Chapter 40 He had seen many living Bodhisattvas, but this was the first time he had seen a living King Yan
Lu Yanshi glanced at the silver that An Miaoyi brought over, then looked at her again.
"What do you mean, my dear?"
An Miaoyi smiled and bowed to him: "My father heard that the emperor was collecting donations, and he also wanted to help our soldiers of Daxia. I hereby present one hundred thousand taels of silver, and wish Daxia a successful start and the conquest of Beiyong."
Lu Yanshi's face turned amiable.
"My beloved family is very thoughtful. I wonder what your father wants?"
If you accept 100,000 taels of silver from someone for no reason, you should at least give them some benefits. Otherwise, they will be disappointed and won't give you anything next time. How can that work?
"My father wants to ask for a piece of the emperor's calligraphy to be made into a plaque so that he can admire it every day." An Miaoyi was also clear and stated her request.
The An family had prospered since her great-grandfather's generation. They had dozens of banks, money houses, pawnshops, and grain stores all over Daxia, with assets of at least five million taels of silver.
Unfortunately, the An family was small, none of the men were good at studying, and none of them could serve as officials. The only brother who was good at studying was still young, only ten years old, and it would take several more years before he could support the family business.
She was also beautiful and was admired by many people.
So her father simply tried every possible means to use money to pave the way, and he spent 100,000 taels of silver to send her to the palace to be a queen.
She was quite capable and after being honored and favored, she gave birth to a little princess and was able to gain a foothold in the palace.
When others learned that the An family had a Queen Zhaoyi in the palace, they became much more polite to them.
But now, as the An family's business grows bigger and bigger, they are being targeted again.
An Miaoyi realized that this time the emperor was raising money for the war and it was a good opportunity to show her loyalty, so she immediately wrote a letter and asked her father to send 100,000 taels of silver.
"Okay, I'll write it for you when I get to Yu's study." Lu Yanshi agreed readily.
One hundred thousand taels of silver in exchange for him writing a few words, this is a good deal.
[Hey, is father's calligraphy so valuable? Then wouldn't it be enough to sell a few more paintings of war? ]
Lu Li muttered to himself.
An Miaoyi and Lu Yanshi's smiles froze at the same time.
Lu Yanshi couldn't help but secretly complain: What kind of words is this child saying? How can his handwriting be called selling? This is a blessing given to the An family.
An Miaoyi has been following her father in business since she was a child, and she discovered business opportunities from Lu Li's words.
She smiled sweetly: "Your Majesty, I have a plan that may help you out of your urgent need."
"Oh? My beloved, please tell me about it." Lu Yanshi listened attentively.
"Your Majesty, since all the expenses of the palace have to be purchased from private merchants anyway, why don't we hold a royal selection! Just like the competition for selecting a royal consort. Let them pay for each item to participate in the selection, and then for the one we finally choose, you can write an inscription for them and issue an edict declaring them royal merchants. This is the supreme honor for merchants." The more An Miaoyi talked, the more she felt that this was feasible.
"We will select once a year. Those merchants will definitely be willing to participate. If they want to continue using your calligraphy in the second year, they will pay the money and guarantee the quality. If the quality is not as good as others, we will select someone else and revoke their title of royal merchant."
Lu Yanshi's eyes lit up. This was a good way to make money.
All the purchases in the palace are now handled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They only choose shops that belong to the royal family. Forget about making money, it's good enough if they don't lose money.
An Miaoyi's method is still the best.
"Then I'll leave this matter to you." Lu Yanshi waved his hand and handed the power to her.
"But I'm just a Zhaoyi, wouldn't that be inappropriate? What do you think of promoting my position?" An Miaoyi tested with a smile.
"You have a point." Lu Yanshi nodded.
"The An family's 100,000 taels of silver were exchanged for a plaque inscribed by me. Your wonderful ideas have relieved me of my worries, so I will grant you the title of concubine. As for your title, you can use Min."
Among the concubines in the harem, he still had a good impression of An Miaoyi. She was not shy, knew how to judge the situation, and didn't have so many twists and turns.
The important thing is that she is willing to spend money on him, the emperor, and she doesn't stir up trouble in the harem, making everyone in the palace restless. This makes him worry-free.
An Miaoyi didn't expect that Lu Yanshi actually agreed to her request.
She looked at Lu Li with joy on her face. The little princess was indeed a lucky star. If it weren't for her words, she wouldn't have thought of so many things.
"I kneel down to thank the emperor for his grace." An Miaoyi thanked him happily.
After returning to her own Huacui Palace, she ordered someone to give Lu Li another golden lock.
She had inquired about it and found out that the Ninth Princess liked this thing.
She did not do Lu Yanshi any wrong. He gave her the position of concubine, so of course she wanted to find a way to give back.
One hundred thousand taels of silver had already bought the emperor's support, and her position as a concubine was another price. She would still do this little thing.
Soon, she sent a large gift package of food and fodder to Lu Yanshi.
The An family is willing to provide 10,000 shi of grain for this expedition.
Lu Yanshi was very satisfied with this. He smiled and praised: "Min Fei is indeed smart and considerate."
"Cao Dehai, you should personally lead people out of the palace to deliver a plaque to the An family. Remember to teach those who are so bold a lesson. The An family belongs to me, and they dare to touch it. Haha."
"Yes." Cao Dehai also responded with a smile.
Concubine Min was always generous and polite to the people in the harem, so Cao Dehai was willing to do things for her.
An Miaoyi was surprised and delighted to learn that Cao Dehai personally supervised this matter.
This is the Emperor building up momentum for them to settle down!
She hurriedly sent a small jade Guanyin tablet to Cao Dehai. She had inquired and found out that this eunuch chief liked to collect various jade Guanyins.
As expected, Cao Dehai smiled brightly after receiving it. When he went to the An family, he also gave them many suggestions. The An family was very grateful to him and gave him many good things.
Everyone was happy on this trip out of the palace, and everyone got what they wanted.
…
All the supplies were prepared and sent to the border.
Lu Yanshi was thinking about explosives, so he called Qu Fufeng over.
It's been several months, and this guy hasn't made any progress.
Qu Fufeng explained with a tearful face: "Your Majesty, this bomb is very dangerous. Although I know the approximate composition, the specific ratio must be carefully experimented. Otherwise, if it explodes, my life will be in danger, and this research will not be able to continue."
Lu Yanshi was silent for a moment.
After all this time, it turns out that this guy is afraid of death, so the progress is so slow.
"Go to the prison and get out all the prisoners who are to be executed. Adjust the ratio and let them do it."
Lu Yanshi directly assigned him experimental personnel.
Those people are going to die anyway, it doesn't matter if they die sooner or later, they might as well make some contribution to Daxia and die a worthy death.
Qu Fufeng widened his eyes.
He had seen many living Bodhisattvas, but this was the first time he had seen a living King Yan.
"Do you have any opinion?" Lu Yanshi raised his eyebrows and looked at him.