Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

When Li Yuanzhao rushed back to the East Palace, Liu Jin immediately greeted him and said, "Your Highness, there's someone outside the palace requesting an audience. They say they're Little Tao from Peach Blossom County, and they have Lord Fang's token."

Li Yuanzhao was stunned.

Little Tao? Why is she looking for me?

Old Fang is back home? It can't be that fast!

"Summon her in!"

Liu Jin nodded in agreement and went to deliver the message.

Under Liu Jin's guidance, Little Tao entered the imperial palace for the first time, her head swiveling left and right, observing everything like a thief.

She couldn't help but be amazed.

This is the imperial palace! It's indeed much grander than Peach Blossom County, but it feels too empty and lacks human warmth.

After a hurried walk, she finally succeeded in meeting Li Yuanzhao, and Little Tao breathed a sigh of relief.

She immediately bowed respectfully.

Then, she secretly sized him up.

Seeing this, Li Yuanzhao couldn't help but feel a bit of a desire to show off: "Little Tao! What a rare guest. How about I show you around my East Palace?"

Little Tao snapped back to reality, remembering she had important matters to discuss, and immediately said seriously, "Your Highness, a major event has occurred!"

"What major event?" Li Yuanzhao asked curiously.

"Someone attacked Peach Blossom County. The rebels have already been captured by us, but Lord Fang is not here. We ask Your Highness to make a decision for us!"

"Tch!" Li Yuanzhao chuckled: "Attacked Peach Blossom County? You're not joking, are you? If it were just bandits, would you need to tell me? Your county should be able to handle it!"

"It's not bandits... it's Prince Wu's men..."

As soon as these words came out, the pressure in Little Tao's heart lessened a lot.

Those who attacked Peach Blossom County were really tight-lipped. Xiao Liu, who came first, was already mentally unstable. Due to excessive interrogation, before they could ask anything, normal communication became a problem, and he always blurted out two meaningless lines of lyrics.

Helplessly, they could only send him to work in the black coal mine in the county.

Later, Jiang Hu was interrogated for two days, but he still didn't confess. Anxiously, they had no choice but to resort to severe torture.

Little Tao came up with a bad idea. In front of Jiang Hu, they executed two accomplices with cannons. A bloody scene didn't appear, after all, the county had always discouraged these inhumane punishments.

So, the condemned were padded with thick steel plates. As soon as the cannon fired, they were instantly blasted far away... a column of blood shot out from their mouths in mid-air, and they died before landing.

Such a scene was unimaginable! Jiang Hu was so frightened that his soul flew away, and he immediately soiled himself, finally confessing everything.

Afterwards, the county discussed it... and Little Tao immediately rushed to the palace.

When Li Yuanzhao heard this, he didn't react at first, then he was shocked: "Prince Wu sent people to attack Peach Blossom County? Don't talk nonsense! What reason would he have? Besides, what would he use to attack? Where would a feudal prince in the capital get soldiers?"

Little Tao's expression was extremely serious: "I didn't say a single word of falsehood. If Your Highness doesn't believe me, you can come with me to the county and see!"

Li Yuanzhao's expression became more and more solemn. This was definitely no small matter.

A feudal prince hiding two thousand private soldiers in the capital, although the number didn't seem like much, such behavior was tantamount to rebellion!

"Prepare the horses! Immediately take me to Peach Blossom County!"

........

Without much more talk, the two immediately rode to Peach Blossom County.

When Li Yuanzhao appeared in front of the Peach Blossom County gate, his brows furrowed even tighter as he saw the dilapidated gate.

The gate had been blown apart in many places by explosives.

Little Tao had only ordered people to nail some thick wooden planks inside and out, without thinking about repairing it.

She understood Fang Zheng Yi, he might even like this kind of low-key city gate.

As long as it was sturdy and useful, the inside was good!

"This place... it seems like it really went through a great battle! I've never heard of a battle that could turn a city gate like this."

Li Yuanzhao couldn't help but start imagining things.

