Chapter 225: A Messy Account

He Lingchuan shrugged.

He hadn't forgotten, because he had no impression of it at all!

This couldn't be blamed on him; it was the original body that was too indifferent to state affairs.

"That failure disappointed many people, and I think the Grand Marshal was among them." He Yue sighed again.

He Lingchuan held a finger to his lips and gave a soft "shh."

This younger brother was smart, just too idealistic. He changed the subject: "Hey, you say Old Man Li didn't die early or late, but just happened to pass away before we arrived in Dunyu. Is there something fishy in this, like—Heaven helping me?"

"He was seventy after all, considered to be in his twilight years." Even if this candle looked quite thick originally. "Even if he was killed by evil arts, without proof, no one can be caught."

"This old man did too many wicked things; I'm afraid many people cursed him. Once his protective talisman failed, he was gone." He Yue didn't care much about how Li Zhao died, but he cared a lot about the impact after his death. "Li Zhao is dead, the Li family is divided, and the four great families are divided; this is only good for us."

He Lingchuan suddenly asked him: "Will they suspect us? After all, the current situation is most favorable to us."

"Suspect us of what?" He Yue was stunned before he understood the meaning of the words, and he burst out laughing. "How is that possible! We have no grudges against the four great families, and Father is an official appointed by the Royal Court; we haven't even met Li Zhao, so how could we secretly harm him?"

The louder he spoke, the more he seemed to be arguing, and He Lingchuan's several "shhs" couldn't interrupt him.

"What's going on?"

The courtyard gate suddenly creaked open, and He Chunhua walked in: "Yue'er, what are you excited about?"

He Yue stood up to greet him: "Father, my brother and I were discussing how the Li family would speculate on Li Zhao's death."

"The innocent are self-evident." He Chunhua's gaze swept over the two brothers, becoming very kind. "There is no need to pay attention to the gossip outside."

"How is your injury?" He also saw the bandage on He Lingchuan's arm. "Your Medicine Ape said you drained blood to plant the blade, draining at least two jin."

He also noticed the furnace placed in the corner of the room and walked over to observe the Blade Mountain: "It's fine just by thrusting the blade in like this?"

"Master Li said it will grow on its own in a few days, like a living thing."

"Good, I will add more manpower to your place so that no small fry disturbs the blade planting process." He Chunhua laughed. "I have already discussed it with the Marquis of Songyang; since Grand Artisan Li is here, he might as well stay in Xiazhou for a while longer. He will bolster the facade for the new branch of the Songyang Mansion in Dunyu, and I will give them a good start; the first batch of orders will be placed at this branch."

"Orders?" He Yue grasped the point immediately. "Do we have to pay?"

"Of course... it will go on the public account." He Chunhua coughed lightly. "Given that we have just arrived in Xiazhou, the Songyang Mansion agreed to let us put it on credit, and we can settle it in batches within a year, interest-free."

The He brothers looked at each other; sending charcoal in snowy weather, this favor was not small. The Marquis of Songyang really had an eye for investment.

"The Songyang Mansion is a Daoist sect, and their manpower in Dunyu is not abundant, so they usually don't forge common weapons. I ordered a batch of weapons from the Songyang Mansion for the generals in the army; Zeng Feixiong has wanted a steel spear for a long time."

The weapons used by generals are different from those of soldiers; at least they are at the level of magic treasures. Zhong Shengguang, Dong Haoye, Nian Zanli, and even Sun Fuping all use treasures worthy of being recorded in history. Even the Tenglong Spear gifted by Wu Shaoyi to He Lingchuan was once the signature spear of the famous Xuan Kingdom general Liao Mozhao; even the Crocodile God's immense strength couldn't break it.

Ordinary weapons couldn't do that.

Zeng Feixiong was only promoted last year, and his personal sword broke while fighting Lu Yao; he had been wanting to find a handy weapon, and this time, a high-quality magic treasure would be best.

He Yue's eyes lit up: "Father, forge one for me too!" As the son of the Provincial Governor, he still had this bit of privilege.

In the North, the position of Superintendent is equivalent to a Provincial Governor, the head of a province.

He Chunhua chuckled, naturally not refusing: "Yue'er is a gentleman, and the sword is the gentleman among weapons, so I will ask the Grand Artisan to forge a precious sword for you." He looked at He Lingchuan again. "Lingchuan, what about you? You seem to have a blade, a spear, and a bow, right?"

The Ghost Eye Bow of the rebel leader Hong Xiangqian was also with his son.

He Lingchuan opened his mouth, but changed his words when they reached his lips: "Oh, I haven't decided yet; let me discuss it with Master Li."

He Chunhua nodded.

He Lingchuan looked at his loving face, feeling subtle. Speaking of Old Man Li's death, had he thought of Father too badly? After all, without proof, any speculation was just chasing shadows.

He Yue worried: "Father was decisive today, which certainly showed his methods, but I'm afraid the four great families won't easily submit."

He Lingchuan laughed: "Then let them draw the lines, and we will accompany them."

He Chunhua nodded: "Don't forget the plan we made in Ruxian... If we only focus on Dunyu, fighting these noble families might be too small-minded. We came to Xiazhou to settle the score with Nian Zanli. At that time, he instigated Nian Songyu to trick us father and son into entering the Panlong Desert to work for his rebel family, almost causing us to commit treason; this matter must be settled on the battlefield in the end."

