Chapter 434: The Inner Continent

"Yi ya, cha cha cha cha cha, everyone dance, don't be shy, don't be shy! Yi ya, cha cha cha cha cha, you learn rumba, it's not fashionable, you learn samba, it has no mood..."

"I Love Cha Cha Cha," a very catchy song in Puluo Continent. After listening to it, it was easy to form an infinite loop in one's mind.

Liao Liao Zihui particularly liked this song today. He sang and danced in the office all afternoon and didn't feel tired at all.

Because the people checking the work had left today, and the Balancers had also left.

Ling Ling Sujun entered the office: "Chief, Guanfang Envoy Liu Guocai of Madame Wuqin Township is here."

Liao Liao Zihui quickly sat back at his office desk and nodded: "Let him in."

Liu Guocai came to apologize to Liao Liao Zihui again for the previous matter.

Liao Liao Zihui waved his hands repeatedly: "Guocai, the matter is over, why mention it again?"

"Hurry back to Madame Wuqin Township and handle the proper business. The railway to the Ink Fragrance Shop has been interrupted for so long; it should have been repaired long ago."

"You and Li Qi discuss it properly. Don't have conflicts on both sides. Strive to start construction before the New Year."

There were not many days left before the New Year, so this task was a bit urgent.

Liu Guocai hurriedly went to find Deputy Chief Tang Tang Huanjie. The railway matter was mainly handled by Tang Tang Huanjie.

Tang Tang Huanjie was well-prepared: "Guocai, just do it. The procedures have been handled for you, and the equipment has been prepared for you. I still have to rush to a banquet, so let's communicate more in the future."

Liu Guocai felt it was strange. Why was Tang Tang Huanjie in such a hurry to attend banquets every time they met recently?

Returning to Madame Wuqin Township, Liu Guocai made some preparations and let his subordinates notify Li Qi that he was going to build a railway.

His subordinates went and returned, saying: "Didn't see Li Qi."

Liu Guocai didn't take it to heart: "Just convey the message. Start construction tomorrow."

Liu Guocai hadn't been in Puluo Continent for long and didn't have a good impression of Puluo Continent either.

He knew Li Qi wasn't a good person, but Li Qi was ultimately a person from Puluo Continent.

Previously, because he suspected that Li Qi could manipulate boundary lines, Liu Guocai was somewhat afraid of Li Qi, fearing that he would lose his official position due to the involvement of this matter.

Now that the matter had turned into a blunder, in Liu Guocai's eyes, Li Qi was no different from other wealthy merchants.

Being able to reclaim a whole piece of territory counted as him having some skills, but no matter how great his skills were, wasn't he still a person from Puluo Continent?

As for why Liao Liao Zihui cared so much about Li Qi, and even made huge concessions on freight, Liu Guocai didn't know, nor did he want to know.

Liu Guocai was displeased with many of Liao Liao Zihui's practices, which was one of the reasons he reported over the heads of superiors.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held as scheduled, and Liu Guocai attended in person.

Materials were shipped directly from the Outer Continent, and technical personnel were also transferred from the Outer Continent, but some manual laborers had to be recruited locally, and not many had been recruited yet.

But Liu Guocai felt this didn't affect the overall situation. For groundbreaking, the most important thing was the atmosphere and momentum.

At the construction site, Liu Guocai gave high affirmation to various tasks and also pointed out some problems.

Actually, he didn't understand engineering, but problems still had to be pointed out. Anyway, even if he pointed them out wrong, no one dared to point it out.

Walking to the stone pile, Liu Guocai pointed out immediately that the stone pile wasn't stacked neatly and made a severe criticism: "This looks like a small matter, but small matters can reflect problems from the root. This is a serious problem of understanding and attitude..."

Everyone was taking notes, recording the Envoy's requirements, when the stone pile suddenly collapsed, and Liu Guocai died in the line of duty on the spot.

Liao Liao Zihui took the report and sighed repeatedly: "Guocai, Guocai... Why didn't Li Qi come on the day of groundbreaking?"

The one who sent the report was the Guanfang Deputy Envoy of Madame Wuqin Township, Zhang Xinglai. Liao Liao Zihui let him send the report, naturally for a reason.

Zhang Xinglai said: "Envoy Liu didn't invite Li Qi, just sent someone to notify him."

Liao Liao Zihui was somewhat dissatisfied. He originally wanted to pin this matter on Li Qi.

