"We're under attack! Kill them!" Zhao Du shouted, leading his men to surround and attack the intruders with his saber in hand.
Meanwhile, Zhan Dongwen immediately had his men shut the iron-mesh gates, then joined the attack.
Only thirty or so enemies remained, and they instantly fell into a panic.
Qiao Xiao and Zhan Zhao sprang into action, picking out the toughest opponents.
Tang Wen's side had superior numbers, with five or six men attacking each enemy. With their sharper blades as well, they completely held the upper hand.
After a frenzy of hacking and slashing, another dozen or so enemies fell dead.
"Drop your weapons and surrender, and you won't be killed!" Tang Wen shouted from the rear.
"Brothers, don't let him fool you! We have families! Fight! In twenty years, we'll be stout-hearted men again!" someone shouted, only to be cut in two by a joint attack from Qiao Xiao and Zhan Zhao.
Another fierce melee followed, leaving seven or eight more dead.
Damn it, the remaining seven or eight men actually showed no fear of death and killed themselves with their blades.
Even the seven or eight men who had been brought down by crossbow bolts but were still alive killed themselves with their blades. In the end, they failed to capture a single survivor.
Tang Wen directed his men to carry the wounded into the infirmary, then immediately got busy again.
It took several hours to finish bandaging everyone. Although none of his people had died, more than a dozen had been injured.
Tang Wen considered whether he should train a few assistants to help him. Otherwise, if there were more wounded in the future, he would never manage alone.
"They must have been pirates. Only pirates would be that ferocious. And I suspect their families were being held hostage, so they had no choice but to fight to the death," Ge Ziyun said when Tang Wen gathered the leaders for a meeting afterward.
"They were probably accomplices of the group that attacked us last time," Tang Wen said with a nod.
"A tall tree catches the wind. They saw that Master Tang had plenty of silver and grain, so they set their sights on us. There'll probably be more fighting ahead," Zhan Zhao said.
"So, starting today, we'll expand the estate guards to sixty men.
Zhao Du will select the men, and Qiao Xiao will train them. We need to step up their training.
The guards won't have to do any other work. They'll focus entirely on training.
In the future, when we have more men, we'll station concealed sentries around the lake.
That way, we'll discover anyone coming in and sound the alarm in advance," Tang Wen said.
"Master, quite a few people died this time. We ought to report it to the authorities," Ge Ziyun said.
"Bu Feng, return to Yanling Commandery immediately and report this. Ask them to send people here to deal with it," Tang Wen said.
At nine that morning, Tang Feng gathered everyone on the drill ground.
At the sight of the bloodied corpses, many people's Popularity trembled.
"I went to great lengths to build a home for you all. With me, you have food to eat, clothes to wear, and medicine when you're sick.
But some people still burn with envy. These bandits wanted to destroy our home, especially these three.
They bit the hand that fed them and actually colluded with bandits. What do you think we should do with them?" Tang Wen asked, pointing at Li Yu and the other two kneeling on the ground.
"Kill them!"
"They're beasts! Beasts! They should be drowned in pig cages!"
"Burn them to death!"
"Master Tang, spare us! We'll never do it again!" Li Yu and the other two cried in terror, knocking their heads against the ground with loud thuds until their foreheads were covered in blood.
"I told you that you two had redeemed yourselves through your service, so I won't kill you. Get out now. Leave Su Mei Island. I never want to see you again. Untie them!" Tang Wen snorted.
Zhao Du untied their ropes.
"Thank you for sparing our lives, Master Tang." Li Yu and Zhang Sheng kowtowed frantically several more times before scurrying away in disgrace.
"Master Tang, please spare me too!" Seeing this, Liu Dang frantically kowtowed again and begged for mercy.
"Not you. You're different from them. Your conscience is rotten to the core.
If those two are beasts, you're worse than a beast.
So I shall hand you over to the authorities," Tang Wen said, his expression icy.
"Spare me... spare me..." At that, Liu Dang collapsed onto the ground and burst into tears.
Colluding with pirates was certainly a capital offense.
"Remember, everyone. Let these three be a lesson.
I hope you'll keep it firmly in mind: once you join the Tang household, you belong to the Tang household. I despise people with divided loyalties most of all.
From now on, anyone discovered doing this will have their entire family killed!" Tang Wen delivered that ruthless warning. Having established his authority, he returned to his tent to catch up on sleep.
He slept until noon. After eating, Tang Wen instructed everyone not to disturb him.
Then he touched his wooden bracelet and shouted inwardly, I'm a great landowner!
The space immediately opened. Tang Wen stepped through the doorway, and with a flash of azure light, he traveled back to Yunhai City in the Great Eastern Republic.
