On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

hiss……

Lu Dehao gasped.

Two million six hundred thousand catties of grain!

What does this mean?

The five thousand soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion could eat for several years and still not finish!

Add to that the more than 300,000 taels of silver and over 50 cartloads of treasure, and this is simply an unexpected windfall!

"These sons of bitches are rolling in money!" Lu Dehao couldn't help but curse. "The number of beggars in our capital is increasing every day, while they're living the high life in the countryside, their grain is practically going moldy!"

"Who says otherwise!" Fatty Wang exclaimed indignantly. "The local people are starving, skin and bones, and those landlords are all fat and bloated; they simply don't treat the villagers like human beings!"

As Lin Yi listened to their words, his eyes gradually turned cold.

"Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste; on the road, the bones of those frozen to death lie." I had only read this line of poetry in books before.

But now he truly felt the cruelty and irony of it all.

The Great Zhou Dynasty was gradually hollowed out by these parasites who only cared about their own well-being and didn't care about the lives of the people!

With such a court and such a world, why not overthrow it and keep it around for the New Year?

"Has all the grain been transported back?" Lin Yi asked.

"It's back!" the fat man replied. "All 1.6 million catties have been delivered to the Shenji Camp, and the rest are still being transported back. Don't worry, brother, with this batch of grain, we brothers will never go hungry again!"

"Alright." Lin Yi nodded, raised his glass, and said to Fatty Wang and Lu Dehao, "Come, this glass is a toast to our fallen brothers, and also to our good days to come!"

"Respect, Brother!"

"Respectfully, Your Highness!"

Three wine glasses clinked heavily together under the cool moonlight.

Lin Yi then asked, "Has all the land in Ping'an County been distributed?"

"They've all been distributed, as you instructed, to the landless tenants and the poor."

"What was their reaction?"

Fatty Wang put down his pork knuckle, his face flushed with excitement. "Brother, you didn't see that scene! I told them that the Prince said this land would belong to them from now on. As long as they pay 30% rent to the Prince's mansion every year, the rest is all theirs! As soon as I finished speaking, those thousands of villagers all knelt down!"

Fatty Wang spoke with great enthusiasm, spitting as he gestured wildly, as if he had returned to that moment.

"Brother, you didn't see that scene. Thousands of people were kneeling together and crying, kowtowing repeatedly towards the direction of the Prince's Mansion, calling him 'Long live the Prince' and 'A living Buddha descended to earth.' There were even a few old men who said they wanted to build a shrine for you and burn incense and kowtow to you every day, praying that you would live to be a hundred years old."

Lu Dehao, who was listening nearby, was also filled with excitement and couldn't help but interject, "Goodness, hasn't the people's hearts all turned to our side at once?"

"Absolutely!" Fatty Wang slapped his thigh proudly. "These peasants are so honest! Whoever gives them food, they'll follow! Before, those landlords treated them like slaves, charging exorbitant rents, leaving them hungry all year round. Now, brother, you're giving them land and only taking 30% of the rent. How could they not be grateful?"

Lin Yi listened quietly without saying a word.

Since ancient times, the Han Chinese people have been very simple; they simply believed in the principle of "land to the tiller."

Just having enough to eat and being able to survive.

Whoever can meet this most basic requirement of theirs will gain their support.

The principle is simple, but how many people can truly put it into practice?

Those emperors and generals high above all see only intrigue, power struggles, and the interests of powerful families. They don't care at all about the lives of ordinary people.

Just like those landlords in Ping'an County.

They would rather let the grain rot in the warehouse than give it to the disaster victims.

In their eyes, those tenants and villagers were nothing more than talking livestock.

"What's the story with the Liu family you mentioned in your letter?" Lin Yi suddenly asked.

Fatty Wang paused for a moment, then remembered, "Oh, you mean Liu the Skinflint, right? That old bastard is the biggest landlord in Ping'an County. He owns over 1,300 mu of land, more than half of the county's arable land. His rent is also the highest, 85%. The tenants work hard all year, and the harvest isn't even enough to eat; it all goes into his granary!"

"When Fatty led his men there, that old bastard was quite arrogant. Relying on his status as a former scholar, he put on airs and talked about 'sharing the world with scholars and officials,' and even said that Fatty, a mere warrior, had no right to confiscate his property."

