"My Lord Baron was able to kill seventy-two pirates. This is a blessing to our Yanling County. I am very pleased.
Therefore, I have specially won military honors for you and applied for promotion.
This matter has just been done, you are here just in time, you can take it back." Zhang Hongjiang said nonchalantly, and asked his master Zhou Tong to bring over the official documents and so on.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhang, for your support!" Tang Wen said with cupped hands.
"Your Majesty, you are very polite. You are all working for the royal family, as you should." Zhang Hongjiang said calmly.
"Sir Zhang, Lord Tang's personal guard captain was captured by Kang Qingfeng from Six Doors. He is in our prison now, can you..." Yang Yung just spoke, Zhang Hongjiang frowned and waved his hand and said, "Captain Yang,
My ass is on fire right now, how can I have the time to care about this?"
"Well, my subordinates are incompetent and cannot share your worries for you." Yang Yun said with a look of shame.
"Just now, Capt. Yang also told me about the military pay. The Great Qin State brazenly attacked our Great Chu State, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of crimes.
Tang Wen: I am a member of the royal family of Chu State, so of course I have to contribute to the royal family.
I only hate Tang Wen because I don’t have the power to restrain a chicken. I want to go to the battlefield but I am powerless." Tang Wen said.
"Now all the great squires in the city are giving generously. Like you, they want to go to the battlefield, but they are unable to kill the thieves.
However, the superiors assigned a lot of tasks to our county to provide food, fodder and horses, with a silver medal of one million taels.
As long as you still have money on hand, you should still contribute some effort to the country.
Lord Tang, do you think so?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.
"Of course, of course, this, actually, I told Yang Captou some time ago that I want to donate some money to serve the country.
However, now that his subordinate has been arrested, Mr. Zhang must understand the methods of the Six Doors.
I am afraid that they will beat me to a disability, and who will protect me then?" Tang Wen said.
"Haha, even if I come forward, it may not be effective. Sir, you have to be capable.
Otherwise, if you were the Earl, it would be easier for me to speak to you if I came forward.
Otherwise, they won't take you seriously, and my words will naturally be of no use." Zhang Hongjiang smiled.
"Are you serious?" Tang Wen looked at Zhang Hongjiang intently. Knowing that he had probably discussed this matter with Capt. Yang.
The purpose was simply to use Qiao Xiao's incident to force him to donate more money to meet their urgent needs.
Of course, if Tang Wen didn't agree immediately, he was still bargaining.
"If Sir Alex is so dedicated to safeguarding the country, I, Zhang Hongjiang, will give up my old face and talk to the Six Doors." Zhang Hongjiang said.
"How much military merit does it take for me to be promoted to earl?" Tang Wen asked.
"Master Zhou, do you want to calculate this?" Zhang Hongjiang's lips twitched and he turned to ask Comrade Zhou.
Zhou Tong took out the abacus and began to fiddle with it. Soon, he replied, "About 170,000 taels, which is still a third-class earl."
"Didn't Yang Baotou say one hundred thousand taels before? Why is there an extra seventy thousand taels?" Tang Wen asked.
"Haha, Lord Tang, you may have misunderstood.
What I'm talking about is that it costs 100,000 taels to be promoted from a first-class viscount to a third-class earl, but now you are only a second-class baron.
The promotion from second-class baron to first-class baron will cost 10,000 taels of silver, while the promotion from first-class baron to third-class viscount will require an additional 15,000 taels.
An additional 20,000 taels will be added to the promotion of the third-class Viscount to the second-class, which makes it 45,000 taels.
Going up further...and so on, counting to the third-class earl, it is more than 170,000 taels." Yang Captou smiled.
"If you calculate it like this, being promoted to the first-class earl will cost you hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. If the Marquis can pay it back, there won't be millions of taels that he can't get back." Tang Wen hummed.
"Haha, the first-class uncle can't get hundreds of thousands of taels. Who is the Marquis? He has been granted the title of Marquis.
The promotion from the third-class uncle to the second-class uncle will cost 300,000 taels, the promotion from the second-class uncle to the first-class uncle will cost 700,000 taels, and the promotion from the first-class uncle to the third-class uncle will cost three to four million taels, doubling the number.
Sir, please think about it, there are probably several thousand of our Chu nobles, but how many do the Marquis have?
Moreover, most of them are members of the Chu royal family, how many of them have foreign surnames?" Zhang Hongjiang said with a smile.
"I have also learned that everything will be difficult at the beginning when your Tang family moves from Liangzhou to Koh Samui.
Koh Samui is still a deserted island, so I will collect a little tax this year, but next year I will have to follow the rules and not collect this year’s tax.
