Xihe Prefecture

"The court had the White Ape invested as Pacifying Huai General. To keep in contact with the White Ape, they made the Elder concurrently serve as Pacifying Huai Army Sili Commandant..." Long E Ying stroked Liang Qu's cheek, finding it unbelievable. "So the Elder became his own subordinate? His own superior?"

"That's right! Your man's impressive, isn't he?"

Liang Qu was delighted with himself.

The Marquis of Changyuan had granted him legitimacy alone, without any benefits—there was no salary attached.

The Pacifying Huai General was a Subordinate Second Rank official, treated as First Rank, with an annual stipend of thirty-six thousand eight hundred and fifty taels. Even at First Rank treatment, more than thirty thousand was absolutely a great deal. The Pacifying Huai Army Sili Commandant's main duty was liaison work, and it was a concurrent post, so its annual stipend was relatively low: eight hundred and twenty-five taels.

Adding in his own title, merit rank, and official post—

One man was drawing five salaries!

The wages alone came to a full sixty thousand a year, all told!

The household's various expenses were not small, but the profits from the Rice Frog and Rice Leech medicinal fields alone were enough to cover them. In other words, all sixty thousand in salary could be saved as pure "net profit"! "Mm, impressive." Long E Ying smiled faintly, then asked, "What about later? Once the Flood Dragon matter is settled, will it still be like this?"

"There's no helping it. For some things, if you put your mind to them, you can indeed find a way to have your cake and eat it too. But for others, no matter how hard you think, there's simply no solution." Liang Qu gazed up at the sky and sighed. The moon on Bing Fire Day was