Before Qin Feng could finish speaking, Guan Yu, whose face instantly turned red, knelt on the ground with a thud.
"My Lord's kindness is beyond compare. In this life and this world, I shall follow you to the death!"
"Ah, this..."
Qin Feng, somewhat awkwardly touching his nose, quickly got up and helped Guan Yu to his feet.
"Yun Chang, there is no need for this. Your brave fighting on the battlefield is the greatest reward for me!"
"My Lord, rest assured~!"
After cupping his fists towards Qin Feng again, Guan Yu, with a flushed face and a firm voice, declared:
"If the Second Legion does not rescue a hundred thousand civilians this time, this subordinate is willing to accept punishment!"
"Very good~!"
Hearing Guan Yu's pledge, Qin Feng nodded with satisfaction.
"Yun Chang, let your Second Legion go to Qingzhou this time. There are quite a few Yellow Turban rebels there too!"
"However, you must also be careful. Most of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans camp in the mountains, making them difficult to attack and easy to defend, which is not suitable for cavalry."
"This subordinate understands!"
After listening to Qin Feng's instructions, Guan Yu confidently said:
"Let them hide in the mountains if they wish. As long as I evacuate all the civilians and supplies from the surrounding cities, I believe they won't be able to hide for too long!"
"Hiss~!"
Qin Feng thought he was ruthless enough, but compared to Guan Yu, he was still too kind.
Migrating an entire city?
How many people would die?!
However,
To prevent them from being ravaged by the Yellow Turban bandits, a brief period of pain was acceptable.
Thus,
As the temporary meeting in the Provincial Governor's Yamen concluded, the entire You Prefecture was once again in motion.
Grain, supplies, meat... cartloads were sent to the military camps.
Even the supplies originally intended for rewarding the troops were received by the newly formed Second Legion.
Fortunately,
Qin Feng did not forget the contributions of the You Prefecture aristocratic families and met with them that evening.
"My Lord~!"
Liu Qi, dressed in fine brocade robes, cupped his fists towards Qin Feng first.
"Greetings, Provincial Governor~!"
A group of old and young people, following closely behind, also quickly bowed to Qin Feng.
In fact, the grand ceremony of kowtowing was not yet popular in the late Han Dynasty. Except for ancestor worship and heaven worship, people rarely knelt. Even if they did, it was the single-knee kneel of a military general.
Qin Feng naturally had no objections to this; he disliked excessive kneeling.
How good is it now?
They bowed to him, he raised his hand, and a courtesy was completed.
"Everyone, please be seated!"
After signaling everyone to take their seats, Qin Feng looked at them with a smile.
"Since you have all come here today, it means you sincerely support me, Qin Feng."
"This Provincial Governor is very pleased to receive your support!"
"However, as the saying goes, it is better to share joy with others than to enjoy it alone!"
"You Prefecture has suffered from continuous wars and has become dilapidated."
"This Provincial Governor has decided to launch a series of trade initiatives while reorganizing."
"This..."
As Qin Feng's words slowly fell, everyone present could not help but look at each other in dismay.
What did he mean?
After squeezing so much out of them, he still wanted to squeeze them again?
What reorganization, what trade, wasn't it all about wanting money?
Thinking of this,
Despite their displeasure and anger, someone took the lead and raised their hand, saying:
"Provincial Governor's benevolence is admirable. The Zhang family of Zhuo County is willing to contribute a humble sum of one hundred thousand!"
"I, Fan Yang..."
"Wait, wait!"
Seeing that a trade fair was about to turn into a charity event, Qin Feng quickly waved his hand to interrupt, saying:
"Everyone, you have truly misunderstood this Provincial Governor's intentions. Tonight, I am not asking you to donate money or supplies, but to genuinely give you money!"
"G-give money?"
Everyone, who was already surprised by the interruption, became even more astonished.
Is there such a good thing in this world?
When officials aren't trying to find ways to extort money from them, they are actually trying to give them money?
"Heh heh~!"
Seeing that everyone looked disbelieving, Qin Feng smiled wryly and waved his hand.
"Forget it!"
"It's difficult to explain it to you this way, so let's get straight to the point!"
"Follow me!"
Saying this, Qin Feng stood up and led everyone to a specially decorated meeting room.
"Before I give you all money, there is one matter that needs to be clarified."
"From now on, merchants operating in You Prefecture will be taxed, tentatively set at twenty percent of net profit per month!"
"What?"
"Merchants will also be taxed?"
"Provincial Governor, this, this is a bit inappropriate, isn't it? We don't earn much money in total!"
"Yes!"
"Provincial Governor, we can accept donations of money and supplies, but taxation is a bit too much!"
"..."
Listening to the murmurs of everyone, Qin Feng did not interrupt.
Only when the room gradually quieted down did Qin Feng wave his hand and say with a smile:
"Since I said I'm giving you money, how can I only collect taxes and not pay out?"
"Don't worry too much!"
"Currently, there are only a few industries that will be taxed, and these are all highly profitable ones."
"And..."
"This Provincial Governor will not keep a single cent of the collected taxes; it will be returned to you the following month through another method!"
"Huh?!"
"This, this..."
The more Qin Feng said this, the more confused everyone became. Even Liu Qi couldn't help but ask:
"My Lord, what do you mean by this? You collect taxes and then return them to us?"
"It can't really be called returning it!"
Qin Feng walked to the huge conference table and spread out a map of Zhuo Commandery.
"A wise person once said that to become rich, one must first build roads!"
"This Provincial Governor has decided to undertake large-scale road construction throughout Zhuo Commandery!"
"And..."
"This road construction is different from before. The Provincial Governor's Yamen will provide the money, and you will be responsible for organizing the personnel and building according to the requirements of the Provincial Governor's Yamen."
"Do you understand?"
"This..."
Everyone looked at each other. Although they were somewhat disbelieving, they still nodded and said:
"Provincial Governor, we understand what you mean. You provide the money, we find the people, and we build the roads according to your requirements."
"Right!"
"It's that simple!"
Qin Feng nodded affirmatively, with an expression of concern for them, saying:
"Isn't this giving you money for free?"
"..."
Everyone looked at each other again. They wanted to say something, but no one dared.
"Are you worried about the pricing?"
Seeing through their subtle thoughts at a glance, Qin Feng smiled and pointed to the map in front of him.
"Don't worry!"
"This Provincial Governor will not let you lose money, after all, I still plan to collect taxes, right?"
"The total cost of road construction will be contracted to you at market price plus thirty percent."
"I won't interfere with how you build or how you find people!"
"But there is one condition!"
"The common people working throughout Zhuo Commandery and You Prefecture must be able to eat their fill."
"Can this be achieved?"
"Yes!"
"Absolutely!"
As Qin Feng's words fell, everyone present nodded frantically.
This was truly giving them money!
Even if they built at market price, they could still save some.
With an additional thirty percent?
Doesn't that mean that for every road built, they could earn more than forty percent of the total cost?
Who wouldn't do such a good thing?