Chapter 1550: The Lu Family in Charge of Storage

He Lingchuan could dismantle some green square stones from abandoned villas elsewhere to deal with the emergency for the official residence he was building in Youhu. But Panjin Stone was not something that could be obtained casually, and there was no place to dismantle old ones—otherwise, why would He Lingchuan have set his sights on the Xilin Temple? Zhang Zhan coughed and said reluctantly: "In a few more months, the new city will also build a temple. At the speed of this project, the temple will be habitable in six months and completed in a year and a half. I think Chief Envoy Liang shouldn't have much opinion."

"Ah, yes, yes." The people at the table echoed just as reluctantly.

What was Chief Envoy Liang's mindset? They couldn't figure it out. But a year or two ago, the Yao Nation absolutely wouldn't have done this.

Actually, a few who knew the inside story understood that this was the price of the project's rapid progress.

He Lingchuan had urged King Yao several times that the palace renovation must be accelerated, and that in the large project of Tianshui's eastern expansion, they must concentrate their strength and prioritize its completion.

Urging and urging, King Yao naturally became anxious.

King Yao's renovation of the Youhu palace was indeed a gesture to let the people of Tianshui City feel at ease buying houses and land in the new city; this was a positive signal. But repairing a temple in the old city, no matter which deity it belonged to, how could it have this effect?

Which was lighter and which was heavier, the scale in King Yao's heart had already tilted.

At that time, the news of Tianshui's eastern expansion had already spread like wildfire, and the renovation of King Yao's palace was also an arrow on the string that had to be fired, with many people staring at it.

King Yao could only make this decision.

But he didn't want to offend the heavenly deities again, so he hurriedly had a new plan made and sent to Chief Envoy Liang, claiming that he would definitely build ten more temples for Miaozhantian in the new city of Tianshui, guaranteeing they would be both spacious and grand.

He Lingchuan didn't know what expression Chief Envoy Liang would have when he received this plan, or how he would react to King Yao's delaying tactic. But he still remembered that King Yao had originally guaranteed that he would build the temple, which had been delayed for two and a half years, within five or six months.

Sigh, for such a large project, there were simply too many unclear and unexplainable things inside.

By the time He Lingchuan walked back to the drinking party, the topic had returned to romance.

Seeing him enter, Zhang Zhan said: "We just mentioned the Fourth Prince; I heard he is doing very well in the eastern suburbs?"

"Earnest and diligent, down-to-earth." As far as the powerful competitors for the Yao throne were concerned, Prince Wang Zirui's performance in the capital's eastern expansion project was indeed commendable, and he didn't manifest the laziness of royal descendants in front of He Lingchuan. "However, he has been unwell recently and asked for sick leave five days ago to return to the palace to recuperate."

The Fourth Prince asked for sick leave; what reason did He Lingchuan have not to approve it? He asked Zhang Zhan: "How has the Fourth Prince recovered?"

Zhang Zhan shook his head: "From the eastern suburbs back to the palace, he vomited and had diarrhea for five hours."

He Lingchuan's face changed: "He didn't get sick in my project, did he?"

The large construction site in the eastern suburbs was filled with dust, and the people working there were all kinds of people; who knew if their hygiene habits were good or if there were any epidemics? Some workers were too lazy to run far to use the toilet, finding a shaded corner to squat.

So the air quality in the eastern suburbs had always been not very good.

But if Prince Wang Zirui had gotten sick at the construction site, why didn't You Rongzhi mention it later? Zhang Zhan coughed lightly: "The imperial physician discovered that the Fourth Prince had eaten something bad in the palace; the food he used had problems."

He Lingchuan gave a long "oh," so it had nothing to do with him.

Yuwen Xu asked curiously: "Four or five days ago? Eh, could it be that Official Zheng Da was scolded by the King because of this?"

He Lingchuan captured an unfamiliar name: "Official Zheng?"

"Official Zheng is the Minister of the Court Guard, responsible for the scheduling and arrangement of the inner court guards."

In the Yao Nation, the Court Guard and the Court Guard Supervisor were two different things. The Court Guard was responsible for public cases and investigations, and also had to try difficult cases reported by local areas.

This position sounded familiar to He Lingchuan: "There seems to be more than one Minister of the Court Guard, right?"

"Yes, the other one is Bai Hengbo, who has also been in the Court Guard for many years. He was just promoted to Minister a month ago and is the nephew of the old General Bai Tan."

He Lingchuan remembered; Bai Tan had come to him overnight to buy the first-row refined residence in Youhu Shanzhuang.

At that time, King Yao and Qingyang were fighting fiercely, and they urgently needed to set up a typical example of someone who stood on the right side and got benefits, so the next day, Bai Tan's nephew was promoted. However, this guy was also well-deserved; he had seniority, prestige, and connections in the palace, and just lacked this east wind.

Zhang Zhan then said: "The Fourth Prince vomited and had diarrhea continuously, and the imperial physician verified that the food was poisoned. The King investigated and found out that the imperial kitchen had accidentally run out of milk that day, and there was a dish of milk and herb soft cake on the Fourth Prince's menu, so the kitchen temporarily bought milk from outside. But this matter didn't comply with the palace's 'two checks and one verification' regulation, so the person in charge of the kitchen was punished."

Oh, so the Yao court's food safety control also had loopholes. He Lingchuan asked curiously: "Then what does this have to do with Official Zheng?"

"That is his cousin, whom he recommended back then. Now that something happened, he has to bear joint responsibility. Besides, the milk was sent directly into the kitchen by outsiders, passing through all the way without being intercepted, which also didn't comply with the regulations."

