What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 235 Su Mo angered Nangong Sheyue to death for the second time!

After leaving Chi Wuyou's address with the person suspected to be Master Qianhu, Su Mo took his leave.

Tonight I have to go to the palace to sleep with the Empress. Su Mo is busy with many things during the day, so there's no need to waste time at Datong Temple.

Upon returning to the house, Su Mo was surprised to find that Nangong Sheyue had arrived at his home at some point and was engrossed in reading a manuscript.

"Lord Nangong, what brings you here again?"

Su Mo looked at Nangong Sheyue with suspicion.

Nangong Sheyue then put down the manuscript and chuckled, saying, "Is your residence some kind of dragon's den or tiger's lair, which I cannot possibly enter?"

She paused, then pointed to the manuscript and said, "I heard Xue Yishu and Meng Danying say that this manuscript was written by my husband, and that they wrote it on his behalf?"

Su Mo nodded: "This humble servant saw that the concubine was bored, so I just found some things for her to do."

"It's just a game, please excuse my poor performance!"

"A game?"

Nangong Sheyue couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "My lord is truly a man of great talent!"

"Of all the talents in the world, you, sir, probably possess seven-tenths!"

She couldn't help but look at the manuscript again: "The mighty Yangtze River flows eastward, its waves washing away heroes. Right and wrong, success and failure, all turn to nothing. The green hills remain, witnessing countless sunsets."

"What a magnificent poem, 'Linjiang Xian,' it has stirred my heart and soul to the point of being unable to contain myself!"

"This opening alone is enough to make all the great writers and scholars in the world blush with shame!"

"Especially in the book, the general trend of the world, such as the inevitable division and unification, and the various strategies for governing the country, military tactics, and battle formations, are described so vividly that it feels like you are actually there..."

Nangong Sheyue gave Su Mo a deep look: "This book is not some kind of storybook! It is a true book on governing the country and military strategy!"

"Is this book, young master, intended to be presented to His Majesty?"

"If His Majesty sees this, he will surely reward the young master handsomely!"

Su Mo waved his hand: "You flatter me, sir. It's just an ordinary story. I really didn't expect to receive such high praise from you."

He paused, then changed the subject, asking, "Sir, you didn't come to my residence just for this storybook, did you?"

Nangong Sheyue straightened her expression and said in a deep voice, "I only learned about this book when I arrived at your residence, so I did not come here for this book."

She paused slightly: "I have come by imperial decree."

Su Mo was stunned upon hearing this.

The Empress came to my residence yesterday and gave me a badge from the Qinghefang Hundred Household Office.

Why is Nangong Sheyue here again on the emperor's orders?

Why does the Empress have so many things to ask me?

Could it be that Nangong Sheyue is going to summon me to Linhu Palace to sleep with her? Or perhaps she's going to help me establish the Qinghefang Garrison?

He looked at Nangong Sheyue suspiciously: "Your Excellency has come on the Emperor's orders?"

Nangong Sheyue nodded, her pretty face serious: "This year, many places near the capital are suffering from drought, resulting in a poor autumn harvest. Hundreds of thousands of disaster victims have fled to the capital..."

Upon hearing this, Su Mo frowned deeply: "This humble servant has heard of this matter."

"The official gazette states that the court has ordered nearby prefectures and counties to collect disaster victims and allocate rice and grain for disaster relief."

"What does this have to do with me?"

Nangong Sheyue's pretty face showed a slight bitterness: "Even though the nearby prefectures and counties gathered the disaster victims, nearly 100,000 disaster victims still came to the capital, causing headaches for the entire court."

"Your Excellency's method of using work as a form of relief at Gufeng Mountain has been widely praised by His Majesty. He has instructed me to ask Your Excellency to write down this method in detail and submit it to the court so that His Majesty can discuss this matter with his ministers."

Su Mo...

Nangong Sheyue then looked at Su Mo: "In addition, there are too many disaster victims. His Majesty knows that the young master is working hard to build up the fiefdom of Gufeng Mountain."

"I hope that you, my lord, can share some of the burden for the court. I have asked you to inquire how many disaster victims you can recruit to work at Gufeng Mountain. Once the disaster is alleviated, the victims can be sent back to their hometowns."

