Isolated town in northern border region

Seeing Cui'er's reaction, the father immediately realized what was going on.

This means you've met a kind and helpful person!

The man suddenly knelt at Xiao Lie's feet, trying to grab Xiao Lie's trouser legs with both hands, but afraid that his muddy hands would soil Xiao Lie's clothes, he could only kowtow repeatedly.

"Sir! Please, have mercy and buy my girl!"

"My daughter's name is Cui'er. She's hardworking, quick and efficient, doesn't eat much, and is very easy to take care of!"

Xiao Lie reached out and helped the father and daughter up, asking softly.

"I saw you working in the fields a few days ago, and the crops were growing well, so you should have a lot of grain stored up."

"What trouble have they gotten themselves into that they have to sell their daughter?"

Upon hearing this, the man's eyes immediately reddened.

"My esteemed guest, you don't know this, but all that grain lying on the ground doesn't belong to our family!"

"Most of the land in Yongzhou belongs to nobles; we are just tenant farmers!"

"I paid the land rent and the crop interest the day before yesterday, and only one bushel of coarse grain is left!"

"My youngest child caught a cold, and we're really struggling to make ends meet!"

"Oh... my poor child!"

Xiao Lie was completely stunned.

He knew that land annexation was a serious problem in ancient times, but he never imagined that even in the most prosperous Yongzhou, the people lived such a life.

It is easy to imagine how people in those more remote and barren counties survive.

Xiao Lie listened quietly as he finished speaking, then reached out to Bi Su and asked for some loose silver, handing it to the man.

It wasn't that Xiao Lie was poor or stingy; it was just that he had been struck by a windfall, and this honest farmer couldn't hold onto it!

"Take it to pay for the child's medical treatment, and also buy some clothes for Cui'er."

Then he stood up and looked around.

Outside the crowd, several other children also had straw markers stuck in their hair, like a row of silent notices.

All eyes were on him, their eyes filled with pleading.

Those so-called prosperous Yongzhou, those golden wheat fields, those granaries overflowing with grain...

It's all fake!

The wealthy are not the people of Yongzhou, but the powerful families of Yongzhou!

The people's bowls are never full!

Xiao Lie instructed Bi Su to take out all the silver and distribute it among the people.

Someone accepted the silver, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed.

Someone was holding their child and wailing loudly;

Someone shakily pulled off the straw marker;

Some people couldn't say a word; they just lay on the ground trembling!

Bisu's eyes were red as she whispered.

"Your Highness... we don't have enough money..."

Xiao Lie looked at those who hadn't received their share of silver yet, at the light that had just ignited in their eyes and then quickly died out. He remained silent for a long time before pulling the jade pendant from his waist.

"Go to a pawnshop and pawn it. Tell the pawnshop owner it's the jade pendant of Xiao Lie, the King of the Northern Frontier!"

"If he dares to make money through dishonest means, I'll burn his shop down!"

When the people heard Xiao Lie announce his identity as the King of the Northern Frontier, they were all shocked!

"It's actually... a prince!"

"Is that the prince who reclaimed the five northern prefectures? How come he's so young?"

"The prince was a promising young man back then!"

"I've heard that the people of northern Xinjiang all own their own land and are all incredibly wealthy!"

Soon, Bisu ran back, carrying a heavy cloth bag in her arms.

Xiao Lie took the bag and glanced at it, guessing that the pawnshop owner was fairly honest.

"Go to the grain shop, exchange most of it for grain, and give them the remaining silver."

Upon hearing Xiao Lie's arrangement, the people in the alley knelt down before him.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"Thank you, Your Highness, for sparing our lives!"

Xiao Lie took a deep breath, trying to make his tone more friendly.

"Go back and live your lives well. Don't waste your money and food."

"If you see your neighbors in trouble, lend a helping hand if you can."

"I assure you, within a year, all the land of Yongzhou will be back in your hands!"

That day, Xiao Lie returned to the inn, sat down at the table, and spread out the plans he had spent three nights writing...

The framework for cooperation with the Yongzhou Shijia, business sharing, railway extension nodes, and the southward passage for products from northern Xinjiang.