But Li Qi didn't come, so it could also be linked to some trouble. Even if it couldn't be linked, it didn't matter; the important matter had already been solved.

"Xinglai, you have been in Madame Wuqin Township for a long time. Guocai has died in the line of duty; you have to shoulder the burden of the Guanfang Hall."

Zhang Xinglai stood up immediately and solemnly stated that he would be diligent and responsible.

With the appointment, Zhang Xinglai returned to Madame Wuqin Township.

He had been in Puluo Continent for a long time, longer than Liao Liao Zihui, and he knew what kind of people couldn't be offended.

That same night, Zhang Xinglai brought gifts to see Li Qi.

Li Qi had just repaired a mansion and was eating mutton hotpot with Ma Wu at night.

Seeing Zhang Xinglai bring gifts, Li Qi was quite satisfied: "Brother Zhang, you are more polite than your Chief."

Zhang Xinglai laughed: "New Year is coming soon. Zhang is newly appointed, so I came specially to pay a visit to Seventh Master." 【434-46

"Brother Zhang is too polite," Li Li Banfeng said as he stood up, "Lao Wu, hurry and add a chair; let's celebrate Brother Zhang's promotion!"

After the pleasantries, Zhang Xinglai raised his glass and said, "Seventh Master, I am a straightforward person, so I won't say much in the way of formalities. Seventh Autumn City is all under your command, Seventh Master; I will rely entirely on your care in the future."

This man knew how to talk.

And not just how to say a few polite words.

Everyone else had called this place Wucheng Township, and they had called it that for who knows how many years.

But Zhang Xinglai changed his tune and called it Seventh Autumn City; this was genuine respect for Li Qi.

The three of them raised their glasses and drained them in one gulp.

Zhang Xinglai added, "We are currently short of manpower for the railway construction, so I ask for Seventh Master's extra care."

Li Qi nodded and said, "That's easy to handle; just leave it to Lao Wu."

Ma Wu added from the side, "We have the manpower, and the price is negotiable. If Brother Zhang thinks highly of us, I'll host a banquet tomorrow on Ma Junyang Avenue, and we can discuss the details then."

The only main street in Wucheng Township had now been renamed Ma Junyang Avenue.

Zhang Xinglai raised his glass again, "With Fifth Master's word, I can finally set my mind at ease."

Li Qi said, "Regarding the railway construction, let's support each other. Brother Zhang, please also provide more care regarding the freight rates."

"You're being a stranger, Seventh Master. I'll submit a report to the Commissioner tomorrow. Seventh Master, you were originally paying fifty percent of the freight rates. I can't control other places, but here in our Seventh Autumn City, I will strive to press the rates for incoming and outgoing goods down to thirty percent."

Li Qi didn't speak.

Being able to lower it to fifty percent before was something exchanged for after both sides had fought several secret battles.

And now, he wanted to lower it to thirty percent based on just one word from Zhang Xinglai? How could Li Li Banfeng possibly trust him?

Ma Wu smiled and said, "Commissioner Zhang, I'm afraid Commissioner Liao won't agree to this."

Zhang Xinglai looked at Li Qi and Ma Wu, lowered his voice, and said, "If it were any other place, I wouldn't dare to make such an offer. But this territory originally had no industry; there was a train station, but it only occasionally sent people or some daily necessities, so it didn't earn much in freight rates.

Now that it's in the hands of you two masters, Seventh Autumn City will surely be prosperous. As long as it can earn a little bit and not make things difficult for me, everything is negotiable."

The point had been made.

The three of them chatted more and more congenially, and they drank until late at night.

When the railway construction started, it really did use Ma Wu's workers. Li Li Banfeng specifically instructed, "Don't ask for too much in wages; it doesn't matter even if we have to subsidize the difference."

He called Xiao Chuanzi back from Heishipo and had him mix in with the workers.

Xiao Chuanzi also really wanted to learn the railway craftsmanship of the Outer Provinces, but after going for two days, he returned dejected:

"Seventh Master, they let us work on the middle section of the track, but laying the sleepers and setting the tracks isn't difficult; I could already do that before.

As for the railways on both sides, once they really get near the border line, they are all cordoned off with boundary lines, and they won't let us get close. I can't learn this construction method."

The railways on both sides were the crucial part; this involved the means by which the train crossed the border line.

This was within Li Li Banfeng's expectations; if the construction method were that easy to learn, it would have been learned long ago.

