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

"Sir..." A young carpenter's eyes reddened, and he suddenly knelt on the ground. "I...I'm willing to work for you, sir!"

"I'd like to too!"

Count me in!

More and more craftsmen knelt down.

Although they didn't speak, their rough hands were clenched into fists.

Looking at the scene before him, Old Huang's one cloudy eye finally couldn't help but moisten.

He had lived most of his life, witnessed the fickleness of human nature, and seen through the wickedness of people's hearts.

But he had never seen an official dare to speak so frankly to them, these lowly people.

"Good! What a fine 'If I get a bite of meat, you won't even get a drop of soup' attitude!"

Old Huang suddenly stood up, grabbed the wine jar on the table, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp.

"Cough cough cough..." Old Huang coughed violently, choked by the strong liquor, but he laughed with unparalleled gusto. "That feels good! That's fucking good!"

He put down the wine jar and looked at Yang Xuan.

"Sir, since you treat us as brothers, I can't keep things from you anymore."

Old Huang walked to the corner of the wall and pulled out a small cloth bag wrapped in layers of oilcloth from under a pile of broken wood.

He carefully unwrapped the oilcloth, revealing an old, yellowed, and somewhat tattered account book, as well as a parchment drawing covered with dense lines.

"This is..." Cui Shen leaned forward, his eyes immediately lighting up.

"This is the true story of Qing'ao Well." Old Huang solemnly handed the account books and drawings to Yang Xuan.

"This map shows the direction of all the brine veins at the bottom of Qing'ao Well. Back then, Tian Boyong forced me to hand over the map in order to seize this old well. I refused, even at the cost of losing an eye. With this map, we can find the brine veins with the largest brine output and the highest purity, instead of digging wells randomly like a blind man."

Old Huang pointed to the old account book again.

"This ledger is a record I secretly kept of the actual consumption of Qing'ao Well back then. It clearly records how much salt can be produced from one load of brine, how much firewood and charcoal is needed, and how much labor is lost."

Old Huang gave a cold laugh.

"The Tian and Hu families have been falsifying accounts for the past few years, exaggerating their losses and embezzling large quantities of government salt. With this ledger, Your Honor, you can clearly calculate just how much money they've embezzled from the imperial court!"

Yang Xuan held the two items tightly, feeling their weight in his hands.

This is not just a technical drawing and an account book, but also the culmination of Old Huang's decades of hard work and his complete trust in the county government and Yang Xuan!

"Thank you, Old Huang!" Yang Xuan bowed deeply to Old Huang.

"My lord, you flatter this old man." Old Huang quickly stepped aside. "My lord, I've already led a team to build a prototype of the new equipment shown on the blueprints. In just three more days, it will be fully completed. Then, we can go to Qing'ao Well and show those bastards from the Tian family what real well-drilling skills are!"

"Good!" Yang Xuan's eyes gleamed brightly. "Three days from now, I will personally take you to Qing'ao Well!"

……

Late at night, in the county government office study.

By candlelight, Cui Shen carefully checked the loss account book handed over by Old Huang. The more he calculated, the more his hands trembled.

"My lord..." Cui Shen put down the abacus, gasped, and his voice trembled, "I've figured it out."

"How much?" Yang Xuan asked calmly, sitting upright behind his desk.

"Based on Old Master Huang's loss account, and combined with the register we previously seized from Qing'ao Well, the true potential output of Yaozhou Salt Wells is at least five times what the Tian family has reported!"

Five times?!

Pei Zhao and Han Jitong, who were standing to the side, exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

Yang Xuan's pupils also contracted sharply.

Although he had guessed that the Tian family was greedy, he never imagined they would be so outrageous.

Five times the output!

If all of it were converted into cash, it would be a terrifying fortune enough to cause a huge upheaval in Jiannan Road.

This is no longer an amount that a local tycoon in a remote county could swallow up.

"No wonder..." Yang Xuan muttered to himself, his eyes becoming more serious than ever before. "No wonder the military token of the Zhechong Prefecture appeared outside the county government's warehouse. No wonder Tian Boyong dared to openly intercept and kill the county government's guards."

Yaozhou is by no means some poor, remote, and rotten county.

This is a huge treasure trove, flowing with gold and silver, shrouded in layers of darkness!

"My lord," Cui Shen swallowed hard, "if this matter gets out, the entire Jiannan Circuit will collapse. Do we...do we really want to continue investigating?"

Yang Xuan did not answer immediately.

He stood up, walked to the window of the study, and pushed open the window.

Outside the window, Yaozhou City was shrouded in a deathly silence and darkness.

But in the depths of that darkness, it seemed as if countless greedy and cruel eyes were hidden, staring intently at this small county government office.

"check."

Yang Xuan's voice was like a blade cutting through solid ice.

"Not only will I investigate, but I will also ensure that I keep every single penny of that fivefold increase in output!"

"Tian Boyong wants to scare me off with bandits and the military? Then I'll use this enormous wealth to build an impregnable stronghold for Yang Xuan in Yaozhou!"

......

While Yang Xuan was conducting his investigation in the front hall with great enthusiasm, the back residence of the county government office had also been quite lively these past few days.

Ever since Yang Xuan received the 3,500 strings of cash, the entire county government office has sprung up like a parched tree receiving rain after a long drought.

Cui Shen was busy sorting out accounts and secretly settling down Old Huang's group of craftsmen.

Pei Zhao then trained the forty "wild dogs" in the training ground until they howled like ghosts every day.

As people and supplies continued to pour in, this inner courtyard transformed into a new battlefield where no gunpowder could be seen.

The injured guards needed to take medicine and rest, the newly recruited servants and craftsmen needed three meals a day, and even the dozen or so newly added warhorses in the stables needed special people to take care of their fodder.

Not to mention the mountains of rice, flour, cloth, and medicinal herbs, every single transaction had to be counted.

If the front yard is the knife in Yang Xuan's hand, then the back house is the scabbard that supports the knife's swing.

Even the sharpest sword will hurt itself if the scabbard is rotten.

Early morning, in the flower hall of the back residence.

Princess Yanhe sat upright in the main seat, wearing a moon-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), her hair neatly combed.

Although she wasn't wearing any fancy jewelry, the noble air emanating from her very being made the dozen or so old women and maids standing in the hall not dare to even breathe loudly.

Half of these people were former employees of the county government, while the other half were new recruits that Cui Shen had recently hired from the city using money from the operating account to help with miscellaneous tasks.

In the open space in front of them were three large wooden crates.

One container held loose silver and copper coins, another held newly cut fabric, and the third held a dozen or so rulers as thick as a baby's arm.

Using both kindness and severity, this was a tactic that Yanhe had witnessed growing up among the imperial clan in Chang'an.

"Uncle Wen." Yanhe parted her lips slightly, her voice not loud, but clear and strong.

"This old servant is here." Uncle Wen, leaning on his cane, stepped forward respectfully.

"Read the roster once. Those whose names are called, step forward."

"Yes."

Uncle Wen opened a thin booklet and began taking attendance.