Infrastructure Throne

As the sun set, Qi Lang held five hundred copper coins in his pocket, and two months' worth of wages, and rushed to the market. He was late, and he was afraid that the shop would close.

When passing the teahouse, he overheard someone reading a newspaper.

Since he usually lives in the dormitory of the factory building and has little contact with the outside world, Qi Lang has never heard anyone read a newspaper, and he can read very little. Footsteps, listened to one more ear.

"...Beijicheng Police Division took two months of anti-crime and anti-evil operations. A total of more than [-] thieves and hooligans were arrested, and more than [-] gangsters and illegal loan sharks were sentenced to prison terms and labor reform. Those who committed murder, adultery and other serious crimes , are all sentenced to hang..."

Before the newspaper reader finished speaking, the audience in the teahouse began to applaud loudly, with thunderous and continuous applause.

police department?what is that placeQi Lang felt that he was too ignorant and ignorant, he didn't know about such a major event, and he managed to handle so many major cases in only two months. The law and order in Yuanliu City has been very good for the past year, and the number of such crimes has long since disappeared.

"...The Supervision Department is responsible for supervising the officials of the city lord's mansion and the production and construction team. If there are any clues about officials' corruption or breaking the law, you are welcome to report them. The Supervision Department promises to keep the whistleblower's identity confidential and never disclose it..."

After reading this paragraph, everyone in the teahouse began to discuss, and most of them showed disapproval on their faces.

"What kind of report? To put it bluntly, the people sue the officials. The so-called officials and officials protect each other. How can ordinary people sue and win the official position?"

"That's right, it's nice not to reveal your identity, but if it's true, it's okay to say it. Once it's found out, it's a crime of framing right away? What's the point of keeping it secret?"

"Even if it's true, you can't get away with revenge afterwards. In my opinion, only a fool would believe that ordinary people can bring down officials."

"But isn't the police officer quite majestic?"

"Don't you look at who the police are arresting? Street gangsters, local hooligans, thieves and thieves, they all have no backing, and they are arrested as soon as they are caught."

Qi Lang's heart was pounding, and he listened intently, memorizing the few words about the Supervision Department in his mind.

Like the other audience, he expressed deep doubts about this new department that does nothing, but the existence of the Supervision Department is like a ray of light that suddenly fell in the dark night. The direction gives birth to hope.

Qi Lang bought a copy of Yuanliu Daily at a nearby news stand, put it under his arm and left in a hurry.

※※※

At night, the wind and snow got bigger.The bright moonlight illuminates a snow-covered path, which is stepped on a narrow track by pedestrians.

When Qi Lang walked back home, it was late at night, the room was still lit, and the dim light fell into his eyes through the dim glass windows.

He breathed a sigh of relief, hugged the brand new duck down jacket wrapped in coarse cloth tightly, carefully patted off the snow on it, and then knocked on the door of the house.

The door opened quickly, as if his wife had been waiting for him to come home at the door, the elders and children had already fallen asleep, the warmth of the home dispelled the chill around Qi Lang little by little, he held the ginger tea brought by his wife, and murmured Lou poured it into the stomach.

"What is this?" The wife took the coarse cloth bag from her husband, opened it, and exclaimed "Yeah". Afraid of waking up the old man and the child, she hurriedly covered her mouth, lowered her voice, and Vibrato unbelievably.

"You... bought it for me?" The corners of his wife's eyes and mouth curled up involuntarily, and there was a little hesitation in her eyes, "It's too expensive, at least ten silver coins, and the family usually spends a lot on food and drink. Where do you have so much money?"

"Why don't you return it...my padded jacket can still be worn after patching." The wife couldn't help touching and touching the smooth leather, but she still forced herself to wrap the clothes back into the coarse cloth bag.

Qi Lang hurriedly pressed her hand: "No, the factory has paid bonuses, plus the wages saved in the past two months, it is more than enough. The jacket has been used for several years, and the inside has turned black. It is just for you. Bought it, you wear this."

