Tao and Heaven

Chapter 10 Linchuan Medicinal Fruit
At noon, several fat monks came to perform a ritual for half an hour, which cost Gu Wen dozens of taels of silver.

Only then did everyone in the mansion feel at peace. However, to be on the safe side, Gu Wen still did not plan to stay at home tonight. He could feel that these fat and big-eared bald men did not have any extraordinary powers.

"Master Wen, what do you need so many account books for?"

Jiang Fugui moved the half box of account books with some effort and placed them on the table one by one. These were the account books of the palace over the years, to be more precise, the account books of the Longqiao Water House.

If it were someone else, they would have to worry about being held accountable for embezzlement, but Gu Wen made it clear when he was caught embezzling money for the first time that the amount of money was not the problem, the problem was that he must not mess things up.

Gu Wen picked up the account book and flipped through it quickly, without looking up, and said, "Can you get the account book from the palace?"

"How can I possibly get the palace account book?" Jiang Fugui didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Master, although I have contributed the most silver to the palace, I am only a servant. At most, I only have the expenditure account book."

"Bring it here."

Jiang Fugui took out two account books and said, "This one is for the most recent year, and the other one is for the previous year."

[In the eleventh year of Qiandao, a total of 380,000 taels were handed over to the royal palace.]

Qiandao, the current name of the country, is very similar in style to the self-proclaimed Emperor Daojun.

The Longqiao Water House paid 380,000 taels of silver to the palace every year. Every time he saw Gu Wen, he would sigh and say that Daqian was going to be finished.

You should know that the cost of one soldier of the Imperial Guard, including clothing, food, special allowances, and gifts from the suburbs, is about 30 taels of silver per year, or 35 strings of silver. His water room has 380,000 taels of silver per year, which is enough to pay at least 30,000 soldiers for a year.

Moreover, these are all real silver, not converted into grain, oil, cloth and other goods, and the actual value is one third higher.

Compared to the 300,000-man imperial army, this is not a lot, but it is only the revenue from supplying water to shops at Longqiao. It only accounts for less than one-tenth of the entire Longqiao, not counting brothels and casinos.

What is Longqiao? It is a place for nobles to have fun. It is outrageous that the revenue of an entertainment venue can be used to pay military salaries.

However, he checked the account book not to worry about the country and the people, but to find out how to obtain the Heavenly Marrow. The only thing he knew at present was the elixir in Fairy Yu Hua's hand, which he obviously could not obtain, so he could only turn his attention to Zhao Feng.

Since the Zhao family had been in contact with the immortal sect for a long time, there was no reason why Zhao Feng had not practiced. To practice, one must take medicine, and to buy medicine, one must get silver from the water room.

The pages of the account book were quickly flipped through, and Gu Wen discovered another benefit of practicing. His ears and eyes were much quicker than before.

The so-called endless cycle may not only have an effect on the body, but also have spiritual benefits.

It is truly extraordinary. Just by getting started, you will start to become stronger in all aspects.

Suddenly Gu Wen paused and smiled: "Got it."

[On the third day of March, the eunuch Feng Xiang of the royal palace took out 20,000 taels of silver to purchase tonic medicine]

Although the bills of the water room and the palace were separate, the palace treasury did not always have treasury silver. Sometimes he had to go directly to the water room to get it, and in order to prevent embezzlement, every time he did so, he had to record it clearly.

It is always the case that the fat is retained after the meat is eaten, but it is not reasonable to take the fat away directly. Even if Zhao Feng came in person, he should have kept records. After all, what is not recorded in the account book is a gap, and if there is a gap, who knows how much information may have leaked out.

Go to buy Linchuan medicinal fruits.
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Linchuan, one of the thirteen counties of Daqian, is located in the southwest region, with many mountains, little land and bad water.

Due to the numerous mountains and forests, the area is rich in mountain treasures, animal skins, and medicinal materials. The most famous of these is Linchuan Medicinal Fruit, which is said to have the effect of nourishing yin, replenishing yang, and prolonging life. It is sought after by many nobles and was even listed as a tribute by the court.

Every year, Linchuan County would send a large amount of medicinal fruits to Bian Jing.

The top nobles and aristocratic families in Bian Jing, or Daqian, seemed to be keen on various elixirs. Even Zhao Feng, who claimed to be a wise king, often spent huge sums of money to buy medicine.

It is understandable that the rich and powerful pursue immortality. This has been the case in all dynasties in the past. It is human nature to want to live longer. But if there is really spiritual practice in the world, then the rich and powerful must be the most likely to be exposed to it.

The various medicinal herbs they take may have magical properties, and their seemingly bizarre diet may not necessarily be nonsense.

Relevant information flashed through Gu Wen's mind. The above was all he knew about the medicinal fruit. After all, he was in the water well monopoly business, and he was already extremely famous for knowing things outside the industry.

"Fugui, go buy some Linchuan medicinal fruits."

"This is a tribute, I'm afraid it's not easy to get."

