Chapter 93 (mp4)?
"Your Highness, please take good care of yourself..." Song Gu hesitated for a long time before finally saying this.
Qi Chengming wanted to retort irritably, but the words caught in his forehead and stung, causing him to swallow his words back: "...I know."
It seems there's no reason to refute this for the time being.
But Qi Chengming was still very dissatisfied. He opened the infrastructure system with a look of exasperation. His health bar hadn't dropped at all; he really couldn't understand how this thing determined his physical condition.
Since you haven't lost any blood, you shouldn't feel pain!
Qi Chengming was hoping to rely on his health bar to have a good time, but the people around him were too perceptive and never gave him the chance.
Regardless, Song Gu accepted the sack of corn seeds, promising to deliver them to the mountain estate later and leave them to Uncle Huang to plant. Qi Chengming rubbed his forehead: "You go first. I'll write down the relevant fertilizer formulas and planting methods later so Uncle Huang can try them out."
"Yes." Song Gu said this, but did not leave immediately, hesitating for a moment.
Qi Chengming had already turned around, but then turned back to look at him with a sharp and questioning gaze: "Is there anything else?"
"Your Highness... what will happen to the caravans in the future?" Song Gu hesitated for a long time before cautiously asking the question. He quickly bowed his head in apology, "It was my overstepping of my bounds, inquiring about such confidential matters without authorization..."
Having stayed in Liuzhou for a while, everyone started addressing each other casually with "you" and "me." Xiao Dezi and Xiao Chengzi were so lax in their manners that they could even sit and eat pastries in His Highness's study. Song Gu was no exception; he knew that this would never happen in the palace, but now that he had asked, he wasn't even worried that His Highness would scold him.
Qi Chengming looked at Steward Song with surprise at his downcast head, then smiled with relief: "So that's what you've been worrying about all this time? You look so bitter and resentful. I was wondering how long you could keep it up."
"..." Song Gu silently shifted his gaze.
Actually, it wasn't just that he was bothered by that. He'd been quite resentful of Wen Zhongnan recently, who had ultimately abandoned the prince and chosen to go to the border. No, perhaps what bothered him was that Wen Zhongnan didn't intend to pledge allegiance to the new emperor, but rather a more equal friendship. This frankness was too clear, making Song Gu, with his own selfish motives, very uncomfortable—
From his past life to the present, he has always viewed things from the perspective that "if there are military generals by the side of the new emperor, it will be better to make up for the shortcomings." However, Wen Zhongnan's relationship with the new emperor is not yet close enough to the point that he can be of military generals to come to the rescue when needed in the future.
How did Song Gu manage to cheer herself up later?
He comforted himself, thinking that for the new emperor, an equal friend might be more effective.
"Actually, I've been thinking about this for a while now," Qi Chengming admitted. "When prices skyrocket, caravans will have to use silver, cloth, or barter as much as possible when they go to buy and sell."
At that point, not only will they realize the problem, but merchants using ration coupons will also become reluctant to exchange their coupons for money, and the situation will be impacted. So, how can this situation be turned in a way that benefits Liuzhou and Qi Chengming?
"..." The young prince looked away for a moment, then said calmly, "At that time... we estimate we can make a fortune from the wealthy families."
When he said this, Qi Chengming's heart clenched, and his mood was low and heavy.
He could clearly imagine the tactics that wealthy and powerful families in ancient times would employ in such situations, lest prices become chaotic. However, those changes wouldn't shake the power of wealthy families with accumulated wealth. In fact, because they possessed more resources, they would likely hoard goods at low prices after receiving advance warning, then sell them at high prices when chaos ensued, making a fortune. Or they might take the opportunity to plunder people, naturally signing contracts to increase their number of servants.
Qi Chengming's rich imagination made him realize that the people would suffer greatly in the future.
Where do all the profits come from?
It was all squeezed from ordinary, insignificant people.
