Bargaining

"My lord baron, your extermination of seventy-two pirates was a blessing for our Yanling Commandery. I was most gratified.

"So I made a special effort to secure military merit for you and apply for your promotion in rank.

"The paperwork has just been approved. You arrived at the perfect time to collect it." Zhang Hongjiang spoke neither warmly nor coldly, then told his adviser, Zhou Tong, to bring over the documents.

"Thank you for your support, Lord Zhang!" Tang Wen said, cupping his hands.

"You're too kind, my lord. We all serve the Imperial Clan. It was only right," Zhang Hongjiang said mildly.

"Lord Zhang, Lord Tang's personal guard captain was arrested by Kang Qingfeng of the Six Fan Gate. He's being held in our prison now. Could we..." Yang Yun had barely begun when Zhang Hongjiang furrowed his brow and waved him off. "Chief Constable Yang, my backside is already on fire. How could I have the leisure to worry about that?"

"Yes, sir. I'm incompetent and unable to help shoulder your worries," Yang Yun said, looking ashamed.

"Chief Constable Yang just told me about the military funding as well. Great Qin brazenly attacked our Great Chu, burning, killing, looting-there's no evil they won't commit.

"As a member of the Chu Kingdom's Imperial Clan, I, Tang Wen, must naturally do my part for the imperial house.

"I only regret that I lack even the strength to truss a chicken. I wish to go to the battlefield, but though my heart is willing, my strength falls short," Tang Wen said.

"The prominent gentry in the city are all generously opening their purses now. Like you, they wish to go to the battlefield, but lack the strength to kill the enemy.

"However, our superiors have assigned our commandery substantial quotas for provisions and horses-one million taels of silver.

"As long as we still have silver on hand, we ought to contribute to the country.

"Wouldn't you agree, Lord Tang?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.

"Of course, of course. Well, actually, I already told Chief Constable Yang some time ago that I wished to donate some silver to serve the country.

"But now my subordinate has been arrested, and I'm sure you understand how the Six Fan Gate operates, Lord Zhang.

"I'm afraid they'll beat him into a cripple. Who will protect me then?" Tang Wen said.

"Heh, even if I intervened, it might not help. You still need sufficient standing yourself, my lord.

"Now, if you were an earl, it would be easier for me to speak on your behalf.

"Otherwise, they won't take you seriously, and naturally my words won't carry any weight." Zhang Hongjiang smiled.

"Is that really true?" Tang Wen looked intently at Zhang Hongjiang, knowing that he had probably discussed this with Chief Constable Yang long ago.

Their aim was simply to use Qiao Xiao's predicament to force him to donate more silver and relieve their burning emergency.

Of course, Tang Wen had not agreed immediately because he, too, was bargaining.

"If you're willing to go all out to defend the country, my lord, then I, Zhang Hongjiang, will throw away this old face of mine and speak to the Six Fan Gate regardless," Zhang Hongjiang said.

"How much military merit would I need to be promoted to earl?" Tang Wen asked.

"Adviser Zhou, would you calculate that?" Zhang Hongjiang's lips twitched as he turned to Zhou Tong.

Zhou Tong took out an abacus and began flicking the beads. Before long, he answered, "A little over a hundred and seventy thousand taels, and that would only make you a third-rank earl."

"Didn't Chief Constable Yang previously say a hundred thousand taels? Why is it seventy thousand more now?" Tang Wen asked.

"Heh, Lord Tang, you may have misunderstood.

"I said it takes a hundred thousand taels to advance from First-Rank Viscount to third-rank earl. But right now, you're only a Second-Rank Baron.

"Advancing from Second-Rank Baron to First-Rank Baron takes ten thousand taels of silver, and advancing from First-Rank Baron to Third-Rank Viscount costs another fifteen thousand.

"Advancing from Third-Rank Viscount to second rank adds another twenty thousand, bringing the total to forty-five thousand.

"Then onward... the same pattern continues. By the time you reach third-rank earl, it comes to over a hundred and seventy thousand taels," Chief Constable Yang said with a smile.

"By that calculation, reaching First-Rank Earl would cost hundreds of thousands of taels. A marquis would be even more outrageous-you couldn't manage it without several million," Tang Wen snorted.

"Heh, hundreds of thousands won't get you to first-rank earl. And what sort of person is a marquis? That's an enfeoffed lord.

"Third-rank earl to second-rank earl costs three hundred thousand taels, second-rank earl to first-rank earl costs seven hundred thousand, and first-rank earl to third-rank marquis costs three or four million. It multiplies as you go.

"Think about it, my lord. Our Great Chu has several thousand nobles, doesn't it? But how many marquises are there?

"And the vast majority of those are members of the Chu Kingdom's Imperial Clan. How many marquises bear another surname?" Zhang Hongjiang asked with a smile.

"It's too much. A hundred and seventy thousand taels... sigh. My heart is willing, but my means fall short," Tang Wen sighed.

"I've looked into your circumstances as well. Your Tang family moved from Liangzhou to Su Mei Island, and every beginning is difficult.

