Returning back to the carriage, Xiang Han rubbed his hands and looked at Xu Yan Ze with sparkling eyes, “Yan Ze, how did you suddenly become so… powerful?”
Xu Yan Ze enjoyed his worshipping gaze. He narrowed his eyes and answered, “It’s all about tactics.”
“Ah, is that so?” Xiang Han recalled how he had been countered during their wedding night and felt his body go numb.
Outside the carriage, Steward Zhang interrupted them with a bitter face, “Young Master, you still have the mood to joke around. We’re in big trouble. Is the regional commander’s brother-in-law someone we can afford to provoke?”
Xiang Han felt helpless, “It’s just an officer. Is our family that useless?”
“But he’s General Chen’s subordinate…”
“So what? Does that mean he’s above the law and can take advantage of others in broad daylight?”
“Aiya,Young Master, you don’t know.” Steward Zhang was distressed. He lowered his voice and continued, “Our family and General Chen… have some history. Now that the young mistress has beaten his subordinates up, once General Chen comes to know about it, he might think that the Jin family is still harbouring a grudge from before and is deliberately undermining his prestige.”
Xiang Han shook his head, “It’s just a drunk officer. Who knows if he’s exaggerating. Moreover, who heard that he’s General Chen’s subordinate? In any case, I didn’t hear it.”
“That…” Steward Zhang became speechless.
Xiang Han’s words comforted Xu Yan Ze. This was the first time he felt being protected could be a form of joy even if he didn’t require it.
Seeing his lowered eyes, Xiang Han didn’t know whether it was from joy or frustration and wanted to comfort him, “You don’t have to worry. That officer won’t do anything.” Before they’d left, he’d used some spiritual force to ensure that he wouldn’t speak of anything he shouldn’t be speaking of.
Xu Yan Ze looked up and smiled at him, “This matter depends on the Jin family’s reaction. There’s nothing to worry about on the officer’s side.”
“What do you mean?” Xiang Han asked.
Xu Yan Ze waved towards him to move closer, “Come closer, I’ll tell you.”
Xiang Han, “…”
Although he was speechless, he still got up and made his way over but the carriage shook. Xu Yan Ze reached out an arm and pulled him, causing Xiang Han to fall against him.
Holding him in his arms, Xu Yan Ze couldn’t help but caress him and hold him tighter.
This made Xiang Han struggle, “I can’t breathe.”
Xu Yan Ze laughed and whispered in his ear, “Do you need me to do CPR?”
Xiang Han felt his body go limp but he still had to feign ignorance, “What’s… CPR?”
Xu Yan Ze could no longer hold himself back and immediately kissed him, causing Xiang Han to let out a muffled cry as he struggled even harder to breathe. His face turned red from the lack of oxygen before he managed to obtain some air and recover.
Xu Yan Ze’s eyes were dark as he helped Xiang Han stabilise his breathing. He lowered his voice and said, “Our action earlier was not quite right. Wait till we get home, I’ll teach you a few more times.”
“When did I say I want to learn?” Xiang Han struggled to escape back to his seat while glaring at the other person.
Xu Yan Ze let out a low cough and directed his attention elsewhere, “During the peak of the Jin family, all the land in the town of Jin Wu belonged to the Jin clan but afterwards, they began to decline. However, it’s still a flourishing household but ever since your mother… the relationship between your family and the regional commander completely soured, especially when it came to the military. For example, what happened earlier. A mere officer daring to make light of the Jin family, beating him up can’t be considered an offence, but rather showing off our prestige.”
“Additionally, the Jin family provides a large supply of provisions to the military annually. For the regional commander to hold power over such a large military and dare go against the court, he isn’t stupid. He only offended the Jin family previously because Chen Ting Hong is his brother-in-law. For the sake of a mere officer, he should know how to judge the severity of the situation and decide for himself. However, if the Jin family continues to show weakness and beg for forgiveness before the other side has even mentioned it, it’ll simply invite others to look down on us.”
Xiang Han touched his chin as he listened, nodding at the end. “Not bad, you’re even able to analyse this while fighting.”
Xu Yan Ze touched his head, “I’m teaching you how to deal with the old woman later on.”
Xiang Han pushed his hand away and asked, “You’re the one who beat him up, why must I explain?”
As the carriage gradually disappeared in the distance, a middle-aged merchant sitting by the window in the restaurant retracted his gaze. He turned to ask the person beside him, “The Jin family the officer was referring to is Jin Guo Gong’s descendant?”
