The most arrogant in history

Chapter 294: Soft rice tastes good.

"Thank you, madams, for helping me out of this urgent need." Ye Kun stood up and saluted.

Oh, it’s so embarrassing to have ended up like this.

If you can’t make ends meet, you’ll have to live off others!

Wen Axiu smiled and said, "I don't have that much money, but I still have some salary, so I'll give it to you as a token of my appreciation. If it's still not enough, I'll ask my father to borrow some money."

Her father, Wen Qi, has also made a lot of money in the past few years following Ye Kun and Shangguan Jifu.

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Put Teacher Wen's money aside for now. If it's still not enough, I'll ask you for it."

The next day, Ye Kun went to the hall to discuss matters and listened to various work reports.

Xie Tong and others reported their work respectively.

Just as Ma Zhao said, the gentry in Chengdu all had some complaints.

For them, there was no practical benefit in Ye Kun's capture of Hanzhong; it was just a waste of money and manpower.

Ye Kun calmed everyone down and said:

"We took Hanzhong to strengthen our own strength. If Xiahou Chang took Hanzhong, Yizhou would be in danger. You all know that Xiahou Chang likes to massacre people. If Xiahou Chang attacks us, who among you dares to guarantee the safety of your family?"

Ma Zhao supported Ye Kun and said with a fist:

"My dear colleagues, we must see that Lord Ye did spend some money and food when he deployed troops. But since Lord Ye took charge of Yizhou, he has built bridges and roads, dredged rivers, and expanded production, and the lives of the people have improved a lot. The treasury is temporarily empty, but it will be restored soon."

Wu Qiong suggested: "There are still a lot of porcelain and Shu brocade, tea and scented oil in the treasury. We can lower the price and exchange it for a batch of silver."

Ye Kun nodded in agreement: "We can take out half of the Shu brocade, porcelain, tea, and sesame oil in stock and sell them at a reduced price. In addition, we will open up Yizhou's commerce and trade. Anyone who likes to do business can do business."

In the Dading Kingdom, merchants need business licenses, and farmers cannot do business casually.

In fact, commercial transactions were also controlled by the gentry. The peasants had neither the capital nor the vision and were unable to compete with the gentry.

Han Chun had already returned from Hanzhong and said with a smile, "Lord Ye, trade must not be liberalized. Otherwise, there will be refugees everywhere and it will be difficult to control."

Other officials also agreed with Han Chun's opinion.

They all have the same idea, ordinary people are not allowed to interfere in business!

Considering the situation, Ye Kun gave in temporarily:

"Since everyone says so, let's maintain the original rules. Lord Wu Qiong, arrange to sell the goods at half price in the official market tomorrow to recover the funds."

Everyone in the hall showed joy on their faces.

Here comes their chance to make money.

They have plenty of money and can buy the goods at half price, and then sell them to the people at a high price, or sell them to other places.

Ye Kun also sneered in his heart.

No matter how much money you make, you can’t run away!

After studying the economic issues, Ye Kun said:

"My lords, we have now taken over the entire territory of Hanzhong. Our territory has expanded. Your titles should also be upgraded. In other words, as the saying goes, you should be promoted to higher positions."

When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up.

Ye Kun smiled and said, "I propose that our old leader, Lord Gongsun Zhang, be honored as the King of Shu, and that Zhang Mi, the former governor of Hanzhong, be honored as the Marquis of Qingcheng County and the Great Heavenly Master of Protecting the Nation. I will remain the governor of Yizhou, and the other adults will each be promoted one level higher in rank and salary."

After taking Hanzhong, we have to give some benefits to everyone.

Bet on everyone's mouth and win their hearts.

Xie Tong and the others clasped their fists and said, "Lord Ye is thoughtful and right. We will do our best to be loyal to the king and protect the country!"

All are happy.

After lunch, Ye Kun took Ma Zhao and Xie Baochan to visit Gongsun Zhang.

It turned out that Xie Baochan was Gongsun Zhang's brother's wife, and Ye Kun brought her along to build relationships.

Gongsun Zhang was very happy because Ye Kun had conquered Hanzhong and seized Zhang Mi's power. He came to greet him in person and said with a smile, "Master Ye, congratulations on regaining Hanzhong."

"I have come to see the King of Shu." Ye Kun clasped his fists and saluted, saying:

"Officials at all levels in Yizhou have said that they will respect the Marquis of Shu as the King of Shu. In the future, under your banner, we will fight against Xiahou Chang, conquer the four seas, and support the country."