The wife's eyes widened: "Bonus?"

Qi Lang smiled reluctantly: "Yes, because of the good performance, the higher up paid a sum of money, which is extra."

"Really?" His wife beamed with joy, and the smile lines at the end of her eyes deepened, "You have also been a junior technician for several months, so you will be promoted soon? Yesterday, I heard Wang from the next door Auntie brags about her husband, tomorrow I will dare to answer."

Qi Lang hurriedly avoided his wife's sight, for fear that the sadness in his eyes would show his feet.

At night when the couple fell asleep, Qi Lang lay on the warm kang, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, he simply opened his eyes, staring blankly at the top of the dark bed.

The cold and haughty face of Hades dangled in front of his eyes. When he thought that he would be coerced by his boss in the future, he might be hopeless all his life. The road ahead was like a black curtain in front of him. the end.

Qi Lang turned his face sideways, vaguely saw the outline of his wife's side face, thought of her expectation, thought of his painstaking efforts working day and night, his nose trembled and became sore, he didn't dare to make a sound, he could only suppress sobs, the sadness came from it .

Unexpectedly, such a small movement still woke up his wife.She lit the oil lamp by the bed and looked at her husband in astonishment: "What happened?"

"I'm sorry, I lied to you." Qi Lang lowered his head, like a child who made a mistake, his eyes were red, he explained to his wife what happened today in the simplest words, "... I am too incompetent, Originally, I could have given you a better life without being so tight, and made you more respectable in front of outsiders..."

The wife just shook her head, with tears streaming down her face, trying to comfort the other party: "It's okay, at least our life is much better now than before, at least we can eat enough and wear warmth. There is no way to fight against those powerful officials."

Qi Lang took a deep breath, and took out the newspaper in the daytime from the bedside table, on which was drawn a paragraph about the Supervision Department with crooked lines. He pointed to the newspaper and said excitedly: "We can go here to report him! We can't , has been going on like this, today he can take away my achievements and my money, what about tomorrow? If I don’t get ahead, how many people will suffer from his anger!"

The wife was a little flustered: "Are you going to sue the officials? I heard that in the past, those people who dared to sue the officials, no matter whether they were justified or not, were given a hundred lashes first. After the hundred lashes, they could sue. Smoked to death, if you lose in the final lawsuit, it will be a crime of framing and you will go to jail!"

Qi Lang was also a little scared, but he still insisted: "That was in the past. The Superintendent is the office set up by the Priest, and I believe that the Priest will make decisions for us!"

His wife looked at him with tears in his eyes: "Master Priest has a lot of things to do every day, how could he pay attention to you? We still think we are unlucky, don't confront the official, what if he retaliates against our family afterwards, what should we do?"

Qi Lang embraced his wife, choked with sobs and said: "I really can't swallow this breath. No matter what, I will try. I will send you to relatives' home first. If there is an emergency, I will definitely not implicate you..."

Qi Lang and his wife didn't sleep all night, and the next day it was dark, he wrapped himself in a large cloak, covered his face tightly, and left home towards the address of the supervisory department...

※※※

The gate of the Supervision Department was solemn and cold, and there was no one in front of it, except for a lonely stone tablet with the words "justice and integrity" engraved on it.

Qi Lang hesitated a little, his suspicious figure immediately attracted the attention of the Supervision Department, and under the vigilant eyes of the two supervisors, Qi Lang stepped into the gate bravely.

He was already ready to be whipped, but he didn't expect to be greeted by a cup of hot tea and the kind eyes of two clerks.

"Do you have any clues to report?"

Qi Lang drank up a cup of hot tea, and then mustered up the courage to speak out about the injustice he had suffered. Because he was too excited, he talked incoherently, and it took a lot of effort for the clerk to straighten out his meaning.

When they heard that the "King of Hades" had settled their relationship, and even blatantly threatened the lives of their family members, the two of them coincidentally showed solemn expressions.