But he was just an insignificant prince, his influence at most covering two or three states; he was not the emperor. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as those powerful and wealthy families gleefully drank the blood of the common people.
Helplessness, self-blame, anxiety, and a strong sense of responsibility all piled up in Qi Chengming's heart, causing him unnecessary anxiety.
There was only one thing he could do—to use his caravan to sell as many novel luxury goods made in Liuzhou as possible, rip off wealthy merchants from all over the country, and then use the profits back on the people…
This was the only thing Qi Chengming could do.
"So, Steward Song, please keep a close eye on the glass side and try to get it made as soon as possible."
"Understood." Song Gu solemnly replied, realizing the urgency of the matter.
They don't have much time left.
The fact that Prefect Lu could send the message meant that the officials in the imperial court had basically approved the matter. What remained was a series of tedious procedures. After those formalities were completed, and another two or three months later, the decree would be delivered to this remote and impoverished place like Liuzhou. However, a long time had already passed since Prefect Lu sent the message…
I wonder if the officials carrying out the decrees are already on their way.
Song Gu left in a hurry, leaving Qi Chengming alone in the main room. Only then did he have time to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Your Highness, would you like breakfast?" Xiao Chengzi asked quietly.
"Make something fresh." Qi Chengming didn't have much of an appetite, but he still waved his hand, not saying he wouldn't eat.
—You need to be well-fed to have the energy to be anxious.
Qi Chengming didn't want to learn to ignore the deaths and injuries of ordinary people, but he also couldn't process the overwhelming negative emotions. Perhaps this was a negative consequence of his transmigration from the modern world:
Compared to the ancients who had long taken it for granted, he had never found it acceptable.
Let's hurry up and finish the mission! We'll save as many as we can.
Xiao Chengzi glanced at the prince's expression and quickly left. A short while later, a palace maid brought over a bowl of steaming hot wild vegetable wontons, made from the freshest mustard green shoots of spring.
Fresh mustard greens in March are mixed with fragrant sesame oil, finely chopped minced meat, and matsutake mushrooms picked from the mountains. The flavor is incredibly delicious, as if you can taste the essence of spring.
"..." Qi Chengming blew on the soup, took a sip, and his eyebrows relaxed.
After calming down, he remembered that he hadn't received two rewards. One was for the preparations to stabilize prices, and the reward was grain and silver, which was better than nothing.
After receiving the reward, Qi Chengming remained unmoved and focused on the first two stages of the currency task's rewards.
[mp4], [Bamboo-reinforced concrete method].
"Huh? What is this?" Qi Chengming almost burst out laughing.
Bamboo-reinforced concrete can undoubtedly help him reinforce many important buildings, including dams. Although it is far less stable than steel reinforcement, bamboo-reinforced concrete is probably the most robust material of our time.
Qi Chengming was very satisfied with this, and his mind was already filled with all sorts of places that needed to be built. The appearance of this prescription now wasn't too urgent; when prices soared and people from other places needed more opportunities to make money, wasn't this a ready-made money-making gap?
Liuzhou has been like a black hole devouring labor lately, changing rapidly and never being satisfied no matter how hard you try to fill it. It needs people everywhere, even farmers are in short supply...
That would be a win-win situation!
And then... what is an MP4? Why would I reward him with something like that? The art style is so weird!
Despite his internal complaints, Qi Chengming wolfed down a large bowl of wontons. Then, the palace maid immediately brought over a plate of pan-fried shrimp cakes—
Springtime river shrimp are at their freshest. Pan-fried into pancakes and eaten piping hot right out of the pan, they're so delicious they'll make you swoon.
Qi Chengming had only eaten half full, and now he couldn't bother to savor the shrimp cakes. He picked up the plate and waved for the palace maid to leave, then went to his study.
This is a time when you must not disturb us.
"...Huh?" The bewildered palace maid was somewhat at a loss.