Gongsun Zhang declined: "I have no merit or virtue, how dare I be king?"

"If the Marquis of Shu doesn't claim to be the king, we are all minor officials. Only when you become the King of Shu can we all be promoted to a higher rank." Ye Kun told the truth.

"Then I'll listen to Lord Ye and be the King of Shu for fun."

Gongsun Zhang laughed.

He knew that he was just a puppet, and it made no difference whether he was the King of Shu or not.

After drinking a cup of tea, Gongsun Zhang called his eldest son Gongsun Shangfei and said to Ye Kun: "Master Ye, Shangfei is already 19 years old. He can't stay at home. He wants to go out and exercise. What do you think..."

Gongsun Zhang's entire family was placed under house arrest by Ye Kun.

Gongsun Shangfei was young, so of course he felt depressed at home.

Ye Kun nodded readily and asked, "I wonder what the eldest master likes to do?"

Gongsun Shangfei said: "I am a military commander and I like to lead troops to fight. I am afraid that Lord Ye will not trust me and will not give me the military power."

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Zhang hurriedly winked at his son, telling him to stop talking nonsense.

Ye Kun laughed: "Young Master is a down-to-earth person, I like that. How about this, since you like to lead troops, I will appoint you as the General of Dingxi, and lead the troops to Qionglai Mountain to intimidate the Western Qiang, is that okay?"

To the west of Chengdu is a large plateau where the Qiang people live, and it is called Western Qiang.

The Qiang people were brave and good at fighting, and often harassed the border of Yizhou.

Ye Kun planned to develop production while resolving border issues, and then accumulate strength to fight for the Central Plains.

Gongsun Shangfei was overjoyed and clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, Lord Ye. I am willing to lead the troops and guard the border."

Ye Kun looked at Gongsun Zhang and frowned, "But the war is fierce and dangerous, and the Western Qiang is hard and desolate. I am afraid that the eldest master..."

"Life and death are determined by fate, I will never complain!" said Gongsun Shangfei.

"Lord Ye, let him go and exercise." Gongsun Zhang also nodded.

Ye Kun nodded: "Then get ready, young master. I will see you off in three days. I will also arrange a few capable assistants to assist you."

Gongsun Shangfei clasped his fists and said, "I obey your command!"

Gongsun Zhang was also very happy and invited Ye Kun to have dinner.

After three rounds of drinking, Gongsun Zhang ordered his servants to bring two thousand taels of gold and said with a smile, "I heard that Lord Ye doesn't have enough money. I have some savings here, and I'll give it to Lord Ye."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "How can I say that? Then let's just say I borrowed it and I will return it to the King of Shu later."

Because Ye Kun was tolerant of others, he did not confiscate Gongsun Zhang's personal property when he took over Chengdu.

Later, he also paid Gongsun Zhang a salary and gave him a lot of porcelain, tea, gold and silver.

So Gongsun Zhang is still a wealthy man now.

After dinner, Ye Kun returned to the prefect's mansion.

Ma Zhao complained to Ye Kun:

"Master Ye, you shouldn't let Gongsun Shangfei lead the troops. You know, although Gongsun Shangfei is young, he is brave and warlike. It will be difficult to control him if he has military power, because Yizhou was originally his family's territory. Gongsun Zhang is now the King of Shu. If they rebel, how will they be dealt with?"

Ye Kun waved his hand: "It's okay, I trust people I employ, and I won't employ people I doubt."

As for Gongsun Shangfei, Ye Kun would of course be on guard against him, so he assigned him four assistants, all of whom were students of the first session of Tanbing Hall.

Moreover, Gongsun Zhang's entire family is still under house arrest, so how dare Gongsun Shangfei do anything wrong?

When he went to bed at night, Xie Baochan said:

"My husband, my father is as rich as a country and has a fortune. If the treasury is really tight, I can go home and borrow money from my father. I think I can still borrow 100,000 taels of silver."

"Ma'am, you have to pay back the money you borrow."

Ye Kun chuckled: "The wealthy people in Yizhou are all very rich. I have to find a way to earn their money."

Xie Baochan said with a smile: "Are you going to use refined salt to deduct everyone's salary again? I heard that the officials complained privately that they had no money to buy rice and had to live on salt recently. Because the salt you gave last time was too much, it would take three years to finish it."