Chapter 472: Transportation Office
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Today, the gate of the manufacturing bureau was a lot quieter as it was not the day for inbound delivery of goods from neighboring villages or outbound deliveries.
The construction of the parking field on both sides of the entrance of the manufacturing bureau was complete. The parking field was wide and orderly, and the ground was laid with green-colored slabs. In between the rows of parking lots, rows of cypresses were planted. At the edge of the field were a few rows of long stables for tying horses and resting corridors for people to rest. Two clean and bright public toilets were also built. According to the plan and arrangement, the entire parking field could occupy more than eight hundred four-wheeled carriages.
With a parking field as big as a public square, the aura of the manufacturing bureau was instantly uplifted.
Not only in Huanglong County, but the entire Pingxi Prefecture and Gan Province did not have such a wide and impressive parking field. Thus, during the construction, a lot of people did not understand why the manufacturing bureau needed to build such a big parking area. They all thought that the manufacturing bureau had too much money to spare and was flaunting their wealth. Of course, Yan Liqiang did not explain as he knew that if such a parking field was not built, it would take years for the gate of the manufacturing bureau to resolve crowding traffic issues.
Things had to be done ahead of time.
Today, Yan Liqiang’s feelings were completely different when he came to the manufacturing bureau.
He brought along Shi Dafeng, Shen Teng, a few servants, and guards with him. They rode on their horses and dashed to the manufacturing bureau’s gate.
The soldiers of manufacturing bureau guarding the gate were led by a squad commander whose surname was Niu. Those soldiers of course recognized Yan Liqiang.
“The Protectorate General is here…” The squad commander and a few soldiers at the manufacturing bureau gate immediately came forward to salute Yan Liqiang as they saw Yan Liqiang on a steed with the others.
Yan Liqiang lifted his leg and deftly jumped off Snowstorm Cloud. Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng also came down from their horses.
Yan Liqiang swept his eyes across the soldiers at the gate of the manufacturing bureau and saw that their complexion did not look good. They seemed to be relieved when they saw him coming. There was even a bright red streak across the squad commander’s face.
“Oh, Niu Delu, what happened to your face?” Yan Liqiang asked the squad commander.
The squad commander called Niu Delu clenched his teeth, “Someone whipped me!”
“Who whipped you?”
“The group of officers that just came holding the Northwestern Transportation Office identity tag. Just now, those people came to the manufacturing bureau in an aggressive manner. Squad Commander Niu only approached them for interrogation and was whipped by one of the officers!” Before Niu Delu could even open his mouth, the soldier next to him told Yan Liqiang everything with a loud voice and furious face.
Northwestern Transportation Office? Yan Liqiang slightly frowned. He had not expected for the group of officers to be from the Northwestern Transportation Office. Regardless of Gan Province or even in the Imperial Capital, he did not have any business with them. The transport commissioner oversaw the Northwestern Transportation Office. In the Great Han Empire, the official ranking of a transport commissioner was equivalent to that of a provincial governor. The Transport Commissioner was responsible for managing the government revenue and taxes to enrich the national treasury. As the ‘transport’ in his title suggested, the Transport Commissioner was also in charge of travel management and supervising territories. Such a title was considered a highly-paid position.
The Northwestern Transportation Office was not based in Gan Province and Yan Liqiang had never met the Transport Commissioner before. The officers from the Transportation Office had traveled a great distance to Gan Province. Yet, they came directly to the manufacturing bureau before even greeting the Provincial Governor or Prefectural Governor first. It wasn’t entirely inaccurate to say that they came breaking in with full fury.
Many thoughts ran through Yan Liqiang’s mind. After a while, he flattened his brows as a trace of a cold expression flashed across his face, “Are those people already inside?”
“They have already gone in. They said they came to the manufacturing bureau for official work and blocked the entrance to the manufacturing bureau. They intended to barge in but Lord Qian happened to be on his way out so he let them in…”
Yan Liqiang took a deep breath as he looked at Niu Delu and the group of soldiers at the gate who looked at him with eyes with unspeakable emotion behind them. A cold smile appeared on his face as he ordered Niu Delu, “Call the people from the quarters and close the manufacturing bureau gate. Take out all the weapons and guard it well. From now on, no one is allowed to enter or exit without my orders. Anyone who dares to disobey shall be beaten to death. I will be responsible for any fatalities!”
Niu Delu and the few soldiers looked at each other after hearing Yan Liqiang’s order — all of them instantly felt a burst of energy. Niu Delu made an eye signal and one of the soldiers ran toward the weaponsmiths quarter to notify others.
“Liu An, come inside with me. You all can stay here with and guard the gate with the others…” Yan Liqiang said to the servants and guards that he brought along with him. Six people stayed back to guard the gate while he, Shi Dafeng, Shen Teng, and Liu An went deeper inside the manufacturing bureau.
