Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Haggling (1)

Translator: 549690339

“Lord Baron, it is a blessing for our Yanling County to be able to eliminate 72 Pirates. Therefore, I’ve specially obtained military merits for you to apply for a promotion. This matter has just been settled, you came at the right time, you can take it back. ” Zhang Hongjiang said indifferently and asked his private advisor Zhou Tong to bring the official documents over. “Thank you for your support, Lord Zhang!” Tang Wen cupped his hands and said. “You’re too kind, Lord Jue. It’s my duty to serve the imperial family. ” Zhang Hongjiang said indifferently. “Lord Zhang, Lord Tang’s personal guard Captain has been captured by Kang Qingfeng from six doors organization. “He’s in our prison right now, can we ...” Yang Yun had just opened his mouth when Zhang Hongjiang frowned and waved his hand.”Constable yang, my butt is on fire right now, how can I have the time to care about this?” “Yes, this subordinate is incompetent and can not share your worries.” Yang Yun said with an ashamed expression. “Just now, Constable yang told me about the military pay. The great Qin Kingdom had brazenly attacked our great Chu and committed all kinds of evil, including burning, killing, and plundering. Tang Wen is a member of the royal family of Chu State. Of course, I have to do my best for the royal family. I only hate Tang Wen for being so weak that I can’t even fight on the battlefield. ” Tang Wen said. “Now, all the gentlemen in the city are generous. They want to go to the battlefield like you, but they can’t kill the bandits. However, the higher – ups have assigned our County with a lot of tasks for provisions and horses, worth a million taels of silver. As long as he had money on hand, it was still necessary to do something for the country. Don’t you think so, Lord Tang?” Zhang Hongjiang asked. “Of course, of course. Actually, I’ve talked to Constable yang about this some time ago. I want to donate some silver to serve the country. However, now that his subordinate had been captured, Lord Zhang must know what the six Fan School was doing. I’m afraid they’ll cripple me. Who’ll protect me then?” Tang Wen said. “Hehe, even I might not be able to do anything. You still have to rely on your own abilities, Lord Jue. Otherwise, if you were the Earl, it would be easier for me to speak up. Otherwise, they won’t take you seriously, and my words will naturally be of no use. ” Zhang Hongjiang smiled. “Is this true?” Tang Wen looked at Zhang Hongjiang attentively. He knew that Zhang Hongjiang must have discussed this with Constable yang. Their purpose was to use Qiao Xiao’s matter to force him to donate more silver to solve their urgent needs. Of course, Tang Wen didn’t immediately agree to it because he was bargaining. “If Lord Jue is willing to sacrifice his life to protect the country, I, Zhang Hongjiang, will have to speak to six Fan School even if I have to throw away my face.” Zhang Hongjiang said. “How many battle credits do I need to become an Earl?” Tang Wen asked. “Private advisor Zhou, can you read my fortune?” Zhang Hongjiang’s lips twitched as he turned to ask Zhou Tong. Zhou Tong took out his Abacus and started to fiddle with it. Not long after, he replied,”about 170000 taels of silver, and he’s a third – Class Earl.” “Didn’t Constable yang say 100000 taels? Why is there an extra 70000 taels?” Tang Wen asked. “Hehe, Lord Tang, you may have misunderstood. I told you that it would cost 100000 taels of silver to be promoted from a first – Class Viscount to a third – Class Earl, but you’re only a second – Class Baron now. It would cost ten thousand silver to be promoted from a second class Baron to a first class Baron, and another fifteen thousand silver to be promoted from a first class Baron to a third class Viscount. Another 20,000 taels of silver were needed to upgrade from a third Viscount to a second Viscount. That would be 45000 taels of silver. Going up ... And so on, a third rank count would be 170000 taels. ” Constable yang laughed. “In this way, it would cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to be promoted to a first – Class Earl. The Marquis is amazing. There’s nothing that can’t be bought with millions of taels of silver.” Tang Wen snorted. “Hehe, a first uncle can’t even get a few hundred thousand taels. What kind of person is the Marquis? It would take three hundred thousand taels for a third – Class uncle to become a second – Class uncle, seven hundred thousand taels for a second – Class uncle to become a first – Class uncle, and three to four million taels for a first – Class uncle to become a third – Class uncle. Lord Jue, please think about it. Great Chu has a few thousand nobles, but how many Marquis do we have? Furthermore, the majority of them are from the Chu royal family. How many of them have other surnames?” Zhang Hongjiang laughed. “That’s too much, 170000 taels. Sigh ... I have the heart but not the strength.” Tang Wen sighed. “I’ve also learned that it’s difficult at the beginning for your Tang family to move from Liangzhou to SuMei Island. Somi is a deserted island, so I’ll only collect a little tax this year. Next