Your Majesty said that my life is worthless, so why are you crying when I increase my troops?

"Hmph, Commander Xia, you're taking things for granted."

As soon as Xia Mingyuan finished speaking, Sun Wenju sneered.

"Suppressing bandits isn't the game you imagine. The bandits from the Poison Dragon Gang won't wait for you to bring your men over and slit their throats!"

"My father calculated it very carefully to find out that it would cost at least 150,000 taels. He's been working in Hanyang for over a decade, so how could he not be as good as a newcomer like you?"

"Oh?"

Xia Mingyuan raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "Then why not ask Lord Sun to tell us in front of Her Royal Highness the Princess how you spent these 150,000 taels of silver?"

"Commander Xia, 150,000 taels of silver are needed not only to recruit local warriors, prepare food for them, and forge weapons, but also to set aside some as compensation for the fallen soldiers."

"If I tell you all this in detail, the enemy will be able to easily figure out our deployment. If this information is leaked, can you bear the responsibility?"

"Also, taking the Poison Dragon Mountain you mentioned, it's easy to defend but difficult to attack. To capture it, we'd need at least tens of thousands of troops, not the 5,000 elite soldiers you mentioned!"

"Commander Xia, you've lived in the capital for so long that you don't understand the dangers of fighting on the frontier! Back when His Majesty led a million-strong army, the daily expenditure alone was two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand taels of silver. Do you think His Majesty is also extravagant?"

Sun Yaozu spoke eloquently, and as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately attracted a wave of agreement.

"Where did this brat come from? How dare he speak so arrogantly at this banquet? No one knows more about suppressing bandits than the county magistrate. What is this guy doing here? He's just a captain of the guards, but he really thinks he's a general?"

As they spoke, everyone looked at Xia Mingyuan with frowns.

"Xia Mingyuan, you don't know how to suppress bandits. Stop talking nonsense here."

Even Xia Xue frowned and spoke coldly.

Xia Mingyuan ignored the objections and said calmly, "Lord Sun has hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in his hands, yet he still doesn't have the determination to win."

"In that case, it's better for you to stay at the county government office honestly. Give me this money, and I'll take the job of suppressing the bandits. I will wipe out the three major bandit gangs in Hanyang City within a month!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present burst into laughter.

Sun Wenju's face was filled with sarcasm. "Xia Mingyuan, you're crazy about money, aren't you? You dare to make money from suppressing bandits?"

"You're clearly trying to defraud the money and run away with it!"

Xia Xue was so angry at Xia Mingyuan's arrogant attitude that her face turned blue. She slammed the table and glared at her adopted nephew.

"Xia Mingyuan, shut up right there! Stop embarrassing yourself here!"

Xia Mingyuan smiled calmly and ignored Xia Xue.

"Sun Wenju, how about we make a bet?"

"Let's bet on whether I can wipe out the three major gangs within a month. Do you have the guts?"

Sun Wenju gritted his teeth, then made up his mind and said coldly, "Let's gamble, who's afraid of who?"

"What's the stakes?"

Xia Mingyuan said calmly, "Master Sun said earlier that it would take another month to raise 150,000 taels of silver to suppress the bandits."

"Within this month, I am willing to lead my troops into the mountains to suppress the bandits without asking for a cent from you. If I can wipe out the three major gangs, 150,000 taels of silver will be mine."

"If I fail to do so, I will pay the remaining 20,000 taels for this bandit suppression campaign."

"Well, fair, right?"

Sun Wenju had a strange look on his face, looking at Xia Mingyuan as if he were a fool.

"Xia Mingyuan, have you suddenly gone crazy?"

"You're recruiting soldiers and horses on your own, and you still want to go into the mountains to suppress bandits?"

As soon as Sun Wenju finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

Xia Mingyuan was not moved at all, and just looked at him calmly, "Since you think there is no possibility of me winning, do you dare to bet with me?"

"If I lose, you can get 20,000 taels of silver for free!"

Sun Wenju sneered, "Boy, you're just a small guard. Where can you get 20,000 taels of silver? You don't even have the capital to gamble with me!"

"Before I came here, I conquered Crow Mountain outside the capital and seized ten boxes of gold, silver, and treasures. Together with some jewelry and jade, I could easily exchange them for twenty thousand taels of silver."

"If you don't believe me, Her Royal Highness the Princess can testify."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked at the eldest princess.

Many of them have been to the capital, so they naturally know the name of Crow Mountain.

Although Crow Mountain is also easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is located at the foot of the capital after all. If the princess really wants to take action, Crow Mountain can be destroyed overnight.

That place has accumulated wealth over the years and is indeed a piece of fat meat.

Xia Xue looked at everyone's eyes. Even though she knew that Xia Mingyuan had indeed wiped out Crow Mountain and recruited those bandits, she was too lazy to help him prove it.

However, just when Xia Xue wanted to refuse outright, she hesitated.

She didn't want to care what Xia Mingyuan wanted, but the antidote was still in this guy's hands.

If I don't help him prove it now, given his ruthless nature, I'm afraid I'll be in great danger.

Thinking of this, Xia Xue gritted her teeth and said lightly: "What Xia Mingyuan said is indeed true."

As soon as the words came out, Sun Yao's grandfather and his son's eyes lit up.

This is the treasure accumulated by Crow Mountain over the years!

I didn't expect it to fall into the hands of Xia Mingyuan.

If the treasure had not been kept in the princess's mansion, the father and son would have wanted to take it away right now.

Fortunately, they don’t have to snatch it now, Xia Mingyuan came to their door on his own!

With only a few hundred guards under his command and his money at stake, Xia Mingyuan naturally couldn't recruit a single soldier.

He can't recruit people, and he still wants to go into the mountains to suppress bandits with just the few guards he has?

It’s simply wishful thinking!

Even though the father and son have 130,000 taels in their hands now, they will spend tens of thousands of taels on symbolic bandit suppression.

As for the rest, the gentry’s money must be returned in full, and the people’s money must be divided 30% and 70% with these people!

Even so, the other 70% still belongs to others!

In the end, after all the hard work, the father and son could only make 20,000 to 30,000 taels.

It's like begging on your knees!

Moreover, in the past two years, the number of bandits has increased, and it has become increasingly difficult to collect money from the people.

If he could really win these 20,000 taels from Xia Mingyuan, all of it would go into the pockets of his Sun family!

Thinking of this, Sun Yaozu and Sun Wenju, father and son, looked at each other and said in unison, "If that's the case, then why not make a bet with you?"

"However, to prevent you from defaulting on your debt, we must both keep the silver from both sides in the princess's mansion. Before the results come out, no one can use this silver. Let the royal family do us justice!"

"Anyone who cheats is openly disrespecting the royal family and disregarding the prestige of the royal family!"

"Is everything alright, Commander Xia?"

"Of course there is no problem!" Xia Mingyuan patted his chest and assured, his heart almost bursting with joy.

With just these words, the father and son of the Sun family gave him at least 130,000 taels of silver for free!

Nothing could be better than something like this!