The Prefect Took an Interest

"Step aside. She wouldn't dare kill me." With a tug, Tang Wen pulled Zhan Junru aside and faced Gu Hanyan with his chest proudly raised.

"You... you..." Clang! Her saber fell to the ground, and tears welled in Gu Hanyan's eyes from sheer fury.

"I saved your life. Those were the terms when you sold yourself into the Tang household.

"What's more, I, Tang Wen, designated you as my personal maidservant.

"So don't even think of leaving the Tang household in this lifetime, unless you mean to repay kindness with betrayal. Then you'd be worse than pigs and dogs." Tang Wen flicked his sleeve and walked out.

"My lord, take a look at this." At the seat of Yanling Commandery, Yang Yun carried a small sack into Prefect Zhang Hongjiang's home, set it on the table, and opened it.

Zhang Hongjiang leaned forward for a look. "Isn't that just rice?"

"It is indeed rice. But look again, my lord. This is the rice we usually eat." Yang Yun produced another small sack of rice and opened it.

Looking somewhat puzzled, Zhang Hongjiang walked over and scooped up a handful. Surprise immediately crossed his face. "This rice is smooth and lustrous, with plump, rounded grains. It's far better than what we eat. Where did it come from?"

Since the Chu Kingdom had no fertilizer, its rice grains were thin and shriveled, as though malnourished.

On top of that, its rice-milling equipment was crude and rudimentary, leaving the rice looking terrible.

Compared with the pearl rice produced in modern society, it simply wasn't in the same league.

"Su Mei Island," Yang Yun said.

"Isn't Su Mei Island a deserted island?" Zhang Hongjiang looked at Yang Yun in confusion.

"It used to be, but things are different now. The island's owner has returned," Yang Yun said.

"It even has an owner? Who?" Zhang Hongjiang was thoroughly taken aback.

"His name is Tang Wen. He's only sixteen, a native of Liangzhou Commandery in our province, and a Third-Rank Baron as well as a Provincial Graduate.

"He brought his household with him, several hundred people in all. But pirates had burned down all the Tang family's buildings on the island, leaving only broken walls and rubble amid a sea of weeds.

"Still, Tang Wen is a very capable fellow. He set up a fortified camp with over a hundred tents and surrounded it with barbed wire. He actually lives in a Tin House himself.

"A few days ago, the pirates must have heard that the Tang household had rice and grain, so seventy or eighty of them came charging in.

"But Tang Wen's men discovered the member of the Tang household who was colluding with them. They laid a trap, lured the pirates into the camp, and shut the gates to beat the dogs inside.

"They killed seventy-two and reported it to our Yanling Commandery, so I took some men over," Yang Yun said.

"Barbed wire? What sort of barbed wire?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.

"The fencing is very sturdy and over four meters high. Even battering it with logs would hardly break through.

"The wire is half as thick as a chopstick. I tried it myself-it's extremely difficult to break open.

"And it covers no small area. The whole perimeter must be six or seven hundred meters long. How much iron would that take? He really spared no expense," Yang Yun said, his face full of amazement.

"Have you investigated his background?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.

"The reason I waited ten-odd days before reporting to you, my lord, was to investigate the Tang family's background. Tang Wen's ancestor rendered great service and was granted the title of Count of Liangzhou by the sovereign..." Yang Yun said.

"So you're saying the Tang family has fallen on hard times, and after Tang Shixian died, they had less than three thousand taels of silver left.

"Then they were robbed by bandits on the road and finally fled to our Yanling Commandery.

"But Tang Wen has only been on Su Mei Island a few months. Where did he get the silver to buy barbed wire, build a fortified camp, and recruit servants?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.

"I asked about that too. Supposedly, Tang Wen earned a great deal of silver while studying at Ridge-Sea Academy," Yang Yun said.

"How much silver could a scholar possibly earn? You actually believe that?" Zhang Hongjiang raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not. But I thought that, after all, the Tang family once held a count's title. Even a camel starved to death is bigger than a horse. Tang Shixian may be dead, but surely he left his son something." Yang Yun nodded.

"Mm, that would be perfectly normal. Even one treasure left by their ancestors could fetch a hundred thousand taels or more." Zhang Hongjiang nodded.

"My lord, the Tang household has constantly complained of being short-handed in defending against pirates.

"Under the Imperial Clan's rules, a Third-Rank Baron is allowed a Personal Guard Army of only sixty men.

"So Tang Wen wants to expand his Personal Guard Army to fight the pirates.

"Otherwise, with pirates coming back time and again, the Tang household will never be able to settle down and make a life there," Yang Yun said.

"Naturally. But his title is too low, and we can't authorize him to expand his Personal Guard Army. That would violate court regulations," Zhang Hongjiang said.

