In the end, the three of them gave the Fan Yu Governor-General Yamen only ten thousand taels to buy their peace.
"If we didn't have someone in the palace, and if it weren't for the Jia Family, we'd have had to pay three hundred thousand taels," Jia Baoyu said angrily.
"No. Without those two things, we couldn't have reached the scale where they'd demand three hundred thousand taels in tribute," Jia Lian said coldly.
"Since that's the case, why not start with a budget of three hundred thousand taels and build an army?" Jia Rong suggested.
It was a natural progression.
It was just that none of them had expected it to come so soon.
They had thought they would wait a few more years, until they had grown larger—at least until their annual income reached ten million taels.
"According to the Jixiao Xinshu, a combat-capable new army capable of crushing other feudal armies requires twelve taels for rations plus three taels in clothing allowances... Ten taels for every enemy beheaded, three hundred taels for ten heads, and the more they kill, the more they get... Fixed annual expenses come to twenty-four taels, roughly equivalent to what an oil peddler in the Capital City earns in an ordinary year," Jia Lian said.
It seemed he had begun studying this long ago.
"As expected, the same principles apply everywhere. Even military beheadings need KPI."
"Three hundred thousand taels, let me calculate... That only covers the fixed expenses of ten thousand men for one year. The moment there's a battle, the budget immediately has to increase fivefold, to one and a half million taels. War really isn't cheap. No wonder the later imperial courts were unwilling to fight," Jia Baoyu sighed.
"Ten thousand men are enough to turn us into a porcupine.