Back on the carriage, Xiang Han rubbed his hands, looked at Xu Yanze with bright eyes, and asked: "Yanze, why... have you suddenly become so powerful?"
Xu Yanze enjoyed his gaze very much, narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "It's just a little cleverness."
"Oh, that's it." Xiang Han felt his whole body go numb when he thought of being restrained that night in the bridal chamber.
Steward Zhang interrupted with a bitter face outside the car: "Master, you are still in the mood to joke, we have caused a big disaster this time, how can the brother-in-law of the Jiedu envoy be easy to provoke?"
Xiang Han was a little helpless, and couldn't help but said, "It's just a captain, our family can't be so useless, can it?"
"But he is under General Chen..."
"What's the matter with General Chen? So you can bully others in the street?"
"Hey, young master, you don't know something." Guanshi Zhang looked sad, and lowered his voice: "Our Jin family and that General Chen... have some festivals, and the young lady beat up his subordinates. If General Chen finds out, maybe He thinks our Jin family is out to take revenge and deliberately cut his face."
Xiang Han shook his head and said: "A drunken captain, who knows if he is bragging on purpose? Besides, who of you heard him say that he is under General Chen's command? Anyway, I didn't hear it."
"This..." Steward Zhang was speechless for a moment.
Xiang Han's words made Xu Yanze feel better physically and mentally. For the first time, he felt that being protected was also a kind of enjoyment, even though he didn't really need it.
Seeing his eyes drooping slightly, Xiang Han subconsciously comforted him, "Don't worry, that lieutenant won't make trouble." Before getting into the carriage, he gave a mental hint to basically ensure that the guy wouldn't talk nonsense. .
Xu Yanze raised his head, smiled at him, and said, "This matter mainly depends on the reaction of the Jin family. The captain has nothing to worry about."
"What do you mean?" Xiang Han asked subconsciously.
Xu Yanze waved to him and said, "Sit closer, I'll tell you slowly."
Xiang Han: "..."
Although he was speechless, he still got up and leaned on the wall of the car to move over. But the car body shook slightly, and Xu Yanze reached out to fish for it, and he fell on the opponent again.
Xu Yanze hugged him full, couldn't help but pinch him, and hugged him a little tighter.
Xiang Han hurriedly struggled and said, "I'm almost out of breath."
Xu Yanze smiled, leaned into his ear and said, "Do you need artificial respiration?"
Xiang Han hesitated, but still pretended to be dazed and asked, "What...artificial respiration?"
Xu Yanze finally couldn't help it, and kissed her directly. Xiang Han suddenly went 'woo hoo', and couldn't breathe even more. It wasn't until his face turned red from holding back that he was relieved and managed to recover.
Xu Yanze helped him calm down, his eyes became darker and darker, and he couldn't help but whispered: "The movements just now were not standard, after I go back, I will teach you a few more times."
"When did I say I want to learn?" Xiang Han struggled to break free, then sat aside and stared at him.
Xu Yanze coughed lightly, diverted his attention and said: "During the heyday of the Jin family, the entire Jinwu was the fiefdom of the Jin family. Later, although it fell down, it was still a big family. But since your mother... after that incident, I have completely lost face, especially In the eyes of the frontier army. For example, just now, a small lieutenant dared to belittle the Jin family. Beating him is not to offend, but to show off."
"In addition, the Jin family provides a large amount of military pay for the frontier army every year. The Jiedu envoy holds military power and dares to contend with the court. He must not be a simple-minded person. The reason why he offended the Jin family before is because Chen Tinghong is his brother-in-law. Now he is just a school lieutenant. He must be able to tell which is more important. But if the Jin family continues to be weak, and others go to plead guilty before they say anything, they will only be despised even more in the future."
Xiang Han finished listening with his chin resting, and then kept nodding his head: "That's right, he can analyze every fight clearly and logically."
Xu Yanze patted him on the head and said, "I'm here to teach you how to deal with the old lady later."
Xiang Han raised his hand and waved away, saying, "You beat him, why did you ask me to explain?"
As the carriage drifted away, at the table by the window of the restaurant, a middle-aged man dressed as a wealthy businessman looked away and asked his attendants: "The Jin family that the captain just mentioned is the descendant of Jin Guogong?"
"Exactly."
The wealthy businessman sighed after hearing the words: "Duke Jin Guo fought with the Taizu in the world and made great achievements. I didn't expect that the descendants would be so helpless."
The attendant was silent, and after a while, the rich merchant asked again, "Zhaoer hasn't gone yet?"
The attendant hurriedly bowed and replied: "I just got the news from the Three Emperors... the Third Young Master, and I have already sent someone to meet him."
"Yeah." The rich businessman nodded and said, "Go and make arrangements. When Zhao'er comes back, we can go to Jin's house together."
On the Jin's side, the old lady heard that there was a conflict between Xiang Han and the frontier army, so she hurriedly called for someone to go to meet him. Uncle Jin and Uncle Jin rushed to the main hall soon after learning about it, looking anxious.
"Mother, my son just found out that the school lieutenant is indeed under General Chen's command. The second younger brother and sister offended the general's wife not long ago, and brother Han came here. This is really a disaster."
When Uncle Jin heard this, he immediately said in a hurry: "What should we do? Our family has a festival with him..."