Su Mo thought to herself, "So that's how it is."

Refugees were indeed a heavy burden for the imperial court, but ignoring them was not an option.

In previous years, after gathering refugees, they were all brought together and then given porridge to help the disaster victims. Grain prices basically skyrocketed in tandem, and the more refugees there were, the higher the grain prices rose.

The imperial court not only had to spend more money to help the refugees, but the people of the capital were also complaining bitterly because of the soaring food prices.

The immense pressure on the imperial court was unimaginable.

But for Su Mo, refugees were cheap labor.

As long as they are given food, the refugees will work hard.

Su Mo pondered for a moment, then looked at Nangong Sheyue: "My lord, how many refugees do you think are appropriate for this humble servant to recruit?"

Nangong Sheyue slowly raised one finger.

Su Mo nodded inwardly.

Ten thousand people may not seem like much, but it's barely enough.

Baiyujing and Yanyulou are already short-handed, especially the head chef. Jiang Lan is so busy that she hardly has time to go back home to serve herself. Adding two or three hundred people shouldn't be a problem.

The artisan camp urgently needs to expand its production capacity.

A separate battalion can be set up outside the artisan camp to make simple components, while the skilled artisans in the artisan camp can focus on core components.

This eliminates concerns about leaks and greatly increases production capacity.

We can accommodate two thousand people.

The biggest prize, of course, is the fiefdom of Gufeng Mountain.

Building houses, digging irrigation ditches, clearing wasteland, etc., requires only three to five thousand people.

In addition, once cement production begins on a large scale, it becomes a labor-intensive industry, requiring even more workers.

The papermaking department also needs a lot of manpower.

If there really isn't enough space, isn't there a shipyard that's about to start construction?
He was already worried about not having enough manpower, but unexpectedly the empress sent him a feast right away.

It was definitely worth sleeping with the Empress!
Thinking of this, Su Mo nodded: "Ten thousand people is barely enough."

"When would you like me to recruit people, sir?"

Upon hearing this, Nangong Sheyue stared at Su Mo in disbelief. After a long silence, she smiled bitterly and said, "What I mean is, one thousand people are enough."

"If you, my lord, can gather a thousand refugees for the court, that would be enough to satisfy His Majesty."

Su Mo was also taken aback, and looked at Nangong Sheyue with a gaze: "Does Your Excellency mean a thousand people?"

"What good are a thousand people?"

Nangong Sheyue explained, "A thousand people is already quite a lot."

"His Majesty will allow other noble families to each take on a portion of the disaster victims."

"The rest is naturally the responsibility of the imperial court. It's not right for the young master to bear most of the burden. If others find out, they'll say that His Majesty is being mean to the young master."

Su Mo looked at Nangong Sheyue with a strange expression: "My lord has misunderstood what I meant."

"This humble servant means that a thousand men are not enough, but ten thousand men are barely enough."

Nangong Sheyue was completely dumbfounded.

After a long pause, she looked at Su Mo seriously and asked, "Is what you said true, my lord?"

"Can you gather ten thousand disaster victims, young master?"

She paused, then added, "Does my lord know how much silver it would cost to gather ten thousand disaster victims?"

Su Mo smiled and said, "How could this humble servant joke with you, sir?"

“I am conducting work relief, not simply giving food to disaster victims for free. The more disaster victims I gather, the more money I spend, the greater the returns they will bring me.”

Nangong Sheyue frowned, feeling that Su Mo had oversimplified things.

She hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "If the grain merchants find out that you have taken in so many disaster victims, they will definitely raise the price of grain significantly."

"I'm afraid it won't be easy for you, sir, to buy enough rice to feed the disaster victims!"

Su Mo frowned: "Buying in bulk won't be cheaper either?"

Nangong Sheyue was speechless.

Su Mo was extremely shrewd in making a living, yet he seemed completely clueless about the grain trade.

She could only patiently explain, "In any transaction, the larger the quantity, the higher the price. It's not true that large quantities are cheaper, especially when it comes to rice and grain!"

“Once someone sells a large amount of grain, grain merchants will not only need to source the grain from other places, but also cause a shortage of grain in the market due to the large-scale purchase of grain, and the price of grain will naturally rise.”

