This son-in-law is wicked in a good way!

Academy.

Zhang Ping'an explained his purpose to Zhao Kongcheng.

Zhao Kongcheng's eyes immediately lit up.

"Ping An, give me one day, and I'll offer 100,000 taels!"

"Dean, you're not planning to sell the academy, are you?" Yang Tai asked suspiciously.

The academy has always been poor; it would be good if it could scrape together 10,000 taels, let alone 100,000 taels!

Zhao Kongcheng tilted his head back and gulped down a mouthful of wine: "Hmph, even if we have to sell the academy, we'll still raise 100,000 taels!"

The academy had always been poor, and Zhao Kongcheng was terrified of poverty.

But the people in the academy disdained to do business, so they could only get poorer and poorer.

Now that he had finally managed to hitch a ride with Zhang Ping'an, Zhao Kongcheng immediately seized the opportunity and decided to take a gamble.

Besides, Zhang Ping'an said it was a sure-fire way to make money, so what was he afraid of?

After leaving the courtyard, Zhang Ping'an found a few of his silly roommates and explained the situation.

Wu Yuan immediately went down the mountain to get money from his family.

Chen Zhishi and Hao Shuwen could only watch helplessly as this opportunity slipped away.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Ping'an went to find his brother-in-law, Lu Wenhao.

Upon hearing that Zhang Ping'an was short of money, Lu Wenhao immediately went home to ask for it.

This guy had absolutely no interest in the investment and money-making schemes Zhang Ping'an talked about; he just wanted to help Zhang Ping'an out of the blue.

Hongbinlou Restaurant.

A private room by the window.

The Left Chancellor and three Ministers gathered together for a drink.

"What's that person up to lately?" The Left Prime Minister picked up a glass of wine and asked casually.

"Heh, I heard he summoned a member of the Night's Watch and had a long private conversation in the Imperial Study," said Kong Wenxuan, the Minister of Personnel, with a forced smile.

"The Night Watch Iron Guard? Zhang Ping'an!" The Left Prime Minister's eyelids twitched uncontrollably at the mention of this name.

"I heard that this Zhang Ping'an is planning to build a mansion in the south of the city, and he's doing some kind of real estate development."

"These kinds of clowns always come up with weird and strange things to attract attention."

"Only a fool would buy a house in that godforsaken place!"

Minister of Works Lu Zhanshan gave a mocking sneer.

During the Dawu Dynasty, the construction of residences was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works.

Recently, Zhang Ping'an had his subordinates approve some documents, so he started paying attention to what Zhang Ping'an was doing.

"I heard that kid got a lot of people to put money in, and that eunuch Guo Sanbao put in a full 50,000 taels!"

"Now, that old eunuch will probably lose even his life savings for his coffin."

Qian Zhong, the Minister of Revenue, looked on with schadenfreude.

The Left Prime Minister suddenly asked, "I heard that Zhao Kongcheng of the Academy has been borrowing money everywhere. Is he also planning to invest in it?"

Kong Wenxuan scoffed, "Hmph, Zhao Kongcheng is so poor he's gone mad, believing even a mere brat!"

"If he loses money, he'll probably have to sell the academy to pay off his debts."

The Left Chancellor suddenly frowned and said, "Tell me, is this His Majesty's intention, or is it something Zhang Ping'an himself has concocted?"

"If it really was His Majesty's doing, what exactly is she planning? Could she be hoping to raise money this way?"

Qian Zhong sneered: "Hmph, I bet it was that kid's idea. His Majesty was desperate and grasped at straws. I heard he even gave him an imperial edict to act expediently."

Kong Wenxuan chuckled: "Then let's wait and see what he manages to come up with in the end."

"If it's a waste of resources and manpower, we can use that as leverage. Let's see what Your Majesty has to say this time."

Lu Zhanshan suddenly grinned mischievously and said, "Should we make it a little harder for him?"

The Left Prime Minister shook his head: "There's no need to make things difficult for him in this matter. It's too obvious. Just wait for the result."

"That makes sense." The group nodded.

……

the next day.

Zhao Kongcheng personally delivered 100,000 taels of silver notes.

Wu Yuan received 10,000 taels.

Lu Wenhao, 10,000 taels.

