Gambling, prostitution, and the like had always been highly profitable industries.
Especially in chaotic times when the buying and selling of people could still be legal, many commoners were worth less than a plow ox. Profitable businesses were hardly respectable, but they brought money in quickly, and even self-proclaimed noble clans would get their hands dirty.
However, they would not directly own such industries. Usually, they would pass them through several hands or have household slaves manage them. More often, casino owners would take the initiative to pay their respects. The owners shouldered all the operating risks, while the bulk of the profits went to the great tree sheltering the casino.
How did Shen Tang know all this so clearly?
She had destroyed one casino after another throughout Kang, following the clues until she discovered that they all operated by the same playbook. Shen Tang had also refrained from raising the butcher's knife in a fit of temper. Instead, she had aimed the blade at their wallets—
Money or your life?
Everyone chose their life.
The casinos on the surface were easy to destroy, but the hidden gambling dens tucked inside private homes were much more difficult. To this day, it remained a game of cat and mouse. Constables chased them down, but three or four times out of ten, they failed because someone had tipped the gamblers off. When caught, the gamblers were imprisoned and fined.
After being released from forced labor, the gamblers would rack their brains to find another place to gamble, playing mental games with the authorities and betting under other names... With that much brains and perseverance, what couldn't they succeed at? What a waste of good talent!
The various prefectures and commanderies were quite disgruntled about this.
What use was there in cracking down