The emperor trusted Shi Zhongkui again, so Xia Shouzhong also had some concerns.

Moreover, to build a provincial courtyard, apart from the most important and expensive support columns, beams and rockery rocks, there are still a lot of building materials needed.

The eunuchs in the palace did not focus all their attention on giant trees. Instead, those building materials that were in huge demand were the real money-making categories.

In addition, because we want to make money for the emperor, we only focus on the giant trees. How can we make money while also making some for ourselves?

So under the temptation of 15,500 taels of silver, this meal of wine and food was a joy.

-------

A few more days passed, and by the time Shi Zhongkui finally retrieved the information on all registered rice fields in Gyeonggi Province from the Ministry of Household Affairs.

The decree to grant a provincial marriage was finally sent to the cabinet.

The Supreme Emperor ordered and the Cabinet would not reject anything the Emperor agreed to.

Besides, this matter does not involve government affairs, so there is no need to offend the old and new emperors, and it will offend many relatives of the emperor and the country.

But this also made many people smell something unusual.

And it’s true as Shi Zhongkui said, there are a lot of stupid people.

The first one to jump out was Concubine Wu.

It is said that this woman is extremely beautiful, otherwise she would not be able to sit in the position of concubine. Any fool would understand that she always wanted to overpower the empress by relying on the emperor's favor.

And with Concubine Wu as the leader, some of the concubines were really interested.

But if you want to build a provincial residence for relatives, if you are not a wealthy family, you will not even be able to raise the first installment of the funds to build the compound.

The Jia family didn't think about building a garden at first. After all, they just calculated in their minds and knew that building a garden that met the specifications of Yuanchun Xiande's concubine couldn't be done with hundreds of thousands of silver.

Hundreds of thousands or even millions of silver are possible.

Moreover, the emperor later issued an edict that the Lantern Festival next year would be the day for family visitation.

The construction period was suddenly reduced to only 9 months, and the overtime work was worth a lot of money.

At that time, the price of building materials such as giant trees, rockery rocks, white marble, etc. may double or triple.

During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, many turmoils and uprisings broke out in the south just because of the birth date.

No wonder the Jia family spent millions of taels of silver even if they used the backyard of the Ning and Rong mansions, and the Jia family was completely wiped out in one fell swoop.

Of course, this also has something to do with the Jia family's masters and slaves collaborating in corruption.

Ning Guofu Jia Qiang just went to Jiangnan to buy a theater troupe full of little girls, and I dare say she spent 50,000 taels of silver.

Lai Da and Lai Er, the housekeepers of Ning and Rong, built a garden for their own family after the renovation of Grand View Garden, which was only slightly worse than Grand View Garden.

You can imagine how much corruption is involved here.

Moreover, the Lai family has no official status, and their children have no fame and honor. Even the whole family is a slave, so they dare to build such a large garden, which shows how arrogant they are.

But the Jia family just pretended to be deaf and dumb. Even Jia Baoyu and others had never been to the Lai family's garden. When they came back, no one suspected or thought it was wrong.

Moreover, he also helped Lai Shangrong, the grandson of Lai's parents, donate an official position and get a real job as a county magistrate.

It would be unreasonable for a master like this not to lose.

Xue Pan, Xue Pan came to the door again the next day and said that after Xia Shouzhong wanted to buy the 31 pieces of wood in his hand for 120,000 taels of silver, he knew that the damn eunuch must have found a buyer.

"Tell him, if it's less than 160,000, then wait another month or two."

Xue Pan chuckled, but Xue Pan was a little worried and said, "Brother-in-law, those eunuchs are people who eat people without spitting out their bones. If you piss them off..."

Shi Zhongkui waved his hand, "Erlang is right, but giving in blindly will only make them push further."

After saying that, Shi Zhongkui thought for a while and suddenly said with a smile, "I will hand the sign to the emperor in a moment. You can rest assured."

Xue Biao felt relieved.

If it is sold for 160,000, even after deducting the 15,500 taels of silver that will be given to Xia Shouzhong.

I made 64,500 taels in just ten days, which is not that fast even when you steal money.

After lunch, Shi Zhongkui also took a special nap before arriving outside the palace gate at around 3 p.m.

After taking out the bronze medal for walking in the study, a eunuch ran in to report.

Half an hour later, when I walked outside the study room, I saw Xia Shouzhong coming towards me with a smile on his face.

He said in a low voice, "Good luck to you, Lord Zhuangyuan. I'm here to greet you."

Although Xia Shouzhong said this, he stood upright, and the little eunuchs beside him couldn't see anything wrong at all.

