Taming beasts starts with understanding bird language

After midnight.

Gu Chancai finally took the carriage and brought Xiaobai back to Jigong Temple.

At this time, in the Buddhist temple in the front yard, the old beggar with nine fingers was sitting cross-legged in front of the Buddha statue, chanting scriptures, and he was not sleeping at all.

Gu Chan told Bai Hu to go to the backyard room to rest first, then walked into the Buddhist hall, sat next to the nine-fingered old beggar and said, "Old leader, why aren't you asleep so late?"

"Aren't I waiting for you?" said the nine-fingered old beggar, opening his eyes.

"What are you waiting for me for?" Gu Chan wondered.

The nine-fingered old beggar turned his head and looked at her and asked, "How was it? Did your trip to Jiangnan Camp go smoothly today?"

"There was a little incident, but fortunately, the general finally gave me the dragon seal of the lord of Jiangnan area. Now I am the lord of Jiangnan." Gu Chan said with a smile.

The nine-fingered old beggar said earnestly, "Gu Chan! Jiangnan is the richest place in the entire Tiancang Kingdom, accounting for more than 50% of the country's tax revenue. If you can't be a good lord, I'm afraid the days of Tiancang Kingdom will be difficult in the future. But if you are a good lord, I'm afraid the people in Jiangnan will have an even harder time in the future!"

"Why is it that even though I'm a good lord, the lives of the common people will become even more difficult?" Gu Chan asked puzzled.

She really didn't understand the meaning of the old man's words.

The nine-fingered beggar sighed and said, "Let me put it another way. Now that you have become a lord, how do you plan to make the people live a good life?"

"The taxes in the Jiangnan area are too heavy. I plan to let Yan Xishan implement a new policy tomorrow to reduce taxes and win the hearts of the people first." Gu Chan said after thinking for a while.

"In this case, will the tax silver paid to the court be reduced? If the court blames you, how will you explain it?" asked the nine-fingered beggar.

Gu Chan said with a wicked smile, "I have already thought about this. The taxes I want to reduce are those for ordinary people, not for officials, merchants and wealthy people in Jiangnan. On the contrary, I will make people like this pay more taxes. If anyone dares not to pay, I will be the first one to send him out when the prince's people come."

“Hahahaha…” The nine-fingered old beggar was stunned at first, and then he opened his mouth and burst into laughter.

Gu Chan stared at him and said, "Old Boss, why are you laughing? Am I doing this wrong?"

"What's wrong with your little brain? How come you are so smart? You can even cheat the officials, businessmen and wealthy people in the Jiangnan area at a time like this? I really admire you." The nine-fingered old beggar said as he reached out and touched Gu Chan's head.

"Who made them bully me so much before? It's not a gentleman to go without taking revenge. Now they are begging me to save their lives, so of course I can't let them get away with it." Gu Chan said with a grin.

The nine-fingered old beggar nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, then I won't have to worry about you anymore. I hope you can come up with a good way to stop the 100,000 soldiers sent by the prince. Otherwise, if you let them in, there will definitely be a bloody storm in the Jiangnan area."

"It's still early! His people are expected to arrive in Nancheng soon, otherwise King Nanxian and his son wouldn't be so enthusiastic to help him capture my people and show their loyalty to him. Nancheng is also very far away from here. It took me nearly half a month to get here last time. He has 100,000 soldiers under his command, so it will take at least a month to get there. I have calculated that within this month, I will first solve the many problems in the Jiangnan area and make these people obey me. Then I will find a way to deal with the prince." Gu Chan said seriously.

The nine-fingered old beggar smiled slightly and said nothing more. Instead, he clasped his hands together in front of his chest, closed his eyes and continued to chant Buddhist scriptures.

Gu Chan didn't disturb him anymore. She quietly got up and left, went back to her own Zen room in the backyard and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, after getting up and having breakfast, Gu Chan immediately took Bai Hu to Chang's house and found Chang Wei to inquire about borrowing a boat to transport the silver.

Chang Wei agreed without hesitation.

After the two of them exchanged pleasantries for a while, Gu Chan said goodbye to him and left, going to the Censorate's Mansion again.

At noon, Gu Chan was sitting in the study in the backyard of the Censorate's Mansion, behind the desk where Yan Xishan often sat, with her legs crossed and drinking tea.

Yan Xishan and Guo Huaize stood in front of the table, reporting to her in an orderly manner with written documents in hand.

Bai Jingtian stood on her left, protecting her just as he had protected Xuanyuan Lie before.

Gu Chan had to admit that the feeling of being in a high position was indeed good. No wonder Xuanyuan Lie was so arrogant before. Now she could finally understand Xuanyuan Lie's state of mind at that time.

After the report was completed, Yan Xishan said, "Lord, the silver shipped from various places today has been transferred to Chang's Wharf. I believe that in the next five days, the three billion taels of silver will all be in place and loaded onto cargo ships for transportation."

"Well! It's true that you are now very efficient. I am very satisfied with it." Gu Chan said, shaking her head.

"Then I wonder if the lord has anything else to tell you?" Yan Xishan said cautiously.

Gu Chan curled her lips and smiled, and immediately took out the tax reduction and exemption document that she had written in the Jigong Temple that morning, slapped it on the desk and said, "Have a look at it! As the saying goes, a new official starts with three fires. Now that I am the lord, I must start with the first fire."

"My lord, you are right. Let's see how you start your first fire." Yan Xishan said with a smile.

After saying that, he walked forward, reached out to pick up the letter, opened it, and read it carefully with Guo Huai.

But as they watched, their faces turned stiff.

It turned out that the clauses written on Gu Chan's memorial were all about reducing or exempting taxes in the Jiangnan area. What's more, most importantly, there were as many as two or three hundred clauses about reducing or exempting taxes levied on the common people, but there was not a single clause about reducing or exempting taxes for officials, businessmen, and wealthy people.

Not only that, there were hundreds of new articles on imposing additional taxes on officials, businessmen and wealthy people. How could they not be dumbfounded!

Gu Chan stared at the two and said with a sly smile, "What's wrong? Why are you looking so serious after reading a memorial? Are you going to die?"

"Lord, forgive me for being frank, but your tax reduction and exemption provisions are unfair to all the officials, businessmen and wealthy people in the Jiangnan area!" Yan Xishan said with a bitter face.

"Oh! That's right! There are more than 300 articles to reduce or exempt taxes for the common people, and there are only more than 100 articles to increase taxes for officials, businessmen and wealthy people. The numbers are not equal and totally not enough! No, I have to think of more than 200 articles to add for you, otherwise it will be unfair to you." Gu Chan said seriously.

"Ah?" Yan Xishan and Guo Huai screamed in fright at the same time, their faces looking extremely ugly.

At the moment, the more than one hundred articles on increased taxes on the memorial are enough to make them feel painful. If Gu Chan adds more than two hundred more, wouldn't it empty their family's coffers?

So if these officials, businessmen and wealthy people don’t feel uncomfortable, who else would feel uncomfortable?