How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

The New Year's Day is approaching.

The royal family's annual banquet this year is scheduled to be held in Liaozhou, so the Ministry of Rites is no longer busy preparing for the trivial matters of the palace banquet, and only needs to prepare for the sacrificial ceremony.

After offering sacrifices and praying at the Temple of Heaven, the emperor set out for Tianshui City in Liaozhou with his concubines and officials.

Along the way, there were many salt carts running, and there were also foreign merchant caravans heading to Liaozhou, ready to participate in this unprecedented ice sculpture banquet.

It was only then that Emperor Jian realized that Xie Chengze had actually called together business tycoons from many places.

Oh, no, it’s Shang Hao’s whole family.

He not only invited the emperor's entire family, but also many, many other families.

Among them is even the Yangzhou Jiang family - Jiang Henan.

"Your Majesty." Eunuch Zhao stood in front of the royal carriage, holding a mahogany tray in his hand, and whispered, "I just received this from Uncle Jiang. Please take a look."

Emperor Jian lifted the carriage curtain and saw a thin book on the mahogany tray. On the cover were written in large characters: "Ice Sculpture Program List". The handwriting was familiar and it was obvious that it was written by his fourth son Xie Zimiao.

He raised his sleeve to pick it up, only to find that the book was made of Yangzhou Chengxintang paper. This paper was pure, hard and glossy, and the manufacturing process was extremely difficult. It was known as a precious paper that was "worth a fortune". Even the royal family and celebrities could only afford a few sheets. Only the Jiang family would use such a luxurious thing to write these idle things, rather than famous paintings and poems.

Emperor Jian opened the book with a painful look in his eyes, and then he exclaimed, "Huh?"

He was amazed as he saw mini ice sculptures appearing on the paper. Some were even lightly dyed with their height and width written next to them, as well as their corresponding beautiful meanings, which was really amazing.

If you scroll down, you can see some rare programs that you have never seen before, as well as the charging standards. Emperor Jian thought about it and thought that the price was neither cheap nor expensive for ordinary people. If the children insisted on playing, the parents in Liaozhou would not be reluctant to spend the money.

But... interestingly, some game shows have opened up some kind of elegant channel specifically for businessmen, which not only saves the trouble of queuing, but also allows businessmen who don't have enough fun to play a few more times. As for the price, it also soars with the number of times played, which can be regarded as limited sales, so as not to make people lose interest in coming back next year after getting tired of playing.

Another program was a scam, with gambling. In order to control the gambling problem left over from the previous dynasty, Jian'an legalized gambling to a certain extent, but increased taxes. So Xie Chengze's gambling was not against the national law, but would make the entire ice sculpture festival more lively.

This kid is always making weird things.

Emperor Jian didn't even need to think about how fatal these programs were to wealthy businessmen in this dynasty with boring entertainment.

And how much profit will the organizer of this ice sculpture festival make from it, and how much tax will it pay to Jian'an...

Who was the organizer? Emperor Jian thought, should he put aside his royal dignity and ask for an increase in taxes?

Oh no, the organizer seems to be his dear eldest son Chengze? In other words, all the profits earned will belong to the court?

Emperor Jian couldn't help but grin rapidly, like a bloody mouth. When Eunuch Zhao cast his gaze over him, he suddenly retracted his mouth and continued to turn the pages in an elegant manner.

The last program is called auction.

never heard of that.

Emperor Jian turned the pages with great interest, but the next moment, his eyes went dark and he felt that the things drawn on the paper were terribly familiar.

what is this!

What are these?!

Isn't this the rare treasure he sent to Cheng Huan Palace in previous years? !

That was the coffin book he left for the Jian'an Dynasty. How could it appear here!

Emperor Jian screamed in his heart, but luckily there weren't many things painted on it, and Chenghuan Palace had not been completely emptied, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

These rare treasures are of great collection value and will never lose value due to the change of dynasties. The Jian'an Dynasty lasted only a hundred years. Because the territory was too large, the army that was used to clear the rebellion suffered huge losses. In addition, the previous emperor died of overwork, and the old ministers began to covet the dynasty, which led to terribly poverty. If it were not for the support of the Jiang and Cao families, I am afraid that the position of Emperor Jian would not be stable.

Emperor Jian wanted to leave a chance for Jian'an's future, so Concubine Hua came up with this idea. Taking advantage of the gifts from officials from all over the country, he hoarded these collections and waited for someone to cash them in when he was desperate in the future.

If Xie Chengze knew, he would definitely understand: this is buying a value-added product and selling it at a higher price in the future to make a profit.

That's why Emperor Jian was so panicked when he found out that things from Chenghuan Palace appeared in the books. However, when he thought that all this was for the people, he felt relieved, just like when Xie Chengze sold Yunduan Brocade to Concubine Rou and used the money he earned to help the people of Yizhou.

After placing the "Ice Sculpture Program List" back on the mahogany tray, Emperor Jian was about to ask Eunuch Zhao to take it to show it to the concubines and princesses, when he suddenly remembered a very serious question.

Why does Jiang Henan have a special program introduction book, but he doesn't? !

Thank you Zimiao!

Am I still your biological father?!

-

"A-choo!" Xie Zimiao sneezed violently.

"Have you caught a cold?" On the ice rink, Xie Chengze sat on a small bench eating a cold steamed bun, with his head hung, looking listless, but his tone was still full of concern for his brother.

"No, maybe my mother missed me." Xie Zimiao rubbed his red nose, then took off the small package on his back and took out a water bag from it.

"This is a water bag made of sheepskin by Su Qinghe. It can keep warm. The ginger soup inside didn't get cold during the whole journey." Xie Zimiao handed it to Xie Chengze and urged, "Second brother, drink it quickly to warm yourself up."

"Oh oh." Xie Chengze seemed a little distracted. His arm reached out as if subconsciously, and he obediently took the water bag, unscrewed the lid and took a sip.

Before I could taste the flavor, I heard the loud cheers of soldiers and bandits in the distance.

He looked up when he heard the voice, and saw a huge ice sculpture in the center of the ice rink. As the candles were lit, it began to glow little by little. In this cold winter night, it was like stars falling to the ground, creating an extremely gorgeous, eye-catching and shocking picture.

This is the largest and most time-consuming ice sculpture on the ice rink, and it is also the last ice sculpture completed on the ice rink.

This means that the preparations for the ice sculpture banquet have been successfully completed.

The Ice Sculpture Festival can be held smoothly.

"My little nephew——!"

The big boss strode over from a distance and waved excitedly at Xie Chengze who was sitting on a small bench, "One hundred ice sculptures, we're done!"

Although there are quite a few small ice sculptures there to make up the numbers, it also counts as the completion of the Hundred Sculptures Plan, right?

Now, my nephew’s last wish has been fulfilled!

Just as he was thinking this, the boss saw two streams of bright red blood suddenly flow from under Xie Chengze's nose.

Then the world spun around and the man fell onto the ice!

"Ah—my little nephew—!"

The big boss suddenly made a sharp explosion, took a big step and picked up Xie Chengze's "corpse", raised his big face full of sadness, "Why did you leave like this——!"

If he had known this, he would have waited a few more days to complete the ice sculpture!