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

"Sir, we are really rich this time!"

"I never thought that the Sun family father and son would honestly send us the money!"

"If I were to ask you, it would be you, sir, who would have to take action against people like them!"

In the princess's mansion, after Lu Xiucai counted the whole small box of banknotes in his hand, he was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

Xia Mingyuan smiled and said calmly, "One hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver were collected in just half a day. Counting the previous one hundred thousand taels, the Sun family and their sons really made a lot of money in Hanyang City."

Lu Xiucai quickly nodded in agreement, "Since these two took office in Hanyang, they've been using various pretexts to rob and plunder. The total amount of silver they've extorted is more than 250,000 taels."

"However, this time the young master extorted 150,000 taels from them, which is indeed enough to make them feel the pain!"

"You didn't see it just now, when Sun Yaozu gave the money, his teeth were almost broken.

"Besides all this, he also lost fifteen of his closest associates for nothing. He really lost both money and soldiers!"

Xia Mingyuan sneered, "With the charge of assassinating the princess on his head, this old fellow has to give the money to me even if he's unwilling."

"Oh, Lao Lu, let's calculate how much money we have now, including these 150,000 taels."

Lu Xiucai quickly opened the account book in his hand and said with a smile, "Sir, you may not be the richest man in Hanyang now, but if you want to say that you can come up with hundreds of thousands of silver and banknotes on the spot, I'm afraid you are the only one!"

"We earned 80,000 taels the day we took over the gambling house, and we extorted a total of 250,000 taels from the Sun family father and son."

"Besides that, Kunlun Security recently made a profit of 17,000 taels, and we still have 23,000 taels left over from a while ago. The students later took out another 20,000 taels to buy food, so the total remaining is 350,000 taels of cash!"

Thinking of this, Lu Xiucai couldn't help but take a breath.

A full 350,000 taels, which is the tax revenue for the entire Hanyang for nearly half a year.

Master Xia had only been in Hanyang for ten days, but he had already gotten so much silver.

"That's not right, Old Lu. Didn't I ask you to use 30,000 taels of silver to buy land? Hasn't the money been spent yet?" Xia Mingyuan frowned slightly as he listened to Mr. Lu's account report.

Lu Xiucai quickly explained, "Sir, I was just about to report this to you. I've encountered a lot of trouble buying land."

"Hmm? What trouble could there be in buying land? Tell me about it." Xia Mingyuan put down his teacup and asked lightly.

Lü Xiucai replied, "That's right, sir. Bandits are rampant in Hanyang. On ordinary days, the people plant crops, but they don't care and don't harass them."

"But when harvest time comes, these people run down the mountain and steal all the food! The people work hard all year, but in the end, they get nothing."

At this point, Lü Xiucai couldn't help but sigh, "Over time, the common people became so afraid of being robbed that they no longer dared to cultivate their own land. They could only offer their land to the big farmers for protection."

"These big farmers get the land, distribute it to the people for cultivation, and collect a share of it every year. As long as they send guards to protect the land, the bandits won't bother to rob it!"

Hearing this, Xia Mingyuan's face became solemn.

He had already vaguely guessed the reason why Lu Xiucai had not bought the land until now.

Land annexation in Hanyang is too serious!

If you want to buy good land now, you have to go through these big farmers.

But these people can sit at home and let the people farm for them, take a share of the profits, and even form a monopoly. How can they sell the land at a fair price?

Lu Xiucai continued, "I sent someone to the countryside a few days ago to inquire about the market price. Now, if you want to buy an acre of land, you need at least twenty taels of silver!"

"These people are claiming that the land they bought with twenty taels of silver is safe from bandits..."

Xia Mingyuan sneered, "These landlords are really asking for exorbitant prices. They don't even think about how many years it would take for ordinary people to recoup their investment on land at 20 taels per mu!"

"Old Lu, is it true that there is no affordable land available in Hanyang right now?"

"Not really." Lu Xiucai shook his head. "The land near Poison Dragon Mountain and Cold Blade Village is cheap. The people there are eager to give all their land to the landlords, but no one dares to take it."

"After all, even if the landlords have hundreds of servants guarding their houses, they dare not challenge the bandits at the foot of their lair. In the end, the bandits will still rob them."

"In recent years, the bandits have become quite shrewd. They only steal food and don't kill people. They wait until the people finally have some money, then they come down the mountain and kill pigs..."

"Students wouldn't dare buy this kind of land without asking you for permission."

When Xia Mingyuan heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up and he slapped his thigh.

"Old Lu, why didn't you say so earlier!"

"We want this kind of land. Any unsold land near the bandit's lair, I'll take it all. I'll take as much as I can!"

"Let's go, take the men and horses, and go now."

"I still don't believe that anyone would dare to snatch it from me!"

Soon, Xia Mingyuan led his men out of the city on horseback.

Three hundred cavalrymen were mobilized from outside the city, and the group soon arrived at Xujia Village not far from Handao Village.

"Sir, it's broad daylight, why is there not a single person in the village? Where are the people?"

Wei Saner was leading Xia Mingyuan's horse and looking at the quiet village, feeling a little nervous.

Xia Mingyuan was stunned, his face suddenly filled with helplessness. "We rushed here on horseback, and the locals probably mistook us for bandits. I'm afraid they've all gone into hiding now."

"Forget it, let's find someone to ask first."

Upon hearing this, Wei Saner quickly found the nearest house and knocked on the closed door.

"Bang bang bang!"

After a few knocks, the door trembled and opened a crack.

A woman with her face covered in soot poked her head out from the door, her voice filled with tears.

"My dear, there is really nothing left at home. Didn't we just come here last month? The crops in the fields are not even ripe yet."

"Why don't you come back in a few days..."

Wei Saner was startled and quickly turned around to look at Xia Mingyuan.

Xia Mingyuan said in a deep voice, "Miss, we are not bandits, but merchants from Hanyang City. We heard that people from your Xujia Village want to sell land, so we came to take a look."

"You want to buy our land?" The woman was still a little alert when she heard this. She stuck her head out and looked at the hundreds of cavalrymen behind Xia Mingyuan. She shuddered suddenly and quickly retracted her head.

Seeing this, Xia Mingyuan winked at Li Chun, who quickly waved his hand and ordered the three hundred cavalrymen to retreat together.

Zhao Hongying stepped forward and spoke for Xia Mingyuan, "Don't be afraid, sister. These people behind us are our guards. There are bandits everywhere outside now. If we don't bring some people with us, we will be slaughtered like fat sheep."

"Look, we don't have any bad intentions, so why don't you let us go in and have a seat?"