After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

"Hmm?" Zhu Cuiwei suddenly looked up at the young doctor who was frowning.

You have three options… She narrowed her beautiful eyes into slits.

"The first type," Ning Nan said, ignoring his wife's suspicious look, and held up one finger: "A generous reward will surely bring forth brave men."

Zhu Cuiwei frowned immediately and said, "This is not about attacking a mountain stronghold. Attacking a mountain only happens once, but defending it can last for years or even decades. Black Tiger Mountain is not a major route for the Northern Dynasty to travel south, so the expenses cannot be too great."

Ning Nan laughed and said, "It's not about rewarding the guards on the mountain, but about rewarding the good men from the villages below."

"Black Tiger Mountain is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The reason why the garrison troops find it difficult to defend is that the families of the garrison troops do not live here. If Grand Tutor Gu recruits good men from local families, only two to three hundred men are needed. With the help of the gate and weapons, the mountaintop can be easily defended."

Huh? ... Zhu Cuiwei slowly nodded... Recruiting a battalion of new soldiers locally, that's one way to do it.

However, the expenses would not be small. It was just that the new recruits' hometowns were at the foot of the mountain, so they would be much more proactive in guarding the mountain than the garrison soldiers, which was better than the garrison soldiers wasting money and food.

Ning Nan paused, then added, "We need to reduce waste. First, we can cultivate land on the mountains; second, for good families willing to go up the mountains, we can reduce their land tax by half; third," Ning Nan took a breath and said, "to prevent the formation of new garrison troops, we can adopt a rotation system."

"A rotation system?" Zhu Cuiwei frowned. Land reclamation and land tax reduction were indeed immediate measures, she nodded inwardly. A rotation system seemed self-explanatory, but why?

Ning Nan nodded and said, "Every six months, we will replace half of the people and send half of the new people up the mountain. The veterans will lead the new recruits. In this way, the people in the villages of the three counties below the mountain may be exempted from half of their land taxes. Only then will the three counties feel that Black Tiger Mountain is their territory and their money bag. Even if it is not their turn to guard it this year, it may be their turn next year. They will not allow others to touch it again."

Ning Nan smiled and said, "The temptation of halving the land tax is still very strong. Moreover, with their own children on the mountain, the people of the three counties will be united. With the mountains and valleys working together, if the bandits come to raid, every village will report it. No matter how powerful the bandits are, once they fall into such a vast ocean, they will only drown."

Huff... Zhu Cuiwei's expression froze for a moment, then she let out a small breath.

"Second." Ning Nan held up two fingers.

"No need," Zhu Cuiwei interrupted, raising her hand and nodding her chin. "This one will do."

She puffed out her cheeks slightly, her face turning a little rosy. "I think this one is fine."

"oh."

Ning Nan nodded, turned around, picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and began writing in the eight-legged essay style again.

But at the same time, he was silently counting in his mind.

"one."

"two."

"three."

"What's the second one?" Cui Cui's wife's voice rang out at just the right moment.

I knew it… Ning Nan’s lips curled up, she put down her pen, slightly raised her chin and said, “Call me husband.”

Cui Cui ignored him and went straight to pinch the soft flesh on his waist.

"Hey!" Ning Nan suddenly turned to the side and called out.

"second?"

"Establish a customs post at Black Tiger Mountain. Merchant ships coming from the Yangtze River and Yunze Lake will have their taxes halved or reduced by one-third as long as they pass through the customs post at Black Tiger Mountain!" Ning Nan said irritably.

Establishing a new currency exchange... Zhu Cuiwei's eyes lit up immediately.

A new customs house... With that, the soldiers from the three county garrisons will probably fight tooth and nail to defend Black Tiger Mountain...

"And the third one?" she asked urgently.

"I haven't decided yet."

"Didn't you just say you had three ideas?" she said loudly, a sound she hadn't heard in a long time.

"I'm just bragging... I couldn't come up with that even if you strangled me."

