I was a conman in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 556 The dove takes over the magpie's nest

Chapter 556 Cuckoo in the Nest

In the Hanshan Prefecture government office, Li Decheng, the prefect of Hanshan, clung to the table leg and refused to leave.

After Wang Wenzhou was released, Zhang Jiao released Li Decheng. Although Li Decheng was still the prefect of Hanshan, he was just like an ordinary person in Hanshan, and no one listened to his orders.

Wang Wenzhou renovated the Hanshan Prefecture government office, making it a magnificent building with luxurious furnishings. It could be said that this was Wang Wenzhou's home.

When Wang Wenzhou returned to Hanshan, he naturally had to go home. But Li Decheng wouldn't allow it. Even though he was only the nominal prefect of Hanshan, the title still mattered. How could Wang Wenzhou, a commoner, live in the prefectural government office? Besides, if he were kicked out of the prefectural government office, he would have nowhere to work.

Wang Wenzhou said irritably, "Old Li, have you no shame? This is my home. You're occupying it and refusing to leave. You're like a cuckoo taking over someone else's nest. What's the difference between you and a robber?"

"Is this your home?" Li Decheng immediately cursed, "Wang Wenzhou, you traitorous scoundrel, today you either kill me or you can forget about living in the Hanshan Prefecture government office."

Li Decheng was 54 years old this year. Originally, being the prefect of Hanshan was a desirable position, as Hanshan's current economic income was comparable to that of the capital city in the Ming Dynasty. However, fate was unkind. After Wang Wenzhou was imprisoned, his concubines plotted a rebellion in Hanshan and imprisoned him.

Afterwards, Zhu Youjian did not punish Li Decheng; he remained the prefect of Hanshan. Li Decheng was deeply grateful, and he also received a secret letter from a leader of the Donglin Party, instructing him not to let Wang Wenzhou gloat in Hanshan, and to expose Wang Wenzhou's wolfish ambitions to the world, even at the cost of his life.

Li Decheng was truly a loyal and patriotic ruler. He was determined to risk his life to inform the world that Wang Wenzhou had rebelled. In fact, Zhu Youjian was afraid of Wang Wenzhou's rebellion, but the Donglin Party wanted Wang Wenzhou to rebel.

Seeing Li Decheng's nonchalant attitude, Wang Wenzhou really didn't want to kill him. After all, he didn't want to rebel either, and even if he did, now wasn't the time. The best opportunity would be when Li Zicheng stormed into Beijing.

Wang Wenzhou thought for a moment and then said, "Old Li, you are the prefect of Hanshan, a high-ranking official of the imperial court. How can you be so shameless? This is my home, and you are occupying my residence. What are your intentions?"

"Pfft!" Li Decheng laughed in anger. He said irritably, "Wang Wenzhou, is this your home? This is the Hanshan Prefecture government office. You traitor, you can treat this as your home if you want. But if you kill me today, this will be your home."

Wang Wenzhou beckoned and said, "Jiaojiao, take the house deed and land deed to Lord Li for a look. Lord Li is getting old and his memory isn't very good."

Li Decheng took a look and saw that the house deed and land deed were indeed in Wang Wenzhou's name. How could this be?

Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "To tell you the truth, Lord Li, back when Hanshan was still Hanshan County, I was the magistrate of Hanshan County. The county government office had been in disrepair for many years and had become a dangerous building. Moreover, the county's public accounts were full of deficits, and the officials had not received their salaries for several months."

“As the county magistrate at the time, I couldn’t let my brothers go hungry. So, I bought the county government office. Later, I renovated it, which is now the prefectural government office. Because I was working here, my own house was temporarily used as the prefectural government office. Now that I’ve returned to Hanshan, you can’t still occupy my house, can you?” Wang Wenzhou’s words were reasonable and well-founded.

In fact, all these house and land deeds were forged by Wang Wenzhou, but Li Decheng couldn't find any fault with them. Although they were fake, they were also real. That's how the world is; truth and falsehood are intertwined, and no one knows for sure except the parties involved.

