Chapter 716 Embarrassed

Matvey Semyonovich was a little embarrassed, because he was neither here to catch spies nor traitors. On the contrary, in a sense, he was here to open the back door and release prisoners.

However, Li Xiao's enthusiastic attitude still made him feel a little more at ease. At least on the surface, it seemed that the Grand Duke had no intention of targeting him.

Of course, he is not careless. The most indispensable thing in the officialdom is the smiling tiger who is double-dealing. It is too common to do one thing in front of others and do the other behind his back. Even he himself is like this. It is simply a fool to place hope on others.

"Your Majesty the Grand Duke, you are joking. Your gendarmerie controls everything in Bucharest, leaving spies and gangsters with no place to hide. This leaves us with almost nothing to do in the third film. Where are we going to arrest people!"

Matvey flattered Li Xiao without leaving any trace, although this was somewhat against his will, because Matvey didn't think Li Xiao was good at all. In his opinion, Wallachia was a really good place. It is because the people are simple and honest, and there are no espionage or chaotic party activities at all, that it seems to be well governed.

He even believed that Li Xiao was equally qualified as a leashed dog in this position, and that Wallachia would be better governed if it were replaced by an expert like him.

"You are exaggerating," Li Xiao would also say when flattering in the officialdom. Since Matvey wanted to talk nonsense with him, he could only accompany him. "Who doesn't know that the third part is the cornerstone of maintaining the stability of the empire. If not You and your subordinates maintain the stability of the empire on various occasions that are invisible to ordinary people. I’m afraid it’s impossible for us to live peacefully. You are the one who has made the greatest contribution in this regard!”

The flattery was sent back intact, which made Matvey feel a little comfortable, but his original intention was to test Li Xiao's attitude, but after this round, apart from gaining a meaningless high hat, there was nothing gained at all, okay? good.

He was a little confused and didn't know whether he should directly explain his purpose. He always felt that Maria's arrest was definitely not simple. If the relationship between them was revealed too quickly, he might become passive.

But let's not talk about it. The archduke opposite is more slippery than a gas rat. It's a waste of time to continue talking like this. What should we do?

After thinking for a while, Matvey couldn't stand it anymore and asked: "Your Majesty the Grand Duke, I heard that you and the Wallachian internal affairs department launched a joint operation and arrested a group of criminals. Is this true?"

Li Xiao's face was calm, but his heart was filled with joy. As expected, Matvey couldn't help it anymore. This was good news, indicating that his arrangement worked.

"Yes, we arrested a group of bandits and thieves who secretly dug into the country. These despicable scum took advantage of the empire's inattention and carried out smuggling activities. The amount of money involved is staggering!"

Matvey was naturally more and more embarrassed, because he was also the despicable scumbag in Li Xiao's mouth. Fortunately, he was quite thick-skinned and did not reveal his flaws.

"Really?" Matvey pretended to be very curious and asked, "What is the specific situation!"

Gu Qi

Of course Li Xiao knew what he really cared about, and replied calmly: "We arrested a group of smugglers, the leader seems to be Maria Davydovna... and also confiscated their treasury and warehouse. It’s been a great harvest! I’m going to let them continue to dig into the case while the iron is hot, and we must completely eliminate all the smugglers in Bucharest!”

Li Xiao's words surprised Matvey. Previously, he thought that Maria's arrest might be an accidental incident, but according to Li Xiao's meaning, he was preparing to kill the smuggling crime!

This couldn't help but make him feel even heavier. If it was just an accidental incident, it wouldn't be too much trouble for him to step in to solve it. But if combating smuggling is a policy that the Governor's Office wants to widely implement, then he would be embarrassed and aggrieved. .

After traveling all the way to Wallachia to become an official, he was naturally trying every possible means to make money, but there were owners of all the rich and profitable places in this damn place, and with his body, he definitely couldn't compete with those giants for food. He had to think twice even about secretly reporting to Nicholas I. After all, he could not offend any of Duke Mikhail, Duke Vorontsov, and Prince William of Prussia.

As for causing trouble for Alexey, it is not impossible, but the governor's methods are also very clever. He knows very well that the giants and predators above him are not generally satisfied with him. If he overestimates his ability to find trouble, Ah Lexie can also use those giants to make him unable to eat.

Fortunately, although Alexei's control over Wallachia was tight, he still saved him face and ignored him no matter what he did. That's why his previous smuggling activities were so successful.

But now the wind has changed, and the Governor's Mansion wants to strictly crack down on smuggling. This is tantamount to cutting off his only source of wealth. He definitely cannot accept it, but he feels that it is not worthwhile to challenge Alexei just because of this. .

After all, Alexei did nothing wrong. No government anywhere could turn a blind eye to the rampant activities of smugglers. Combating smuggling is a legitimate and legitimate act. If he directly made irresponsible remarks about this, Alexey could make him paralyzed.

What's more, Maria Davydovna and his main subordinates have been arrested. Even if Li Xiao's military police are not as good as his third military police in torture and extorting confessions, it will be a matter of time before they open their mouths.

Once they reveal that the mastermind behind the scenes is him, the boss of the third hall, the fun will be even greater. It is equivalent to Alexei firmly grabbing his pigtails. Even if he cannot be killed, telling him to get out is Totally possible.

Thinking of this, Matvey had a headache. He was really in a dilemma. No matter whether the strong man broke his wrist or it hurt his body, or he had the will and strength to do it, he hesitated for a long time before he slowly said: "Your Majesty the Grand Duke, I fully support the Governor's order to crack down on smuggling crimes. It is indeed necessary to punish those damn rats...thieves..."

He was actually going to talk about mice, but when he thought about it, wasn't he scolding himself? So I changed my tune temporarily.

He laughed awkwardly before saying, "But as you know, Your Excellency, our Third Department sometimes has to pretend to...pretend to be fellow travelers with them in order to crack down on spies and gangsters lurking in the country."

Having said this, he looked up at Li Xiao and saw that Li Xiao's expression was normal before continuing: "So as a last resort, we can only pretend to be criminals, and even have to go against our will in order to catch their key figures lurking behind the scenes. To carry out some unseemly activities that violate the law, such as...for example, smuggling..."