I run a casino in the immortal realm.

The commendation order arrived seven days after the Battle of Qingyuzui.

The messenger was a senior official from the Ministry of Personnel in the capital, who arrived by airship with four guards.

As usual, Zhu Zhenbang set up an incense table in the main hall of the prefectural governor's office and led the prominent officials of Tanzhou Prefecture to receive the imperial decree.

The imperial edict was short, but it contained only two main points.

First, the Tanzhou County Criminal Investigation Department's Anti-Smuggling Inspection Team was commended for its "commendable loyalty and bravery in cracking a major case." Zheng Yifei was promoted to the rank of fifth grade and awarded 10,000 mid-grade spirit stones, while still retaining his position as deputy commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Department.

Secondly, Li Jianfeng, Ye Xiao, Ouyang Zhan, and Wang Changsheng will each be promoted to the rank of eighth-grade captain, and will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and two thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

The remaining participating soldiers will be rewarded by the county government according to their military merits.

Zheng Yifei knelt at the front, listened to the imperial decree, kowtowed to express his gratitude, and when he stood up to receive the decree, the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel glanced at him a few more times and whispered, "Vice Envoy Zheng, it's windy in the capital."

Zheng Yifei smiled but didn't reply. He simply told Night Owl to take the man away and treat him well.

Zhu Zhenbang stood to the side, his smile impossible to hide.

Although the imperial edict did not explicitly praise him, the eight characters "Prefect Zhu Zhenbang's skillful management" were written before the commendation order, which meant that the court recognized his merits as the top official of Tanzhou.

After the Ministry of Personnel officials left, Zhu Zhenbang patted Zheng Yifei on the shoulder and said, "Yifei, don't leave tonight. I'll throw you a celebration banquet at Zuixianlou."

"My lord, let's postpone the victory celebration."

Zheng Yifei put the imperial edict into his storage bag and said calmly, "The evidence compiled by Night Owl involves a private salt distribution network spanning eight prefectures and one hundred and sixty counties. The list, locations, and transaction patterns are all on it. I want to strike while the iron is hot and take action immediately."

Zhu Zhenbang was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter: "You little rascal, you're not going to rest for a second. Fine, I'll issue you this order: all patrol offices, naval checkpoints, and county yamen runners within the territory of Tanzhou Prefecture must cooperate upon seeing the Commander-in-Chief's plaque. Anyone who dares to shirk their duty will be dismissed on the spot."

"Thank you, sir."

Zheng Yifei bowed and withdrew.

On the training ground of the western suburban barracks of the Provincial Judicial Commissioner, four hundred Nascent Soul cultivators stood in a square formation, a dark mass, completely silent.

Zheng Yifei stood on the command platform and said only one sentence: "Six months from now, no more private salt will be allowed in Tanzhou County."

That night, the anti-smuggling team split into eight groups of fifty men each, led by a captain or senior officer, and set off for the eight prefectures with the list compiled by Night Owl.

Zheng Yifei himself was stationed in the county seat, directing operations from the center.

The operation lasted for a full six months.

From Qingyang County, the northernmost part of Tanzhou Prefecture, to Linhai Prefecture, the southernmost part, the anti-smuggling team followed the clues and searched the area, passing through county by county.

Every single salt dealer, family steward, and black market broker on the list has been apprehended.

Most of these people were at the Nascent Soul stage, with only a few early-stage Deity Transformation stage martial arts masters guarding the courtyard. Faced with a smuggling team of fifty Deity Transformation stage cultivators, they didn't even have time to have a thought of resistance before they were firmly bound by the Spirit Locking Handcuffs.

On August 17th, the Zhou family, the largest private salt dealer in Linhai Prefecture, was completely wiped out.

The Zhou family is a century-old family in Linhai Prefecture. There is an ancestor in the family who is in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul stage, and his word is law in the local area.

When the anti-smuggling team arrived, the Zhou family patriarch was still sitting upright in the main hall's armchair, adopting an attitude of "I'm going to reason with you."

Li Jianfeng, who was leading the team, didn't try to reason with him. With a wave of his hand, fifty Nascent Soul auras pressed down at the same time. The Zhou family patriarch turned pale on the spot and didn't dare to utter a harsh word. He obediently stretched out his hands.

On August 25th, in Anping County, the southernmost part of Tanzhou Prefecture, the anti-smuggling team sealed off three underground warehouses and seized 20,000 jin of smuggled salt.

The magistrate of Anping County tried to stop them, saying, "The affairs of the county are none of the concern of the Provincial Judicial Commissioner." However, Wang Changsheng, who was leading the team, directly showed the order from Prefect Zhu Zhenbang. The magistrate immediately backed down and did not say another word.