“Liqiang, those people from the Northwestern Transportation Office came to the manufacturing bureau with ill intentions. We must be careful!” Shen Teng reminded Yan Liqiang as they were walking.
“F*ck being careful. We’ll beat those sons of b*tches up and talk later…” Shi Dafeng had already rolled up his sleeves, eager to fight.
Yan Liqiang cast a glance at Shen Teng and while walking, an unexpected smile appeared on his face, “Although this manufacturing bureau is in Gan Province’s Pingxi Prefecture, it belongs to and is a property of the Qiyun Protectorate. Even if the Northwestern Transportation Office wants to steal it, they cannot control the Qiyun Protectorate. Those people came to my manufacturing bureau under the name of government officers, but they did not send an official communication letter to the Provincial Governor or the Prefectural Governor’s Offices before they came. Furthermore, they don’t even understand who owns the manufacturing bureau. Since they are clueless about the rules of the officialdom, I firmly believe that they are merely imposters. Impersonating officers is a crime that warrants capital punishment…”
Shen Teng wanted to say something but shivered instead when he noticed Yan Liqiang’s murderous smile. He had not expected for Yan Liqiang to have such a nerve to even beat the people from the Northwestern Transportation Office.
What Yan Liqiang said made sense. According to protocol, the Northwestern Transportation Office indeed had to notify the regions they would be working at beforehand. However, over the years, there were only very few occasions where the Transportation Offices in the entire Great Han Empire would comply to doing so. The people of the Transportation Office were already infamous in the Great Han Empire for being arrogant. Since they were in charge of government revenue and supervision, local officials always welcomed them with smiles and never dared to offend them. As time passed, whenever people from the Transportation Office went out for work, they became too lazy to inform the local officials. Moreover, the Qiyun Protectorate who owned the manufacturing bureau was merely an empty title.
The moment Yan Liqiang arrived at the manufacturing bureau, he saw Zhou Yong and a group of soldiers who had been temporarily arranged by Qian Su to guard the gate of the spring processing workshop in the manufacturing bureau. They were frowning when they saw more than ten officers of the Northwestern Transportation Office approaching them.
“Halt! This is a restricted area in the manufacturing bureau!” Zhou Yong stepped forward and spoke with a deep voice.
An officer of the Northwestern Transportation Office who stood at the frontmost was in his forties — he had a skinny long face with a malicious expression and slanting eyes. When he saw Zhan Yong step forward, he smiled coldly and lifted his head upward. With his nostrils pointing at Zhou Yong, he spoke arrogantly, “What are you? Get out of my sight this instant. Not even your Gan Provincial Governor can stop the Transportation Office. Such a small workshop like yours dares to declare this place as forbidden and talk big. We are here to inspect if there are any ongoing illegal activities. If you insist on obstructing us from conducting our official business, you’ll be sorry…”
Zhou Yong sized up those officers from the Northwestern Transportation Office, then noticed that two people among those officers looked fishy even though they were wearing uniforms. Ever since they came here, their eyes were darting around as they tried to catch a glimpse of the workshop behind Zhou Yong.
“Without the orders from the Protectorate General and Lord Qian, nobody is allowed to enter!” Zhou Yong replied coldly. His hand was already on the handle of the sword on his waist as he stared firmly at that person, not willing to back down a single step. The other soldiers guarding the spring workshop had also taken a step forward and pointed the spears in their hands at those officers from the Northwestern Transportation Office.
Seeing that Zhou Yong and the soldiers guarding the workshop’s gate were not going to back down, a cold glimpse flashed across the eyes of the officer who led the group from the Northwestern Transportation Office. A fierce-looking, evil and cold expression appeared on his face as his palm flew toward Zhou Yong’s chest.
When Zhou Yong saw his opponent make his move, he unsheathed his sword with a loud yell, then aimed at the man’s hands.
“I see that even a firefly dares to give off its tiny light…” The man shot Zhou Yong a disdainful look, then suddenly moved with speed ten times faster than before. His palm moved like a venomous snake as it glided past Zhou Yong’s sword glint and struck Zhou Yong’s chest.
CRACK! Zhou Yong’s mirror armor plate under his chest armor shattered. He spurted out a mouthful of blood as he was sent flying by the man’s blow.
The soldiers beside Zhou Yong bellowed and thrust the spears in their hands toward that person.
A green light flashed and a blade gleam streaked across. The spearheads coming toward the man were instantly cut off. Around seven or eight soldiers were immediately sent flying before they fell hard on the ground.
The man with a long face smiled coldly as he looked at the soldiers from the manufacturing bureau on the ground. He reinserted his blade into the scabbard on his waist and waved his hand, “Let’s go inside.”
