"Lord Hong's team is a hundred miles away, and it is fighting fiercely with the thieves, if you want to retreat, it will take a lot of time, I only have so many soldiers under my command, and I have to protect the safety of the princes in the city, the grange outside the city, the prince, you still have to ask for more blessings." Yang Guohua also came to the fire, although the acting king as a vassal king is noble but does not have much real power, the most important thing is that the amount of silver owned by the acting king is really eye-catching, every year the emperor will give a large number of rewards to the vassal kings everywhere, and at the same time give a large amount of land, plus the vassal king uses his power to take advantage of the robbery, each vassal king has accumulated a lot of wealth for hundreds of years. In recent years, disasters have occurred frequently, the harvest in various places has plummeted, and the army has been in arrears for many days, which has directly affected the income of officials in the army. At this time, let them lead the troops to fight, and it is absolutely impossible to do without silver.

"This? I will give you five thousand taels of silver, and you will reward those soldiers, and you must keep my property outside the city. The acting king endured the pain in his flesh and made a lot of determination to say.

"Five thousand taels, this little money doesn't play a big role at all, and the consumption of soldiers and horses is very huge. Without 100,000 taels of silver, the army would not be able to open Taiyuan City at all. Yang Guohua's nose was almost crooked when he heard the number of the acting king, with the net worth of the acting king, he was still so stingy at this moment when it was related to the survival of Taiyuan City.

"10,000 taels can't be more, and you can go to other county kings and gentry for the rest." The king's heart was bleeding, and he wanted to give his money to these untouchables.

"Okay, I'll do my best to strengthen the defense of Taiyuan City. Please also ask the prince to support him strongly. Yang Guohua knew that he couldn't squeeze more oil and water from the acting king. I thought that as long as these stupid and money-greedy princes didn't come out to make trouble, it would already be very good.

After bidding farewell to the acting king, and giving the housekeeper a red envelope of 500 taels, Yang Guohua got the 10,000 taels of silver promised by the acting king.

In the next few days, Yang Guohua was busy, first visited the Jin Palace, and then visited the various county kings in Taiyuan City one by one, Yang Guohua tried his best, coercion and temptation finally pulled out tens of thousands of taels of silver from the hands of these magnates, these magnates all have common characteristics, asking for money and not dying, selfish and stupid.

After cleaning up the powerful, Yang Guohua targeted the wealthy merchants in Taiyuan City. If you don't use the opportunity of this thief invasion to make a little money, then you are not an official of the Ming Dynasty.

The Yamen of the Du Commander was full of anxious Taiyuan merchants, although they were all invited by the Du Commander with a red invitation card, saying that they were going to feast everyone.

But these spirits understand that there is no good wine and no good wine feast. Not once did these officials invite merchants to a banquet that was not for money.

"Welcome, please take your seats." Seeing that it was almost here, Yang Guohua and several big bosses stopped greetings, got up and walked to the upper seat, and greeted everyone loudly.

"The commander makes your lord good!" Everyone responded, although they were unhappy, and they still had to do the superficial work.

"Please sit down, this little wine is a little wine to entertain you, please don't be surprised. The main thing is to take this opportunity to get together with everyone. Everyone should have heard that a group of thieves in the Zhongyang area marched eastward, and had captured several county towns one after another, and soon they would soon be under the city of Taiyuan. You are all the leading figures in Taiyuan City, and you should do your part to defend Taiyuan. Our subordinates have made up their minds to live and die with Taiyuan City. Why is there a shortage of weapons and food, and I ask you to help you. "Yang Guohua didn't have the heart to talk nonsense with these lowly businessmen, and being able to invite them to the mansion to eat and drink has already given them a lot of face.

"That's, that's, we will do our best to help Lord Yang fight the thieves, and I will donate 10,000 taels of silver to supplement your military salary." There are people here who know that as long as these officials open their mouths, they will not be able to pass the test without a little blood.

"I'm willing to give five thousand taels." The other businessmen reported the number according to their strength, hoping that Lord Yang would quickly accept the fixed number, and everyone should only be bitten by a dog.

"The bandits who attacked this time are very powerful, and it is difficult for us to guard the integrity of Taiyuan City with the strength of our officers and soldiers. It is also necessary to recruit a large number of village warriors, which are places that require a lot of money, so the amount of money you donate is still far from enough. Yang Guohua was not satisfied with the merchant's offer. As he spoke, he stared at the merchant who was the first to say the number.

"This, this." The merchant opened his mouth, and the words behind him couldn't be spoken, originally he said 10,000 taels of silver, and he had already made a lot of determination, but he didn't expect Yang Guohua's appetite to be greater, and he was not satisfied with the amount he said.

"This defense battle in Taiyuan not only depends on the official army to fight, but also depends on the concerted efforts of all the people in Taiyuan City to repel the thieves. The war together needs everyone to have money to contribute a strong contribution, when the time comes, I will send soldiers to collect urgently needed materials, some of your property may be temporarily requisitioned due to the needs of the war, and please understand, after this my main energy will be on guarding the city defense, the idle people in the city will take the opportunity to make trouble, and please pay more attention to the bosses. Yang Guohua continued unhurriedly.

The businessmen scolded in their hearts, Yang Guohua, a bastard, didn't even talk about the most basic etiquette, righteousness and shame. If you still want to collect supplies, you just say that you want to rob it, and the idle people take the opportunity to make trouble, and you don't indulge the rebels and disturb the people, thank God. There was no way, and the merchants began to negotiate quietly among themselves, and only then would the commander be satisfied with what price he would increase.

Yang Guohua and the others discussed for a while and said: "This time against the thieves, I will recruit a large number of village warriors, and when someone is needed to lead it, I will ask the Holy Lord to give some official positions to those who contribute the most." Yang Guohua decided to give these businessmen a little sweetness after coercion.

After Yang Guohua's words were finished, there was a buzzing discussion below. In the Ming Dynasty, the status of merchants was very low, and they were often bullied by the powerful and the government, so merchants often trained their children or clansmen to study and participate in the imperial examinations, so that these people could embark on official careers to improve their families' social land. But the road to the imperial examination is not so easy, and only a few can go to high school, so some businessmen also buy themselves an official position. Buying an official can only be bought when the government is selling, and the official position can be counted as a scarce resource at that time. Isn't Yang Guohua saying this implying that he wants to sell some official positions to everyone? Although the status of the military attache is not very high, it is enough to scare the common people.

"I'll give 30,000 taels." The wealthy businessman who was the first to make the bid gritted his teeth and revised his offer. Other businessmen have also increased their pledges.

"Good, good, good. Thank you for your support to the officers and soldiers, and we will live up to the trust and ensure the safety of your lives and property. This time, Yang Guohua was satisfied, and asked the master to start registering the number of donations pledged by everyone.

"Everyone use it slowly, I still have business to do, so I won't accompany you." After speaking, Yang Guohua raised his glass and toasted everyone with a glass of wine, then turned and left. Now that the silver has been obtained, there is no need to mix with these merchants anymore.

When the businessmen saw Yang Guohua leaving, they didn't have the heart to drink again, so they also left and went home to get the silver. (To be continued.) )