Guard Zhang, accompanied by the Empress and others, strolled back home with heavy hearts.
There was no other way. This time, I brought so many people back with me, especially quite a few delicate young girls. If we went even a little faster, the girls would turn pale and feel like vomiting, which scared Guard Zhang so much that he wished he could just lead the horse away.
Guard Zhang felt that this escort mission was even more exhausting than his first trip to the northern desert to escort His Highness!
Guard Zhang always had a long face, but Gu Yuzhi was all smiles these days.
It turned out that when Lu Muchen arrived at the military camp that day, he took out the imperial edict and announced his identity as a general.
Because of Lu Muchen's reputation, the soldiers who had surrendered to the King of Chu became cautious.
They wanted to lie low, but Lu Muchen refused. That very night, without saying a word, he arrested the supervisor and sent men to dig three feet into the ground. They found evidence of the supervisor's crimes, but without giving anyone a chance to react, he beheaded the supervisor in front of everyone during training the next day.
Because of Lu Muchen's act of making an example of someone, the King of Chu and his followers suppressed their restless ambitions and went into complete hiding.
Taking advantage of this time, Lu Muchen made contact with General Wu and others, obtained the list and portraits of those who had made things difficult for Guard Zhang and others in the commander's tent that night, and quickly handed them over to Prefect Ke.
Just as Gu Yuzhi had guessed, after returning to Quanzhou, Ke Liangyi stared at the pools of blood that had turned black at the entrance of the cell where he was imprisoned, and his hatred for Bai Jiwu and the others reached its peak.
If Bai Jiwu hadn't been escorted to Beijing, Ke Liangyi would have loved to skin him alive!
His hatred for Bai Jiwu was instantly transferred to the people of the King of Chu.
So when Lu Muchen handed him the list and portraits and explained Gu Yuzhi's plan, Ke Liangyi nodded in agreement without any hesitation.
A month later, Guard Qi finally had some free time, and Gu Yuzhi happily boarded the carriage. The group then leisurely arrived in Quanzhou.
This time, Gu Yuzhi's pretext was to buy the mine!
He muttered to himself as he pondered with Chief Secretary Xie, "Chief Secretary Xie, have all the profits from the various shops been sent to Commander Chen during this period? Has Commander Chen said anything about needing more money?"
If Chen Dianyi no longer needs to spend money, then he can temporarily empty his entire warehouse and use all the money to buy mines.
If we can't afford to buy more mines, we'll buy one first, and use the remaining money to buy shops, inns, rice shops, and cloth shops—we'll buy them all.
His face was beaming with satisfaction, as if he was about to reap a great benefit, which made Xie Changshi chuckle: "That's right. Xinliang has enough food this year, and its expenses are not as high as last year. The income from His Highness's shop each month is exactly equal to Xinliang's expenses."
"However, if Your Highness intends to take over all the mines in the entire prefecture, it's probably not very likely..."
As soon as Xie Changshi finished speaking, Gu Yuzhi looked at him with a look of horror, and then muttered, "Xie Changshi, you really dare to think that way!"
And all the mines in the entire state.
He only dares to dream of a maximum of two mines right now!
Moreover, this was only because Ke Liangyi was a prince, and he was given two slightly larger seats.
There are five or six mines of all sizes throughout the state!
Chief Secretary Xie originally intended to advise Gu Yuzhi not to be disappointed if he didn't get more mines, nor to blame Prefect Ke for not giving more. Who knew that he had been overthinking things.
He couldn't help but laugh and plead for forgiveness, saying, "Yes, yes, I was overthinking it."
Gu Yuzhi then raised his chin and said arrogantly, "Hmph, I would never think of making things difficult for Prefect Ke on such a matter!"
He's on the same side as Prefect Ke now, so he won't make things difficult for him!
Thinking of this, Gu Yuzhi glanced at Xie Changshi and covered his mouth to chuckle.
Qi, the guard, had already agreed to let him secretly watch as he went to put the sacks on.
He had already decided that once the sack was covered, he would beat the bag with a stick a couple of times to vent his anger.
Gu Yuzhi poked his head out and looked at Guard Qi on horseback, saying, "Guard Qi, Guard Qi, how much longer? We've been counting down the days until we set off!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Changshi, who hadn't thought much of it at first, immediately frowned.
What does it mean to count down the days?
He even asked Guard Qi, "Could it be that the young prince has some kind of secret with Guard Qi?"
He subtly shifted his body, his ears perked up, trying to figure out what kind of riddle the two were playing.
Qi Chenglang was already tall, and now that he was sitting on horseback, his whole body grew even taller.
To make it easier to talk to Gu Yuzhi, he had to bend down, but then he saw Xie Changshi staring straight at him, and he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue: "Your Highness, don't be afraid. Prefect Ke knows that you want to buy the mine, and he will definitely wait until you arrive before we talk about it."
With the entire prefecture under lockdown for several months, and all the money seized during the search given to Gu Yuzhi, Ke Liangyi is actually having a very difficult time.
Therefore, selling the ownership of those five or six mines is now an urgent matter.
If it weren't for waiting for the young prince to come, his five or six mines would probably have been sold off cheaply long ago!
Chief Secretary Xie felt something was off, but what Guard Qi said did make sense.
He could only say, "Actually, Your Highness buying the mine is also a good thing for Prefect Ke."
Gu Yuzhi initially thought that Guard Qi was a bit slow and couldn't understand the meaning behind his words, but then he heard Chief Secretary Xie's voice.
He turned around abruptly and saw that Xie Changshi had somehow gotten so close to him.
Gu Yuzhi scratched his head, feeling that Chief Secretary Xie was acting strangely.
Shu Xiaohan whispered, "Young Prince, judging from Xie Changshi's behavior, he probably suspects you. You should be careful."
Are you starting to doubt yourself?
Gu Yuzhi lowered his head, his eyes darting around, silently wondering why Chief Secretary Xie would suspect him.
He didn't do anything.
Gu Yuzhi pretended not to notice the surprise and asked, "Why? As far as Magistrate Ke is concerned, he can sell that mine to anyone, can't he?"
“That’s true. But all the wealthy merchants in the northern desert know that Prefect Ke is short of money. So, Your Highness, do you think that if it weren’t for you, Prefect Ke would sell his property cheaply because he urgently needs money?”
Merchants are driven by profit, and there may even be instances where several merchants collude to drive down prices.
Seeing Gu Yuzhi nod his little head, Chief Secretary Xie continued, "But if the first or second mine is purchased by His Highness at a normal price, then the other buyers will have to carefully consider whether it is worth offending His Highness and Prefect Ke for such a small benefit."
Gu Yuzhi certainly knew the answer to such a simple question.
He proudly raised his chin and said, "That's definitely not worth it!"
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