As Fatty Wang spoke, a sinister smile appeared on his face.

"Damn it, I was furious! I went up to him and slapped him twice across the face, knocking out his two remaining back molars! Then I told him, 'The world belongs to the Lin family now! Don't think that just because you're a scholar from a previous dynasty, you can be the top scholar in the current dynasty. If you try to act tough in front of me, I'll still kill you!'"

Lu Dehao was incredibly excited, wishing he had been there himself. "And then? Did that old guy back down?"

"How could he not be convinced?" Fatty Wang snorted. "I hung him up in a tree and beat him with a whip and a stick. The old bastard died after only a few lashes. His son was so scared that he wet his pants and confessed everything."

"Brother, let me tell you, that old bastard is a real scoundrel!" Fatty Wang got angrier and angrier as he spoke. "His cellar alone has three large chests full of cash, over two hundred thousand taels! And his twenty-odd concubines, each one adorned with gold and silver, eating the finest delicacies. But his tenants? They don't even have a decent piece of clothing, they're all skin and bones from hunger!"

"What's most infuriating is that he has over thirty children, all born to him and his concubines. Those little bastards, each one plump and fair-skinned, are even more extravagant than their rich father! I had them all arrested and locked up in the Shenji Camp, along with those twenty-odd concubines—not a single one was spared!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi frowned slightly: "The child was arrested too?"

Fatty Wang quickly explained, "Brother, don't misunderstand. I didn't make things difficult for those kids. I just think that Liu the Skinflint is a scoundrel, and his son is definitely no better! Like begets like! These little bastards have been raised in luxury since they were young, and they'll definitely be just like everyone else when they grow up! If we don't teach them a lesson now, they'll definitely bully ordinary people when they grow up."

Lin Yi nodded.

To cut the weeds, you must nip them in the bud. When dealing with such tyrannical landlords, you can't be soft-hearted.

Now that everything has been taken care of, there's no need to worry about it anymore.

Lin Yi gave further instructions on the follow-up matters, such as sending troops to be stationed in Ping'an County.

Firstly, to prevent retaliation from the remnants of the landlord's family; secondly, to keep an eye on the villagers who received the land, preventing them from selling the land again or becoming landlords themselves.

As for the rest, just leave it to Fatty; he'll handle it properly.

The three brothers drank quite a bit more.

With the moon high in the sky, Lu Dehao, his tongue slurred from drinking, blushed and leaned close to Lin Yi: "Big...Big Brother, today is your big day, aren't you going to the bridal chamber to see your wife?"

Hearing this, the fat man perked up, winking and saying, "That's right, brother! A night of passion is worth a thousand pieces of gold! She's the emperor's daughter, she must be as beautiful as a celestial being! It's not very appropriate for you to leave the two of us here drinking, is it?"

Lin Yi glanced at the two of them and said irritably, "Drink your drinks, why all the nonsense?"

To be honest, he wasn't really interested in that princess he'd never met.

In his view, women, especially beautiful women, are often synonymous with trouble.

Luo Qingyu is a perfect example.

Moreover, Nangong Min was sent by the emperor. Who knows what she's up to? She might be a prickly hedgehog or a poisonous rose.

If he really treated her like an ordinary woman, he might fall into her trap one day.

Drinking with my brothers is still the most enjoyable thing.

Seeing that Lin Yi remained unmoved, Lu Dehao's eyes darted around, and he said, "Brother, if you won't go, then I'll go and take a look for you? I can also check the goods while I'm at it, to see if that princess is a virgin, and if there's anything missing..."

"Get the hell out of here!" Lin Yi laughed and cursed as he kicked him.

Lu Dehao nimbly dodged and chuckled.

The fat man, watching from the side, burst into laughter, pointing at Lu Dehao and cursing, "You little brat, you can't say anything nice! That's our sister-in-law, how dare you examine her? If anyone should examine her, it should be me, Fatty!"

"You get out too!"

"Hahahaha." Inside the pavilion, the three people laughed and joked around, creating a relaxed yet lively atmosphere.

In the distant bridal chamber, red candles burned brightly, illuminating the room with a festive yet tranquil atmosphere.

"Alright, that's enough for today." Lin Yi stood up, stretched his limbs, and said to Lin An, who was standing guard beside him, "Old An, arrange for them to stay. I'm going to check on the princess."

"Yes, Your Highness."