Anyone Could Be Finished

"The King of Huainan's men distributed New Year's gifts inside and outside Chang'an City. Outside the city, they gave out millet and winter clothes, while inside the city, they gave out half a tael of coins. Some people even received a string of cash!"

Early in the morning, the entire Chang'an City was bustling with activity.

As some of those who had received benefits spread the word, everyone became aware that the King of Huainan was distributing money everywhere.

Leaving aside the rewards given to the poor outside the city, even those living inside the city, if unlucky, could receive one and a half taels of silver, while the luckiest received a string of cash.

"Cousin, should we go pick up the money?"

Rong Tianding excitedly shouted, but when he opened the door to Zhang Xuezhou's room, Zhang Xuezhou was nowhere to be seen.

"My cousin doesn't want to sleep at all tonight; he's probably already gone to collect money from the King of Huainan's caravan!"

Rong Tianding didn't think much of a tael and a half, but a string of cash would undoubtedly be a very good income.

Even if I don't have a string of cash, three or five hundred half taels of cash is acceptable, and even a few dozen half taels of cash is quite good.

Unable to find Zhang Xuezhou, he turned and ran off to find the King of Huainan's convoy.

Zhang Xuezhou was indeed not at home at that time.

He dealt with the new emperor's four questions, and for the next four months he wouldn't have to work. Zhang Xuezhou was overjoyed.

Moreover, he doesn't need to go to the new emperor; the new emperor will take them out for a trip next year.

Zhang Xuezhou was very satisfied with this contact.

This was far from the official title of "Governor-General," but at least it showed him to be relatively close to the new emperor.

Zhang Xuezhou was living a comfortable life. He explored his cultivation level after entering the Body Transformation Realm and found that everything was no different from reality.

Just like in reality, in addition to reaching a major realm normally, he also prematurely activated the deterrent ability that only those in the Divine Ability Realm possess.

These were all things Zhang Xuezhou had pondered over time, and when he repeated them again, it was all second nature to him.

After working through most of the night, Zhang Xuezhou had fully adapted to his new level of cultivation.

He didn't need to cultivate slowly like water grinding; no amount of effort could overcome the constraints imposed by his Yang Soul Dharma Body.

As before, lacking Spiritual Qi resources, Zhang Xuezhou once again found himself unable to cultivate due to his physical body.

Under these circumstances, Zhang Xuezhou had basically given up on normal cultivation; only acquiring suitable techniques would require him to put in any effort.

When the neighbors spread the good news around the streets, Zhang Xuezhou also excitedly ran out to see what was going on.

Receiving half a tael of money was secondary; the key point was that this was the first time Zhang Xuezhou had encountered such a generous benefactor.

This is not about giving alms to a few people, but rather it is aimed at the entire population inside and outside Chang'an City.

Zhang Xuezhou used to think that salt merchants like Master Zhao, who started with several strings of cash, were already wealthy. But now, even a hundred Master Zhaos couldn't compare to one King of Huainan.

"Real money has been spent!"

Zhang Xuezhou's luck was neither good nor bad. He registered as instructed by Bingwei, and when it was his turn to turn a rocking box on the carriage, ten and a half taels of silver fell down with a whoosh.

If the Prince of King of Huainan continued his generosity, Zhang Xuezhou was certain that nearly a million people in Chang'an City would come to participate in the lottery.

Even if only one person receives one and a half taels of silver, that's still a million-level amount of half taels of silver, meaning at least a thousand strings of cash would have to be given away.

This translates to nearly a thousand taels of gold.

"Rich and powerful!"

As Zhang Xuezhou was feeling sentimental, he heard someone shout in the distance, "I received a string of cash; this humble subject thanks the King of Huainan for his generosity!"

A lively discussion immediately erupted.

Many more people craned their necks to look.

If there weren't a queue to spin the boxes, everyone would have already crowded around to share in the good fortune.

One or two half taels of silver may seem insignificant, but a string of cash is a sum that many people cannot accumulate over several years.

This was unexpected wealth, so it's no surprise that everyone flocked to it.

For a time, the crowd waiting in line were filled with gratitude towards the King of Huainan, yet also harbored the illusion that the King of Huainan had bestowed even greater favor upon them.

"The treasure chest of the King of Huainan has so much money; it hasn't spun out even after all this time!"

After receiving the money as alms, Zhang Xuezhou didn't go to another place to queue like the other mischievous kids; instead, he wandered around watching the spectacle.

When the familiar voice came, Zhang Xuezhou immediately turned his head.

In a corner of the street, Du Wencai was eating breakfast, glancing occasionally at the box on the carriage.

"This treasure chest is a product of the Mohists's mechanical techniques; it can hold 100,000 half-tael coins!"

"Anguo, you've been looking at the treasure chest for so long, have you figured out how to use the joystick?"

"Each treasure chest is different. Without a special method, the only way to get the largest number is to obtain it in numerical order!"

"Where do I rank?"

"I can hardly calculate this sequence right now, but the treasure chest on that car just dropped a string of coins. I've figured out the trick to that treasure chest: if you lift it up twice, then to the left once, and then lift it up twice more when you rotate it, it's very likely that another string of coins will drop. The treasure chest will only change again when the sequence conflicts. Of course, once the numbers in the sequence have passed, the treasure chest may revert to its original activation method!"

"Why not take this free money? Uncle Du, go line up first. When Brother Kong arrives, he can join the line too. Let's all grab a few coins to help with our household expenses!"

The low murmurs of discussion were inconspicuous amidst the chorus of gratitude towards the King of Huainan; if the voices hadn't been familiar, Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't have listened either.

"Brother Kong truly lives up to his reputation for expertise in Law Treasure; he can even see the tricks to making money through luck!"

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but offer his praise.

If you can figure out how to get rich from the treasure chest, it's definitely a great place to make money.

Zhang Xuezhou even considered queuing up again.

"Taking those half-ounce coins from the King of King of Huainan will only bring disaster!"

When Du Wencai went to queue up to make money, Kong Anguo couldn't help but grumble.

This made Zhang Xuezhou think for a moment before moving closer.

Brother Kong!

"Brother Dongfang? What a coincidence!"

Zhang Xuezhou approached and greeted him, which made Kong Anguo stand up with a look of delight.

As a colleague at the Jinma Gate, Kong Anguo currently only has this one companion.

Of course, Kong Anguo didn't know many officials in the imperial court; he only knew a handful of great Confucian scholars.

However, they didn't even dare to go to Shen Peigong's place at the moment, let alone visit these great Confucian officials.

The crowd had been wandering around for some time, wanting to see what the imperial court was really up to.

However, the court had not yet fully settled matters concerning Zhao Wan, Wang Zang, and others when the King of Huainan entered Chang'an City.

After learning about many things, Kong Anguo couldn't help but feel that a storm was brewing.

Kong Anguo felt at times that the Confucian School's influence in the court was about to end, and at other times he felt that the new emperor was about to be finished. He even thought that the Empress Dowager might be finished as well.

However, given that this was timed so carefully, the King of Huainan seems to have the greatest advantage at this particular moment.

However, if attacked from three sides, the other side may also be finished.

Kong Anguo felt that the information was too scarce, making him feel that every force seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

He was quite happy to see his colleague, especially since Kong Anguo also admired Zhang Xuezhou's character and had received benefits from him by fortuitous opportunity.

If Zhang Xuezhou could provide him with some relevant information, Kong Anguo would inevitably want to act as an outsider and see if he could find a good move.

He didn't seek to gain any advantage from this move amidst the turmoil; if it could extricate the Kong family from involvement and allow them to pass through this period peacefully, that would be a great blessing for him.