Awaken Chapter 125

Shouren Academy.

The eunuch who delivered the message had already left.

Xu Qingnian, whose face was a little less than stellar, was left behind.

In one day, resolving the conflicts in the imperial court.

The Minister of Household Affairs, the military officials, and the people, resolving the conflicts of three forces in one breath, who could do that?

Xu Qingnian was a bit depressed.

But there’s no way out. Her Majesty has decreed it, and although it doesn’t say what the punishment will be for failing to do so, according to the empress’ character, if she doesn’t get the job done, I’m sure her power will drop in her mind.

It’s all right, I can’t get away with it.

After the eunuch had completely left, Xu Qingnian turned around and went back to the academy, where he went to look for Chen Xinghe.

He had just said something himself, and then the empress ordered him to do something.

Was it a coincidence?

It might be.

But Xu Qingnian still came to see what his senior brother was doing.

Through the window, Xu Qingnian saw his senior brother, who was reading a book carefully, occasionally showing an indescribable smile, as if he had sunk into it.

Reasonably speaking, it should not be possible for senior brother to come into contact with the empress, nor could he be helping the empress to spy on himself.

If not senior brother, who else would it be?

Yang Hu and Yang Bao? Come on, if you really want them to spy on you, you might as well let your senior brother.

The new cook?

Xu Qingnian glanced at the kitchen, Li Guangxiao was enthusiastic about frying the food, and even lifted the lid of the soup stew and tasted it slightly to check the saltiness.

This isn’t necessary, the empress sent a man like this to spy on me?

It couldn’t be this person.

Besides, why would the empress spy on me? Wouldn’t it be embarra*sing to be found out?

After thinking about it, it’s just a coincidence, right? Forget it, let’s go and settle things first.

His Majesty had set a time limit of one day, so Xu Qingnian was not in a big hurry. He had said one day before, although it was slightly bragging in nature, but he could really do it if he was really allowed to.

But one had to be prepared for something.

To resolve this conflict, there are only four steps.

Convince the Minister of Household Affairs!

Convince the other three ministries! The Ministry of Rites is of the Confucian lineage, so it doesn’t need to be bothered. Besides, the Ministry of Rites is not going to interfere with the financial aspect. The Ministry of Works doesn’t need to be convinced either, it’s the Ministry of Penalties and the Ministry of Officials that will take a trip.

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Officials are the only ones who can convince the military officials.

The last thing you need to do is to convince the people.

According to this order, Xu Qingnian had to make different plans.

“Yang Hu and Yang Bao, go to the Ministry of Accounts and take a few people to Fan Shang Street to inform them that they should hand over their recent account books and say that I want to check them.”

“Zhao Da Zhao Er, you go outside and spread some news, say that the water chariot project in the capital of South Yu Province was not built by Minister of Works Li Yan Long, but by my research, don’t say the rest, and bring the people who entered the capital from South Yu Province in the last two days to the Ministry of Punishment for a thorough investigation.”

“Li Jian and Li Kang, you two go to An Guo Gong’s residence and tell them that I will visit today and ask An Guo Gong to invite some people to come and discuss something.”

Xu Qingnian instructed the matter down.

At that moment, the six men took orders.

One incense stick later, the Ministry of Finance took the two brothers, Yang Hu and Yang Bao, to the Fan merchants’ street.

The street is still lively, even more so than before, after all, in the past, they were afraid of being cheated, but now with all the new policies, plus a few days ago, Xu Qingnian made a fuss.

But now, with all the new policies in place, and the fuss Xu Qingnian made a few days ago, how can these merchants still dare to commit crimes? Even the bold ones don’t dare, at least not now.

So not only have there been more people, but the transactions have also become much more frequent.

One thing that has to be said is that there is more income than before, everyone is standardising their business, prices have returned to normal, and the people are being generous, buying back what they previously wanted to buy but didn’t dare.

After all, the goods of the merchants were good, but only if the prices were outrageous or if they were selling fake ones as real ones.

Now that the goods are real and there are receipts to prove it, the people are not afraid of anything and are naturally willing to spend money on them.

The thick account books were piled up, and the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs were straightforward enough to start the accounting on the spot. With Xu Qingnian’s new arithmetic skills, after about an hour, the general bill was calculated with great accuracy.

However, when the accounting was over, several officials of the Ministry of Finance smacked their lips a little, as the amount was a little exaggerated.

“Two lords, the accounting is clear, so we will go back first, please tell Lord Xu that we all look up to him extremely highly, if there is anything else next time, just say hello.”

