Exile is exile, is half of the capital enough as compensation?

At this moment, Leng Youran was forcing him to go through all the case files and account books from previous years.

Leng Youran and Li Tianze were not idle either, but they focused on different things. She was focusing on the merchants in the city.

Li Tianze was interested in the city history.

"As expected, although these merchants still run their own businesses, they pay a lot of money to the former governor throughout the year."

An Liu also echoed, "Yes, half of the silver collected was sent to the imperial city, and the other half ended up in the hands of the former governor. So if you calculate it carefully, they can collect at least 100,000 taels a year."

"An Liu, you should study hard. Although you don't have any family members to make money with, you can't be worse than them."

An Liu was a little embarrassed, "Master, I, I..." He has always been a person who helps the weak and punishes the strong, and he never thought that one day he would become someone who needs to be eradicated.

"Don't feel any pressure. You have your eyes. You can see which ones are worth letting go and which ones need to be dealt with harshly. You don't have to kill them all at once. After all, you'll be here for a long time."

She also didn't want An Liu to be known as a corrupt official.

Besides, this place will be her territory in the future, so it naturally needs to be properly rectified. However, An Liu has just arrived and cannot do too much, otherwise it will be reported to Zhao Mingyao by someone with ulterior motives.

"Okay, fine." Since the master said so, what else can he do?

Li Tianze saw An Liu’s dejected look and waved his hands into the air.

Two figures fell.

"master."

"Well, from now on you will have to follow 'Master Fang' and take a good look at who needs your attention. Li Wu, you are good at business, so you will take care of the businesses under 'Master Fang's' name. Li Liu, you are meticulous, so you should always remind 'Master Fang'..."

Leng Youran sat there quietly listening to Li Tianze give orders one after another. It must be said that this old guy is quite capable.

She knew that someone was following them, but she didn't expect that the person he brought this time had such ability. It seemed that he had done his homework.

"Yes, Master, we will definitely assist Master Fang in handling the affairs of Zhoucheng in the future."

"Well, you don't have to hide anymore. Now that no one is around, why don't you go with 'Master Fang' and get a good look at the situation in Zhoucheng!"

Leng Youran knew that she was going to have another go, so she disguised the two of them on the spot. They then took off their original disguises, changed into another look, and took advantage of the chaos to leave the governor's mansion.

"You are so anxious to have them take over, is there something you need to do?"

Li Tianze didn't answer her, but took her to a teahouse. After finding a private room near the street and sitting down, he said, "We haven't just met at the Leng Mansion, have we?"

Leng Youran was stunned. "What do you mean?"

Li Tianze knew that she was not pretending to be stupid, and continued to remind her: "It was you who was in my house that night, right!"

Although he was asking questions, his tone was slightly affirmative.

Leng Youran didn't expect him to suddenly bring up what happened before. He folded his arms and leaned back, "Why do you say that, Prince Li?"

Li Tianze saw that she was a little angry, and quickly explained: "Don't be nervous, I just want to confirm my guess. I know you have a secret, whether it's the food you sent along the way, the wine we drank that night, or even the clothes you gave me today..."

"Clothes? What's wrong with clothes?"

Li Tianze smiled and said nothing.

Leng Youran became anxious and asked again, "What do you mean?"

Seeing that she was truly anxious, Li Tianze slowly said, "Actually, I knew you were different from ordinary people. Besides, you are different from us. I didn't think much of it at first. But you don't know that the wine you brought out that night and the clothes you gave me today all came from the Duke's Mansion."

Li Tianze became more certain of his guess when he changed his clothes this morning.

The wine is similar, but the servants in the Duke's Mansion prepare winter clothes early every year, and they put a mark on the corner of their clothes that others don't know.

Even Li Tianming and Li Tianduo didn't know about this.

After confirming her guess, she was overjoyed. After all, the things from the Duke's Mansion did not fall into someone else's hands but into her hands.

The teacup in Leng Youran's hand fell to the ground. She had never expected that the thing she casually picked up would expose her so quickly.

She pretended to be calm and picked up a teacup again. Just as she was about to pour water, Li Tianze picked up the teapot and said while pouring tea for her: "Don't worry, I'm not trying to pry into your secrets. I told you this just to confirm whether it was you that night. If it was really you, and you have that ability, then tonight we can..."

"How about tonight?" Leng Youran asked anxiously.

Li Tianze calmly put down the teapot and sat up straight, "You haven't told me if it was you..."

Leng Youran glanced at him calmly, "Didn't you guess it?"

Li Tianze smiled secretly.

It’s great that he knows her secret that no one else knows.

"Ahem, here's the thing. Today I was reading the city records left by the former governor and saw something interesting..."

The more Leng Youran listened, the brighter her eyes became. She never expected that Li Tianze had such a unique focus and could actually find such useful information from such a thick city chronicle.

"Okay, okay, we'll go there later."

Li Tianze was very happy when he saw her eyes shining. It seemed that she was a little money-grubber, so this would be an easy matter.

"I'll have something for you when we get to the North."

"Crack, crack, crack, what is that?" Leng Youran asked while cracking melon seeds.

"You'll know when the time comes." His private treasury is still there. Since she likes money, he will give it all to her.

"Fine!"

The two sat in the teahouse and chatted, looking at the street below as they talked.

"What do you think of Liancheng's situation?"

"It won't be worse than here."

Li Tianze knew that Zhoucheng, Liancheng and Beicheng were all Zhao Mingyao's money bags.

Before he ascended the throne, these three cities had earned him a lot of money.

Even the private soldiers Zhao Mingyao raised were supported by tributes from these cities.

"Let's go to Liancheng after we finish here. It would be better if we can send Anqi over earlier so that we can have a worry relieved."

Li Tianze: "Okay, let's wait and see tomorrow. If An Qi and Li Wu are alright, we'll leave."

"Ah."

After coming out of the teahouse, the two walked around the street again. After not encountering anything interesting, they went out of the city.

Leng Youran used Qinggong to follow Li Tianze slowly and unhurriedly, "Are you familiar with this place?"

"I wouldn't say I'm familiar with it, but I've been here a few times and happen to know the location of the records."