After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 715 - 705: Sheet Music

Rumors spread that the actual power holder of the Xiping Zhao Family, Zhao Ming, could no longer tolerate Zhao Hanzhang and ran all the way from Chen County to Luoyang to confront her;

However, it’s said that Zhao Ming was no match for Zhao Hanzhang and had to use a soft approach, pleading with Zhao Hanzhang to favor the aristocracy and reduce taxes to appease the gentry in Yu State and Luoyang.

It’s said that Zhao Hanzhang didn’t agree, so Zhao Ming knelt for a long time, refusing to rise.

It’s also said that the Fifth Grandfather of the Zhao Family, who went along, felt sorry for his son and also pleaded with Zhao Hanzhang.

Only then did Zhao Hanzhang relent. It’s said she shed tears on the spot, expressing that she too wished to favor the gentry of both regions, since her great-grandfather had been very favorable to the Yu State gentry, helping the weak and assisting the poor, and recommending good talents to the court.

She stated that she didn’t want to be infamous for being harsh and unforgiving, but with so many soldiers under her, she had no choice. However, since Zhao Ming made a request, she would reconsider, so she took a step back.

Zhao Hanzhang’s new edict quickly spread from Luoyang to various places, allowing refugees who had lost their land to redistribute it and pay taxes based on previous requirements;

Meanwhile, affluent peasants, gentry, and the wealthy who originally owned land had to be tallied and pay taxes based on the actual number of acres cultivated, enjoying the same reduction policy as the refugees, namely, only a third of the tax amount on cultivated land needed to be paid.

But she required local county governments to keep good records, and any land under their name that went uncultivated for five consecutive years would be repossessed by the state.

This announcement made the gentry of Yu State and Luoyang extremely grateful to Zhao Ming and the Xiping Zhao Family, instantly replacing Mrs. Wang as the number one in the hearts of the gentry. Even gentry from outside these areas praised the Zhao Family and Zhao Ming highly, starting to form groups to visit Xiping and Chen County.

This outcome was unexpected for both Zhao Hanzhang and Zhao Ming. With so much preparation, they only wanted to mitigate the consequences of Zhao Hanzhang’s frequent policy changes, but they hadn’t expected this unexpected joy.

When the feedback returned, Zhao Ming had already taken his father back to Chen County, so the words that surged in his heart had to be held back, unable to be shared with Zhao Hanzhang.

But he still had Yu Shiming by his side.

Yu Shiming raised his eyes to him and asked, "Brother Zi Nian, aren’t you afraid that one day the Zhao Family’s contributions will overshadow their master, prompting the lord to settle accounts?"

Zhao Ming was stirred, he tightly pursed his lips and said, "She is not such a person."

Meanwhile, in Luoyang City, both Ji Yuan and Ming Yu were somewhat worried, "Miss, the result of this matter is beyond our expectation. If this continues, I’m afraid too much power will be uncontrollable."

Zhao Hanzhang’s expression didn’t change much, confidently smiling, "I trust Uncle Ming and also trust my own abilities."

She said, "If the tail is big, I will make the head and body even bigger."

Ji Yuan and Ming Yu exchanged glances, exhaled and respectfully agreed.

This matter aside, Ji Yuan took out a letter and said, "This is a letter just received from Jinyang. The horses you entrusted Governor Liu to buy have been secured, and they should arrive in Luoyang before the winter solstice."

Zhao Hanzhang immediately took the letter when she heard this.

Since she occupied Luoyang, Zhao Hanzhang’s connections with Liu Kun tightened.

Especially since Liu Kun loved to write letters, Zhao Hanzhang managed to receive one or two letters from him every month. Even when there was no significant matter, Liu Kun would write to chat with her.

Zhao Hanzhang felt it was a waste of manpower, but she couldn’t refuse Liu Kun’s enthusiasm, so they maintained this two-letter per month correspondence rate, even surpassing Fu Tinghan in communication frequency,

But the benefits of frequent communication were obvious too. When Zhao Hanzhang asked Liu Kun for help in purchasing horses, he went all out. He previously sent a batch of horses, and this batch was even larger.

Moreover, it is said that most horses in this batch were bought from the Tuoba Xianbei, with excellent quality. Unfortunately, the matter of breeding stock horses was still unresolved.

