Chapter 1 A Force of Ten Thousand Soldiers

Accompanied by an army of ten thousand, Governor Ye Tao's persuasiveness was evidently far greater than anyone in Su Feng Town had anticipated. When it became known that many of the officials, both high and low, in the Governor's mansion were actually descendants of various influential families, the local wealthy merchants grew even more apprehensive. However, Shan Ze Ying quickly dispelled their concerns. His explanation was simple, especially since Ye Tao was the future imperial son-in-law and appeared destined to become a prime minister, he would undoubtedly prioritize his reputation and would not resort to drastic measures to forcibly construct the canal.

In one respect, Shan Ze Ying was correct. Although he had an army of ten thousand at his disposal, which would be sufficient to quell any local disturbances, Ye Tao had his own ideas about whether and how to use the force at his command. In Ye Tao's view, Tan Xiao Pei's allocation of ten thousand troops to him, especially the three thousand imperial guards, was not primarily intended for him to use them, but rather to allow the imperial guards to compare and supplement their training with the Blood Kirin Army's new recruits. There was an implicit expectation that Ye Tao would help resolve the awkward situation where the imperial guards' combat effectiveness and morale were far inferior to those of the Blood Kirin Army.

On the other hand, Ye Tao, after all, was a transmigrator who had grown up in a free and democratic environment, and he still had many reservations about the understanding and use of the state's violent machinery. Even when faced with such a large coalition of landlords, he had no interest in seizing land from the wealthy and distributing it to the poor. After all, apart from a few individuals, the others merely wanted to protect their private property.

Since the situation had developed to this point, Ye Tao simply didn't rush things. He adjusted the office procedures of the Governor's mansion at all levels, established a coordination system of holding joint meetings of the heads of various departments every three days, and sent out investigation teams to conduct a more detailed survey of the area under the jurisdiction of the Canal Governor's mansion. This investigation focused on further surveying the canal's course, delving into the local communities to understand the local products, the people's living standards, consumption levels, and other factors. Furthermore, Ye Tao retrieved all land transaction records and land ownership records from the local administrations. From the initial hints, it seemed that Ye Tao was investigating all the land not concentrated in the hands of the major landlords and the unclaimed land.

Ye Tao's methodical yet somewhat strange actions left the landlords gathered in Su Feng Town bewildered. They had originally thought that once the Governor officially started working, he would either actively win them over or take thunderous measures to suppress them, given their control of large amounts of land. Shan Ze Ying, however, sensed an ominous sign in the snippets of information that emerged. Could it be that Ye Tao intended not to follow Shi Xiu's plan for constructing the canal?

The completion and commissioning of the two clock towers in Yi Cheng and Dan Yang, especially the one in Dan Yang that could be re-cased, had already made Ye Tao the undisputed number one engineer in Dong Ping. If Ye Tao made up his mind, probably no project could stump him. If Shi Xiu's canal plan was not used, in order to avoid the land controlled by Shan Ze Ying and other landlords as bargaining chips and to change the course, it would basically mean abandoning the easiest route to build the canal. Although the construction cost would increase, it might not be a bad idea to recover it from the saved land exchange cost.

Shan Ze Ying was a little nervous. If Ye Tao really did this, then his previous efforts to obtain Shi Xiu's canal plan, purchase a large amount of land, and communicate with those great landlords with different intentions would all be in vain. Once the canal was completed, with Ye Tao's right to speak on canal affairs and his constantly increasing influence in Dong Ping, not only would his desire to take the opportunity to make a fortune be thwarted, but he would also encounter all kinds of obstacles in the future.

The more Shan Ze Ying thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. Finally, he couldn't restrain himself and prepared gifts to pay a visit.

"Mr. Shan, please take back your gifts." What Shan Ze Ying didn't expect was that although Ye Tao readily agreed to see him, he couldn't give the gifts away no matter what. Not to mention the gifts, even the red envelope for the gatekeeper couldn't be slipped through.

"This is a small token of my appreciation. Governor, you have been working hard for the canal, benefiting the local community, and I can only express my respect." Shan Ze Ying's words were high-sounding.

"I appreciate your sentiment. But I won't accept gifts," Ye Tao replied indifferently. "I have nowhere to pile up gold, silver, jewelry, and silk. As for ingenuity and fun, there's no place in the world that can compare to my workshops. I won't accept gifts for the sake of accepting gifts."

Ye Tao's nonchalant attitude was quite imposing, which was quite different from what Shan Ze Ying had previously thought, that Ye Tao was only good at engineering, and that he was able to secure the position of governor only because of the support of many aristocratic children and the princess.

"Since that's the case, then I have no choice but to obey," Shan Ze Ying cupped his fist and said somewhat helplessly.

"Mr. Shan, just say what's on your mind. Everyone knows some things, there's no need to beat around the bush," Ye Tao tilted his head slightly, scrutinized Shan Ze Ying, and said, "You're here for the sake of so much property in your hands, aren't you."

