Seventy-sixth palm

  Seventy-sixth Palm

  Tang Yan finished speaking and made a gesture to walk out, Yu He stretched out his body, hastily pulled him back, and said repeatedly: "General Tang, there's something to discuss! Military expenses, military pay, and grain, it's not that I don't want to give them to you, but the financial aspect is indeed difficult..."

  "Having trouble?" Tang Yin snorted, looking at Yu He's stout head and big ears, no matter how he looked, he couldn't see any signs of trouble. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Alright, you have trouble? Then go tell His Majesty about it!" As he spoke, he pushed Yu He away and continued walking outwards.

  "Wait a minute!" Yu He was really anxious and forced a smile: "General Tang doesn't want military funds, military pay, and grain just to solve these problems."

  "When will it be solved?"

  "...Give me half a month's time..."

  "No!" Tang Yin interrupted him and said: "I'm going right now."

  "Now?" Yu He muttered to himself, finding it difficult to say: "This...this is a bit too rushed, isn't it?"

  "That's your problem, not mine. Anyway, I'm going to do it now!" Tang Yin said firmly: "Military supplies, military pay, and food, all need to be prepared for 50,000 people."

  "What? Five... five million shares?" Yu He was stunned, and it took him a while to react, stuttering as he asked: "Wh... why do you need so many?"

  Tang Yin said seriously, "In order to resist the invasion and harassment of external enemies, I think we should expand the three troops in Pingyuan County to five troops. As for this point, I will report it to your majesty. Lord Yu, do you have any other questions?"

  "This... this..." Yu He hesitated for a long time and still couldn't continue.

  "You let me govern Pingyuan County, it's to stabilize the North. If things don't improve here, you'll naturally blame me, and I'll naturally drag down Lord Yu as well." Tang Yin said with a smile: "Let's cooperate, we'll all be better off. I'll guard my Pingyuan County, you do your Taiping Prefecture. If not, if you make me uncomfortable, your days won't be peaceful either. At worst, we can both perish together!"

  He spoke with ease and comfort, but Yu He listened with cold sweat dripping down his face.

  He rubbed his sore forehead and said, "The requirements put forward by General Tang, I will definitely cooperate, but now asking me to prepare so many military funds, military salaries, and grain, is really...really too difficult for me."

  Tang Yan's mouth curled up, his handsome face with a sly smile, he said in a low voice: "I've already told you before, this is your problem, not mine. If you have difficulties, then think of ways to solve them. I'll just wait here, tomorrow morning, if I don't see what I want, then Lord Yu will have to accompany me back to the capital, or..."

  As he spoke, he walked up to Yu He, poking his head out, his handsome face almost touching Yu He's large face, and said with a smile: "Or, I can also take your head directly back to Yan City to meet the king!"

  Yu He was startled and almost fell off the bed. Tang Yin's smile made him feel not a hint of warmth, but only a thorough chill. Those bloodthirsty eyes full of evil spirit clearly indicated that he could really do what he said.

  He was afraid, for the first time since he became the head of the county, he felt fear.

  After an unknown period of time, Yu He finally came to, his chubby face trembling as he stammered: "G-good! I...I'll have someone prepare it right away!"

  Tianyuan County is not poor, with three counties under its jurisdiction, seven cities and 23 towns. The annual tax revenue is not small, and due to the prolonged war, the tax revenue received each year is not only not submitted to the imperial court but also requires the imperial court to allocate funds to Tianyuan County for defense purposes.

  He had money and goods in his hands, but he was born greedy, thinking that these things belonged to him only when they were in his own hands. Once distributed, they became someone else's. He would cut corners whenever possible, and if he couldn't, he wouldn't distribute at all. Even when he really couldn't hold on any longer, he would still drag it out for a long time before reluctantly handing out just a little bit.

  Yu He was forced by Tang Yin to the point of having no way out, and in order to protect his own life and future career, he had no choice but to compromise, reluctantly pulling out his trump card.

  Always on the sidelines, Zhang Zhou almost thought he was now in a dream. The stingy Yu He was actually going to issue 50,000 shares of military funds and salaries to Pingyuan County, which was unthinkable. This new county governor was vastly different from his predecessors, daring to take risks and act boldly, yet with sharp words that left Yu He obediently compliant.

  Zhang Zhou had already been deeply disappointed with Tang Yin before they even worked together.

  Yu He's efficiency was impressive, 500,000 shares of military supplies, salaries and fodder were fully loaded onto more than 600 carts, but everything was ready in less than three hours.

  Row upon row of horse-drawn carriages stood neatly in front of the county governor's mansion, stretching as far as the eye could see.

  "All preparations are complete. The generals under your command rushed over to report: 'Lord Yu, all the necessary supplies have been prepared. Would you like to inspect them personally?'"

  Yu He was already dressed in his official uniform at this time, but his face was twisted with anxiety, and these materials and wealth were all accumulated by him through 'thousands of hardships', now they are going to be given away for nothing, just like cutting his flesh, how could he bear to look again.

