If the business woman does not help the poor, the villain's dream of prosperity will be shatter

Zhang Ying, Meng Qi and Liu Meng, who were sitting in the front row, exchanged glances with each other.

Liu Meng raised his hand and pretended to turn his head and scratch the end of his eyebrows, but with a smile in his eyes he gave Meng Qi below him a look that said "you understand, I understand, and everyone understands."

There was a hint of contempt in his eyes.

Meng Qi sighed and shook his head gently: After all, she is just a young girl who is ignorant of the world. Even if she has accomplished a few things by chance, she is still very foolish and shallow.

How lowly is the status of a merchant?

I have never seen any scholar who, after passing the imperial examination and getting a higher position, would still proudly talk about his merchant status.

Moreover, even ordinary people know that a certain amount of fees must be paid to exchange silver bills for cash.

For these 100,000 taels of silver, at least 5,000 to 8,000 taels of exchange fee must be paid.

Five thousand taels is enough for a wealthy family's annual expenses.

If it were in the hands of ordinary people, it could feed the people of an entire county for two years.

If she wasted thousands of taels just to let everyone see the money in her hand more intuitively, I wonder if this woman is good at making money or better at squandering it.

Even the implicit meaning of the words is: I come to the North Road, I collect my wealth, and you collect your wealth.

As long as you don't put your hands on me, I won't care what you do.

Both parties do not interfere with each other.

It's just a matter of carving the words "I am a corrupt official" clearly on his forehead.

It’s just nonsense!

Several provincial governors did not take Qin Shu's words seriously.

The county magistrate below was very happy.

The county magistrate was in charge of all affairs of a county. In addition to collecting taxes, there were also fire consumption, corvee labor, judicial affairs, etc., all of which were profitable.

If a county magistrate in a wealthy area, his annual income is comparable to the income of a provincial capital in a remote area.

However, for county magistrates in small border counties like theirs, the pitiful amount of taxes collected each year was not enough to cover the expenses of the county government.

Therefore, when collecting taxes, the size of the measuring cup, the amount of tax silver and fire consumption, and the amount and grade of reported land are all areas that can be manipulated.

The post of Jiedushi has been vacant in recent years, and most of the salt tax has gone into the pockets of several provincial governments.

Even so, the salt tax was getting less and less every year.

The huge profits made by several provincial governors from the joint sale of illegal salt were considered stolen money even if they were distributed to the county magistrates below.

It is not as legitimate as the maintenance silver distributed by the Jiedufu.

The county magistrates were also terrified.

The new governor has stated that he will not investigate old accounts. Does that mean that as long as they don't accept bribes in the future, they can let bygones be bygones?

At the banquet, everyone had different expressions and their own thoughts.

Qin Shu took the opportunity to say, "Qin Shu, following the emperor's order, has been reclaiming wasteland and cultivating farmland in Linbei Road and recruiting guerrilla soldiers to prepare for war."

"My Lords, I have been an official in Linbei Road for a long time and I know this place better than Qin Shu. I also hope that you can offer suggestions and advice."

As she spoke, she raised her wine glass and bowed to the audience.

Everyone followed suit and drank their glasses.

After these words were spoken, the officials present no longer felt uneasy as before and became unrestrained and relaxed.

They no longer had the same respect and vigilance towards the emperor's favorite, the newly appointed governor.

After the banquet, Qin Shu gave each person a brocade box and said with a smile, "Inside this is a small gift from Qin Shu. It is not a token of respect, but I hope you can accept it with a smile."

Everyone thanked him, thinking that the gifts inside were from the governor in order to win people's hearts, so they all accepted them tacitly and generously.

When the banquet was over and everyone was leaving the house, they saw that the box that had been carried into the hall was being pulled by an ox cart and transported to the martial arts field in the northwest direction.

Zhang Ying asked Meng Qi quietly, "What are you doing?"

Meng Qi's body slightly tilted, the corners of his mouth twitched, "This silver should be the reward for the vagrant soldiers she recruited."

Zhang Xing stared at it for a while and whispered, "Are there any of our people in here?"

