In the end, Wang Teng was forced to hand over the portion he had swallowed in the past three years, which amounted to 150 million Amethyst coins. Even so, he only made up for less than 30%.
Ling Feng checked carefully and found that there were 1,200 prefectures and cities under the rule of the main city of Wuwei, and most of them were Shangzhou and Zhongzhou. Each state city is larger and more prosperous than principalities such as Song Dynasty. The average annual tax revenue is 500,000 amethyst coins. The total annual tax revenue is about 600 million amethyst coins, after deducting the taxes paid to the central and local finances of the Haoyang Emperor. Expenditure, the main city's annual balance is about 150 million, deducting the upper and lower management, he can embezzle 50 million amethyst coins every year.
If he is a marquis like Xifenghou, and the territory has been given to him, he will be in office all year round. In general, the position of city lord of a main city is held for ten years. During Wang Teng's eight years in office, the amount of embezzled money was more than 400 million. Except for 150 million, most of the rest had already been used by Wang Teng for cultivation, and it was impossible to hand it over easily.
Ling Feng did not continue to be embarrassed. Official handovers were generally not too difficult as long as the accounts were acceptable. Otherwise, it would be really annoying and troublesome. The most important thing is that he has not officially taken office yet. If something happens, it will be troublesome. It is better to hand over the office first. There will be many ways to deal with this person in the future.
After Wang Teng completed the handover, he immediately hurried back to Xiliang Royal City to report on his work. Of course, he would never forget Ling Feng's humiliation and would definitely attack Ling Feng if he had the chance.
Due to its huge territory, the Haoyang Emperor Dynasty was divided into seven levels of administrative units: county, prefecture, state, road, prefecture (imperial city), imperial city, and imperial capital. The county magistrate is the seventh rank, the county governor is the fifth rank, the state governor is the third and fourth ranks, and the Jiedu envoy is the second rank. After the handover, Ling Feng officially took the position of city lord. He was also an officer of the first rank and a second-level military governor, controlling the military and political power of the first rank.
However, most of the officials in Wuwei City today are close associates promoted by Wang Teng, or people from local aristocratic families. Although he has taken office now, he has no confidants, and the decrees are not clear, let alone the decrees reaching various prefectures and cities, even the main city. Internally, officials at all levels must be obedient and disobeying. Therefore, if he wants to gain power, he must find ways to win over and promote a group of his own people.
But now the position is full, how to place our own people and how to promote them? Although Jiedushi held military and political power, he was not allowed to act recklessly. There were also spies from the imperial court to supervise him. Therefore, we must investigate, investigate favoritism and corruption.
Immediately, he summoned Concubine You and Qingzi and said, "You should immediately take people to investigate the commanders of the fifth battalion. You must find evidence of their corruption and favoritism!"
Wuwei City has a total of 100,000 Taoist soldiers, all of whom are at the early stage of Wuzong and above. They are divided into five battalions of soldiers and horses, namely the front, rear, left, right, and middle armies. Each battalion has 20,000 people. The middle army battalion is responsible for public security in the city and is directly under the Jiedushi. The other four battalions are responsible for patrolling the four gates of the main city in turn, and the officers above are the capital commanders. Although the military camp was nominally under his direct control, the original commander was Wang Teng's confidant, so he would not be able to listen to him easily. Therefore, he must check! The reason why the commander of the fifth battalion was checked first was because with the military power in hand, it would be easier to take action.
Concubine You smiled and said: "Don't worry, Lord, I promise to complete the mission!"
Immediately, he summoned Chu Lingyue and said: "Take a team of dragon guards to the Moon God Palace to meet Yan Bingyun and Mingyu, explain the reasons, and postpone the wedding for one month. In addition, don't forget to prepare more A generous gift, I’ll reimburse you when I come back!”
At this time, half a year has passed, Mingyu has been released from seclusion, and it is the agreed time to get married. Originally, his plan was to prepare for the wedding when he came back, but Dean Hong gave him a surprise. He had to settle the affairs in the main city of Wuwei first before getting married. One month was already the shortest time.
When Chu Lingyue heard this, she immediately smiled and said: "I promise to complete the mission!"
