Chapter 220

Chapter 220: Chapter 225 – even the Imperial inspector is acting pitifully (1)

His slender body was straight, and he exuded a noble aura. This was a governor of a generation. However, Tang Wen had lived two lives and had seen a lot of movies in his previous life, so he didn’t think he was that scary. “Governor of Linghai City, Xiao shenguo, greets the Earl.” He didn’t expect Xiao shenguo to be so polite and slightly cupped his hands at Tang Wen. “Yes, Lord Xiao is too polite.” Tang Wen cupped his hands in return. “Sit!” Xiao shenguo pulled up his robe and invited Tang Wen to sit in the guest’s seat. Wan Hansong and Jiang Xuan accompanied him. “My Lord, Lord Jue is here to ask for silver. Last time, Lord Jiang bought a thousand tents on our behalf and gave us half of the money, so we’re still short of a million. ” Wan Hansong said. “AI, this matter is indeed difficult to handle. The war in the Northwest had been going on for almost a year. The war had not stopped, but had become more and more intense. We’re already stretched thin with the amount of food, horses, and silver we’ve taken from Linghai. I didn’t expect the sun nation to take advantage of this and push us to the front of the battlefield. The thieves have already taken over several islands in our Ridge sea. They’ve burned, killed, pillaged, and committed all sorts of evil. It’s truly a heart – wrenching sight. ” Xiao shenguo stroked his beard and said with a pained expression. “Who said it wasn ‘t? The Yamen of the chief office was also embarrassingly short of money and had to use all their savings to buy firearms and rations. If this continued, the soldiers would go hungry. And when winter comes, they don’t even have winter clothes. ” Wan Hansong said, acting pitiful. “The Imperial court is also out of money, and it’s the same in all provinces.” Xiao Sen said. “Some time ago, the donations from the gentlemen from all over the country were all spent. The military Yamen came to ask for money every day. I wanted to hide from them whenever I saw them.” Wan Hansong sighed and frowned. “I say, my two lords, complaining the moment we meet. It’s not easy for us to run a small business. The Western side was urging them to pay up, and if they didn’t pay up, this business would be gone in the future. My Tang family relies on doing Western business to survive. Once this road is cut off, what will my thousands of people eat? Then I’ll add a few thousand more bones. ” Tang Wen said. “Hehehe, Lord Jue, you seem to be crying even more miserably than us?” Wan Hansong actually smiled. “Lord Wan, that’s one million taels. The Tang family’s several thousand servants are all counting on this allowance to buy clothes and food for the new year.” Tang Wen said. “I heard that you have a few thousand personal guards?” Xiao shenguo suddenly asked. “I don’t deserve that. I don’t have the authority to raise so many personal guards. There are only four hundred personal guards, and the rest are guards and servants.” Tang Wen shook his head. “Hehe, I don’t think so. I heard that your personal army has thousands of high – Quality handguns and dozens of cannons, which annihilated nearly a thousand Pirates twice. I’ve heard about this from Mr. Qin. ” Xiao shenguo laughed. “They’re here to steal our grain, so we can’t do anything but fight back. Otherwise, are you going to stretch out your neck and let them chop you?” Tang Wen asked. “What a great Deputy envoy of the Jiang state regimental training. You have trained a group of excellent soldiers for the Imperial court.” Xiao shenguo said. Damn, it can’t be a trap, right ... “They’re not excellent. They’re just common people who have been training regularly. They’re good enough to fight against Pirates.” Tang Wen quickly shook his head. “I’ll put it this way, I definitely don’t have any silver. However, it’s only right for you to come and ask for silver. However, we really don’t have any more silver. ” Xiao Sen said. “The two of you, one laugher than the other.” Tang Wen’s face almost darkened. “Hehehe, but it’s not like there’s no way.” Xiao shenguo said,”there’s a piece of land opposite your Island that belongs to us. However, there’s a town on that land called ‘Green Bull town’. There are a few thousand people in the town. By then, if you recruit all the young and strong men in the town into the camp, there will not be many people left in the town. At that time, even if there’s