Several people gave the account book to the two brothers, Yang Hu and Yang Bao, and said with a smile.

“You’re welcome, if a few brothers have nothing to do, come and sit in the academy.”

The two brothers, Yang Hu and Yang Bao, laughed and after getting their account books, they also excused themselves and left.

Since Xu Qingnian’s status had risen, the two brothers were considered to have some status in Kyoto, and many powerful people would greet them when they saw them, and sometimes when the officials of the six ministries saw themselves, they even made it a point to pull them in for a few minutes of conversation.

Although the two brothers knew that these people valued them because of Xu Qingnian, it didn’t stop them from being vain.

It took less than half an hour.

The two brothers, Yang Hu, returned to Shouren Academy.

They handed the account book to Xu Qingnian.

“Your Excellency, this is the consolidated account book of over seven hundred shops in Fan Shang Street, the Ministry of Accounts has already accounted for it, please check and accept it, Your Excellency.”

“Good, you guys go and rest.”

After receiving the account book, Xu Qingnian took a glance at it and found that it was as good as he expected.

After reading the account book, Xu Qingnian left the school directly, so that she could go and talk to the Minister of Household Affairs.

However, after Xu Qingnian left, Li Guangxiao also packed up and went outside to buy vegetables.

Li Guangxiao appeared cautious and was also worried that Xu Qingnian had detected him, so his first route was towards the vegetable market and he also bought quite a lot of vegetables and meat.

After making sure that no one was following him, Li Guangxiao then headed towards the palace path, taking out the appropriate token and arrow, and the journey was unhindered.

In the Hall of the Raising Heart.

The empress had been waiting for a long time.

“My old servant, I have met Your Majesty.”

Li Guangxiao spoke out, this time to the extent that he did not appear to be excited.

“Stand at ease.”

The empress spoke.

Facing her teacher, the empress did not seem too deep and spoke directly.

“Teacher, Xu Qingnian said that the conflicts in the court could be resolved in one day, what do you think?”

The Empress spoke out the doubts in her heart.

The day before yesterday in the courtroom, she had already lost her anger, while Gu Yan did not back down in the slightest. Although the civil servants and Confucian officials did not speak on the surface, but they did not speak is a tacit attitude, plus the military officials’ lineage not to mention.

Once the water chariot project is promoted, the treasury will be empty, and there is no need to talk about the Northern Expedition.

Moreover, there were many people who had created rumours and caused trouble, and she knew exactly who these rumour-mongers were, but she had no intention of taking jurisdiction.

She had thought about this, and it would take at least three months to actually promote the waterwheel project, and it could never be 50 counties.

In fact the promotion of the water chariot project and the direct fixing of the fifty counties was just her initial opening. As an emperor, she knew more about people’s hearts as well as the interests of the court.

As an emperor, she knew the people and the interests of the court.

When the waterwheel was taken out, it was bound to be taken by several other dynasties for imitation, but she was not stupid, and she had done some tampering with the drawings built by the Ministry of Works.

This also led to the fact that when the civil servants of the dynasty saw the samples, they did not feel astonished.

But in any case, if foreign states took them and produced them secretly to imitate them, as long as they had an effect, it would be bad for Great Wei.

So she also had a bit of a headache, neither could she delay too long nor must she get a satisfactory answer, and had not even eaten for the past two days, thinking about this matter again.

But what she didn’t expect was for her own teacher to send a heavenly decree informing her that Xu Qingnian said she could finish it within a day?

Whether it was true or not, the first thing she did was to give the decree, because for some reason, she somehow felt that Xu Qingnian dared to say such a thing, so she must have a method, and as to whether it could be done within another day, that was another story.

“Your Majesty, I believe that Xu Qingnian is indeed suitable to be the middleman.”

“He has a pretty good relationship with the six ministries, except for the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials, the other four are all pretty good.”

“Furthermore, he is also the Minister of the Household Ministry, and I know that the Minister of the Household Ministry highly values Xu Qingnian, and is even willing to support him to become the next Minister of the Household Ministry.”

“As for the line of martial officials, they are also quite fond of Xu Qingnian, at least their children and grandchildren are also enrolled in Xu Qingnian’s academy.”

“When I think about it, Xu Qingnian really mediates from it.”

Li Guangxiao briefly analysed the situation and concluded that Xu Qingnian could indeed mediate from it.

“Then, in one day, he can solve this matter?”

The empress continued to ask.

“Within a day might be a bit boastful, but within ten days, I believe it should not be difficult.”

This was Li Guangxiao’s comment.

