Chapter 172
At the Yichun camp, just after a day of training, cheers were heard on the training ground.
"Eat meat, eat meat!"
"What, eating meat?"
"Yes, I saw it all. Ten big fat pigs were transported here today, and a flock of sheep was also driven over. I'm sure everyone will have a good meal tonight!"
"A flock of sheep? How many are there in a flock?"
"Thirty or forty, I suppose?"
"Are you going to kill them all today? Kill them for us to eat?"
"According to logistics and kitchen practices, yes."
The soldiers drooled upon hearing this. Although their food was much better than before, with plenty of oil and water, who didn't like meat? Especially in the middle of winter, the thought of meat made them crave it.
"No, today is not a holiday, why did the boss give us more food?"
"I heard that the Diluo tribe came to negotiate for the captives we captured earlier. The City Lord's Mansion demanded a ransom of 600,000 taels for the return of 2,500 captives."
"Huh? Prisoners are so valuable?" Two hundred taels each? The soldiers around who heard this all regretted not capturing more prisoners earlier. Two hundred taels for each, five would be a thousand taels!
The man was clearly well-informed. "They're worth a fortune! I heard someone at the City Lord's Mansion calculated that a twenty-year-old captive could earn around six hundred taels of silver in his lifetime. The people in our City Lord's Mansion are so understanding and only charge them two hundred taels of silver each, a full four hundred taels off. Isn't that a fair price? Even so, the Di Luo people still accuse the people in our City Lord's Mansion of being heartless. They really don't know what's good for them!"
The others followed suit and calculated the account, and found that the adults in their City Lord's Mansion were really reasonable. They followed him in scolding the Di Luo people for being ungrateful!
If anyone from the Diluo tribe heard these words, they would definitely spit at them.
"Now you know why we're adding a meal, right? The City Lord's Mansion is making money, so the adults just waved their hands and gave all of us soldiers an extra meat dish."
Dear soldiers: I understand. If we capture more prisoners, we can eat meat. I understand.
"But why are there so many sheep this time? It would be better if they were pigs instead. I still like eating pork. The pork from our Yichun farm is really delicious."
"You're so lucky! 30 or 40 sheep for 30 or 40 big fat pigs? You're so audacious! These sheep were given to us by the Diluo Kingdom because they didn't have enough money. There's a rule about how much silver a sheep can be converted into. Don't try to take advantage of us."
Di Luo tribe: ...You guys in the Yichun City Lord's Mansion are so smart, who can take advantage of you? We should be thankful that you don't come to bully us.
Some soldiers were puzzled. "Are the Diluo people so poor? They can't even gather 600,000 taels of silver?"
However, the sweaters that their City Lord's Mansion distributed to each of them a while ago cost more than 100,000 silver coins, but the officials above still gave them the sweaters. In comparison, they felt inexplicably proud. What should they do?
As the transaction progressed, 2,500 Dilo captives regained their freedom, which made the remaining captives extremely envious, and they also wanted to return to their tribe.
In order to prevent the riot, Yao Chunnuan specially asked someone to make up a story for the remaining Di Luo captives.
This rhetoric gave these captives, who were enduring hardship day after day, an outlet for their rage. To put it bluntly, it was an object of resentment. Rather than letting them hate the Yichun people, it would be better to make them hate their tribe and their people.
Yao Chunnuan had the prisoners told: "You are the instigators of the war, and it is only right that you suffer here after your defeat. However, you are not without a chance of freedom. As long as your people ransom you, it will be fine. As long as you pay, we will definitely release you."
But no one is willing to pay to redeem you. You can't blame us for all the suffering you're suffering here. It's because your royal court and your people didn't redeem you.
The problem is not the lack of wealth but the inequality. In addition, 2,500 people have indeed gained freedom and returned to their tribes and hometowns. After being brainwashed by this argument for a long time, how can they not transfer their resentment to their tribes?
