Chapter 201 - 149: All the Wealth Under Heaven Enters the Urn
Chapter 201: Chapter 149: All the Wealth Under Heaven Enters the Urn
"Your Highness," Cai Chong began, "in just one day, we sold a full thirteen manors and one thousand two hundred smaller courtyards. The Prince’s Mansion has taken in six billion, six hundred fifty million taels of silver." Although Cai Chong already knew this figure, he couldn’t help but gasp as he read it aloud.
’And this is just from one day.’
He now realized they had built too few courtyards in South City; they should have built far more.
Lu Yuan also seemed to have realized this. He looked at Cai Chong and said, "It seems we didn’t build enough courtyards."
He had originally been very conservative, as he had no idea how many wealthy merchants there truly were in the world, and he didn’t have much silver on hand at the time.
Looking at it now, he had still underestimated the number of wealthy people in the world.
’There really are so many magnates.’
He immediately instructed, "First thing tomorrow morning, send people to the Government Office and buy up all the available land. Of the silver we received today, I’ll take six billion taels and make a trip to the palace.
"I hear they started donating silver at the Imperial Court today."
"Yes, Your Highness. The imperial clan and the nobility in the court have all contributed silver," Cai Chong replied quickly.
Lu Yuan nodded. "Get the silver notes ready. I’m going to the palace immediately."
He glanced outside at the heavy, goose-feather snow that was still falling.
A flash of worry crossed his eyes.
’For the Northern Barbarians, the onset of winter is a disaster.’
"Yes, Your Highness." Receiving his orders, Cai Chong immediately withdrew, clearly on his way to fetch the silver.
By the time Lu Yuan was ready and stepped out of the hall,
his Personal Guard were already waiting, holding several large chests.
Inside were thick stacks of silver notes.
Upon seeing Lu Yuan emerge, they all bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."
"Come with me," Lu Yuan said calmly, then began trudging through the deep snow toward the palace.
Meanwhile, in the imperial study of the Northern Barbarians’ palace, several key ministers of the Imperial Court were still discussing the snow disaster with Xiao Shi.
Li Qing sat in his chair, his expression grim. "According to the latest reports, more commoners’ homes were buried by the heavy snow this afternoon.
"The Manku Tribe has taken the opportunity to absorb several smaller tribes, bringing their total population to over a million. That’s not a huge number, but if this continues, it will become a serious problem."
The Manku Tribe was an old, established tribe of the Northern Barbarians and one of the Twelve Vassal Towns. It was also one of the most assertive tribes in its dealings with the Imperial Court.
After a pause, Li Qing continued, "The most critical issue now is that the grain being sold to us, whether from Dayong or Great Yu, has increased to ten times the outside price.
"Therefore, the cost is enormous. To date, the silver taels needed for disaster relief will be no less than five billion."
His expression grew much more solemn.
If this matter wasn’t resolved, the power of the various Vassal Towns will inevitably surge after this winter.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Court will face the perilous situation of having no silver left to use.
"But without silver, nothing can be done. Over five billion... even when the Northern Barbarians were at their strongest, producing such a sum in one go would have been a crippling blow, let alone now," the Grand Minister of Rites said grimly.
Xiao Shi sat in the seat of honor, her expression cold and distant from start to finish.
Xiao Hua was by her side, not knowing how to offer any comfort.
The candlelight flickered across their faces, alternately illuminating and shadowing them.
At this moment, the high-ranking officials of the Northern Barbarians were completely out of options.
After a brief silence fell over the room, a Palace Guard entered. "Your Majesty, Prince Qin requests an audience."
"Ah, Yuan is here. Let him come in. I wonder where that child has been all day," Xiao Shi said softly.
The Palace Guard immediately withdrew.
The Grand Minister of Rites gave a wry smile. "He is young, after all, with a child’s temperament. Let him play while he can. After this winter, I fear the Shengman and the Ancient Barbarians will start making trouble again.
"He won’t have time to play then."
A smile also appeared on Li Qing’s face as he thought of Lu Yuan. "Thankfully, we have Prince Qin, who intimidated the Shengman before winter set in. Otherwise, our current situation would be even more difficult.
"He’s invested so much silver into South City, and the Imperial Court can’t help him. I imagine things aren’t easy for the Prince’s Mansion either."
The ministers had spent the entire day in the imperial palace, busy with disaster relief, so no one had paid any attention to what was happening in South City. As a result, they were completely unaware of the situation there.
Otherwise, they would not have spoken as they did.
Just as they were speaking,
CRUNCH, CRUNCH...
The sound of boots stepping on snow came from outside the study.
Then, Lu Yuan walked in, followed by more than ten guards carrying chests. The ministers were all rather surprised, wondering what he was doing.
After entering, Lu Yuan bowed and announced, "Your Majesty, Prince Qin’s Mansion donates six billion taels of silver."
As he finished speaking, the chests on the floor were opened.
When the ministers heard this, their minds went blank. They clearly had not expected Lu Yuan to produce so much silver, and their first reaction was disbelief.
Then, they couldn’t help but look toward the chests.
Their pupils contracted slightly.
Stack upon stack of silver notes were piled high, arranged neatly inside the chests. Every single note was of a large denomination.
"Where did Prince Qin get so much silver?" Li Qing asked, his voice trembling with excitement.
Judging by the sheer volume, it really did look like six billion, but the number was so immense that he felt like he was in a dream.
Even with his world-shaking level of power, he found it utterly unbelievable.
The Grand Minister of Rites, Xiao Gu, looked at Lu Yuan with a strange expression.
’Did this kid rob someone?’
However, he immediately dismissed the thought. Even if he had resorted to robbery, who could possibly have that much silver?
At last, a flicker of emotion crossed Xiao Shi’s perpetually serene face. "Yuan, where did you get so much silver?"
Xiao Hua stared intently at Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan replied softly, "We sold some of the courtyards in South City, which brought in some income. I heard everyone was donating silver today, so naturally, I had to contribute my share. This is today’s revenue."