Chapter 625 If You Have Money, Ask for More
In order to make the workers live more comfortably, Su Yu had rows of wooden houses built outside the mine. In the middle of each wooden house there was a charcoal burning pit so that people would not catch a cold when burning charcoal while sleeping at night.
Mining is physical work. In order to ensure that the workers in the mines have enough energy every day, Su Yu did not treat them badly in terms of food. They must have at least one meal with meat every day.
"The weather is cold, City Lord, please eat while it's hot." Hu Wei personally brought the food to Su Yu.
The dish is not complicated, just stewed pork skin and radish.
Su Yu was not picky about food. He picked up the bowl and chopsticks and started eating with big mouthfuls.
“Are the crops we grow now enough to eat?”
They had reclaimed a lot of wasteland before, but Cheng Ming said that it might be due to geographical and climatic issues, and the grain yield was not high.
"It wasn't enough in the first year, but the pills we made sold very well. After selling the pills, we used the money to buy food. But now that there are more and more people in the city, the food gap will continue to increase."
In other words, the people in Tiankui City are not yet able to achieve complete self-sufficiency.
This is indeed a problem. If the people of a city cannot fill their own stomachs, what will happen when there are more people in the future?
We can't keep them around forever; this is not a healthy and long-term development trend.
"It's easy to be shackled by others when buying grain." The feud between the Southern Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom has already been formed with them. If the other party's trading channels are blocked one day, it will be difficult for them.
The State of Chu could do it, but it would be safer to keep the most important aspect of people's livelihood in its own hands.
"Wait until the end of winter in a few days, and let Cheng Ming open up the wasteland. We can make the wasteland privately owned, so that the people in the city will be more motivated."
"yes."
On the other hand, the news of Xie Rui's arrest soon reached the Queen of Jin.
When the Queen of Jin read the news, she was so anxious that she almost jumped up from the chaise longue.
A while ago, she had a conflict with Xie Rui because of his broken engagement with Xiang Hualan. Later, Xie Rui went out of town in the name of studying abroad. She wanted to leave him alone, otherwise he would really think that he had grown strong enough to do whatever he wanted.
But she never expected that Xie Rui would be so bold as to go to the northern wilderness.
The queen was so angry that her fingertips were shaking. Xie Rui was her only son and the eldest prince, the most likely person to inherit the throne. Why did he run to that deserted place like a madman?
The old nanny picked up the letter that the queen had thrown on the ground. After reading it, she was also shocked. She quickly threw the letter into the brazier beside her, came behind the queen and rubbed her shoulders to comfort her, "Don't worry, your majesty. The most urgent thing is to rescue His Highness first."
If something happened to Xie Rui, all the Queen's work over the years would have been in vain.
"Go and tell my father and his friends right away, and have them find out what this Northern Wasteland is. The people there are so bold as to touch Rui'er. Tell my father and his friends to find a way to bring Rui'er back safely no matter what."
"Yes, don't worry, madam. I will pass on the message right away."
Jin State, Prime Minister's Office.
When the Queen received the news from her confidant, the Prime Minister's Office also received it.
After reading the letter, the Prime Minister's eyes darkened, but those who knew him well knew that he was angry.
The eldest prince has too big an idea. He ran to the northern wilderness without informing them. Isn't he afraid that he will never come back?
After receiving the news, the prime minister called his sons back.
Everyone rushed over, and when they heard what Xie Rui had done, their brows furrowed so much that they could pinch a fly to death.
"Father, there is no need to be too angry. His Highness must also want to take over the mine over there, but he has not thought it through thoroughly." The prime minister's eldest son was a gentle person. Seeing that no one dared to speak, he stepped forward to ease the atmosphere.
"There really is a mine in that damn place in the Northern Wasteland, and it's an iron mine. Father, if we can really take possession of that iron mine, it wouldn't be a bad thing."
In Jin State, all mineral resources belonged to the state. But it would be different if the mine was outside Jin State. If they took it for themselves, who would know about it?
"From the content of the message, it is clear that this mine does exist. The most urgent thing to do is to ensure the safety of the eldest prince."
After the prime minister finished speaking, he turned to look at his third son and said, "Third son, you should send a message over there now, and then immediately go there. No matter what method you use, you must rescue the people first."
Hearing this, Zhou Wei stood up and responded, "Don't worry, father. I know what to do."
"Father, who on earth is in this northern wilderness? How dare you kidnap the prince of my Jin country!"
Zhou Cheng didn't know much about that place. "What worries can a group of people who were exiled have? But since they can put forward conditions once, they can do it a second time. Saving people is the most important thing."
"yes."
"This matter must not be known to others, so that the queen will not reveal her true identity."
"My son understands."
Among Prime Minister Zhou's three legitimate sons, the third one, Zhou Wei, did not enter the officialdom but did business abroad. In order not to arouse the emperor's suspicion, most of his business empire was outside the capital, especially in the border areas surrounding the State of Jin. He knew the northern wilderness better than any other member of the Zhou family and could act more conveniently there.
Before leaving the Prime Minister's Mansion, Zhou Wei sent a message to Xie Rui's confidant, asking him to find a way to ensure Xie Rui's personal safety first, and to let the people in the Northern Wilderness know that saving Xie Rui's life is useful, so that they will have time to rescue him.
After receiving Zhou Wei's letter, Lord Wang thought about it and decided to send the letter to his own people, but he didn't know if those people could receive it.
The people brought back by Qiao Yang confessed everything after being thrown into jail, and Qiao Yang and his team also learned the contact information between the two parties.
As soon as Su Yu came back from the mine, Qiao Yang came to her with the news sent by Lord Wang to take credit for it.
"City Lord, look, what does this letter mean?"
Su Yu took the letter and read it. Lord Wang stated in the letter that the northern wilderness was bitterly cold and he was worried that Xie Rui and his men would not be able to endure it, so he prepared a batch of winter clothes and asked Xie Rui if he needed them. If so, he would send someone to deliver them immediately.
"The people over there suspected us last time, how could they be so stupid as to send us winter clothes now?"
Su Yu raised his head and glanced at Qiao Yang. This kid finally had some light in his head.
“This is a test.”
"The city lord said that they wanted to confirm whether Xie Rui was still alive?"
"It's very likely. It seems that what we asked for last time was still too little. Go and ask Xie Rui to write back to them and tell him to send their winter clothes and prepare more cotton." Since they had a lot of things, she would ask for more.
(End of this chapter)
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