"Quiet, get out if you yell any more." The old lady twirled the beads and shouted in a deep voice.
The two of them didn't dare to say anything at once, and hurriedly sat down beside them.
As soon as Xiang Han and Xu Yanze got off the carriage, Nanny Li hurried forward and told them to go to the main hall.
Hearing this, Xiang Han glanced at Steward Zhang warningly, and Steward Zhang shrank his head hurriedly.
As soon as the two of them entered the main hall, Uncle Jin stood up with a 'shua', but before he could speak, the old lady glanced at him and sat down awkwardly.
The old lady looked around carefully, and seeing that Xiang Han was fine, she was relieved and leaned over to ask: "I heard that when you came back, you had a conflict with Chen Tinghong's men, what happened?"
Xiang Han couldn't tell the real reason, so he half-truthed and said: "Grandmother, it's that guy who drank too much. When he saw our Jin family's carriage, he came up to provoke him, and said... about my mother..."
You don't need to say anything later, just pretend to be sad. The old lady was really very angry, she patted the armrest and said angrily: "It's too deceitful! My Jin family supplies food and grass to the frontier army all the year round, but in the end I was bullied by a school lieutenant. Do you really think my Jin family has no one?"
"Yes, grandma, they don't take us seriously at all." Xiang Han hurriedly echoed a few words, then repeated Xu Yanze's words, and then emphasized: "Grandma, we must not be soft on this matter."
Uncle Jin couldn't help interjecting: "Brother Han, it's easy for you to say, I'm afraid you don't know how much military power the Jiedushi has, and how many private soldiers he has raised. He can crush us all to death with a flick of his finger."
Xu Yanze was about to speak when he heard this, but Xiang Han stopped him, and said to himself: "Xue Qinglin is also the governor of Jinwu and Shuofeng towns, commanding 150,000 frontier troops. As for the private soldiers, there should be tens of thousands, right?"
Uncle Jin snorted, "Fifty thousand people."
Xiang Han nodded and said: "That is to say, two towns in a district need to raise 200,000 frontier troops. I heard that Wu Yan, the official censor, also served as the governor of the three towns, but he only commanded 100,000 troops. It’s so high, and the summer harvest is coming soon, he must be more worried about the food and grass issue, rather than a certain captain being beaten.”
Jin Erbo was choked and speechless, the old lady nodded in satisfaction, and let everyone go down, leaving Xiang Han alone.
Xu Yanze didn't want to leave, but after being glanced at by Xiang Han... Alas, this damn identity.
"Xiaobao, tell grandma the truth, who taught you those things just now?"
It's only been three days since I woke up, how could I know this? Who must have taught what, the old lady is very sure.
Xiang Han was a little depressed. Although Xu Yanze analyzed it, he also thought about it.
"Yes... Yanze told his grandson."
"Yan Ze?"
"Cough, it's the lady." Xiang Han said shyly.
The old lady was silent for a moment, then sighed: "He is a smart one." After speaking, she urged: "From tomorrow onwards, you can learn from Mr. Zhao to be in charge. Come to grandma at night. If there is anything you don't understand, grandma will tell you." You talk."
Xiang Han nodded, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Grandmother, I heard about the land rent today. We set the rent so high that if there is a disaster year, civil uprisings will be triggered..."
The old lady sighed: "There is no way. After that incident, apart from paying 60% of the tax, the Jin family also had to support the 50,000 private soldiers of the Jiedushi. If they don't take 70%, the Jin family will not be able to survive."
Xiang Han thought for a while and asked, "Can't we collect 70% of the rent based on the actual annual output? In this way, regardless of whether the year is good or bad, the tenants will still have 30% left."
The old lady smiled and said: "You, you haven't taken care of things yet, so you are so caring? Yes, better than your cousins."
Seeing that she only smiled but didn't say she agreed, Xiang Han probably understood that there was no point, so she put it aside temporarily and suggested: "Grandmother, it doesn't matter if the land rent is not changed, but there are some things we have to guard against. The Jin family is for Jiedu. The envoys do things, but the tenants don’t know. They only know that we charge high rents. If something happens, the Jiedu envoy is very likely to kill the Jin family to sacrifice the flag. I'm afraid...the intention is in the Central Plains, and I definitely want to completely solve the food and grass problem, can I not covet the Jin family's land?"
The old lady fell silent, her expression became serious for a while, and she asked after a while: "Xiao Bao, what are your plans?"
Xiang Han coughed lightly and said, "I think...the Jin family should have more guards."
The old lady instantly understood what he meant, but she still kept a straight face: "How many do you want to raise?"
"For the time being... let's raise one or two thousand first." Xiang Han whispered.
"Are you raising private soldiers?" The old lady said with deep meaning, "This is a felony, and besides, the Jin family doesn't have enough money to support so many people."
Seeing that she was not angry, Xiang Han hurriedly made persistent efforts: "Grandmother, this is called having a sense of urgency. Besides, the emperor can't even manage Jiedu envoys, so how can he have time to manage us? Just let them pretend to be growers and guards, and I will take care of the food and grass. .”
Just find something for Xu Yanze to do, when these people are trained, aren't they all his personal soldiers? And according to the original plot, the Turks will attack in a short time. If the Golden Crow is broken again, it is more reliable to have private soldiers than to wait for the frontier army to come to rescue.