"Basically, grain merchants cannot ship large quantities to a particular buyer unless the buyer purchases them at a price significantly higher than the market price."

Su Mo was dumbfounded.

I've learned something new again.

But thinking about it, that makes sense.

The reason why later generations could offer preferential pricing for large quantities and low-profit, high-volume sales was based on sufficiently strong productivity and well-developed logistics.

Simply put, supply exceeds demand. But in the case of Da Wu, supply falls short of demand!

Naturally, higher quantities result in higher prices.

In fact, even if Su Mo buys small quantities in multiple batches, the price is still average; but if he buys more, the price naturally skyrockets.

Su Mo frowned slightly: "Sir, how much do you think we would need for six months' worth of rice and rations to recruit ten thousand disaster victims?"

Nangong Sheyue thought for a moment, then opened her mouth slightly: "If we only want to feed the disaster victims, we need about 15,000 shi of grain."

"Currently, the price of grain in the capital is about 800 cash per shi, and it will definitely rise to 1 liang or even 1 liang and 500 cash later."

"The food consumption alone will amount to 20,000 taels of silver!"

She paused slightly: "If the disaster victims need to do heavy physical labor, they will need at least two catties of rice a day. The price of grain will be even higher, so it will cost at least 50,000 taels of silver!"

Su Mo...

The number Nangong Sheyue mentioned was more than double his estimate!
Su Mo wasn't unable to come up with the money; the problem was that once he did, his savings would be depleted.

Various construction projects are extremely costly, and it's unlikely that the restaurant and soap business alone can sustain them.

Seeing Su Mo hesitate, Nangong Sheyue said, "If my lord truly needs manpower, I believe five thousand men should be sufficient."

"If we really need to recruit 10,000 people..."

She hesitated for a moment, turned her head to look around, and suddenly lowered her voice and said, "Young master, you can mention this matter to Lord Leng and see if you can get some benefits from him!"

Su Mo's eyes lit up immediately.

The imperial court was unaware that it desperately needed manpower.

In the eyes of the imperial court, he was helping the court solve its problems.

We definitely need to ask the imperial court for policy benefits!
Lord Nangong is the best!
I was right to have earned her a goodwill score of 48!

Adults are driven by their own interests!
Su Mo chuckled and lowered his voice, saying, "Thank you for the reminder, sir!"

"Your Excellency truly cares for me. If you ever need my help in the future, I will repay your kindness with my life!"

Nangong Sheyue's pretty face darkened, and she glared at Su Mo with annoyance before bursting into laughter.

That smile was absolutely radiant, breathtakingly beautiful, and instantly stunned Su Mo.

Who would have thought that Lord Nangong, who has always been as cold as ice, would have such a handsome smile?

She also has two cute dimples!

Su Mo, whose obsessive-compulsive disorder almost triggered, couldn't resist pinching Lord Nangong's pretty face.

Seeing Su Mo staring at her blankly, Nangong Sheyue was slightly surprised: "What are you looking at, my lord?"

Su Mo couldn't bear to look away from the dimples and subconsciously said, "Your smile is so beautiful!"

Nangong Sheyue's pretty face flushed slightly. She pursed her lips, glared at Su Mo, and snorted, "You smooth talker!"

"Didn't you want to repay me?"

"You can give it to me right now!"

Su Mo was shocked and quickly looked around.

Is it appropriate for the main hall doors to be wide open in broad daylight?

Lord Nangong, are you being so direct?

Is this what you call cold on the outside but hot on the inside? It's even hotter than the adults in my own household!
Could this be the reason why the favorability rating reached 48... no, 50?
In that instant, Lord Chito's favorability rating jumped from 40% to 50%!
Su Mo swallowed hard, hesitated for a moment, and then gritted his teeth and said, "My lord, isn't this inappropriate?"

"Even if I were to repay you, sir... shouldn't we wait until tonight?"

Nangong Sheyue asked, bewildered, "Why wait until night? The Romance of the Three Kingdoms could only be written at night?"

Su Mo: "...Does Your Excellency wish to read Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

"Is not it?"

