Chapter 765

The rare-quality Yangshui is indeed a huge project; there's no such thing as a free flower in the world～

【Side Quest Three: Build a water system that runs through the capital.】

Official subsidy: all raw materials; all tools and equipment; on-site technical supervisor NPC x1 (recovered after quest completion); professional manpower x10000 (recovered after quest completion);

Logic chain supplement: recruit local manpower from Great Jin x10000

Estimated construction period: 220 days;

Quest items: work uniforms (autumn/winter/spring/summer) x10000; meals x10000 x220; public funds x10000 x220;

Construction period: November 1 to March 1 next year cannot be selected; other times can be chosen freely.】

The Great King looked at this scale and almost jumped up!

These 280,000 flowers are totally worth it! The Great King decided to take back his complaints about the Sun‑shooting Bow and the Dragon‑sparrow Sword.

Figuring it out, how much could he skim from a 200‑day, 10 000‑person project…… The Great King couldn't help curling the corner of his mouth.

"One dou of rice per day, I'll keep one dou. 10000×220, that's 22 000 dou…… Well, that's really not much. Three hundred cash per day, this time I'll follow the Long Peace Imperial Highway standard and still give them fifty cash, keeping two hundred and fifty cash……"

This is a huge sum; the Great King calculated it twice over, "…! This time there's still something to look forward to, 550 000 taels of silver! I've broken even!"

The payment for the grain ordered by the Phoenix Group has arrived!

The poor Great King really hadn't seen much money or grain; Bai Ze kindly helped him convert it.

If the 50,000 cavalry set out, in one day, not counting horse fodder and people's sugar, salt, vegetables and meat, just the grain needed is 8800 shi. 22,000 shi can be eaten… rounding up to three days, well, that's not little either.

Great King: ……

All right, totally just a mosquito leg.

In three days, even walking slowly you can't leave Youzhou.

"I think, even my corruption wouldn't be worth the trip! Fortunately, the Phoenix Group's order will be delivered this month's end, and after we also finish the autumn harvest we can talk about heading south."

While excitedly rubbing his palms and clenching his fists to take on the next mission reward, Zhu Ti contacted the Great King through the Homestead, saying she could return to Youzhou City tomorrow.

The Great King laughed, "Perfect! When you come back, open a shop and exchange the superior rice produced by this system for ordinary rice. For example, last year's aged rice can be exchanged at six to eight times, and this autumn's newly harvested rice can be exchanged at three to five times. In short, only exchange, not sell!" Even if Great Jin is poor, those great clans are not poor. These people spend their days studying food, drink, and entertainment; if they have good rice, they will definitely not eat the inferior kind.

Zhu Ti agreed and withdrew; the Great King didn't mind the small amount and immediately wanted to hold those 22,000 shi of white rice in his hand.

This guy constantly shouts about heading south, but actually he's clear-minded; he won't head south lightly without proper preparation. Either he does nothing, or he advances with overwhelming momentum, recovering all mountains and rivers in one go.

He couldn't do something like Bai Li Jin's half‑suppression, half‑retreat when putting down a rebellion.

Can't afford to lose that person, huh~

At this point, there's still over a month until November; the Great King tried to accept the mission. Who knew this time it was fresh, he could accept it. Possibly the schedule was too long, so Mengmeng directly planned it for him, splitting it into two parts before and after the new year.

The Great King pressed confirm.

【Confirm construction of the water system (Yangshui) at the current position? (Long‑press to drag the 3‑D projection of Yangshui to a suitable location) Yes/No】

"Oh, I understand this; like the city wall, it can be freely chosen!"

The Great King and Bai Ze also studied whether the water system should run north‑south or east‑west through Youzhou, and finally decided on a north‑south direction.

When Youzhou City was first built, the walls made the city layout square, with east‑west and north‑south sides equal; the Great King couldn't gain an advantage, so he simply chose north‑south, which would pass the eastern side of the Ziwei Palace and activate the moat outside the palace.

Following the principle of not suffering a loss, the Great King endlessly extended the blue projection above the city, stretching it from Yanzhi to Longtou County by the sea. In the next instant a new bubble popped up:

【The selected site exceeds the limit of "piercing the capital"; please reselect.】

Great King: ……

This guy painfully shrank it back, but it still didn't work; in the end he placed it inside the city. A flash of blue light showed the task had been accepted successfully.

"It's not that I'm being picky, but there aren't any large lakes inside the city; digging out a water system like this from scratch would be extremely difficult and abrupt."

"That's not something you should worry about."

Great King: ……

The Great King felt a bit sour for a moment, then quickly cleared up; the population data was available, although not many, but the main line task four could finally begin construction!

The big pie promised to Shi Cheng can finally be realized!

Because the population data in the household registry was a drag, the Great King was fined another 28,000 yuanbao. This guy, robbing the east wall to patch the west, saw the 550,000 taels just deducted from Yangshui disappear half in an instant.

【Side Mission Four: Construct basic city construction for Mobei County, YunDu County.】

Items include: basic version city wall x1; low‑config governor's office x1; low‑config city defense camp x1; low‑config main thoroughfare inside the city x1;

Government subsidy: all raw materials; all tools and equipment;

On‑site technical supervisor NPC x1 (recovered after mission completion); professional technical labor 5000 per county, total 10000 (recovered after mission completion);

Logistics supplement: local manpower of Great Jin x5000 x2;

Estimated construction period: 150 days;

Mission supplies: work uniforms x10000; work meals x10000 x150; public funds x10000 x150】

The Great King compared the city‑construction task with that of Qingyu County and found they were exactly the same, still no extra bonus for the checkpoint.

"Ah! I can't deduct this silver and grain; let's leave it for the garrison as military pay and rations."

The Great King also didn't bother with the previous dynasty; the emperor is far away and high above, why waste talk? He directly wrote a letter to Shi Cheng, flowing freely and finishing it quickly.

He wrote boldly that he himself had returned to Youzhou Province, lived frugally, and gathered 30,000 shi of rice and 450,000 taels of silver for Mobei and YunDu Palaces to fund the basic construction of the new commandery. The Great King also covered the materials, and covered half the manpower; Shi Cheng only needed to mobilize ten thousand local soldiers and civilians to help. This money and grain were fully entrusted to Shi Cheng to coordinate, with the instruction that he must distribute silver and rice to the participating soldiers and civilians, not let them work for free, which would affect His Majesty the Emperor's reputation.

After finishing, he spent a huge sum to hire a Heaven‑Covering adult for a three‑thousand‑li trip, and Shi Cheng received the good news before bed. The Great King's pie finally solidified after three months!

The next day, Zhu Ti, the chief steward, appeared at the Ministry of Commerce; that afternoon, the Shengping Grain Shop on Zhuque Avenue added a rice‑exchange business, and the new banner fluttered in the wind on the street, very eye‑catching.

As soon as the chief steward returned, the Great King felt more assured.

Over there, Yang Fang spent a day hastily learning and handing over the duties of the Uniform Official Order, and the next day he had to set out to inspect the autumn harvest. After all, the autumn harvest was imminent, and the emperor's verbal order also demanded immediate departure.

In these unsettled times, Zhang Si Nong applied for many Youzhou Guard escorts for him.

When everyone gathered at the gate of the Si Nong mansion, Yang Fang mounted his horse and glanced at the troops, just a glance, and he stopped dead.

There's someone, looks a bit familiar, huh?