“That’s right.”
The merchant heard this and answered, “That year, Jin Guo Gong’s expedition achieved meritorious contributions. I never expected his descendant to be so lacking.”
His follower didn’t reply. After a moment, the merchant asked, “Zhao-er hasn’t been found?”
His follower bowed, “We just obtained news of the third prince… the third young master. We’ve already dispatched guards to bring him back.”
“Mn.” The merchant nodded, “Go and arrange it. When Zhao-er comes back, we’ll pay a visit to the Jin manor.”
Back at the Jin family, after the madam heard of Xiang Han’s clash with the soldier, she hurriedly sent people to receive them. Uncle Jin and Second Uncle also rushed back after obtaining the news, their expressions frantic.
“Mother, I just inquired and the officer is indeed General Chen’s subordinate. Second brother and sister offended the General’s wife not too long ago and with Brother Han’s incident this time, it’s a mess.”
Second Uncle heard this and grew worried, “Then, what should we do? Our families have a history with them…”
“Silence. Whoever continues to speak can get out.” The madam held a string of prayer beads in her hands and ordered grimly.
They immediately fell silent, sitting quietly by the side.
Just as Xiang Han and Xu Yan Ze got off the carriage, Nanny Li rushed forward and ushered them towards the main hall.
Xiang Han threw a warning glance towards Steward Zhang, causing him to shrink his neck.
When they entered the main hall, Second Uncle Jin stood up. But before he could speak, he was forced to sit back down by the old madam’s glare.
The madam looked at them for a while and seeing that Xiang Han was unharmed, she was relieved. She leaned back and asked, “I heard that you two clashed with Chen Ting Hong’s subordinates on the way back. What happened?”
Xiang Han couldn’t speak the exact truth of the matter and could only confess half of it, “Grandmother, that person drank too much and came to provoke us after seeing our Jin family’s carriage. He even said… said that my mother…”
He didn’t need to continue, only feigning distress. Unsurprisingly, the madam grew furious. She slapped her walking stick in anger, “Bastards! Our Jin family provides supply to the military all year round yet bullied by a mere officer. Do they really think there’s no one left in our family?”
“Exactly, Grandmother. They are completely disregarding us.” Xiang Han agreed and echoed after her before repeating what Xu Yan Ze had told him earlier with strong emphasis, “Grandmother, we definitely cannot let this matter slide.”
Second Uncle Jin cut in, “Xiao Han, words are simple but you don’t know how much military power as well as private forces the regional commander holds. He just needs to lift a finger to crush us all to death.”
Hearing this, Xu Yan Ze wanted to speak up but was beaten to the punch by Xiang Han, “As the concurrent commander of two towns in Jin Wu, Xue Qing Lin should have about 150,000 men in the army and tens of thousands in his private forces.”
Second Uncle Jin sneered, “No less than 500,000 men.”
Xiang Han nodded, “That is to say, he has to take care of 200,000 troops in just two towns. I heard that the Imperial Censor, Wu Yan, is serving as commissioner for three towns but only has a hundred thousand men. No wonder the head commander demands such a high tax. It’s almost time for summer harvest, so he’ll probably be more concerned about military provisions rather than some random officer being beaten up.”
Second Uncle Jin immediately choked on his words while the old madam nodded. After dismissing all the others, she spoke privately to Xiang Han.
Xu Yan Ze hadn’t wanted to leave, but after receiving a wry glance from Xiang Han… ugh, his damned status was too low.
“Xiao Bao, tell grandmother the truth. Who taught you to say those words earlier?”
He’d only been clear-headed for three days, how could he know of such stuff? The old madam was certain that someone must have taught him all this.
Xiang Han felt depressed. Although it was Xu Yan Ze who analysed the problem for him, this was something he had also thought of.
“It’s… Yan Ze who told me.”
“Yan Ze?”
“Ahem, it’s wifey,” Xiang Han spoke in embarrassment.
After a moment of silence, the old madam sighed, “He’s really clever.” Then, she instructed him, “From tomorrow onwards, you’ll learn management from General Zhao. Afterwards, come find grandmother at night and I’ll explain if there’s anything you don’t understand.”
