Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

"Idiot!" Li Shanchang slapped him in the face. "If we do it now, won't it be obvious to the emperor that we did it?"

Li Shanchang slowly put the teacup back on the table. The celadon base touched the sandalwood, making a slight "click" sound.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly chuckled, "Forget it, let's leave it at that for now."

Lan Yu raised his head suddenly: "Duke?!" The golden sword clanged in its sheath, and he was obviously unwilling.

Li Shanchang raised his hand to stop him from talking, and his skinny fingers gently stroked the auction catalog: "Ouyang Lun set up a trap today to force us to lose our composure." He opened his eyes, his gaze like a deep pool, "If we act rashly, we will be convicted of the crime of 'competing with merchants for profits'."

Huang Zicheng thought: "What the Duke means is"

"Wait." Li Shanchang dipped his fingertips into the tea and slowly wrote a word on the table. The water marks glowed faintly under the candlelight. "He, Ouyang Lun, can ask for an imperial decree and change the law, but the railway still needs people to build it. The land for the station has been auctioned off, but construction also needs people!"

Lan Yu narrowed his eyes: "The Duke is saying..."

Li Shanchang gently wiped away the water stains on the table: "The craftsmen from Jiangnan, the porters from the Cao Gang, the building materials from Lianghuai..." He raised the corners of his mouth slightly, "All of these are in our hands."

Huang Zicheng's eyes gleamed: "I understand. Let him be proud for a few days, and when the project is blocked, he will be happy."

"Then there will be officials who will accuse him of 'delaying national policy.'" Li Shanchang stroked his beard and chuckled, "Your Majesty hates people who are incompetent the most."

The rain outside the window gradually stopped, and the sound of dripping water from the eaves could be clearly heard.

Lan Yu snorted coldly, and the golden sword returned to its sheath with a clang: "That kid got it for free."

Li Shanchang looked out the window at the night and said calmly, "Why are you in such a hurry? Land can be bought, but people's hearts..." He shook his head slightly, "They can't be exchanged for silver notes."

Huang Zicheng understood and said, "I will visit the ministers of the Ministry of Works tomorrow."

Li Shanchang nodded and added: "Remember, this matter has nothing to do with us. If there are merchants complaining, just listen."

Lan Yu suddenly grinned, revealing her white teeth: "I understand. Let's wait and see how Ouyang Lun buries himself in the land he bought."

Li Shanchang said no more and raised his hand to signal for the guests to leave. After everyone left, he stood alone in front of the window, looking at the vague outline of the train station in the distance, and whispered to himself: "After forty years of ups and downs in the officialdom, are you afraid that you can't wait for this moment?"

When Huang Zicheng heard this, the teacup in his hand trembled slightly, and the emerald green tea soup created tiny ripples on the edge of the cup.

He hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke: "Duke, we actually spent 600,000 taels on Plot No. 4." At this point, his voice unconsciously lowered.

Li Shanchang tapped the table with his skinny fingers, making a dull "tap-tap" sound. He suddenly smiled, with a hint of sarcasm hidden in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes: "Why? Master Huang is still hoping to build a villa next to that manure pit?"

Lan Yu spit out a mouthful of wine and slammed the golden knife on the table: "Hahaha! If you want to build it, you have to invite Ouyang Lun to stay for three days first!"

Huang Zicheng couldn't laugh, beads of sweat oozed from his forehead: "I am worried about this deficit. I am afraid that the families in Huaixi will..."

"Stupid!" Li Shanchang suddenly grabbed the "Auction Rules" on the table and shook it open. "Read the seventh clause carefully - the property can be resold within three days after the transaction is completed." He poked his fingertips heavily on the tiny calligraphy. "Let the word out tomorrow that it will be sold for 400,000 taels. No, 300,000 taels!"

A flash of lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating Huang Zicheng's pale face: "But this... I lost three hundred thousand taels in a blink of an eye."

Li Shanchang suddenly leaned forward, staring at Huang Zicheng with his cloudy eyes: "Do you think I will really touch the silver in the treasury?" He threw out a stack of bills from his sleeve, "Six hundred thousand taels, four hundred thousand are the salt vouchers for mortgage, and one hundred and fifty thousand are the 'donations' from various families"

Lan Yu suddenly interrupted in a sinister tone, "The remaining fifty thousand was taken from the stolen money seized by the government." He tapped the tip of Huang Zicheng's boots with his scabbard, "Do you think this silver is hot to the touch?"

Huang Zicheng's Adam's apple rolled, and he suddenly understood something, his voice trembling: "So the Duke did it on purpose..."

"Hush..." Li Shanchang put his skinny fingers in front of his lips, "Tomorrow you go to the Ministry of Revenue in person and tell them that the gentry in Huaixi are worried about state affairs and are willing to sell their land at a discount." He suddenly narrowed his eyes, "Remember to say this in front of Ouyang Lun."

In the corner, a young aide suddenly exclaimed: "Great! It shows that we are magnanimous and at the same time we can handle this hot potato." Before he could finish his words, the old servant covered his mouth.