year, we’ll have to follow the rules and not collect this year’s tax. It’s all for the court. Besides, the court belongs to you nobles. We are all your slaves, and we will work for you. ” Zhang Hongjiang’s mouth was very smooth. “But it’s really difficult for me to take out 170000 taels, right?” Tang Wen said. “Hehe, you should go back and think about it. However, I don’t know about the six Fan school’s people. If there’s a trial tonight, your men will inevitably suffer. Talents are hard to come by, and I heard Qiao Xiao is quite skilled. Although great Chu has a lot of martial artists, we don’t have many experts. It was the year of disaster again, with rioters and bandits running around. Even if you have ten thousand strings of cash, 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’ll go all out.” Tang Wen deliberately gritted his teeth and said. “Aren’t you forcing this official?” Zhang Hongjiang snorted. “Lord Zhang, Lord Tang is also anxious.” Constable yang said from the side. “Forget it, you’re anxious and I’m anxious. The matter of rations is pressing me to death. If it’s not a big matter, I’ll agree to it.” Zhang Hongjiang waved his hand and said. “This is one hundred and seventy thousand taels, please keep it.” Tang Wen immediately took out the silver notes. Zhang Hongjiang was stunned. He smiled bitterly and said,”you’re good, Lord Tang. You’re trying to fool me.” “That’s half of the Tang family. Sigh ... Who told Qiao Xiao to be so loyal to me? This money was originally intended to be used for farming on somi Island, but now it was gone. This matter of land reclamation and farming will have to be put on hold. I hope Lord Zhang can empathize with the Tang family’s difficulties. Can you exempt us from this year’s taxes?” Tang Wen’s face was also bitter. ‘I’ll play along with you.’ “I definitely can’t do that. Don’t say that I, Zhang Hongjiang, am favoritism. At that time, my title will be gone. However, it’s indeed difficult for you, so you can cut it by half. I’ll only take 2000 catties of grain from you, but at least 8000 catties next year. ” Zhang Hongjiang said. “Eight thousand catties. Lord Zhang, you know that the island’s newly cultivated barren land is barren, so one mu of land can only yield two to three catties of grain. According to the taxes, we have to cultivate at least ten thousand mu of land? Otherwise, if we hand it all over, nearly a thousand people in my Tang family will starve to death. It was impossible to cultivate so many fields in such a short time. Because we’re short of people?” Tang Wen said. The yield per mu of rice in the great Chu State was only about three to four catties, and it had to be a good paddy field. The yield per mu of ordinary paddy fields was not even four catties. “Lacking manpower? Can’t you hire people with money?” Zhang Hongjiang was stunned and asked. “Of course I can hire people with money. However, I have just contributed 170000 taels of silver to the Imperial court. I don’t have much money left at home, so it is impossible to buy a large number of servants.” Tang Wen shook his head. “Why do you want to sell it? you can rent the land to them.” Zhang Hongjiang said. “Where’s the field?” Tang Wen asked. “Don’t you have somi Island? you can just explore it. At that time, he could sign a contract with the tenants and ask them to reclaim the land. We can not collect rent for the first year, but we can collect some for the second year. This way, they will be willing to reclaim the wasteland. ” Zhang Hongjiang said. “They’re about to starve to death, so how can they have the strength to open up the wasteland? it’s impossible for them to wait until next year’s harvest. Without land, how can I become a tenant with them? If he didn’t have to pay the 170000 taels. I still have some resources left to support them to cultivate the land first, but now I can ‘t. ” Tang Wen shook his head. He had gone in circles with Zhang Hongjiang because he wanted to borrow his power to get some people. Otherwise, what was a few thousand kilograms of grain? Moreover, Tang Wen’s mind was not on the food at all. Although the yield per mu of modern hybrid rice was three to four times that of Chu State, the profit of grain was not high. It was impossible to make a fortune with it. Tang Wen’s goal was to grow and breed. For example, the profit of growing medicinal herbs was much higher than that of growing grain. The air in the great Chu dynasty contained spiritual Qi, so the medicinal herbs grown there were full of spiritual Qi. Moreover, the growth rate was much faster than that of modern society. By then, when the medicinal herbs were mature, he could sell them in the Great Eastern Republic, which would definitely fetch a good price. Even if he sold them to those alchemy Masters and medicine shops in great Chu, he would still be able to make a lot of money. That was because the great Chu State had yet to have the concept of planting. Even if there was such a possibility, they would not be able to cultivate any seedlings. Moreover, the planting technology in modern society had matured a long time ago. Therefore, their medicinal herbs were all wild, which led to the appearance of specialized herbalists.