Qi Chenglang waved his sleeves and led everyone back to the Wen residence with an air of nonchalance.

All the guards were beaming with pride. There was no other way; this was the first time any of them had ever done something like putting a sack over their heads and then relying on their fists to fight back!

Surprisingly, it was pretty fun!

The rather satisfying outcome was that these people were dragged out by Chief Secretary Xie the next day and made to stand in a row in the middle of the courtyard. Except for Qi Chenglang, they were all scolded like quails and couldn't lift their heads.

Qi Chenglang retorted, "Prefect Xie, you're mistaken. These two are not ordinary people who can't even kill a chicken; they've been plotting against His Highness. Besides, we didn't tell Prefect Qi, so it doesn't mean we're abusing our power."

"Most importantly, we didn't use any force; we used our fists the whole time."

The more he talked, the more he felt it made sense, and he winked at Chief Secretary Xie, saying, "Chief Secretary Xie, I have something to tell you."

So hurry up and scatter my brothers, I'm losing face like this!

Gu Yuzhi saw this scene when he came out of class, and after asking around, he learned that his secret about last night had been exposed!

He looked at the sky and the ground with a somewhat guilty conscience.

However, Prince Gu Yuzhi was a man who dared to admit his mistakes: "Chief Secretary Xie, please don't punish me. I was the one who ordered them to do this!"

He snorted, "I had them put sacks over the wound and beat them! Those two didn't know they were our men."

Chief Secretary Xie...

Your Highness, you seem rather proud.

However, while he wouldn't give Guard Qi face, he would have to give His Highness face: "Disperse, Guard Qi, come with me."

The perpetrator was reprimanded at the Wen residence, and news of Huang Fu and Qian Kang being beaten with sacks spread throughout Changzhou Prefecture. They were just unlucky; they were discovered close to dawn and almost froze to death...

The two were carried back to Li's Pharmacy. The doctor there treated them overnight and was shocked to see the bruises all over their bodies. He immediately notified the head manager of the business.

When Li Yanping arrived, the two were still unconscious. The doctor, trembling with fear, said that his abilities were limited and that perhaps the Wen family physician could help.

This time, the doctor wasn't being defiant; he genuinely had no other choice and dared not prescribe any medicine.

He knew very well that he was not skilled enough to cure these two people, and once he administered the medicine, his death would be imminent.

Li Yanping looked at the doctor kneeling on the ground, unable to get up, and closed his eyes: "Find a way to save their lives. I'm going to find Prefect Qi now."

Huang Fu had offended the Wen family last time, and Li Yanping wasn't so naive as to think that if he went to talk to them, Young Master Wen would agree to send someone to help.

After getting into the carriage, Li Yanping asked, "What exactly happened? Where did those two go last night?"

The servant shook his head with a bitter face: "They left after their restaurant closed. The restaurant owner said that neither of them had drunk too much when they left, and refused to send someone to escort them."

Li Yanping sensed something was amiss: "What did the people in the manor say? They were so close, yet they didn't hear anything?"

The servants felt even worse: "The two of them often stayed out all night, but the gatekeeper didn't pay attention and didn't hear anything unusual."

In short, these two got beaten up for nothing!

Li Yanping looked grim as he mentally listed out all the people who might be targeted.

It should be noted that Li Ji Trading Company is a very powerful force in the northern desert. Huang Fu and Qian Kang are known for their unscrupulous behavior, and if it weren't for Li Ji Trading Company protecting them, they would have been beaten up countless times.

Nothing had ever happened before, so what outrageous thing did these two do yesterday that made people so irritated that they took advantage of the night to strike?

Li Yanping had been thinking all the way there. When he arrived at the prefectural government office and explained his purpose, the magistrate hurriedly came out and said, "Manager Li, you've come at a really bad time. Our prefect left the city early this morning."

Li Yanping's brow twitched. What a coincidence?

He maintained a smile throughout: "May I ask where Your Excellency has gone? I have something very important to ask for your help."

No matter how domineering Li's Trading Company was in business, Li Yanping was always very respectful when facing the prefectural officials. As he spoke, he even handed a small bag of silver to the magistrate.

The magistrate took it in his hand and weighed it in his hand, his smile widening: "It's in the disaster relief area. Manager Li can just send someone to look for it."

Li Yanping bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude, but after getting into the carriage, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared, and he closed his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.

After finally reaching the outskirts of the city, Li Yanping found nothing. Prefect Qi had already left, and the disaster victims had no idea where he had gone.

Having already wasted the entire morning, Li Yanping had no choice but to turn around at the dock and personally go to the Wen residence to fetch someone.

At this moment, Prefect Qi, whom he had been chasing, was at the Wen residence, discussing with Chief Secretary Xie the specific details of reclaiming wasteland in Xinliang after the snow melted.

With February already here, it's time to get Xinliang's land reclamation work on the agenda.

Because of the timely arrival of this batch of grain and silver notes, the escort agency selected some people without family burdens to join the agency, which not only strengthened the agency but also greatly reduced the difficulty of Qi Wenhan's disaster relief efforts.

Since His Highness Prince Wen has given him such face, Qi Wenhan will naturally do his best to help His Highness build his residence.

He came here today to show his sincerity!

The documents he brought included not only official documents on the construction of the Xinliang official road, but also suggestions to encourage people to reclaim wasteland in Xinliang.

"Your Highness, Chief Secretary Xie, I believe that the Wen family can take the lead and encourage the disaster victims outside the city to voluntarily and spontaneously go to Xinliang to reclaim wasteland."

The King's land is exempt from taxes, so there is much that can be done with these lands: "Your Highness, our Sang Dynasty has a rule that reclaimed land is exempt from taxes for two years. Therefore, I suggest that you start with the tax system to encourage more people to stay in Xinliang."

Xinliang is so vast that His Highness cannot possibly possess all of its lands, since the biggest source of income for a prince is the land tax revenue from his fiefdom.

Gu Yuzhi was aware of this, after all, he was not an ordinary prince who was carefree. He was educated in the palace with the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classic, and he gradually learned other knowledge as he grew older.

Xie Changshi often talked to Gu Yuzhi about the matter of being enfeoffed as a prince in his fiefdom, and land tax was a very important part of it.

However, Xie Changshi was, after all, a chief clerk, and he certainly didn't have as much experience in local affairs as Prefect Qi. He immediately nodded and said, "Prefect Qi is right. His Highness's fiefdom can be described as desolate to this day. If you want to develop Xinliang, you need people."

However, the refugees outside the city...

Chief Secretary Xie glanced at Prefect Qi and had a feeling that Prefect Qi was handling official business privately.

“A number of houses collapsed in the suburbs this year. These people also need to rebuild their houses in Changzhou. Most importantly, they are all renting land from landlords. Therefore, I believe that with the temptation of a three-year tax exemption, these people are very likely to go to Xinliang to reclaim wasteland.”

No one wants to leave their home, but the problem is they don't have a home right now!