Ding Xiao bent down to open the box and helped Lou Dongfang count it.
When the crisp sound of the collision of gold and silver reached the ears of everyone in the audience, most of the gentry's emotions were ignited, and they all raised their arms and shouted.
"I, Beiguan Butcher Zhang, would like to donate two hundred taels of silver and lend me five hundred taels to the prefect!"
"Butcher Zhang finally took action, but seven hundred taels of silver doesn't seem to be enough!"
"Come on, stop talking sarcastically. How much can you donate? Can you donate a hundred taels?"
"If you say that, you are really looking down on people. Hey... Mr. Lou, I, Luo Daheng, the shopkeeper of the Tycoon Gold Shop in Qianjie Street, are willing to donate three hundred taels of silver and lend me eight hundred taels to the prefect."
Lou Dongfang was smiling all over his face, and he was even more happy in his heart.
These are the people who were really tricked into doing charity. These two people alone spent nearly two thousand taels of silver. It seems that Liping Mansion is not so poor after all!
"I will donate too, I will donate fifty taels of gold, five hundred taels of silver, no, no... I will donate six hundred taels of silver."
Since Sun Dahai held a huge amount of gold and silver, Liu Gongfu asked him to borrow it first and then donate it, which rhythmically aroused the mood of the scene.
But he didn't expect to be outed by Shopkeeper Chen of the Southeast Grain Store and receive a plaque as a reward from the prefect. Sun Dahai couldn't help but feel sour in his heart. He immediately raised his arms and shouted again, becoming the focus of the field again.
Fifty taels of gold are converted into five hundred taels of silver, plus six hundred taels of silver, which is one thousand one hundred taels!
Such a large sum of money, even in Guiyang or even in the capital, is an out-and-out huge sum of money, which is enough to make people jaw-dropping.
What everyone in the audience didn't expect was that Sun Dahai actually only paid one hundred taels out of his own pocket.
"Ha... I donated more than a thousand taels in one go. How much wealth does Shopkeeper Sun have?"
"He has already lent a thousand taels of silver to the government, and now he has donated a thousand taels of gold and silver. I am afraid he has a family fortune of four to five thousand taels, right?"
"It seems that shopkeeper Sun is the top benefactor of today's fundraiser. With a donation of 1,110 taels, I'm afraid no one can match it!"
"Thank you very much, Shopkeeper Sun, for your generous donation. I will also ask someone to make a plaque for you to reward your dedication."
The prefect Li Yao stood up again to thank Sun Dahai. This made Zhu Changan, who was lying on the box watching, feel like the scene in the live broadcast room where he thanked his elder brother after receiving the carnival.
"Tsk tsk... This Magistrate Li is really good at playing. The white wolf with his bare hands is really good at playing!"
Liu Yangang, a fellow prefect sitting next to Li Yao, couldn't help but feel sweat on his forehead. He quietly took out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat beads. He thought he was dreaming.
Did the gentry in Liping City take the wrong medicine? They all donated money and food excitedly. In one hour, they probably earned almost more than 20,000 taels of silver, right? Li Yao is going to make a comeback from a desperate situation!
The judge next to him, Ding Kewang, was also envious, jealous, and fearful of Li Yao.
No matter what methods the prefect used, the current crisis faced by Liping Mansion has been solved. It seems that he underestimated the prefect, so he might as well surrender honestly to avoid being blamed by the queen in the future.
Thinking of this, Ding Tongpan deliberately kept a distance from Liu Yangang, and stood up from time to time to please the prefect.
At noon, this vigorous fund-raising finally came to an end. The wealthy gentry with different moods dispersed one after another, leaving only the government officials smiling from ear to ear looking at the mountains of gold and silver.
The usually lazy servants of Liping Mansion became smarter and smarter at this moment, and they looked at the magistrate respectfully.
After all, if you have money, you will have a future. If the prefect has money, everyone can live a good life.
After some counting, a total of 23,000 taels of silver and more than 200 taels of gold were obtained from this fundraising meeting, all converted into nearly 26,000 taels of silver, which was enough for Li Yao to complete the reconstruction of Liping Mansion.
Among them, 18,000 taels of silver were borrowed, and more than 5,000 taels of silver were donated. Basically all the gold came from Zhu Renxia's gift. After all, even merchants' families were short of this stuff.
"Haha... I didn't expect that there are so many gentry in Liping City."
Liu Yangang congratulated Li Yao sourly, "Master Li raised his arms and shouted today, and a large number of people gathered. It can be seen that your prestige in the hearts of the people has surpassed that of Tian Zongren."
Li Yao smiled politely in return: "We, the people of Liping City, are eager for public justice and love justice. It is not Li's fault. Mr. Liu is ridiculously praising us!"
