Chapter 218 Jinjiang Exclusive Release

Five days later, in the capital.

In the study of a certain mansion.

A young man was counting the remaining supplies at home when he heard a knock on his door. Thinking it was a servant, he asked without even looking up, "What's going on?"

No one outside spoke.

The young man raised his head suspiciously, and saw a person standing outside the door in the candlelight. He asked again and still got no response, so he walked over and opened the door himself.

"Who are you?" The man frowned and looked at the unfamiliar man outside the door.

Lu Xuan looked at the other person and curled his lips, "Mr. Bai, how are you?"

The young man, Bai Xuefeng, stared at him for a long time. "Do we know each other?"

Lu Xuan said: "Before the great earthquake, the capital city gave away corn."

As soon as a few key words came out, Bai Xuefeng widened his eyes in disbelief and gasped, "You are Lu Xuan——!? Why are you here?"

Lu Xuan said, "I'm curious too. Why is Mr. Bai in the capital? Won't you invite me in for a chat?"

A moment later, in the study.

Bai Xuefeng poured Lu Xuan a cup of tea, sat across from him, and looked at the unfamiliar face. "Your face..."

Lu Xuan said: "It's just a little disguise trick. You always have to be careful when you go out."

Bai Xuefeng nodded, "I see."

He didn't dwell on the topic any further, simply sighing, "After almost a year of not seeing each other, I never thought I'd see Master Lu again. Back then, Master Lu was making quite a fuss in the city, and the government noticed something was amiss and sent people to investigate. They found their way all the way to Baisong Town, but unfortunately, before they could continue their search, the earthquake struck."

Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow. Someone from the government office had come to see him? This was somewhat unexpected... well, actually, it was also expected.

He bought so much food and ironware, which were very eye-catching materials, so it was inevitable that he would arouse suspicion.

He hadn't originally thought about hiding perfectly. At that time, the most important thing was to collect enough supplies as quickly as possible so as not to suffer in the future. As for whether anyone would come looking for him, once the disaster started, no one would care about him.

But now that they met, Bai Xuefeng finally asked the questions that had been in his heart for a long time.

"Can Master Lu predict the future?"

Otherwise, how could he have accurately predicted the various natural disasters last year and given him warnings in advance?

Lu Xuan said calmly, "It was just a chance I stumbled upon. Could that note be of any help to Mr. Bai?"

Bai Xuefeng said solemnly: "Benefits are endless!"

When Lu Xuan told Bai Xuefeng that a major earthquake was coming and that there would be years of disaster ahead, Bai Xuefeng was skeptical. After talking to his father, he collected a large amount of supplies in the shortest possible time just in case.

At the same time, they also sent people to secretly let the beggars in the city spread the news of the impending earthquake.

As the news spread, the people in the city were in an uproar.

There had been no earthquakes in the city or the surrounding areas for the past 180 years. Suddenly, someone said that a major earthquake would occur, but almost no one believed it.

But the news started to spread seven or eight days in advance. There were a large number of beggars, and there were people under the Bai family who were manipulating them. The more it was talked about, the more people panicked.

The government office was unaware that it was the Bai family's doing behind the scenes, and many officers secretly cursed the people behind the scenes for deliberately creating chaos in order to prevent the country from being in chaos.

When the day in the "prophecy" arrived, many people who were half-believing and half-doubting could not sleep well. Many people even ran out of the house with their whole family to spend the night because they felt uneasy.

Many people were laughed at and believed the nonsense. Some of them went back to their rooms in anger, while others continued as usual. After all, if nothing happened, the worst that could happen was that they would be scolded when they woke up the next day.

But if the prophecy comes true, it can save lives!

As everyone knows, the big earthquake did come.

The earth shook, houses collapsed, and screams continued. The people who did not take the prophecy seriously paid a heavy price.

Those who were cautious or were influenced by others to avoid the situation were very lucky. Apart from a few people who had some scratches, there were almost no casualties.

Bai Xuefeng recalled the devastating scene in the city after the earthquake, a lingering fear still evident on his face. "Because we spread the news in advance, the casualties in the capital were much less than expected. Even so, the death toll still exceeded a thousand. My father, upon seeing the disaster had indeed occurred, attached even greater importance to the information left by Master Lu. After careful consideration, he decided to move our entire family to the capital."

No matter what, the capital is the capital, and its material reserves and garrison forces are much stronger than those of local cities. What's more, they have an aunt who is a marquis's wife, so they don't have to worry about losing their foothold if they go there.

On the way, while people in other areas had not yet reacted, the Bai family collected a lot of supplies. However, before arriving in the capital, Bai's father was careful to hide most of the supplies in a secret place and did not bring them into the capital.

