Chapter 510: Extremely High Odds

The next day.

Liu Zheng woke up early in the morning, feeling refreshed and full of energy.

How was that move of his?

He felt his own maneuver was quite dashing.

Jiang Xuan had long been waiting at the door, and with a chuckle, he said, "Young Master, that group can no longer hold back. Our Scout reports that in the last few days, those reckless wealthy merchants from Yangzhou have brought in another twenty million in gold!"

"Is that so?"

Liu Zheng was startled.

Another twenty million?

This Xie Ling's commercial operational ability was truly formidable. Twenty million in gold—what kind of concept was that? One had to know that during the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court's annual tax revenue was only a little over twenty million taels, but that was in silver!

This was gold!

It was a full twenty times the value of silver!

It seemed the Longyan Dynasty was not lacking in money; rather, the majority of this wealth was controlled by these wealthy merchants!

"When do they plan to act?"

Liu Zheng felt somewhat excited hearing this.

Just kidding...

This much money was enough to support the blueprint of his Yinliang Industrial Corridor!

He had them!

This time, he had Xie Ling right where he wanted him!

"About three days from now!"

Jiang Xuan also laughed excitedly.

Liu Zheng laughed heartily: "Then wouldn't it be perfect if we rushed to Longqi Gorge now?"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Three days.

All of Liu Zheng's plans had already been arranged. He was just waiting for Xie Ling to lose his patience and dump all this money in. As long as this batch of funds entered the market, Liu Zheng would not let them leave the borders of Liangzhou again!

"We can set off. By the way, have this letter delivered to the Princess..."

"Ah!"

This day.

News spread from Liangzhou Prefecture.

Liu Zheng was finally going to personally head to Longqi Gorge to resolve the Blockage of the Ship!

The eyes of all of Liangzhou—no, all of Longyan—were instantly drawn to it.

It's been so long, and you're only coming now?

Many people could not help but sneer.

Besides, are you sure you can really handle it? Over the past two months, countless capable people have come to this Longqi Gorge, but no matter who they were, they could not shake those three massive blocks of Cement... all sorts of skilled craftsmen failed, so do you really think you, Prefect Liu, are a Heavenly God descended to earth?

Yes.

Everyone in Longyan knew that Prefect Liu was very capable, a talent for managing the world, a capable minister for governing the world, and an ambitious hero for chaotic times.

But you can't just transform into a Heavenly God and split this Cement with a single blade, right?

Therefore.

Most people were currently holding a wait-and-see attitude to watch the spectacle.

The big shots in Jinghua were the same.

The Feudatory Kings of other territories were the same.

Including the border area between Hanzhong and Liangzhou, it was the same at this moment.

"Quick, quick, quick, help out over here!"

"Oh my, can't you squeeze through?"

"I told you it's been blocked the whole time, why are you still coming to join the fun!"

At this moment, Longqi Gorge was still incredibly lively and chaotic. Ships of all sizes were still stuck. Some ships had been blocked here the whole time, carrying all sorts of grain and cargo; after so long, it had long since rotted. These people were also malicious—since I've lost so much, how could I let you have it easy? Suddenly, all this rotten cargo was dumped into the water.

The ships wouldn't move either.

Everyone just dragged it out like this.

Give us an explanation!

Either Hanzhong gives us an explanation, or the Liangzhou side gives us an explanation!

You can't just have so many losses without anyone being responsible, right?

We were traveling on your Grand Canal!

Compensation!

Consequently, more and more ships and more and more people gathered here and refused to leave. Among them, those with ulterior motives, those coming to stage accidents, and those with all kinds of bad intentions were countless.

"Prince Yong, these people are truly..."

Prince Yong had come to inspect again today.

This good-natured man came every day, fearing that some violent conflict might break out here. At a glance, the messy ships caused great obstacles to the clearing work. These people were also scattered everywhere; some were fighting and sparring on the side, some were eating meat and drinking alcohol, and some were wrestling on the boats for amusement.

Even.

Before he had even walked close.

He heard many people nearby.