Xiang Han nodded and hesitated briefly before speaking, “Grandmother, I heard about the land tax today. With such a high tax, what if the civilians stage an uprising one day when the harvest is bad…”
The old madam sighed, “We have no choice. After that incident, our family not only has to contribute 60% of the tax received, we also have to feed the regional commander’s 500,000 troops. If we don’t collect 70% of taxes, our family has no way of surviving.”
Thinking for a moment, Xiang Han asked, “Can’t we just collect 70% of their actual yield? This way, even if there’s a bad harvest, they still have 30% left over.”
The old madam laughed, “You haven’t even learned to manage anything, yet you’re already so concerned over this? Not bad, at least you’re better than your cousins.”
Although she laughed, she didn’t show any signs of agreeing with him. Xiang Han knew there was no chance and thus, decided to put it aside for now. He reminded her, “Grandmother, it’s fine even if the tax can’t be changed, but there’s something we should beware of. The civilians don’t know that our family is doing all this to support the regional commander and only know that we’re collecting an exorbitant tax. If a conflict arises, there’s a chance that the regional commander may kill our Jin family in order to appease the citizens. Moreover, he has a large army. I’m afraid… his heart is already set on our lands. He’ll definitely want to settle the problem of military supply, so how could he not set his sights on our family’s land?”
The old madam grew silent. Her face became gravely solemn and after a moment, she asked, “Xiao Bao, what are you thinking of?”
Xiang Han coughed lightly, “I think… our family also needs some guards.”
The old madam instantly understood his intentions but her face remained stoic, “How many are you thinking of?”
“For now… about one to two thousand.”
“You want to raise a private army?” Her tone became complicated, “This is a crime. Moreover, our family doesn’t have that much excess supply to provide for so many people.”
Seeing that she didn’t get angry, Xiang Han hurriedly continued, “Grandmother, this is called having the foresight to recognise our circumstances. Since the emperor doesn’t even bother with the regional commander, how would he have the time to care about us? We’ll just let them feign having a normal job like guards. I’ll take care of the provisions.”
At the same time, it would be good to find something for Xu Yan Ze to do. When these people were properly trained, weren’t they his private soldiers? In addition, if things went along with the original storyline, it was almost time for the Turkic people to attack. Even if Jin Wu were to be invaded, having a private army was more reliable than waiting for the military to save them.
Returning back to the carriage, Xiang Han rubbed his hands and looked at Xu Yan Ze with sparkling eyes, “Yan Ze, how did you suddenly become so… powerful?”
Xu Yan Ze enjoyed his worshipping gaze. He narrowed his eyes and answered, “It’s all about tactics.”
“Ah, is that so?” Xiang Han recalled how he had been countered during their wedding night and felt his body go numb.
Outside the carriage, Steward Zhang interrupted them with a bitter face, “Young Master, you still have the mood to joke around. We’re in big trouble. Is the regional commander’s brother-in-law someone we can afford to provoke?”
Xiang Han felt helpless, “It’s just an officer. Is our family that useless?”
“But he’s General Chen’s subordinate…”
“So what? Does that mean he’s above the law and can take advantage of others in broad daylight?”
“Aiya,Young Master, you don’t know.” Steward Zhang was distressed. He lowered his voice and continued, “Our family and General Chen… have some history. Now that the young mistress has beaten his subordinates up, once General Chen comes to know about it, he might think that the Jin family is still harbouring a grudge from before and is deliberately undermining his prestige.”
Xiang Han shook his head, “It’s just a drunk officer. Who knows if he’s exaggerating. Moreover, who heard that he’s General Chen’s subordinate? In any case, I didn’t hear it.”
“That…” Steward Zhang became speechless.
Xiang Han’s words comforted Xu Yan Ze. This was the first time he felt being protected could be a form of joy even if he didn’t require it.
Seeing his lowered eyes, Xiang Han didn’t know whether it was from joy or frustration and wanted to comfort him, “You don’t have to worry. That officer won’t do anything.” Before they’d left, he’d used some spiritual force to ensure that he wouldn’t speak of anything he shouldn’t be speaking of.
Xu Yan Ze looked up and smiled at him, “This matter depends on the Jin family’s reaction. There’s nothing to worry about on the officer’s side.”
“What do you mean?” Xiang Han asked.
Xu Yan Ze waved towards him to move closer, “Come closer, I’ll tell you.”
Xiang Han, “…”
Although he was speechless, he still got up and made his way over but the carriage shook. Xu Yan Ze reached out an arm and pulled him, causing Xiang Han to fall against him.
