"Get out of the way, she doesn't dare to kill me." Tang Wen pulled Zhan Junru to the side with one hand and faced Gu Hanyan with his chest held high.
"You...you you..." With a clang, the knife fell to the ground, and Gu Hanyan was so angry that he burst into tears.
"I saved your life. It was on this condition that you sold yourself to the Tang family.
Moreover, I, Tang Wen, designate you as my personal slave.
Therefore, you should never think about leaving the Tang family in this life, unless you repay kindness with hatred, you will be worse than a pig or a dog." Tang Wen tossed his sleeves and went out.
"Sir, look at this." Yang Yun carried a small bag of things to the prefect Zhang Hongjiang's home in Yanling County Mansion, put it on the table and opened the bag.
Zhang Hongjiang stretched his head and looked at it, "Isn't it just rice?"
"It is indeed rice, but if you look at it, adults, this is the rice we usually eat." Yang Yun took out another small bag of rice and opened it.
Zhang Hongjiang came over with some suspicion, held up the rice and looked at it, and suddenly said in surprise, "This rice is smooth and shiny, with full and round grains. It is much better than what we eat. Where did it come from?"
Because there was no fertilizer in Chu State, the rice was very thin, shriveled, and malnourished.
In addition, the rice milling equipment is crude and crude, and the appearance is extremely poor.
Compared with the pearl rice produced in modern society, it is not on the same level at all.
"Samui Island." Yang Yun said.
"Isn't Koh Samui a desert island?" Zhang Hongjiang looked at Yang Yun with a puzzled look.
"It used to be a deserted island, but it's different now. The owner of this island is back," Yang Yun said.
"There is still a master? Who is it?" Zhang Hongjiang was shocked.
"That man's name is Tang Wen. He is only sixteen years old. He is from Liangzhou County in our province. He is still a third-class baron and is a civil servant.
He brought his family over, and there were hundreds of them. However, all the Tang family's houses on the island were burned down by pirates, leaving only ruins and a patch of grass.
However, Tang Wen was a very capable man. He set up camp, set up hundreds of tents, and installed barbed wire fences outside. He actually lived in a tin house.
A few days ago, the pirates probably heard that the Tang family had rice and food, so seven or eighty of them came and killed them.
However, the Tang family they colluded with was discovered by Tang Wen's men, so they set up a trap to introduce the pirates into the camp, shut the door and beat the dogs.
He killed seventy-two people and reported the case to our Yanling County, so my subordinates took 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’s difficult to hit it even with wood.
The wire is half as thick as a chopstick. I tried it, but it was extremely difficult to open.
Moreover, the range is not small, it is estimated to be six to seven hundred meters in a circle, so how much iron will be used? It is really a generous effort." Yang Yun exclaimed with a look of amazement.
"Have you checked his details?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.
"It took me more than ten days to report to you, Your Excellency, just to find out the details of the Tang family. Tang Wen's ancestor was named Liangzhou Bo by the monarch because of his great achievements..." Yang Yun said.
"What you mean is that the Tang family has declined. After Tang Shixian died, the remaining silver of the Tang family was less than three thousand taels.
As a result, I was robbed by bandits on the road and finally fled to our Yanling County.
However, Tang Wen has 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 have also inquired about this matter. It is said that Tang Wen made a lot of money while 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, but I think after all, the Tang family was once an earl, and the skinny camel was bigger than the horse. Tang Shixian died, but he had to leave something for his son." Yang Yun nodded.
"Well, this is normal. Even if the ancestors left a treasure, it would be worth more than 100,000 taels if sold." Zhang Hongjiang nodded.
"Sir, in order to defend against pirates, the Tang family has always felt that they don't have enough manpower.
A third-class baron, according to royal rules, can only have a personal guard of sixty people.
Therefore, Tang Wen wanted to expand his personal guards to fight against pirates.
Otherwise, if pirates come over again and again, the Tang family will not be able to settle down and live," Yang Yun said.
"Of course, but his title is too low, so we can't ask him to expand the bodyguards. This is against court rules," Zhang Hongjiang said.
