Chapter 202 - 149: All the World’s Wealth Enters the Urn
Chapter 202: Chapter 149: All the World’s Wealth Enters the Urn
"GASP!"
"Prince Qin, are you saying this is what you made in a single day?" Li Qing shot up from his chair. Back when he was trying to sell property in South City, he couldn’t sell a single one to save his life.
As a result, there had been no way to revitalize South City’s economy, even to this day.
And now, Lu Yuan had managed to sell so many in a single day, and at such exorbitant prices, no less.
Most importantly, the houses hadn’t even been built yet.
At this thought, the shock in his eyes gave way to a look of grievance. It was just too embarrassing.
Still, he found himself hoping for more of these "slaps in the face."
"Actually, it was a bit more than that, but I set aside some of the silver to purchase more land. It seems what we have now won’t be enough. Everyone is far too enthusiastic.
The number sold tomorrow will likely be even greater than today," Lu Yuan said with a slight lift of his brow.
At that moment, everyone in the grand hall fell silent.
After a moment, Xiao Hua’s face filled with admiration as she said, "Wang, you’re incredible."
’With this much silver, the Northern Barbarians’ crisis is practically solved.’
Li Qing cleared his throat. "In that case, I will immediately order my men to procure grain."
Lu Yuan held up a hand to stop him. "May I ask who the Prime Minister intends to purchase from?"
"We border Dayong and Great Yu, so they are the only two powers we can buy from. However, the price is quite steep—ten times the usual rate."
Li Qing said softly.
His expression was grim. And that was only because of the buffer zone; otherwise, the price would be even higher.
After a moment of contemplation, Lu Yuan said, "I can have my people arrange the purchase of grain. The price might be slightly higher than normal, but with one billion taels of silver, we should be able to procure more than enough provisions."
’He planned to have the Celestial King Stronghold help with the acquisition.’
’Currently, Wu Han and his men controlled dozens of trade routes, and the Celestial King Stronghold itself was on the verge of becoming a major trading hub, with a countless volume of goods passing through it daily.’
’Caravans from Dayong and Great Yu all passed through there on their way to do business with the Northern Barbarians.’
’Now, the two dynasties intended to blockade the Northern Barbarians, but they had no control over the trade passing through the Celestial King Stronghold.’
’Having Wu Han secretly acquire a portion shouldn’t be a problem, and it wouldn’t arouse Dayong’s suspicions; after all, the Celestial King Stronghold’s trade volume was enormous. Once they had this emergency supply, he could then send people to the Southern Border and the Eastern Barbarians to continue purchasing.’
’At that point, the Northern Barbarians’ food crisis would be well and truly solved.’
"If that’s really the case, nothing could be better! The remaining silver can be used to ensure the Border Army and the Imperial Guard have sufficient pay silver," Li Qing said, rubbing his hands together gleefully.
The Prime Minister of the Northern Barbarians had completely thrown his image to the wind.
Lu Yuan smiled and said, "The Prime Minister can send someone to get in touch with my subordinate, Wei Yong. He’ll be responsible for negotiating the grain matter."
"Alright. I’ll send someone to find him tomorrow," Li Qing agreed.
Just then, however, the Xiao Clan asked a question: "Yuan, be honest with me. Are you truly planning to establish an Academy Palace and teach students, or are you just planning to swindle them?
One or two tycoons might be of no concern, but a large group of them will be trouble. Besides, it will be bad for your reputation in the long run."
After everything that had happened, the Xiao Clan had gradually begun to groom Lu Yuan as if he were her own son. He was destined for great things, and she didn’t want him to ruin his reputation over some silver.
Most importantly, offending all the wealthiest people in the realm was no laughing matter.
Lu Yuan looked up and said, "Your Majesty, I am truly going to establish the Academy Palace. I have even trained the teachers already, though the academy building itself isn’t finished.
However, the training grounds are ready, and instruction will officially begin tomorrow.
However, I must also ask Your Majesty to dispatch some Pill Masters to me. After all, once the Academy Palace is established, these disciples will require Cultivation Resources. Rather than letting others profit from it, we might as well earn that silver ourselves."
"That won’t be a problem. You can discuss it with the Prime Minister. The court has quite a few Alchemists," the Xiao Clan said with a light laugh. ’As long as Lu Yuan isn’t lying, it’s fine.’
Still, she thought that if she had time tomorrow, she would go and see for herself.
After all, this was an enormous affair.
And to earn so much silver in a single day... even for the Xiao Clan, who had witnessed many major events, this was a first.
Lu Yuan chuckled. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Then, as if remembering something, Li Qing asked, "Did Prince Qin just say you’re going to purchase more land?"
As expected of the Prime Minister of the Northern Barbarians, he had instantly spotted a massive business opportunity.
If Lu Yuan wanted to buy more land, he wouldn’t mind raising the price a bit to earn the court more silver. They were just too poor right now, even with Lu Yuan’s recent contributions.
For now, they didn’t have to worry about a silver shortage, but no one ever felt they had too much.
Going to war after the new year and bringing the Vassal Towns to heel both required massive amounts of silver.
Six billion seemed like a lot, but it wasn’t enough to do all that.
Besides, the court couldn’t just rely on Lu Yuan to support it; it needed its own source of income. Right now, he had his sights set on South City.
Selling so many houses in a single day meant Lu Yuan’s current plots of land might not be enough to last the winter.
’As expected,’ Lu Yuan thought, not particularly bothered.
He chuckled and said, "Yes, I am planning to purchase more. My steward will go to the Government Office tomorrow to acquire more land."
Hearing this, Li Qing immediately turned to the Xiao Clan. "Your Majesty, I request that we increase the price of land in South City tenfold!"
The Xiao Clan frowned at his words. ’Lu Yuan just brought in six billion taels of silver. He’s going to buy land tomorrow, and not only are you not giving him a discount, you want to raise the price tenfold?’
Although the silver was for the court, the Xiao Clan’s favoritism toward Lu Yuan clearly exceeded everyone else’s expectations.