"Speaking of which, you're not getting any younger, and it's about time I prepared a concubine for you, considering we've traveled all this way together!"
"This..."
Li Zong's voice trailed off awkwardly as his father reached this point. They were both struggling to support themselves, let alone afford a concubine...
"Don't worry about the money. Your cousin has plenty of it. When he left, he left a hundred taels of gold in the account, which should be enough for you to take a concubine!"
Seeing the awkward expression on his face, Li Gang said with a smile.
"But Father, didn't you say one should not accept favors without merit? Isn't this a bit... improper..."
"What your cousin wants cannot be exchanged for money. That's all there is to it. You don't need to worry about this matter. We'll talk about it when you understand why I accepted his kind offer!"
After patting his son on the shoulder, Li Gang returned to his room.
Qian Lang and Huang Linghe had been busy for nearly two hours, and it was already past midnight. Li Gang was truly feeling exhausted.
He still hadn't figured out what was going on with those two. The next morning, as soon as he reported for duty at the yamen, Li Gang found his office surrounded by people...
"Wh-what are they doing?"
Looking at the people queuing outside his door, and their luxurious robes, Li Gang was stunned.
"Uncle, there's no need to be surprised. They're all here to help you set up the school!"
"Set... set up a school?"
Hearing Han Mo's casual remark, Li Gang's mouth twitched involuntarily.
Why hadn't they thought of setting up a school before?
Having served as an official for half his life, this was the first time he had ever seen people crying out, waving large sums of money, and clamoring to set up schools for the imperial court...
"If you don't explain the inside story to me, don't blame me for quitting!"
After opening and closing his lips several times, Li Gang grabbed Han Mo's clothes and whispered in his ear.
"Uncle, didn't I already tell you about the particulars of this matter? This is very beneficial to them!"
"How is it beneficial to them? I don't see it."
Hearing his perfunctory reply, Li Gang glared at Han Mo.
"Uncle, look, no matter what they are plotting, they are indeed putting up real money to set up schools. The imperial court gains talent, they get what they want, and the students get opportunities to learn and a chance to succeed. Isn't this a win-win situation?"
Han Mo was certainly not foolish enough to reveal the unspoken details to the elder gentleman. To fool Li Gang, he could only resort to vague explanations again.
"Then don't blame me for treating them like fat sheep. The students at the academy should at least eat meat three times a week!"
Looking at the perfunctory smile on Han Mo's face, Li Gang suddenly felt an urge to beat the young man to the ground.
However, considering the young man's reputation as the foremost talent of the Song Dynasty and his current official position, Li Gang suppressed the impulse.
"You absolutely must not be polite with them. The children in the elementary school are growing, so they should have some meat every day, shouldn't they? As for the students in the academy, they might not be able to afford beef, but they should at least have mutton and pork, right? And at noon every day, they should have a bowl of stewed mutton, shouldn't they?"
"Are you sure doing this won't scare them all away?"
In this era, it was difficult for ordinary people to even fill their stomachs. Yet, these students were to have meat every day. For this reason alone, the poor common folk would probably be desperate to send their children to school...
"You don't need to worry about them for this. I believe they won't care about such a small amount of money!"
It was true that grain was scarce in the Song Dynasty at this time. However, all the people present were involved in the maritime trade.
Buying pork, beef, and mutton might be a bit troublesome, but Mingzhou, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou were all coastal cities.
With just one boat going out and casting a few nets, all the children in the elementary schools of the entire city would have fish to eat...
As for grain, there was even less to worry about. Previously, only Shao Bowen was trying to procure grain, and now the Huang family's fleet had joined in.
It would be much easier to carry out this business.
While supplying the entire Song Dynasty might be a bit difficult, supplying all the schools in the two provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian was definitely not a problem!
Of course, the subsequent increase in grain prices leading to difficulties in local grain supply, and conflicts between ships flying pirate flags and local officials, resulting in the deaths of many indigenous people, were not within Han Mo's scope of concern.
After all, those who took action were clearly flying skull flags, obviously pirates. As for why their ships were so large, and why their crews and ships looked so similar to the Song Dynasty's merchant ships, that was a matter of opinion!
In any case, Han Mo was also in charge of the Maritime Trade Bureau for the southeastern provinces. Even if the indigenous people were unhappy and wanted to complain, they could only report to Han Mo.
As for whether Lord Han would convey their opinions to the imperial court, it would depend on when Lord Han could recall this matter...
Even if they managed to escalate the matter to the imperial court, the army that the Song Dynasty imperial court would dispatch to suppress the pirates would only be the Mingzhou Navy and the Quanzhou Navy...
As for stationing troops of the Song Dynasty on their land, it was estimated that anyone with a brain would not agree!
Since several alternative plans were unfeasible, they would probably have to bear the hardship themselves...
"Cough—cough—cough—"
"Esteemed managers, Lord Li is assuming his post for the first time today. You arriving so early is truly a great honor!"
Seeing that Li Gang seemed to be on the verge of relentlessly questioning, Han Mo quickly coughed a couple of times.
"Greetings, Lord Han!"
"Greetings, Lord Li!"
With his cough, those people finally noticed that Li Gang, the main figure, was standing behind them.
"Uncle, remember what I told you, don't be polite with them! I have some other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving now!"