One day to be honest, he didn’t believe it either, it was normal to bring a little bragging element, after all, it was talking to his own people, anyone would blow a little.

“En, I also think so, if he can solve this matter within ten days, I, naturally, will reward him extraordinarily, or even say that if he solves this matter within one month, I will also have a heavy reward.”

These words were not spoken casually by the empress, for under her budget, it would take three months to solve it, and it would only be possible to implement the water chariot in about twenty-five counties.

If Xu Qingnian could complete it in another half a month, and still complete the promotion in fifty counties, that would be a great achievement.

“En, but your majesty should also be prepared, after all, it is not difficult to complete it in ten days, but Xu Qingnian also knows the trade-offs, he cannot convince the Minister of Household Affairs Gu Yan and others to pilot fifty counties first, it is estimated that around twenty counties.”

Li Guangxiao added another sentence.

Promote fifty counties, it’s impossible, you prepare yourself mentally, the empress nodded, she did understand, so she didn’t hold much hope.

The empress nodded her head. It would be difficult to persuade him without ten days.

It was at this moment.

In the Ministry of the Treasury.

Although His Majesty was not at court, he could not fail to write the memorial. He must make the empress understand that this matter must not be promoted.

And no matter who comes to persuade him, he will not agree to it, because this is a fundamental matter of the state.

There was no room for jokes.

Sweeping one more glance at the water chariot diagram to the side.

Gu Yan was even more disgusted.

This Li Yanlong, what a B*****d, what kind of waterwheel did he invent?

The person who invented this thing had a brain problem, yes, he was cursing Li Yanlong.

Bang Bang!

There was a knock on the door, it was the guard outside the door.

“Shang Shu Gu, Lord Xu is here and says he wants to see you!”

The voice rang out and Gu Yan frowned.

What was Xu Qingnian doing appearing at this juncture? Is he helping His Majesty as a lobbyist?

“No.”

Gu Yan refused to see him, he guessed the purpose of Xu Qingnian’s visit.

To act as a lobbyist for His Majesty? Although he valued Xu Qingnian, there were some things that could be discussed and some things that could not.

He would never compromise on the matter of the waterwheel, so naturally, he would not see Xu Qingnian.

He would not see him even if he died.

No matter what Xu Qingnian said, he would not see him!

Bang Bang!

A knock sounded at the door and the voice of the guard came.

“Lord Gu, Lord Xu said that he had come to deliver money to the Ministry of the Household.”

As the guard’s voice rang out, Gu Yan was stunned.

Sending money?

There was still such a good thing.

“Hurry up and invite him in.”

Gu Yan closed his zhengfu and stood up to instantly change his appearance, his face gentle and with a smile, a little forced but still a smile.

If others had said this, he would have been dead set against believing it, but since Xu Qingnian had helped the treasury earn more than 100,000,000 taels of silver, he had an incomparable regard for Xu Qingnian.

As long as Xu Qingnian was not here to be a lobbyist today, he would be well fed and entertained.

Thinking of this, Gu Yan deliberately got up and went to get some fine tea to serve Xu Qingnian, so as not to neglect this God of Wealth.

It was at this moment that the door to the room opened.

The door to the room opened.

“My humble servant Xu Qingnian, I would like to meet Shang Shu Gu.”

Seeing Gu Yan, Xu Qingnian was all smiles, holding some account books in his hands, and said with a smile.

“Ah Shouren, what brings you here?”

“Come, come, it just so happens that someone has brought some fine tea for the old man, come and have a cup of tea.”

Gu Yan was full of smiles, without the slightest hint of anger from the party.

“Lord Gu, Qingnian has come over this time because she has two things to say to you.”

Xu Qingnian was not polite and sat down directly, appearing to be somewhat open to the truth.

“You say, you say.”

Gu Yan said smilingly, while fiddling with his tea leaves.

“This first matter, it is simple, I heard about the matter in the court, His Majesty intends to allocate 50,000,000 taels to the Ministry of Works to produce a large number of water carriages, only that you, Your Excellency, did not agree to it, Qingnian came here this time because she hopes that Your Excellency will agree to it.”

Xu Qingnian was very straightforward and did not beat around the bush at all.

And once this was said, Gu Yan’s face instantly changed and he poured back some of the tea he had already taken out, all of it.

“Send the guests away!”

Gu Yan spoke coldly, he had guessed that Xu Qingnian had come over to be a lobbyist.

It was a pity that he still carried a hint of greed himself, otherwise, Xu Qingnian would not have been able to enter at all.

