In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

These words caused an uproar in the room.

Can one peck of rice be exchanged for two pounds of salt?

This is an unprecedented price in Yanjing County!

You should know that normally those powerful families control the price of salt, and ordinary people have to spend a lot of money to get a good taste of salt.

The new magistrate is now directly exchanging intercepted smuggled salt for grain, and at such a fair price!

Among the crowd, several small grain merchants and pharmacy owners, who were usually suppressed by powerful figures, exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming with barely suppressed excitement.

"Your Honor!" A man dressed in coarse cloth and shorts mustered his courage and squeezed through the crowd. "You...you mean what you say? You really intend to exchange this good salt for rice?"

"I am a high-ranking official of the imperial court, and my word is law!" Yang Xuan drew his sword from the ground. "Those with rice and medicine can go to the backyard now to weigh them and exchange them for salt. Anyone who dares to obstruct you on the road will meet their end with this sword!"

The man gritted his teeth and stomped his foot: "Let's do it! We're going to go broke anyway. If the county magistrate isn't afraid of death, what are we afraid of? I have half a cart of coarse rice at home, I'll bring it to the county government right now!"

"I have excellent wound medicine in my pharmacy, I'll go get some too!"

"I have firewood at home, I'll go get some right now!"

With the first person taking the lead, the previously silent crowd instantly erupted into a frenzy.

Those low-level merchants and common people who had long harbored resentment towards the Tian and Hu families seemed to have found their backbone at this moment, and they all rushed home to move supplies.

Within half an hour, a long queue formed in front of the county government office.

Bags of grain and bundles of medicinal herbs were delivered to the county government office, and in return, bags of snow-white official salt were exchanged for them.

Hearing the commotion outside, Cui Shen and Han Jitong ran out to see what was happening, and both of them were so excited that their eyes welled up with tears.

"It's alive! This seemingly hopeless game has been miraculously brought back to life by you, my lord!" Cui Shen's voice trembled.

Looking at the young county magistrate standing upright on the stone steps, Han Jitong's doubts completely vanished.

He knew that from this moment on, half of the people's hearts in Yanjing County had already fallen into the pocket of this new county magistrate.

Sunlight streamed down the streets of Yanjing County, illuminating the long-lost smiles on the faces of the people who had just received government-issued salt.

Standing on the high stone steps, Yang Xuan looked at all of this, and his nerves, which had been tense all night, finally relaxed a little.

He knew that he had completely thwarted the Tian and Hu families' predicament of running out of food.

He not only intercepted Mo San, the smuggler, and obtained irrefutable evidence of the smuggling of government salt, but also used this salt to exchange for the supplies needed for the county government to survive, as well as the most precious public support.

This battle marked the first time he truly established his authority since arriving in Yaozhou.

In the distant Tian family mansion, upon hearing the news, Tian Boyong smashed his most beloved teacup in anger, his face turning ashen.

"What a brilliant move by Yang Xuan... what a desperate act of burning one's boats..."

But it was all too late.

Yang Xuan has driven an irremovable steel nail into the iron plate that is Yanjing County.

......

The noise in the front courtyard of the county government office continued until the afternoon before gradually subsiding.

The grain and firewood piled up in the corner were overflowing, and the warehouse was crammed with all kinds of emergency medicines and cloth.

The smuggled salt that was brought back was used to exchange for goods at a fair price, and the rest was carefully sealed and stored in the county government's treasury by Cui Shenyan.

This is the first time since the county government was established that its granaries have been truly "full".

Inside the inner room behind the main hall, a strong smell of medicine and blood mingled together, making one's heart ache just smelling it.

Yang Xuan lay face down on the couch, his face deathly pale, his forehead covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.

The dark robe was soaked in blood and stiffened, clinging tightly to his back. When it was taken off, it was almost torn off along with the skin and flesh.

"Bear with it."

Princess Yanhe sat on the edge of the couch, holding a wrung-out hot towel in her hand. Although she tried her best to keep her voice calm, her slightly trembling fingers betrayed her true feelings.

When Yang Xuan finished overseeing the salt exchange from horseback and returned to the inner quarters, he felt as if all his strength had been drained, and he fell straight off the horse.

If Pei Zhao hadn't caught him with quick reflexes, he would have been seriously injured from the fall.

"It's alright..."

Yang Xuan gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words, then forced a smile, "This injury is worth it compared to what I snatched back last night."

Yanhe didn't reply, but carefully cleaned the cracked wounds on his back with warm water.

The rotting flesh that had begun to scab over became a bloody mess again due to the fierce fighting at night and the jolting on horseback.

She carefully applied the newly acquired, high-quality wound medicine to the wound, and with each application, she could feel Yang Xuan's body instinctively tense up.

"You're crazy," Yanhe said in a low voice, her tone carrying a hint of reproach, yet also a trace of admiration that she herself didn't realize.

"Thirty strokes of the cane would leave most people unable to even get out of bed. Not only did you dare to lead men to rob people in the middle of the night, but you also dared to make things so out of control in front of the entire city."

Yang Xuan turned his face to the side, looking at Yan He's slightly tired but still beautiful face, his eyes becoming deep.

"If we don't go all out this time, we'll just be useless officials in Yanjing County, waiting to starve to death and being sidelined. The Tian and Hu families want my life, so I have to use even more ruthless and decisive methods to break their teeth."

He took a deep breath, and although his voice was weak, it conveyed an undeniable firmness.

"Yanhe, you did an excellent job last night in dealing with Dong Liu and stabilizing the rear. If it weren't for you holding the line for me, I wouldn't have been able to fight with peace of mind on the front lines."

Upon hearing this praise, Yanhe's hand paused slightly.

Born into the imperial family, she had heard countless flatteries, but in this dilapidated border county government office, facing a man whose back was covered in blood and flesh, yet who had just established his official authority in front of the entire town, the simple phrase "Well done" gave her an unprecedented sense of peace.

This is not dependence.

This is standing side by side.

"You should rest first." Yanhe covered him with a light blanket.

"Cui Shen and Pei Zhao are keeping an eye on things in the front yard. Mo San and Liu Shenxing have been separated and imprisoned, and Uncle Wen has assigned the most reliable people to guard them, so there will be no more problems."

Yang Xuan closed his eyes, nodded, and fell into a deep sleep.

……

The atmosphere in the front yard was equally lively and tense at this moment.

Cui Shen and Han Jitong were sitting behind their desks, quickly checking today's accounts.

"Fifty bushels of brown rice, thirty bushels of fine flour, two hundred catties of charcoal, and forty packets of various wound medicines and herbs..."

Cui Shen looked at the numbers on the paper and excitedly slapped his thigh.

"Old Han, with these things, our county government won't have to put up with anyone's attitude for at least two months!"

Han Jitong was also beaming. When he used to work in the county government, when had he ever seen the government office so grand?

"That's only secondary."

Han Jitong lowered his voice and pointed outside.

"Most importantly, what you did today, sir, completely humiliated the Tian and Hu families. Didn't you see those merchants who came to exchange salt today? Although they were all afraid, their eyes shone with satisfaction. You're winning people's hearts, sir!"