A twitching right eye foretold disaster

"How is the textile machinery manufacturing going in the city?"

In Pingjiang City, Fang Weiyan summoned a minor official for questioning.

The textile machine was Fang Weiyan had assigned a long time ago, but there's been no news about it since.

"Reporting to you, sir, the carpenters in the city are still doing their best to repair houses, and so far, only two spinning machines have been made."

The minor official, who had been hastily summoned, immediately replied upon hearing the question.

Fang Weiyan realized what was going on when he heard this. Yes, recently, because of the house, he had asked the carpenters to temporarily put aside their other work.

Repair the house as soon as possible.

Therefore, it's normal that this matter has been delayed.

Thinking of this, Fang Weiyan nodded and told the other person to leave.

Then Fang Weiyan summoned Lin Liyun and instructed him to train the newly recruited yamen runners according to the standards of soldiers.

Lin Liyun readily agreed to Fang Weiyan's words, without offering any further explanation as to why.

Lin Liyun had worked as a yamen runner for several years, so he knew some of the rules for subordinates.

He simply followed the instructions given by his superiors without needing to ask questions.

Seeing Lin Liyun leave so readily, Fang Weiyan was somewhat surprised; he had thought the other party would ask him a question.

However, Fang Weiyan was quite pleased that Lin Liyun was so sensible.

Lin Liyun withdrew, Fang Weiyan picked up the account book next to him and looked at it. It was a book of grain expenditures.

There are also expenses for the yamen runners, etc.

After casually flipping through it, Fang Weiyan put the account book aside.

He just checked, and there are about 100,000 households in the city.

Based on his current salary, each person would need an average of 3 catties of grain per day. If all 100,000 households were included, that would require 9 million catties of grain per month.

Previously, the grain purchased included 7.6 million catties of coarse grains and 2 million catties of refined grains.

He bought it for 30,000 taels of silver, and then gave 80,000 taels of silver to Princess Jin'an. He still had 20,000 taels of silver left.

Based on this calculation, the city's grain reserves are sufficient to sustain these 100,000 households for a month.

However, a month later, Fang Weiyan wanted to find a way to obtain food again.

"Fortunately, I raised over ten million earlier, so the money is enough for now."

"The corn and sweet potatoes harvested in Linbei County should be quite good. We should be able to allocate some over later, so we shouldn't have to worry about food for the time being."

Fang Weiyan glanced at the accounts and roughly calculated a number.

There's no need to worry about food for the next month.

This made Fang Weiyan breathe a slight sigh of relief.

After a little over a month, given the rate at which the crops mature here, the grains outside Pingjiang City should all be ripe by then.

By then, Fang Weiyan will no longer need to spend money to buy grain from Jiangling Commandery.

It is entirely possible to achieve self-sufficiency.

As long as more fields are cultivated outside the city, and the corn yield per acre can reach the level of Linbei County, Fang Weiyan felt that there would be no need to worry about food in the future.

Yanhuai City.

"What's going on in the palace? How come there's suddenly an extra 80,000 taels of silver in the national treasury?"

Inside the secret room, the flickering candlelight cast long, swaying shadows of everyone present.

Compared to last time, the atmosphere in the secret room was somewhat oppressive, and everyone's faces were rather gloomy.

It was entirely because they suddenly heard that the national treasury had an extra 80,000 taels of silver.

This situation caught them off guard.

Eighty thousand taels of silver might not seem like much to them, but it was a huge sum for the imperial court, as the empty treasury suddenly had an extra eighty thousand taels of silver.

This would allow the current emperor to breathe a sigh of relief.

The long-overdue military pay can be paid in small amounts, which will temporarily put the soldiers' minds at ease.

Eighty thousand taels of silver, if used to buy coarse grains, could buy thirty million four hundred thousand catties of grain.

According to their previous plan, they embezzled the imperial court's taxes and framed the Dragon King.

Even without triggering a war between the Jiang Kingdom and the imperial court, it would still completely empty the Jiang Kingdom's treasury.

Then, the soldiers would easily mutini, which would present an opportunity for them to bribe them with money.

In order to achieve their goal, they proceeded step by step with meticulous planning.

But now every step of the plan has been disrupted.

The Dragon King failed to fight the imperial court, the starving people did not revolt, and the national treasury was full again. If things continue like this, will the Jiang Kingdom gradually improve?

"I've secretly inquired, and it seems this silver came from Jiangling Commandery. I suspect it was likely a gift from the governor of Jiangling Commandery to the imperial court, an attempt to curry favor with the emperor."

"The Prefect of Jiangling Commandery? It's that guy again? Is he an idiot? Can't he see that the Jiang Kingdom is on the verge of collapse? He's still sending money to the Emperor. What, does he want to climb the ranks to become an official in the court?"

Upon hearing this, the man on the left immediately slammed his fist on the table and stood up, trembling with anger.

Why is this Jiangling Commandery prefect so persistent?

There was a civil unrest on the verge of erupting, but this person stepped in to provide disaster relief. They were wondering how long he could continue with the relief efforts.

How could the other party possibly have that much money? I wasn't particularly concerned about it to begin with.

