Li Shi was very cooperative.
With a wave of his hand,
He waived it all.
The emperor and minister performed their duet.
Fang Er found himself speechless.
His eyes rolled.
"Hmph!"
Could he take this loss?
No!
Absolutely not!
"Your Majesty," he said, "the sixty thousand strings of cash mentioned earlier was just for the military expenses of deploying troops, it didn't include ammunition costs!"
Fang Xuanling was still basking in his own cleverness.
Li Shimin said nonchalantly,
"Speak, I'm listening."
So,
Fang Er began to count on his fingers, listing them one by one for Li Shimin.
"Ten thousand rounds of pistol ammunition, costing one hundred strings of cash."
"Yunyi-style rifle bullets, a total of three hundred thousand rounds fired. At cost price, five cash per bullet."
"That's fifteen hundred strings of cash."
"Also, in Shenyang, we had to build roads and dig canals. The money seized in Shenyang alone was not enough."
"I also spent an additional three thousand four hundred strings of cash!"
Li Shimin nodded as he listened.
"This is nothing,"
He waved his hand grandly.
"Just a drop in the bucket. Didn't you owe the Ministry of Revenue nearly thirty thousand strings of cash earlier? Consider it offset from that."
"Whatever remains, I will waive it all."
Fang Er rolled his eyes.
"Your Majesty, I haven't finished!"
Li Shimin was very generous.
"Speak, tell me everything."
Fang Er's next words completely stunned Li Shimin, who had felt so magnanimous.
"Your Majesty, there are also artillery shells. Nearly ten thousand rounds were fired!"
"And these weren't solid shot, but explosive shells that burst upon impact!"
"The cost of each artillery shell is four strings of cash!"
"Adding that to the previous amounts, the total comes to forty-five thousand strings of cash."
"So, Your Majesty, Duke Fang, how would you like to settle this? With copper coins or gold and silver?"
Li Shimin was truly dumbfounded!
Was this the legendary situation where the mouse drags a plow, with the biggest part coming last?
Fang Xuanling was also dumbfounded.
Before the two could speak,
Fang Er continued with a wronged expression.
"Your Majesty, over a hundred of my Heavenly Fire Army brothers died, and five to six hundred were wounded. These all require compensation, don't they?"
"This was for expanding your territory. You can't expect me to pay for their compensation, can you?"
This was something Li Shimin truly couldn't refuse!
Seven hundred casualties had secured territory from three countries.
If this had been with a pure cold-weapon army, the casualties would have been tens of times higher!
Thinking of this, Li Shimin resigned himself.
"Tell me, how much money do you want?"
Fang Er spread his hands.
"Seven hundred brothers, twenty strings of cash each. This isn't much. They are gone, but their families still need to live."
"Fourteen thousand strings of cash. Add that to the previous forty-five thousand, and round it up to sixty thousand."
Fang Xuanling stood to the side, earnestly scraping the stone brick under his feet with his toes.
It was as if he had leaped beyond the three realms and was no longer bound by the five elements.
"Damn it!"
He had still been roped in by this little brat!
"Alas!"
Li Er looked troubled, but then glanced at the oddly-shaped map in his hand.
Then he thought about the hundreds of thousands of strings of cash brought back from Goguryeo and Silla alone. He gritted his teeth.
"Duke Fang, give it to him!"
"Every last copper coin, give it all to him!"
"Also, the deficit of thirty thousand strings of national debt, no need to calculate interest."
"A total of ninety thousand strings of cash. Use ox carts and deliver it directly to Fang Family Village!"
This made Fang Er ecstatic.
He raised his right hand and gave a thumbs-up.
"Your Majesty is generous! Once I finish my current affairs, I will create a grand map for you."
"I will clearly mark the characteristics of each region!"
"Duke Fang, stop scraping, you've already polished that stone brick into a mirror!"
"Let's go to the Ministry of Revenue and count the money for this brat!"
Saying this, he grabbed Fang Xuanling and walked out of the hall.
At the Ministry of Revenue's great granary,
Fang Er happily watched the clerks load silver and copper coins onto the ox carts.
