Chapter 26: The Governor is Interested
"Get out of the way, she doesn't dare to kill me." Tang Wen pulled Zhan Junru aside and faced Gu Hanyan with his chest puffed out.
"You...you you..." The knife fell to the ground with a clang, and Gu Hanyan was so angry that tears came to her eyes.
"I saved your life. This was the condition that you sold yourself to the Tang family.
Moreover, I, Tang Wen, designate you as my personal servant.
So, don’t even think about leaving the Tang family in this life, unless you repay kindness with hatred, then you will be worse than pigs and dogs. ” Tang Wen flicked his sleeves and went out.
"Sir, take a look at this." In Yanling Prefecture, Yang Yun carried a small bag of things to the home of the prefect Zhang Hongjiang, put it on the table and opened the bag.
Zhang Hongjiang stretched his head to take a look, "Isn't it just rice?"
"It is indeed rice, but look again, sir, this is the rice we usually eat." Yang Yun took out another small bag of rice and opened it.
Zhang Hongjiang came over suspiciously, picked up the rice and looked at it, and said in surprise, "This rice is smooth and shiny, and the grains are full and round. It's much better than what we eat. Where did it come from?"
Because there was no fertilizer in the State of Chu, the rice was very thin, dry and shriveled, as if it was malnourished.
In addition, the rice milling equipment is crude and simple, and its appearance is extremely poor.
Compared with the pearl rice produced in modern society, it is not at the same level at all.
"Koh Samui." Yang Yun said.
"Isn't Koh Samui a deserted island?" Zhang Hongjiang looked at Yang Yun with confusion.
"It used to be a deserted island, but it's different now. The owner of the island has returned." Yang Yun said.
"There is another master? Who is it?" Zhang Hongjiang was shocked.
"That man is called Tang Wen, he is only sixteen years old, from Liangzhou County in our province, and he is a third-class baron and a juren.
He brought his family with him, several hundred people. However, the Tang family's houses on the island were all burned down by pirates, leaving only broken walls and weeds.
However, Tang Wen was a very capable person. He set up camp, erected hundreds of tents, installed barbed wire outside, and actually lived in a tin house.
A few days ago, probably because the pirates heard that the Tang family had rice and food, seventy or eighty of them came and killed their way in.
However, their collusion with the Tang family was discovered by Tang Wen's men, so they set a trap to lure the pirates into the camp and then closed the door to fight the pirates.
Seventy-two people were killed and the case was reported to Yanling County, so I led people there." Yang Yun said.
"Barbed wire, what kind of barbed wire?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.
“The net is very strong, more than four meters high, and it is difficult to break into it even with a piece of wood.
The iron wire is half as thick as a chopstick. I tried it and it was extremely difficult to open.
Moreover, the area is not small. It is estimated to be 600 to 700 meters in a circle. How much iron would be needed? It is really a big deal. "Yang Yun exclaimed in amazement.
"Have you checked his background?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.
"I have been reporting to you for more than ten days just to check the details of the Tang family. Tang Wen's ancestors were granted the title of Earl of Liangzhou by the king because of their great contributions..." Yang Yun said.
“You mean the Tang family has fallen on hard times? After Tang Shixian’s death, the Tang family had less than three thousand taels of silver left.
As a result, he was robbed by bandits on the way and finally fled to our Yanling County.
However, Tang Wen had only been in Koh Samui for a few months. Where did he get the money to buy barbed wire, set up camp, and recruit slaves?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.
"I've also inquired about this matter. It is said that Tang Wen made a lot of money when he was studying at Linghai Academy." Yang Yun said.
"How much money can a scholar earn? Do you believe this?" Zhang Hongjiang raised his eyebrows and said.
"Of course I don't believe it. However, I think that the Tang family was once a count after all, and a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Tang Shixian is dead, but he must have left something for his son." Yang Yun nodded.
"Well, this is normal. Even if it's a treasure left by our ancestors, it would be worth tens of thousands of taels if sold." Zhang Hongjiang nodded.
“Sir, the Tang family has always felt that they don’t have enough manpower to defend against pirates.
According to royal rules, a third-class baron can only have sixty guards.
Therefore, Tang Wen wanted to expand his personal guards to fight pirates.
Otherwise, if the pirates come again and again, the Tang family will not be able to survive." Yang Yun said.
"Of course. However, his rank is too low, and we cannot ask him to expand his personal guards. This goes against the court rules," said Zhang Hongjiang.
"So, he wanted to improve his title. I gave him an idea, which was to donate silver.
Haha, sir, the war in the northwest is tense, and our county has been assigned a lot of tasks in terms of food, fodder, and horses, which requires more than one million taels of silver. So far, we have only collected 300,000 taels.
If the task is not completed by the end of next month, the military order is as heavy as a mountain.
By then, we will have to take off all the hats on our heads, or our lives will be in danger," said Yang Yun.
"How much does he want to donate?" Zhang Hongjiang suddenly became interested.
I have been worrying about raising money during this period and have not slept well.
"I don't know how much, but I think, based on what I have seen of his family background, he should be able to come up with tens of thousands of taels. For example, if he wants to be promoted to Viscount, he will have to donate tens of thousands of taels." Yang Yun replied.
"It's better to donate more and give him some benefits first. Then, when he is happy, he will donate more," said Zhang Hongjiang.
"Benefits? How to give them? We can't give him a title because he has no military merits." Yang Yun was stunned.
"You, sometimes you are smart, and sometimes you are confused. Let me ask you, how many military merits will you get for killing an ?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.
"One military achievement is equivalent to one hundred taels of silver." Yang Yun replied.
"That's right, didn't he kill seventy-two pirates? How much military merit is that?" Zhang Hongjiang touched his chin and smiled.
"Seventy-two military merits, calculated based on the promotion of titles, are equivalent to donating seven thousand two hundred taels of silver." Yang Yun suddenly realized.
"Yes! That's it. Go and apply right away." Zhang Hongjiang said with a smile.
"It only takes fifty military merits for a third-class baron to be promoted to a second-class baron. With this, he can be promoted to a second-class baron. By then, when his title is promoted and his personal guard is expanded to eighty people, will he still donate silver?" Yang Yun was a little confused.
"You, you underestimated him.
What is the difference between sixty people and eighty people?
Facing hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of pirates, this amount of manpower is still too few.
If he had money, he would even think the title of first-class viscount was too low.
Moreover, for wealthy nobles, this promotion to the title is also a great opportunity.
Once the war subsides, there will be no such opportunity." Zhang Hongjiang pointed at him and laughed.
"That's true. Unfortunately, this time the promotion to nobility is only for the nobles themselves. For officials like us, we will never have this opportunity even if we have money." Yang Yun shook his head.
"We have to help him. Whatever he needs, we should do our best to help.
Once the deserted island is reclaimed and crops are planted, we can then go there to collect taxes.
If such a large island were to be fully explored, a lot of grain would have to be surrendered every year.
Moreover, this matter must be done now.
We used to think it was a deserted island, but now it is different.
It has an owner, and if it has an owner, it has to pay taxes. Let's get some silver first to make up for the military pay." Zhang Hongjiang said.
"But it's still a deserted island and there's no crops grown. How can we collect taxes?" Yang Yun asked.
"Let's collect a little first. We will force him to open up the market. If he doesn't, the taxes this year and next year will be different. By then, he will have to find a way to grow crops on his own ." Zhang Hongjiang laughed dryly.
"Your Excellency's idea is really brilliant." Yang Yun said with a smile.
"As the nobles of the Chu State, they are members of the royal family and should take more responsibility when the country is in trouble." Zhang Hongjiang said with a smile.
“Master, there is a Qianyefang in Yanling City. It used to be a weaving and dyeing workshop. It’s very large.
The land covers more than 200 acres. However, there have been disasters everywhere in the past two years. We can't even fill our stomachs, so how can we have money to buy cloth?
So, the owner is planning to sell it recently.”
In a blink of an eye, a month passed and Bu Feng returned to the island with dozens of newly recruited refugees.
Although there were dozens more people, it was still far from the goal of 250 people set by the landlord. Tang Wen almost fell sick from anxiety.
Because the foundation of the dam has been poured.
Unfortunately, cement and steel bars are in short supply. If we don't travel back in time to get some supplies, the construction of the dam will have to be stopped.
"How much silver does it cost?" Tang Wen asked, because he had long wanted to buy a large courtyard in Yanlingchi so that he could live there at any time.
Also, the War Fox Intelligence Hall needs to strengthen its training.
The yard they bought before was too small, not grand enough, and not convenient for the War Fox team members to train, gather intelligence, and carry out their work.
"More than three hundred thousand taels." Bu Feng replied.