Every number was calculated clearly, and every piece of paper was written neatly.

He looked at it for a long time, but the more he looked, the more disgusted he felt!

Xiao Lie cursed under his breath, then fiercely tore the paper in half, folded it, tore it again, and finally shredded it into pieces. The scraps of paper fluttered to the ground, but the anger in his heart showed no signs of abating.

Bisu stood at the door, startled.

"Your Highness, what's wrong...?"

Xiao Lie did not look up; his voice was low and deep.

"I originally thought that these noble families, having been well-read, would have at least some conscience."

"I never imagined these termites could be so ruthless!"

He crouched down, picked up a piece of paper from the pile of scraps on the ground, and squeezed it in his hand.

"I wrote all night long, about how to divide the money with the powerful families and how to get them to help open up trade routes in the northern frontier."

"But I only saw it today!"

"The money these powerful families make is squeezed from the mouths of these ordinary people!"

"Land rent, usury, selling children... If I take their money and then give half to the powerful families, what's the difference between that and me personally handing them the rope?"

He stood up, threw the scrap of paper into the charcoal brazier, and watched it burn to ashes.

"All the prominent families in Yongzhou will attend tomorrow's literary gathering."

His voice was calm, but beneath that calm lay a scorching volcano.

"I'm going to tell them!"

"The Great Chu is not ruled by them!"

Bisu looked at him and suddenly felt that the prince had completely changed.

He was no longer the carefree King of the Northern Frontier, but had become someone so sharp that no one dared to look him in the eye.

"Send a message back to the northern frontier, instructing Qian Wanli to hand over all his work to Zhou Xun and rush to Yongzhou immediately!"

"A prominent family?"

"Dare you let the people go hungry and sell their children?"

"I dare to desecrate his ancestral graves!"

"Isn't it just doing business?"

"Who's afraid of who!"

Just then, a skirt embroidered with gold and silver suddenly swirled behind Bisu.

Jiang Min visited late at night.

Bisu quickly stepped aside and led Jiang Min into the house.

"What brings the princess here so late at night?"

Suppressing his anger, Xiao Lie asked a question in a nonchalant tone.

Jiang Min smiled, squatted down, and picked up a fragment from the ground.

"Your Highness, those who achieve great things must have a broad mind."

"While powerful families can sometimes be too harsh on ordinary people, they are a powerful tool for those in power to govern and rule the people!"

"Your Highness's concern for the people is indeed benevolent, but if you were to make enemies of the powerful families for this, I fear the losses would outweigh the gains!"

Xiao Lie remained silent, his eyes fixed on Jiang Min, making Jiang Min feel uneasy.

The room was quiet and somewhat oppressive, so Bisu tactfully served hot tea.

"Princess, please have some tea."

Unexpectedly, when Bisu handed the teacup to Jiang Min, Xiao Lie stopped it.

"No!"

"It's late at night, and I've had too much tea, so I can't fall asleep."

"The princess is the main character of tomorrow's literary gathering, so we can't be careless."

After saying that, Xiao Lie pointed to the door.

"Princess, please proceed!"

As the saying goes, a full cup of tea is a welcome gesture, but Xiao Lie didn't even offer tea, so you can imagine how disgusted he was.

If it weren't for the fact that Jiang Min had helped him a lot before, Xiao Lie would probably have pointed his finger at him and cursed him right now!

Jiang Min was also extremely surprised to see this.

She didn't understand why Xiao Lie was reacting so strongly, when everything she said was clearly correct!

Wasn't it precisely by controlling aristocratic families and making them herdsmen that the State of Jing achieved the status of the most civilized state in the world?

Since Xiao Lie has great ambitions, why is he getting stuck on this trivial matter?

Jiang Min raised her chin and met Xiao Lie's gaze.

"Does Your Highness truly not understand?"

Xiao Lie sneered.

"Understood! Of course I understand!"

"But I cannot stand it! Is that alright?"

After dawn, it will be the Qixi literary gathering.

Xiao Lie is going to flip a table!