Chapter 13 Grand Plan

After walking around the large connected courtyards, Zhao Xu made a decision.

The current palace is too small and cannot accommodate many things.

But the three yards added up are not small.

He can completely place the small government office that will be established in the palace.

the most important is.

The money brought by the ice-making technology obviously could not meet his needs for building a fiefdom.

It is still unknown how much profit can be brought from selling ice in the south.

After all, the ice-making method is too easy to leak. Before the technology is leaked, each company can make back its capital and make a little profit.

If the palace wants to have sustained and substantial income, it must rely on other goods that are highly profitable and whose technology is difficult to replicate.

And if he wants to trial-produce these things, he must have a place.

Likewise, the safest place is the palace.

Xu Lie sent out his guards as ordered.

Zhao Xu returned to the palace and waited in the living room of the middle courtyard.

Not long after, three young men entered the palace.

"I'm with you Dong An, I'm with Yang He, and I'm with Lu Chang. See you, Your Highness."

The three young men bowed and saluted.

"No courtesy." Zhao Xuxu said.

Among the three, Dong An is short, fat and white, wearing a blue satin brocade robe.

Yang He is tall and thin, wearing yellow brocade clothes.

Lu Chang is of medium height, strong-looking, and dressed in purple robes.

"Your Highness, according to the royal palace's warm invitation, my father should come in person. However, my father thought that he would be of the same age as your Highness in the next few days and would be able to talk more easily, lest Your Highness would get bored with their boring work." Dong An explained.

"When His Highness sent someone here, I was at Dong's house. The Yang family in this yard had some money, so I came here boldly. I hope Your Highness will not blame you." Yang He added.

Lu Changze seemed to be more interested in Xu Lie, who was in military uniform next to Zhao Xu.

After the two of them finished speaking, they looked at Zhao Xu.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." Zhao Xu asked the servant to show the three of them their seats.

He also asked his slaves to serve tea.

He knew the thoughts of Dong Yang and Lu San's family, and they just wanted to take advantage of the convenience of young people to talk to each other so that the children of the family could get acquainted with Zhao Xu.

This is more effective than them doing it.

After taking a sip of tea, Zhao Xu didn't beat around the bush.

"The reason why I invite you all here today is actually for a simple matter, that is, the courtyards on both sides of the palace. I am willing to redeem them at the original price. How about that?"

The three of them looked at each other after hearing this.

Dong An smiled and said, "So that's what happened. I can make the decision to give the courtyard to the palace without taking any money."

Yang He and Lu Chang also nodded, "Same for us."

When King Yan first arrived in Yan County, they naturally did not value a crazy King Yan, so they dared to buy the courtyards on both sides of the palace.

They didn't spend much money at that time, and the three families added up to only more than 8,000 taels.

Now that King Yan has returned to normal, how dare they use these two courtyards? They might as well give them away as a favor.

"I'm so sorry." Zhao Xu pretended to give in, but felt happy in his heart.

It seems that these three families are now determined to have a good relationship with the palace.

In this way, his plan to win over and divide the wealthy families of Yan County will be no problem.

"Hey, Your Highness, please accept it, otherwise we will feel uneasy." Dong An was very talkative and immediately showed an intimate gesture.

"Same here." Lu Chang echoed again.

Yang He nodded.

Zhao Xu smiled, not expecting to resolve the matter so easily.

The four of them sat opposite each other in a harmonious atmosphere.

Dong An suggested at this time, "I will ask the servants to go back and get the title deed of the courtyard. It is almost noon, and the long summer is extremely boring. I wonder if Your Highness intends to go to the Golden Scale Pond in the North City to cool off."

Zhao Xu wanted to refuse.

But when I think about it, since I came to Yan County, I still don’t know anything about Yan City. I should go out and have a look, otherwise I will become a bitter woman.

Moreover, he has become increasingly pessimistic about the situation in Yan County in the past few days.

The three families of Zhang, Huang and Du were powerful, not to mention that the governor of Yan County was from the Zhang family.