If Qi Lang's words are true, this is a major matter related to the armament factory. Yan Wang is just a middle-level manager of the armament factory, and he cannot have the ability to cover the sky with one hand. I am afraid there are big fish behind him.

While the clerk was taking notes quickly, his face was flushed with excitement. After such a long time of idle food, they finally had a role to play!

After the impulse passed, Qi Lang calmed down, and couldn't help feeling anxious that he might face an unknown punishment.

He didn't have any evidence other than dictation. The only thing he could do was to smoothly draw the design of the pistol in front of the two clerks, only hiding the key parameters.

He spent all the five hundred copper coins given to him by Hades, and he regretted it a little. If he had known earlier, he would not be in a hurry to buy clothes.

If Hades denied it, wouldn't he be charged with framing?

Qi Lang became more and more anxious. Seeing his expression, the clerk immediately understood. After some relief, he told Qi Lang that they would send someone to verify as soon as possible, and promised not to reveal Qi Lang's identity, so that Qi Lang could go back to work normally.

This is the end?When Qi Lang left the Supervision Department, his mind was still in a daze. The whole process was so simple, he registered his identity and took notes, without being whipped, beaten, threatened or mocked.

Qi Lang lost his mind and went back to the armament factory to sell holidays. Right now, he has no choice but to wait for the next move of the Supervision Department.

※※※

For three days in a row, Qi Lang wandered back and forth between expectations and disappointments. At one moment, he was afraid that the matter he had reported would be leaked and the King of Hades would retaliate.

As a commoner in my own class, who would spend a lot of time investigating and collecting evidence for such a trivial matter?

Things finally turned around on the third day.

As usual, Qi Lang was drawing paper in the workshop when a worker suddenly rushed in and yelled, saying that someone who claimed to be the Supervision Department wanted to take Hades away to "assist in the investigation".

Qi Lang's face tensed subconsciously, and his heart began to beat wildly in his chest. Here we come, the Supervision Department is really here!Did not lie to him!

As soon as he rubbed his hands, his palms were full of sweat. When he hurried to the outside of the factory building, the people from the supervision department were confronting Yan Wang and the guards, and the atmosphere was tense.

After the inspectors of the Supervision Department received Qi Lang's real-name report and realized that the case was serious, the entire department immediately mobilized like chicken blood.

Since its establishment, they have never made a decent contribution. Look at the police department next door, published in the newspaper every day, and praised by the priest, they can only follow behind and eat farts!

It took three whole days, and the first-hand information about Qi Lang and Yan Wang had been placed on Teng Er's desk in detail.

According to the data, Qi Lang and his boss were involved in a dispute over the ownership of the design drawings. very bad.

The inspectors even found out the clothing store where Qi Lang bought the coat, which corroborated Qi Lang's words.

When they were digging deep into Hades, some suspicious clues gradually surfaced:

For example, this person had always been mediocre before this time when he proposed improvements and shot the gun, and he was promoted based on his seniority. Another example is that this person has an in-law relationship with the deputy director of the warehouse in charge of the armament factory. Another example is that this person recently, I spent a lot of money to buy several duck down jackets in one go, and the store owner still remembers them because of the extravagant spending.

Reminiscent of the gun assassination incident in the past, Teng Er vaguely doubted whether there was a connection between the two, but it has been too long and no evidence has been found.

If no evidence is found, even if the officiant has doubts, he cannot convict the deputy director of the armament factory.

After thinking about it, he decided to "surprise the snake" and kill the opponent by surprise.

※※※

At the gate of the armament factory, three inspectors were confronting the guards of the armament factory.

Hades looked at them with disgust: "Do you regard this as your yamen? This is an armament factory, heavily guarded, so outsiders can come in casually? Even if you are the director, you must have the warrant of the priest to get in." Let go."

Although his words were straightforward, he was actually stern, and his back was soaking wet—how could the supervisory department get wind of him out of nowhere and come to investigate him?Is there a thief inside to inform?