Nangong Sheyue's voice suddenly faltered, then as if she had thought of something, her pretty face suddenly turned as red as if it were about to bleed. She glared at Su Mo fiercely and snorted heavily, "This concubine wants to read Romance of the Three Kingdoms!"

She waved the manuscript in her hand: "I've read most of it!"

"Give me the rest of the manuscripts, and let me see the new ones as soon as possible!"

Su Mo then realized that she had misunderstood.

It's all Lord Nangong's fault! He said he could give it to her right now!

Do you know that adults who don't speak clearly can easily cause misunderstandings?

But is Romance of the Three Kingdoms really that captivating?

Even Nangong Sheyue, the intelligence chief, has become a fan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?

Do you really think that reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms will make you understand all kinds of military strategies and tactics, and that you can conquer the world?

Seeing Nangong Sheyue's angry expression, as if she wanted to devour him, Su Mo quickly said, "Don't worry, my lord, I'll bring you the rest of the manuscript right away!"

"In addition, the newly written manuscript should be sent to you as soon as possible!"

This manuscript contains only six thousand words.

Before leaving home today, Xue Yishu and Meng Danying had already written six volumes of manuscripts, and they estimate that the sixth and seventh volumes will be completed by now.

Nangong Sheyue glared at Su Mo, her phoenix eyebrows furrowing, her official authority radiating: "Hurry up and go!"

Su Mo quickly made her escape.

In the inner quarters, Xue Yishu and Meng Danying were still diligently creating.

There were two more books stacked on the table, indicating that the work was finished.

Xue Yishu and Meng Danying were somewhat surprised to see Su Mo come over to take the books.

"Young master, what are you doing with these manuscripts? These two volumes haven't been proofread yet..."

Su Mo said with a wry smile, "It's not that I want to see it, it's that Lord Nangong wants to see it."

"She's now a fan of your books!"

Xue Yishu and Meng Danying looked at each other in bewilderment.

I always felt that the cold and aloof Fengming Si Qianhu had become a fan of my book, even acting strangely.

Su Mo smiled and said, "Keep up the good work. When I have some free time later, I'll tell you about the rest of the plot."

"Perhaps once the commander is satisfied, he'll reward you with the position of a female official!"

Xue Yishu...

Meng Danying...

After receiving the manuscript, Lord Nangong couldn't help but glare at Su Mo before gracefully departing.

Su Mo returned to the study, feeling miserable.

The Empress's detailed plan for using work as a form of relief needs to be written down as soon as possible and submitted to her that evening along with the list of guards from Qinghefang.

Perhaps if the Empress is pleased, she will grant all my requests and even provide the best preferential policies for recruiting disaster victims.

However, Su Mo felt that the higher his status, the busier he seemed to be.

Ah!
It's probably because there are people above, but no one below!

Once the Hundred Households Office is built and the Gufeng Mountain fiefdom is on track, with a large number of subordinates, I will be able to truly enjoy life.

I just finished writing the strategy for work-for-relief programs.

Su Mo stretched.

I was just about to go out to check if dinner was ready.

An accident happened.

The doorman came to report that a four-wheeled carriage had arrived outside.

The driver was An Wu, a high-ranking official in the inner court.

Su Mo was somewhat surprised.

I told the Empress that I didn't need her to send anyone, so why is An Wu here again?

Moreover, we arrived a bit early.

The Empress doesn't work at night? Why is she going to bed so early today? Shouldn't a diligent emperor like her be so busy with state affairs that she only gets three to five hours of sleep in the early hours of the morning?

He asked An Wu suspiciously, then became even more confused.

The reason An Wu arrived so early was that Lord Leng wanted to invite him to a banquet at the palace!
Moreover, judging from An Wu's words, he was not the only one attending the banquet; there were others who were going to have dinner with the Empress!
Su Mo had absolutely no idea what the Empress was up to.

Why are you suddenly inviting me to dinner?

Did they invite other people as well?
Besides herself, who else is qualified to dine with the Empress?

I go!

Could it be one of the Empress's other male favorites?
Bah! What other male consorts? You talk as if you were the Empress's male consort!
Regardless of the circumstances, the Empress's actions left Su Mo completely baffled!

(End of this chapter)