“Shang Shu Gu, you should hear me out first.”

Xu Qingnian was not annoyed either, she just smiled and spoke.

Gu Yan was somewhat out of breath.

“Shouren, I’m not talking about you, you are at least a member of the Ministry of Finance, right? The world can say that I have become a miser since I took charge of the Ministry, but I don’t care at all.”

“They are just stupid.”

“Shouren, you have come to the Ministry of the Household, you should know that the six ministries have to open their mouths for money every year, how can the Great Wei Dynasty not have some natural or man-made disasters, a sum of relief silver, a sum of grants, these are all silver.”

“If the treasury had money, we wouldn’t have to be afraid of foreign enemies, do you know how I was living before? I was on tenterhooks every day, just hoping that there would be no more wars, I was really afraid that one day I would wake up and some foreign tribe would want to call the shots with Great Wei.”

“Those military officials were all excited, but did Wei have any money? There’s no money, there’s not even enough for internal needs, and there’s still silver for them to fight a war? What a bunch of fools.”

“Shouren, listen to the old man, you should not interfere in this matter, otherwise, the old man will not care about you.”

Gu Yan said a lot of things with a series of pearls, he had his hardships.

Everyone under heaven thought that the Minister of Household was a miser, but was that the truth?

The truth is that the six ministries need to allocate funds every year, and the officials of the world have reached an extremely harsh level, and all places need to allocate funds, whether for natural or man-made disasters, or for developing the country, there is money everywhere.

The government has to provide money for all kinds of natural and man-made disasters, as well as for the development of the country.

If you have silver, at least you have the strength.

If we run out of money again, the days of being on tenterhooks will probably return.

So he had his difficulties.

“Minister Gu, I understand what you’re saying, but you should take your breath away first.”

“Let me show you something.”

Xu Qingnian was in no hurry, but instead took out a booklet and submitted it to Gu Yan to read.

The latter frowned, but still took the small booklet.

After flipping it open, Gu Yan’s sad face instantly revealed a smile.

Even the more he saw the back, the stronger the smile became.

“Good, good, good.”

Gu Yan was overjoyed and said three good words in a row.

The small book was the account book, the income of the seven hundred shops on Fan Shang Street over the past ten days.

The total amount of silver taels was more than fourteen million taels, and the net profit was three million taels, and its price was reasonable, around thirty percent of the net profit.

And these three million taels, if the tax is levied according to the Fan merchants, this is one million two hundred thousand taels to be handed over to the state treasury.

This is only ten days, if it were a month this would be three million six hundred thousand taels, a year would be close to forty million taels of taxed silver.

Hiss!

Gu Yan felt like his scalp was going numb.

“Shouren, is this account book true or false?”

a*sociated with this, Gu Yan couldn’t help but ask Xu Qingnian if this was true or not ah.

After all, the silver taels were just too much for him to imagine ah.

The most important thing to know is that this is only seven hundred shops, in the Great Wei capital, there are at least six or seven thousand merchants from the foreign countries, it is just a matter of location, plus this is only the Great Wei capital.

The place where foreign merchants appear, basically are some prosperous cities, poorer cities, they will not go there, unless it is some small business, but the business of the foreign merchants, most of them are jade silk and other expensive things.

“The account book is naturally true, and it was personally checked by the officials of the Ministry of Finance, so there may be some discrepancies, but it is not a big problem.

Xu Qingnian said confidently.

“Don’t ask, don’t ask, I can’t trust anyone, but only you.”

Gu Yan smiled, a very radiant smile, and then spooned a few more spoons from inside the tea bag, ready to start making tea.

Seeing Gu Yan smiling, Xu Qingnian then continued to speak, but not about the water truck project.

“Lord Gu, Qingnian counted carefully at home, there are a total of seven thousand four hundred and fifty-six shops in the Great Wei Fan merchants, these seven hundred are the head, in the Fan merchant street, business is naturally extremely good, so the amount of the account book is also more.”

“The other merchants are not as good as these seven hundred, but they are not bad either. I estimate that the sum of the remaining 6,000 shops should be about seven times as many, and will not fluctuate by more than double.”

Xu Qingnian said seriously, he was not in a hurry to dissuade Gu Yan, take your time, it was still early anyway, just one day.

“Seven times?”

Gu Yan swallowed his saliva.

Ten days revenue was 14 million taels, net profit was 3 million taels, a month was 9 million taels.

Seven times that would be 63 million taels of silver, and a 40% tax would be 25.2 million taels.

How much is that in a year?

Thirty million taels of silver!

Hiss!