A group of people swarming up, frantically chopping at the city gate... halfway through the thought, he suddenly woke up!

"That's not right! How could this city gate be turned into this! Are they out of their minds? And why are there several big pits over there!"

It wasn't time to reveal the gunpowder matter yet, so Little Tao quickly made up an excuse: "It was a fire attack! They used oil to burn the city gate. Those pits over there were dug by people in our county to dig for wild vegetables...."

"........."

Li Yuanzhao's face fell as he walked straight into the city.

Asking was pointless, there wasn't a word of truth in her mouth!

Digging wild vegetables, such big pits, did your whole county dig wild vegetables in one pit?

She could even make up such a lie, far worse than Old Fang!

"Where are those prisoners? Take me to see them!"

"Some are working in the coal mine, and the others have been taken to experiment with penicillin. Which group does Your Highness want to see first?"

"Wait... why are people in the coal mine? Don't you keep people in your prison?"

Little Tao explained: "Our prison is just a formality. After being locked up for two days, they will be taken away to work. This is called labor reform!"

"Master said that criminals don't deserve to be idle. If they want to lie in prison, their families have to pay silver. These prisoners have no money, so they can only go to work. Earning enough work points can be exchanged for the opportunity to sleep back in prison!"

"Then where do the prisoners usually sleep?"

"Didn't the newspaper office eliminate a batch of mattresses earlier? They were sent to the coal mine."

Li Yuanzhao's eyes lit up: "Wonderful! As expected of Old Fang, he has a way with torturing people!"

Little Tao looked displeased: "Your Highness, we don't torture prisoners. After a full year of reform, they also get two days of annual leave every year, and they can sleep back in prison for free during festivals."

"Many people are clamoring for these after they are released from prison! They don't pick jobs, and they don't pick wages. Reform is for their own good."

"Only two days of rest a year? Hiss... won't the prisoners commit suicide if you do this!" Li Yuanzhao's scalp tingled. Isn't this a low-profile version of an early journalist?

It turns out that Old Fang had been using the method of managing prisoners to manage journalists early on. No wonder going to work wasn't much better than being in prison!

"No, there are originally not many people who can commit serious crimes... The work is done in groups of twenty, with nineteen short-term prisoners assigned to one long-term prisoner. If someone in a group commits suicide, everyone else will have their sentences increased! So, it is difficult to commit suicide successfully."

Talent... It's a waste of Old Fang's talent that he didn't go to the Ministry of Justice!

Li Yuanzhao sighed: "Forget it, forget about the ones in the coal mine, let's go see the other group. Has Old Fang not given up on penicillin?"

Little Tao shook her head: "Master said that the success of penicillin will definitely save countless people! Master can't possibly invest a lot of silver in poison, that's meaningless. I'll take Your Highness over there now."

The place for experimenting with penicillin wasn't far away either. The two arrived on horseback before long.

The laboratory was built differently, covering a wide area and being completely white.

There were also many windows, apparently to take care of the lighting.

When Li Yuanzhao pushed the door open and entered, a strong stench assailed his nostrils! He almost vomited.

Little Tao's expression was the same, it was her first time here too.

There were many simple beds placed in sight, with dozens of people tied to the beds, their upper bodies stripped, motionless.

Occasionally, people in white coats wearing masks shuttled between them... looking very modern!

Li Yuanzhao's gaze swept over the prisoners on the beds, his expression gradually becoming serious.

Looking at their trunks, limbs, and hands. He often went to the barracks, and could tell at a glance that they were trained veterans.

These people couldn't possibly be ordinary bandits and hooligans, which meant that what Little Tao said was likely to be true!

It's just that these people's wounds looked a bit serious, and they were left there unattended.

"Why are these people tied up? Why don't you treat their wounds!" Li Yuanzhao asked.

Little Tao waved her hand and called someone over, covering her mouth and nose, frowning and asking: "Why don't you find a doctor to treat their wounds?"

The person in the white coat glanced at the prisoners next to him: "Oh... we're waiting for the wounds to fester.."