"So, he wanted to improve his title. His subordinates gave him an idea, which was to donate money.
Haha, sir, the war in the northwest is tense, and our county has been assigned a lot of tasks to provide grain, fodder, and horses, which requires more than one million taels of silver. So far, we have only collected 300,000 taels.
If the task cannot be completed by the end of next month, military orders will be issued.
By then, we will all have to take off these hats on our heads, otherwise our lives will be at risk," Yang Yun said.
"How much does he want to donate?" Zhang Hongjiang suddenly became interested.
During this period, I have been worrying about collecting money and have never had a good night's sleep.
"I don't know how many subordinates there are, but I think based on the family wealth I saw, he should be able to donate 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 best to donate more and give him some benefits first. Then, when he is happy, he will donate more," Zhang Hongjiang said.
"Benefits? How to give them? We can't even give him a title. He has no military exploits." Yang Yun was stunned.
"You, you, sometimes you are smart, and sometimes you are confused. Let me ask you, how much merit does killing an enemy on the battlefield count?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.
"One battle merit is equivalent to a hundred taels of silver." Yang Yun replied.
"That's right. Didn't he kill seventy-two pirates? How many military achievements did he have?" Zhang Hongjiang touched his chin and said with a smile.
"Seventy-two battle merits, calculated based on the promotion of the title, is equivalent to a donation of 7,200 taels." Yang Yun suddenly realized.
"Yes! That's it, you go apply immediately." Zhang Hongjiang said with a smile.
"The third-class baron mentioned that the second-class baron only needs fifty military merits. With this, he can be promoted to the second-class baron. When the time comes, he will be given a title and the personal guard will be expanded to eighty people. He will also
Donate money?" Yang Yun was a little confused.
"You, you, underestimate him too much.
What is the difference between sixty people and eighty people?
Facing hundreds, thousands, or even thousands of pirates, this manpower is still too few.
If he had money, even being a first-class Viscount would still be considered low.
Moreover, for wealthy nobles, this promotion is also a great opportunity.
Once the war subsides, there will be no chance." Zhang Hongjiang pointed at him and smiled.
"That's true. It's a pity that this promotion is only for the nobles themselves. For officials like us, even if we have money, we will never have this opportunity." Yang Yun shook his head.
"We have to help him. Whatever he needs, we can help as much as we can.
When the deserted island is cleared and food is grown, we can go there and collect taxes.
For such a big island, if the whole island was built, a lot of food would be turned in every year.
Moreover, this matter must be done now.
We used to think it was a desert island, but now it's different.
It has an owner, and if it has an owner, it has to pay taxes, so let's get some money to pay for the army first," Zhang Hongjiang said.
"But it is still a deserted island and there is no food grown. How can we collect taxes?" Yang Yun asked.
"Collect some first. We have to force him to start farming. If he doesn't, the taxes this year will be different from next year. Then, without us urging him, he will have to find a way to grow food himself." Zhang
Hong Jiang laughed dryly.
"Sir, this method is really clever." Yang Yun said with a smile.
"As for the nobles of Chu State, the country is in trouble. They are members of the royal family, so they should take more responsibility." Zhang Hongjiang said with a smile.
"Sir, there is Qianbafang in Yanling City. It used to be a weaving, printing and dyeing workshop. It is very big.
It covers an area of more than 200 acres. However, in the past two years, disasters have occurred everywhere and I have not had enough to eat. How can I still have money to buy cloth?
Therefore, the owner is planning to sell it recently."
A month later, Bu Feng returned to the island with dozens of newly recruited refugees.
Although there were dozens more manpower, they were still far from the goal of 250 people set by the big landlord. Tang Wen almost fell ill.
Because the dam foundation has been poured.
Unfortunately, the cement and steel bars are in short supply. If we don't go back across time to get a batch of supplies, the dam will have to stop.
"How much money do you need?" Tang Wen asked, because he had long wanted to buy a compound in Yanlingchi so that he could live at any time.
Also, the War Fox Intelligence Hall needs to strengthen its training.
The yard I bought before was too small, not impressive enough, and inconvenient for members of the War Fox Group to train, gather information, and carry out work.