In early September, the Eighth Route Army anti-smuggling teams returned to the city one after another, bringing back case files that filled the archives of the Criminal Investigation Department.

After taking inventory, Night Owl reported to Zheng Yifei: A total of 670,000 catties of smuggled salt were seized in the entire county, and more than 1,400 people involved in the case were arrested, including 37 people at the Nascent Soul stage and more than 400 people at the Spirit Transformation stage.

The underground salt smuggling network in Tanzhou County was completely eradicated, from its source to its end.

After reviewing the compiled case files, Zheng Yifei wrote a brief report and sent it to the prefect's office. Zhu Zhenbang's reply was only four words: "Very good, continue the investigation."

The canal gang completely abandoned Qian Baichuan.

The Grand Canal Gang issued a public notice announcing that Qian Baichuan, the leader of the Tanzhou branch, was dismissed from all his posts and handed over to the imperial court for punishment for "establishing private accounts, altering the canal transport regulations, colluding with foreign bandits, and disrupting the canal transport."

The notice also specifically emphasized that the canal gang "has been favored by the country for generations and is loyal to the emperor and the country," and has absolutely no intention of confronting the imperial court.

Zheng Yifei was drinking tea in the back hall of the Criminal Investigation Department when he saw the notice. He put down the notice and said to Night Owl, "Han Lie is a man who can bend and stretch, much more difficult to deal with than Qian Baichuan."

"The biggest smuggling force is actually the Grand Canal gang. Should we continue the investigation?"

"The owl asked."

"Investigate, but not now."

Zheng Yifei shook his head: "I haven't figured out where the imperial court's bottom line is yet. The four hundred Nascent Soul cultivators have already kept some people in the capital up at night. If we dig deeper and uncover the connection between the Grand Canal Gang headquarters and the Third Prince, the first group to kill me to silence me might not be the Grand Canal Gang."

Night Owl didn't ask any more questions and turned to leave.

Zheng Yifei sat in the back room, looking at the leaves outside the window that were gradually turning yellow, lost in thought.

Smuggling in Tanzhou Prefecture has been cracked down on, but the root cause of smuggling is not in Tanzhou.

Red Fire Island is still there, Han Lie is still there, and the important figures in Kyoto are still there.

The eastern suburbs of Tanzhou City.

The construction of the Nanhuang gambling den, overseen by Zhao Wenyuan, is in full swing.

He assigned tasks to several key personnel, and in addition to overseeing the overall operations, he was also responsible for training the croupiers.

He rented a large courtyard in the county town and recruited more than a hundred bright, steady, and sharp young cultivators to practice their techniques, memorize odds, and learn the rules every day.

Yu Luosha was in charge of recruiting female cultivators as service personnel. The standards were very clear: good-looking, clean-looking, cultivation level was not limited but preferably above Foundation Establishment, proper speech, and quick hands and feet.

She posted notices at the entrances of several spirit tea houses and pill shops in the county town, and also spread the word in the market where rogue cultivators gathered. In one month, she recruited more than 300 female cultivators and personally trained them, teaching them one by one, from how to serve tea and water to how to deal with drunk gamblers.

Su Wanqing was in charge of finances, and Zhang Biao was in charge of recruiting security personnel.

Night Sky and Soul of the Past were in charge of the most important construction work.

The two men, along with thirty cultivators from the Southern Wilderness, recruited more than three thousand craftsmen in Tanzhou County and several surrounding prefectures, working day and night to complete the project.

The main building has six floors, with walls made entirely of bluestone, beams made of iron and wood, and a foundation three zhang deep.

The array plate of the sixth-order Spirit Gathering Array was personally crafted by Ouyang Tian, ​​and it took him two months just to set it up. The sixth-order protective array covers the entire gambling den area and can withstand attacks from those below the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

The interior decoration of the main building is extremely ingenious; the first floor is a hall with scattered tables.

The second floor has private rooms for distinguished guests.

The floors above the third floor are private rooms and guest rooms. There is also a basement level, which is a storage room.

In a full year, the Nanhuang Gambling House rose from a barren land.

Covering an area of ​​300 acres, the main building has six floors, and the auxiliary buildings include a guest room building for guests to rest and entertain, a spirit wine shop, a spirit food building, and a martial arts arena that can accommodate hundreds of people.

It may not be as large as the mirages in the Southern Wilderness, but in Tanzhou County, it is the first of its kind.

On the day of completion, Zhao Wenyuan stood at the entrance of the main building, looking at the six-story bluestone building, and turned to Zhang Biao, saying, "Old Zhang, back in the Southern Wilderness, did you ever imagine that we could create such a large venue in the Eastern Divine Continent?"

Zhang Biao, with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, grinned and said, "I hadn't thought about it, but I know that with Yifei, anything is possible."

Zhao Wenyuan nodded and said nothing more.