Tong Jian Ding Kewang suggested: "My lord, it is indeed a happy event that we have raised such a big deal today. How about we have a banquet to celebrate?"
"No!"
Li Yao decisively refused, "This is what Liping's family members want to do. How can we eat, drink and have fun? The money must be used wisely, repairing city walls, rebuilding government offices, recruiting strong people, purchasing weapons and horses, and the money must be used wisely." There is plenty of space, so we must not waste it."
Ding Kewang said angrily: "That's what the prefect said."
At that moment, Li Yao personally directed the officers to put the gold and silver into the warehouse, and sent additional manpower to guard it. At the same time, he posted notices to recruit civilians and officers throughout the city.
I heard that the prefect had raised countless gold and silver today, and people in Liping City gathered together to recruit more than 300 people in one day.
After delivering all the gold and silver to the government, Zhu Renxia and others no longer had to worry about thieves stealing, so they all moved out of the messy barracks and moved into a clean inn.
"We have finished our work. Mr. Li also agreed to upgrade our Chang'an Town from a village to a town. We can return tomorrow."
Zhu Renxia, Jin Zhu and Liu Gongfu were drinking tea and chatting in the spacious and bright room.
Seeing that Liu Gongfu was not in a high mood, Zhu Renxia smiled and asked: "Brother Gongfu, I know that Master Li has been kind to you. If you want to serve him again, I will make it happen."
Liu Gongfu hurriedly explained: "Where, where... Mayor, please don't misunderstand me. I just saw the arrogant and respectful attitude of fellow aide Liu Yangang, general judge Ding Kewang and others, and I felt sick in my heart. If we don't help this time, Mr. Li can’t raise any money, so he doesn’t know how to get through this difficulty.”
"The prefect has been in the officialdom for many years and has excellent political strategies. He will never be stumped by this dilemma. Even without our help, I believe that Prefect Li can resolve the crisis and secure his position as prefect." Zhu Renxia picked up the tea bowl and sipped it. Said in one breath.
When leaving the donation site, Lou Dongfang said that the prefect would hold a banquet tonight to thank him, so Zhu Renxia drank tea and chatted in the inn with peace of mind, waiting for dark to go to the prefect's Yamen for the banquet.
In the evening, Li Yao, who had just finished his official duties, took Lou Dongfang back to the prefect's Yamen.
As soon as he entered the door, he told the cook to quickly prepare a banquet. He wanted to thank Zhu Renxia and Liu Gongfu tonight. "If it weren't for their appearance, I still wouldn't know how to solve the current predicament. I must thank them well!"
At this moment, a fast horse came outside Liping City and opened the city gate. The person who came was the governor's envoy from Guiyang.
The guard guarding the gate did not dare to neglect and hurriedly took the envoy to visit the prefect Li Yao.
"This is a letter written by the governor, please read it." The envoy took out the letter from his pocket and presented it to Li Yao respectfully.
After reading this, Li Yao looked solemn, rewarded the envoy with a tael of silver, and said with his fists in his hands: "Please go back and report to the governor. We will definitely try our best to organize troops to go to Guiyang for reinforcements."
"Farewell!"
The envoy took the money, happily left the magistrate's office, got on his horse, and left the city overnight to return to Guiyang.
As soon as the envoy left the house, Lou Dongfang asked Li Yao: "Sir, you look solemn. Could it be that Guiyang has encountered a problem?"
"look by youself."
Li Yao reluctantly handed the governor's letter to Lou Dongfang and asked him to read it himself.
I saw the letter written: Half a month ago, Du Si Yang Guozhu followed the order of Guizhou Governor Jiang Dongzhi and led 5,000 people to attack Feilian Fort under Bozhou. Unexpectedly, they were ambushed by the rebels. The entire army was annihilated. Du Si Yang Guozhu was killed in the battle. .
After this defeat, Guiyang's troops were empty. Yang Yinglong took the opportunity to send his generals Xiang Fan and Deng Wuqian to each lead 20,000 troops to march towards Guiyang. The rebels divided into two groups and gradually formed an encirclement of Guiyang.
Therefore, the governor of Jiangdong asked local governments to send troops to reinforce Guiyang and protect the provincial capital.
"Reinforcements are nothing!"
Lou Dongfang, who had just been elated about getting a large amount of money, suddenly became discouraged, "It's not like the governor doesn't know the situation in Liping. We were just ransacked by the rebels, and there wasn't even a grain of rice in the granary. In such a huge city, even the guards and guards The people are less than 400 strong, so how can we reinforce Guiyang?"
Li Yao sighed: "The national crisis is approaching, and the governor's situation is even more difficult than ours. I must repay this favor. No matter what, we must gather a team to go to Guiyang for reinforcements."