The northern front is the most critical priority for the Xiazhou Superintendent.

"Yue'er, you come to the Provincial Government tomorrow. I need your help to calculate the account books and count the population, so that we can recruit soldiers and buy grain later." This was his second son's specialty, so He Chunhua naturally wouldn't waste it. "Chuan'er, that Sun Hongye under your command also has some talent; lend him to me for the time being."

Although he had recruited nineteen people in Shi Huan, he had investigated them in many ways along the way, but upon arriving in Xiazhou, he still felt stretched thin.

Sigh, in a small place like Qiansong County, there were too few people who could govern; he couldn't even bring a few out.

"Take him, take him." He Lingchuan was very straightforward. "By the way, let him do the accounting, I don't have to go, right?"

He Chunhua looked at him with a smile that wasn't a smile: "Can you calculate it clearly?"

He Lingchuan coughed.

He Yue said: "There are so many absurd things in Dunyu; the local government office can be called corrupt."

"Otherwise, why would I need your help?" He Chunhua said lightly. "Just today after the court trial, I went to check the government treasury documents from previous years, and they still wanted to use messy accounts to bluff me."

A cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. "The next step is to rectify these things." Then he said to his eldest son, "By the way, starting this month, your allowance will be reduced to 150 taels. Alright, alright, don't be impatient, shut your mouth and listen to me!"

He Lingchuan was just about to open his mouth to protest, but after being glared at, he sullenly shut up.

"We just arrived in Xiazhou, and our expenses are higher than before, while our income is lower than originally; we have to use the little money we brought from Heishuicheng to handle many things. I took time this afternoon to roughly calculate the government treasury, and it's all junk, with not much money left." He Chunhua patted his shoulder, speaking earnestly. "So, besides opening sources, we must find ways to throttle expenses. The expenses for the monkey and the Rock Wolf are all on your mother's account; you have to spend the 150 taels carefully. Once we get through the current difficulties, it will slowly increase for you later."

Father was truly doting on his eldest brother; he was full of apologies even when giving an allowance of 150 taels, and He Yue was not without envy on the side. His monthly allowance was only 50 taels, although he never spent it all.

He Chunhua was busy with many tasks; after speaking, he got up and left in a hurry.

On the first night in Dunyu, he was destined to fight through the night by candlelight.

He Yue saw his brother's face was still very pale, so he tactfully took his leave.

He Lingchuan poured himself a large cup of tea, sipping slowly while thinking, fortunately, he still had 100,000 taels of silver notes hidden in his pocket.

This was the money he secretly kept after selling Sun Fuping's purple gold pestle to the Songyang Mansion.

However, his cultivation of the Zi-Wu Art was about to enter the next stage, and the Yin-Yang Powder he took also needed to be upgraded; he had to add more expensive drugs to have better efficacy.

150 taels a month wasn't even enough to buy half a dose of medicinal materials.

Father was right; throttling expenses still required opening sources. Now that he had arrived in Xiazhou, he had to find a way to make money, lest he sit and eat away his fortune.

￥￥￥￥￥

Today in Panlongcheng, it was a cloudless, beautiful day, and He Lingchuan had just returned from patrolling the wasteland.

Recently, Liu Tong's squad had rotated to guard the wasteland. It didn't have as much water as the Chipa Plateau; it was a typical tundra climate, and standing on a high ridge, one could watch for dozens of miles.

The number of newly born monsters on the wasteland couldn't compare to the Chipa Plateau, and there were even fewer doing evil; for most squads, it was an idle job. However, Liu Tong was very experienced; seeing that it had just snowed a few days ago, he led his teammates to Yan Mountain, thirty miles west of Panlongcheng.

The mountain was as its name suggested, it would smoke, sometimes very acrid. When He Lingchuan arrived, he discovered that this was a volcano, and a very active one, because large groups of steam often erupted from the cracks in the mountain for no reason; if one wasn't careful, one could get their arm scalded.

It hadn't erupted for a long time, and because of the geothermal heat, the mountain was covered in white snow, but there was actually some green at the foot of the mountain.

The ground under the pine and spruce trees was uneven, and after the snow melted, it formed ice pits or water pits, which nourished moss and lichens.

Liu Tong led everyone into a cave.

The cave was located at the foot of the mountain, very long, and the air was filled with a damp smell. Walking in the cave, the ground felt soft because the moss had almost woven itself into a carpet.

It was also very warm here, and the bitter cold outside couldn't invade.

However, He Lingchuan didn't expect that there were people guarding outside the cave. Liu Tong revealed his identity, and the other party let them pass, also instructing: "Each person is only allowed to take five."

"There are only six people left in my squad."

The guard was silent for a moment, then said: "Each person can take one more."

What kind of treasure could be counted by the piece in the cave? Liu Tong soon revealed the answer: it was actually snails.

He found a snail without much effort and showed it to everyone: "This kind of candy snail has a bright shell, and there are almost no two snails with the same color in the world; it is one of the specialties of this wasteland. Strictly speaking, it is a specialty of Panlongcheng and doesn't appear anywhere else."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 226 =====