"Su Mei Island is still an undeveloped island, so I'll collect only a little tax this year. Next year, however, we'll have to follow the rules. We can't collect at this year's rate.

"It's all for the imperial court, after all. Besides, the court belongs to nobles like you.

"We're all your servants, working on your behalf." Zhang Hongjiang's tongue was very, very slick.

"But I truly would struggle to produce a hundred and seventy thousand taels," Tang Wen said.

"Heh, go home and give it some thought. The Six Fan Gate, however, is another matter. If they decide to interrogate him tonight, your subordinate won't escape a beating.

"Talent is hard to come by. I hear Qiao Xiao is quite skilled.

"Our Great Chu may have plenty of martial artists, but it doesn't have many experts.

"And this is a famine year, with rioters running rampant and bandits roaming everywhere.

"Even if you have a vast fortune, what good is keeping it if no one can protect your life?" Zhang Hongjiang said.

"If you promise to get him out, Lord Zhang, I'll stake everything on it." Tang Wen deliberately gritted his teeth.

"Aren't you forcing my hand?" Zhang Hongjiang snorted.

"Lord Zhang, Lord Tang is simply desperate," Chief Constable Yang said from the side.

"Fine. You're desperate, and so am I. This matter of provisions is nearly driving me to my death. As long as it isn't a serious offense, I'll agree." Zhang Hongjiang swept his hand through the air.

"Here are a hundred and seventy thousand taels. Please take them." Tang Wen promptly pulled out the banknotes.

Zhang Hongjiang froze, then smiled bitterly. "Well, well, Lord Tang. You've been playing me."

"This is more than half my Tang family's fortune. Sigh... but what can I do when Qiao Xiao is so loyal to me?

"This silver was originally meant for clearing land and farming on Su Mei Island. Now it's gone.

"We'll have to delay clearing and cultivating the land. Please take pity on the Tang family's difficulties, Lord Zhang.

"Could you waive this year's taxes?" Tang Wen wore a bitter expression too. If you're putting on an act, I'll play along.

"A waiver is out of the question. People would accuse me, Zhang Hongjiang, of showing favoritism, and then my official hat would fly right off my head.

"But you really are in difficulties, so I can halve it.

"We'll collect a token amount-just two thousand dan of grain. Next year, though, it'll be at least eight thousand," Zhang Hongjiang said.

"Eight thousand dan? Lord Zhang, you know that the newly reclaimed fields on the island have poor soil. Each mu yields only two or three dan of grain.

"At that tax rate, wouldn't we have to reclaim at least ten thousand mu of farmland?

"Otherwise, we'd be handing over everything, and the nearly thousand people in my Tang household would all starve to death.

"There's simply no way to reclaim so much farmland in such a short time.

"We don't have enough people," Tang Wen said.

Rice yields in the Great Chu Kingdom were only around three or four dan per mu, and that required good paddy fields. Ordinary paddies could not even yield four dan per mu.

"Not enough people? With silver, can't you recruit them?" Zhang Hongjiang asked, taken aback.

"Of course silver can get us people. But I've just contributed a hundred and seventy thousand taels to the court. There isn't much silver left at home, so buying large numbers of servants is simply impossible." Tang Wen shook his head.

"Why buy them? You can lease the farmland to them," Zhang Hongjiang said.

"What farmland?" Tang Wen asked.

"Don't you have Su Mei Island? Just clear the land.

"You can sign agreements with tenant farmers and have them reclaim it.

"Charge no rent in the first year, then charge less in the second. That way, they'll be willing to clear the wasteland," Zhang Hongjiang said.

"They're nearly starving to death. How would they have the strength to clear land? They couldn't possibly wait until next year's harvest.

"Without farmland, how can I make them my tenants? If I didn't have to pay these hundred and seventy thousand taels,

"I'd still have enough reserves to feed them while they cleared the land. Now I can't." Tang Wen shook his head. After taking Zhang Hongjiang around such a large circle, all he really wanted was to use the man's influence to obtain more people.

Otherwise, what did a few thousand dan of grain amount to?

Besides, Tang Wen's mind was not on grain at all.

Although modern hybrid rice yielded three or four times as much per mu as rice in the Chu Kingdom, grain did not offer much profit.

Getting rich from it was simply impossible. Tang Wen had set his sights on growing crops and raising livestock.

For example, growing medicinal herbs was far more profitable than growing grain.

The air in Great Chu contained spiritual energy, so medicinal herbs grown there brimmed with it. They also grew far faster than in the modern world.

Once the herbs matured, he could transport them to the Great Eastern Republic and sell them. They would certainly fetch a good price.

Even selling them to Great Chu's alchemists, apothecaries, or medicine shops would earn him plenty.

That was because the Great Chu Kingdom did not yet have the concept of cultivating medicinal herbs.

Even if people had some notion of it, they could not raise seedlings, whereas cultivation techniques in the modern world had long since matured.

Thus, all their medicinal herbs grew wild, which was why a specialized trade such as herb gathering existed.