My lord, spare his life!

One of them couldn't help but rub his hands together, barely suppressing his excitement: "If we had warhorses, we could get the food and cloth we need from Xixian and Fa County. Fa County has plenty of fertile land and is definitely not short of food!"

Dongxian and Xixian are separated by the Fangjiang River.

Xi'an is near the county of Fa, which is adjacent to the Youyuan Mountains.

On the surface, Fa County is affiliated with Xi'an and relies on the other party's military aid to establish itself, but it also has many secret transactions with Dongxian.

If we show sufficient sincerity and have Wang Ba intervene, we can definitely secure cooperation. Furthermore, Dong-Ham's efforts in managing the Fang River over the past few months have not only benefited Dong-Ham, but also the Pha County, located downstream of the Fang River, which will certainly show respect.

"Of course, I can still afford to part with these warhorses."

The people from Dongxian exchanged glances in secret.

He asked cautiously, "Could we draw up a contract?"

Words alone are not enough; they have no real idea of ​​what's going on.

Zhang Yang wouldn't be led by the nose; she was an NPC, not a sucker: "The contract is to protect the interests of both parties and is the foundation of trust, so naturally I have no reason not to agree. Hongtu should understand this simple principle best."

Wang Ba is shrewd; how could he not understand Zhang Yang's implied meaning?

He was very perceptive and cupped his hands in a smile, saying, "Lord Boyuan, please rest assured. Once the contract is signed, you will receive a deposit and the Dongxian County seal will be transferred. From then on, you are free to travel within the county's borders and can inquire about and decide on any matters, large or small. You will be the Prefect of Dongxian County. All officials and clerks in the county and townships will be notified in advance. Lord Boyuan can inquire about any area he wishes, and no one will dare to interfere."

This was also Wang Ba's promise to Zhang Yang.

"Hook and scepter?"

"The Dongxian forces are not limited to just Dongxian County."

Wang Ba's power was based in Dongxian, and Gouqian County, which was next to Dongxian County, also fell within Wang Ba's sphere of influence. Although Gouqian County was not large in area, it had an extremely important strategic position.

As he spoke, Wang Ba straightened his back even more and tried to promote his son: "The Gouqian was acquired by my son Gongsun. Taking over the Gouqian was also to compete with Xixian for control of Fangjiang. With the Gouqian, we can use Fangjiang to threaten the security of Xixian."

Zhang Yang: "Sail down the Fangjiang River and launch a surprise attack on Xi'an and Xianyang?"

Wang Ba is a complete thug.

He said, "No, it's purely a trap upstream. They can build dams over there to block the water flow, either to kill the people, livestock, and farmland of Xixian with thirst, or to flood them and drown them. If they are flooded for seven or eight days, Xixian will have no choice but to obey."

He used this tactic to threaten west Xian from a distance.

Unwittingly, Wang Ba revealed his true intentions, exposing his true colors. He hurriedly added, "It's not a real flood, just a verbal threat. I'm telling Xi'an that I'm preparing to reduce the upstream water flow during the spring planting season, which would put Xi'an and Fa County at risk of a poor harvest. I'm taking advantage of their misfortune to make them hand over some money for water."

This is also one of the sources of revenue for Dongxian.

Zhang Yang: "..."

At first glance, it sounds like a local thug who monopolizes water resources and extorts protection money.

Wang Ba scratched his face: "Besides the complete Dongxian and Gouqian, I also control a part of the mountainous land belonging to officials and soldiers. However, those places are too remote and sparsely populated, and apart from some medicinal herbs and firewood, there are no other special products."

It would be a stretch to say that Dong-Ham controlled it.

Wang Ba specifically mentioned this sentence, naturally in order to "raise the price".

Regardless of Dongxian's actual control over these two territories, they nominally belonged to Wang Ba. If Zhang Yang wanted to take them, he would naturally have to pay for them; even a small amount is still something. However, Wang Ba miscalculated; Zhang Yang hadn't even considered this possibility.

From an astrological perspective, the official belongs to the Fang constellation, and the soldier belongs to the Xin constellation, both of which belong to the Azure Dragon of the East.

Geographically speaking, Congguan originally belonged to Fangzhou of the Qinglong Kingdom, and Jizu originally belonged to Xinzhou of the Qinglong Kingdom. Even though the two territories occupied by Wang Ba did not involve the heartland of these two places, but were only on the periphery of Congguan and Jizu, Wang Ba, as a local warlord, was able to remain unscathed for many years after doing this. This shows that both the Qinglong Kingdom and the vassal states it enfeoffed existed in name only, and the control of the royal court over the localities was almost non-existent.

It's also possible that the royal court was destroyed long ago.

Zhang Yang couldn't help but fall into serious thought.

An attempt to analyze the data failed.

Wang Qi rolled his eyes: "Always good at patting himself on the back."

Wang Ba: "..."

"This is truly a case of 'a grown son is no longer kept at home,'" Wang Ba tried to argue. "How can you say it's just gilding the lily? Doesn't that area near the border produce good medicinal herbs? Doesn't that area near Jizu have a lot of hardwood? That's good timber for making charcoal."