It wasn't until later that they found out that this guy had actually spent 30,000 taels of silver to buy millions of catties of grain and transported it back.

A guy who can spend over 30,000 taels of silver to buy grain must have other money on hand.

If that's the case, disaster relief will definitely not be a problem for the other party.

"Was this guy really given money by Princess Jin'an? Where would Princess Jin'an get so much silver? If she did, she would have given it to the Emperor long ago, wouldn't she? The national treasury has been empty for quite some time now, and the Emperor has sold many palace items to make ends meet."

Another old man pondered for a moment before asking, feeling that there was something strange about the matter.

"Moreover, this guy has now given another 80,000 taels of silver to the imperial court. Could it be that Princess Jin'an gave him that 80,000 taels of silver as well?"

This question also caught the attention of the others. After thinking for a moment, one of them said, "Previously, we predicted that the Dragon Prince's heir would Human Tribulation, but he successfully survived it. Could it be that this guy intervened? If so, then the Dragon King's gift of silver makes sense."

"No, I heard that in Pingjiang City, the county seat, all the other officials were killed by the enemy, and their homes were ransacked. This silver may have come from there."

Previously, the Dragon Prince's offspring successfully answered the Human Tribulation, but afterwards they still sent people to investigate.

However, there were very few people present at the time, and Fang Weiyan later demanded a cover-up, so the people they sent to investigate didn't find any useful information at all.

However, it was also learned that after Fang Weiyan arrived in Pingjiang City, he killed all the officials in the Pingjiang City.

"Or there's another possibility: the other side might have confiscated silver, as well as silver given by the Dragon King. Given their actions in Pingjiang City, confiscating the silver from those officials alone probably wouldn't be enough."

The elderly man at the head of the group pondered for a moment, then spoke.

The other party has already spent an unknown amount of silver in Pingjiang City.

Now that he has given the Emperor another 80,000 taels of silver, everyone present felt that this prefect must have at least 100,000 to 200,000 taels of silver left in his hands to do such a thing.

After all, who doesn't love money?

Moreover, the other side also needs to govern Pingjiang City; without some silver left, how can they manage it?

Therefore, this calculation should be correct.

In fact, their speculation was not entirely wrong, except that their only miscalculation was that Fang Weiyan was not from this world at all.

He didn't have much of a concept of money; he could give away tens or hundreds of thousands of taels of silver without a second thought.

This led to a misunderstanding among those present.

After listening to this, the others pondered for a moment and then nodded in agreement, acknowledging this conjecture.

One of them suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, "If that's the case, it's not so bad. At least this guy doesn't have the Dragon King backing him up."

"It was just helping their offspring survive Human Tribulation; a little money would suffice. Why would I go to great lengths for them? It's not like I saved their lives."

Upon hearing this, the man on the left immediately chuckled and said...

This kind of thing has happened before.

When a demon was about to Human Tribulation, an ordinary citizen happened to lend a helping hand. Afterwards, the demon went to a local gentry's house and stole a lot of silver to repay the man.

However, this person was too flamboyant, and was subsequently arrested and killed by the authorities.

At this moment, the prefect should fall into this category.

"That's actually a good thing; otherwise, if the Dragon King were to offer his services, it would be a variable."

"That's true."

After thinking about it, everyone agreed that having a dragon king behind a prefect was indeed an unstable factor.

Furthermore, this guy seems to be deliberately trying to curry favor with the emperor; who knows, he might come out to defend the emperor one day when they're about to launch an attack.

"Has anyone investigated this guy's background? It seems he has a rather close relationship with the Emperor. Perhaps we should find some people to kill him, to prevent him from causing any more trouble."

Someone nearby thought for a moment and suggested that they just kill Fang Weiyan.

In their view, this guy was indeed a bit of a hindrance; so many of their plans had been ruined by him.

"Hmm, if finding someone won't work, let's find a powerful demon instead; it'll be safer."

The elderly man at the head of the group thought for a moment, then spoke.

Since we're going to take action, we should be swift and decisive, lest things fall apart and we end up with nothing but a bloody mess.

This suggestion was immediately echoed by the others.

"The City God of Pingjiang City has weakened; he's only at the Spirit Gathering Stage now. Let's find a demon who has taken Transformation."

A demon in its Transformation Stage could easily deceive the City God and secretly kill the prefect.

After a brief discussion, the group settled the matter.

"Our plans have been thwarted one after another. What should we do next?"

"Eighty thousand taels of silver isn't actually that much. We should talk to those generals later. With the money we have, I don't believe they won't defect to us. Then we can bribe the generals guarding the city and stage a mutiny."

The old man on the right, who had been mostly silent, suddenly spoke up, his voice filled with murderous intent.

Since the plans have changed one after another, let's just not follow them.

"You've all been secretly building up quite a few troops, haven't you? It's time to bring them out."

The group fell silent for a moment, exchanged glances, and were indeed getting impatient.

The plans have failed one after another, and if things continue like this, it seems that other unforeseen events may occur.

After thinking for a moment, everyone present nodded in agreement.

Let's do it that way!