Gu Yan swallowed his saliva, his entire body was dumbfounded.

Looking at Gu Yan’s look of being frozen in place, Xu Qingnian gave a light laugh before slowly saying.

“Lord Gu, don’t think too beautifully for now.”

“According to this account book, the Great Wei Kyoto Fan merchants alone can provide 30,000,000 taels of silver a year, but this is only the ideal.”

“Double up or down, but this has to be counted as less, so let’s say it’s six times.”

“However, Lord Xu, do you know why in just ten days, these seven hundred or so Fan merchants will earn so much silver?”

Xu Qingnian told the truth, in theory he could have gone along with Gu Yan’s idea of drawing a big pie.

But there was no need for that, after all, Gu Yan was now shocked to see the account book, and when he went back to do a proper breakdown, many questions would arise.

Since he had come over as a lobbyist, he had to tell the truth and then negotiate.

“Why?”

“I really don’t understand this time, according to reason, after killing a group of Fan merchants, this situation should be more chaotic, how did it become like this?”

Gu Yan came back to his senses, while his expression was full of curiosity.

Yes, how did they suddenly earn so much silver?

According to reason, after killing so many Fan merchants, these Fan merchants should be hiding at home and crying, and after such a big mess, it couldn’t be okay so quickly, right?

“Lord Gu, you know the Household Ministry extremely well, but you don’t know the merchants.”

“Merchants go after profit, although Qingnian killed a group of Fan merchants some days ago, they are indeed angry and afraid, but merchants are merchants, what they chase is always profit.”

“I am eradicating the illegal merchants with this slash, so that this group of Fan merchants dare not act recklessly, and the people can see this scene in their eyes.”

“Naturally, the people believe that these merchants won’t dare to act recklessly anymore, and with the receipts as proof, the people have even less to worry about when they consume.”

“Lord Gu, let’s not talk about the character of these Fan merchants, but their goods are good, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to gain a foothold in Great Wei.”

“It’s just that the market was chaotic and unregulated, now that the Fan merchants have become honest and returned to normal, the people dare to buy boldly, plus before they raised the prices of jade and silk, now they have instantly dropped to 20-30% of what they were before, to the people it’s simply something they don’t want to pay for.”

“So the market is booming this time, but this will steadily decline, and in almost a month, return to normal.”

Xu Qingnian spoke very clearly, while Gu Yan listened carefully.

“Then, according to what you mean, it will eventually stabilise at a few percent?”

Gu Yan asked.

“Twenty percent.”

Xu Qingnian stated an exact figure.

Now why the sudden surge? It was because the price of goods had dropped, as well as the fact that they were no longer worried about being pitched, so they were relieved and bold enough to buy.

But the money in the hands of the people will always be that number, the middle cla*s will rise in buying strength, but the bottom cla*s will soon return to normal, as for the rich he will always be the same group of people, no matter how the market is, no one dares to offend them.

So in the end, the situation will stabilise at around 20%.

“Twenty percent?”

Gu Yan did some careful calculations, which meant that 30,000,000 taels of silver a year would only end up in the national treasury at 60 million taels.

It somehow felt a bit small.

“What if we add the whole country?”

Gu Yan continued to ask.

How could Gu Yan not feel bad when he had been prepared for thirty million taels before, only to end up with sixty million taels, and it was still an unknown whether it was there or not.

If he had said 60 million taels at the beginning, he would have been happy.

But who would be comfortable with saying that there would be 30 million taels and then 60 million taels?

This is like some folk who specialize in writing for storytellers, they said they would write ten chapters, but it turned out to be two.

So Gu Yan couldn’t help but ask how it would be if we counted the national fan club.

“It won’t grow too much, 10,000,000 taels at most, and that’s the most.”

Xu Qingnian gave his answer.

When this was said, Gu Yan frowned.

“Sixty million million taels for one Kyoto, and the whole of Great Wei only adds up to forty million taels, huh? That can’t be right?”

Gu Yan couldn’t get around the bend a bit, although he said that this was Great Wei’s Kyoto, the most prosperous place in Great Wei, but there were also prosperous places in other cities.

How could only forty million taels be added, and listening to Xu Qingnian’s tone, it seemed as if forty million taels was still far-fetched.

“Your Excellency.”

“What kind of goods are the goods bought and sold by the merchants of the Fan State? What kind of goods are the merchants trading in? They are the richest group of people in Great Wei, let them spend tens or hundreds of taels to buy jade, they are willing.”

“You’re asking other people to buy it? Your Excellency, are you joking?”