  He was heartbroken and turned his head to look at Tang Yan, dryly asking: "Does General Tang want to investigate?"

  "Of course!" Tang Yin nodded towards Zhang Zhou and Gu Yue, saying: "General Zhang, Gu Yue, you two take some brothers to go out and take a look!"

  "Yes!" Zhang Zhou and Gu Yue responded in unison, quickly walking out.

  They went outside and looked at the vehicles lined up on the street, both of them feeling a bit dizzy. They asked their subordinates for torches and then inspected the cars one by one.

  In front of the fleet were bags and bags of grain, casually opening a mouthful, snow-white rice flowed out from it.

  Further back, the vehicles were loaded with military supplies, brand new armor shining brightly, and all sorts of sharp-edged weapons.

  Several carts stopped in front of the county government office were all loaded with boxes, surrounded by guards and officials. When they opened the covers on top, they saw neatly stacked piles of white silver inside.

  In the dark of night, the white flower-like silver light is particularly dazzling, book lovers also like to read:

  Zhang Zhou and Gu Yue couldn't help but stare at this scene.

  So many boxes of silver, estimated at least tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels, are enough to pay the military salaries for 50,000 people.

  After a while, the two of them looked at each other and nodded in unison, indicating that everything was correct. They then returned together to report to Tang Yin.

  With the confirmation of Zhang Zhou and Gu Yue, Tang Yin put his mind at ease, smiled calmly at Yu He, and said: "Thank you, Lord Yu, for your help today. In the future, when we fight against the barbarian state, your contribution will naturally not be forgotten!"

  "Haha!" Yu He responded with a dry smile. He didn't care about what was effective or not, now he just hoped that Tang Yin, this jinx, would quickly get lost and never be seen again.

  "Now that I have everything I need, I won't disturb Lord Yu any further. We'll meet again!" Tang Yin casually cupped his hands together and then didn't wait for Yu He to respond, he led a group of subordinates out.

  I hope he dies in Pingyuan County! Watching the backs of Tang Yin and others, Yu He could no longer pretend, the smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a belly full of hatred, two big fat hands clenched tightly.

  After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said to the crowd around him: "Today's matter, no one is allowed to spread it out for me. If anyone can't control their mouth, then be careful with their own head!"

  "Ah? Yes, yes, Lord Yu!"

  Yu He did not want others to know that he was coerced by Tang Yin, otherwise, wouldn't this governor become a laughing stock?

  His subordinates mostly still didn't know the ins and outs of the matter, they just felt it was strange, couldn't understand why the usually stingy Governor suddenly became so generous, all at once allocating so many supplies and military salaries to Pingyuan County.

  Received 50,000 shares of goods, Tang Yin can be considered satisfied.

  Originally, he had the urge to kill this person before meeting Yu He, but after seeing him, he changed his mind. Although Yu He was greedy and annoying, he was timid and weak, easy to control. If he really killed him, even if Wang Ting didn't blame him, replacing him with a tough new governor might not be beneficial to himself.

  Tang Yin's temperament was sometimes very violent and impulsive, but his mind was also very sharp, with thoughts that were meticulous and delicate to a degree far beyond ordinary people.

  This time from Shunzhou back to Hengcheng, there were no more accidents on the way, and they did not encounter any bandits. After all, they had nearly three thousand men, and it's likely that the bandits didn't dare to come out and provoke them.

  As he passed by the woods where the bandits had hidden last time, Tang Yin beckoned Zhang Zhou over and said seriously: "There are strong enemies outside, Pingyuan County is already chaotic enough, and there must be no more banditry within its borders. The last batch of bandits must be annihilated as soon as possible."

  "Yes, yes..." Zhang Zhou nodded repeatedly in response, but his expression was somewhat unnatural.

  Tang Yin didn't ignore his awkward expression, and instead smiled lightly, asking in return: "What? Can General Zhang not accomplish it?"

  "This..." Zhang Zhou furrowed his brow again, with a look of wanting to speak but stopping himself.

  He hated this expression the most. Tang Yin's face sank, and he said discontentedly: "If you have something to say, just say it, don't be ambiguous like a man!"

  "Mr. Tang, the situation is like this." Zhang Zhou fell silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice: "The leader of this group of bandits are twin brothers, named Shangguan Yuanwu and Shangguan Yuanbiao, who are the third and fourth sons of the Shangguan family. The eldest son of the Shangguan family, Shangguan Yuanji, is a well-known philanthropist in this county, and most of the grain and fodder for the military were donated by him..."

  Before he finished, Tang Yin waved his hand to interrupt: "Wait a minute! You said that the four brothers of Shangguan, their eldest brother donated grain and grass to my army, while the third and fourth brothers are the leaders of the bandits?"

  "It's... it's like that." Zhang Zhou smiled wryly, he also found it strange. As brothers born of the same parents, why was there such a big difference in the way the four brothers of the Upper Official's family acted?