some land left, I’ll still have to sell it to you, right? If someone didn’t want to join the army, they could just use land as compensation. This way, the entire town will be your Tang family’s property. ” “I guess it’s not easy to recruit people from that town?” Tang Wen asked. “The country is in trouble, and everyone is the target of the Imperial court’s summons. Whoever is unconvinced, you can show the Yamen’s official order and cut off their heads. ” Xiao shenguo snorted. “Yi Wu, have you heard of Green Bull town?” Tang Wen asked. “I think it’s not far from the Liu family Village. It’s said that the county was built in Green Bull town before, but it was moved away. That’s why the town is huge. ” Luo Yiwu said after thinking for a while. “See, I was right.” Xiao shenguo said. “Hehe, it’s just a run – down town. I don’t have a million taels left?” Tang Wen asked. “The land in that town is not small. Including the land that belongs to our Yamen, it’s a few thousand hectares. It’s about half the size of a small county.” Wan Hansong said. “We’re in the middle of a war, what’s the use of land? It can’t be turned into food or clothes. Only silver can save your life. ” Tang Wen shook his head. “You have to look far ahead. After the war subsides and we plant crops, how much money can you earn from the rent alone?” Xiao shenguo said. “Don ‘t! I only want silver. ” Tang Wen shook his head firmly. In fact, he had already taken a liking to it, but he just wanted to extract more benefits. “There’s something more important that you might not know. ” Wan Hansong said. “Oh?” Tang Wen gave him a sideways glance. “Green Bull town has a few thousand people, and half of them are government servants. So, as long as we say the word, you can do whatever you want, right?” Wan Hansong said. “Official slaves? Why are there so many officials and slaves in Green Bull town?” Tang Wen was stunned and asked. “This matter is complicated to speak of. The entire province’s official family who committed crimes are all placed there. Some people were already things from a hundred years ago, and those were just their descendants. However, once you become an official slave, you will always be an official slave. ” Xiao shenguo said. “Does this official servant count as part of my Tang family?” Tang Wen was interested. “Hehe, officials and servants belong to the official family. How did they become members of your Tang family?” Xiao shenguo laughed. “My Lord, we are short of money at the moment. Why don’t we sell this batch of officials and slaves?” Wan Hansong said. “These officials and slaves are much better off than ordinary people. Therefore, most of them were educated, and some of them were even quite skilled. In addition, many of them were young ladies, all descendants of criminal officials. She’s proficient in the four Arts, and it’s definitely better to have her as a servant than to buy one from the common people. It’s just that their family members committed a crime and were caught in the crossfire. ” Xiao shenguo said. “That’s true, but it’s still much more expensive than ordinary people. ” Wan Hansong nodded. “How much silver would that be?” Tang Wen asked on purpose. These two guys cooperated well and were obviously acting. “Private advisor Luo, bring me the name list.” Xiao shenguo said to a thin middle – aged man beside him. The man nodded and turned into the back hall. Not long after, he returned with a yellowed name list. “My Lord. I’ve just checked. There are a total of 3281 official slaves in Green Bull town. Women ... Among them, there were 830 strong men between the ages of 15 to 25. ” 525 women ...” Private advisor Luo answered as he flipped through the books. “There are quite a few young women, and quite a few young men.” Xiao shenguo touched his chin and said. “It’s only a thousand people. The rest are all old, weak, sick, and disabled, right?” Tang Wen sneered. “Of course not. There are a few hundred middle – aged men and women here. The elderly and children make up less than 30%.” Private advisor Luo shook his head. “In the past, when these officials and servants worked in the fields, the Yamen would receive a large amount of grain every year.” Xiao shenguo said. “How much for one person?” Tang Wen asked. “We can’t sell them one by one this time. We’ll deal with them all together.” Wan Hansong shook his head. “How much?” Tang Wen asked. “Three million taels.” Wan Hansong said.