Xu Qingnian said seriously.

And once this was said, Gu Yan sort of understood.

Indeed.

The spending power and economic ability of the people of Great Wei were not all rich, but they were at least much better than the people of other places.

“Ten thousand thousand taels, that’s fine.”

Gu Yan opened his mouth, it was equivalent to doubling his income, so that was fine.

But Xu Qingnian’s voice rang out again.

“Lord Gu, there’s something I still need to remind, this situation can only last for about a year, and every year after that it’s estimated to get less and less.”

Xu Qingnian picked up the teapot herself and poured herself a cup of tea and said.

“It will still decrease? Why? Is it those merchants?”

Upon hearing this, Gu Yan was instantly angry.

“No.”

“Still, the people don’t have any money, so this kind of thing won’t last long.”

“Let me put it to you this way, Your Excellency, the people’s income is not high, so naturally they won’t buy expensive things.”

“So, according to the subordinate’s budget, the first year might be able to raise 10,000,000 taels, the second year 70,000,000 taels, the third year 50,000,000 taels, the fourth year 30,000,000 taels and the fifth year is estimated to be only 15,000,000 taels.”

“Of course the good news is that the fifteen million taels will last a long time.”

Xu Qingnian laughed.

But he was laughing, Gu Yan couldn’t laugh.

How come the more you cut back, the less you get?

Fifteen million taels?

Where’s the money?

Before it was 30,000,000 taels, then 10,000,000 taels, and now it’s a straightforward 15 million taels?

You can’t play like that.

“Shouren, did you come here on purpose to disgust me today?”

Gu Yan was having a hard time, seeing the silver, diminishing little by little, how could he not feel bad?

“Lord Gu, you say that.”

“However, Lord Gu, let me ask you a question, do you want the tax revenue of Great Wei to increase to 30 million taels per year? Or even 50,000,000 taels? 100,000,000 taels?”

When he said this, Xu Qingnian became incomparably serious.

Seeing Xu Qingnian’s seriousness, Gu Yan instantly perked up and stood up with great excitement and said!

“One hundred thousand million taels?”

“Shouren, are you serious?”

“I’m not greedy, I’ll be happy with a 50,000,000 a year.”

“Shouren, if you can achieve 50,000,000 taels, this position, you will do it.”

Gu Yan, the Minister of Household, was completely shocked, and he stood up, his fingers trembling slightly again in excitement.

If it was someone else who said something about fifty thousand million taels or one hundred thousand taels in front of him again, he would definitely slap him across the face.

But Xu Qingnian was different.

This guy just wasn’t a mortal.

“Good!”

“Lord Gu, Qingnian can guarantee you that as long as Lord Gu listens to your humble servant, in just one year’s time, the Great Wei treasury will increase to 20,000,000 taels, within two years, it will break 30,000,000 taels, within three years, it will break 50,000,000 taels, and within five years, it will increase to at least 70% certainty to 100,000,000 taels.”

Xu Qingnian said with incomparable seriousness.

He was not joking, but serious.

This was because he still had a few big killing moves that he hadn’t used.

“Within five years! Seventy percent certainty! One hundred thousand million taels?”

Gu Yan swallowed his saliva as he looked towards Xu Qingnian, with an unusual excitement in his eyes, but he still had some doubts ah.

One hundred thousand million taels.

What kind of concept is that? During the heyday of the Great Wei, the year when it was at its peak, there were 200,000,000 taels of silver, and at that time, it had been winning battles and countries were paying taxes, and later, at its peak, it was only 120,000 to 130,000 taels.

Xu Qingnian now dared to say that he could earn 120,000,000 taels? Who would dare to believe that?

He respected him, but this was outrageous.

“Shouren, there is no proof in your words, you should at least show me evidence that can convince me, right?”

Gu Yan said this.

He saw that Xu Qingnian was too serious and too serious, he neither dared to disbelieve him, nor could he really believe him.

“Two points.”

Xu Qingnian stretched out her finger, and then said with a resolute expression.

“First! Your Majesty promotes the water chariot project, this thing is made by me, it can double the food production of Great Wei or even more, this is 10,000,000 taels of silver tax, furthermore if we really promote the water chariot project, we can also suppress the Northern Expedition, Lord Gu can win two birds with one stone.”

“Second! Lord Gu, I have prepared four knives, the first one fell on the Fan merchants, this second one, I can tell you frankly, fell on the ordinary merchants of Great Wei, only this one fell, it will surely lead to public anger and wrath, the people will also be compelled then.”