The inspector was a little embarrassed. Originally, it was only necessary for the director to find Teng Changqing, the chief logistics officer, and ask for a warrant, but Teng Changqing was demoted three levels in a row by the city lord, and he is still thinking about it behind closed doors. Haven't come back yet.

The two of them didn't understand why the director didn't prepare the warrant first, and then let them come over to arrest people, which would be troublesome.

"What's going on? There's a lot of noise." The onlookers separated to the two sides, and a tall and thin man in his 50s walked out of the crowd, leaning on a cane, and slammed the pestle heavily on the ground with a loud voice. , so that the whispering around suddenly fell silent.

When Yan Wang saw this person, he immediately heaved a sigh of relief, and came forward flatteringly: "Master Jing, these guys from the Supervision Department don't pay attention to our armament factory at all, without a warrant, they break in as soon as they say they want to, and even threaten to kill us." Take me back, I didn't do anything!"

Jing Cong scolded in a low voice: "Why panic! I'm here, and no one can take away the people from our armament factory!"

As the deputy director of the armament factory, Jing Cong's authority and status are much higher than that of Yan Wang. Before the establishment of the production and construction team, Jing Cong was the most experienced manager of the armament workshop of the guard. The guards fumbled.

Because he was born as a craftsman, the old nobles regarded craftsmen as servants. Jing Cong hated the nobles and never worked with them. When Shen Qingze liquidated the nobles, he was naturally promoted by relying on his ability and seniority.

Jing Cong is a young man, what kind of storms and waves have he never seen?He didn't pay attention to the supervisory department, a new government office that no one cares about at all.

In his opinion, it is impossible for the Supervision Department to have any political achievements. As long as any official has power, he will not want to have a knife hanging over his head. On this point, everyone's interests are the same. Opposing the Supervision Department is to help himself .

Of course, since the Superintendent is the yamen established by the Priest, if he wants to persuade the Priest to abolish it, he must have a high-sounding reason, and the most suitable reason is that he can't get results for nothing.

Even if you are as strong as the officiant, you are not self-willed in everything. When you negotiated with the third prince of the elves last time, you made a whimsical proposal to build an artificial canal. Didn’t everyone immediately oppose it, and you had to change your mind in the end? ?

Thinking of this, Jing Cong shook his head and laughed. The officiant was as powerful as he was powerful, but he was too young after all, and he didn't even understand the simple truth that when water is clear, there will be no fish.

The rule of Shen Qingze and Yan Zui is still based on the vast number of officials in the final analysis, if everyone is offended, no matter how strong the individual is?The decree can't get out of the city lord's mansion, isn't it an empty shelf?

The chief priest came to power too quickly, with too little experience. He ascended to the top position at a young age, and quickly annexed Nanji City and Beiji City. With such a large population and officials, even Jing Cong found it difficult to manage, let alone a mere 20-year-old young people?

Although Jing Cong has never seen with his own eyes how strong the officiant is, he firmly believes in it based on his experience of more than 30 years of ups and downs.

If they can't survive this winter, the Supervision Department will face the pressure of abolition. In Jing Cong's eyes, this is nothing more than a blind cat hitting a mouse, a dying struggle before the abolition, catching some specious reports and finding fault everywhere.

Jing Cong snorted coldly, waved his hand, and signaled the guards to drive him away: "The armament factory is an important place in Yuanliu City, and its duty lies in it. You must not be allowed to do anything foolish, unless you have a warrant from the priest and sufficient evidence. Otherwise, no one can take a single person away from here!"

Jing Cong glanced down at his stupid son-in-law. If he hadn't done too much and couldn't keep his mouth shut, how could such a thing have happened?

As he dismissed the inspectors, he secretly thought that it was a fluke. Fortunately, the inspector department had no experience, so he came to the door so unprepared, and gave them time to buffer and respond.

It seems that all the people who should be dealt with must be dealt with tonight to avoid future troubles.

The situation is finally under control!

