Chapter 891: Money Paving the Way

"Sigh, actually Lu San has already sold off quite a bit of ancestral property; I handled two of the locations myself, so of course I know best." Steward Feng tilted his head back and finished the liquor at the bottom of his cup, and Lu Qiuwei hurriedly poured him more.

"I remember one time, Lu San's wife was complaining to him, saying that their grandson's food, clothing, housing, and education were far inferior to the patriarch's children. Lu San replied, 'Grand Preceptor Xia's grandson is naturally precious; how can we compare?'"

This "Grand Preceptor Xia" naturally refers to Lu Zhensheng's in-law, the Crown Prince's Grand Preceptor of the Mu Nation, Xia Pei.

"Then where is the crux?" Lu Qiuwei was a bit impatient: "How could the Lu family be poor?"

"It's all because of this marriage!" Steward Feng poked the table every time he said a word to emphasize his tone: "The second son, Lu Qinglin, is smart and promising, so the old Lu family poured all their efforts into cultivating him, paying a high price to enter the Qianyuan Valley; paying a high price to enter the Mu Royal Court. You see Lu Qinglin walking upward in glory, but in reality, every step is paved with money, so that the road can be wide and straight."

This is Blade Edge Port. Not on Does Bailie's land, so Steward Feng dared to call the Lu family members by their full names; anyway, he didn't intend to go back.

Lu Qiuwei played the role of a country bumpkin well and also took a gulp of liquor: "Qianyuan Valley has a big name; I heard you can't get in just by having money."

"Just having money? There are plenty of people with money; can they all enter this first-class sect? The key is you have to find the right person, you have to handle relationships, and this whole circle of human favors is very expensive!" Steward Feng sneered: "I heard Lu San say that Lu Zhensheng found two elders from Qianyuan Valley to help, and the red envelope sent to each of them was at least this much—"

He held up two fingers.

"Two thousand taels?"

"Ten times that."

"Twenty thousand silver?!" Twenty million coins, that's too expensive! Is that considered a huge bribe? "Do the elders of Qianyuan Valley just have to move their mouths?"

He Lingchuan on the side was rubbing his temples. What is the concept of twenty thousand silver? He Chunhua painstakingly managed the Red Cliff Road in Black Water City for over a decade; his administrative level and governance ability far exceeded ordinary officials, managing the frontier land like a provincial capital. Even so, Red Cliff Road's annual revenue was only one hundred and fifty thousand taels, and after deducting various expenses, the surplus was only a few tens of thousands of taels.

With this level of profitability, Red Cliff Road became the cash cow eyed by the Rongshan Sect, and only then did it qualify as collateral for the Yuan Nation.

As a result, thousands of miles away, Lu Zhensheng bribed two elders of Qianyuan Valley and spent forty thousand taels of silver in one breath! Is Lu Zhensheng stupid and rich, or is the quota for Qianyuan Valley too expensive? "You think that's the end of it?" Seeing his look of having never seen the world, Steward Feng got excited, or perhaps the liquor was going to his head, and his voice got louder: "What about the middlemen before and after, don't they need to be handled? Do you think Lu Zhensheng could find two elders on the first try?"

"Also, is it over after entering Qianyuan Valley, no need to handle anything else?"

"Ah? You've already entered Qianyuan Valley, what else needs to be handled?"

"Donating money! Of course, it's called a 'hardship fee' at Qianyuan Valley; don't those magnificent halls need money? Don't those venerable famous teachers and experts need money to teach you?" Steward Feng said leisurely: "If you don't donate money, where would you get the chance to be sent by Qianyuan Valley to travel to Beijia and the Mu Nation? If you don't donate money, where would you get the chance to apprentice beside generals and high officials? Those are all guaranteed by Qianyuan Valley!"

"Going to Qianyuan Valley costs so much money, and that's not even mentioning entering the officialdom later!" He picked up a piece of pig head meat: "There are so many young talents in the Mu Nation, why was Lu Qinglin chosen by Miss Xia at a glance? Besides being handsome, that demeanor, that cultivation, that conversation, could it look like something raised in an ordinary small lord's house?"

"So that's how a heaven-favored child is trained?" Lu Qiuwei subconsciously looked at He Lingchuan. The Young Master's achievements today don't seem to have cost much money, right?

He Lingchuan understood his look and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Right, his growth along the way didn't cost much money.

It just cost his life.

Several times he narrowly escaped death; if his luck had been slightly worse, he would have been gone.

This "rising smoothly" of Lu Qinglin's is the normal upward path for aristocratic children.

Safe, efficient, and mass-produced.

"It would be fine if it stopped at these; the Lu family could still afford it." After all, there is such a large piece of territory left by the ancestors, and the products are rich. "But to please the in-laws, the money the Lu family spent was fierce."

"Not to mention anything else, the most beautiful garden in Qucheng is in the Lu family, occupying twenty *qing* of land, built six or seven years ago, just because Lady Xia said, 'Qucheng really has nothing fun.'" Steward Feng shook his cup: "Do you know how much it cost to build this garden? I've seen the account books, a full six hundred and sixty-six thousand seven hundred taels!"

"Six hundred and sixty-six thousand..." Lu Qiuwei counted on his fingers, a bit unable to calculate.

It was much more intuitive for He Lingchuan; anyway, it was enough to offset the taxes of Red Cliff Road for over a decade.

"Six hundred and sixty-six thousand taels, just to exchange for Lady Xia's satisfied smile."

"Not to mention, whether it's the Xia family's tribute or the Mu Nation's dispatch of troops, they find various pretexts to make the Lu family pay. If you don't pay money, you have to send people; the small nations around the Mu Nation are all the same." Steward Feng shook his head: "These two items are bottomless pits, do you understand?"

Lu Qiuwei nodded: "Fighting wars is indeed very expensive."

No matter how rich Does Bailie is, its area is limited, and its financial resources are limited. People come to cut a slice every three days, and it can't withstand it either.

"So, outsiders look at Does Bailie as if it's thriving, and it has climbed onto the high branch of the Mu Nation; in reality, their belts are being tightened tighter and tighter."

Otherwise, the Lu family is just a small lord, why would the Mu Nation support it? "I heard the Ya Nation in the east is also very bad?"

"Ah, that's a pack of hungry wolves, cutting meat from Does Bailie every three days!" Steward Feng couldn't help but sigh: "The Mu Nation used to lecture it, and several times marched through Does Bailie, so the Ya Nation hated Does Bailie and looked for trouble whenever they had nothing to do."

Does Bailie is between the Mu Nation and the Ya Nation; if it wants to lecture the Ya Nation, it naturally has to borrow the road through Does Bailie.

"Now the Mu Nation and Beijia are fighting, and they have no time to look east, so the Ya Nation is taking the opportunity to harass Does Bailie." Steward Feng asked Lu Qiuwei: "At the end of last year, it was also the Ya Nation that started it, and it ended with Does Bailie paying money. Heh, do you know how much money Does Bailie paid?"

Lu Qiuwei naturally shook his head.

"Thirty-five thousand taels!" Steward Feng shook his head: "This was still the result of Does Bailie's bargaining; the Ya Nation originally wanted forty thousand taels. To scrape together this money, Does Bailie sold two mines and a piece of land east of Blade Edge Port."

"It's convenient to ask for money like this, giving it whenever asked."

Steward Feng said quite a few trivial matters about the Lu family, and he didn't know if he had added oil and vinegar. He Lingchuan had already heard the intelligence he wanted, so he let Lu Qiuwei continue to pull with Steward Feng, while he stood up to pay and leave.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 892 =====