The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 376: Thorns Covered Murong Fu

With Wang Erlang and the Eight Friends of Hangu in charge of Gusu College, Murong Fu was not worried. Three days after the college's public lectures, Murong Fu, Wang Yuyan and his party arrived in Gusu City, where all major industries underwent a major review.

Gong Ye Qian accompanied him personally, and Murong Fu and Wang Yuyan were in charge of the review. In addition, with the powerful intelligence system of the Murong family, no one dared to falsify the information at will. If anyone did, they would be caught and severely punished.

People obsessed with profit can be found everywhere, especially when the Murong family expands. To outsiders, it seems like a family of orphans and widows. Murong Fu is young, and Madam Murong is a widow. It's no wonder that many opportunists with ill intentions join this group. Later, after witnessing Madam Murong's methods and Murong Fu's powerful growth rate, it's difficult to change one's nature. If one is not a righteous person, he will inevitably go astray.

Murong Fu would not tolerate them. Once he found out, he would deal with them according to the rules. Those with minor offenses would be punished according to family rules, those with moderate offenses would be expelled from the Murong family, and those with serious offenses would be directly escorted to the government. After all, some of them were not acting individually, but were spies and undercover agents infiltrated by other family forces.

Once such a person is exposed, chaos is inevitable. It is impossible to deal with it without paying some price. Those families who intervened have seen what it means to lose more than what is gained, and what it means to lose both the wife and the army.

The Murong family used their people to break the deadlock, then turned around and handed these people over to the authorities, producing numerous pieces of evidence to demand back the benefits they had taken from the Murong family, double, even tenfold. Unfortunately, as the party in the wrong, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and admit it, otherwise they would lose face and credibility, and ultimately be expelled from their group, which would only lead to even greater losses.

The Murong family's industries in Gusu City are in such a state, let alone other places. The Murong family pretended not to see it before, but the reasons were very complicated. First, they really needed the help of these local forces, so it would not hurt to give them some advantages. Second, the Murong family had just risen and did not want to make many enemies. Third, Murong Fu's focus was not here, and he had to hone his skills in officialdom first.

Now Murong Fu is in high esteem. Because of his great ability, he was stripped of his real position and granted a title. However, he now has the energy to go back and reorganize the Murong family's huge business system. In addition, they need to use this to cover up other purposes, which is why they made this grand trip.

Starting from Gusu City, the group slowly advanced southward, eastward, northward and westward. Wherever they arrived, there was always someone to greet them. Of course, there were also sword fights and verbal battles, and they even broke up several waves of sneak attacks by bandits.

With the Beggars' Sect as a powerful ally, and the Murong family's powerful intelligence system, mobilizing a large force to attack Murong Fu and his entourage proved difficult. This would expose numerous details, and the instigator's family would be destroyed. After all, the Song Dynasty was peaceful during this era, and the sudden appearance of a large group of bandits would naturally attract widespread attention, especially from those within the imperial court.

When they discovered that Murong Fu was responsible, many people immediately launched a fierce impeachment against him. However, they were frozen in time by Bao Bu Tong's question, "I have done nothing wrong in my life, and I am not afraid of ghosts knocking on my door in the middle of the night. My young master was inspecting his own business, so how could he cause your master to collude with bandits and kill him? Don't you owe this official and my young master an explanation?"

The Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty was quite speechless. He thought, "You can't stop them from investigating your own business, can you?" He knew Murong Fu was quite skilled in mathematics. Whether it was Rongjing County or Yazhou Prefecture, all the accounts were crystal clear, and corruption was practically impossible under his rule. He had never imagined he was so skilled. If he had known earlier, he would have transferred him to the Ministry of Revenue.

No, it seems that someone recommended him to join the Ministry of Household Affairs, but it almost caused chaos. So many people were afraid of him joining the Ministry of Household Affairs. Could it be that the reason was his mathematical ability?

Looking around, are there only a handful of honest people?

Well, let's not talk about others, but there is definitely no problem with Bao Bu Tong. He has the Murong family behind him and never worries about money. His favorite thing to do is to slap the faces of various literati and scholars, and he always compares them to the worst with his own strength.