Meng Qi snorted and laughed, "Of course. I asked around, and most of them are fugitives from the imperial court, beggars, vagrants, and wandering knights. Locals need three neighbors as witnesses, and the family must have two or more males before they can register."

Zhang Xing sneered, "A bunch of rabble."

He then said solemnly, "We should also send someone to find out the whereabouts of that batch of goods. I always feel that something is wrong."

Liu Meng next to him said, "I will send people to Yunzhou and Qingyang. Here, I'll trouble you two adults."

The three of them bowed to each other and left in their carriages.

Wang Lu quietly approached Qin Shu after seeing the people leave, and replied in a low voice: "Return to the master, three days ago, General Mu of Qinlong Pass received a letter from the magistrate of Qingyang County, saying that there was a landslide in the Longshan Gorge and requested to dispatch troops for support."

"When General Mu and his troops arrived, they happened to engage in close combat with a group of private salt dealers."

"All the salt dealers have been arrested and the salt has been transported back to Qinlong Pass."

"When Yunzhou Governor Ma Tong rushed over after hearing the news, he was hit by a stray arrow shot by a salt merchant and died of his wounds."

"Qingyang County Magistrate Zhuo Ling was seriously injured while rescuing Ma Spurs and has been sent back to the county government for resettlement."

"At present, all affairs of Yunzhou are managed by Beijia Gongshi."

Qin Shu sat on the stage, looking at the huge crowd below, and chuckled, "Got it. Later, you can send a box of snacks and some medicine to County Magistrate Zhuo."

Wang Lu replied respectfully, and seeing that Qin Shu had no other instructions, he slowly retreated.

Qin Shu beckoned Zhu Zhi over again and asked, "Are there any relatives of officials among these wandering soldiers?"

Zhu Zhi took a deep breath and asked, "What does the Patriarch mean?"

Qin Shu smiled and said, "What this town wants to do requires the cooperation of all officials to be successfully implemented. We have to let them treat the affairs of the Jiedufu as their own affairs, and then they will pay attention to it."

Zhu Zhi rubbed his head, still a little confused, "But, if these people were willing to come, wouldn't they have come when we issued the notice?"

Qin Shu had no choice but to remind him, "When you were in Qinglong Mountain, were all the brothers there willing to go up the mountain?"

Zhu Zhi's eyes lit up, and he suddenly understood. He smiled and said, "The master is wise! I understand."

Qin Shu took out a note from her sleeve pocket, held it between her fingers and handed it to Zhu Qi, "These people must be incorporated into our government barracks."

Zhu Zhi took the note, bowed and said, "Master, rest assured, I will do my best."

Qin Shu waved her hand.

After the roving soldiers were registered and received their salaries, Mo Laowu selected some strong and able-bodied men to serve as government soldiers.

It was incorporated into the original military camp of the Jiedufu.

Qin Shu has already sent a letter to General Shen, requesting that he send soldiers to assist in the training of the mobile troops.

Finally, Qin Shu gathered all the soldiers from the mobile camp together and asked, "Among you, are there any people who are proficient in iron smelting? Are there any who know the art of gunpowder? If so, please stand on one side."

Yu Qing rode his horse again, along the open space in the middle of the square formation, and repeated Qin Shu's words loudly.

In the huge martial arts arena, among tens of thousands of people, dozens of people looked around and then stood up hesitantly.

There are only a dozen blacksmiths.

Is there no one who understands gunpowder?

Standing in the front row, a man as skinny as a monkey looked around, put his hands on his hips and asked nonchalantly: "Hey! What do you want to know about gunpowder for?"

Yu Qing shouted, "How dare you! What? This is the governor!"

Qin Shu raised her hand to stop Yu Qing and asked, "Do you understand?"

The man grinned, his tongue scraped across the tip of his teeth, and sneered, "Know a little."

Qin Shu waved at the man, and when he came closer, she asked, "What can you do?"

The man looked defiant, "The kind you want."

Qin Shu called Yu Qing over, "Go and ask Master Fu to come over."

When he heard "Master Fu", the man's eyes flickered slightly and he stood up straight unconsciously.