The main reason he had Xiao Chuanzi mix in with the workers was to investigate one thing: "Are the materials used for the middle section of the railway the same as those used for the ends?"

If the materials used were the same, it meant that Craftsmanship techniques were used during the construction process, which would be harder to deal with. Li Li Banfeng was not a Craftsmanship cultivator; he couldn't learn those techniques.

But if the materials used were different, it proved that the part of the railway crossing the boundary line used special materials, which would make things much easier. It wouldn't be very difficult for Li Li Banfeng to get some of those materials back.

Xiao Chuanzi answered very affirmatively, "Seventh Master, the materials used are all the same. When they were unloading the cargo for the first time, they unloaded too much at the border and evened out quite a bit."

The Outer Provinces were using Craftsmanship techniques, which made things difficult.

That evening, Li Li Banfeng put on a work uniform and came to the construction site near the border line.

The construction site was silent. There was no construction at night, and the surroundings were lit by halos of light, with anyone forbidden from entering.

Li Li Banfeng pulled a mechanism, opened a passage, and after testing it with a Cabbage Person to ensure there were no errors, he walked in himself.

What was he going to the construction site for? He didn't understand anything, and besides, there was no construction at night.

This matter had to rely on the Leaving Suishenju. Wherever the key went, the Leaving Suishenju followed. It didn't matter if Li Li Banfeng couldn't understand; it was enough if the Leaving Suishenju could.

Ahead was a half-finished section of railway. Li Li Banfeng walked back and forth along the railway several times and sat down by the side of the tracks.

Old man, you have to watch carefully.

The switch can only be used once a day. Anyway, I can't get out, so you can learn slowly here.

On Ma Junyang Avenue, the Rao Qijun Restaurant had already started construction.

The blueprints designed by Chu Shaoqiang were truly excellent. The restaurant had one main building and two auxiliary buildings, with corridors and pavilions interspersed in between. A garden was built behind the buildings, and six high-class private rooms were specifically set up in the garden.

It had both classical charm and the unique luxury of Puluo Province. Ma Wu couldn't put the blueprints down after seeing them and gave Chu Shaoqiang a large sum of money as a reward.

But he still couldn't remember who this person was.

Chu Shaoqiang made up a fake name, and Ma Wu was a bit suspicious but didn't rush to investigate. He invited Chu Shaoqiang to his residence for a meal alone, wanting to pry some words out of him, but he didn't expect that halfway through the drinking, Ma Wu would be the first to get drunk and pass out.

Chu Shaoqiang took out a puppet, which accompanied Ma Wu in continuing to eat in a lifelike manner. He himself walked out of the residence and headed toward Qiu Qiu Luoye's territory.

With the New Year approaching, Qiu Qiu Luoye was drinking at home with the tiger. After two jars of wine went down their throats, the tiger was just about to open the third jar when Qiu Qiu Luoye flapped his ears and told the tiger not to move.

He walked out of the residence and looked at the forest in the distance.

Chu Shaoqiang's figure slowly emerged, and Qiu Qiu Luoye asked directly, "Who are you?"

"You must be Qiu Qiu Luoye, right?" Chu Shaoqiang smiled, "I've heard your name in the Inner Provinces and have even seen your contract."

"The Inner Provinces?" Qiu Qiu Luoye spat and looked at Chu Shaoqiang, "What are you looking for me for?"

"Don't be so nervous. I came to find you to help you.

I heard you changed your territory from a Deep Land to a Proper Land. The Inner Provinces all praise you for your ability; your reputation has already spread."

Qiu Qiu Luoye said expressionlessly, "Speak if you have something to say, and let it out if you have a fart. I don't have the time to listen to your nonsense."

Chu Shaoqiang nodded, "I admire your straightforwardness. I brought you three good things this time.

First is money. The newly opened territory is waiting to be rebuilt, and there are places where money is needed everywhere. I've brought you bright, shiny silver; spend it to your heart's content.

Second is cultivation. Now that you've become the Earth Deity of a Proper Land, you'll encounter more things and more opponents. We promise you that we will let you advance to the next level.

Third is manpower. The Inner Provinces have sent quite a few people; they will help you govern this land..."

Qiu Qiu Luoye interrupted Chu Shaoqiang and said with a chuckle, "I don't want the money; I have brothers who can earn money. I'll accumulate cultivation slowly myself; I don't need the Inner Provinces to worry for me. As for the manpower, you take them and get lost; get as far away from me as you can."

PS: The Inner Provinces still came knocking.

(End of chapter)