The general judge responsible for arresting and jailing people in Yan County came from the Huang family.

What's more, the captain of the three thousand soldiers in Yan County is from the Du family.

It's no wonder that these three families despise and hate Prince Yan's Mansion.

If there was no Prince Yan's Mansion, they would be the local emperors of Yan County.

Therefore, in this case, it is even more necessary for him to win over the three families of Dong, Yang, and Lu. According to his understanding, these three families can be said to be white lotus flowers in Yan County compared to the Zhang family.

"Okay, I have this intention." Zhao Xu stood up.

When the three heard this, they all became excited.

In fact, they had no choice but to risk offending the Zhang, Huang, and Du families to get close to Prince Yan's Mansion.

Originally, although there was a great disparity in power between the wealthy families in Yan County, they were not much different.

Although everyone was blushing because of the struggle for profit, they had not yet reached the point of fighting to the death.

But since Zhang Qian's younger brother Zhang Kang married a concubine from the Yuan family in Fanyang County, Yanzhou, Yan County has changed.

The Yuan family of Yanzhou is not a small wealthy family like them.

Except for the governor of Yanzhou who is a member of the Yuan family, five of the seven counties in Yanzhou have county governors who are either members of the Yuan family or are followers of the Yuan family.

There are also direct descendants of the Yuan family who serve as officials and generals in the capital and the Dasong Army.

Therefore, with the support of the Yuan family, the Zhang family was in full swing, and together with the Huang family and the Du family, they easily took over the power of Yan County.

Since then, he has competed with them in all aspects, suppressed them, and intended to annex their wealth.

Before King Yan came, they could only watch their own interests being damaged, helpless.

But now, King Yan has returned to normal, and they have found hope of safeguarding their own interests.

The group of people left the palace and went onto the street.

The scenery of Yancheng comes to your face.

Among the seven counties of Yanzhou, Yan County is the poorest one.

It borders the Yanshan Mountains to the north, Fanyang County to the south, and some areas in the southeast are close to the sea.

It is roughly equivalent to the area of ​​the eastern part of Chengde, Hebei and the western part of Tangshan in modern times.

Walking through Yancheng, Zhao Xu saw desolation everywhere.

On the main street in the middle of Yan County, most of the people carrying goods and hawking were thin, and the ribs on their chests could be seen clearly.

Their clothes were similar to those of the people who came to the palace territory that day. They could not even be called clothes, but rags.

On their faces, there was no smile, but full of suffering.

This was the living condition of the people in the ancient war and chaos.

In this era of low productivity and material scarcity, it was not easy to survive.

Dong An and the other two followed Zhao Xu, talking and laughing wantonly, without paying attention to the solemnity in Zhao Xu's eyes.

It seemed that they were accustomed to all this.

After walking a long way, they turned left and crossed a street.

At this time, Yancheng, which was full of gray tones, suddenly became colorful and lively.

"Your Highness, we have arrived at the Golden Scale Pond." Dong An pointed to a long lake in front.

At this time, the sun was shining, and golden rays were sprinkled on the water.

When the breeze blew, the lake really looked like golden scales.

On both sides of the Golden Scale Pond, green willows formed shades, and the attics with red railings and green tiles were connected one after another, and faint singing could be heard from time to time.

In the lake, the painted boats were swaying, and the pearl curtains were swaying. It was vague that a woman in red and green clothes was drinking with a noble son.

"The people of Yan County are eating dirt, while the nobles of Yan County are singing and dancing." The strong contrast between the before and after made Zhao Xu feel like he had eaten a fly.

His fiefdom must not be a playground for a few people.

As the King of Yan, he must be worthy of his people, otherwise what is the difference between him and these nobles?

And to realize this grand plan, he must control Yan County as soon as possible and plan the fiefdom according to his own ideas.

But the prerequisite for controlling Yan County is that he must have a strong army and a huge amount of wealth for construction.

"Silver, or silver."

Zhao Xu thought for a while, and an idea to make money came up again. This idea is slightly more complicated than ice making, but more profitable.