Chapter 15 Toll Stations (2)

  Ye Feng walked up to the middle-aged man, circled around him once, and then smiled: "What's your mother's surname?"

  Xiao Huzi seemed not to have heard and continued shouting: "We are nobles, we don't need to pay taxes."

  Ye Feng smiled slyly at him, then stretched out his hand, quick as lightning, and slapped him with a dozen or so slaps. The little mustache was beaten until his head shook like a drum.

  Ye Feng swung his sore hand and finally sent the slap he got from Diana to the next person's face. He touched his still slightly sore face and thought: If only Diana had slapped this guy in the face directly, it would have saved a lot of trouble.

  Ye Feng saw Little Beard wake up and asked with a smile: "Are you awake? Do you want to come again?"

  Xiao Huzi rubbed his aching cheek, looking at Ye Feng's smiling face with fear. He first nodded, then felt it was wrong and hastily shook his head.

  Ye Feng let out a sigh and said with a hint of regret: "Looks like you're awake."

  Xiao Huzi hastily nodded.

  Ye Feng pointed at his nose and asked: "Do you know why I hit you?"

  Xiao Huzi shook his head.

  Yefeng said: "I'm doing this to save your life, you know?"

  Xiao Huzi shook his head again.

  "Am I asking you, are you a noble?"

  Xiao Huzi then reacted and hastily said: "No, but my master is."

  "Do you know that according to imperial law, commoners who offend nobles are punishable by death."

  Xiao Huzi's eyes showed a hint of fear, and he nodded slightly.

  "You see, after I hit you, our young master's anger will be gone. And he won't pursue the matter of you offending a noble anymore. Don't you thank me?"

  Xiao Huzi looked at Oola, who was sitting proudly on the high desk, and said reluctantly: "Thank you."

  "You're so old, yet you speak so rashly, as if everyone owes you money. Is it because you're used to being arrogant in front of the poor and can't change your ways?"

  "Yes, yes. You are right." Xiaohuzi hastened to agree with Ye Feng, raising his hand again. He still understood the principle of not suffering losses in front of him.

  "Look," Ye Feng pointed to a not-too-distant place, where there were still marks left from the battle of the past few days, and said: "A few days ago, pirates came to attack our city. In the end, we drove them away."

  "What does it have to do with us?" Little Beard looked around, his face full of confusion.

  "It's none of your business." Ye Feng waved his hand, unhappy that his words had been interrupted. "After the pirates were driven away, they didn't escape far, but instead lay in wait for an opportunity to counterattack. Maybe they're hiding somewhere, watching us secretly."

  Xiao Huzi shuddered and looked around cautiously, as if pirates were hiding there.

  "So, to ensure the safety of every guest passing through here, our young master has personally taken charge and is guarding against any potential threats, not allowing any pirates to sneak in. Who would have thought that his kind intentions would be misunderstood as a fool's errand? Can you blame everyone for feeling indignant?" As he spoke, Ye Feng clenched his fists with a loud crackling sound, showing his anger towards those bad people.

  Xiao Huzi looked at his fist, his face turned slightly pale, and nodded repeatedly: "Heartbroken, heartbroken."

  "It's actually enough if you can understand our work, we'll be very pleased." Ye Feng patted his shoulder and said.

  "I don't know what you want to do?" Little Beard finally understood and asked.

  At this time, the superintendents of more than a dozen other ships also came to the shore. Seeing how Xiao Hu Zi was treated, they suddenly felt a sense of solidarity and indignation, and burst into a chorus of shouting and clamoring.

  "This is outrageous."

  "How dare you arbitrarily detain a noble's ship without reason? I must report this matter to the master."

  "How bold, as long as the Senate accepts this case. Even if they can't do anything to their duke, his subordinates will definitely not be able to get away with it."

  "Right, take note of them. When the time comes, let the Senate hang all these cur dogs. Let them know the consequences of offending the nobility."

  “……”

  As they heard their increasingly high-pitched and intimidating voices, the soldiers couldn't help but feel a little timid, and they all looked at Oola with guilty hearts.

  Ouyang Feng flew into a rage, "Bang" and kicked the table over, shouting loudly: "Archers prepare, whoever dares to spread rumors again, I'll have them killed without pardon!"

  The archers took a step forward, drawing their bows with a creaking sound, the arrowheads gleaming with cold light pointing directly at the crowd.

  The scene suddenly fell silent, and everyone immediately closed their mouths, looking at Ora with pale faces, each one as quiet as a cicada in winter.

  Ou La's face turned pale, pointing at the crowd, shouting loudly: "This mountain was opened by me, this tree was planted by me. If you want to pass through this road..."

  Ye Feng hastily walked over and reminded him: "Wrong, wrong. It's another sentence."

  Eula paused for a moment, then waved her hand indifferently and said, "It's all the same."

  Then he changed his tone and said: "Under the sky, everything is the king's land, and all those who live on this land are the king's subjects. You bunch of bastards, how dare you be lawless and create rumors here? Are you trying to rebel?"

  Several big men behind him shouted in unison, amplifying his voice and authority. More than a dozen managers were so frightened that they all took a step back together. This was an extraordinary hat, once worn, not only would the host family not intervene, but even their own family members would be implicated.

  Euler's arrival had already calmed the scene, and he nodded in satisfaction, his eyes scanning each of their faces. He said slowly: "However, if you really have something to say, it's not impossible. Send a representative out."

  Those managers looked at each other, gathered together and discussed for a few words. Then they pushed out the oldest manager with white hair among them.

  The elderly supervisor looked at the arrowhead shining with cold light, walked to Oola's front, and found that he was just a twelve or thirteen-year-old child. He was even more afraid in his heart. He had seen children of this age being lawless, and his master's child had killed two servants alive just for fun.