"Hmm..." Li Decheng thought for a moment. He realized that he was indeed in the wrong and could not let Wang Wenzhou stand on the moral high ground. If he did, the court's prestige among the people of Hanshan would be lowered again.

Thinking of this, Li Decheng stopped trying to deny it. He got up, patted his bottom, and said with a smile, "There are some things I'm not clear about, please don't be angry, my brother. I will move the state office to Baigong right away."

The "White House" is located in Hanshan Square. It was built by Wang Wenzhou based on the design of the White House in the United States in later years, and it is now the office space for some departments in Hanshan.

Wang Wenzhou quickly said, "Lord Li, I'm really sorry, the White House is also my private property. Jiaojiao, quickly bring the land deed and house deed to Lord Li."

"Is this also your private property?" Li Decheng was furious. "You, Wang Wenzhou, just you wait! I will definitely go back and thoroughly investigate the accounts. You have certainly embezzled funds!"

Li Decheng said helplessly, "Fine! Then I will move the prefectural government office to the Hanshan Heroes Memorial Hall!"

Li Decheng looked at Wang Wenzhou and thought, "This can't possibly be your private property, can it?"

Wang Wenzhou smiled slightly, waved to Sheng Lan, and said with a smile, "Lazy Lan, Lazy Lan, Lord Li wants to requisition the properties of your Hanshan Charity Association. What do you think?"

Sheng Lan stepped forward, performed a deep bow, and said apologetically, "Lord Li, I am truly sorry. The Hanshan Heroes Memorial Hall is the property of our Hanshan Charity Association. Although I would very much like to let you use it, it enshrines the memorial tablets of heroes who sacrificed their lives to protect Hanshan. I feel that, under no circumstances should we disturb the heroes' rest. Lord Li, I am truly sorry."

Li Decheng said angrily, "Fine! It's all yours! Wang Wenzhou, tell me, where in Hanshan does the imperial court belong?"

Wang Wenzhou smiled and said, "Lord Li, you are exaggerating. All land under heaven belongs to the emperor, and Hanshan is entirely under the control of the Ming Dynasty. However, the people of the Ming Dynasty also have private property. As the prefect of Hanshan, you cannot use your official position to seize the private property of the people, can you?"

"Pfft..." Li Decheng was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He had been in Hanshan for almost a year. The previous prefect of Hanshan was tricked and killed by Sheng Lan. So after Li Decheng arrived in Hanshan, he was quite well-behaved and never clashed with Wang Wenzhou's forces.

For this reason, Wang Wenzhou's forces didn't cause trouble for Li Decheng. However, the situation changed after Wang Wenzhou was imprisoned. Now that Wang Wenzhou has returned to Hanshan, he naturally needs to consolidate his territory. As for Li Decheng, Wang Wenzhou doesn't want to kill him; killing him would mean breaking ties with Zhu Youjian and rebelling.

But Wang Wenzhou didn't want Li Decheng to gloat in Hanshan. He wanted to use the opportunity of suppressing Li Decheng to show the people of Hanshan that Hanshan was his territory, Wang Wenzhou's territory. The imperial court was nothing but trash here.

Wang Wenzhou thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "Lord Li, I really do remember that Hanshan does indeed have property owned by the prefectural government. The money for building public toilets inside and outside the city was paid by the government."

"Pfft..." Li Decheng was so angry that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

“You, you, you…” Li Decheng pointed at Wang Wenzhou, gesturing wildly.

Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Lord Li, you are not young anymore. I think you should write to the Emperor now to retire and return to your hometown. Go home and enjoy your grandchildren and live out your remaining years in peace."

"Hmph!" Li Decheng snorted coldly and said irritably, "Dream on! Wang Wenzhou has the authority to govern in Hanshan. Don't even think about using your power to control everything. Let's go!"

After Li Decheng finished speaking, he led his servants and hurriedly left.

Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Xiao Liang, let's finish this good deed. You quickly take a few people and find a public toilet to hang up the plaque of Hanshan Prefecture."

"I understand, big brother. Don't worry, I'll handle this perfectly!" Little Car God Sheng Liang nodded quickly.