Li Shanchang walked slowly to the window, looking at the moonlight after the rain: "Sir Huang, what do you think? If someone from the Prince of Yan's Mansion comes to buy this piece of land..."

Huang Zicheng's pupils shrank suddenly: "They dare to ask for it?"

"Why not?" Li Shanchang chuckled. "Since Ouyang Lun can ask the emperor to change the law, he can also ask for an imperial decree to 'level the land'." When he turned around, the candlelight cast a strange shadow on his face. "By then, that 'manure pond treasure land' may become 'feng shui auspicious land'."

Lan Yu suddenly drew his sword from its sheath with a clang. The shiny blade reflected his ferocious smile: "I'll send someone to bury a few 'antiques' in the mass grave!"

"Nonsense!" Li Shanchang hit his cane with his hand. "If we start the construction now, isn't it obvious that there is something fishy going on?" He suddenly lowered his voice. "Didn't the Cao Gang have several brothers who just died? Let them..."

The teacup in Huang Zicheng's hand fell to the ground with a "bang", and the broken porcelain scattered everywhere. He finally understood thoroughly - the six hundred thousand taels was a trap waiting for Ouyang Lun to step into!

Outside the window, a night owl cried shrilly. Li Shanchang looked at the direction of the train station in the distance and muttered to himself, "Ouyang Lun, Ouyang Lun, do you think you won the land?" He clenched his dry hands slowly, "What I want is evidence of your greed!"

The candlelight in the Fengtian Hall swayed slightly in the night breeze, and the red pen in Zhu Biao's hand hovered over the memorial for a long time.

"Good! Good! Good!" Zhu Biao suddenly said three good words in a row, which shocked the Jinyiwei who were on duty under the eaves and made them straighten their backs.

He pointed at the account book presented by Wang Tiechui and said to Little Li standing beside him with a smile: "Little Li, look, the land of Baoding alone is equivalent to half a year's salt tax in Jiangsu and Zhejiang!"

Wang Tiechui's official boots were already soaked with cold sweat, but he straightened his chest at this moment: "Thanks to your majesty's great fortune, today's auction raised a total of 2.8 million taels of silver." He stole a glance at Ouyang Lun, and seeing that he nodded slightly, he dared to continue: "Among them, the Prince of Yan's Mansion, the Shanxi Merchants Association, and the Jiangnan Textile Guild."

"I don't want to hear this." Zhu Biao suddenly interrupted, tapping the Railway Weekly on the table with his fingertips. The cover was exactly Ouyang Lun's portrait at the auction. "Brother-in-law, I'm more curious." He suddenly narrowed his eyes, "What happened to the manure pit that the Duke of Korea bought for 400,000 taels?"

Ouyang Lun took a half step forward calmly and pulled out a roll of Ministry of Works blueprints from his sleeves: "Your Majesty, Plot 4 is where the planned sewage canal is located." On the blueprint he unfolded, the red line drawn with a red pen just passed through the plot that Li Shanchang had bought. "It's just that Lord Han was impatient and didn't wait for me to finish speaking."

"Hahaha!" Zhu Biao suddenly laughed, shaking the dust off the beams, "How impatient!"

"Look, our Duke Han vomited blood when he returned home!"

"However." Zhu Biao's finger pressed heavily on a certain place in the account book, "Why did the three hundred thousand taels in the Kaiping silver cabinet go into the Ministry of War's account?" The hall suddenly fell silent.

Wang Tiechui's legs went limp, and the wings on his official hat trembled.

Ouyang Lun was calm and composed: "Your Majesty, it was originally the military pay of the Liaodong Garrison." He took out a document with the seal of the Five Military Command from his arms, "I have discussed with Duke Wei and temporarily borrowed it for half a month, and the interest will be 30% higher than the market price."

"This is also an investment from the Five Military Governor's Office. All the interest will be used to improve the living conditions of the frontier troops, and it will not delay the payment of military funds!"

"Bang!" Zhu Biao suddenly slammed the table and scared Little Li so much that he almost dropped the teacup in his hand.

Just when Wang Tiechui thought that a disaster was about to happen, he heard the emperor laughing and said, "Brother-in-law, I didn't expect that you would actually lead the Duke of Wei astray!"

He grabbed a red pen and crossed out the document. "In that case, 30% of the interest will be added to my treasury!"

Ouyang Lun's mouth curled up slightly - the emperor's words were tantamount to tacitly approving the misappropriation of military pay.

Tsk tsk, Your Majesty has also turned bad!

"Of course. Not only this time, but if there are such projects in the future, I will transfer 30% of the profits to the treasury. But I would like to ask Your Majesty to help explain it to the Emperor!" Ouyang Lun said.

Since you've taken the money, you have to do the job. Let Xiao Zhu handle Lao Zhu's matter.

Hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Zhu Biao was obviously stunned. If it were before, he would definitely not dare to do it, but now that he was a mature emperor, Zhu Biao was still confident about this matter. Moreover, he would get 30% of the benefits for nothing, and more importantly, the benefits would be long-term, so he should also contribute.