“But if once the waterwheel project succeeds, Great Wei’s grain production doubles and the people at the bottom have a great harvest, are we still worried about the people’s grievances and the people’s changes?”

“If we can really stabilise the situation, then this third blade, the fourth blade, I think Lord Gu should be able to guess a thing or two, right?”

When Xu Qingnian said this, he didn’t say any more.

When Gu Yan heard this, his entire body froze in place as if struck by lightning.

He knew that Xu Qingnian’s attack on Fan Shang was just the beginning, but he also knew that Xu Qingnian would still keep a knife, but the timing was not ripe.

But what he didn’t expect was that Xu Qingnian had actually prepared four knives.

And one was more ruthless than the other.

However, what shocked him most was that the water chariot project was built by Xu Qingnian, and Xu Qingnian also dared to guarantee that the food production of Great Wei would double, which was an important part of the tax revenue, but the people’s heart was even more important.

If the people of the world are happy with the harvest, when the second, third or even fourth knife falls.

These people will not dare to turn their back on you, because the people’s hearts are secure and they have enough to eat and drink, so who will follow you to rebel?

Hiss!

High!

High!

High!

Xu Qingnian is really as wise as a demon, from the moment he entered the capital, he had already prepared these four swords, and he had also thought of a way out.

But just when Gu Yan was still a little bit wavering.

Xu Qingnian’s voice rang out again.

“Lord Gu! If the people of the world can eat and drink enough, and Great Wei’s food production doubles, then the population will also increase, and in twenty years, Great Wei will once again see a truly prosperous and flourishing era, and as long as it starts with the doubling of food production, many things will be affected by it.”

“When the people have money, they will spend it, and the Household Ministry will be able to collect it, and with this, the silver in the treasury will only grow.”

“The taxes on the Fan merchants will also increase.”

“Not to mention, with the back three knives falling, we will be able to make more money.”

When Xu Qingnian said this, he said no more, because everything that needed to be said had been said, and if the Minister of Household Affairs still didn’t agree, he turned and left to find the emperor, so that he could scold him a few times and go home to sleep.

The facts proved.

Gu Yan’s heart was moved.

Completely and utterly moved.

The impact of the waterwheel project, doubling the food production, was indeed more than just tax revenue, there were all kinds of benefits.

The people are richer, the merchants can also make money, the treasury’s income can also increase, everyone wins.

In addition, the merchants are only the first knife that Xu Qingnian has used, and there are still more knives that can be used later.

If the treasury really runs out of money and something really goes wrong, the big deal is to use the second knife in advance.

If everything goes according to plan.

Within a year, the treasury will have 20,000,000 taels of tax revenue.

Within two years, the treasury will have 30,000,000 taels of tax revenue.

Within three years, the treasury will collect 50,000,000 taels of tax revenue.

In five years, one hundred thousand thousand taels of tax revenue for the treasury.

Hiss!

If that was the case, wouldn’t he be able to look at people with his nose in the future?

What kind of bullSh*t Ministry of Officials, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Penalties, Ministry of War.

The Ministry of Works dares to be mean to me? I’ll give 10 million taels to the Ministry of Rites with a snap of my fingers, and I won’t give it to you.

You dare to threaten me? I will give 10 million taels to the Ministry of Officials, and you will be disgusted.

By then, the officials of the five ministries will be all over you. Will they be crying out for money?

After a lifetime of suffering, you have to be happy, right?

“Shouren!”

“I believe in you!”

“I don’t care about the money, I just think you are reliable.”

“The waterwheel project, old man, agreed.”

Having reached this point, Gu Yan did not pretend to be a man, and agreed to it straight away.

It could increase food production, increase national taxes and promote economic development, this waterwheel was really a good thing.

“Lord Gu is wise.”

“Then, my humble servant will first take leave.”

Xu Qingnian didn’t say much more, the task was done, so he went to the next house next.

“OK, Shouren, take care on the way, take this packet of tea and drink it at home.”

“I’ll see you off.”

“Shouren, take care.”

“Take care of your safety.”

Gu Yan enthusiastically took Xu Qingnian all the way to the entrance of the Household Ministry, then turned back and sat in his room.

He was in an extraordinarily good mood for some reason.

Glancing at the zhengzhi on the table, he simply threw it away.

Another glance at the water chariot diagram.

Alas, it was a real treasure.

“I told you, this thing must be a good thing.”

“The person who invented this thing is really extremely clever, Shouren ah Shouren, you are really smart.”

“This Li Yanlong is really something. You didn’t create it and you have to show it off.”

“He almost prevented this from seeing the light of day.”

