Balemenggan looked at everyone leaving, bewildered, and then at the canned food in his hand.
He decided to stay and finish this rare delicacy.
Indeed, this thing, though it smelled foul, tasted wonderfully fragrant!
It's good you all left; no one to fight me for it.
Hahahaha!
The departing crowd had no idea this fellow was stuffing himself with the canned food, even drinking the last drops of the soup, unwilling to waste a single bit.
After finishing, he patted his stomach, a look of satisfaction on his face.
Comfortable~~ Heh heh, not quite full yet, I'll go back to the Duke and ask for two more boxes.
He muttered to himself as he walked towards the Duke's mansion, full of anticipation.
Such deliciousness suited his palate even better than the rice and beef he'd eaten in the banquet hall.
At the gate of the Duke's mansion, the two guards smelled a foul odor from afar. Before they could figure out its source, they saw someone approaching the gate!
"Hello, young sirs, have the Duke and the others returned?"
Balemenggan asked them with a grin.
The smell grew even stronger!
It was like the stench of a latrine that hadn't been emptied in half a year~~
Ugh~~!
One soldier immediately vomited.
It was too overpowering, and the smell seemed to emanate from the leader of the Tianmeng tribe.
Had this guy eaten feces?
Ugh~~~!
The more he thought about it, the more nauseated he felt, and he clung to the hitching post by the gate, retching.
The other soldier, suppressing the churning in his stomach, covered his nose and mouth and retreated several steps, replying in terror.
"The Duke and the other tribal leaders are out on official business. They said for you to wait at the inn."
Damn it, this guy must have fallen into a cesspit.
No wonder the Duke instructed earlier not to let him in. If he had entered, the entire Duke's mansion would have been ruined, wouldn't it?
Balemenggan scratched his head, shook it in frustration, and turned to leave in the direction of Shenyang.
I just got greedy and didn't want to waste that canned food, so why was I abandoned?
Inside the mansion, the banquet was still ongoing. In the banquet hall, Liu Dacheng sat alone, listlessly picking at his rice.
Fang Er returned with everyone and was momentarily stunned when he saw him: "Why is Governor Liu sitting here alone?"
Liu Dacheng's feelings upon hearing this were incredibly complex.
You took them out to play, but you didn't even tell me to follow. What else could I do but wait here?
You are the Duke, so how could I leave without permission?
Seeing him awkwardly holding his chopsticks, with a few grains of rice stuck to his mouth, Fang Er slapped his forehead.
"Hahahaha, I've sold so much field ration, Governor Liu must be waiting for tax money, right?"
"Da Ying, go find Xing'er."
Fang Er didn't think much of it; he simply remembered a recent transaction that hadn't been taxed yet.
But Liu Dacheng was so terrified by these words that he wouldn't dare to urge for taxes, even with a hundred times his courage.
"Duke, a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. This subordinate was just not full earlier, so I stayed behind to indulge a bit.
It wasn't for tax money. I'm full now, so I'll be leaving."
With that, he hastily stood up and walked towards the exit.
However, someone must have dropped a piece of beef on the floor, causing him to slip and collide with two chairs before regaining his balance.
At that moment, the leaders of various departments were also bewildered.
Why does this governor seem so wronged?
Is the Duke really that terrifying?
They are treated with genuine affection by our grassland warriors.
"Alright, whatever misunderstandings there may be, you're here, so just take the tax money back later. It'll save me the trouble of sending someone to deliver it."
Fang Er walked over and pushed him back into the chair.
Liu Dacheng stammered, not knowing what to say, his eyes almost tearing up.
It's over. The Duke really thinks I stayed to collect taxes. What am I going to do!
Just then, Xing'er arrived in the banquet hall and curtsied slightly to Fang Er: "Master."
Fang Er smiled: "Today, Master has made another deal, totaling one million three hundred thousand guan. The leaders are short on cash and will pay for the goods later."
"They can owe us, but we cannot owe Governor Liu his taxes."
"At a thirty-to-one tax rate, disburse forty-four thousand guan in taxes to Governor Liu. Count it carefully and send it to the gatekeeper; have Governor Liu take it with him on his way."
"No, no, no, Duke, that's too much, far too much." Liu Dacheng waved his hands repeatedly.
Then, he took out a small notebook from his怀 and began to calculate himself.
Fortunately, he had the audacity to learn division from a minor official at the governor's office. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to figure out such large accounts.
One million three hundred thousand, divided by thirty.
Hey! What the!
Forty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three guan and three hundred thirty-three wen. Why are there so many threes at the end?
For a moment, Liu Dacheng's forehead seemed etched with 333.
"Hahahaha, stop calculating. You won't be able to figure it out. Whatever I say is the amount, just take it back and put it into the treasury."
Fang Er smiled, took his pen and notebook, and tucked them back into Liu Dacheng's pocket.
Damn it, 1.3 million divided by 30 doesn't come out evenly. You'd have to be a ghost to figure it out.
Liu Dacheng left in extreme trepidation, afraid he would start crying if he stayed any longer.
Damn it, other prefectures are troubled by the inability to collect taxes, but why is it like this for me?
Hahahaha! Duke, Governor Liu is too amusing.
Ge Zhiwoyang said with a laugh, watching his retreating back.
"Alright, don't bully honest people. Our Governor Liu is quite diligent."
Fang Er quickly shouted. Liu Dacheng hadn't gone far; he was doing this on purpose.
As expected, Liu Dacheng, who had just left the banquet hall entrance, heard this, and his uneasy mood turned into delight.
If praise directly from someone is not trustworthy, praise from behind is much more credible!
With the orders secured and business concluded, Fang Er had the banquet hall cleaned up, and plates of bluefin tuna sashimi were served.
This fish was caught by Zhang Tian and his men a few days ago while out at sea and had been preserved in ice in a cellar.
This was something the grassland people had never tasted before.
The bright red fish meat, dipped in soy sauce and wasabi, gave them an unprecedented culinary experience.
One wonders what kind of feelings the gluttonous Balemenggan, who had been sent to the inn, would have upon knowing this.
Of course, there was also Liu Dacheng, who had just left.
The banquet concluded, and the leaders left the Duke's mansion, satisfied.
Fang Er found an empty room and began frantically redeeming military ration packs. Each box cost five hundred points, totaling two thousand six hundred boxes, which cost him five hundred and twenty thousand points.
If he hadn't stolen five million points from the Shijian silver mine using the system earlier, he wouldn't have been able to afford such a transaction with his own money.
This damned system only recognized gold and silver, not copper coins, which was ridiculous.
System: You unlucky grandson, who are you calling unlucky?
Fang Er: ......
Damn it, anyone unlucky would know. We've been split in half, and you still deny it. Damn it!
Zzzzzzzzzzzz~~
Ah! Holy shit!
This sudden jolt of electricity made Fang Er's whole body go numb, and his hair stood on end.
System: You unlucky grandson, who are you calling unlucky?
Fang Er was speechless. He glanced at his points and, sure enough, he had been charged another ten thousand points for electricity! Read books.
--
Author's note: