Dragon's Origin

Chapter 627: Convinced (Part 2)

If before, the Emperor, Empress, and Mei'er were somewhat afraid of having too many gold coins, now it was the turn of the chief officials of the various vassal states to feel fear.

It's really like the saying goes: too many gold coins can crush people to death. They can crush the Emperor, and they can also crush the vassal lords.

If the Emperor really had such a large sum of money, then the various vassal lords would probably have to temporarily put aside everything they were doing and unite to jointly target the Emperor.

In just a few days, the transmission of messenger birds between the capital and the various vassal states was almost incessant. The messenger birds in the sky above the capital could almost form a queue, all reporting the grand occasion here and discussing countermeasures.

Because of this matter, the previously war-torn countries had a rare tacit agreement to cease fighting for several days, and the atmosphere throughout the country was frighteningly quiet.

Just when all parties were worried, envious, jealous, and even about to collude, the imperial court issued the Ministry of Revenue's plan again.

Recently, the Emperor had collected a lot of tax money, which made people jealous. This plan was aimed at that tax money.

The Imperial Academy and the Imperial Examination Hall were to be funded by the royal family, which was their unavoidable responsibility. Then there was the cleaning of river channels and flood control, repayment of long-standing arrears in the imperial court's salaries, renovation of the imperial palace, renovation of the imperial court's yamen, and sprucing up the facade. Compensation was to be given to the various vassal lords for some insufficient ceremonial equipment in the past. The charitable halls and charity clinics within the capital, and even the salaries of the experts sent by the various vassal lords to maintain order in the capital, were all to be fully covered by the imperial court.

There were also various etiquette training sessions, with the Emperor paying for the various vassal states to select personnel to come to the capital to learn the etiquette for the Emperor and the vassal lords that the Ministry of Rites had re-established. Support was to be given to some poor scholars to enter school and study, and so on.

This was the plan announced by the imperial court to the public, with detailed plans and expenditures. These were all things that would be recorded in history and could not be faked.

When the various parties received this plan, the shopkeepers who were good at calculations quickly calculated the accounts and found that the little tax money that the Emperor had managed to collect some time ago was not enough to fill it all in.

For this reason, the Emperor used the imperial palace's private treasury to subsidize a large part of it. After all the calculations, according to this plan, it would probably cost hundreds of billions of gold coins within a few years.

Where did the royal family get so many gold coins? This thought had just arisen in all parties when it was immediately suppressed. It was a joke. If the Lizhen Workshop, which had made hundreds of billions of gold coins in the capital, had no royal family involvement, was that possible? If it were them, doing such a big business in the capitals of the various vassal lords, if they had no relationship with the various vassal lords, see if the various vassal lords would let the merchant's entire family, old and young, leave alive.

The previous worries of all parties instantly disappeared without a trace. The royal family was obviously really going to be a nominally supreme Emperor. Didn't you see that the first thing they spent money on was training officials of the Ministry of Rites? They were providing food and accommodation, and they were also making up for ceremonial equipment. The Emperor was willing to do this kind of face-saving work, and all parties couldn't wait to cooperate honestly.

The Emperor only wanted each family to train fifty officials in charge of etiquette? No problem, in addition to the fifty that the imperial court was willing to bear, each family would send another two hundred at their own expense to be trained together. The Emperor had even torn down the city walls himself and was willing to spend money to manage the river channels and throw gold coins into the water to show that he had no ambition. If each family didn't even give him this face, then it would be unreasonable.

Not only should they give face, but they should also give enough face. Was the Emperor just wanting this face? Give it to him! Not only should they send officials to study etiquette, but the lords of each country should also personally write a warm letter of thanks to the Emperor, which must be humble in tone, thanking the Emperor for the rewards, and expressing gratitude for the Emperor's compensation for the insufficient ceremonial equipment in the past, with a very sincere attitude and a subservient tone, absolutely in place, so that the Emperor could happily and joyfully be a symbolic person, a human-shaped stamp.

Speaking of which, just looking at the current appearance of the capital and the planning maps sent back by the chief officials of all parties, even the important figures of the various vassal lords felt a little itchy in their hearts. This capital was really a good place! If it could really be built into such a state, then perhaps they would have to let their children and relatives go to the capital to have fun.

As long as the royal family in the capital had no ambition, then everything would be fine. Everyone was also happy to cooperate with the Emperor and ask for a few more titles and rewards for their children. Only with a title could they buy a mansion in the inner city of the capital! Now the outer city of the capital was a place that everyone was fighting for. What was the scene in the inner city?

If the royal family didn't cause trouble, then the other wealthy Lizhen Workshop was not a problem at all. In the end, Wang Sheng was just a barbarian, a nouveau riche who had suddenly become rich. So what if he had the support of the Laojun Temple? The Laojun Temple had publicly announced in front of the statue of the Taoist Ancestor that they would not interfere in worldly affairs. Because of this, all parties were willing to accept Taoism spreading in their territories.

Without the Laojun Temple, Wang Sheng holding so many gold coins would be regarded as accumulating them for everyone, waiting for a certain day in the future to slowly settle the accounts. However, the ability of this Lizhen Workshop to turn stones into gold was really enviable!

Just when all parties were tempted, Mei'er sent invitations to the chief officials of the various vassal lords in the capital, inviting them to meet at Lizhen Workshop in three days.

The chief officials of all parties were overjoyed and hurriedly agreed without saying a word, patting their chests to guarantee that they would be there that day.

That's what they said and that's what they did. Three days later, early in the morning, the chief officials of all parties took their people straight to Lizhen Workshop. When they arrived, Lizhen Workshop had not yet opened. These people didn't mind, greeted each other, and waited until Lizhen Workshop opened and Mei'er and Qiangwei arrived with guards.

All the guards were driven out, and only two people from each family were qualified to attend the meeting. Even Mei'er was no exception. Mei'er only brought one Qiangwei with her. Seeing this situation, the chief officials of all parties didn't say a word, and directly let the guards leave, leaving only one confidant to listen. Then the entire venue was sealed off by more than a dozen old Taoists, and no sound could be transmitted.

“How have you all been doing these days?” Mei'er was now quite magnanimous. With a business worth hundreds of billions of gold coins protecting her, her temperament and elegance were no less than those of a princess who had been cultivated in the palace since childhood. Facing the chief officials of all parties, Mei'er was not at all stage-frightened, and proudly asked the chief officials of all parties.

“Your Highness, Princess, is a master at turning stones into gold. We are all convinced!” The chief officials of all parties looked at me, and I looked at you, and finally all of them showed an expression of admiration on their faces.

This was genuine admiration, not perfunctory, not lip service, but genuine conviction. All of them combined had not earned as many gold coins in their entire lives as Mei'er had earned in a month. It was impossible not to admire her.