Holding him in his arms, Xu Yan Ze couldn’t help but caress him and hold him tighter.
This made Xiang Han struggle, “I can’t breathe.”
Xu Yan Ze laughed and whispered in his ear, “Do you need me to do CPR?”
Xiang Han felt his body go limp but he still had to feign ignorance, “What’s… CPR?”
Xu Yan Ze could no longer hold himself back and immediately kissed him, causing Xiang Han to let out a muffled cry as he struggled even harder to breathe. His face turned red from the lack of oxygen before he managed to obtain some air and recover.
Xu Yan Ze’s eyes were dark as he helped Xiang Han stabilise his breathing. He lowered his voice and said, “Our action earlier was not quite right. Wait till we get home, I’ll teach you a few more times.”
“When did I say I want to learn?” Xiang Han struggled to escape back to his seat while glaring at the other person.
Xu Yan Ze let out a low cough and directed his attention elsewhere, “During the peak of the Jin family, all the land in the town of Jin Wu belonged to the Jin clan but afterwards, they began to decline. However, it’s still a flourishing household but ever since your mother… the relationship between your family and the regional commander completely soured, especially when it came to the military. For example, what happened earlier. A mere officer daring to make light of the Jin family, beating him up can’t be considered an offence, but rather showing off our prestige.”
“Additionally, the Jin family provides a large supply of provisions to the military annually. For the regional commander to hold power over such a large military and dare go against the court, he isn’t stupid. He only offended the Jin family previously because Chen Ting Hong is his brother-in-law. For the sake of a mere officer, he should know how to judge the severity of the situation and decide for himself. However, if the Jin family continues to show weakness and beg for forgiveness before the other side has even mentioned it, it’ll simply invite others to look down on us.”
Xiang Han touched his chin as he listened, nodding at the end. “Not bad, you’re even able to analyse this while fighting.”
Xu Yan Ze touched his head, “I’m teaching you how to deal with the old woman later on.”
Xiang Han pushed his hand away and asked, “You’re the one who beat him up, why must I explain?”
As the carriage gradually disappeared in the distance, a middle-aged merchant sitting by the window in the restaurant retracted his gaze. He turned to ask the person beside him, “The Jin family the officer was referring to is Jin Guo Gong’s descendant?”
“That’s right.”
The merchant heard this and answered, “That year, Jin Guo Gong’s expedition achieved meritorious contributions. I never expected his descendant to be so lacking.”
His follower didn’t reply. After a moment, the merchant asked, “Zhao-er hasn’t been found?”
His follower bowed, “We just obtained news of the third prince… the third young master. We’ve already dispatched guards to bring him back.”
“Mn.” The merchant nodded, “Go and arrange it. When Zhao-er comes back, we’ll pay a visit to the Jin manor.”
Back at the Jin family, after the madam heard of Xiang Han’s clash with the soldier, she hurriedly sent people to receive them. Uncle Jin and Second Uncle also rushed back after obtaining the news, their expressions frantic.
“Mother, I just inquired and the officer is indeed General Chen’s subordinate. Second brother and sister offended the General’s wife not too long ago and with Brother Han’s incident this time, it’s a mess.”
Second Uncle heard this and grew worried, “Then, what should we do? Our families have a history with them…”
“Silence. Whoever continues to speak can get out.” The madam held a string of prayer beads in her hands and ordered grimly.
They immediately fell silent, sitting quietly by the side.
Just as Xiang Han and Xu Yan Ze got off the carriage, Nanny Li rushed forward and ushered them towards the main hall.
Xiang Han threw a warning glance towards Steward Zhang, causing him to shrink his neck.
When they entered the main hall, Second Uncle Jin stood up. But before he could speak, he was forced to sit back down by the old madam’s glare.
The madam looked at them for a while and seeing that Xiang Han was unharmed, she was relieved. She leaned back and asked, “I heard that you two clashed with Chen Ting Hong’s subordinates on the way back. What happened?”
Xiang Han couldn’t speak the exact truth of the matter and could only confess half of it, “Grandmother, that person drank too much and came to provoke us after seeing our Jin family’s carriage. He even said… said that my mother…”
He didn’t need to continue, only feigning distress. Unsurprisingly, the madam grew furious. She slapped her walking stick in anger, “Bastards! Our Jin family provides supply to the military all year round yet bullied by a mere officer. Do they really think there’s no one left in our family?”