  He tremblingly took off his hat, bowed deeply and said: "This young noble. We are all servants of various aristocratic families and do not dare to cause trouble. However, according to the imperial law, we are exempt from paying taxes. Therefore, you, young noble, have no right to detain our ship."

  Ouyang sat down, snorted coldly and didn't say a word, putting on the airs of a great noble.

  Ye Feng walked over, scolding: "You scoundrels! I'll make it clear to you. We let you stop the boat for inspection in order to prevent pirates from taking advantage of the situation and looting, posing a threat to your lives and property. This is a righteous action taken against terrorist organizations like pirates."

  The captain looked at Oola, who was silent, and said respectfully: "Sir, we don't have any pirates on our ship?"

  Ye Feng's expression changed and he said: "How can we know if there are any or not without checking? Are the pirates going to put a label on their forehead?"

  The manager hesitated for a moment and said: "But..."

  Ye Feng smiled slyly and interrupted the manager's words, saying: "What is your purpose for not letting us inspect? Do you want to be robbed by pirates or do you have a connection with them?"

  The manager was being pressed step by step, and his heart couldn't help but cry out in distress. The ship was full of precious goods transported from afar by the nobles, if they let these rough-handed and rough-footed rascals on board, what if something got damaged? At that time, these managers would definitely be beaten to death by the furious master.

  But judging from the current situation, if they continue to grit their teeth, they might not even be able to keep their lives.

  "I wonder how you gentlemen plan to conduct this inspection?" The manager said helplessly, looking at his companions behind him.

  Ye Feng patted his shoulder warmly and said, "Don't worry, we're just searching for pirates, and in the process, we'll definitely be very careful. If any of those bastards dare to damage anything, tell me, I'll scold them to death."

  The captain's face turned pale. Although the things on the ship were not particularly valuable, in the eyes of the nobles, every single item was worth more than the lives of these people. If something was damaged by the soldiers, they would only have to collectively jump into the sea. And Ye Feng just lightly said a curse at those soldiers, probably Ye Feng wouldn't even touch their hair, maybe he would even secretly praise them.

  He thought for a moment, pulled Ye Feng aside, handed over two silver coins and said in a low voice: "Sir, a little money, not enough to show respect."

  Ye Feng glanced at him, his hands trembling with rage. He said sternly: "What are you doing? You think a few stinky coins can bribe me? This is the greatest insult to me!"

  The officer gritted his teeth, pulled out a purse from his pocket and forced it into Ye Feng's hand, saying: "Sir, this is absolutely not a bribe. It's just that you are fighting on the front line under such harsh conditions, and we little people just want to show our admiration."

  Yefeng said: "Oh no, how can this be? You guys didn't earn money easily. How can I bear to take your money?"

  Although he said so, he quickly stretched out his hand to take the money bag, without any sign of embarrassment. He even opened the money bag in front of the manager and took out a gold coin, put it in his mouth and bit it hard. The greedy appearance made the manager from a noble family secretly despise him.

  After Ye Feng put the money bag into his own large pocket, his attitude changed immediately.

  He put his arm around the official's shoulder, speaking in a warm and familiar tone, as if to an old friend he hadn't seen in years. "Go back and tell those bastards," he said quietly, "that everyone needs to pay ten gold coins per ship. We'll let them pass, how about that?"

  The supervisor smiled wryly and tactfully reminded him: "Sir, according to the Empire's laws, nobles are exempt from paying taxes."

  Ye Feng said in surprise: "Yes, we didn't say we were going to collect taxes either. However, this is an inspection fee, not a toll. This doesn't conflict with the imperial law at all."

  The supervisor wiped the sweat from his forehead and almost pleaded: "But sir, ten gold coins are a bit too much."

  He pointed to the soldiers guarding the city gate and said, "It's not just me, so many people are fighting on the front line to protect your lives and property, sacrificing themselves without fear of bloodshed or hard work, no complaints, no regrets. Is it easy for everyone?

  Seeing the boss still wanting to speak, Ye Feng said displeased: "This is our bottom line, after all, our young master is sitting here. Although I want to help you, it's not good to help you openly, what do you say?"

  The director shook his head and sighed repeatedly. In his heart, he secretly scolded Ye Fengguang for taking money but not doing anything. Finally, seeing that there was no other way, he said: "I'll go back and discuss it with them."

  Ye Feng patted his back and said with a smile: "Not bad, little devil, I'm watching you!"

  The boss slipped under his feet and almost fell. He touched his white hair and was speechless.

  The boss returned to staring at the group of people, and in a low voice, he mentioned Ye Feng's request. However, this old sly guy was quite righteous, not only did he increase the amount of money he bribed Ye Feng by double, but also let everyone help him split the bribe amount, and even made a small profit for himself.

  Soon, there were results. The superintendents of more than a dozen ships agreed to pay the money, because these superintendents also made a fortune by smuggling goods on the ship for resale and personal gain. So it was still affordable to pay a few gold coins, just as a loss to avoid disaster. Moreover, some clever ones realized the opportunity in this and had already begun calculating how to report more false accounts to the master.

  The customs is very efficient, as long as you pay the money, they will let you go immediately.

  However, there were also several ships' bosses who had a strong backstage and put on an air of "you can't do anything to me", refusing to pay the money. The little mustache who was beaten at first shouted: "Let them check whatever they want. I'm not afraid, anyway, the things on my ship are not afraid of being damaged."

  Ye Feng rubbed his chin and asked with a smile: "What is loaded on your boat?"

  The little man pointed to the large ship behind him and said, "It's marble from Aberdeen."

  Everyone who heard it was shocked and at a loss for what to do for a moment.

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  Well, nothing else to say, just recommend it to everyone.