"Young Master, please get on the carriage. Everything is available in there." Dou Zhi helped Young Master Dou onto the carriage, took out a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from the box and handed them to him, casually asking, "Why are you looking for Chief Ruan? The Northwest has been unstable lately, there’s a war going on, and Chief Ruan is very busy."

The Rong people broke through Longshan Prefecture, ruined the entire place, and still weren’t satisfied—they wanted to continue their attack. The Northwest is even more chaotic now than it was a few years ago.

Chief Ruan is responsible for the Northwest trade routes, and many of the Young Master’s private assets are managed by him. The current situation in the Northwest is troubling enough for him, so Young Master, be smart and don’t bother him, old man.

"You sure talk a lot of nonsense," Young Master Dou said disdainfully, took the brush and ink, and began writing a letter to Chief Ruan.

Dou Zhi noticed and his face turned green, unable to stop himself from saying to Young Master Dou, "Young Master, are you alright?"

Haven’t gone mad, have you?

You’re actually asking Chief Ruan to find a Hanxue Treasure Horse, hahaha, Dou Zhi nearly burst out laughing!

Young Master, what kind of brain do you have? Do you know how rare a Hanxue Treasure Horse is? Besides, such tribute items aren’t something merchant families can possess.

Not to mention the Imperial Merchant Dou Family, even the descendants of dukes and marquises find it difficult to obtain Hanxue Treasure Horses—they are always tributes to the Emperor.

Even the Emperor personally doesn’t ride Hanxue Treasure Horses but keeps them, awarding them to military generals with impressive merits as a sign of honor.

Young Master Dou’s face turned cold as he looked at Dou Zhi and said, "I know the Hanxue Treasure Horse is hard to find, and it’s nearly impossible to obtain, but maybe we’ll find one. Let’s look first, and if we can’t find it, we’ll move on."

How can the Young Marquis ride a regular horse? Only a Hanxue Treasure Horse is fit for the Young Marquis. "Take it, let someone send it to Uncle Ruan."

With no choice, Dou Zhi accepted the letter, "Yes."

Send it, then. You’re not likely to find one anyway, and if by chance you do find a Hanxue Treasure Horse, and the Emperor finds out, he would probably issue an order for the Dou Family to offer it to the court.

After hearing this, Young Master Dou nodded, drank two cups of tea to quench his thirst, and began preparing for the task of raising Silver.

...

"With the Ouyang Family’s help, this matter should be foolproof." Qin San Lang nodded after hearing Gu Jin’an and Gu Jinli’s words, sighing with relief, "As long as the farmers can borrow Silver to pay taxes, He’an Prefecture will be stable, and everyone will be safer."

Although he spoke to both of them, Qin San Lang’s eyes were on Gu Jinli.

Gu Jin’an felt he was extra, but since they hadn’t reached home yet, he couldn’t just jump off the cart and leave them alone in the mule cart—how would that look?

"I’m back now, and I’ll be overseeing things at home, so no need to worry." Gu Jin’an asked again, "What have you been doing lately? Why are you back tonight? When will you leave?"

Gu Jinli: "..."

Big brother, why are you stealing my lines? I was planning to say that to Brother Qin.

Gu Jinli was staring at Qin San Lang, feeling sulky.

Seeing this, Qin San Lang chuckled, raised his hand to gently stroke her hair, and answered Gu Jin’an’s questions, "It’s all official business. I’m returning tonight to inform you that the next period will be chaotic. Try to remain in the village and avoid going out. If the village gets surrounded, don’t worry, Si’an and others will be lying in wait outside the village. If anyone surrounds the village, they’ll come out to resolve it and send people to inform me. I’ll surely come back to save you."

"Chaotic?" Gu Jin’an frowned and asked, "Even after the Ouyang Family sets up the bank and lends Silver to farmers to pay taxes, it will still be chaotic?"

Qin San Lang nodded, "Yes, a Prefecture garrison commander in Central State had some trouble at home and acted recklessly out of anger, then got caught. But a few days before the execution, he escaped."

"The garrison commander defected!" Gu Jinli was shocked, "Is that what you’ve been busy with lately?"

Qin San Lang nodded, "Yes, it’s quite serious, and the Jianghuai Commandery has ordered General Guo to deploy personnel to block the possibility of General Xie leading remnants here to cause chaos."

He’an Prefecture is quite large, and the garrison army in the camp can’t possibly guard the entire He’an Prefecture, so it’s necessary to transfer personnel from the County Military Office.

He is General Guo’s trusted person, summoned immediately after receiving the secret order from the Jianghuai Commandery to the garrison.

This return was due to County Magistrate Zheng personally going to the Prefecture garrison camp to call for people.

Upon learning about the tax increment, County Magistrate Zheng immediately went to the Prefecture to ask Magistrate Gu, hoping for him to submit an appeal to the Emperor to reduce taxes, but ended up being scolded by Magistrate Gu.

Understanding the irreversibility of the matter, he set out to seek help from the Jiangnan Zheng Family, requested a hundred Protectors, and went to the Prefecture garrison to retrieve him, so he could return to the county government and hold the fort.

Gu Jinli listened and frowned, eyes filled with worry.

She clearly knew that Qin San Lang was least willing to suppress the people and even more unwilling to confront General Xie, yet he had no choice but to do so now.

"Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ll make sure the balance is kept, providing others a chance to live without implicating myself." Qin San Lang grew up in the Marquis Mansion, learning martial arts, military tactics, and strategic planning, knowing how to handle such dilemmas.

Gu Jinli felt a lot more relieved, looking at him and said, "Hang in there for a few days. We’ll speed up the process to allow the farmers to borrow Silver and pay taxes early, so you won’t be too hard-pressed."

Hearing this, Qin San Lang felt a warmth in his heart, the feeling of being cherished by his wife was truly wonderful.

But...

"Xiao Yu, don’t worry too much, I’m fine, I can handle it." Although he enjoyed being pampered by his wife, he wanted even more to pamper her.

Inwardly, Gu Jin’an rolled his eyes. You two are enough! Do you even acknowledge my presence here? Can you save your sweet talk for when you’re alone?

"What’s exactly going on with General Xie? Surely he won’t flee to Jianghuai, right? If he escapes, the Northwest is chaotic enough for him to develop." Gu Jin’an continued discussing General Xie.

Qin San Lang nodded and glanced at Gu Jinli, saying, "So Xiao Yu doesn’t need to worry; the chance of General Xie coming to our He’an Prefecture is not high."

But General Xie’s matter will become a trigger for the chaos... This tax increase, even the soldiers’ families couldn’t escape the burden. Just the Kangrong tax alone requires one tael of Silver per person, and several garrison camps have halved the military salary to distribute—where is there Silver left to help the soldiers’ families pay taxes?

If the taxes are not paid, soldiers’ families will have no way to survive, so what actions will see soldiers take for their families, Qin San Lang could already foresee.

General Xie’s precedent is right before their eyes; soldiers seem to have a model to follow.

Such things happened in the former dynasty, and he really couldn’t understand why the Emperor would do this. Does he want to hurry up his demise as if he were reckless?

Suddenly, Qin San Lang recalled a secret concerning Emperor Jingyuan... When he was young, Emperor Jingyuan was hungry for success, wanting military achievements to fight for the throne, so he led troops into the depths of Da Rong and was captured in the end, seemingly suffering great torment, leading to a major change in his demeanor.