Bai Xuefeng was extremely thankful and said, "Luckily we left early. We had just arrived in the capital and contacted the Marquis' Mansion for two days when another earthquake struck. A huge underground crack appeared on the road we came from, blocking the way."

Even if it was just three or five days later, they might have been left with only the same frustration as those who came to seek refuge with their relatives later, staring at the capital from across the gap.

When he arrived in the capital, in addition to the aunt who was the wife of the marquis, the Bai family also had a direct descendant, who was Bai Xuefeng's uncle, for him to seek refuge.

Both relatives were lucky enough not to die in the earthquake. The Bai family itself had a villa in the capital and held a large amount of supplies. Even though many natural disasters occurred one after another, the family's power remained quite intact.

At this point, Bai Xuefeng suddenly remembered, "The connection between the capital and the outside world has not yet been restored. It is extremely difficult to cross the underground cracks, and the city will not easily let strangers in. How did Master Lu get into the city?"

Audience in the live broadcast room: Of course they flew in at night, hehe.

Can the mere defenders and city walls really stop the anchor?

"Of course I have my own methods." Lu Xuan kept the question a secret, then asked, "What is the relationship between the Marquisate, which the Bai family relies on, and the new emperor?"

Bai Xuefeng was a little puzzled as to why he suddenly asked about the emperor, but considering the other party's help to the Bai family, he still told him frankly: "As the Empress Dowager's maternal family and Your Majesty's maternal family, the relationship is naturally very close."

Lu Xuan and the audience were a little surprised.

They only knew that the Bai family and the Marquis' Mansion were in-laws, but they didn't expect that there was a girl from the Marquis' Mansion serving as a concubine in the palace, and that she became the final winner after the death of the previous emperor?

But this is a good thing for Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan said, "If it's convenient, I'd like to ask the Bai family to contact the Marquis' Mansion to help me negotiate a big deal with them."

Bai Xuefeng opened his mouth in astonishment, "Above, do you mean... the palace?"

Lu Xuan nodded.

Bai Xuefeng's expression became even more shocked.

It's not that he looked down on Lu Xuan, but it was just outrageous for him, an ordinary citizen, to want to talk business with the emperor.

Even though he got along well with the young masters of the Marquis' Mansion, he had not had the opportunity to see the emperor or even enter the palace after coming to Beijing for so long.

Seeing Bai Xuefeng's embarrassment, Lu Xuan said calmly, "Mr. Bai, don't worry. Just tell the Marquis' Mansion about my bargaining chips and whether or not they are willing to play the role. The Marquis' Mansion will naturally make a decision."

Bai Xuefeng, or rather the Bai family, only had to help him pass on the message.

If it weren't for the special status of the capital, which made it unsuitable to use the same methods as other gathering places, he could actually enter the palace directly.

But if he was not careful, he would be easily treated as an assassin, and the commotion would be too big and difficult to resolve. Even if the deal was successfully negotiated in the end, it was inevitable that the higher-ups would feel embarrassed to look for him or the trouble in Yunlu Village.

Bai Xuefeng asked curiously, "What bargaining chips does Mr. Lu have?"

Lu Xuan said surprisingly: "I have a way to restore the connection between the capital and other cities that have been cut off. We can also trade with the capital for enough supplies to feed all the people for a day or two, or even longer."

After saying that, he casually took out a portable space, a biological suit, and a high-intensity flashlight, which were not available outside, and placed them in front of Bai Xuefeng. "These are given to Mr. Bai as a meeting gift. After the matter is completed, I will also give another thank-you gift to the Bai family."

Lu Xuan explained the usage of several things, and Bai Xuefeng was amazed after confirming their authenticity.

Especially the existence of the portable space allowed Bai Xuefeng to solve the question of how Lu Xuan had managed to leave with so much supplies.

Bai Xuefeng couldn't let go of the small and exquisite space ring, his expression serious: "This matter is of great importance and I can't make the decision. Mr. Lu, please wait a moment. I will ask my father to come over."

Lu Xuan nodded: "Okay."

Father Bai is a gentle and steady man, but after a conversation with Lu Xuan and seeing some of the chips he took out, he became impatient for the first time in his life and went to the Marquis' Mansion in person before dark.

Early the next morning, the Marquis' Mansion sent someone to invite Lu Xuan over. In front of the serious-looking Weiyuan Marquis Xie Mingde, Lu Xuan contacted Liu Wenchi using a communicator.

Although Liu Wenchi and the Marquis were not familiar with each other, they definitely recognized each other.