"So that's it. But Official Zheng was only scolded, right?"

"Yes, his cousin was severely punished, and Official Zheng was scolded by the King and fined a month's salary."

"This is no small matter." Regarding the safety of the royal palace, this Official Zheng was indeed negligent.

After finishing this small matter, everyone brought up the capital's expansion again. Zhang Zhan coughed lightly: "That brat Qi Shu'an has also made a comfortable profit this past month!"

Now that people in Tianshui City were scrambling to buy residential land in the new city, if they didn't have enough money, they had to find a way.

Usury was one of the ways.

He Lingchuan wanted to ask: "What is the interest rate now?"

"They say it's close to eighty percent interest."

Eighty percent interest; the annual interest was close to one hundred percent. If the purchased land price didn't double, they wouldn't be able to pay back this money.

Now, it had only been a little over a month since Tianshui City started its eastern expansion.

"Qi Shu'an told me that yesterday, another household borrowed 300,000 taels from him, and you would never guess who it was!"

Everyone urged him not to be a riddle-maker. Zhang Zhan then said softly:

"It's Lu Yuanzheng, the eldest of the Lu family in Bai He."

Everyone gave an "ah" sound, unable to believe it: "No way? Does the Lu family have to borrow money to buy houses and land?"

Hearing the name "Lu Yuanzheng," He Lingchuan's heart stirred. Wasn't this...

Sure enough, Zhang Zhan pointed at him: "The Lu family bought the second-row refined residence in Youhu Shanzhuang at the Red Castle auction a few days ago; Brother He should still remember the price, right?"

He Lingchuan didn't need to think much; he just needed to say the number reported by the Soul-Consuming Mirror: "390,000 taels."

"Good memory!" Zhang Zhan said, "I guess their family has no ready cash, and they want to buy some residential land in the new city, so they borrowed money from Qi Shu'an."

Over 300 million coins; even a wealthy family couldn't just take it out casually. He Lingchuan, however, said: "The Lu family was severely injured after buying the residential land, which shows that their family foundation itself is not strong enough."

Among those present, except for Fan Shuang, which family would be strapped for cash?

"Brother He sees the subtle." Gu Xuan nodded, "The Lu family's ancestors were accomplished and left a great foundation, but these few generations of the Lu family have been mediocre, only able to guard the family foundation and eat the old capital, so naturally, it's getting less and less. Lu the eldest manages storage under the Governor of the Granary, and Lu the second just took over the specialty business before the New Year, doing business with the Luodian Nation in the north. But he had no experience, messed up the errand in his hands, and let Luodian make a big profit. The King was furious and demoted him to be a sesame official in the west."

"Three days after the Lu family bought the Youhu Shanzhuang, the King ordered Lu the second to return to the capital. Although he wasn't restored to his original position, it looks like he can still find a future."

The impact of 370,000 taels was still very large.

Jing Yuanxun added: "At present, officials and merchants from all over are moving upon hearing the news. Even if they don't come themselves, they have to entrust people to get a few plots of land in Tianshui City's new city, waiting for the price to rise. The news I received here is that for every ten plots of new city land sold, two and a half are bought by people from other places."

If there was any business in the world that was stable and profitable, everyone would flock to it.

Tianshui City itself was the most prosperous place in Shanjin, possessing an attraction for everyone. The land price of the new city was rising so fiercely that it would itself become a bottomless pit, siphoning funds and personnel from the surrounding areas.

This madness would spread from Tianshui City in all directions. The Yao Nation itself didn't have a large territory, and the famous nobles from other places rushing to enter would only be one step slower than the locals.

Gu Xuan nodded: "Yes, the land in the Upper Lake District is limited and almost sold out. Those who enter later won't be able to grab such a good location. Tsk tsk, the land in the Upper Lake District is now a different price every day."

"A different price every day? How could it be that slow!" Yuwen Xu shook his head, "It jumps prices every few hours; it's outrageous."

Even these nobles felt it was outrageous, which showed how much people were chasing the land in the Upper Lake District.

The Soul-Consuming Mirror laughed: "You are truly financially prosperous; the land plots you bought casually are all soaring. If those seven plots of land were sold now, it would be a number that ordinary people couldn't spend in several lifetimes. Why don't we buy a few more?"

He Lingchuan smiled slightly.

Did he really buy them casually? He never did anything casually!

The core of the new city—the Youhu Shanzhuang—was built by him, so he naturally knew which plots were the most valuable.

First-hand information was an advantage and a source of wealth.

But the mirror was right; in a few days, he would be ready to sell those plots of land; he couldn't let them smash in his own hands.

And the person who could take over this plate from his hands wouldn't be an ordinary person either.

Next, everyone chatted about some gossip, and hearing the sound of drizzle starting outside, they hurriedly dispersed to return home.

He Lingchuan returned to the Yongquan Shanzhuang, and the rain was already very heavy. He walked off the carriage, and the guards also dispersed to their own residences to wash off the dust and mud.

The night grew darker.

He Lingchuan changed his clothes and had just sat down in the study when he heard a rustling sound of branches and leaves outside, something moving over, and then two squeaks.

It was the sound of a monkey, but different from Lingguang.

He Lingchuan looked up and happened to see a fat monkey enter through the window, landing on the spacious sandalwood table.

Thump, so heavy.

It was holding a bulging pomegranate in its arms, but it was grinning and reaching out to He Lingchuan.

So brazen, who else could it be but the Ghost Ape? ===== CHAPTER 1551 =====