“Exactly, Grandmother. They are completely disregarding us.” Xiang Han agreed and echoed after her before repeating what Xu Yan Ze had told him earlier with strong emphasis, “Grandmother, we definitely cannot let this matter slide.”
Second Uncle Jin cut in, “Xiao Han, words are simple but you don’t know how much military power as well as private forces the regional commander holds. He just needs to lift a finger to crush us all to death.”
Hearing this, Xu Yan Ze wanted to speak up but was beaten to the punch by Xiang Han, “As the concurrent commander of two towns in Jin Wu, Xue Qing Lin should have about 150,000 men in the army and tens of thousands in his private forces.”
Second Uncle Jin sneered, “No less than 500,000 men.”
Xiang Han nodded, “That is to say, he has to take care of 200,000 troops in just two towns. I heard that the Imperial Censor, Wu Yan, is serving as commissioner for three towns but only has a hundred thousand men. No wonder the head commander demands such a high tax. It’s almost time for summer harvest, so he’ll probably be more concerned about military provisions rather than some random officer being beaten up.”
Second Uncle Jin immediately choked on his words while the old madam nodded. After dismissing all the others, she spoke privately to Xiang Han.
Xu Yan Ze hadn’t wanted to leave, but after receiving a wry glance from Xiang Han… ugh, his damned status was too low.
“Xiao Bao, tell grandmother the truth. Who taught you to say those words earlier?”
He’d only been clear-headed for three days, how could he know of such stuff? The old madam was certain that someone must have taught him all this.
Xiang Han felt depressed. Although it was Xu Yan Ze who analysed the problem for him, this was something he had also thought of.
“It’s… Yan Ze who told me.”
“Yan Ze?”
“Ahem, it’s wifey,” Xiang Han spoke in embarrassment.
After a moment of silence, the old madam sighed, “He’s really clever.” Then, she instructed him, “From tomorrow onwards, you’ll learn management from General Zhao. Afterwards, come find grandmother at night and I’ll explain if there’s anything you don’t understand.”
Xiang Han nodded and hesitated briefly before speaking, “Grandmother, I heard about the land tax today. With such a high tax, what if the civilians stage an uprising one day when the harvest is bad…”
The old madam sighed, “We have no choice. After that incident, our family not only has to contribute 60% of the tax received, we also have to feed the regional commander’s 500,000 troops. If we don’t collect 70% of taxes, our family has no way of surviving.”
Thinking for a moment, Xiang Han asked, “Can’t we just collect 70% of their actual yield? This way, even if there’s a bad harvest, they still have 30% left over.”
The old madam laughed, “You haven’t even learned to manage anything, yet you’re already so concerned over this? Not bad, at least you’re better than your cousins.”
Although she laughed, she didn’t show any signs of agreeing with him. Xiang Han knew there was no chance and thus, decided to put it aside for now. He reminded her, “Grandmother, it’s fine even if the tax can’t be changed, but there’s something we should beware of. The civilians don’t know that our family is doing all this to support the regional commander and only know that we’re collecting an exorbitant tax. If a conflict arises, there’s a chance that the regional commander may kill our Jin family in order to appease the citizens. Moreover, he has a large army. I’m afraid… his heart is already set on our lands. He’ll definitely want to settle the problem of military supply, so how could he not set his sights on our family’s land?”
The old madam grew silent. Her face became gravely solemn and after a moment, she asked, “Xiao Bao, what are you thinking of?”
Xiang Han coughed lightly, “I think… our family also needs some guards.”
The old madam instantly understood his intentions but her face remained stoic, “How many are you thinking of?”
“For now… about one to two thousand.”
“You want to raise a private army?” Her tone became complicated, “This is a crime. Moreover, our family doesn’t have that much excess supply to provide for so many people.”
Seeing that she didn’t get angry, Xiang Han hurriedly continued, “Grandmother, this is called having the foresight to recognise our circumstances. Since the emperor doesn’t even bother with the regional commander, how would he have the time to care about us? We’ll just let them feign having a normal job like guards. I’ll take care of the provisions.”
At the same time, it would be good to find something for Xu Yan Ze to do. When these people were properly trained, weren’t they his private soldiers? In addition, if things went along with the original storyline, it was almost time for the Turkic people to attack. Even if Jin Wu were to be invaded, having a private army was more reliable than waiting for the military to save them.
