Our family has been rebelling for generations, and you've become the top scholar in the imperia

vegetable market.

When Qin Feng arrived, only a dozen or so wild boar carcasses remained on the ground, and the Ministry of Justice was dealing with them.

Seeing this scene, Qin Feng couldn't help but gasp.

The emperor has shown some backbone this time; judging from the situation, it seems the Great Zhou is about to go to war.

The grassland will receive the news within half a month at the latest.

At that time, it will inevitably cause disturbances.

"Tsk tsk tsk, war is brewing!"

Qin Feng shook his head with a sigh and left with his men.

This isn't about money; these civil officials in the court clearly didn't realize the seriousness of the problem.

Even if the court were to offer another 200,000 taels of silver, it could afford it.

Forcing the emperor to give something is one thing, and forcing the emperor to give it is another.

Clearly, these civil officials had pushed the emperor to the limit. Now that people were dying, he had no choice but to fight them, forcing them to continue their discussions and continue pressuring them to give him money.

"It's none of our business. Let them make their fuss. We need to focus on developing the Xishan Coal Mine and have money in hand."

They boarded the carriage.

Qin Feng stroked his chin and muttered something softly.

"Young master, war is a good thing. As long as there's war, we'll have a chance to raise the flag. Hasn't the master been waiting for war?"

Liu Tu, sitting to the side, grinned.

"Speak, keep talking, I love to hear it, why did you stop? You're still raising the flag like this? Do you even know how to raise it properly? Have you memorized the multiplication tables? If not, go back and copy them 100 times. You're not allowed to eat until you finish copying them."

Liu Tu pouted, looked troubled, and climbed out of the carriage, sitting down next to Niu Wu.

"Fifth Brother, what do you think we should do with the young master? He's turning down such a good opportunity; what will he do in the future?"

"You're so brainless!"

Niu Wu glanced sideways and said irritably:

"The flag hasn't even been made yet, what are you raising? Besides, what did we say back then? Carrying the flag was Fifth Master's job, what business is it of yours?"

I could hear the two talking outside.

Qin Feng's lips twitched.

Rebellion was out of the question. He had figured it out; Zhou Zhengde might not even be as well off as he was.

"However, this incident reminded me that if war breaks out, Daliu Village cannot be touched. Besides, we've been on the road for so long; we could have reached the capital even on foot. What have these people been doing?"

Since he took office as the head of Xifang, he has sent a message back to Daliu Village, asking for some manpower to be sent over. So much time has passed, and the people still haven't arrived.

It's numb!

Lost on the road?

"The dung gang is doing well now, and Xifang is relatively stable. The only thing we need to hurry up with is the Xishan coal mine, and the transport team job..."

Qin Feng stroked his chin, then lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

Laying wooden tracks is troublesome; just buying the wood takes a long time, and buying it in the name of the Ministry of Works is very slow.

The journey involves passing through many prefectures and checkpoints.

but……

If we want to speed things up...

Someone needs to be asked for help.

"Who would be suitable?"

I stood in front of the carriage, listening to the sounds coming from inside.

Niu Wu patted his chest vigorously.

"Then Fifth Master is definitely the most suitable!"

……

Beijing.

It's located towards the back of the East Wing.

Inside a large house with three courtyards and three entrances.

"Qin Feng completely ignores us. We've been to Xifang quite a few times recently, surely he knows that? He doesn't even bother to say hello. Dad, I think Qin Feng looks down on us."

Inside the hall.

Sitting there were many young men dressed in fine clothes, each one of them lounging around with their legs crossed.

His facial expression wasn't very pleasant.

The first one up.

Duke Ma, who was in his early fifties and had a beard, was frowning as he twirled a jade thumb ring in one hand.

By his generation, the title of Duke would be the last one held. After he died, his son would be demoted.

Moreover, there are already very few ways to make money living in the capital; all the viable businesses have already been taken care of.

Unless they are imperial relatives like Prince Yun, second- or third-generation descendants like them have virtually no connections.

But King Yun was brought down by Qin Feng.

They sent many people to build relationships with Qin Feng, but there was no progress. The civil officials were unaware of this, but the nobles were well aware of it.

Qin Feng has several businesses that are very profitable.

The management fee for shops in Xifang is several hundred taels of silver a month, as there are more and more shops now.

This is not the most.

What no one could have imagined was that the entire city's night soil collection business was actually Qin Feng's business. Moreover, they dared not calculate it in detail. They had someone specifically calculate that the night soil collection job would earn at least several hundred taels of silver a month, and that didn't even include the silver earned from composting and selling it.

Now, by order of the Emperor, they are managing the entire Xishan Coal Mine. The profits here are enormous; even a small amount leaked out would amount to hundreds or thousands of taels of silver.

Where did all that silver found in the Prince of Yun's mansion come from? It all came from the Xishan coal mine.

"Is it that your methods are wrong? You need to be more proactive. Qin Feng can even become friends with the eunuch faction, so there's no reason for him to discriminate against us. Are we really inferior to the eunuch faction?"

Duke Ma smacked his lips.

I still can't understand this.

"How about we send him some silver? I don't think it'll work. If all else fails, we can find some people to cause him some trouble. I heard the Ministry of Works has been buying timber lately, so that would be a good idea."

These words were spoken.

The young masters from each family couldn't help but brighten up.

"That's a good idea! Yes, give him a difficult problem, then we'll send someone over to solve it for him. Won't he remember our kindness?"

"Getting stuck along the way isn't a problem; we can just send a message to the local government offices. The real concern is, what if that still doesn't work?"

"I think this Qin Feng is strange. Other scholars can bribe their way into finding girls, but this guy, who is capable of earning money himself, never looks for girls. Is he not a little bit smart?"

"..."

The group was discussing it.

The butler rushed over from outside.

"Sir, someone has delivered an invitation outside, saying they would like to invite you to dinner in the West Wing tonight."

"No, no, I'll just reply to whoever's post is free to go out for dinner!"

Duke Ma waved his hand impatiently.

Despite his age, he's not very knowledgeable; he's spent his whole life eating, drinking, and having fun.

Nowadays, supporting people in such a large mansion is simply unaffordable with the meager funds provided by the imperial court.

Moreover, one cannot lose face when going out, and must be willing to spend money on everything.

"It was a letter delivered by someone sent by Qin, the Imperial Physician of the Ministry of Works!"

"who!!!"

Just by hearing the name...

Duke Ma jumped up and excitedly grabbed the old steward.

"You mean Qin Feng, the official in the Ministry of Works? He sent someone to notify me of dinner?"

"Yes, it is indeed Lord Qin's invitation!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry and reply to them immediately. The Duke will definitely be there tonight. Money! Don't you expect to pay them for delivering this invitation? Give them two taels of silver. We can't let the Duke's mansion lose face."

The rest of the people all gathered around.

Duke Ma nodded steadily.

"Tell your families to wait for news. Qin Feng's initiative to contact us means he intends to make contact with us, which is a good thing. He may not be good at other things, but he is unmatched in the capital when it comes to serving drinks. We'll take him down tonight."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

He hurriedly returned home and informed his elders of the news.

They've finally managed to establish a connection.

I just don't know if the people doing business with Xishan Coal Mine would be willing to include them.