The four commanders Xiao Muqing, Liang Qi, Ziying, and Guyue all went to the Zhanghe River to recruit naval forces. When they left, Xiao Muqing was the first to ask Wang Kai for money. He was not polite at all. The lion opened his mouth,
He directly asked for one million taels of silver. The monthly salary of a soldier was only 800 yuan. He wanted one million taels at once. Even if the cost of ordnance and military supplies were deducted, he could recruit five or six people.
There were as many as 100,000 people. Wang Kai didn't know what Xiao Muqing wanted so much silver for, but Tang Yin had already told him to cooperate fully. Wang Kai couldn't ask more questions, so he took out one million taels of silver from the bank and gave it to him.
Xiao Muqing.
Xiao Muqing left with satisfaction. When Liang Qi, Ziying, and Guyue came to raise money again, there were not many silver taels left in the bank. The total amount of silver that the last three people raised was less than one million taels. It can be said that
Xiao Muqing's share is equivalent to the sum of the other three people.
The Feng Army recruited troops on the east bank of the Zhang River with great fanfare. In fact, as Tang Yin said, a brave man must be rewarded with a heavy reward. Many Ning people heard that the Feng Army treated everyone equally. Regardless of whether they were Feng people or Ning people, they gave the same military pay, and
It was also very rich, and people came to join the army one after another.
Xiao Muqing has the most money in his hands, and he gives the most military pay when recruiting troops, which naturally attracts the most people to join the army. The recruitment office of the Pingyuan Army has people coming and going, and there is a constant flow of people. On the other hand, the recruitment offices of the other three armies have a lot of applicants.
It's sparse and sparse.
While the Feng Army was expanding its army, Tang Yin was very leisurely in Qingyuan City. The most important tasks every day were drinking and eating. He knew very well that if he wanted to stabilize the situation in Hedong, he must first win over the dignitaries in the county.
, these people are basically from Ning, and they are highly respected in Hedong. They respond to every call. Only by winning their support, can Feng Kingdom have long-term stability and peace in Hedong. In the county capital, he will invite the rich and noble people in Qingyuan City to come every day.
At the banquet, whether he wants to socialize or not, this is what he has to do.
Now that Hedong has fallen into the hands of Feng State, the original wealthy people of Ning State have also suddenly lost their foundation. They are afraid of being persecuted by Feng State, and live in a nervous and tense atmosphere every day. They try not to go out if they can, and their
The family property is all in Hedong, and they can't leave even if they want to, so they urgently need to find new people to rely on. At this time, Tang Yin threw an olive branch to them, and the two sides naturally hit it off. All the wealthy people who received Tang Yin's invitation were basically happy to do so.
Come here and take advantage of the opportunity to have a meal to get closer to Tang Yin.
The first wave of people Tang Yin invited were the heads of the eight most influential families in Qingyuan and even the entire Hedong region, namely Deng Ping, Cao Hai, Peng Yu, Zeng An, Xiao Qing, Tian Ju, Dong Jian and Yuan Chunan.
.These eight families have been rich and powerful in Hedong for generations. They have great businesses and basically monopolize the agriculture, industry and commerce in Hedong. Tang Yin wants a stable and peaceful Hedong area, so it is crucial to win the support of these eight wealthy families, and these eight
If the wealthy family wants to continue to survive in Hedong, they can only rely on Tang Yin.
When the eight family heads came to the county capital, each of them brought a generous meeting gift. Each of them was a rare treasure that had been treasured for a long time and was worth a lot of money. After entering the main meeting hall of the county capital and meeting with Tang Yin, the eight family members
People hurriedly knelt down to salute, and all kowtowed to Tang Yin.
Tang Yin had already known the life experiences of the eight people in advance, and was very polite to them. He sat on the mat, bowed slightly, waved his hands, and said with a smile: "Eight gentlemen, please get up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Their seats had already been prepared. After the eight people got up, the servants below quickly stepped forward and led them to their respective seats. Seeing everyone sitting down, Tang Yinfang said slowly: "This time I invite you to
I came mainly to reassure everyone."
When the eight people heard this, their spirits were lifted, and they all turned their attention to Tang Yin.
Tang Yin continued with a smile: "Although Hedong has returned to Dafeng now, you can rest assured that our country Feng will not deliberately make things difficult for you because of your status as Ning people. On the contrary, as long as you are willing to sincerely submit to Dafeng, your family fortune will be
, I will never do anything wrong, and I will also open the door to convenience for you."
After hearing this, the eight people all showed joy, looked at each other, nodded, and then all raised their hands and said: "Thank you, my dear king!" Before meeting Tang Yin, they also thought that Tang Yin was a cruel and vicious monarch.
But when I see him now, I feel completely different from what I remembered. Tang Yin is not only young and handsome, but also very peaceful. His smiling appearance and approachable attitude have nothing to do with a tyrant.
Tang Yin smiled at everyone and said: "You don't have to be polite. I regard you as friends. Since we are friends, we should help each other. I protect your family business and create convenient conditions for you. I don't know how you can help me.
?”
Everyone was stunned. As a monarch, Tang Yin actually treated them as friends. This was simply unbelievable to everyone. However, they were not stupid. Of course, they understood that the second half of the sentence was the key point of Tang Yin. The eight of them looked at each other.
