Chapter 47

Baiyang helped the Great King carry the luggage, found an empty spot, and laid out the items one by one.

Baiyang was experienced at stall-keeping; after he finished setting up, he sat down calmly at the back, and with his support, the Great King, who was setting up a stall for the first time, also became much calmer.

He didn't know Baiyang was a little uneasy inside; he was actually bringing a feudal lord to practice stall-keeping—who would believe that if he said it out loud!

It was still early, there weren't many people strolling the market, so bored Baiyang struck up a conversation with the Great King.

"When we were digging the subway, we newly uncovered a feudal lord's tomb; that tomb was really rich—just the gold weighed over a ton! Oh, one ton equals thirty thousand taels of silver. Do you feudal lords really bury that much money with the dead?"

Thirty thousand taels… of gold?

Heck, even all my money put together doesn't come close to that!

The Great King snapped, "If I had that much money, I'd definitely spend it all before I die! As for a royal tomb, just bury my favorite things with me—what would we do if someone stole all that money buried there? …Wait? What does 'digging the subway' mean? Did you dig up someone's royal tomb? That's practically inviting heavenly thunder and earthly fire!"

Baiyang said, "It wasn't intentional digging; after two or three thousand years, the surface has changed beyond recognition. Who knows that down there lies a noble title? As for the subway, well… the subway is an underground rail vehicle. Ground roads are too crowded, can't be widened, so we dig underground tracks, letting trains run underground to divert traffic."

The Great King couldn't imagine it, "How could it be too crowded? How many people does your country have?" He couldn't even afford to build a ground road, while they've already built roads underground.

What a huge project!

Won't it collapse?!

Baiyang said, "Our country has 1.5 billion people. That's fifteen times ten thousand ten-thousands, or fifteen million ten-thousands."

The Great King was stunned, "How do you feed so many people? Isn't anyone starving to death?" How could that be? In Youzhou, with so few people, just filling their stomachs is a struggle.

Baiyang told him about future yields per mu, the vast Northern Granary, the black lands not included in the Great Jin's territory, and importing from overseas granaries, etc.; the Great King was astonished, his mouth hanging open.

"Right, I heard you got potatoes and sweet potatoes in the draw; both have high yields—why didn't I think of getting you some high-yield wheat seeds?"

The Great King's eyes sparkled, "With those seeds, could Youzhou also yield a thousand jin per mu?"

"Well, don't get too excited early. I'm afraid the myriad worlds won't let you take it out, and then it'll be converted into an astronomical figure."

The Great King was done for.

The Great King said, "... Back to square one, we still need to make money!"

The Great King clenched his little fists, wondering if anyone would buy anything!

After a moment, still no one came to his little stall, his little fists relaxed again, and he said, "Tell me more about the royal tomb you dug up—is it in the south?"

Baiyang said, "Well… it's south of the Long River, that's correct."

The Great King continued to snap, "I just knew! For example, the Great King of Youzhou couldn't possibly have thirty thousand taels of gold buried with him. But this also reminds me that from now on, wherever I build a royal tomb, I must hide it well—so you later folks can't dig it up! I want to be buried in a big mountain!"

Baiyang said, "Even if the state doesn't dig you up, tomb robbers will. Unless you're Qin Shi Huang, nobody dares to dig."

The Great King naturally wanted to know what kind of emperor Qin Shi Huang was; after hearing the story of Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum, he was filled with endless longing.

"Once I've made money and the people are fed, I'll also create a royal tomb that you later generations wouldn't dare to dig, hum!"

Baiyang: …The point is this, Great King!

You didn't pay attention at all to his talk about Qin Shi Huang's grand vision of unifying the world!

Right now the Great King only wants to do well as a feudal lord; becoming the First Emperor who unifies the world is not his desire. The larger the territory, the more worries—he doesn't want that!

After chatting for a long time, someone finally took a liking to his little white bowl.

