Chapter 1: The Miserable Transmigration

  If I had to describe Yang Yiqing's current mood in one sentence, it would be that the plot twist was too fast, and he hadn't even prepared himself psychologically before he fell.

  Looking at the "9000 taels" shining brightly on the IOU in front of him, Yang Yiqing felt a bitter feeling for the first time.

  It is well known that the salaries of Ming dynasty officials were notoriously low. Compared to the Song dynasty, the annual salary of a Ming dynasty Grand Secretary was not even comparable to that of a small county magistrate in the Song dynasty. Of course, perhaps those familiar with Ming history will point out that Ming officials had many unofficial sources of income, such as huohao silver and so on.

  What is referred to as "fire expense" refers to the practice of local officials collecting taxes and using the excuse of expenses to collect more silver. The excess silver collected ultimately ends up in the pockets of the officials themselves. Of course, when local officials collect silver, they cannot just take it all for themselves; they must also give some to their superiors, which is known as "paying tribute". If they fail to pay enough tribute, then their official career will come to an end.

  But it is clear that the collection of fire expenses refers to the behavior of most officials. This does not mean that Yang Yiqing did so.

  In the concept of governing the Ming Dynasty, officials should be gentlemen who adhere to Confucian moral norms. Even with meager salaries, they would handle matters impartially and not seek personal gain. This requirement is naturally unattainable for most people, but for Yang Yiqing, who had impeached corrupt General Wu An Hou Zheng Hong five times and voluntarily reduced the official expenses of the garrison, this was his long-standing governing philosophy.

  If Yang Yiqing had silver, why would his daughter bid for an antique zither and fail to produce even 1,000 taels?

  Nine thousand taels. Yang Yiqing silently calculated his own salary, plus the little silver he had saved over the years due to his military achievements, and he was afraid that he would have to be frugal for more than three years to pay off this nine thousand taels.

  Yang Yiqing gritted his teeth and signed his name on the IOU, then dipped his thumb in the ink pad and pressed it onto the IOU.

  When he saw Yang Yiqing really sign his name on the IOU, Jiang Xia was quite impressed. He smiled and took over the IOU, carefully blowing dry the ink before folding it up and putting it in his own bosom.

  Jiang Xia smiled and said: "Lord Yang, you are still the first second-grade official to sign a contract with us, it's truly an honor."

  Yang Yiqing couldn't help but laugh and cry, but since things had come to this point, he didn't want to dwell on it anymore. He said very sincerely: "Young Master Jiang, although I am a second-grade official, my salary is not particularly high. Just now I calculated that it would take more than three years to repay the debt of 9,000 taels."

  Jiang Xia was taken aback by Yang Yiqing's words and carefully sized him up. Jiang Xia could affirm that Yang Yiqing wasn't joking or intentionally evading the issue. As the saying goes, "Three years of being a clean official, ten million snowflake silvers." Who would have thought that a high-ranking second-grade official would be worried about 9,000 taels?

  Jiang Xia smiled slightly and said, "Lord Yang, forgive my boldness in guessing that you didn't come just to help your daughter get married. Is there something else you want from me?"

  Through Jiang Xia's observation of Yang Yiqing, he felt that Yang Yiqing was not an unreasonable person. If he really didn't care about reason, he wouldn't have been able to use words to force him into a desperate situation where he had to sign the IOU. How could someone who wasn't unreasonable do something unreasonable? There's only one truth, and that is... (Why does this sound like Detective Ke Zixuan?) He came here with such fanfare for another purpose, so Jiang Xia asked.

  Jiang Xia asked, and Yang Yiqing was suddenly startled. He almost forgot that he had come to ask Jiang Xia how to solve the problem of not having enough silver for building border defenses. This was the most important thing, compared to the trivial matter of 9,000 taels.

  As soon as he thought of this, Yang Yiqing immediately stood up and saluted Jiang Xia: "Mr. Jiang is indeed intelligent and resourceful, I have come to ask for your advice on an important matter."

  "Why make such a big fuss? Just ask what you want to ask!" Jiang Xia rolled her eyes and spat out four words: "Asking for trouble."

  Yang Yiqing's face turned red, and he didn't bother to respond to Jiang Xia's words. Instead, he directly asked his own question: "Young Master Jiang, I heard that you established the Shanren Association and helped the current emperor resolve the Henan disaster relief funds and the northern border military expenses. Is this true?"

  Jiang Xia nodded slightly.

  Yang Yiqing's spirit was suddenly lifted, and he asked with a smile: "That Jiang Gongzi, I have a question to ask you. I am the governor of Gansu Province, under which are Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu. These three places are the strongholds that prevent the Mongols from invading the Central Plains. Therefore, I intend to connect these three places into one line, build city defenses to prevent the Mongols from entering. If this move is successful, at least it can guarantee that the Mongols will not easily enter Gansu in the future."

  However, I calculated that to build the city defense into my ideal shape, it should take 800,000 taels of silver. Unfortunately, the court can only come up with 300,000 taels now, and the remaining 500,000 taels...