Later, someone from the Diluo tribe accidentally came into contact with this group of captives who had been selected and left behind, and was stunned to find that they hated their own people and tribes but not the Yichun people. When he learned what had happened, he called the Yichun people treacherous!
Criminal Court
Huo Bing had come to see his sister, Huo Wei, and to say goodbye. Now that his sister had successfully married Xing Changfeng, the merger of the two armies was a done deal. He had to return to report the situation in Yichun to his father and the others. Honestly, the situation in Yichun was far better than they had anticipated, and he had to tell his father and brother all this.
Seeing his sister's rosy complexion and smiling eyes, Huo Bing knew that her married life should be as good as she had said before. He was now completely relieved, and he could explain to his parents and brothers when he returned.
"I heard that you and Yao Chunnuan are getting along well, so I feel relieved." Whether his sister and Yao Chunnuan can get along well was his biggest worry before. He was afraid that the two would become enemies.
But now, that problem was no longer a concern. Furthermore, what made Huo Bing most happy was Yao Chunnuan's support for Huo Wei's sponsorship of the Yichun Girls' School, which showed that Yao Chunnuan was interested in fostering a friendly relationship with the Huo family. The Huo and Yao families were both affiliated with Xing Changfeng's powerful factions, and Huo Bing's family had joined later than the other. If the two sides disliked each other and engaged in a tit-for-tat confrontation, it would be unpleasant.
Huo Wei rolled his eyes at his third brother and said, "Third brother, you don't have to worry. Yao Chunnuan is not that short-sighted, and I am not that petty either."
Huo Bing touched his nose and smiled awkwardly. Between women, they just dislike each other if they say they don't like each other. Many of them don't even have any reason or cause. Who knows?
At this moment, they learned that the City Lord's Mansion had sold 2,500 Di Luo captives and earned 600,000 yuan in one go.
The brother and sister looked at each other, and Huo Wei chuckled, "Third brother, our Huo family army in the northern border really needs to learn from them."
Huo Bing was completely stunned. Selling two thousand captives could earn him six hundred thousand taels of silver? Were the people in the Yichun City Lord's Mansion making money in such a wild way? I've learned something.
When Huo Wei asked in detail, she found out that it was Yao Chunnuan's idea.
Huo Bing: ...
I guessed it was her idea! She used war as a means to make a fortune, which is also impressive.
As his sister said, they really should learn from others. No wonder they were poor; it turned out they were just dumb, and they deserved their poverty. Thinking back to how they treated the Xirong soldiers before, they usually just killed them, cut off their ears, and then recorded their merits. When cleaning up the battlefield, if they were injured, they would just finish them off, cutting off their heads or ears, and recording their merits.
The more Huo Bing thought about it, the more he realized how foolish they had been. Truly foolish. They'd been stationed on the border, fighting foreign invaders almost every year. Even if they weren't, peace never lasted more than three years. But every time, they'd defeat the invaders, and then they'd send a letter of peace to the Daliang court, offer some inexpensive tribute, and offer a few kind words, and the war would be over.
But the people of Yichun are not like that. Look at what they do. They don't do that. When charging, they fight when they need to fight, they kill the enemy and cut off their ears. Later, when they have more strength and have the upper hand, they start to capture prisoners.
They rounded up the wounded enemies and held them in one place, providing them with clean water and food. If they survived, they lived, and if they died, it was no pity. Those who survived were taken as prisoners, which provided them with people to do the heavy work and a sufficient supply of manpower. Now, look at them, they can even use the prisoners to demand ransom from the defeated side. How clever!
To put it more deeply, Yichun is diligently shifting its losses onto the defeated side. This can be considered a method of using war to support war. This way, they can continue to advance further. I've learned something.
Suihua, Taishoufu
The officials in the prefectural office were all filled with worry.
Yichun looks bright and promising, but they cannot go there for refuge, which is really hard for them. With the current prosperity of Yichun, any little bit left would be enough to fill their stomachs.
"We can't just sit there and wait for death, right?" someone spoke up.
"Why don't we just spend money to avoid disaster and spend some money to take care of Yichun?" This is their usual practice.
Bai Ruisong shook his head. They were taking things for granted. He was a very experienced man, and since he had reached the position of a county governor, his knowledge and skills were far beyond the reach of those below him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to sit comfortably in the position of county governor for so many years after exploiting the people there.
In his opinion, the officials in charge of the Yichun City Lord's Mansion couldn't be easily persuaded with money. Besides, they weren't short of money. At the end of the year, they reportedly took 20% of the total profits from the workshops below and distributed it to everyone from top to bottom as welfare. The middle and senior management of Yichun received a significant share. Would they be willing to pay a small bribe?
He understood the truth, but his subordinates didn't. One of them actually secretly contacted his subordinates who wanted to bribe him. After finding out that Feng Xiudong was Yao Chunnuan's right-hand man, he quietly sent someone to deliver a gift to him.
Faced with such a situation, Feng Xiudong reported the situation truthfully and even brought the bribes from the other party.
Are you kidding me? Will they ruin their future for a little bribe?
They have a bright future and their regular salaries are not low, not to mention the benefits they receive during festivals and holidays.
It can be said that under Yao Chunnuan's advice, coupled with Yichun's good economic development, the City Lord's Mansion implemented the high-salary system to maintain integrity. It can be said that they are not short of money.
Looking at the stolen goods Feng Xiudong handed over, Yao Chunnuan pondered in silence. She believed that Feng Xiudong's case would not be the only one in the future. She felt that it was time to find a legalist to manage the criminal justice system.
Furthermore, they have already started a new business and are still using the Daliang Law, which seems a bit wrong no matter how you look at it.
It would be best if they could invite a legal expert to revise a new code that is applicable to their current situation and can be gradually amended in the future.
Of course, they weren't starting from scratch. They could have simply taken the essence of Daliang Law and discarded its flaws. After all, Daliang Law was a legacy of previous legal codes and laws, with some improvements. It was all ancestral knowledge, so what was wrong with them using it?
When Yao Chunnuan was distracted and thinking about something, the scene was completely silent and no one dared to breathe.
"You take these properties—" half, and the other half will be confiscated.
Before Yao Chunnuan could finish her words, Feng Xiudong interrupted her anxiously, "No, Master Yao, I brought these valuables here to confiscate them."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that Lady Yao was thinking about how to deal with the stolen goods. They were scared to death. She didn't say anything just now. It was so scary.
Yao Chunnuan said, "Don't be anxious, listen to me. What I mean is that when someone bribes you, you can accept half of it and confiscate the other half. I estimate that such things will happen a lot in the future, so this is the way to deal with it for now." Her strength is not this, so she can only use this method temporarily.
Huh? If so, wouldn't that give those people a way to ward off disaster by spending money? Someone expressed their doubts.
Yao Chunnuan said slowly, "Who said that if we accept someone's property, we have to do their job for them?"
"Ah, you take the money but don't do the job?" Is that what he meant?
"Yes." Yao Chunnuan confirmed Feng Xiudong's words.
How did the younger generation of martyrs deal with the enemy's sugar-coated bullets? They ate the sugar coating and fired back the bullets. Of course, this required extremely strong self-control and extremely high personal ability. Most people couldn't pull it off, either being corrupted or discovered. She was very optimistic about Feng Xiudong and believed that with his ability, he could do it.
Yao Chunnuan thought for a moment and said, "Well, it's not that I won't do it. If some of their requests are not too serious, you can do it appropriately. But you have to strike a balance."
Aren't there still tainted witnesses in later generations? Assuming they've made meritorious contributions, you certainly can't give them everything they ask for, but you can still give them a discount to mitigate their guilt. And you have to play the long game to catch the big fish. You can't just take the money and not do the work. If you do that, your reputation will be ruined, and people will stop coming to you for work, and you'll lose your extra income.
Feng Xiudong: ...
He had always felt that his superiors were informal, while she was not bound by rules and regulations. He found that there was much to learn from working under her.
Others: I learned something.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