"That's easy to explain. I will explain it to my father."

"But I have to make it clear that all the profits must be used for the soldiers. If anyone is found to be corrupt, not only will I not forgive him, but the emperor will not let him off!"

"I understand." Ouyang Lun nodded.

Zhu Biao's fingers tapped lightly on the dragon table, making a "knock knock" sound.

He frowned slightly and said, "Brother-in-law, although this auction yielded a lot of money, the money needed to build the new city will probably be much more than that, right?"

Ouyang Lun pulled out a blueprint from his sleeve and slowly unfolded it in front of the emperor: "Your Majesty, please take a look. The new city planned around Baoding Station alone requires the construction of 36 streets, eight bridges, and two markets." He ran his fingertips over the blueprint, "According to preliminary estimates, at least 30 million taels will be needed."

"30 million taels?!" Wang Tiechui took a deep breath, and the wings on his official hat trembled violently. He secretly glanced at the emperor's face, and his back was already soaked.

"Brother-in-law, these thirty million taels are only for building a new city? There are dozens of counties along the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway. If you add them all up, it would be an astronomical figure!"

“When will everything be repaired?!”

Zhu Biao's eyes wandered over the blueprint and suddenly stopped at a certain place: "These blank plots are..."

"That's exactly what I want to say." Ouyang Lun's eyes flashed, "I suggest the use of 'outsourcing'." He took out a copy of the "Construction Contracting Regulations" from his arms, "Let the merchants advance the funds for the construction, and give them the right to operate the project for 30 years after completion."

Suddenly, thunder was heard outside the palace, and a flash of lightning illuminated Zhu Biao's thoughtful face: "Tell me more about it."

"For example, this commercial street." Ouyang Lun pointed to the blueprint, "We can let the Shanxi Merchants Association take over the project. They will pay for its construction, and after completion, they will be exempt from all taxes for the first ten years, and only collect 30% for the next twenty years."

Wang Tiechui suddenly had an idea and added hastily: "In this way, the court can not only save construction costs, but also collect 70% of the taxes!"

Zhu Biao's finger suddenly stopped at the city wall: "What about the fortifications? How can such an important task be left to the merchants?"

Ouyang Lun was well prepared, and took out another memorial: "Your Majesty, the city walls, government offices and other key points will naturally be supervised by the Ministry of Works." He turned to the second page, "But shops, houses, warehouses, etc. are more suitable for merchants."

The sound of rain outside the window was getting heavier, but Zhu Biao's eyes were getting brighter and brighter: "If the businessman ran away halfway."

"So a deposit is needed." Ouyang Lun shook out several contracts from his sleeves, "The contractor must first pay a deposit of 30% of the project, which will be deposited in the Kaiping Silver Box. Ahem, it can also be the Ming Dynasty Construction Bank." He added meaningfully, "If there is a breach of contract, the money will be confiscated."

Wang Tiechui suddenly remembered something and his face turned strange: "What if Han Guogong and his men come to take over the contract?"

"You are most welcome." Ouyang Lun smiled harmlessly, "As long as you follow the rules, no one will be cheated." He turned to Zhu Biao, "Your Majesty, I suggest that the "Investment Notice" be issued tomorrow."

Zhu Biao suddenly stood up, his dragon robe wafting in the wind. "Draft an imperial decree!" He instructed Little Li, "Tell the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works to immediately draft the contract details." As he turned around, the jade pendant on his waist jingled, "Remember, my seal must be used at the key points!"

Ouyang Lun raised his lips slightly - the emperor wanted to include the Huaixi Party in the group. Who among those businessmen didn't have a few high-ranking officials in the court backing them up?
"Oh, right." Zhu Biao suddenly turned around, "You just said the management rights are for 30 years." A gleam of light flashed in his eyes, "If the contractor does not manage the business well."

Ouyang Lun immediately understood: "You can buy it back at the market price and subcontract it to someone else." He lowered his voice and said, "By then, both the Prince of Yan's Mansion and the Prince of Jin's Mansion will be interested."

Raindrops hit the glazed tiles. Zhu Biao looked at the dark night outside the palace and suddenly smiled: "Brother-in-law, do you think Li Shanchang will vomit blood again when he sees the notice tomorrow?"

Wang Tiechui shuddered when he heard this and almost knocked over his inkstone. Only then did he understand that the emperor and his wife were playing a big game of chess!

Ouyang Lun bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty is wise. However." He paused deliberately, "I am worried that Duke Hanguo is old and cannot withstand too many surprises."

“Hahaha!” Zhu Biao laughed.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, it's so uncomfortable to be your enemy!"

"Your Majesty, please don't misunderstand me!" Ouyang Lun spread his hands, "I don't regard Duke Han as an enemy. You have seen it all these years. It has always been Duke Han who has found fault with me. I have never done anything to him."

"I call this respecting the old and loving the young!"

Zhu Biao: (End of this chapter)