Zhujiang Street is the most prosperous street in the entire Pearl City. It is bordered by the Pearl River to the north and the ocean to the east. It is the best tourist spot in the city.
From morning to night, this street is always busy and orderly.
But today, the appearance of thousands of soldiers disrupted the order of Zhujiang Street.
“Close the street!”
Following Fang Yun's order, thousands of soldiers ran forward and blocked the entire Zhujiang Street.
"Marquis Zhujiang has arrived, all shopkeepers come to greet him!" Su Lun spoke like thunder, making the tiles on the nearby roof rustle.
Soon, the shop owners hurried out and walked towards Fang Yun under the instructions of the soldiers.
There were rows of shops and buildings on both sides of the road. Many merchants and passers-by stood on both sides of the road, watching the scene curiously behind the soldiers.
Fang Yun was riding a tall black horse. The horse's hair looked like it was coated with oil under the sun, making people's eyes hurt.
Fang Yun sat on his horse, looking at the thousands of shopkeepers and clerks in front of him, and said with thunderous tongue: "The Marquis is back!"
Many people are frightened by it.
"Those people behind you know exactly what kind of temper I, Zhang Longxiang, have. I don't have the time to investigate the past, and the future is still undecided. But as long as I, Zhang Longxiang, am here, I will be the boss on this Zhujiang Street! From today on, the accounts of all the shops on Zhujiang Street will be taken over by the Pingjiang Army. After deducting the money necessary for operation, all the income will be sent to the Pingjiang Army in the name of donation!"
Fang Yun glanced coldly at everyone present, watching everyone's every move. Even though he couldn't hear what people in the distance were whispering, he could read their lip language just by looking at their lip movements.
"I know you guys are capable of all kinds of tricks, I don't care. Someone come!"
Fang Yun gave an order and reached out his hand to grab behind him. Two strong soldiers came over carrying a huge beheading knife and put the handle into Fang Yun's hand.
Fang Yun grabbed the beheading knife and threw it towards the ground in front of him. With a bang, the knife pierced through a stone slab and penetrated into the soil below, revealing the handle at an angle.
"Don't force me to pull out this knife!" Fang Yun said, looking down at everyone condescendingly.
The shopkeeper and his assistants present felt their whole bodies go cold. They could not see any emotion in Zhang Longxiang's eyes. They felt like cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered and could lose their lives at any time.
Fang Yun said: "I remember that all the shopkeepers in Zhujiang Street formed a chamber of commerce. Then, as the owner, I will call all the big shopkeepers to discuss the matter. You know very well what my father did back then, and I don't mind doing it again in double the amount."
When Zhang Wankong took over as Marquis of Zhujiang, the first thing he did when he arrived in Zhujiang was to kill half of the big managers.
"I'll be waiting for you at Zhiweilou, let's taste the fresh oysters from Zhucheng that we haven't had for a long time!" Fang Yun said as he dismounted and walked towards the most famous restaurant on Zhujiang Street.
People on the street looked at Zhiweilou curiously, and then saw twelve old men enter one after another and did not come out for a long time.
Everyone waited for a long time, but found that no one came out, so they had to go home for lunch one after another.
It was not until the afternoon that Fang Yun walked out of Zhiwei Tower, and ten old men came out to see him off.
That night, a major event occurred in Zhucheng. The head manager of Shan De Grain Store and the head manager of Zhushui Pawnshop died of illness in Zhiwei Tower. The families' families' homes were ransacked and they were escorted to the prefectural yamen by Pingjiang Army soldiers on charges of bullying their masters and attempting to seize their masters' property.
The next morning, a member of the Qishan Marquis family spread the news on the discussion board, saying that the Zhujiang Marquis had massacred innocent people in Zhucheng. But then a scholar in the Pingjiang army posted evidence of the two big managers' crimes on the discussion board, and the matter was quickly settled.
In the name of Marquis of Zhujiang, Fang Yun successfully took over all the shops, houses and land.
