Chapter 847 It’s Not up to You to Decide This Matter
"Are you threatening us?" The middle-aged Jew seemed to have heard a very funny joke, "With the few manpower of your patrol team now, even if you add in the forces that fall to you or are secretly controlled by you, How many people can you gather together? Do you know how many people the Jewish gang has? If necessary, we can even turn the 30,000 Jews living here into our own. What do you have to threaten us?"
"The threat I am talking about does not come from us," Zhang Heng said. "I believe that some of you have heard some rumors during this time. Our young Emperor has just returned from the battlefield and ascended the throne. He is eager to He wanted to do something that could win praise and support from the people, and holding a gladiatorial performance was just the first step. Next, he planned to turn his attention to public security issues. Your Majesty, he noticed the lawless state of the southeastern city and was concerned about it. The people of the empire living here express their concern. No matter what you think, in the eyes of His Majesty, you are all subjects of the empire after all, and the situation here has indeed affected the surrounding areas. Otherwise, why do you think I would join the patrol here."
Zhang Heng paused for a moment before continuing, "My arrival is only the first step. If I fail to improve the security environment here, then a thousand Imperial Guards will move in to take over the security and defense work here. What you have to face is the spears and daggers of the Imperial Guards, so are you sure you want to drive me away?"
Zhang Heng's words immediately caused an uproar.
None of the forces, big or small, expected that this matter would involve the Imperial Guards. Especially when they heard that the newly appointed Emperor was planning to attack the southeastern city, everyone felt tight in their hearts. They could be bullied before. I want money but no money and a patrol with no people, but if the opponent is replaced by the Guards, and there are a thousand Guards, at least all the small and medium-sized forces will be unable to survive.
As for the top forces like the Jewish Gang, they were indeed able to mobilize 30,000 Jews, but let’s not talk about whether these civilians can defeat the Praetorian Guards. Even if they can, so what? Do they want to rebel? Although they are all criminals and engage in criminal activities in the city of Rome, they only do it to make money and have no thoughts of treason. The Spartacus group is a living example.
What's more, Rome is now at its peak, and the war with the Germans has ended. A group of battle-hardened veterans have returned to Rome. If they can't defeat the Germans, there is no problem in suppressing a civilian uprising.
However, everyone is still doubtful about this matter. The security problem in the southeastern city has existed since the first batch of Jews settled in Rome, which is much older than the history of the Jewish gangs. However, none of the successive emperors have been able to solve it. It's not that I don't have the ability to solve it, but it's because it's a laborious and unpleasant thing.
Although the southeastern city is a stubborn problem in the city of Rome, it also continuously provides the city with cheap labor. Sometimes their labor price is even cheaper than that of slaves. After all, when a slave dies, the owner loses a fortune. Property, and no one cares about the civilians here even if they die. The laborers who clean the sewers and unload and dredge the Tiber River are basically from the southeastern city.
Many of them are businesses of criminal forces such as the Jewish gang. If we can catch all the criminals here, not to mention whether it can be done and how many people are left, it is estimated that the cost of labor in Rome will rise in the future. This is the reason for all businessmen and wealthy people. This is a situation that no industrial aristocrat wants to see.
That's why this issue has been shelved, but now that Commodus has just come to power, most people still can't figure out the young emperor's temper. No one knows what he is thinking, whether he suddenly has a headache and wants to attack Southeast Take action in urban areas.
During this period, they had become very clear about Zhang Heng's investigation. They knew that he was indeed a person that Commodus valued more. It was quite strange that he would be assigned to the patrol team here. If Commodus wanted to deal with Southeast The crime problem in the city can explain why Zhang Heng came here.
A thousand Praetorian Guards? If there are really a thousand guards stationed here in the future, it will not be whether everyone's business will be affected, but whether it can continue. Therefore, after hearing the news of the explosion, all the forces in the tavern started to panic. They whispered to each other.
The middle-aged Jew coughed slightly when he saw this, asking everyone to silence him, and then shook his head and said, "You are trying to scare us with such false news. You are thinking too simply. We have not had any troubles in so many years." We’ve seen it before, but this place will always belong to us.”
"You know very well whether you are trying to catch people by trying to make excuses," Zhang Heng responded calmly, "I believe you have some connections with the Senate, and it seems that you have spent a lot of money. This is the main reason why the southeastern city has maintained the status quo. In this case, your people must have passed the news to you."
"It's not even a proposal. It's just the whims of His Majesty the Emperor a few days ago. How could the Senate pass such a ridiculous thing? Eighty percent of it is just a gesture to bluff people. Didn't you go to Klinde after being invited? Home? This news also came out after that..." The middle-aged Jew said angrily, but as soon as he blurted out these words, he realized that he had made a mistake.
Because he helped Zhang Heng's previous threat. Sure enough, after he said these words, everyone in the tavern showed varying degrees of worry on their faces.
Although they have been very uncomfortable recently, compared to letting Zhang Heng lead the patrol team here and there, they are certainly more unwilling to see the imperial guards stationed, because that will have a negative impact on the power environment here. Devastating.
Although the stalemate ended in the end, the young emperor probably couldn't get anything good, and would realize again that if he wanted cheap labor, he needed to return this place to the local forces, but at that time there were still a few of them still there. Can you be there?
Even the mere possibility is concerning.
This is the significance of Zhang Heng's visit to Klinde some time ago. He proposed to Klinde a plan that would benefit both parties. Zhang Heng had previously caused trouble in the southeastern city and was targeted by the three major forces headed by the Jewish Gang. It's a matter of time for him, and Zhang Heng's solution to the problem is also very simple, which is to create external pressure and divert conflicts.
The reason why the patrol team is difficult to expand in the southeast city seems to be the lack of people and money, and there are big forces that cannot be provoked. But in essence, it is because the interests of the patrol team and all the forces in the southeast city are inconsistent. This is the patrol team. The fundamental reason why the team is not allowed to compete in the southeastern urban area.
If this problem is not solved, the patrol will not be able to expand, so Zhang Heng needs Klind's help to spread the news that a thousand Imperial Guards will be stationed in the southeastern city, and Zhang Heng does not mind giving Klind some of the credit. De, even gave most of the credit to Clind. Anyway, he just completed his first challenging job perfectly and returned to Commodus smoothly.
Klind, on the other hand, got a political achievement in vain from this incident, and worked with Zhang Heng to solve the long-standing public security problem in the southeastern city. Of course, he could also choose to stand by and stab his potential competitors. But as Klinde said, he believed that people like Zhang Heng would not have the only solution. Zhang Heng knew that there was also a political force behind the Blade of Balance. If Klinde did not intend to help him, he could still go Looking for the priestess of the Balanced Blade, but in this case he may have to pay a price. It is not as comfortable as getting what he needs with Klind.
Zhang Heng looked at the middle-aged Jew, "You can't make the decision on this matter. Why don't you ask Mr. Lockyd and other big shots to come down and talk to me, or maybe I'll take them up to the second floor?"