Liu Kun said the Xianbei were afraid they would develop excellent horses if they acquired breeding stock, so they were unwilling to sell breeding horses. Not even Liu Kun could buy them, let alone her.

Nonetheless, he urged Zhao Hanzhang not to lose heart, saying he could contemplate other methods and believed that as long as the offer was sufficient, someday they would be swayed.

After Zhao Hanzhang finished reading the letter, Ji Yuan said, "Governor Liu is asking the lady for a favor."

He said, "Bribing the Xianbei, as well as the checkpoints and bandit dens the horses passed through, all needed greasing. The money Wu Erlang brought wasn’t enough, and from the letter, it seems Governor Liu helped advance some amount."

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "Is there an invoice?"

Ji Yuan shook his head, "Governor Liu is a scholar; would he stoop to sending invoices for such matters?"

Zhao Hanzhang felt a headache and ground her teeth, "I hate unclear finances the most, where I can’t get to the bottom of it. Would it be bad to list items and make an invoice?"

She could pay off the invoice and then add a gratuity, but muddling through like this, she didn’t even know whether she was overpaying or underpaying.

Pay too little and she’d appear stingy; pay too much... she’d feel the pinch.

The main issue was, regardless of paying too much or too little, she herself didn’t know, which inevitably caused some anxiety.

Zhao Hanzhang exhaled, thought for a moment, and asked, "Has Wu Erlang sent back any news?"

Ji Yuan chuckled, "Yes."

He found a letter for Zhao Hanzhang, "There’s an invoice in the letter, though it contains mostly estimates, and the return trip invoice isn’t included."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded and said, "After he returns, we’ll ask him about it before preparing the thank you gift to be taken back by the Jinyang Army. I’ll entrust this matter to you, sir."

Ji Yuan agreed, "I know the lady is short on funds now, and nothing too precious is available, but Liu Kun is a distinguished scholar, so when gifting, cater to his tastes. Treasures of the heart are priceless."

Zhao Hanzhang felt stirred, "Musical instruments, music scores?"

Ji Yuan laughed heartily, greatly pleased, "The lady deserves to be known as Liu Yueshi’s confidant. Indeed, I also think a music score might move Governor Liu more than a thousand gold."

Zhao Hanzhang began pondering, "We previously transported my grandfather’s library to Xiping secretly, and there’s still a lot of my great-uncle’s library left in Luoyang, but there don’t seem to be any music scores in there."

Zhao Zhongyu was well prepared for never returning when he went to Yun City with the emperor, leaving all his library except some frequently used books in Luoyang.

Zhao Yi took away some when he and his sisters returned to Xiping, and the rest remained at Zhao Mansion.

Zhao Hanzhang rarely went through those books, but Fu Tinghan read them more often.

Ji Yuan said, "Search for it. If there’s none, you may request from others."

With so many refugee aristocrats in Luoyang, surely someone has good music scores.

Zhao Hanzhang then instructed Ting He to look for it.

When Fu Tinghan returned from work in the evening and heard about this, he directly said, "There are no music scores on the bookshelf."

Zhao Hanzhang: "You’ve gone through them all?"

Fu Tinghan nodded.

Zhao Hanzhang then pondered, "There’s actually another way."

Fu Tinghan looked at her, "You compose a piece yourself?"

Zhao Hanzhang laughed heartily, nodding, "Have you forgotten what I did before I went to the library?"

She was a music teacher.

Zhao Hanzhang turned to Ting He, who was looking for music scores until her eyes were sore, and said, "Go bring Uncle’s zither."

Ting He happily received the order and ran off to fetch the zither.

Zhao Hanzhang sat at the desk, plucking the strings and said, "During my studies, I loved a piece of music from ’The Smiling, Proud Wanderer’."

Fu Tinghan: "’A Laugh in the Sea’? That piece doesn’t suit Liu Kun, does it?"

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head with a smile, "It’s from the mainland version of ’The Smiling, Proud Wanderer’, called ’Heaven and Earth Join as One’. This piece is very fitting for Liu Kun and Zu Ti."

She knew how to sing it, remembered the lyrics, and naturally, remembered the musical score. She decided to transcribe it into zither notation, which wasn’t difficult for her.

Zhao Hanzhang plucked the zither strings and played, while Fu Tinghan leaned against the door frame, watching her play.