As March approaches, the coldness in Zhucheng disappears and it becomes warmer.
After dealing with the properties of the Zhujiang Marquis' Mansion, Fang Yun had some free time again. The Pingjiang Army's training plan was basically in the charge of Su Lun. As for the official document room, he had already figured it out. He only needed to go there once in the morning, noon and evening every day to stamp the documents. Anyway, even if one tried his best, the people below would make mistakes. Instead of wasting time there and falling into the trap of the Lumen Marquis, it would be better to use the time for training.
When Qingming Festival comes, Zhucheng holds a grand Qingming Literary Festival as in previous years. The scholars in the city are secretly gearing up to show off their literary talents.
However, many young people do not know about Qingming Festival, because the county examination for students will be held on March 15th, which is the starting point of their lives.
On the day of Qingming Festival, Fang Yun went to the official document room and the Pingjiang Army camp. When he returned, it was already noon. Sitting in the carriage, he was thinking about what poem to write for today's Qingming literary meeting.
As time went by, Fang Yun felt that he was getting closer and closer to the position of Grand Secretary. Recently, he no longer had the heart to write poetry or lyrics. He was just going to just write one poem casually and put more attention on his promotion to Grand Secretary.
Once one becomes a Grand Secretary, he will be a true high-level force of the human race. After being promoted to Grand Secretary, the strength in all aspects will be qualitatively improved.
Someone once said that a Grand Secretary is the pinnacle of human power, and starting as a great scholar is already the beginning of the path to becoming a saint.
Fang Yun was thinking about it when he suddenly received a letter from Wei Changxian.
"May I ask Lord Zhang, have you prepared the poems for today's Qingming Literary Meeting?"
Fang Yun snorted coldly and replied through a letter: "What does it have to do with you if I write poems at a literary gathering?"
"It has nothing to do with me. However, in order to prevent the army from losing morale, this year's Qingming Festival literary gathering will be different. The Marshal's Office has ordered that all Qingming Festival poems and essays must be submitted to the Marshal's Office for review in advance. If there are words in the poems that may shake the army's morale, they will be prohibited from participating in the literary gathering! The Marshal values you very much, so he ordered me to contact you first."
"You are so bold! Do you want to force the scholars in Zhucheng to look down on you?"
"My Lord, you are too kind. I have no choice but to do this. Please understand."
Fang Yun saw Wei Changxian's disgusting smile between the lines.
"What if I don't give you the poem?"
"Then you cannot participate in today's Qingming Literary Festival, so please think twice, my Lord."
"Bullshit! You are a bunch of scum. Not only can you not write good poems, but you also like to hinder others from writing poems!" After delivering the letter, Fang Yun simply stopped contacting Wei Changxian.
As the sun was setting, Fang Yun took a carriage to the Zhucheng Prefecture Academy of Literature. Before he reached the entrance of the academy, he was stopped by soldiers as he entered the academy road.
The voice of a soldier rang out from outside the door: "The Marshal's Office has ordered that Zhang Longxiang, the Marquis of Zhujiang, is not allowed to participate in the Qingming Literary Festival! We are also following orders, and we hope that the Marquis will be magnanimous and forgive us."
"Please forgive me, sir!" Several soldiers pleaded in unison.
"Lu Menhou, you bastard! Get out of here! I'm not going to bother with you! Turn the car around! I want to go out of the city to relax!" Fang Yun cursed in the same tone as Zhang Longxiang.
"Sir, heading south or north? There are too many people in the north city..." asked the driver.
"Well, during the Qingming Festival, every family will go out. Instead of going to the North City, let's go to the South City." Fang Yun said.
Soon, the carriage stopped under the city wall of the South City. Fang Yun climbed up to the top of the city wall and looked around. The sky and the earth were clear and vast, and he was in a very good mood.
But after looking for a while, Fang Yun's mood became heavy, and he slowly picked up the pen and ground the ink.
The Qingming literary meeting was held as usual without Fang Yun.
.(To be continued.)