If you bribe those generals who command large armies and offer them substantial rewards, I don't believe they won't agree.

The group discussed some details, and then dispersed.

Pingjiang City.

Fang Weiyan looked at what the city lacked and felt that he would have to plant some cotton later.

I reckon the yield shouldn't be low after the cotton is planted.

"Strangeness."

"I think my eyelid twitched just now?"

Fang Weiyan reached up and touched his eyelid. The right one? It seems like a twitching left eye means good fortune, and a twitching right eye means bad luck, right?

Just now, his right eye twitched.

"Superstitious!"

After confirming that it was his right eye that was twitching, Fang Weiyan immediately categorized it as superstition and didn't pay any more attention to it.

From childhood to adulthood, I've skipped some questions, but it seems like I've never been able to get it right the first time.

"We'll procure another batch of equipment later, otherwise we won't have enough after Lin Liyun hires more people."

Fang Weiyan noted this down. Lin Liyun was still recruiting people, and he would need to purchase another batch of equipment later.

While we're at it, we should also buy some bows and arrows so that our men can practice their archery skills.

Thinking of this, Fang Weiyan wrote it down again.

"Sigh, I wonder when I'll be able to embark on the path to becoming the Human Sovereign."

After recording everything, Fang Weiyan sighed. Every single thing he recorded cost money.

Fortunately, there was a lucky koi fish, so Fang Weiyan was temporarily free from financial worries.

Otherwise, it would be quite difficult to develop here.

However, with all this spending, I don't know when I'll be able to become an emperor and then start striving to become the Human Sovereign.

His first goal, to become emperor, would require the death of Emperor Kaide.

If everyone else rebels by then, then Fang Weiyan won't be much of a threat.

However, upon closer reflection, his own side had not yet developed, and if Emperor Kaide were to pass away now, it would not be a good thing for Fang Weiyan.

At the very least, we should wait until Fang Weiyan has built up this area sufficiently and has the strength before we can start plotting those things.

Otherwise, if things really come to a point where warlords are vying for power, Fang Weiyan's meager strength would easily be targeted and devoured.

With this in mind, Fang Weiyan calmed himself down and decided to focus on increasing his own strength first.

"Let's go back and buy some things first."

With this in mind, Fang Weiyan gave some instructions and then returned directly to the Daoist temple.

"I can provide 100,000 medicinal tendrils each month, but that's all I can provide for now."

Fang Weiyan picked up his phone and first told Su Qingyun the quantity of medicinal herbs he could provide.

After receiving the message, Su Qingyun immediately replied to Fang Weiyan, indicating that she understood.

One hundred thousand medicinal roots are enough for now. After dilution, they will be sufficient for pharmaceutical preparation.

The medicine itself is already very potent. To improve absorption, we'll dilute it and add some other medications to enhance its effects. That should be sufficient.

This is what Old Zhan and Su Qingyun said.

So far, Old Zhan has started his research. After discovering that there are drugs that can cure terminal illnesses, he has been working on the research day and night.

Su Qingyun's progress was also extremely smooth. The application for land to open a factory was approved quickly, and she also received strong support from the city.

It seems even the top leader of Wenhai was alarmed.

If this medicine is successfully developed, it will be a huge achievement for the top leader, and he can't help but take it seriously.

Fang Weiyan chatted with Su Qingyun for a while, then started ordering the things he needed; it seemed they were running out of cement.

We need to continue communicating with the cement plant to get them to send another batch over so we can unload it at the warehouse later.

Then comes the equipment.

Fang Weiyan placed the orders one by one, buying all the items.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Weiyan bought more rice, flour, cooking oil, and other things, and then went online to search for some poorer mountainous areas.

Fang Weiyan has been buying too much stuff lately, and he plans to send a batch of it to impoverished families in the mountains.

While you're at it, buy some clothes, shoes, blankets, and the like, and send them over.

Since they've already sent so much from the other world, it's good to send some more here.

After searching for a while, Fang Weiyan quickly found some impoverished mountainous areas. After a brief glance, Fang Weiyan discovered that the students in these areas were not much better off than the people in Pingjiang City.

Upon seeing this, Fang Weiyan glanced at the required supplies, purchased a large quantity, and then contacted a driver.

Then I wrote down the phone numbers of some of the contacts, so that I could contact them after the driver delivered the supplies.

After Fang Weiyan finished handling everything and wrote down in a notebook the amount of supplies to be sent to each location, their contact numbers, and the driver's phone number, Fang Weiyan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

These things should arrive tomorrow. I'll just call some people to come and help me move them.

After doing all this, Fang Weiyan went to the main hall, removed the incense sticks from the incense burner, poured out some incense ash, and then added incense and candles.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Weiyan went directly to the foot of the mountain.

He planned to wait at the foot of the mountain until tomorrow to finish dealing with the transportation of supplies as soon as possible before returning to Pingshui City.

Incidentally, we also transported some cement to Pingshui City.

After hurrying down the mountain, Fang Weiyan found a place to stay for the night.

The following day, truckloads of the supplies ordered by Fang Weiyan began to arrive, and all the workers Fang Weiyan had called arrived one by one.