Baiyang stepped up, telling the other party how precious the white stone was as a marine creature. "White stone is the largest substance on the seabed and the whitest in nature. Look how white and pure this white stone bowl is."

That person still just gave a casual glance, not particularly moved. Baiyang couldn't tell from their attire which realm they were from, so he switched his sales pitch, moving from popular science to the occult.

"I don't know if your country has any Buddhists? Agate is one of the seven Buddhist treasures, very precious. Wearing agate can strengthen the human magnetic field, eliminate worries and karmic obstacles, increase wisdom, benefit oneself and others. In our hometown, agate is regarded as an auspicious object for Buddhist offerings and cultivation, able to dispel calamities, ward off evil, and suppress malign influences. So selling it for 1000 ingots is really not cheap; my younger brother also got assigned this task, having no choice but to come recruit people, completely doing the task at a loss. This item can sell for 10,000 ingots at home; whoever buys it today gets a great bargain."

"The man with high brows and deep-set eyes finally spoke again, he questioned doubtfully: 'Why make this spiritual object into utensils? Isn't it inconvenient to carry around? Wouldn't making it into jewelry to wear directly on the body be better?'"

"Bai Yang: ……"

"What you said is absolutely right! How would I know these ancients don't appreciate value! You said making other ornaments would also work—who wants to put a rice bowl in front of them!"

"He grabbed the onlooking Great King, who was watching with great interest, and said: 'It's not that this child is young, it's exactly the age when they love playing house. I wasn't paying attention, and he had the household artisans turn the precious agate into a small bowl for him to play with!'"

"Seeing that he still had his part to play, the Great King immediately put on an act of having learned his lesson, lowering his head in an apologetic manner."

"Bai Yang then said: 'It's already like this, I can't help it, I've even beaten the brat. Like this, you buy two, take them home and grind them into beads to wear; I'll give you a discount—two will definitely yield enough beads to loop around your hand!'"

"That person felt a bit tempted: 'How many ingots?'"

"Bai Yang: 'One is 1000 ingots; if you buy two, I'll count it as 1800 for you.'"

"That person shook his head, and the Great King immediately grew nervous, wondering if it was too much, afraid the ingots in hand would fly away."

"Then the person said: '1500. Grinding the rim of this bowl into agate beads would only be suitable for my infant to wear, so 1500.'"

"The Great King was just about to agree happily, but Bai Yang glared at him, then turned away pretending to feel the pain, saying: 'You know agate! You recognize its value yet you drive the price down so hard! Fine, for the sake of the task, I'll take a loss.'"

"The Great King handed over his ingot card, two beeps sounded as it was recorded into the sound system, and the balance came to 2030 ingots."

"The Great King wanted to go out and immediately sweep through Secluded Prefecture's main street, buying all agate products."

"Who knew Bai Yidian's shells would be so valuable!"

"However, 'Brother Bai, are those things you told him true? What about dispelling calamities, warding off evil, suppressing malign influences?'"

"Bai Yang spread his hands: 'Who knows, dispelling calamities belongs to the realm of the occult. However, agate truly can strengthen the magnetic field, calm the mind and soothe the spirit; its medicinal value is real.'"

"After that, there was no big business; a female customer came over to buy a handmade woven bamboo trinket—this kind doesn't need a high price, mostly at cost, purely to earn a headcount."

"Anyway, the Great King's stall had a base of 1500 ingots, completing the transaction amount; besides coral and agate, everything else was half-sold, half-given away."

"By the time it was the Great King's bedtime, he had successfully reached agreements with four people."

"The Great King finally felt relieved; the half-month task period should be manageable, and with this daily performance he wouldn't have to pay fines~"

"Great King's diary:"

"【October 30, former residence of the King of You."

"Important memorandum: one, my royal tomb must be well concealed; the mercury mechanism is indispensable."

"two, I must strive for next year's wheat seeds in You Prefecture!"

"three, first hire an artisan.】"