After the disaster began, he contacted Yunjiang Prefecture, which was half a country away, for the first time. He also learned that Luochuan had calmed the people and stabilized the situation by trading materials with Lu Xuan. He also saw the officials flying all over the city through Liu Wenchi's special demonstration, and he was shocked and excited.

Lord Xie was a military man and acted decisively. Without wasting a moment, he went straight to the palace to explain the situation to the emperor. Soon after, Lu Xuan was summoned into the palace.

·

Imperial study.

Lord Xie and many important officials of the court gathered together, including Lord Bai Er, the Minister of Revenue.

As for the new emperor, he looked to be four or five years older than Lu Xuan. He had a handsome face, a hint of fatigue between his brows, but his eyes were sharp. He wore a bright yellow dragon robe and sat on the dragon throne, his majesty evident.

Lu Xuan was not interested in kowtowing to a feudal emperor, so he simply showed the few commodities that he had shown to Bai's father and Xie Hou again, and let the new emperor and the ministers in the court review them.

After everyone took turns looking at the items, the hall was suddenly filled with exclamations, surprises, and even gasps of shock.

After Lu Xuan contacted Liu Wenchi and Huo Tiankuo who had prepared in advance, the imperial kitchen became even more lively.

Even the new emperor couldn't help but sit up straight, "General Huo!?"

Huo Tiankuo had been waiting for news from Lu Xuan. He had not had much interest in hunting or playing games recently. He did not expect to receive news again, and the other end would be in the imperial study.

Seeing several familiar faces in the hall and the third prince, or the new emperor, sitting on the dragon throne, his heart finally settled down.

In his impression, the Third Prince, or the new Emperor, had good character and ability. His maternal family, the Weiyuan Marquisate, also acted very low-key, and Marquis Xie was famous for his upright character. With the Third Prince succeeding him, there was no need to worry that the court would become chaotic and detrimental to stability.

Huo Tiankuo first saluted and greeted the new emperor, then briefly explained his experience and current whereabouts and apologized.

The new emperor waved his hand and said, "It's been a great honor for General Huo to lead a group of disaster victims to this day. There's nothing to blame."

Before the disaster, Wu Zhao would definitely be held accountable for leaving his post without permission, but in special times, all these can be put aside.

"General Huo, do you know what's happening in the northwest?"

Huo Tiankuo's heart sank, "I originally wanted to ask about the situation in the northwest."

The implication is that he doesn't know either.

"However..." Huo Tiankuo glanced at Lu Xuan, "If Boss Lu is willing, you can ask Boss Lu to take some people with you."

Lu Xuan said: "If the deal is done, everything will be fine."

The new emperor knew that Huo Tiankuo and Lu Xuan had been dealing with each other for quite some time, and that Huo Tiankuo was a man he and the other ministers trusted. Furthermore, the treasures Lu Xuan had brought out were indeed extremely useful, so he asked, "How exactly do you want to negotiate the deal you mentioned? What kind of reward do you want? Do you want a title of nobility or a chancellor, or...?"

Lu Xuan said, "I have no intention of being granted a title of nobility or a chancellor. I just want to do the same as Luochuan and several other cities. I will trade materials for greenhouses for the imperial court to help build them, and then use part of the grain output from the greenhouses to trade in place of gold and silver."

The ministers frowned instinctively, somewhat disagreeing.

It has always been the imperial court that collected local taxes. How could they pay grain to others in return?

Minister Bai's focus was different from the others. "How many other cities? Besides Luochuan, Boss Lu has also traded with many other cities?"

Lu Xuan: "Not many, Yangshan County, Fengxian County, and Jiangnan Prefecture."

The other ministers were shocked.

These areas are far apart from each other, and traveling to all of them is almost like traveling to half of the country.

Thinking about how they were almost trapped in the capital after the earthquake, I felt sad.

Comparing yourself to others will make you feel thief angry.

After Liu Wenchi explained the specific contents of the various deals Lu Xuan had made in Luochuan to Huo Tiankuo, the ministers' hearts began to beat faster, and their resistance to the deals proposed by Lu Xuan also faded.

If the so-called mutant crops grown in the greenhouse can really yield 1,500 to 1,600 kilograms per mu, even if they give 30% of the harvest to Lu Xuan each time, the rest will be several times higher than the normal yield per mu, so they will not suffer any loss.

The new emperor had the same idea. After asking about the specific types of goods that Lu Xuan could provide, he asked Minister Bai about the current total population of the capital and the grain consumption. He also confirmed with other ministers the types and quantities of materials that were lacking, and placed an order with Lu Xuan.

