After the fairy disappeared

Chapter 1445 Drawings
His relationship with Qingyang alone would add a lot of points.

However, He Lingchuan's method cannot be too crude and simple. He cannot just stuff the stolen goods into General Chongwu's box. Instead, he must make Yao State suspicious of General Chongwu and make General Chongwu unable to defend himself and not associate him with He Lingchuan at all.

The key lies in three words:
unreasonable.

It is necessary to make General Chongwu's behavior look unreasonable.

General Chongwu left the inn before dusk, saying he was chasing after thieves, but who saw him, and who testified? It was raining that night in the Zhuowei wilderness, and there were few people on the road, so of course no one knew where General Chongwu had gone.

Where did he go? Did he sneak to Mangzhou and then come back before dawn?

It was even more unreasonable that General Chongwu caught the thief and took back the tribute.

If there really was someone behind the scenes who stole the tribute and confused the public, why did they have to frame these two thieves? Wouldn't it be better to just throw the stolen tribute into the wild?

Could it be that General Chongwu couldn't afford to lose these tributes, so he came up with an excuse to take them back?

The more unclear doubts there are, the greater the suspicion of General Chongwu becomes.

He really had no good way of proving himself.

But this was not conclusive evidence, and even if the officials had doubts about him, they could not directly accuse him of the crime.

This ambiguous and suspicious atmosphere will make everyone involved feel very uncomfortable.

Just as He Lingchuan was thinking, the carriage arrived at Maochun Restaurant.

When he walked outside the private room on the second floor, He Lingchuan heard a voice coming from inside:
"…The treasury is empty…"

He Lingchuan paused slightly.

Yes, the intelligence he obtained also mentioned that the economy of Yao State was good, but its finances had been in a state of deficit in recent years.

"Tsk, which year didn't the national treasury run into deficit? Isn't it just like this that we have been able to survive? But I remember that there was a good harvest last year and the year before last."

"If you spend more and earn less, you will definitely not be able to make ends meet. Brother Gu, I heard that the tax on the goods we specialize in will be raised again. It will be even more difficult to do business in the future."

"This year and next year, Your Majesty will once again set an example and advocate frugality."

"It's easy to save money on food and drink, but how can we save money on such a big country and such a powerful army? Don't you think so?"

"Yes, yes, that's the reason..."

"I heard they're raising money again. Should we discuss how much we should give?"

"My family paid more than three thousand taels two years ago."

"Yeah, that makes sense!" Donations will not be made just once or twice, there's no need to spend all your money every time.

As He Lingchuan approached, the door opened. Yu Wenxu was just walking out, and when he saw him, he smiled and said, "You are late!"

"Before Brother Fan and I left, we encountered someone from the palace investigating a case, so we had to..." He Lingchuan said self-deprecatingly, "Forget it, I won't make excuses. I'll punish myself with a drink later."

The box was full of people, about twelve or thirteen in number.

Except for Gu Xuan, Yuwen Xu and others, the rest were strangers, two of whom looked to be in their fifties.

When he arrived, everyone stood up.

He Lingchuan smiled at Gu Xuan and said, "Brother Gu, Brother Gu, I finally see you!"

Last time he went to the Gu family to pay his respects, he was turned away. Now Gu Xuan came to Maochun Tower to see him in person. Was it because Qingyang Regent had gone quiet that the Gu family had the heart to come back and socialize?
Gu Xuan had seen all kinds of situations, and he had developed a thick skin. How could he be embarrassed? He just laughed and said, "It's my fault. I won't defend myself. Let me drink a glass of wine as punishment!"

After saying that, he grabbed the wine glass, filled it up, and drank it all in one gulp.

He resolved the problem easily, so He Lingchuan certainly wouldn't hold on to it.

Next, Yuwenxu and Guxuan introduced him to new friends.

There are several officials present today, basically from the functional departments such as the Yaowang Court's Imperial Household Department, the General Affairs Department, and the Tianshui City Business Department. The lowest one is an official in charge.

This was what King Yao meant: when starting construction in Youhu Lake, they were responsible for helping He Lingchuan solve procedural problems.

Abbreviated as special matters special handling.

As soon as the leader opened his mouth, the people below knew that Lord He would be a favorite in the eyes of the monarch in the near future, so they had to cooperate well, right?

There were also a few who were serious officials and businessmen, or heads of several guilds.

Tianshui City's commercial guilds are relatively developed, with more than a hundred guilds classified into different categories, and they have a say in industry access and price control. He Lingchuan wants to build a house, which involves many trades, and he really needs to get familiar with them all before he can do things.

King Yao had really thought carefully about what was happening for him.

Even Fan Shuang, who was standing next to her, was toasted with several glasses of wine, and her face soon turned red - no one knew if it was because of the alcohol or the excitement.

Before the dishes were served, He Lingchuan took out a stack of blueprints and placed them on the table:
"I want to build a Youhu Villa on the south bank of Youhu Lake. This is the first phase of the blueprint, including the villa gate and twelve buildings." He Lingchuan said with a smile, "This set of blueprints will also be sent to the General Affairs Department tomorrow. Please review it tonight."

