Chapter 271

"Then you also made a hundred thousand guan out of thin air!"

Su Qiao shrugged and said,

"Your Grace, you need to see what else is inside this hundred thousand guan."

"Inside here, twenty thousand guan were used to build the surrounding community schools; these five households will be able to enter the community schools to study without paying tuition in the future."

"Secondly, we also built accompanying public welfare pharmacies; the imperial physicians inside were hired by this humble official at high prices, with each household contributing ten thousand guan."

"Besides that, there are various facilities; these all require money!"

Xu Huizu's face turned iron-green, and he stared fixedly at Su Qiao, roaring,

"The sons and grandsons of my Xu family do not need to go to your so-called community schools, nor do they need your public welfare pharmacies; we only want a plot of land!"

"A residence that allows us to attend court on time!"

Things like community schools and public welfare pharmacies might have great appeal for ordinary commoners.

But for these kings, marquises, dukes, and ministers,

they are merely better than nothing.

After all, their sons and grandsons study at home anyway.

Their own private tutors are three-on-one, and there are even reading companions among the scholar boys.

Su Qiao took a deep breath and said,

"Your Grace, you may not use these things, but you cannot refuse to pay this sum."

Xu Huizu pointed at Su Qiao and said,

"Are you trying to rob me openly?!"

Su Qiao looked at Xu Huizu in confusion and asked,

"Your Grace, how is this called open robbery?"

"If you do not want to pay this sum, you can simply not buy a residence from our Bureau of Paper Money; you can buy a residence wherever you wish!"

Xu Huizu's face turned red with anger, staring fixedly at Su Qiao.

Then, gritting his teeth, he asked,

"Then if I take a liking to your residence, is that okay?"

"Of course it is."

"How much?! I'll take it!"

"One million guan?"

"... Surname Su, you are pushing your luck too far!"

If they were not before the Emperor, Xu Huizu would have already been fighting with Su Qiao by now.

But listening carefully to Su Qiao's words,

it seemed one could not pick out any major faults.

It is his own residence.

What if he doesn't sell it?

Can the Southern Real Wall force a sale or purchase?

Xu Huizu stared fixedly at Su Qiao and asked,

"Regarding this matter stirred up by your Bureau of Paper Money, why do you, Su Qiao, not set an example yourself?"

"Your Grace, did this humble official not already say it?"

"The first person our Bureau of Paper Money approached was this humble official."

Xu Huizu pointed at Su Qiao and roared at Zhu Yuanzhang,

"Your Majesty, Su Qiao has already exposed himself; his residence was not demolished. On the entire Zhenggeqian Sect street, only his, Su Qiao's, residence was not demolished! Your Majesty, quickly punish him for the crime of deceiving the monarch!"

Su Qiao looked at Xu Huizu with a helpless expression.

"Your Grace, this humble official merely said that the first person the Bureau of Paper Money approached was this humble official; how can this be considered deceiving the monarch?"

"Then why is your house still standing as it should be?"

"Because I didn't sell it."

Su Qiao shrugged.

Seeing Su Qiao's expression,

Xu Huizu nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

"You! You!"

Hearing Su Qiao's words,

Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but speak,

"Su Qiao, your Bureau of Paper Money's residences are sold so expensively; how are we to handle this for all the civil and military officials in court?"

"Are you not forcing people to embezzle?"

Hearing this,

Su Qiao hurriedly said,

"My lords, this humble official does not mean that."

"That price was marked out for the common people to see. Your residences are so close to the Forbidden City, and the facilities are so good; if the price were set too low, you would have to compete with ordinary commoners for them then; could you bear that?"

Hearing Su Qiao say this,

the faces of the hundred officials improved slightly.

Xu Huizu coughed twice and then asked,

"If you had said this earlier, it would have been fine."

"What price have you finally set for us brothers?"

Su Qiao looked at Xu Huizu, smiled, and then said,

"Your Grace, please take a look at this."

Having spoken,

Su Qiao slowly pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Xu Huizu.

Xu Huizu frowned, looked at the list Su Qiao had handed him, and began to read.

"Equal principal and interest... four hundred guan per month..."

"You!"

"You still want us to buy at this price?"

Su Qiao hurriedly said,

"This at least avoids the predicament where various my lords cannot afford a mansion."

"Think about it; for just four hundred guan a month, you can live in a mansion worth ten thousand guan!"

"And by the thirtieth year, you will only need less than sixty guan per month!"

Having spoken, Su Qiao pulled out more and more flyers from his pocket and handed them to the officials around him.

"Various my lords, take a look; Su Mou has already calculated the accounts clearly for you all."

"The interest rate is absolutely conscientious."

"You cannot lose out, nor can you be deceived."

Huang Zicheng's old face turned iron-green.

Thirty years!

Whether I can even live another thirty years is unknown!

"Su Qiao, you! You are too oppressive!"

"Your Majesty, this mansion is beyond my means to buy! I beg Your Majesty to approve my resignation!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows tightened.

Old Zhu had not expected Su Qiao to finally come up with such a method.

Meanwhile, Jiajing in the chat group, gazing at the ministers in the scene, had a look of sudden realization appear on his face.

"Borrowing money."

"What a brilliant move of borrowing money."

Jiajing took a deep breath and then said leisurely,

"Great-Grandfather, this person Su Qiao is shrewd; his abacus calculations are excellent."

Zhu Di looked at Jiajing in confusion and asked,