Jiang Fugui was a little embarrassed. He had also heard of Linchuan medicinal fruit, which was said to have medicinal properties comparable to ginseng.

"It was not so bad in the past few years. The average price of a medicinal fruit was one string of coins. Then it got higher every year. Moreover, after being listed as tribute by the imperial court, most of the medicinal fruits that flowed into Bianjing were managed by the Taifu Temple and were rarely sold to the outside world."

Taifu Temple is the place where tributes are managed. Due to the vastness of Daqian, the number and variety of tributes are extremely large. There is generally only one way to obtain tributes, that is, to obtain rewards from the emperor.

All the good things were taken away by the Zhao family.

Gu Wen cursed in his heart that Daqian would be destroyed sooner or later, and then said: "If you can't find the legal way, then find the illegal way." The rice will be put into the bag, the meat will be left with the fat, everything in the palace can be stolen and sold, and the tribute will definitely be sold.
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Jiang Fugui had been gone for five hours, and the sun had already set. Gu Wen took a carriage to the brothel again, under the pretext of continuing to welcome his personal guards.

This time he was not needed to receive her, and the guards picked a beautiful girl to go upstairs.

dong dong dong.

"who."

"Master Wen, it's me. I found the things for you."

Jiang Fugui pushed open the door and entered with a box in his hand. He put it on the table with a look of pain on his face and said, "Oh my god, this thing is too expensive. It's more expensive than gold. You dare to charge me a hundred taels of silver for just these few medicinal fruits."

Gu Wen opened the box, and a faint bitter smell entered his nose. Inside were ten thumb-sized red fruits with crystal clear skin.

He picked up the Duanmo and asked, "How did you buy it?"

Jiang Fugui sat down and poured himself some water. He took a sip to quench his smoking throat and said, "Although it is a tribute, it is sold privately in large pharmacies, but in small quantities. If you still want it, you may have to go to the old one-armed man in the tooth market."

Old One-Armed was the biggest slave trader in Ya City, Bian Jing. However, Gu Wen was a white-collar businessman while he was a black-collar businessman.

Gu Wen had seen him several times. He was an old man in his fifties, with one arm and his right eye covered. He looked like a soldier who had crawled out of some pile of dead bodies with a murderous aura. When he smiled, his teeth were all yellow.

No one knows his name, and even no one knows who the boss behind him is. This is normal, as gangsters would not do this openly.

Gu Wen picked up a medicinal fruit and slowly put it into his mouth. He had eaten this kind of fruit at some banquets and it was non-toxic.

But just like the local delicacies of previous lives such as soy milk, eggs boiled in boy's urine, and zheergen, the taste of the medicinal fruit is not very good.

It is a little bitter, followed by a numbing tongue, and then a spicy throat. The only thing worth praising is the fragrance, which has a unique and strange fragrance.

Chew lightly, as always.

The golden light at that point in the body that represents one’s fate vibrates slightly.

The celestial marrow increased, but not by a single year.

it works!

Gu Wen was shocked. Just as he had guessed, cultivation was not an extremely far-fetched thing. The powerful people in Daqian had already had access to it.

There is no airtight wall under the sky.

He swallowed the remaining nine medicinal fruits whole, and a strong bitter taste and strange fragrance spread.

Jiang Fugui, who was standing aside, had a face full of confusion. He remembered that Master Wen never ate this stuff before. Could it be that after getting the title, even his interests and hobbies became the same as those of a nobleman?

The fate only trembled slightly, and the celestial marrow still did not increase.

Not enough, not enough at all.

Gu Wen asked, "Can the Linchuan medicinal fruit still be bought?"

Jiang Fugui replied, "Old One-armed didn't say anything, but this thing is extremely expensive, ten pieces cost one hundred taels. I heard that if you go to Linchuan and buy it from the mountain folks, they sell it by the kilogram."

"It's normal for the black market price to be high, after all, it's an illegal activity. Moreover, Linchuan is a poor place with bad water and mountains. Going into the mountains to buy goods will lead to facing bandits, and transporting them back to Bianjing has to be done by water and land. And we have to ensure that the medicinal fruits are not broken. Ten pills for a hundred taels is not expensive."

Gu Wen shook his head.

As long as it can increase the fortune, no matter how much money is spent, it is worth it. Copper, silver and gold are all external things, which you cannot bring with you when you are born and you cannot take with you when you die.

One fruit cost ten taels, which was half a year's living expenses for ordinary people in Bianjing and one year's living expenses for ordinary people in Daqian. But it was not expensive for Gu Wen, as he had ten thousand taels of silver in his hand, which was equivalent to one thousand medicinal fruits.

Moreover, Gu Wen also had a water room, so it was easy for him to embezzle another 10,000 or 20,000 silver coins from it. It was unnecessary before, and he couldn't take away the extra money, but it was different now.

"Go find the old one-armed man and ask him how many medicinal fruits he has. I want ten thousand. No, five thousand first."

"Ah? Sir, what do you want this for?"

"It is used to deal with some nobles. But after all, it is reselling tributes, so it is better to be clean."

(End of this chapter)