, and finally Deng Ping handed over his hand and said, "I wonder what the king wants me to do?"
Tang Yin said with a smile: "You should all know that during the recent period, there have been repeated wars, and our army has suffered heavy casualties. It is necessary to recruit troops locally in the Hedong area to fill up the strength and establishment. However, recruitment costs money, and currently the county's
The coffers are empty, and I hope you can all contribute to the country."
At this time, they finally understood that Tang Yin came to them to ask them to donate money. The richer a person is, it does not mean that he will be more generous. It is difficult for these wealthy people to donate money to the Ningguo court.
Not to mention donating money to Fengguo. After hearing this, people looked at each other and no one was speechless.
Seeing this, Tang Yin raised his eyebrows, calmly picked up the flask, poured a glass of wine, then took a slow sip, and asked with a smile: "What? When the country is in need, you don't even have the strength to do so.
Are you willing to come out?"
Deng Ping swallowed his foam and asked bravely: "I wonder how much money your Majesty asked me to donate?"
He asked directly, and Tang Yin answered simply, "One hundred thousand taels."
The eight people had one hundred thousand taels. If calculated separately, each person was just over ten thousand taels. For the eight of them, more than ten thousand taels of silver was not too much. The eight people's complexions recovered a little, but before they could
As he spoke, Tang Yin added with a smile: "One hundred thousand taels per person."
Phew! Eight people almost vomited blood on the spot. Each of them was one hundred thousand taels. This was not a small amount. You must know that the monthly payment for a high-ranking official such as the Prime Minister was only three hundred taels, which was just over three thousand taels a year. And Tang Yin said nothing.
It's only one hundred thousand taels, which is unacceptable to any of the eight people. It would be a stretch to spend so much money.
"Your Majesty, this..." Deng Ping said with a look of embarrassment on his face, "This is really too much..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a crisp sound beside him. Cao Hai slapped the table angrily, stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, we are all ordinary businessmen, and we only earn 18,000 yuan a year at most.
, you are asking us for 100,000 taels all at once, isn’t this too overwhelming?!”
Cao Hai has the most irritable personality among the eight people. He is also relatively upright, very loyal, and likes to make friends. Although he has the smallest wealth among the eight people, he has the widest network of contacts.
Tang Yin looked at Cao Hai who was full of anger, sneered, and said slowly: "Brother Cao, don't be angry! I know something about everyone here, so I'll ask each of you to come up with 1.8 million taels or maybe
There will be difficulties, but one hundred thousand taels can only be considered a small amount of money for you. If you are not willing to pay even such a small amount of money when the country is in crisis, how can I trust your loyalty to me, Dafeng?"
Cao Hai met Tang Yin's eyes without fear, stared at him for a long time, and suddenly threw his head back and laughed.
Tang Yin asked inexplicably: "Brother Cao, what are you laughing at?"
Cao Hai said: "I am laughing at the king!"
"Laughing at me?"
"We, the businessmen, should really consult the king and learn from the king's way of doing business." Cao Hai talked eloquently, but the other seven people were so frightened that they broke out in cold sweat. Deng Ping, who was sitting next to him, pulled his sleeves and hinted at him.
Don't say any more, but Cao Hai ignored him at all and continued: "The king asked us Ning people to pay to recruit Ning people into the army, and then use Ning people to fight the Ning people in Hexi. It took a long time, but I, Ning Guo, were here
Internal friction has nothing to do with your Majesty or Fengguo. Your Majesty is doing well in this kind of cost-free business. Shouldn’t we merchants learn from your Majesty?”
Hearing this, everyone present took a breath. It was not because they were awakened by Cao Hai's words. Even if he didn't say it, people knew this. But if he said this in front of Tang Yin, wouldn't he be looking for trouble?
?
Tang Yin still looked at Cao Hai with a smile, but a strong murderous aura was emanating from him. Murderous aura is an invisible thing, but it can be felt by everyone present, as if the surrounding air suddenly
It seemed to be frozen, and the temperature plummeted several degrees.
At this time, Wang Kai, who was accompanying the banquet, realized that Tang Yin had murderous intentions. He stood up quickly, walked quickly to Tang Yin, bowed and saluted, and said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Cao must have drunk too much, and he is talking drunken words.
I hope your Majesty will show mercy and don’t blame Mr. Cao.”
Wang Kai used to be the city lord of Qingyuan City and had a close personal relationship with Cao Hai. This time Tang Yin invited the eight of them. Cao Hai didn't want to come, but Wang Kai forced him to come and asked him to take this opportunity to get closer to Tang Yin. In the future,
Feng Guo would not trouble him, but now it had the opposite effect. Instead of getting closer to Tang Yin, Cao Hai even mocked him in public, which scared Wang Kai into a cold sweat.
"Drink too much? Brother Cao has never had a sip of wine since entering the banquet, how could he drink too much? Even though he drank too much, he uttered the truth after drinking. It seems that Brother Cao both hates me and hates me.
Is it windy?" Tang Yin asked with a calm tone and a smile.
Wang Kai waved his hands repeatedly and was about to speak, but Cao Hai said first: "That's right! Since ancient times, Hedong has been the territory of our Ning State. It was your Feng State who occupied Hedong, and you still talk about regaining the lost territory without shame. This is purely