues about the bet with Yan Guoan?"
"Yes, we only have three months. If Banshanfang wants to make a huge change, it will have to invest a lot of money."
"I have an idea that can make money quickly, but it will take some time."
"We are doing what we can do now. The sanitation issue has been partially resolved, and the number of crimes in Mid-Levels Square has also decreased."
"The second step is to go deeper and thoroughly solve the crime problem. When the people have a safe living environment, the following things will be easier to handle."
The issue of crime has long been on Fang Zhengyi's agenda.
The environment in Mid-Levels has improved and the crime rate has dropped significantly, but the reduction is basically in petty thefts.
Fang Zhengyi was certainly not satisfied with just such a minor change.
In an environment like Ban Shan Fang, there must be many small underground gangs that collect protection fees from private shops.
This kind of organization is indispensable everywhere.
The difference is having a background and not having a background.
The closer to the center of the capital, the deeper the background will naturally be. They might even be thugs from some aristocratic families.
Fortunately, Banshanfang is really poor, and those with good backgrounds can't make any money here.
But it is also because of poverty that business is difficult here, and the little money earned is exploited, making life even more difficult.
Originally, the petty officials of the Bingmasi also exploited merchants, but under Fang Zhengyi's strict management, the number of such cases has been reduced a lot.
Although this group of people have rarely shown up recently due to the huge changes in the area, it is certain that this group of people will jump out again sooner or later!
The current task is to eliminate the idle small organizations in Banshanfang and provide the people with a stable living environment.
In the current situation, people who own private property are already a minority. If you can't even guarantee the simple property security of these people, then you should stop being in this business.
If there must be a gangster in Banshanfang, it must be me, Fang Zhengyi!
Li Yuanzhao scratched his head: "Crime problem? How do we solve it? How do we know who committed the crime?"
Fang Zhengyi smiled slightly: "Why don't you just ask someone and find out?"
...............
Then the two of them walked out onto the street and picked out a shop that looked to be of medium size.
The shop sells groceries, and business is not very good. A few shop assistants are leaning against the door chatting with each other, and some are squatting on the ground counting ants.
Fang Zheng shook his head when he saw it.
There is no management or publicity at all, it is so crude, Banshanfang deserves to be poor.
When the guys saw someone coming, they immediately got up and ran back into the house.
Fang Zhengyi and Li Yuanzhao also joined in.
The shopkeeper was also in the room, and was immediately surprised when he saw the two of them.
"Oh! Mr. Sai and Mr. Li are here. They are really honored guests, honored guests!"
"I wonder what the two nobles need?"
During this time in Banshanfang, many people knew Fang Zhengyi and Taizi, although no one knew their identities.
But it can be seen that all the officials and clerks in the neighborhood are managed by these two people, so they are at least officials of high rank.
Especially Young Master Li, who wanders around the streets with a group of people every day, supervising everywhere with a vicious look.
He is a cruel man and talks a lot, but fortunately he has a good heart and never gets angry with the people. There has never been any report of him bullying the people.
Therefore, Li Yuanzhao can be considered prestigious.
Fang Zheng smiled and said, "It's nothing. I just came to ask the shopkeeper how the income has been recently."
The shopkeeper smiled and bowed repeatedly: "Thanks to you two, business has been very good recently! Especially at night, it is even better than during the day, it's really strange!"
"Now the monthly income is about thirty taels. It was not so much in the past, probably less than half."
Fang Zhengyi continued, "After deducting some miscellaneous items from the thirty taels, how much silver will be left?"
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper suddenly laughed bitterly: "Less than twenty taels..."
"What!" Li Yuanzhao shouted immediately.
I don’t usually have so much, so I’ll just calculate it as fifteen taels. Then, wouldn’t I only have five taels left?
I have to support so many employees and a large family, but I only make five taels a month. What's the point of running such a big store?
"Where did the deducted ten taels go?"
The shopkeeper stood there and dared not speak.
Li Yuanzhao's face turned serious: "Hurry up and tell me!"
Seeing Li Yuanzhao's unhappy expression, the shopkeeper began to stammer: "The government took five taels of silver as a tax... and the other five taels... were given away!"
"Send someone? Who?" Li Yuanzhao felt a little confused.
"Uh..a friend.."
"Friend?" Li Yuanzhao sneered and slammed the counter. "What friend is sending him five taels every month?"
"Tell the truth! Otherwise I'll bring people to smash your store!"
As soon as these words came out, the shopkeeper fell to his knees with a thud.
He cried out in injustice: "It's unfair, Master Li, I really gave it to a friend! My friend is quite poor, so I have to give it to him every month..."
Fang Zhengyi narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking.
I didn't expect that a bunch of ruffians would be so bold and dare to collect as much as the government.
It seems to be more serious than I thought.
Nothing like this happened in Taoyuan County, so Fang Zhengyi's guess was naturally wrong.
If anyone in Taoyuan County dares to collect protection money, he will be arrested and have his legs broken in the street.
Can that be called collecting protection money? That's stealing money from Fang Zhengyi!
........
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