Checking his phone, he found that Luo Jun had called many times.
He contacted Luo Jun, who told him to meet at their usual place.
Tang Wen booked a private room at the clubhouse, and Luo Jun arrived shortly afterward.
"Mr. Tang, someone has their eye on you," Luo Jun said.
"Who?" Tang Wen froze, startled.
"Heh, it's nothing too serious. You seem to have been buying and selling gold and silver lately?" Luo Jun asked with a smile.
"Yes. I found my master's treasure vault. There was quite a lot of gold.
According to my master, he accidentally discovered a cellar back then.
When he dug it open and went inside, it was full of gold. Apparently, it had all been left by people from ancient times," Tang Wen lied.
"Actually, it's the tax authorities who have their eye on you.
You've made several large transactions, so you need to pay taxes.
That's why I suggest you register a trading company first.
As it happens, a friend of mine owns a trading company, and I'd like to introduce you to him.
He wants to sell it.
If you take it over, all your future business dealings can be fully legal. You'll simply have to pay taxes," Luo Jun said.
"That's only right. Why don't you contact your friend, and we'll go have a look?" Tang Wen said with a nod.
"All right. We'll go after lunch." Luo Jun nodded. "By the way, do you have any more of those pills?"
"I have another batch," Tang Wen replied.
"Zhang Zhongjing has really struck it rich this time," Luo Jun said.
"Struck it rich? Doesn't he run a martial arts school?" Tang Wen asked.
"You're the one who paved this road to riches for him. Besides his martial arts school, he also runs a school teaching both academics and martial arts, with over a thousand students.
He sold those pills to his students and made a hefty profit.
He kept calling you but couldn't get through, so he called me to ask. He wants another batch, a larger one this time.
And our side wants a batch too.
But could you lower the price a little for a large order? After all, we're funded by government appropriations. If it's too expensive, it won't get approved," Luo Jun said.
"I'll give you twenty percent off, but Zhang Zhongjing doesn't get that discount," Tang Wen said.
"Thank you, then. Twenty Marrow-Washing Pills, fifty Foundation-Nourishing Pills, and fifty Great Strength Pills," Luo Jun said.
Tang Wen handed him the pills on the spot. After receiving them, Luo Jun transferred the payment and said, "I'll cover this for the Special Operations Team first. Once the higher-ups approve the funds, they'll reimburse me."
"This bottle is for you." Tang Wen took out another bottle.
"I can't take your medicine for nothing." Luo Jun shook his head.
"These are middle-grade pills, better than theirs. Keep them for your own use.
There are only a few, but they're more effective.
I can't make many, either, because the medicinal ingredients are hard to find.
We're brothers. I made them myself anyway, so they're yours," Tang Wen said, forcing the bottle into his hand.
"Then I'll accept them." Luo Jun was straightforward about it too, carefully tucking the bottle into his pocket.
Afterward, the two visited the Hengjiang Trading Company to inspect it, and Tang Wen decided to take it over.
Luo Jun helped handle the paperwork. Tang Wen transferred the money to the other party, and that was that.
It was only a small company, with registered capital of five million.
The previous owner had managed it poorly, and it was on the verge of collapse. Since he was also on good terms with Luo Jun, the transfer price wasn't high.
Tang Wen injected fresh capital, bringing its registered capital to ten million.
A few days later, the company paperwork was complete. Tang Wen gathered the staff for a meeting, then handed the company directly to general manager Zhao Jiang to run, remaining a hands-off boss behind the scenes.
He had no intention of making money from the company anyway. It was merely a front.
With the company as cover, things became much easier, so he used several different gold shops.
Of the sixteen thousand taels of gold Tang Wen had brought back, he exchanged eight thousand directly for four hundred thousand taels of silver ingots.
He sold the remaining eight thousand taels for ninety-six million.
Of course, since this transaction was conducted in the company's name, taxes, including back taxes, took away more than forty million.
Blades, shields, crossbows, bulletproof vests, training equipment, and other supplies cost Tang Wen more than ten million.
With the remaining thirty million or so, he purchased another batch of rice, mirrors, water pipes, medical equipment, and medicines, including an X-ray machine and a compact ultrasound machine.
Among those purchases were five million tonnes of cement and reinforcing steel. He also bought an excavator, solar panels, and several large prefabricated mobile buildings.
Fortunately, the pills earned him more than ten million this time, relieving his pressing need for cash. Otherwise, Tang Wen wouldn't have been able to afford it all.
When he landed, the system chimed again. "For your seventh crossing, you need to accumulate 250 points of Popularity."
Before you continue