The population of the capital is no less than that of Luochuan. As the emperor, the number reported by the new emperor when placing an order was so large that it made the audience in the live broadcast room who were accustomed to the demand in other gathering places quite frightened.

Even Lu Xuan couldn't help but frown.

The number of nutritional supplements is no longer one or two million, but directly tens of millions.

The capital has a population of over 500,000. If these nutrients are distributed sparingly, they can probably last for half a year.

In addition, there were 300,000 kilograms of salt, 50,000 kilograms of sugar, 500,000 doses of medicine, tens of thousands of cold weapons, biological suits, communication devices, protective suits, thousands of hoverboards, mobile shelters, tents, toilet paper, ice packs, vacuum packaging machines, refrigerators, and other small appliances...

In short, except for the supplies for the rainy season that are not urgently needed for the time being, almost all the materials that have been traded in other gathering places are needed, and the quantity is several times or even more than ten times.

He even requested hundreds of portable spaces of different sizes at once.

After that are limited-quantity by-products, as well as ordinary fruits, mutant fruits, mushrooms, fruit wine, seafood, and improved grain varieties. You can also buy as much as you want within the maximum limit.

When it came to the scale of the greenhouse, it was even more exaggerated. The new emperor and his important ministers immediately asked to build 100,000 acres.

Lu Xuan's mouth twitched fiercely, and he shook his head and said, "I can't provide so much material. The most I can provide is 20,000 acres."

It’s not that he doesn’t want to earn more, nor is it just a problem of not having enough mutant crops. The most important thing is that his points are not inexhaustible.

Although Lu Xuan had some unpleasant encounters with many local forces during the few days in the Jiangnan gathering place, he still did not neglect the business he was supposed to do and even made a lot of money out of them.

Due to its geographical location, Jiangnan suffers from severe floods and waterlogging disasters, so a lot of ship transactions are done. On the contrary, because Jiangnan has a high grain output, there is no shortage of grain there, and half of the transaction volume is on-site transactions.

This allowed Lu Xuan to not lose any points for the first time, but instead recover a lot of blood.

If not for this, he really wouldn't be able to do business with the capital with his almost depleted points balance.

Even so, 20,000 acres of greenhouses is the limit.

The ministers frowned, and even Lord Xie couldn't help but ask, "Isn't 20,000 mu too little?"

They need a lot of supplies. If the greenhouse is not large enough and the total output cannot keep up, they will be short of money whether they are paying off their debts or exchanging them for supplies needed by other people.

Lu Xuan said, "You can use rainproof cloth to build a simple greenhouse. It won't be as safe and warm as a regular greenhouse, but as long as there are enough air conditioners and the weather isn't particularly extreme, it can be used normally."

If you specialize in growing cold-resistant crops such as radishes and cabbages, the yield can be two to three times more than other high-yield crops, greatly reducing food pressure while the cost is not as high as a greenhouse.

When everyone heard this, they thought it was feasible, so they ordered another 50,000 acres of rainproof cloth materials.

Lu Xuan did not wait for them to discover the existence of the evolution liquid, but took it out directly.

Just like other gathering places, only five are provided.

After the new emperor and his ministers learned of the miraculous properties of this medicine, they became extremely cautious and quickly pondered how to distribute it. In other words, the ministers were thinking about how to get His Majesty to reward them with one of the medicines.

If a person with magical powers appears in the family, the family can stand for at least another hundred years, or even longer.

The new emperor learned that Huo Tiankuo, several members of the Huo family army, the village to which Lu Xuan belonged, and people in the gathering places he had visited had gained abilities. He secretly took note of it, thinking of finding an opportunity to win over as many of these people as possible to the court.

Otherwise, if people who are too powerful remain among the people, they may become uncontrollable and unsafe factors that threaten national stability.

Finally, Lu Xuan took the initiative to propose the idea of trading a few floating buses to the court.

The new emperor and his ministers only then realized that he did not come here on a hoverboard, but in a better hover bus that could shelter from wind and rain.

Lu Xuan also walked out of the imperial study and showed them the real thing in the open space in the palace.

A single-section suspended bus can seat fifty people, and can accommodate even more if they squeeze in. If a few more are purchased, hundreds of people can be transported at a time, which is much more useful to the court than a hoverboard that can only carry two people.

What's more, they are not afraid of extreme climates. With communicators and suspended buses, they can get in touch with other places anytime and anywhere.

The ministers looked at Lu Xuan with increasingly gentle eyes, some even more affectionately than when they looked at their own sons.

Lu Xuan: ...

The quantity of all goods has been confirmed and both parties have checked the total amount.

As expected, the result was a rather astonishing number.