Seeing that Ye Tao was so straightforward, Shan Ze Ying simply let go. He bowed deeply and said, "Your Excellency is wise."

Ye Tao smiled. The issue of how to contact Shan Ze Ying had been discussed several times within the Governor's mansion, and no consensus had been reached. Shi Xiu advocated taking Shan Ze Ying down and questioning him. Although Shi Xiu was a relatively typical technical official, a clerk beside him had some skill in writing and drafted a document listing Shan Ze Ying's crimes item by item. Just the charges of "hoarding land," "gathering crowds to cause trouble," "coercing public opinion," and "resisting the government" could, in a worst-case scenario, cause Shan Ze Ying and his family to disappear completely.

Even Shi Xiu, who supported questioning Shan Ze Ying, was frightened by the crimes his clerk had produced. In the Governor's mansion, although many officials from humble backgrounds like Shi Xiu supported questioning Shan Ze Ying, more of those in key positions were still descendants of aristocratic families, or even relatively distant relatives of the Tan and Zhuo families. In the eyes of these people, it was normal to use slightly faster news to find ways to seek some benefits for their families, only Shan Ze Ying had gone a little too far. A young descendant of the Zhuo family proposed finding representatives of major families to suppress Shan Ze Ying and let him voluntarily transfer the land in his hands at a reasonable price, and this suggestion was approved by many people.

But Ye Tao's idea was different. Leaving aside the authority of the imperial court and the characteristics of this era, Shan Ze Ying was actually a speculator with vision but not cautious enough in his actions. If he had quietly hoarded land, without clustering and colluding with other landlords, and even gave some superficial help and good relations when the Governor's mansion started working, perhaps his current situation would not be so passive. Therefore, Ye Tao felt that making things clear was a simple and straightforward, good method.

"Take a look at these," Ye Tao threw a copy of the document written by Shi Xiu's clerk in front of Shan Ze Ying. Shan Ze Ying suspiciously picked up the document and began to sweat after glancing at it. As the Canal Governor, Ye Tao now had the power to determine the nature of Shan Ze Ying's problem. If Ye Tao really dealt with the Shan family on such charges, with Ye Tao's current connections, although he would be impeached by the censors, if Ye Tao was indeed extremely annoyed by Shan Ze Ying's actions and really wanted to bring him to justice, Shan Ze Ying would have no way to avoid it.

Shan Ze Ying said nervously, "Your Excellency, I was only… temporarily eager for profit. I absolutely did not intend to coerce public opinion or resist the government." He had lost his previous composure and nervously wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. In this still cold season, it was really not easy to sweat like this.

Ye Tao said in a timely manner, "Whether you are eager for profit or want to resist the government is not important to me. Today, I have ordered that the registration of all land transactions in the area under the jurisdiction of the Canal Governor's mansion be suspended. The government will not be responsible for any disputes over privately traded land. As for the land in your hands, you must truthfully report the purchase price. I will give you a profit of one and a half percent and take it all. Excluding some of the expenses for doing such a big thing, I will at least leave you with a profit, although you may not be satisfied. But it can be considered an explanation. What do you think?"

Shan Ze Ying did not speak. He had originally considered that a profit of about 30% from the land transactions would be normal. He had privately inquired about the different prices of different types of land and fields prepared by the Canal Governor's mansion for land purchases. In the large area of land he bought, a large part of it was even bought below that price. Naturally, he could not be content. However, Ye Tao suppressed him with that extremely terrible list of charges, which left him with no temper. Dong Ping valued commerce, but the crackdown on speculative behavior was severe. Ye Tao's handling of the matter was procedurally and reasonably justifiable.

Seeing that Shan Ze Ying did not express his position, Ye Tao smiled again and said, "You don't have to be nervous. Whether you sell to the Canal Governor's mansion or not, it won't come to bringing you to justice. The canal doesn't necessarily have to go through your land. Although Lord Shi Xiu's plan is excellent, it's not completely without a backup plan. I'll just choose a site and dig it elsewhere."

Shan Ze Ying struggled for a long time, bit his teeth and said, "Your Excellency doesn't know the suffering of my Shan family. The money to buy this land is all the savings of the Shan family for decades. I also borrowed some foreign debts. With a profit of one and a half percent, I'm afraid I can't explain it."

Ye Tao was happy. In this case, he still had to argue for the interests of his family, regardless of the threat of the whole family going to jail or even being beheaded. This decision was not easy to make. Ye Tao asked, "You actually borrowed money to buy land? Are you so sure you can make money?"

Shan Ze Ying resolutely said, "I believe so." The Shan family was originally just a family that developed based on collecting land, but in recent years, it seemed that land was becoming less and less valuable. Especially since the sources of food in Dong Ping have gradually diversified in recent years, and the channels for purchasing food from Chun Nan have become smoother, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain the family's development with land. Shan Ze Ying didn't know much about how to do business, but the news of the construction of the canal made him think of this perhaps very reckless method, but he was sure he could make money.

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Chapter 2 for today, I'm coding with full power. I don't know if I will be forced out 5 chapters today, it seems possible