The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 421

"You mean, feed bran to those prisoners who don't have money to send them?"

Yang Shengzhai asked curiously.

"Yes, my lord."

The jailer said respectfully.

He wasn't telling the truth. In reality, for those prisoners who didn't receive any money, bran was a luxury. They would only have a very small amount of bran in their food, and sometimes even some sand or gravel mixed in.

Of course, the jailer wouldn't dare say such things. After all, the commander in front of him was a teenager, and teenagers are generally known for their strong sense of justice. If the commander thought that they were too cruel, they would be in deep trouble.

So while the jailer was mostly right, he concealed or altered some of the details.

After the jailer finished speaking, Yang Shengzhai was still somewhat unsatisfied and patted the jailer on the shoulder.

"Send the money as you see fit. These people are all rich. How much you can send depends on your ability. Afterwards, send 70% of the money you send to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He's right. The Embroidered Uniform Guard will take responsibility for this."

Yang Shengzhai smiled.

Upon hearing this, the jailer finally felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. With the commander's guarantee, what was there to fear? Wasn't this just following orders to collect money? Well then, he wouldn't hold back; he'd collect it ruthlessly. Hadn't he heard what the commander had said? These people all had money. The original standard for collecting money was ten, twenty, thirty, or forty taels per month, and the treatment of prisoners in the prison varied depending on the amount of money given.

But with Yang Shengzhai's words, the jailer decided to raise the minimum payment threshold for these people to thirty taels, with subsequent thresholds increasing accordingly. For example, the original twenty taels threshold was raised to fifty taels, and the thirty taels threshold was raised to seventy taels.

In this way, even if they give 70% to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they will still make a huge profit, since there are just too many people coming in this time.

After speaking with the jailer, Yang Shengzhai went to the imprisoned officials again.

"Gentlemen, you have two paths before you. I can release five of you, but only five."

Yang Shengzhai did not specify what the two roads were, but the imprisoned officials were all shrewd and understood his meaning almost instantly.

There are two paths: one is to be investigated and punished by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, have their property confiscated, be exiled, or even beheaded; the other is to resolutely support the Examination and Assessment Law.

Only then did they realize that this young master Yang was indeed worthy of being Zhou Hengqi's student, as his style of doing things was exactly the same as Zhou Hengqi's.

“Young Master Yang, although your status is extraordinary, the Embroidered Uniform Guard still needs evidence to arrest people, right? You are not the Northern Garrison Command. If the Emperor finds out about this violation of the rules, he will certainly not let you off easily.”

One of the officials looked at Yang Shengzhai's slightly immature face without any fear.

Upon hearing this, Yang Shengzhai glanced at the official and then at the Imperial Guard officer in charge of interrogation.

"Let's interrogate him today, and use every means at our disposal."

Upon hearing this, the Imperial Guard in charge of interrogation instantly became excited.

"Rest assured, sir, I will make sure he can't even die if he wants to."

The once arrogant official visibly panicked; they, as officials, had all heard of the methods employed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The saying "the law does not apply to high-ranking officials" only applies to ordinary government offices; for the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there is no such thing as "the law does not apply to high-ranking officials."

Once you're tortured by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it's really hard to die.

"You dare! I am a fourth-rank official, and you, a mere Jinyiwei from Suzhou Prefecture, dare to touch me?"

The official spoke with a fierce but inwardly weak tone.

Yang Shengzhai sneered when he heard this.

“How could I not dare? Let me tell you, I know that doing this is against the rules, but I never intended to act according to the rules anyway. Whatever the consequences are, the Emperor can do whatever he wants to me. Even if it costs me my head, I will accept it.”

Yang Shengzhai spoke with absolute certainty.

Upon hearing Yang Shengzhai's words and seeing his unwavering expression, it wasn't just the fourth-rank official who panicked; the other officials, who had been quite calm, could no longer remain composed.