Without another word, Zhu Cuiwei stood up, her legs taut, and leaned towards him...

After prolonged suffocation.

"And the third one?" She straightened up, her face flushed, and wiped the corner of her mouth.

Ning Nan swallowed hard and wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, then said dizzily, "Combining the above two points, we should send civil officials to build a dock and roads at the foot of Black Tiger Mountain... After the merchant ships arrive, we should hire people to help them unload their cargo, changing the waterway to a land route. In addition, we should build factories on-site for processing, such as turning sandalwood from the north into chairs..."

He was a little short of breath, so he didn't speak very clearly and didn't care whether Cui Cui's wife could understand him or not.

"...As long as the quantity gradually increases and commerce prospers, most of these dockworkers will reform their ways as former river bandits... Sigh... As long as they can have a clean and stable meal, who would be willing to risk their life to become a bandit... Sigh... This is the fundamental solution."

Listening to the young doctor's words, Zhu Cuiwei's face became even rosier, and her eyes brightened slightly...

……

The next morning.

When it's foggy.

Ning Nan got out of bed feeling refreshed.

Today we're heading back to Lijia Village.

Before he had even put on his outer clothes, Cui Cui's wife, wearing only a thin garment, picked up a soft gold-threaded armor, walked to his side, and put it on him.

Wow! ... Ning Nan glanced down, his eyes suddenly lighting up, but he said with dissatisfaction, "Is this necessary? Making a mountain out of a molehill." He stretched the golden silk armor over his body, hey, it fits pretty well.

Zhu Cuiwei hadn't combed her hair yet; her jet-black hair was lazily draped over her shoulders.

Looking at the hypocritical look on the face of the man in front of her, she narrowed her eyes and said, "The news of the destruction of Black Tiger Mountain has spread. Those few people from the Thousand Households are bragging in the brothels all day long, saying that Young Master Ning led them to destroy the mountain and they can't control him..." She puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

"It's fine within Nanjing, but it would be safer outside of Nanjing."

Ning Nan nodded and rewarded his wife with a bite.

After going out.

San Zhuang was already waiting outside with great enthusiasm... Going back to Li Family Village with his eldest brother would mean at least two days without training! His eyes slightly raised.

Ning Nan got into the carriage, while San Zhuang sat outside, watching the honest and simple Uncle Ping drive the carriage... He had always wanted to learn how to drive a carriage.

Just outside the side gate of Ning Mansion.

A group of people rode over on horseback.

Ning Nan lifted the curtain and looked over. It was a familiar face from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a junior officer named Qian Sijin, who had brought over ten men from his squad, each carrying a sword.

Qian Sijin called out "Mr. Ning" and clasped his hands in a fist, saying that Commander Qin had sent them to protect Mr. Ning in case any remaining bandits from Black Tiger Mountain launched a counterattack.

Ning Nan immediately smiled and thanked him, then took out twenty taels of silver from his pocket and stuffed it into his hand, saying he would treat his brothers to drinks.

Qian Sijin's face was bitter... He didn't know whether to accept the offer or not. If he didn't accept, it would be disrespectful to Mr. Ning. If he did accept, his brothers behind him would all be watching expectantly.

In the end, Qian Sijin accepted the silver, intending to hand it over to Qin Qianhu after returning to the capital, and then distribute some of it to his brothers out of his own pocket.

The weather is nice today. After several days of high temperatures and sunshine, today is a cloudy day with pleasantly cool temperatures.

The carriage rolled on and on.

Before long, they exited through the Shicheng Gate and arrived in Jiangning County. Shortly after, they exited through the Jiangdong Gate and completely left Nanjing City.

As it turned out, Cui Cui's wife and Qin Yuanyao's concerns were quite reasonable.

Ning Nan sat in the carriage and silently took a breath.

He lifted the wooden planks inside the carriage, picked up the muskets, and tucked them one by one into the leather pouches at his waist.

He was attacked about half an hour before he reached Lijia Village.