  Yang Yiqing looked up at Jiang Xia and thought about asking if he had any way to deal with the remaining 500,000 taels.

  Jiang Xia burst out laughing as soon as he heard it, shaking his head and saying: "You think I have a mountain of gold and silver? If I had 500,000 taels of silver, I wouldn't give them to you to repair the city defenses."

  "Jiang Xia!" Yang Jingjing, who had been silent all along, finally couldn't bear it and burst out. She said viciously: "My father asked you that because he looked up to you, don't be ungrateful. If you provoke me, be careful or I'll make you a eunuch one day."

  Jiang Xia's eyes widened in surprise, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "When did the women of the Ming Dynasty become so fierce? Even their words are so violent." Unconsciously, Jiang Xia tightened his legs together, feeling a chill below.

  "Nonsense!" Yang Yiqing shouted, pointing at the door and saying, "Get out!"

  "Dad......" Yang Jingjing called out in a spoiled tone, but Yang Yiqing remained unmoved, still pointing at the door with an ashen face.

  Yang Jingjing knew that Yang Yiqing was really angry, so she stood up and prepared to walk out. But at this time, Jiang Xia suddenly called out: "Wait!"

  Yang Yiqing and Yang Jingjing both slightly stunned, Jiang Xia looked up and down at Yang Jingjing. His gaze was like a wolf examining its prey, Yang Jingjing's heart suddenly rose with unease, she looked at Jiang Xia and said: "What are you looking at? Look again and I'll dig out your eyeballs."

  Yang Jing said that, and Jiang Xia really didn't go to see her again. Instead, he shifted his gaze to Yang Yiqing and said: "Lord Yang, what you just said is indeed something I can help with, but I have a condition."

  "Oh? What conditions?" Yang Yiqing said excitedly: "What conditions does Master Jiang have, please speak, this matter is beneficial for a thousand years, it's a great virtue. If Master Jiang can help me succeed, no matter what the request is, as long as I can do it, I will definitely make an effort."

  "Rest assured, my request is simple. I'll tell you how to handle this matter, and you must let your daughter be my student for seven days."

  "Student?" Yang Yiqing was slightly taken aback.

  Jiang Xia smiled and nodded: "I am a scholar, studying the Four Books and Five Classics, and I have always been unable to bear seeing beautiful women become shrews. As long as Lord Yang agrees with me, I will immediately tell you how that matter should be handled."

  Yang Yiqing was also stunned, he looked at Yang Jingjing, and the struggling gaze in his eyes clearly had a hint of movement.

  Yang Jingjing panicked, she hugged Yang Yiqing's arm and said: "Dad, you can't agree to him, this guy looks like he's not a good person. If you give me to him, isn't that sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth?"

  "Sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth." Jiang Xia said calmly.

  "Yes, sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth. Dad... You can't do this."

  Yang Yiqing stared at Jiang Xia's face, and Jiang Xia also looked back at Yang Yiqing. Yang Yiqing saw that Jiang Xia's eyes were clear and didn't seem to be hiding anything. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Young Master Jiang, my wife passed away during childbirth when our daughter was born, and I've been busy with official duties, so I haven't paid much attention to her upbringing. If you're willing to help me teach her, that would be great. However, let me make one thing clear: I, Yang Yiqing, only have this one daughter, and if you dare to bully her, I'll take your life even if it means sacrificing my own."

  "Don't worry, leave her to me. In seven days, I'll return to you a well-behaved and obedient daughter. But let me warn you in advance, if she doesn't listen to my words, she will likely suffer some physical punishment."

  "Dad... no..." Yang Jingjing finally couldn't help but well up with tears.

  Yang Yiqing's heart softened and hesitated, Jiang Xia smiled and said: "Don't worry, Yang Daren, as the daughter of a second-grade official, I won't overstep any boundaries."

  "Jiang Xia, you say one more word and I'll kill you right now!" Yang Jingjing shouted loudly.

  When Yang Jing heard this, Yang Yiqing himself felt that his own daughter should be taught a lesson. He thought to himself that he could first agree and then send out secret agents to closely monitor Jiang Xia and Yang Jing, so there would be no chance of anything going wrong.

  Yang Yiqing gritted his teeth and nodded: "Alright, I'll trouble Young Master Jiang to discipline her then."

  "Alright, alright," said Jiang Xia with a wave of his hand.

  Jiang Xia looked at Yang Jing and said with a hint of mystery in his eyes: "I will definitely treat Miss Yang well."

  Yang Yiqing cupped his hands and said: "Then please tell me, Master Jiang, about the matter of building border defenses..."

  Jiang Xia said: "At this time, it's as simple as can be, and in summary, there are only four words."

  "Four characters?"

  "Ah, open source is cost-effective."

  "How can it be so lavish? How can it be so frugal?" Yang Yiqing couldn't help but ask.

  Jiang Xia smiled and said to Yang Yiqing: "Mr. Yang, tell me what you need to spend on building the city defense, and then I'll tell you how to increase revenue and reduce expenditure."

  Yang nodded and said: "Building city defenses requires a lot of manpower first, followed by materials..."