It's all for the sake of the court, not to mention, the court belongs to nobles like you.
We are all your slaves, working for you." Zhang Hongjiang spoke very smoothly.
"But it's really hard for me to come up with 170,000 taels?" Tang Wen said.
"Haha, you should go back and think about it carefully. However, the people from the six gates may not be able to tell. If there is a trial tonight, your men will have to suffer a lot.
Talent is rare, I heard that Qiao Xiao is very skilled.
Although our Da Chu has many warriors, there are not many masters.
Now is another year of famine, with chaos and robbers running rampant.
Even if you have a fortune of tens of thousands, if no one protects your life, what's the use of keeping it?" Zhang Hongjiang said.
"If Lord Zhang agrees to bail him out, I will risk my life." Tang Wen gritted his teeth deliberately.
"Aren't you trying to force me?" Zhang Hongjiang snorted.
"Master Zhang, Master Tang is also anxious." Yang Captou said from the side.
"Forget it, you are anxious and so am I. The matter of food and grass is almost killing me. If it is not a big deal, I will agree to it." Zhang Hongjiang waved his hand and said.
"This is 170,000 taels, please keep it." Tang Wen immediately took out the banknote.
Zhang Hongjiang was astonished and said with a bitter smile, "Young Master Tang, you are trying to fool me."
"This is more than half of my Tang family's wealth. Alas... who told Qiao Xiao to be so loyal to me?
This money was originally intended to be used for land reclamation and farming in Koh Samui, but now the money is gone.
This matter of clearing up wasteland and farming will have to be put off. Please ask Mr. Zhang to sympathize with the Tang family's difficulties.
Can this year's taxes be exempted?" Tang Wen also had a bitter look on his face. I will act with you when you act.
"I'm sure it won't work. Don't accuse me, Zhang Hongjiang, of showing favoritism. By then, my hat will fly away.
However, it is indeed difficult for you and can be reduced by half.
If you wish, I will accept two thousand dans of grain from you, but at least 8,000 dans next year." Zhang Hongjiang said.
"Eight thousand dans, Mr. Zhang, you know that because the newly reclaimed wasteland on the island is barren, only two or three dans of grain can be harvested from one acre of land.
With such taxes, we will have to cultivate at least tens of thousands of acres of farmland?
Otherwise, if everything is turned over, nearly a thousand members of our Tang family will starve to death.
It is simply impossible to cultivate so much land in a short period of time.
Because we are short of people?" Tang Wen said.
The rice yield per mu in the Da Chu Kingdom is only about three or four quintals, and it requires good paddy fields. The average paddy field yield can't even reach four quintals of grain per mu.
"Short of people? Can't we recruit people even if we have money?" Zhang Hongjiang was stunned and asked.
"Of course I can recruit people if I have money, but I just contributed 170,000 taels to the court. I don't have much money left at home. It's simply impossible to buy a large number of slaves." Tang Wen shook his head.
"Why sell? You can rent the land to them." Zhang Hongjiang said.
"Where is Tian?" Tang Wen asked.
"You don't have Koh Samui, you just need to open up wasteland.
When the time comes, you can sign a contract with the tenants and ask them to reclaim the land.
You can charge no rent in the first year and less in the second year, so they will be willing to reclaim wasteland," Zhang Hongjiang said.
"They are almost starving to death. How can they still open up wasteland? There is no way they can wait until next year's harvest.
How can I and them become tenants without land? If we don’t have to pay the 170,000 taels.
I still have some money left to support them and reclaim the land first, but now I can’t.” Tang Wen shook his head and said, after going through such a big circle with Zhang Hongjiang, he just wanted to use his strength to get some people.
Otherwise, what's the point of thousands of dans of grain?
Moreover, Tang Wen's mind was not on food at all.
Although the yield per mu of modern hybrid rice is three to four times that of Chu State, the profit from the grain is not high.
It is simply impossible to make a fortune from it. Tang Wen's goal is to plant and breed.
For example, the profit from growing medicinal materials is much higher than growing food.
The air in the Great Chu Dynasty contained spiritual energy, and the medicinal materials grown were full of spiritual energy, and their growth rate was much faster than in modern society.
By then, when the medicinal materials are mature, they can be sold in the Dadong Republic, and they will definitely fetch a good price.
Even if you sell it to the alchemists, pharmacists, or drug stores in Dachu, you can still make a lot of money.
Because the Great Chu State has not yet cultivated this concept.
Even with this concept, they cannot cultivate seedlings, and modern society's planting technology has matured long ago.
Therefore, their medicinal materials are all wild, so there is a profession of specialized herbalists.