“Li Yanlong, waste!”

Inside the room, Gu Yan looked at the water chariot diagram and laughed out loud from time to time, occasionally cursing the Minister of Works, Li Yanlong, the old banger.

The matter of the Household Ministry was settled.

Xu Qingnian went straight to the Ministry of Punishment.

It is much more straightforward to come to the Ministry of Punishment, after all, the source of the most trouble with the waterwheel project, is not the Minister of Household and the group of military officials?

Xu Qingnian came to the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Punishment up and down warmly greeted, did not even inform anything, Xu Qingnian directly pushed open the door of Zhang Jing’s room.

“Old Zhang, there’s something for you.”

Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, looking incredibly casual.

Inside the room, Zhang Jing looked at Xu Qingnian somewhat indifferently, but didn’t say anything.

“What’s wrong?”

“Old Zhang, this time the Ministry of Criminal Affairs demanded travel expenses, how much did the Ministry of Household Affairs give?”

Xu Qingnian asked.

“Several million taels, Gu Yan, that miser, how much do you think he will give?”

At the mention of this, Zhang Jing was somewhat out of breath.

“Do you want more?”

Xu Qingnian lifted her cup of tea and took a sip, then asked seriously.

“Eh? What’s the idea?”

Once he heard this, Zhang Jing came to life.

“Name a number first.”

Xu Qingnian did not answer, but instead asked Zhang Jing to name a number.

“Ten million taels!”

Zhang Jing gathered all his courage and said a bold number.

“Ugh.” Xu Qingnian sighed, before looking at Zhang Jing and saying.

“I finally understand why the Ministry of Punishment doesn’t work, Old Zhang, you’re so careful even in your dreams, you’re simply worthless.”

Xu Qingnian said with a slight sense of emotion.

While Zhang Jing snorted coldly and said, “Don’t sell yourself short here, just say what you have to say.”

“Then, I’ll be straightforward, I tossed up the waterwheel, if you agree to His Majesty building the waterwheel, this time next year, I’ll allocate an extra 15 million taels of silver from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Penalty, okay?”

Xu Qingnian got straight to the point.

“Fifteen million taels?”

“You’re not bluffing me?”

Zhang Jing swallowed his saliva, as if he had never seen silver before.

“Only more, not less, you don’t believe me?”

Xu Qingnian asked rhetorically.

“Fine! If you can’t do it anyway, then you’ll go back to the Ministry of Punishment for me.”

Zhang Jing agreed in one breath.

An extra 15 million taels? Who wouldn’t agree to that? With this amount of money, the officials of the Ministry of Penalty could at least stay in better restaurants on business trips, so they wouldn’t have to stay in some poor places every time, right?

“Let’s go.”

Xu Qingnian came and went as quickly as she could.

It was easy to deal with Zhang Shang Shu, fifteen million taels was sent straight away.

This kind of person, no talent ah.

“Just leave? No tea?”

“Shouren, be safe on the road.”

“Be careful.”

Zhang Jing shouted, but soon came back with a sudden reaction.

“Did Shouren make the water cart?”

“Good man, no wonder it’s so exquisite, tsk, Shouren, Shouren, you are truly a blessing to the Great Wei.”

Zhang Jing muttered.

Immediately afterwards, he muttered.

“This Li Yanlong, don’t be old-fashioned, it’s obvious that Shouren made the stuff, and he has to say he made it? Shame on him for being a son of a man.”

He muttered a curse.

Two quarters of an hour later.

Xu Qingnian arrived at the Ministry of Justice.

It was a rule, but the approach was straightforward.

Just pay the money.

Chen Zhengru was not impressed, but after hearing Xu Qingnian admit that he had tossed the waterwheel, he began to negotiate the price.

It must be said that Chen Zhengru was worthy of being the prime minister and asked for 50 million taels, but Xu Qingnian pressed the price to 30 million taels, which was not good enough.

Chen Zhengru agreed, so Xu Qingnian left again to rush the venue to the An Guo Gong Mansion.

On the way, Xu Qingnian compared Chen Zhengru with Zhang Jing.

En, Zhang Shang Shu was really no good.

And with Xu Qingnian gone, Chen Zhengru couldn’t help but smile gently.

“This water cart was really made by Xu Qingnian.”

“Li Yanlong doesn’t have the ability to do that.”

He muttered to himself, without saying anything unpleasant, but the implication was that Li Yanlong did not have the brains for it.

And so it was, another two quarters of an hour later.

Xu Qingnian had arrived at the An Guo Gong Mansion.