The emperor faked his death? Never mind, I will ascend the throne directly!

The old man sighed heavily. "This is a matter of life and death. How could they be so... so bold!"

Li Chengfeng looked at the old man's turmoil and blurted out, "They will definitely be punished, and soon."

After calming the old man down, the supervisor sent him to bed.

Then they arranged accommodation for Li Chengfeng and Tiezhu, and they settled down in the old man's home.

In the simple room, Li Chengfeng lay on the bed covered with hay, repeating the names of those corrupt officials over and over in his mind.

Thinking about how to punish them and how to get more benefits from them.

At the same time, Chen Tingshu and County Magistrate Gao discussed in the study how to plan the reconstruction of the people's houses.

"Yuxiang County is backed by green mountains, faces the Cangjiang River, and has 500,000 mu of fertile farmland."

“The villages are mainly concentrated in this area.”

County Magistrate Gao pointed to an area on the map.

“The land here is good and the grain yield is high.”

"There are two big markets on the first and fifteenth day of every month. These are the busiest times."

As he spoke, a soft light appeared in his eyes.

Chen Tingshu listened to County Magistrate Gao's explanation and realized that he was a good official who loved his people like his own children.

The two of them were talking and taking notes, and before they knew it, it was already three o'clock in the morning.

The next morning, a thin mist covered the earth.

Li Chengfeng got up early and continued to inspect the dam with Tiezhu.

Looking at the rushing river, I can't help but recall the great feat of Li Bing and his son in building the Dujiangyan Irrigation System.

That is a great achievement that will benefit future generations. It not only completely solved the flood disaster in Sichuan,

It also irrigated the famous Land of Abundance!

He was filled with emotion and felt that he should follow the example of his predecessors and completely solve this historical problem.

"Iron Pillar, one day I will tame this surging river, so that the people will never again suffer from floods!"

Li Chengfeng stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes showing arrogance that looked down on the world.

Tie Zhu smiled innocently: "I will listen to you, Master."

While Li Chengfeng was silently planning in his mind, a noise came from where the victims were working.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of disaster victims gathered together, seemingly having an argument.

Li Chengfeng frowned slightly and walked over quickly, and Tiezhu quickly followed.

When I got closer, I saw a burly man with a fat face dragging a ragged little girl. The girl was struggling desperately and crying for help.

The disaster victims around dared not speak out, but just dragged the man's arm to prevent him from taking the girl away.

"You can't take her away." A thin young man stood in front of the girl.

"Who do you think you are, meddlesome in my affairs?"

The man glanced at the young man with disdain and pushed him away roughly.

The young man rolled away.

He gritted his teeth and rushed forward again, but was knocked to the ground by the man with a slap.

"Ouch!" The young man covered his face and groaned in pain.

The surrounding victims screamed in fear, but no one dared to step forward to stop them.

Li Chengfeng discovered that the man was accompanied by several helpers, who were waiting on the side with a group of little girls aged thirteen or fourteen.

He said to Tiezhu, "Go and take a look."

"Yes!"

Tiezhu rushed forward and grabbed the man's arm.

"stop!"

"Who the hell are you?" The man shook off Tiezhu's hand with a disdainful laugh. "Get out of here now and don't get in the way of my business!"

"You are robbing a woman in broad daylight. Do you still have any law to enforce the law?" Tiezhu's eyes widened with anger and he clenched his fists.

The man snorted coldly, dusted himself off, and said arrogantly, "The law? I am the law!"

"This little girl sold herself to bury her father. I can take her away if I give her some money!"

The young man came crawling over and said, "We want to redeem her. She can't leave, she can't leave."

The man spat at him, "Do you know who bought these girls?"

"Lord Zhao Gui, the governor of Yangzhou, bought it and gave it to Lord Jin Huaian, the Jiangnan Salt Commissioner, as a servant!"

"Don't refuse a toast and then drink a forfeit."

Tiezhu still held his arm tightly and refused to let go.

Li Chengfeng stepped forward and asked, "You said these girls were bought by Zhao Gui for Jin Huaian to be his servants?"

The man said arrogantly, "Why, you don't believe it? Let's go to the Yangzhou government office and ask for yourselves."

Li Chengfeng snorted coldly: "I really have to go to the Yangzhou government office."

The man was intimidated by Li Chengfeng's aura and subconsciously took a step back, hesitating, "Who... who are you?"

At this time, Tiezhu took out a gold medal and held it in front of the man.

"I am the Emperor of Daqian!" Li Chengfeng said in a majestic tone.

“Emperor?!”

The man looked at the gold medal in front of him, his face turned pale instantly, his legs went weak, and he almost fell to the ground.

Only then did he realize that he had caused a big disaster and looked at Li Chengfeng in horror.

"Tiezhu." Li Chengfeng's tone was cold, without a trace of emotion.

"I'm here!" Tiezhu replied with a bow.

"Take it!"

Tiezhu handcuffed the man's hands behind his back and dragged him in front of Li Chengfeng.

"Your Majesty, please spare me! Your Majesty, please spare me! I have been blind and have offended Your Majesty. Please have mercy on me!"

Dense beads of sweat oozed from his forehead, soaking his hair, and his whole body was shaking like a sieve.

Seeing this, the disaster victims around them all knelt on the ground, not daring to say a word.

On the embankment not far away, Chen Tingshu and the county magistrate were walking quickly.

The two came to Li Chengfeng, bowed and said, "Your Highness."

County Magistrate Gao was still in shock. Why did the emperor come to Jiangnan in person? When did he arrive?

Li Chengfeng nodded slightly and asked the two to stand up.

Then he looked down at the man condescendingly, without a trace of pity in his eyes: "What did Zhao Gui tell you? Tell me everything from beginning to end!"

The man swallowed and stammered out what had happened.

It turned out that Yangzhou prefect Zhao Gui wanted to hook up with Jin Huaian and join their business of reselling illegal salt.

Since ancient times, salt and iron have been directly controlled by the imperial court, with high taxes and strict control.

Sometimes when ordinary people don’t have enough salt to eat, they have to go to the black market to buy illegal salt.

The Jiangnan Salt Road was a lucrative job with a lot of money.

Zhao Gui flattered Jin Huaian in every way. When he heard that Jin Huaian's family wanted to add a servant, he took the initiative to buy a little girl and wanted to send her to him.

Li Chengfeng snorted coldly, "Zhao Gui? He's so brave!"

Chen Tingshu clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "When I came here, I passed by Yangzhou and had dealings with Zhao Gui."

"This man is extravagant by nature and loves beautiful women. He also likes to give beautiful women to his superiors when he wants to curry favor with them."

Li Chengfeng nodded and said to the yamen runners who followed him, "Take these people away."

After saying that, he strode towards the county government office.

In the county government hall, Li Chengfeng sat at the top, with Chen Tingshu and County Magistrate Gao standing on both sides.

The girls were placed in a small hut in the backyard, and some of the timid ones had already started sobbing.

The young man and the group of men were brought to the court.