He also admitted that he lacked the ability to get things done, so he had a good impression of those who did practical things and never obstructed or impeached them. However, as for incompetent and mediocre people, I'm sorry, if I don't impeach you, it won't show my ability and noble character.

The Emperor of the Song Dynasty was unable to stop Murong Fu's legitimate behavior, so those people came up with a plan and sent out spies and undercover agents to disrupt the Murong family's business. Some of them were quickly arrested and sent to the government, while some saw the opportunity and slipped away.

With the help of the Beggars' Sect, an ally, no one could really escape. However, Murong Fu was not in a hurry to catch them immediately. Instead, he focused on stabilizing their business, sent the evidence to the government, and spent a little money to make these people wanted criminals, making it impossible for them to stand up and do things openly.

This hit the soft spot of many people. The people they sent out were all capable people, and many of them had been tempered in Murong Trading Company and were ready to be used for important tasks. But now these people suddenly became wanted criminals of the court. How could they accept this?

It's not that no one wanted to smooth things over, but they found the price too high. Murong Fu and Bao Bu Tong's alliance made many legitimate tactics ineffective. There were powerful individuals, too. Those who were wanted but brazenly appeared were all apprehended, and the person behind the scenes became the target of Bao Bu Tong's impeachment.

Bao Bu Tong's impeachment was not as empty as others'. It was well-reasoned and supported by solid evidence. There were even certificates issued by other local authorities. The time, place, crime and amount of loss were clearly stated. Bao Bu Tong even attached the violated legal provisions. It was highly professional and could not be refuted at all.

Murong Fu was no ordinary businessman. He possessed immense influence and a strong reputation, and his abilities were feared by all civil and military officials. They were grateful for a man who had voluntarily left the officialdom, not to mention leaving behind a prosperous Yazhou Prefecture. The civil and military officials felt both resentment and helplessness towards those who had angered him, as many of them were among their own people.

They resented Murong Fu's ignorance, but upon closer inspection, they discovered that Murong Fu had originally left room for profit for all local factions, only for them to become overly greedy and try to take the portion belonging to the Murong family as well. Many tried to settle the matter privately, which Murong Fu accepted, but the demand for double compensation for the losses was a painful one for many.

Murong Fu's meaning was very clear. According to the algorithm of private lending, the compensation required over the years would more than double, or even more. He was already being very merciful.

If you are wrong, you must admit it; if you are beaten, you must stand firm. These are Murong Fu’s original words. Otherwise, you will only lose even more miserably.

Murong Fu said that he only targeted villains and not gentlemen, probably because gentlemen were open and honest and would not do such mean things. However, this one sentence silenced many people, who were afraid that they would be targeted and have their reputations ruined. You know, the reputation of a scholar is very important these days.

So, as soon as Murong Fu arrived, groups of people came to offer generous gifts and lists of gifts, offering to apologize and promising to make up for the losses the Murong family had already suffered within a certain period of time. This double compensation was not a heavy amount, but it was still too much for many people to bear for the time being. If they did not pay, they might lose everything, or even their families would be destroyed.

It’s not that no one tried to silence them and distance themselves from the matter, but the Murong family turned around and sent these people to jail. The crime of murder and robbery was even greater, and as a result, they not only had to compensate Murong Commercial Bank for its losses, but also had to bear the responsibility for the murder.

Everyone knew that the best way was to kill Murong Fu directly. A snake cannot survive without a head. Once Murong Fu fell, all the assets of the Murong family would be divided up. After all, he was already the only male in the Murong family.

However, in the entire Murong family, the most difficult person to kill is Murong Fu. His martial arts skills are so high that all the civil and military officials in the court are shocked. It is extremely difficult to poison him. There is a special person in charge of his food, clothing, housing and transportation. He is a maid who has been trained by the Murong family since childhood. It is almost impossible to bribe her because of her loyalty.

As for hiring someone to kill someone, when the person heard that the person to be killed was Murong Fu, they either turned hostile and left, or asked for a huge sum of money and disappeared without a trace, leaving those who hired the killer speechless.

This Murong Fu is like a hedgehog that exudes a strong meaty aroma. His body is covered with thorns, making it difficult to touch him, but he is also irresistible.