Wang Qi: "Then can you send people to cut down trees and collect herbs whenever you want?"

Wang Ba: "..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang realized that Dong Xian's control over these two regions was weaker than he had imagined, and it was highly likely that she only held the title while the actual control lay with someone else. However, Zhang Yang didn't feel regretful. Once Dong Xian joined, her power expanded too rapidly. Although it seemed like a large territory, in reality, her control over the various places was further diluted, which was actually a hidden danger.

We were short of men after conquering the mountain prefectures, and now we are even more short of them.

To ensure the smooth operation of the local government, she was short-staffed and had no choice but to continue using Dong Xian's existing team. Could these people effectively carry out her orders? Or would they outwardly comply but inwardly resist?

All of this is beyond our control.

Dongxian nominally submitted to her, and she even received the county seal, but actual control remained in Wang Ba's hands. Thinking of this, Zhang Yang felt increasingly that her mind was filled with countless rusty gears, each turn incredibly difficult and sluggish. She suddenly had an urge to cut open her brain, pour in a large basin of lubricating oil, and disassemble the gears to remove the rust.

Zhang Yang's eyelids drooped listlessly, and he began to drift off into thought.

But her youthful and innocent face was too deceptive; Wang Ba and the others assumed she was still seriously weighing the pros and cons. The more silent she remained, the more Wang Ba couldn't help but overthink. He'd managed to stay in Dongxian for so many years; he must have some skills. He was naturally aware of Zhang Yang's concerns. However, this wasn't something he could completely reassure Zhang Yang with mere assurances.

Trust also needs to be built through mutual testing.

Only time will reveal true feelings.

Wang Qi said casually, "Don't worry."

When Zhang Yang came to her senses, everyone had already dispersed, and she held one of the contracts in her hand. She blinked slowly, recalling all the memories from not long ago. She looked at Wang Qi: "Squat down."

Wang Qi was about the same height as Guan Si.

Zhang Yang now sees both of them as equally difficult.

Wang Qi muttered something to himself as he reluctantly knelt down, bending his back. Even so, he was still much taller than Zhang Yang, who was sitting at the moment, but fortunately, making eye contact wasn't difficult. Wang Qi said, "The old man won't have any other children in his life. Apart from those few who were sent away to other places through marriage, I'm the only one left. As your hostage, I'm more useful than any other leverage."

Zhang Yang rarely saw Wang Qi so serious and composed.

Wang Qi thought she didn't believe him and said, "If you're worried, I'll find some time to kill all those people and their children, so that the old man's only bloodline left in the world is me."

Zhang Yang: "...There's no need for that."

Those guys were really unlucky to have Wang Qi as their brother.

Where are they still chasing and killing people?

Wang Qi: "What is that mountain spirit worried about?"

Zhang Yang said, "I worry that the people of Dongxian will outwardly comply but inwardly defy me. They may appear to submit, but secretly continue to do as they please. That won't do."

"Kill one if you find one, kill two if you find two. Disobedient dogs deserve to die, and disobedient people shouldn't live either. What's there to worry about?" Wang Qi thought Zhang Yang was worried about something else, but it turned out to be such a trivial matter.

Zhang Yang raised an eyelid and said, "But I can't go and kill him."

Shu Yan said that this would create a moral burden and damage his reputation.

Wang Qi sneered: "Then who am I to you?"

She raised her small hand and placed her palm on Wang Qi's head. After thinking for a moment, she said, "You can use my knife to kill him."

Wang Qi felt a sudden tingling sensation in his heart.

It was clearly a blunt and casual order, yet it made Wang Qi somewhat indignant. He habitually half-closed his eyes, but said, "It's clearly a thankless and unpleasant task, yet they won't even say a kind word. Mountain Spirit, this won't do."

Zhang Yang pondered for a few moments.

She pulled a golden whip from her game inventory: "I understand."

Wang Qi: "..."

Wang Ba's expression turned strange when he heard that his son had been whipped.

He had a question: "Couldn't you dodge that whip?"

Seeing Wang Qi's expression, he knew he had asked in vain, so he asked a second question: "Neither your mother nor I have this strange habit."

A light lash is fun, but a brutal lash is not.

Wang Qi was furious, his murderous intent radiating outwards: "Keep your own people in check, and make sure they don't fall into my hands."

Wang Badao said, "Look at you, you're in such a hurry again."

Although Ge Zhou didn't have a particular fondness for being beaten, she could tell that Wang Qi probably genuinely wanted to hear a kind word this time, not a beating. Zhang Yang, perched on her shoulders, watched the chaotic scene of father and son fighting and chickens flying everywhere: "Oh, I know that."

Zhang Yang was able to tell whether Wang Qi wanted the whip or something else.

I couldn't do it before, but I got the hang of it after a while.

Why is it still the whip this time?

Because Zhang Yang currently appears to be only eight or nine years old, and Wang Qi's attitude towards her despite her appearance is clearly showing signs of perversion, perhaps even harboring the potential for a lolicon as described in the observation sample. Zhang Yang is merely using the guise of a reward to warn Wang Qi.

You can't be a pervert!