After they were loaded, the ox carts went ahead.
He drove his own carriage, following behind.
This feeling.
Was absolutely fantastic!
Speaking of which, ninety thousand strings of cash, in terms of purchasing power, was almost equivalent to a hundred million in later generations, right?
"Is anyone going to rob my armored car?"
Fortunately, they arrived safely at Fang Family Village.
The Yan Yun Cavalry worked together, moving money all afternoon until it was all unloaded.
In the evening, Fang Er wrote a notice and handed it to Guan Chang.
He asked him to inform the families of those who had died to come and collect their death benefits the next day.
Early the next morning,
Fang Er deliberately changed into white attire.
The Yan Yun Cavalry behind him also wore white, driving ox carts laden entirely with copper coins.
When they reached the school parade ground,
Over a thousand people had already gathered there!
Upon seeing Fang Er arrive, a wave of crying erupted.
Fang Er's nose twitched, and he walked to the raised platform on the side of the parade ground.
Facing the soldiers' families below,
He bowed deeply, a complete kowtow.
He remained in this bow for a long time before straightening up.
He said to everyone,
"Fang admits he has failed you all!"
Outside Pyongyang city, hundreds of brothers were injured or killed.
Fang brought them away, but could not bring them all back.
However, they were all good men!
They are heroes of the Great Tang!
They are heroes of our Han people!
For the fallen brothers, each will receive a death benefit of thirty strings of cash! And compensation during every festival!"
"For the wounded and disabled brothers, each will receive a death benefit of twenty strings of cash, and compensation during every festival!"
"For brothers who can no longer fight, their families will have priority for jobs at the manor."
"Furthermore, all children of the brothers can attend the school for free education, and the manor will support them until they reach adulthood!"
"The elderly in the families will have their medical and old-age care covered by the manor."
"This will be the standard from now on!"
Fang Er's actions stunned the manor residents below.
This was a Marquis!
A dignified Marquis bowing to them in such a manner was something they had never encountered before.
What he said also astonished them.
Some of the elders' eyes reddened, their mouths trembling. They wanted to say something but couldn't utter a word.
A young man emerged from the crowd.
He knelt before Fang Er and kowtowed.
Then he stood up and said loudly,
"This humble one, Feng Laosi, Feng Laoda, who died in Pyongyang, was my elder brother."
"Although Fang Family Village does not have a kneeling ritual, I still have to kowtow!"
"My brother died in Pyongyang; that was his fate, his lack of fortune. I do not blame you."
"He is gone, but I am still here. I am willing to carry my brother's rifle and continue to fight for the Marquis!"
"Please accept me, Your Lordship!"
Feng Laosi was like a spark.
The young men in the crowd were ignited as if by fire.
"Please accept us, Your Lordship, we are willing to continue following you!"
But Fang Er kept shaking his head.
"I have already caused you to lose a loved one."
"I absolutely cannot let you take further risks, otherwise, I cannot account for myself to the fallen brothers."
Those elders seemed to have calmed down slightly.
An old man stepped forward.
"Your Lordship, what Laosi said is correct."
"Our good lives are all thanks to Your Lordship."
"Without Your Lordship, many of the people present would have starved to death!"
"Only if Your Lordship prospers and remains safe can our good lives continue."
"The elderly will be cared for, and the children will be educated."
"This is a great kindness, and we cannot repay it without offering something."
"Please accept these young men, Your Lordship."
"Whether they live or die is up to their destiny!"
After speaking, the old man also suddenly knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Fang Er.
It was a loud kowtow.
When he stood up, his forehead was red.
After standing, he added, "Laosi is right. Although Fang Family Village has no kneeling ritual, I, this old man, dare not accept the bow you just made, so consider this kowtow my repayment of your courtesy!"
The others knelt on the ground in unison.
Fang Er couldn't stop so many people.
He was stunned on the platform.
Tears flowed uncontrollably.
He could no longer bear to stay there.
He handed over the distribution of death benefits to the Yan Yun Cavalry.
He himself quietly returned to the Fang Residence.