"That's why he wants to raise his title. I suggested a way to him: donating silver.

"Heh, my lord, the fighting in the Northwest is critical, and our commandery has been assigned a considerable quota of provisions, fodder, and horses. That will take over a million taels of fine silver, yet we've only raised three hundred thousand so far.

"If we fail to fulfill the quota by the end of next month, military orders stand firm as mountains.

"When the time comes, we'll all lose the official hats on our heads. If things turn serious, we might even lose our lives," Yang Yun said.

"How much does he want to donate?" Zhang Hongjiang immediately perked up.

He had been fretting over raising the silver all this time and hadn't enjoyed a single peaceful night's sleep.

"I don't know how much, either. But judging by the resources I saw, I think he should be able to produce several tens of thousands of taels. If he wants to become a viscount, for instance, he'd have to donate that much," Yang Yun replied.

"It would be best if he donated more. Give him a little benefit first. Once he's pleased, he'll donate more," Zhang Hongjiang said.

"A benefit? How would we do that? We can't raise his title for him. He has no military merits." Yang Yun was startled.

"You, honestly. Sometimes you're clever, and sometimes you're muddleheaded. Let me ask you: how much military merit does killing one enemy on the battlefield earn?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.

"One military merit is equivalent to a hundred taels of silver," Yang Yun replied.

"Exactly. Didn't he kill seventy-two pirates? How much military merit is that?" Zhang Hongjiang stroked his chin and smiled.

"Seventy-two military merits. For promotion in rank, that would be equivalent to donating seven thousand two hundred taels." Understanding dawned on Yang Yun.

"Right! That's what we'll do. Submit the application at once." Zhang Hongjiang smiled.

"It only takes fifty military merits to advance from Third-Rank Baron to Second-Rank Baron. That alone is more than enough to raise his title. Once we've promoted him and he can expand his Personal Guard Army to eighty men, will he still donate silver?" Yang Yun sounded doubtful.

"You, honestly. You underestimate him far too much.

"What's the difference between sixty men and eighty?

"Against hundreds, a thousand, or even several thousand pirates, that handful of men is still far too few.

"If he has money, he'd find even First-Rank Viscount too low.

"Besides, for wealthy nobles, this chance to raise their titles is a heaven-sent opportunity.

"Once the fighting dies down, that opportunity will be gone." Zhang Hongjiang pointed at him with a smile.

"That's true. Unfortunately, this promotion opportunity only applies to nobles themselves. Officials like us will never get such a chance, even if we have the silver." Yang Yun shook his head.

"We have to help him. Whatever he needs, we should help as much as we can.

"Once that deserted island is cleared and planted with grain, we can go collect taxes.

"It's such a large island. If all of it is brought under cultivation, the grain it pays in taxes each year will be considerable.

"And we need to get this matter underway now.

"We used to think it was a deserted island, but things are different now.

"It has an owner, and an owner has to pay taxes. Let's collect some silver first to make up the military funds," Zhang Hongjiang said.

"But it's still a deserted island right now, with no grain planted. How can we collect taxes?" Yang Yun asked.

"Collect a little first. We have to push him into clearing the land. If he doesn't, this year's taxes and next year's will be different. When the time comes, we won't need to urge him-he'll find a way to plant grain himself." Zhang Hongjiang gave a dry chuckle.

"That truly is a brilliant plan, my lord," Yang Yun said with a smile.

"They're nobles of the Chu Kingdom, after all. When the country is in trouble, as members of the Imperial Clan, they ought to shoulder more responsibility," Zhang Hongjiang said with a smile.

"Master, there's a Thousand-Leaf Workshop in Yanling City. It used to be a weaving and dyeing workshop, and it's very large.

"It occupies over two hundred mu. But disasters have struck everywhere these past two years. People can't even fill their bellies, so where would they find the money to buy cloth?

"So its owner has recently been planning to sell it."

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and Bu Feng returned to the island with several dozen newly recruited refugees.

Though they now had several dozen more hands, they were still far short of the two hundred and fifty people needed to unlock the Great Landlord. Tang Wen was so anxious he nearly made himself ill.

The dam's foundation had already been poured.

Unfortunately, their cement and steel reinforcement were running dangerously low. Unless he crossed back soon to bring in more supplies, work on the dam would have to stop.

"How much silver do they want?" Tang Wen asked. He had long wanted to buy a large residence at Yanling Lake so he would have somewhere to stay whenever he wished.

Besides, the War Fox Intelligence Hall also needed to step up its training.

The courtyard residence he had bought before was too small and lacked grandeur. It was also inconvenient for the War Fox Team's members to train, gather intelligence, and carry out their work.

"Three hundred thousand taels and change," Bu Feng replied.