"Come on, come on, the betting is open! Hurry up, hurry up, Qingzhou Commercial Firm, fair to young and old alike, the betting is open today, betting on whether Prefect Liu can resolve the Blockage of the Ship, place your bets, place your bets!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Yong nearly tumbled and fell to the ground.

His face was covered in black lines.

Good heavens, there's even a gambling den for this?

He looked closely and saw that there were indeed quite a few people patronizing it.

"Hahahaha, one to one hundred, is this for real? Does your Qingzhou Commercial Firm really have so little faith in Prefect Liu? Come, come, I'll bet five taels of silver!"

"One to one, I'll play ten taels!"

For a moment, there were indeed quite a few people placing bets.

Walking along the way, there were all sorts of odds.

However, the odds for Prefect Liu successfully resolving the Blockage of the Ship were never lower than fifty... It was clear that the market was also filled with lamentation regarding whether Prefect Liu could resolve this Blockage of the Ship.

Prince Yong was amused as he watched, chuckling and shaking his head: "These people, having so little faith in Prefect Liu, are going to take a big fall."

"Hmph, what does Prince Yong mean by that? If even our Imperial Court's Ministry of Works cannot resolve this matter, do you perhaps think that Prefect Liu can handle it with ease?"

Prince Yong had not yet finished speaking.

Someone here wouldn't let it slide, and a group of people approached aggressively.

The person in the lead, wearing the official robes of a fifth-rank official, was none other than Dong Feng, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works of Longyan! This time, for the Blockage of the Ship, the Imperial Court had directly dispatched the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, which showed how much importance the Imperial Court placed on this major event.

"So it is Lord Dong..."

Prince Yong laughed it off: "Not at all, not at all. The Ministry of Works has put in the effort and energy; it has truly been hard work. Someone, bring over the fine wine I have prepared!"

Dong Feng then smiled faintly: "Prince Yong, rest assured, in at most one month, the Ministry of Works will definitely open this passage! This cement of Prefect Liu's is truly unusually hard!"

One month?

Prince Yong gave a bitter smile in his heart.

By the time another month passes, the opportunity will have long since slipped away.

But he also knew that the current Ministry of Works held Prefect Liu in very low regard... or rather, it wasn't exactly low regard; it was just that the existence of Yintan City was a massive slap in the face to the Ministry of Works! What does the Ministry of Works do? In ancient times, it managed all major construction projects, plus things like water conservancy, land, industrial information, as well as the manufacturing of Weaponry and Equipment, mining, opening factories, earning money, and various inventions and creations—all of which fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works.

It could be said that the Ministry of Works encompassed the basic food, clothing, housing, and transportation of the ancient imperial court and the common people.

How impressive the Ministry of Works used to be.

Even a small underling from the Ministry of Works would look down on people with their nostrils held high.

But now?

With the appearance of Yintan City, there are things like cement, asphalt, perfume, soap... the list is simply endless.

Wouldn't these various fresh items that shocked all of Longyan be a fierce slap to the face of the Ministry of Works?

Not long ago, the Emperor often made fun of the Ministry of Works.

He would ask the Ministry of Works, have you been able to replicate those things from Yintan City?

Listen to that!

Listen to that, what kind of talk is that—replicate! Are we in the Ministry of Works just here to replicate other people's things?

How could the Left Vice Minister of this Ministry of Works have a good opinion of this Prefect Liu?

Prince Yong laughed heartily: "Lord Dong's earnest intentions, I understand. But given the current situation, I'm afraid we cannot wait for a month... Why doesn't Lord Dong let the brothers under your command rest for a while and wait until Prefect Liu arrives before deciding?"

He was afraid that these people would just mess things up blindly.

The situation at the scene was becoming even more complicated.

Dong Feng wore a mocking expression: "What does Prince Yong mean by this?"

"Could it be that he, Prefect Liu, can guarantee he will get it done in a month just by coming here?"

"Hahahaha!"

"Boastful talk!"

The group from the Ministry of Works began to laugh along.

Never mind whether Prefect Liu even has those specialized tools.

Even if he did.

Something that hard, in one month?

This is no laughing matter!