Chapter Thirteen: Counting Money, A Bountiful Harvest
The Xu family patriarch died in battle, as did the elders, and over 80% of the direct descendants perished. Seventy percent of the family's retainers and a large portion of the family's private soldiers were killed in action.
Looking at Guo Jia's statistics, Lin Yang said with a wry smile, "Our Han Dynasty truly has many righteous people. Even knowing that they are doomed to die, so many people still accompany the Xu family on their journey."
"Having received the Xu family's kindness, they are now repaying it with their lives. They have truly gotten what they asked for," Guo Jia remarked.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang was at a loss for words. In the 21st century, morality had reached its lowest point. An old man lay on the ground, and no one dared to help him up.
Looking at these loyal retainers and direct descendants of the Xu family who bravely faced death and never considered fleeing, Lin Yang could only say that in their eyes, there were many things more important than life itself!
However, I only felt a little sentimental for a moment and then stopped thinking about it. Because there was something more important to do at the moment, which was to count the money—oh, no, to examine the evidence, to examine the evidence of the Xu family's collusion with Xiang Yu.
Sure enough, with Lin Yang's arrival, the boxes were immediately opened. These boxes were filled with silver, ten taels per ingot, three thousand taels per box, totaling five thousand boxes. That means there were fifteen million taels of silver in cash alone.
Next came smaller boxes, about a foot square. These boxes were of even higher quality; upon opening them, one found them filled with lovely little orange-yellow pieces—gold, in ingots weighing fifty taels each. Each box contained two thousand taels, totaling one thousand five hundred boxes. That means there were a total of three million taels of gold.
These two items alone, added together, amount to forty-five million taels! More importantly, all of this is cash, cash, cash!
Then came box after box of jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and other luxury goods. Although Lin Yang's own artistic skills weren't great, he could still judge the quality of everything, and they were all exquisite pieces.
"The Xu family is far too wealthy. They don't seem like a second-rate family at all. Many newly emerging first-rate families aren't even this rich. Why is that?"
Looking at the bill in his hand, Lin Yang asked, puzzled. As he spoke, he picked up a very pretty hairpin and started playing with it.
This hairpin, gleaming throughout, is crafted from the finest ancient, warm jade. Holding it in your hand, you feel a gentle, natural warmth. It's a fine piece; judging by its quality, it's probably around tier three.
"Well, I'll give it to Qing'er." Then, Lin Yang continued searching among the luxury goods. After all, he still had a wife; he couldn't show favoritism. Otherwise, things would turn upside down.
Hearing Lin Yang's question, Guo Jia smiled and said, "The competition among the aristocratic families in the Central Plains is extremely fierce. Even first-rate families often face the possibility of being outdone. Therefore, they are very willing to spend money when necessary."
"Furthermore, the Central Plains have been developed for at least hundreds of thousands of years. How much good stuff can there still be? Whether it's minerals, land, or prospects, it's not as good as Jiangdong. Therefore, after plundering for thousands of years with only income and no expenditure, having tens of millions of taels of cash is just a drop in the ocean," Guo Jia sighed.
If those tens of millions of taels of silver had been used to strengthen the family's power, things wouldn't be so dire today.
It can only be said that for tens of thousands of years, the Jiangdong region has been as calm as a stagnant pool. While there has been peace, the fighting spirit of these families has also completely slackened.
(The difference between the aristocratic families of the Central Plains and those of Jiangdong is like the difference between wartime and peacetime. Their consciousness and ideology are simply not on the same level.)
"Thirty thousand taels of spirit stones, not bad. With this batch of spirit stones, the steam engine can probably be officially developed." Lin Yang said noncommittally.
After all, the main problems with the steam engine have been solved. What remains is a process of optimization, such as improving the utilization rate of spirit stones or reducing the size of the steam engine.
"One fourth-tier magic weapon? That's far too few. The rest should be in the Xu family's blessed land. No wonder they were so easily defeated today. Fengxiao, keep a close eye on Xu Qing in the tunnel. Whether we can make a fortune depends on whether we can find the Xu family's blessed land," Lin Yang said.
Upon hearing this, Guo Jia laughed. Then he confidently said, "Don't worry, my lord, we can easily solve this with a little trick."
That's true. He's just an unknown nobody, with average fate and average luck. There's no reason he could escape Guo Jia's schemes. In time, he'll be taken into another blessed land.
It seems that I'm blessed with great fortune, and the title of Chosen One is now firmly established. However, considering the increasingly powerful divine path and its resulting influence, it's understandable.
