Chapter 1084: Special

"What! They are actually that old? How do they not look like it at all! Doesn't that mean your father is nearing the end of his life?"

Qianxi had no tact in her speech, and even Yangasha couldn't help but glare at her. Fortunately, Changle was already accustomed to such shock; after all, in an era where the average life expectancy was not high, his father was indeed quite old for his age, yet he also looked very young.

Xuanyuan, who was about the same age as Baifeng, already looked much older than Baifeng now, but Baifeng didn't feel he would be able to outlive Xuanyuan. Regardless of whether it was like in the myths, he had lived over a hundred years, but he was at least exceptionally long-lived.

Baoxi was younger than Baifeng, yet he also looked very old. This was mainly determined by his living environment and survival conditions. Normally, the Tribal Chief and more important figures had longer lifespans than ordinary people because they ate well, lived well, and did not have to do such dangerous things; naturally, they were meant to live a bit longer.

Chiyou's age was unknown, but judging by the age of the War Lords and the others, he was likely not too young either.

"We Huaxia people can normally live quite long. Living to sixty or seventy years old shouldn't be much of a problem. At the very least, living over fifty years is completely possible. My father is in his prime right now and can still live for many, many more years."

Qianxi felt a bit awkward and fell silent, though everyone was somewhat shocked by the longevity of the Huaxia people—that humans could actually live so long.

While speaking, the group arrived at Changle's courtyard. Zhigui said very politely, "Changle Prince, I will see you all to this point. As for the specific matters, the Queen and the others have already made arrangements for your servants. If there is anything else you need or any other arrangements, just send someone to the Ministry of Rites to pass on a word, and we will prepare it."

"Alright, thank you for your hard work. You go and get busy. Now that we are at my home, I have no issues and can handle things well."

Zhigui nodded and slowly left with two subordinates. Such a special, rigorous, and polite behavior also made the War Lords and the others very impressed. Although they didn't know what to call this behavior of Huaxia, and they didn't understand what "propriety" was, they could feel that these people were very disciplined. They knew what should and should not be done, and when they did things, they could do them beautifully.

Pushing open the courtyard gate that had not been entered for a long time, everything inside was still so familiar; nothing had changed. However, it looked like the leaves of the maple trees that had been planted were gradually turning red, adding a bit of color to the courtyard. It was very clean inside, but it hadn't been kept according to Changle's preference of leaving the fallen leaves. Of course, this was likely because the servants thought no one was living here and Changle was away, so with no one watching, they prioritized cleanliness and swept them away.

It was indeed not yet the time for leaves to fall in large quantities. In cases of wind or rain, there would be a few scattered leaves. Autumn was Changle's favorite season because it was rich in color; it was the most beautiful season, not like spring or summer with that green appearance and the ground dotted with blooming wildflowers.

Changle already had his own aesthetic complex. He knew what he liked, knew what he loved, and what was beautiful, rather than following the trends and the masses like most people. They didn't know what they liked; they just watched—Changle Prince likes this, Changle Prince planted this kind of flower recently, let's plant the same...

Changle didn't really like this feeling because it made him seem too ordinary and lacking in character. Not only did it cover up his own traits, but it also caused other people to lose the aesthetics and characteristics they should have had, which was not beneficial for the future development of Huaxia.

Of course, those Noble lords didn't care. In fact, it was best if they could always like and imitate his aesthetics. This way, Changle could swindle some grain and money from their hands. If they had their own preferences and started searching the mountains for plants they liked themselves, Changle would lose a means of swindling wealth.

Doing this at the beginning was for his father, for Baifeng, because that was what Baifeng required of them. The Nobles had plenty of grain and supplies in their hands; they couldn't use it all, and it was a waste, so it should be swindled away and circulated into the hands of more ordinary people so that more people could be fed.

However, one could not change the distribution system or forcibly rob and seize, because that would be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. It would not be beneficial for the future of Huaxia and would affect everyone's enthusiasm; the effect would only be short-term.

So the best method was to trade through some "luxury," "high-end," and "special" items, obtaining high returns at a low cost. Nobles were also human; they could only eat so much, live in a space so large, and wear only so much fabric. Ordinary things could not fetch them high prices; that would be too obvious.

Therefore, things that were different and limited-edition were the best items for these Nobles who had a great desire for consumption to show how they were different from ordinary commoners. For these years, Baifeng had been doing such things, but it was clear that the speed of consumption could not keep up with the speed of their wealth accumulation. Moreover, in the future, the speed of these Nobles' wealth accumulation would be even faster because Huaxia was becoming wealthier, yet Huaxia's manufacturing capacity and creativity had not kept up; there were too few things to consume.

The Changle of the past did exactly this, and now and in the future, he intended to continue doing so, but he also had one difference: he wanted to keep some of the wealth he gathered for himself.

The entire Huaxia belonged to the Royal Family, and Changle had a share of it, but after all, they could not consume the things of Huaxia at will.

After feeling that Yulong and Changle had a certain level of ability to manage resources, Baifeng opened storehouses for both of them, allowing them to have a Private Treasury and periodically giving them some grain and different supplies, just like paying a salary.

This was because they themselves needed to learn how to spend and how to utilize wealth to govern the country in the future. At the same time, they needed wealth to reward and win over their subordinates. By occasionally giving rewards to their subordinates to win their hearts, they could also use the wealth in their Private Treasury to hire tenant farmers to do things when they needed to handle private matters.

In the past, Changle rarely used his Private Treasury, but the data and such had always been recorded. How much wealth was inside could be found out with a check now.

Changle himself didn't know how much there was, but with his status and ability, it certainly wouldn't be little. He could easily fulfill the promises he made to Ayuduo, and occasionally give some extra rewards to the Soldiers who accompanied him on missions; this was the use of Changle's Private Treasury.