With a million soldiers, the empress begged me not to rebel

A county is comparable to a country. This huge gap makes Chen Qingwan feel extremely ashamed and angry.

She was originally a little hesitant and wanted to kill Lu Yan to vent her hatred.

Or find a way to recruit him for your own use.

But now, the balance in her heart has completely tilted.

She must get Lu Yan and his wealth that rivals a country.

Get his genius to govern the place, no matter what method is used!

Qiao'er couldn't help swallowing her saliva.

Just then, an inopportune voice suddenly rang out.

"Lord Lu, your generosity is truly admirable!"

"However, there is one thing I do not understand, so please enlighten me, sir."

The speaker was a thin official with a pointed face and monkey chin.

His name was Wang Mazi, and he was the head clerk of the household registration office in Shannan County.

Lu Yan glanced at him and said lightly:

"What advice does Master Wang have?"

Wang Mazi cupped his hands and said in a sarcastic tone:

"Sir, I'd like to ask you, where did you get this million taels of silver?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the square suddenly became quiet and everyone's eyes were focused on Lu Yan.

Obviously, Wang Mazi's question was also a question in the minds of many people present.

Lu Yan smiled slightly and said calmly:

"Master Wang, that's a good question!"

"My money was naturally earned through legitimate means. For example..."

He paused deliberately to whet everyone's appetite, and then slowly said:

"Selling perfume, selling soap, selling milk tea, selling cement..."

With each name of a product he mentioned, Wang Mazi's expression became uglier.

These products are all new gadgets developed by Lu Yan in Shannan County.

And they all sold very well and made a lot of money.

As the head clerk of the household department, Wang Mazi naturally knew how high the profit of these goods was.

He originally thought that Lu Yan would embezzle part of the profits and pocket the money.

But he never expected that Lu Yan would use all the profits to reward the soldiers!

This made him shocked, jealous, and even a little scared.

Wang Mazi's face looked uglier than if he had eaten a fly.

He originally wanted to use the reward for the soldiers as an excuse to accuse Lu Yan of corruption.

Who would have thought that this guy actually gave away all the money he earned!

This is like a carefully laid trap, but you end up stepping into it. How sour it feels!

Lu Yan looked at Wang Mazi's colorful face and felt secretly happy.

His face remained calm as he continued:

"In addition to perfume, soap, milk tea, cement, there are also mirrors, printing... These are all ways for me to make money."

"Oh, and there's that new chili sauce that just came out. It's making a ton of money!"

Every time he said something, Wang Mazi's face turned greener, as if he had swallowed a live toad.

He knew all these things and bought a lot of them secretly.

Especially the chili sauce, his wife can eat half a bottle in one meal!

Now that I think about it, isn’t this just giving money to Lu Yan?

"All these things, and the money I earned, were used for the development and construction of Shannan County,"

"For example, building roads, bridges, establishing schools, and providing relief to disaster victims... In short, every penny was spent wisely!"

Wang Mazi was completely dumbfounded. He originally wanted to report Lu Yan, but now it seemed like he was involved in corruption and bribery.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that he couldn't say anything.

Seeing Wang Mazi's defeat, Lu Yan stopped paying attention to him and turned to face the soldiers, raising his voice:

"Soldiers, you are all heroes of Shannan County and warriors defending our homeland!"

"I'm rewarding you today to let you know that I've seen and remembered all your efforts!"

"Next, I will further strengthen Shannan County's military strength and build a more elite army. Any enemy who dares to invade our homeland will never return!"

The soldiers were immediately excited and shouted slogans such as "Defend our homeland! Defend our homeland!", their voices shaking the sky.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to have offended someone he shouldn't have offended...

The commendation ceremony came to a close amid thunderous cheers from the soldiers.

Lu Yan rubbed his ears, which were buzzing from the vibration, and turned back to the county government office.

He still had a lot of things to do, and rewarding the soldiers was just the first step.

Next, he wants to take Shannan County’s military strength to a higher level.

It would be best if we could build cannons, so that we can be more confident in attacking the barbarians.

The news that Lu Yan was about to use military force against the barbarians spread quickly throughout the streets and alleys as if it had wings.

It even floated over the mountains and reached the barbarian tribes.

On the barbarian grassland, a huge cowhide military tent was filled with a strong smell of sheep and sweat.

Ariba, the chief of the barbarians, is a tall, strong man with a full beard.

He leaned tiredly on a big chair covered with tiger skin, holding a leg of lamb in his hand and gnawing on it bit by bit.

Inside the tent, several tribal leaders were reporting on the battle situation, their voices filled with frustration and anger.

"Chief, we lost thousands of war horses and nearly ten thousand warriors, and we still couldn't capture that tiny Shannan County!"

"That Lu Yan is simply a monster!"

A leader beat his chest and stamped his feet, his face full of grief and anger.

"Yes, Chief, we haven't rescued our captured brothers either."

"I heard they're enjoying themselves in Shannan County and don't want to come back! This is such a shame!"

Azhiba threw the lamb leg in his hand to the ground. The greasy bones rolled several times on the ground and were covered with dust.

"Useless! They are all a bunch of useless! With so many people, they can't even take down a small county town. Do you still need this clan leader to personally take action?"

The tent suddenly fell silent, and everyone lowered their heads, not daring to say a word.

They all knew that when the patriarch got angry, he would not recognize any relatives.

"What should we do now? We can't just let it go like this! Where will our barbarian tribe put its face?"

A leader asked cautiously.

"Let's attach ourselves to Beixiang State! This way, we can continuously obtain supplies from Beixiang State, strengthen our strength, and sooner or later we will be able to conquer Shannan County!"

A lean leader suggested, a shrewd gleam in his eyes.

"Bullshit!" another leader immediately retorted.

"Subordinate to Beixiang Kingdom? Then what would we become? Their dogs? We barbarians have been kings and hegemons for generations. How could we be inferior to others?"

"Becoming the king? With our current strength? Don't dream!"

The lean leader snorted disdainfully.

"Relying on Beixiang State will at least allow us to survive! Do you want us to starve to death on the grassland?"

The two leaders argued fiercely and were about to fight.

Ariba waved his hands irritably.

"Shut up! What are you arguing about? You're acting like sissies!"