But, but His Highness took his breakfast to the study today? What should we do with the plates?
Xiao Dezi and Xiao Chengzi looked at each other in confusion, completely baffled.
Everyone knows how much His Highness values his study. At most, he might have a snack during his rest, and he has to tidy everything up beforehand to prevent it from getting greasy. Why did he bring in his breakfast today? Is he in such a hurry?
Qi Chengming sat alone in his study, carefully unpacking the overly modern packaging box. Inside were the familiar instruction manual, charger, and a small, flat, technologically advanced cube.
"...Give me an MP4 player, I need somewhere to charge it." Qi Chengming chuckled wryly and began clumsily fiddling with the little gadget.
In a flash of light, the MP4 player turned on, fully charged.
If he remembers correctly, he can watch videos for about four or five hours, and read novels or listen to music for about ten hours.
Qi Chengming flipped through it, and sure enough, it was empty everywhere, but fully functional.
Radio, tape recorder, alarm clock, pictures, videos, e-books, music, photography.
...This tiny metal lump even has Wi-Fi connectivity!
This made Qi Chengming laugh out loud, but then he couldn't laugh anymore: "So, where is the Wi-Fi? I want to connect too!"
He watched as the newly powered-on machine flickered and a network icon appeared above it.
Qi Chengming: "???"
Is it connected?
He paused for two seconds, then quickly clicked on a video page at random.
The screen, which was just empty a moment ago, now has a few scattered videos with captions like: "First Grade, First Semester, Language Arts Appendix Videos," "First Grade, First Semester, Math Appendix Videos," and so on.
Qi Chengming gradually figured out the trick.
These videos all come from awards he has already received? They wouldn't appear if there weren't any accompanying videos.
He then clicked on other places one after another.
Besides "videos," the "e-books" section contained the most content. They were all reward books from the infrastructure system and his previously scanned materials.
So the Wi-Fi networks that MP4 players can connect to are part of the infrastructure system, right?
But—what can this MP4 do?
Qi Chengming mechanically chewed the shrimp cake, lost in deep thought.
He felt that the infrastructure system was about to cause trouble.
It can take photos, record audio, and play pictures, e-books, and video materials in MP4 format. This is designed to help him cultivate trusted confidants! It can even be very useful when training assassins or when he needs leverage over someone.
He could even pre-record some appropriate messages, save them on an MP4 file, and find a way to deliver them to the people he wanted to send them to; this was a top-secret method of communication when necessary.
Alternatively, he could directly scan the infrastructure system for content he had written down, and the person holding the MP4 file could remotely view it—if there was still internet access (this requires experimentation).
The only downside is the battery life. This thing is meant to be used in critical moments…
Qi Chengming pondered the candidates, and images of Song Gu, Qin Liusong, and Huang Dong gradually surfaced in his mind. Then there was Wen Er, his cousin, Doctor Bian…
He was hesitating.
A faint commotion came from outside the door, as if people were talking.
Qi Chengming originally didn't intend to pay attention, but he heard Xiao Dezi's somewhat annoyed voice: "What do you mean we can't buy them back? We ordered the white cypress flowers first."
"Yes... the prices in Jiangnan were too inflated, and the head of the family felt something was wrong, so he had no choice but to ship back what he could buy first..."
Qi Chengming pushed open the door and saw the Bai family servants explaining to Xiao Dezi, sweating profusely with anxiety.
"What premium?" Qi Chengming asked astutely.
“Since the beginning of spring this year, it has been difficult to buy white berries, and the last two months have been particularly strange… The prices in the north are all quite wrong…” The servant’s face was weathered, and he looked like he had been wandering around for many years, which made him clumsy and tongue-tied.
Qi Chengming's heart sank, and the anger on Xiao Dezi's face vanished without a trace. They couldn't help but exchange a glance.
Qi Chengming felt a shiver run through his scalp, like an electric shock.
...The official document has arrived!
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