On the night watchman's side, Gu Hanshuang, holding the large black iron sword, pulled out 20,000 taels of silver notes from the deformed steamed bun.

"This is what we, the Golden Guards, raised together. That's all."

On the other hand, the Palace Master found several material suppliers for him, and each of them invested 20,000 taels.

Now Zhang Ping'an had 300,000 taels in his hands, which was basically enough.

Moreover, with the addition of these material suppliers, Zhang Ping'an can save a lot of manpower and resources.

Zhang Ping'an chose an auspicious time, offered sacrifices to Heaven and the gods, and then officially began work.

He selected some educated people from among the disaster victims to lead them in their work.

They also recruited some people from the Ministry of Works to supervise the quality of the project.

Ancient houses were all made of wood, so there was basically no need to worry about them.

After everything was arranged in an orderly manner, he simply became a hands-off manager. He then went to Baiyun Temple to check on the progress of Xu Fu's research.

In the alchemy room, Xu Fu's face was dark, but his teeth looked exceptionally white when he grinned.

"My lord, all the materials have been prepared, and the 'Thunderbolt Project' has now officially entered the experimental phase."

The Thunderclap Project was a name Zhang Ping'an came up with, as he felt it sounded profound and mysterious.

"Thanks for your hard work."

"Be careful," Zhang Ping'an said with concern, then patted his behind and left.

I had only ridden my horse a few dozen meters when I saw a plume of black smoke rising from behind me.

Zhang Ping'an shuddered, flicked his whip, and quickly ran away.

This place is too dangerous; it's best to avoid it in the future.

After a few busy days, everything was back on track.

Of the 30,000 refugees in Beijing, more than 20,000 ended up working on construction sites.

The remaining group mostly consists of parents and children from those 20,000 people.

They earned enough money to support the rest of the people.

The refugee crisis that had plagued the Empress was finally resolved.

The Imperial Study.

The Empress received the reports from the past few days, her face full of praise.

"Zhang Ping'an really does what he says."

"The refugee problem, which left the entire court officials and even the Emperor helpless, was resolved by him with ease."

"Truly a prodigy!"

Mo Yu, who was standing nearby, reminded him at the right moment: "Your Majesty, the refugee problem has been solved for now, but Zhang Ping'an has attracted a lot of people to invest money. If this house cannot be sold, the money invested in the early stage will not be recovered, and there will still be big problems."

The Empress smiled and said, "I have confidence in him."

"By the way, what's the reaction of the ministers in the court?"

Mo Yu said, "The Left Prime Minister and the others have not reacted. It seems they are also waiting to see how well Zhang Ping'an's houses sell after they are completed before taking any further action."

"Hmph, those old foxes. I knew they were just waiting for the house to go unsold so they could laugh at me."

"Zhang Ping'an will certainly not disappoint me. Then we'll see how those people are proven wrong."

The Empress sneered.

Zhang Ping'an's life returned to the boring and tedious routine of clocking in, fishing, and listening to music in brothels.

However, with the release of the first thirty chapters of the novel "Zhu Xian," Zhang Ping'an stopped the plot at the Six Sects Martial Arts Tournament, which completely ignited the capital city.

Whether in the imperial court, the inner palace, the dining hall, the bathhouse, or even the bedside of the girls in the brothel, you can always see the novel "Zhu Xian".

Manager Zhou of Laobizhai was also a shrewd man. He had already maximized production capacity and was preparing to distribute his products to cities near the capital, with the ambition to sweep across the country.

Just as popular as the novel "Zhu Xian" were the two poems Zhang Ping'an wrote at the Left Prime Minister's 60th birthday celebration.

The Left Chancellor tried to suppress the news for several days, but he couldn't. Although the news was delayed by a few days, it still spread throughout the capital.

If it is said that everyone in the world does not know you, then this poem represents the pinnacle of farewell poems.

"Then, though your body and name perish, the rivers will flow on forever," became the final, definitive expression of a poem used to insult someone.

Of course, the phrase "A roc rises with the wind and soars ninety thousand miles high" has also become a favorite boastful saying among young people.

Zhang Ping'an's fame suddenly reached a level comparable to that of the poets Li Bai and Du Fu.