Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

"Lord Da Mao!" Da Mao's words were interrupted by Ji Yunshu.

Ji Yunshu looked at Da Mao expressionlessly. Just by looking at Da Mao, she knew what he was going to say next. He just wanted them to stop causing trouble tomorrow and go to work with him!

She didn't want to. She had asked Xie Lin, and what he called "work" was actually just leading a group of people to dig around in this mountain and that mountain, calling it "work." According to her guess, they were probably looking for something.

If I'm not mistaken, they probably used these exiled prisoners' free time to dig at the foot of the mountain to see if there were any coal mines or other minerals.

In ancient times, there were no detection instruments, so the only way to explore coal mines and other minerals was by manpower.

The prisoners who were exiled here were put to good use. She wouldn't do that kind of thing; she could dig for a year or two and still not find a mine.

Mines aren't things you can just discover anytime soon. Some people have been digging for decades and haven't found a single one.

The higher-ups made these exiled prisoners do this kind of work; they must have nothing better to do!

Da Mao was clearly displeased that Ji Yunshu had interrupted him. Ji Yunshu noticed this and, without giving Da Mao another chance to speak, walked up to him and whispered:

"Your Excellency should think carefully: do you want us to work here, or do you want us to fish here?"

As for the work, Lord Mao has been in exile for so long, he must know what he has to do every day and whether there is any meaning in doing these things.

Or, you should know perfectly well whether doing this would benefit you, sir.

But if we are allowed to fish here, then the officials will benefit. Every day I will bring back a few fish for Officer Er Mao so that he can cook and eat them with you.

Others also started catching fish one after another, and as long as they caught fish, the lives of each household would gradually improve.

In the future, if they can't finish their fish, they will offer it as a tribute to the officials, so that the officials can have fresh, free fish to eat every day.

You can have fresh fish to eat every day without lifting a finger, a privilege that even the county magistrate doesn't enjoy.

If you can't finish it, you can take it home and feed it to your family, parents, wife, and children.

So, all things considered, the officials suffered no loss whatsoever.

We fish, and those who work every day do their jobs. Your work isn't neglected either. It's a win-win situation for everyone, so why not?

Moreover, we will be living here year-round from now on. Once our lives improve, your lives won't be much worse.

Everyone willingly supports you, and you reap the benefits without lifting a finger. Isn't that great?

Ji Yunshu explained these things to Da Mao word by word, believing that Da Mao should be able to understand.

Sure enough, when she said these words, Da Mao's face showed a slight change of emotion, but he was still a little hesitant. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Ji Yunshu.

"If what you say is true, then why should I let you take advantage of such a cheap opportunity?"

You all go and do your work, I'll catch these fish myself, won't that be fine?

This place of exile is under my jurisdiction. If I give the order, would you dare disobey?

Instead of letting others make money, Da Mao felt it would be better to keep these fish in his own hands and make money himself.

He said that to test Ji Yunshu's attitude. If Ji Yunshu softened her stance, he would take over the fishpond.

Da Mao was making a big plan. The thought that if he took over the fishpond, he could make back all the losses he suffered last night in just a few days made him feel unusually better.

Ji Yunshu looked at Da Mao with a forced smile.

That idiot is really pushing his luck!

Give him a step, and he'll climb it.

To think they could just seize the fishpond she had worked so hard to build—that's a ridiculously clever scheme.

Ji Yunshu's lips curled slightly, her eyes neither humble nor arrogant, showing no fear whatsoever, as if she were recounting something commonplace.

"Does this official want to take our fishpond for himself?" Ji Yunshu said, her tone tinged with mockery.

"Excuse my bluntness, but this is something that you, Lord Mao, can think about but don't actually think is feasible."

Regardless of whether we like it or not, Lord Mao, think this over carefully. Although this place of exile is under your jurisdiction...

But do you, Lord Mao, feel safe having these fishponds in your own hands? If they become yours, and the higher-ups want to take them back, do you think they'll consult with you?

Once they take away this fishpond, will you be able to gain anything?

But these fishponds are different in our hands. Sirs, you will have fresh fish to eat every day. Moreover, with the fishponds, everyone might be able to make some money in the future. If you make money, you will need to go out and buy things, and you will need to help with that.

At that time, your opportunity to make money will come.

Also, you can't just take back this fishpond whenever you want. Besides the people in our exile area who are working on the fishpond, the miners who wandered over from the foot of the mountain are also working on it.

Look, they've already broken a large hole in the ice.

If you can take over what belongs to us, can you also take over what belongs to the miners?

Forgive my bluntness, but those miners have barely escaped death and have finally managed to find the will and purpose to survive. If you cut off their path at this moment, they might fight you to the death. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered.

Those miners are a hot potato; otherwise, they wouldn't have been in this exile area for so long without anyone above taking any action against them.

If you anger them and cause trouble, even you, Lord Mao, will be in deep trouble. You must know the reputation of the City Lord.

At that time, to protect his own reputation, he would probably rather punish you, the official, than offend such a large group of homeless miners. What do you think, Lord Mao?

Ji Yunshu spoke slowly and deliberately, each word striking Da Mao's heart with precision.

Da Mao stared at Ji Yunshu in astonishment.

In that instant, he seemed to finally see clearly what kind of person Ji Yunshu really was.

Previously, when Ji Yunshu spoke to him, she was always smiling, but occasionally she had a bad temper and spoke harshly. He thought that no matter how capable Ji Yunshu was, she was just a woman and couldn't think too far ahead.

But Ji Yunshu's words just now completely shattered Da Mao's previous understanding of Ji Yunshu!