Chapter 528

"You remember correctly, my lord; the standard fee is indeed one hundred taels. When Zhu Huhai was first locked in, he had already paid the money."

Prison Clerk Zhang said so.

Chen Guanlou nodded, "The Grade-A prison next door is six hundred taels, and all officials, regardless of rank, are treated equally. However, it is probably difficult to treat these prisoners in the Grade-B prison equally."

"My lord's words are reasonable. The prisoners in here, although they can all be linked to nobles, aristocratic families, and royal relatives, have vastly different statuses. Situations where a steward and their master are locked in the same cell can be seen from time to time."

"Therefore, given Zhu Huhai's status, wouldn't one hundred taels be a bit low?" Chen Guanlou said very casually.

Prison Clerk Zhang's eyebrows jumped, "What does my lord mean?"

Chen Guanlou laughed and said casually: "The Grade-B prison has special circumstances, so we can treat them equally in terms of treatment. But if we treat them equally in terms of money, it would be looking down on prisoners like Zhu Huhai too much, which is inappropriate and doesn't fit their status. Why not divide the prisoners in the Grade-B prison into three grades? For the first grade, like Zhu Huhai, we might as well follow the standard of the Grade-A prison and set the standard fee at six hundred taels. For second-grade prisoners, the fee is two hundred taels, and for third-grade prisoners, eighty taels. How about that?"

"My lord has great insight!"

At this moment, Prison Clerk Zhang suddenly understood why the prison guards in the Grade-A prison were willing to be managed by someone younger than them and were still happy every day.

Just by this ability of Chen Guanlou to rake in money, he was convinced.

"However, my humble suggestion is that the fee for second-grade prisoners can be adjusted upward, and the fee for third-grade prisoners can be adjusted slightly downward."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"There are many servants of noble families and royal relatives locked in here, and these people aren't actually that rich. Often, because they cannot pay the standard fee on time, the prison guards below get furious, and frequent mistreatment of prisoners occurs. Because of this, every summer and winter, the number of people who die in the Grade-B prison is no less than in the Grade-C prison next door. Since my lord wants to divide the prisoners in the Grade-B prison into three grades, why not..."

"You make the call." Chen Guanlou was very straightforward.

Upon hearing this, Prison Clerk Zhang's mood immediately improved, "My humble opinion is that two hundred and sixty taels for second-grade prisoners is more appropriate. Sixty taels for third-grade prisoners is more appropriate. I wonder what my lord thinks?"

Chen Guanlou was very decisive and immediately nodded in agreement, "Just do as you say. However, you must think carefully about how to prevent people below from intentionally causing trouble, classifying third-grade prisoners as second-grade, and second-grade as first-grade. You must establish a reward and punishment mechanism to avoid people getting blinded by greed and driving people to their deaths."

"My lord's words are reasonable."

Chen Guanlou ordered again, "Think about this matter carefully, come up with a formal set of rules, and by the way, adjust the rules and regulations of the Grade-B prison—add what should be added, and remove what should be removed. You also need to think of a reasonable way to distribute the treatment of the prison guards below, striving to satisfy most people."

Prison Clerk Zhang looked hesitant and conflicted, "My lord, you won't manage this matter?"

Chen Guanlou laughed, "I am a Jiang Jiang Yucheng, not a nanny. I only look at your rules; I won't interfere with the specific content. If something goes wrong, I will only look for you. Don't think about shirking responsibility and pushing it onto the prison guards below. To me, you are the head of the Grade-B prison; if something goes wrong in the Grade-B prison, it must be because you, the head, didn't manage it well."

Prison Clerk Zhang immediately patted his chest and guaranteed that he would definitely think it over carefully and come up with a set of rules that would satisfy most people.

"Let's go, take me to see that Zhu Huhai? Has the Count Cheng'en mansion sent anyone to handle things?"

"They have!" At this moment, compared to the beginning, Prison Clerk Zhang's attitude had clearly risen by at least seven or eight levels, and his tone carried a hint of respect and admiration, as well as the excitement of being about to do something big.

"What did the Count's mansion say?"

"The Count's mansion sent people to deliver clothes and food, and also sent some money. They just instructed us to take good care of Zhu Huhai. Zhu Huhai is a relative of the Count's mansion within five generations, and strictly speaking, he is a descendant of the direct line."

"What is the Count's mansion worth? It's their turn to come to the Heavenly Prison and give orders." Chen Guanlou sneered, exceptionally disdainful, yet exceptionally confident and certain, "In the future, when dealing with these nobles, aristocratic families, and royal relatives, there is no need to be too humble; just handle official business. If they are not satisfied, report directly to me. I want to see who is so arrogant, arrogant enough to come to my territory. Tell everyone who comes in the future that the Heavenly Prison handles things for money and treats everyone equally. If you have money, you are the master; if you don't have money, get lost. Special cases are handled specially."

Throughout the year, one doesn't encounter many special cases.

The Grade-A and Grade-B prisons don't lock up poor people. If you really encounter a pauper, that's a different plan.

The Grade-C prison next door often encounters so-called 'great heroes' who are clean-handed and poor enough to have nothing left but their underwear!

"With these words from you, my lord, I feel like I have a backbone."

The two of them stepped into the dim corridor, one after the other.

Zhu Huhai was a fair and fat middle-aged man with two small mustaches.

Locked in the cell, he wasn't panicked; instead, he was somewhat self-amused. A chessboard, playing against himself, left hand against right hand.

"Yo, Prison Clerk Zhang, how do you have time to come over today? Shall we play a game together?"

Prison Clerk Zhang coughed lightly, kept a straight face, and said to the other party: "Zhu Huhai, look clearly, this is our new Jiang Jiang Yucheng of the Heavenly Prison, Lord Chen."

"Oh my, such a young and handsome Jiang Jiang Yucheng, truly rare." Zhu Huhai stood up, approached the cell door, looked at Chen Guanlou, and made a clicking sound with his mouth.

Chen Guanlou smiled, "Is Master Zhu accustomed to living here?"

"You are..." Zhu Huhai pointed at Chen Guanlou, "Your face is strangely familiar; I must have seen you elsewhere. Ah, I know. Could it be that you are the Chen from the Marquis Pingjiang mansion, the strongest martial artist of the Chen clan, and also the most rebellious one, called Chen Guanlou?"

"Presumptuous, this is our Lord Chen." Prison Clerk Zhang shouted.

Chen Guanlou waved his hand, signaling Prison Clerk Zhang not to mind. He was just a little curious about how his reputation outside had been formed. He could understand 'strongest martial artist'; last year he beat up the martial artists sent by Jiang Tu and fought a ninth-rank martial artist from the Qi family, escaping unscathed. But how did he become the 'most rebellious one'?

He asked himself if he was still law-abiding, hardworking, took money to do things, and didn't cheat anyone. A Heavenly Prison person with a reputation as good as his really couldn't be found a second time.

"I am Chen Guanlou."

"You became a Jiang Jiang Yucheng! Why are you willing to be a Jiang Jiang Yucheng? You could serve in the Ministry of Justice! As long as you speak up, I won't talk about a fifth or sixth-rank official, but a seventh-rank sesame official is just a matter of one word for the Marquis mansion." Zhu Huhai was clearly a chatterbox and very familiar. He started chatting as if they were neighbors; it was hard to imagine that such a person who looked like a neighbor was actually operating a massive human trafficking business.