Shi Zhongkui ignored him this time and went straight to the study.

Seeing this, the little eunuchs on the side had incredible expressions on their faces.

But Shi Zhongkui knew very well that if Xia Shouzhong was angry again, as long as he agreed to sell it to him for 120,000 taels, he would be sure that all his anger would be gone.

Moreover, this eunuch actually called himself a slave, and his attitude was low enough for the sake of money.

As expected, Xia Shouzhong smiled and chased after him without showing any sign of anger.

"Dong Zhuangyuan, what do you think, if I ask you to add 10,000 taels to me?"

Shi Zhongkui then stopped and smiled, cupping his hands and saying, "Why don't you have a bet with the Prime Minister?"

Xia Shouzhong was stunned, and then heard Shi Zhongkui continue, "Wait three months, if it doesn't rise to 6,000 taels per piece, I will double the rebate I promised before and give it to my father-in-law."

Fifteen thousand doubled is thirty-one thousand taels of silver. Xia Shouzhong's breathing became heavy.

But when I thought about buying 6,000 taels of wood at a price of 130,000 yuan, I seemed to be able to earn at least 55,000 yuan. How could I agree?

"How much does the Number One Scholar want?"

"170,000 taels."

Xia Shouzhong's face darkened when he heard this, but Shi Zhongkui added, "I'll give you 500 taels a piece. If you can't sell it for 6,000 taels, I will lose 15,500 silver to my father-in-law and buy the wood back for 6,000. But

good?"

Xia Shouzhong thought for a moment and realized that although the money had become less, if it really sold for less than 6,000 taels, there would still be a guarantee of 31,000 taels.

And if it really sells for 6,000, 31 pieces will be 185,000.

Subtract 170,000, leaving 15,000, plus a rebate of 15,500 taels, which equals 30,500 taels.

No matter how he calculated, he didn't take much advantage from Shi Zhongkui.

You can bet that the price of wood will continue to rise, but in this case, in addition to Wu Guifei's family, one or two families must also build gardens.

And you have to pay 170,000 first to buy the 31 pieces of wood.

Thinking about it, in the past few years since the emperor ascended the throne, he had only made a total of seventy or eighty thousand taels of silver.

Xia Shouzhong shook his head directly, "Forget it, I'm confused by being pushed around by the No. 1 Scholar, so I'd better just take my share."

But Shi Zhongkui knew that when he really sold 170,000 taels, the damn eunuch would definitely become jealous and cause trouble.

"My father-in-law should not be looking at a few pieces of wood, but should find a reason to arrest a few pipe heads of the white marble mine, or even punish the internal officials who guard the mine.

The official assured that a family like Concubine Wu's family would be in a hurry to make purchases in order to complete the project in time.

The prices of all these materials will definitely rise again.

Even setting a fire and burning a few giant logs and other building materials can easily double or triple the price."

After Xia Shouzhong heard this, he was immediately stunned.

Still, readers have dark hearts and dark hands.

I just want to make a fortune, but they are trying to poach meat from Concubine Wu's natal family.

No, this is to force the Wu family and other families who cultivate gardens to death.

After all, when the garden is halfway through, it has to be finished even if it is a waste of time.

Otherwise, the guilt will be even greater.

And not only was this not difficult at all, but only eunuchs like me could do it, and I instantly became excited and grateful.

But Xia Shouzhong also didn't want to offend Shi Zhongkui because of this.

Really, if he takes notice of her, who knows what tricks are waiting for her.

"The Number One Scholar is indeed the smartest person in the world. I would like to ask the Number One Scholar to give more advice to our family in the future."

"Don't dare, father-in-law is joking." Shi Zhongkui followed Xia Shouzhong into the study room with a smile.

In the evening, Xia Shouzhong learned from his godson that Xue Pan had sent a message saying that 160,000 taels had to be paid in one lump sum.

After thinking about it, Xia Shouzhong finally agreed.

I consulted with several high eunuchs and Huang Shang, and finally everyone pooled their efforts together and quickly raised 160,000 taels of silver.

Then Xia Shouzhong directly deducted 15,500 taels of silver, gave 144,500 taels of silver to Xue Pan, and got the 31 giant trees.

Of course, it's not like there are no eunuchs who want to use dirty tricks.

But Xia Shouzhong said that after meeting with His Majesty in the study room yesterday, Duke Zhuangyuan got a card that could mobilize hundreds of Xiuyi guards, which immediately frightened the other eunuchs and imperial merchants.
To be continued...