"White Tiger Island was certainly a little expensive, but the Mei Residence is your compensation.
That estate alone could sell for five or six hundred thousand taels.
Subtract that, and you actually paid only two or three hundred thousand taels for White Tiger Island.
Master Qin, bring out the deed," Qin Botong said.
"Look, this is where the Mei Residence is, on East Street in the provincial capital..." Master Qin brought out the deed and a map, pointing things out.
"Since you put it that way, Lord Qin, what more can I say? Please draw up an official written agreement, then. The deployment of the soldiers under me and their defensive duties must all be clearly stated," Tang Wen said.
And so Master Qin and Luo Yiwu drafted it together. After a flurry of work, Qin Botong carried off several hundred thousand taels in banknotes.
Of course, Qin Botong also made a token gift of some swords and sabers to Tang Wen. They were all scrap metal, secondhand equipment retired from military use, and Tang Wen thought nothing of them.
Before leaving, when he saw the inscription by Zhang Hongjiang, the Commandery Governor of Yanling, Qin Botong waved his hand. "This prefect is in a good mood today. Bring me paper and a brush."
Soon, Master Qin brought the paper and brush.
With a grand sweep of his brush, Qin Botong wrote, "Jiangzhou's foremost island!"
Below it, he signed his name: Qin Botong, Jiangzhou Prefect.
"Heh, looks like Qin Botong refuses to be outdone," Luo Yiwu said with a smile after they left.
"Of course. Zhang Hongjiang wrote an inscription for Su Mei Island, and Su Mei Island falls under both Jiangzhou and Yanling prefectures. Naturally, Qin Botong couldn't show weakness. He had to have a hand in it too.