"That's right. As the saying goes, there is no order without rules. You guys are always making so much trouble because no one can handle you. After I come here, you have to do things according to the new way, otherwise don't blame me for exterminating your entire family."
Seeing that everyone had shut their mouths, Li Xiang stood up and spoke. When Li Xiang said the two words "this king", everyone present raised their heads in horror.
"May I ask if the prince is His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin?"
The elders in their family have told them not to act recklessly these days, as some big shots who are not to be messed with have come from the capital, especially the emperor's son and grandson. If they mess with these two people, not only will their lives be in danger, but all the property of their entire family will be in danger.
So when Li Xiang said these two words, these people felt a pang in their hearts. How could their luck be so bad? They had been stuck at home for such a long time, and finally came out for a walk, but they ran into the prince's carriage.
"I am King Li Xiang."
This place is a poor and remote place, but the children of bureaucrats have also heard some things about Li Xiang, so when the name Li Xiang was mentioned, they were all scared and didn't know what to say. After all, the war on this side of the border was caused by this His Highness Changsun.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
Just now these guys were still unconvinced, but now when they heard Li Xiang introduce himself, they all knelt down quickly. In Wuqing Prefecture, they were considered the rich and powerful, but compared with Li Xiang, they were nothing.
"Don't talk nonsense. I just want to know one thing: why don't you join the army and serve your country? The Tuyuhun army is approaching, and according to the imperial decree issued earlier, all men of military age must report to the military camp. How can you still have time to travel?"
Li Xiang was too lazy to talk nonsense with these guys and went straight to the point.
"this……"
If it were anything else, they could still get away with it, but if it was this, they really didn't know how to say it. It wasn't just the situation in their area, it was the same all over the country. Who among the dignitaries would let their family members go to the battlefield? Unless they were the descendants of the great generals in the capital, they would join the army to make a career. But these third-rate young men didn't have that ability, so the army became a place they stayed away from.
"It's hard to answer, right? That's fine, but I'm new here, and I'm sure you can see that. I should have 3,600 men, but now I've picked out only a dozen. It's really hard to say. You can't let me take these dozen people to the battlefield, right?"
Li Xiang changed the subject. These people's eyes were already filled with despair. They had also heard about some of Li Xiang's ways of doing things. If the investigation continued like this, their fathers might be affected. They were worried about how to survive this crisis. Who knew that Li Xiang would say these words?
"Your Highness, rest assured. Leave this matter to us. We will go and gather these three thousand people. We must not let Your Highness take these dozen people to the battlefield."
The leading young man spoke quickly, and the rest of the people nodded. They had many private slaves at home. As long as they picked out some strong ones and let Li Xiang take them to the battlefield, maybe they would not have any trouble with him. Of course, they had to give Li Xiang a generous gift.
Li Xiang certainly understood what these people were up to. "How could I let you fool me?" Your servants are usually very resentful. On the battlefield, let alone fighting for us, they might even lose their lives to them without knowing what's going on. You dare to give them to me, but I don't dare to take them.
"I don't think you need to bother with this matter. I'll go recruit soldiers myself. However, each soldier's armor and weapons will cost at least 60 strings of cash. This money..."
Li Xiang deliberately lengthened his tone, hoping that these people would accept the money, but these people did not respond to Li Xiang.
They had no shortage of over 3,000 people. After all, they had plenty of slaves at home, so they could just pick some strong ones and send them over. But if they were asked to pay that much, wouldn't that be a bit too much? Sixty strings of cash per person, so for 3,600 people, that would be over 200,000 strings of cash.
For some of the top wealthy families in Beijing, it is very difficult to come up with this amount of money, and it would be a huge loss to do so. They are just some third-rate small landlords in the local area. Even if they sell their entire family, they probably cannot raise such a sum of money. If they have to use this method to get through the difficulties, then what is the point of living?
"It seems like none of you want to cooperate with me. Didn't we just have a good chemistry? Why are you all so quiet when I mention money?"
Li Xiang said with a sneer, and this voice made everyone present feel cold.
"Your Highness, it's not that we are unwilling to pay, it's really this amount of money..."
The leading young man said with some difficulty that their family was the number one family in the local area, and their annual income was less than 900 strings of cash, which was already a lot. The people around them still had a gap compared to their family. If they were asked to take 20,000 strings of cash, they might as well just confiscate their entire family.
"Sir, what you said is wrong. It's like I'm blackmailing you. You should know that this money is not for me. You should be serving in the army, but you are traveling. If this is reported, not only will you go to jail, but your parents will too. I am risking violating the laws of the Tang Dynasty by giving you a backdoor. You must cherish this opportunity."
Li Xiang patted the young man's shoulder with a good-natured look on his face, but the people around him didn't believe that you were really thinking about us. The number you wanted was too high. Even if you dug the entire Wuqing Prefecture three feet deep, you probably wouldn't find 20,000 strings of cash.
"Your Highness, we really can't take it out..."
"Your Highness, please have mercy..."
When everyone saw that Li Xiang was not joking, they all knelt down in front of him, hoping that he would show mercy to them.
The people around, including Old Man Zhao, saw that every time a new official came, he would try his best to make money from the common people. But our prince is different. He tries his best to make money from the officials, while we common people just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