She was thinking about how to get some benefits. She was now in the realm of a great saint, and each step of improvement required a lot of resources.
Then, Ling Feng sent Jiang Yuelong and Qian Xun to lead the shadow guards to investigate many officials in the Chief Envoy Department and the Punishment and Prosecution Department. In the administrative unit at the Dao level, the Jiedushi is the highest officer, but below there are three departments: the Commanding and Envoys' Department, the Chief Envoys' Department, and the Punishing and Envoys' Department, which manage the military, political, and criminal and prison powers respectively. Although the chiefs of the three departments They are all subordinate officials of the Jiedushi, but if their superiors are incompetent, they may not be dismissed. Therefore, he checked their details in advance, those who could be used, those who could be won over, those who had to be eradicated, those who could be kept temporarily, and those who had to be eliminated.
…
Three days later, Zhongjun camp.
In the camp, a middle-aged man in golden armor was drinking and having fun with two graceful women in white gauze, holding each other with one arm, and they were so happy.
Suddenly, a young soldier in armor hurried in, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, the Commander-in-Chief has summoned you!"
The middle-aged man in golden armor had a look of hesitation on his face and said coldly, "Didn't you see me drinking? Go and reply and say that the general is ill in bed and cannot go to see him. If anyone dares to break into the military camp without mercy, he will be killed without mercy!"
However, the young soldier did not reply.
The middle-aged man in golden armor suddenly became furious and said: "Dog slave, did you hear my general's order? Believe it or not, I will chop off your dog's head!"
At this time, a spatial fluctuation flashed through, and Ling Feng's figure suddenly appeared at the door of the camp, saying coldly: "Commander Lu, I have indeed heard that you drank alcohol and escorted prostitutes in the military camp, which violated military law, deceived superiors, and bullied subordinates. , what do you think should be punished!"
The middle-aged man in Jinjia was named Lu Dai, and he was also the commander of the Central Military Camp. Although he had never met Ling Feng, the Jiedu Envoy, he had seen his portrait, and he was wearing a blue official uniform and official hat. He immediately recognized him, so Cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
Fortunately, he was also a character who had gone through great storms. He immediately knelt down and said, "I am humbled by my duty to see you, Lord Jieduzhi. I am temporarily obsessed with my humble duty. Please forgive me!"
Ling Feng said coldly: "If you want to beg for mercy now, it's too late. You'd better go to the Penal Department Prison to beg for mercy!"
When Lu Dai saw this, he stood up suddenly and said coldly: "You broke into the military camp without permission, and you violated military law. If you really make trouble at the top, you won't even think about it easy! Besides, this is just a false accusation on your part, who can testify?" Even if you just rely on the words of the pawn next to you, the higher-ups won’t believe you!”
At this time, another middle-aged general wearing golden armor appeared at the door of the camp and said coldly: "The last general can bear witness!"
Lu Dai's face suddenly changed drastically, and he said with a gloomy expression: "Deng Jiufeng, I have treated you well, but you are actually ungrateful!"
Deng Jiufeng said coldly: "You are just getting paid for free, but you are still deducting military pay from the brothers. You are worse than a beast! At that time, Wang Teng was still in power, and the brothers dared to be angry but dare not speak out! At this time, Lord Ling is willing to help us Make the decision, we have handed over all the evidence of your crime, you can’t even think of denying it!”
Seeing this, Lu Dai suddenly drew his sword and slashed at Deng Jiufeng. As long as Deng Jiufeng, the deputy commander, died, he would still have the final say in the military camp.
However, at this moment, Ling Feng flashed as fast as lightning and pointed a finger at him, instantly sealing his peak martial arts level.
Immediately, Deng Jiufeng kicked him away and ordered his soldiers to take him into custody.
Subsequently, Ling Feng ordered Deng Jiufeng to temporarily take over as the commander of the Central Military Camp, and then led people to the other four battalions. Although the commanders of the other four battalions were not as arrogant as Lu Dai, who drank alcohol and escorted prostitutes in the military camp, he had found out in the past three days that they were also on free wages, and 30% of them were paid. How could such a serious crime be spared? Ling Feng captured them all and temporarily took charge of the military as the deputy commander.