Everyone picked up the blueprint and looked at it, and they were shocked.

Each building is drawn in great detail, with even the key points and difficulties in construction marked out; the roads and bridges, lakes and springs, and rockery landscaping between the buildings are all explained one by one.

How could such a detailed and specific drawing be completed in just one or two days?

It was only two days ago that King Yao specially approved the south bank of Youhu Lake to He Lingchuan, but this kid has already drawn up the complete set of drawings. What does this mean?
This means that he had planned it before coming to Yaodu, and he was very confident that he could take over the south bank of Youhu Lake!
The officials present knew about the conflict between the Qingyang Regent and the King. The reason why King Yao suddenly opened the south bank of Youhu Lake to a foreign businessman for development was pretty much guessed by everyone. If they were He Lingchuan, they would be caught between the two big bosses and would be nervous now.

This is not an easy job at all. If you don’t do it well, you will lose your head!
But this guy in front of me is so stubborn that he actually thinks seriously and carefully about building this Youhu Villa!

Everyone looked at the drawings in their hands with mixed feelings and no one said a word for a while.

This was the scene that the waiters at Mao Xiang Lou saw when they served the dishes. The dignitaries present did not talk loudly, but instead, they all lowered their heads, holding the picture albums, and read them intently.

The delicious dishes were served one after another. As the capital of spices, Tianshui City has a wide variety of dishes. On the table was a braised veal rib, which was tender and tasty. It was obvious that the cooking process was complicated. He Lingchuan tasted at least several kinds of herbs, including basil, hot pepper and thyme. The signature dish of Maochun Restaurant was smoked sweet-skin duck, which looked ordinary at first glance, but in fact, poppy shells were added during the production process, which made people want to eat it again.

The officials present took a quick look at the drawings and said that it would not be too late to review them in detail in the government office tomorrow. Only Huang Naxuan from the Imperial Household Department picked out a few drawings and flipped through them, then asked He Lingchuan:

"Master He, it seems that all of your abodes are single-family residences?"

Apart from other things, there is a place for the gate beast outside each house. In Tianshui City, gate beasts are usually placed outside the main door of a wealthy family, at most a pair inside, but not on the second or third door.

The drawings provided by He Lingchuan were very detailed, even the position of the gate-guarding beast was left out and marked.

"Yes, these are all separate households." He Lingchuan clapped his hands, "Master Huang has a sharp eye and saw it right away."

Fortunately, an official noticed it, otherwise he would have to expose it himself.

So it wasn't built for him to live in? Gu Xuan was curious: "How are you going to build it?"

"Youhu Lake is a Feng Shui treasure land, how can I enjoy it alone? I'm afraid of shortening my life." He Lingchuan raised his glass to him, and the two drank together. "After these houses are built, they will be delivered to the buyers."

Yuwenxu understood: "You want to sell it?"

The soul-stealing mirror in He Lingchuan's arms made a sound: "Can this kid speak?"

"Yes, the scenery of Youhu Lake is beautiful, and living there is relaxing and healthy. These houses should be shared with everyone." He Lingchuan pointed to the blueprint, "Each house here has a different layout and style, and each one is a unique piece. Each house is more than 30 meters apart, surrounded by secluded forests and grass grilles. You can hear the sound but not see the people, protecting privacy to the greatest extent."

Yuwenxu found it interesting: "How much do you want to sell this house for?"

"It depends on the location and area. The first row along the lake has the best view and is priced higher, estimated to be around 30,000 taels. The next few rows also have pavilions, towers, hot springs, and are priced between 17,000 and 25,000 taels."

Thirty thousand taels! Although the people present were well-informed and the officials and businessmen were either rich or noble, they were still shocked when they heard this number.

Thirty million is enough to buy a villa with a farm and properties in the suburbs. It would be very big.

Each of the villas in Youhu Villa occupies less than one twentieth of the area of ​​the villa, yet they dare to ask for this price?
Gu Xuan coughed lightly and said, "Brother He is really generous."

He said it politely, but everyone knew what he meant was, it's really expensive, really fucking expensive!
"When buying a house, there are three key points." He Lingchuan held up three fingers, "Location, location, and location!"

"The Shining Gold Plain is so large that you can buy a town in Pei State for thirty thousand taels. Are you willing to do it?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Yuwen Xu smiled and said, "A place where no birds lay eggs."

"Still, these thirty thousand taels are only enough to buy a small building in the lower part of Lingxu City. The distance from the front door to the kitchen is just a step away. Are you willing?"

Yuwenxu said, "If it's in the main city, give me ten houses like this."

They all returned from studying in Lingxu and knew how outrageous the land and housing prices there were. Even the houses on the floating islands could not be bought with money.

Thirty thousand taels can buy a small building in the center of Lingxu City? Haha, I'll wake up laughing in my dreams.

"My Lords, the size, layout, and orientation of the house are not the most important, but the location." He Lingchuan pointed at the blueprint, "These houses are built on Youhu Lake! The royal land of Dayao, no one has been able to add a brick or a tile in the past two hundred years! Being able to live here is an endless honor in itself."