As the progenitor of the divine path, even if it's just an empty title, the fortune he brings is considerable. Looking up at his own destiny, he figured that in a little while, it would automatically be transformed into a fifth-tier status by the immense merit and fortune he accumulated!
"Six thousand tenant households, a total population of about eighty thousand. And six hundred thousand mu of land, what a big landlord! I worked hard for two months and only managed to develop three hundred thousand mu of land. And now, just by confiscating his property, I've doubled my wealth. Murder and arson bring wealth, the ancients were right!" Lin Yang said with a smile.
Six thousand tenant households, eighty thousand people—that's quite a lot! The entire Wu Kingdom only has a little over fifty thousand people right now. However, after the Xu family is wiped out, the registered five hundred thousand people should gradually arrive.
Then, he could extort several hundred thousand more people from the remaining powerful families, bringing the total to a million. Only then would his position as Duke of Wu be firmly established!
The thought of controlling the fates and destiny of millions of people filled Lin Yang with a little excitement.
Soon, a commotion arose outside. Looking through the window, a guard quickly ran in to report.
"Reporting to the Duke and the strategist, the heads of the prominent families of Jiangdong are outside. They are basically from Wu County and Kuaiji County. They have all come here."
Hearing this, Lin Yang nodded. That's right, anyone with a brain would come. However, this matter won't be so easily resolved. Having finally gained the upper hand and possessing formidable strength, how could he not seize the opportunity to extract as much benefit as possible?
"Fengxiao, it's up to you in a bit. For those with whom we had a bad relationship, squeeze at least 80% of the wealth on the list. Of course, the most important thing is the population. For those with a neutral relationship, ask for 60%. For those who have been friendly to us, just give us 40% of the wealth," Lin Yang said.
"Well, if we want this much wealth, we'll probably have to wipe out a few more foolish families. We need to let them know that their lives are in our hands. Otherwise, we won't even be able to get half of this wealth," Guo Jia explained.
"It doesn't matter, we can just wipe out a few more families. Anyway, our relationship with these powerful families is definitely not going to be good. We might as well take this opportunity to squeeze them dry." Lin Yang didn't care about the outcome.
They're just a bunch of second-rate families. If Lin Yang wanted to, he could wipe them all out right now with just five hundred Imperial Guards and dozens of fourth-tier Yinglong. He just didn't want to go too far.
At least, it left them two layers of wealth. Ah, what can I do? I'm just too kind, Lin Yang thought.
However, just as Lin Yang was busy counting the money, a Taoist priest, accompanied by several young disciples, arrived in Jiangdong in a small boat.
This Taoist priest was a middle-aged man with a handsome beard on his chin. His hair was simply tied up with a hairpin, and he held a whisk in his hand, which made him look very otherworldly. He looked like a real Taoist priest with real skills.
At this moment, the Taoist priest was on a small boat, standing at the bow with his eyes closed, followed by several young Taoist disciples. Some disciples were setting up a table, some were boiling water, and some were making tea.
Despite being unmanned, the small boat moved steadily and at a uniform speed. No matter if it encountered large waves or strong winds, it remained as stable as a rock, without even the slightest tremor.
As for the numerous water monsters in the Yangtze River, they seemed to ignore the small boat entirely, with not a single one attacking. That alone is quite remarkable.
After an unknown amount of time, the Taoist suddenly opened his eyes, and a golden light emanated from them. The golden light disappeared as soon as it appeared.
After a moment, the Taoist said calmly, "Judging from the fortunes of Jiangdong, it has already reached a certain level, thanks to the Duke of Wu. To achieve this in just two months, it seems this Duke of Wu is truly not to be underestimated!"
"Master, does this mean we're truly going to serve Duke Wu?" a very cute little Taoist boy asked with a smile.
Upon hearing this, the Taoist sighed and said, "Let's go and see first. Back then, I received a great favor from the Zhang family, which allowed me to break through to the Human Immortal realm. Afterward, I promised to serve the Zhang family for five hundred years. Now, a hundred years have passed. Now, the Zhang family is offering me the remaining four hundred years as a price to transfer my allegiance to the Duke of Wu for a hundred years, after which all karma will be wiped away. One year for four years is not bad."
Upon hearing this, the young Taoist disciple lowered his head. He knew that his master was naturally gifted, but his background was unfavorable; he wasn't a direct descendant of the Zhang family. Therefore, he had no chance to learn the most superior cultivation techniques.
Even so, Master still managed to become a fourth-level Human Immortal cultivator step by step. Now, all he can hope is that his next employer, the Duke of Wu, won't be too much of a rip-off.