Zhang Yang discovered that the advantages of being a child were not only that Wang Ba and others spoke in high-pitched voices, but even Fan You's attitude became much gentler.

Specifically, the assigned homework is much simpler.

Zhang Yang said that her hands had become smaller and it was difficult for her to hold a pen. Fan You even took the initiative to reduce the amount of homework. When Fan You saw that Zhang Yang was really unable to learn and was daydreaming, he would not put on a stern face.

Zhang Yang: "..."

She has evidence that Fan You has the same problem as Wang Qi.

Perhaps it was Zhang Yang's undisguised gaze that made Fan You notice something amiss: "...My lord, please don't overthink it. That look doesn't seem like he's looking at his officials; it's more like he's looking at a criminal who hasn't been caught yet."

"Then do you know what you're looking at me like you're looking at someone?"

Zhang Yang's direct question relieved Fan You: "Looking at my lord's expression, I couldn't help but wonder if the young lord would be the same if my lord had children. Thinking this, I couldn't help but 'show mercy,' but it turns out my lord didn't need to."

Following that, Fan You restored the workload to normal.

Zhang Yang: "No!"

No matter how much we tried to stop them, there was still too much homework.

Because of the march, Fan You's homework lately consisted of memorization. One after another, the texts were obscure, difficult to understand, and incredibly long. Just reading them aloud was a struggle, let alone memorizing them completely. Even if one could memorize them, one couldn't remember what they were about.

After memorizing a few passages, Zhang Yang's eyelids felt as heavy as if they were filled with molten lead. He fell asleep immediately; these methods were more effective than any anesthetic used in the military.

After the contract was signed, Zhang Yang still appointed Wang Ba as the governor of Dongxian Commandery.

The position of Prefect of Gouqian Commandery was nominally held by Wang Qi.

The other two areas are temporarily under the jurisdiction of Gouqian.

Wang Qi selected two men from his personal subordinates to serve in Gouqian Commandery. Even if they were unfamiliar with the commandery's affairs, it wouldn't matter; they just needed to oversee the existing staff. Zhang Yang's move was intended to limit Dongxian Commandery and sow discord between Wang Ba and his son. Wang Ba and his men were aware of this, but to demonstrate their sincerity, they had no objections to Zhang Yang's arrangement.

After all, Zhang Yang had already paid a deposit.

Faced with such a huge sum of money, anyone would be forgiving.

With peace and stable income and output in both Dongxian and Gouqian, Zhang Yang only needed to develop people's livelihoods on the existing basis. However, Zhang Yang could not always subsidize these areas out of his own pocket; he still needed to find ways to increase income and provide more income opportunities for his children in both places.

Zhang Yang couldn't help but think of the two places Wang Ba had mentioned.

Why does Dongham have such weak control over this area?

Wang Qi: "There are experts in those two places."

"Experts? You've fought them before?"

Wang Qi was reluctant to bring up the matter because he hadn't won—although his opponent hadn't won either, it was still a loss for Wang Qi: "When the Azure Dragon Kingdom was at its peak, it enfeoffed two kings of different surnames. Unfortunately, times changed, and their descendants were incompetent and failed to retain their territories. Their fiefdoms shrank repeatedly, and in the end, they were taken away by the Star Beasts."

This is all the information Wang Qi knows.

Not all of them are necessarily true.

However, one thing is certain.

"The leader of the faction next to Jizu is a Star Beast," Wang Qi added calmly before Zhang Yang's eyes lit up. "Star Beasts that can transform into humans can't be raised, and you wouldn't be able to tame them anyway. I've fought that guy before and suffered a great loss; you won't get away with it either."

Zhang Yang's interest grew even stronger.

"A humanoid star beast? What kind of star beast is that?"

"It's Night Owl. Zhang Daji's mother used to live there. She was ambushed while giving birth, and she only had time to entrust Zhang Daji's bird eggs to the old man. The old man then gave the bird eggs to me as a birthday gift." Wang Qi knew about this and led Zhang Daji, who was then called Thunder, to attack the old man's house, but they failed to get revenge. "That broken bird alone was easy to deal with, but there was a village there, inhabited by star beasts or half-beasts with relatively pure bloodlines."

Once you're ganged up on, there's no way to escape.

Zhang Yang: "A village? All inhabited by star beasts?"

Wang Qi said, "It was the old man who told me. He heard it from Zhang Daji's mother. According to the old man, Zhang Daji's mother was the heir from that village. She was accidentally injured and was saved by my mother. That's how our two families became connected."

Zhang Yang: "In that case, as Zhang Daji's owner, don't I have ample reason to lead Zhang Daji back to fight?"

Wang Qi: "You have to wait until Zhang Daji transforms into a human at least."

Otherwise, the village wouldn't recognize it.

Zhang Yang said, "No rush, I have patience... Wait, isn't it said that star beasts require a lot of energy to feed? A group of star beasts and half-beasts living there, won't there be resource conflicts? Self-sufficiency is obviously not possible, there must be communication with the outside world, right?"

How do you support yourself?

? ?|??w?`)

It's started raining outside, but it's still a light rain.