Yan Wang's heart relaxed, and he searched the crowd with sinister eyes, and as expected, meeting Qi Lang's resentful eyes, Yan Wang sneered, fighting with him?I don't even piss to take pictures of what I am!

Qi Lang was stared at by the opponent, his heart suddenly sank, his body swayed twice, and he almost fell down.

It's over, even the supervisory department can't do anything about him, my whole family is over!Hades must have guessed that he was the one who informed... His wife, his child, will definitely be retaliated...

Qi Lang's heart was full of despair, he regretted it, why should he overestimate himself?

Just when Qi Lang was about to collapse, there was another commotion at the gate of the armament factory!

He looked up blankly, only to see two teams of knights in black horses and silver armor walking towards the door. In the middle of the team was a dark golden carriage. The carriage slowly stopped in front of the crowd. In front of everyone.

It's the officiant!

The voices of the surrounding crowd were approaching uproar, Qi Lang's ears were buzzing, his mind went blank, and he never expected that the Lord Priest would come in person!

There was a rabbit fur scarf around Shen Qingze's neck - before he left, Yan Zui insisted on wearing it for him, but Shen Qingze protested unsuccessfully, the white fur and silver sacrificial robe looked cute.

Shen Qingze was followed by Jin Da, Teng Er, and Teng Changqing who hadn't seen him for a long time.

Hades, who was still complacent just now, had a relaxed expression on his face for an instant. The noon sun overturned him, but he was as cold as if he had fallen into an ice cave. His legs began to tremble uncontrollably. He subconsciously asked for help and looked at his father-in-law. .

Jing Cong couldn't see the turbulent waves in his heart from his serious face. This time without his order, the guards of the armament factory consciously moved out of the way and knelt down on one knee facing the priest.

Jing Cong winked at the attendant behind him, telling the latter to leave the crowd quietly, then Jing Cong slowly bent down to salute Shen Qingze: "Master Priest is here today, I don't know why?"

Before Shen Qingze could open his mouth, Jing Cong complained first: "My lord, even if you don't come, I'm going to ask the Supervision Department for an explanation. Without a warrant, I trespassed on the armament factory and took away the manager of the armament factory. It just doesn't make sense!"

He raised his eyes and glanced at Teng Er and Teng Changqing who are uncles and nephews, and said cryptically: "Of course, if the two masters Teng pass each other, I have nothing to say."

After the Teng family's meritorious service, Jing Cong has always hated the nobles. He thinks that he is far above Teng Changqing in terms of ability, experience and qualifications. Just because he is a commoner, the other party can oppress him. How unfair!

Shen Qingze had a panoramic view of his expression, and said lightly: "I ordered it."

Jing Cong was about to speak, but Shen Qingze said straight to the point: "I heard that someone stole the design blueprints contributed by others under false pretences, and took the credit for himself. Is there such a thing?"

Yan Wang turned pale in shock, and suddenly knelt down in front of Shen Qingze, the fat on his body trembled three times, and his indignation was beyond words: "My lord, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this! You must not be deceived by villains, just listen to the other party One sided words!"

Yan Wang thought about the blueprint that he had already memorized silently, and said righteously: "My lord, you might as well call that villain out, and let's confront him face to face!"

In the crowd, Qi Lang was angry and impatient. In order to keep it secret, he did not tell anyone before handing in the drawings. Now the drawings are all in the hands of Hades, and his words are unsubstantiated. He has no evidence to prove that he drew them himself. How to confront them face to face? ?

Qi Lang was about to walk out of the crowd with the mentality of going all out——

Shen Qingze lowered his eyes, silently took out a scribbled design drawing of a revolver from his arms, and shook out the creased paper.

He raised his eyebrows, his eyes were delicate: "Isn't the priest here to confront you in person?"

Everyone: "???"

In an instant, everyone present was shocked speechless, and the surroundings were completely silent.

Yan Wang opened his mouth wide in a daze, unable to close it for a long time, Jing Cong's calm expression split instantly, and Qi Lang stuck awkwardly in the crowd with a bewildered expression.