Protect Our Clan Leader

An Commandery Prince stared blankly at the many cases of banknotes, feeling like he had lived the first half of his life in vain.

He didn't know how long it had been.

Eventually, the officials finished compiling the ledger and presented it to An Commandery Prince and Wang Zong'an.

An Commandery Prince glanced at it and nearly fainted from the shock of the total sum of funds listed.

Six hundred and ninety million Qian Gold.

A full six hundred and ninety million Qian Gold!

Logically, the fund collection should amount to less than twenty million Qian Gold a year. But among the Prominent Families of Shangjing City, there were those with deep reserves; how could they pinch pennies and go through such trouble year after year?

The majority of Prominent Families would pay in one lump sum for ten years, while a minority would pay for fifty years at a time.

For instance, the Gongye Clan and the Wang family both paid particularly large sums.

Furthermore, the emperor, who disliked the hassle the most, took one-tenth of the stakes and paid two hundred years' worth at once, a total of about three hundred and thirty million or so.

In his words, having taken the money, they should "scram off to clear land in the Dala Desolate Desert and not come back to rip him off."

Latter on, Old Yao revealed that His Majesty meant that since he was old anyway, he might as well take the money out of the national treasury. Whether the treasury would be in deficit or impoverished in the future had nothing to do with him. If the treasury became poor, it would be up to the successor emperor's son to figure it out...

Grateful, An Commandery Prince found the emperor's words very reasonable and happily accepted.

"Zong, Zong'an," An Commandery Prince said, swallowing, "So, so much money. I've never seen this much money in my life. It's really tempting to take the cash and run off to live a carefree life in the Frost Moon Immortal Dynasty."

Wang Zong'an was also dazed. Although the Changning Wang Clan was wealthy, their annual expenses were considerable.

Especially since his father, Wang Shouzhe, was a man extremely lacking in a sense of security who liked to save various aces up his sleeve and would frequently invest heavily in R&D, which also accounted for a significant proportion of expenses.

Therefore, he, too, had never seen that much money at one time in his life.

However, after all, he was the man who oversaw the creation of the Green Luo Guard. Over the decades, the total funds spent there were astronomical. Compared to An Commandery Prince, he was somewhat more composed.

"Stay calm, stay calm," Wang Zong'an encouraged An Commandery Prince, "Compared to our future total revenue, this is just a small sum. This amount of money is only worth two or three Divine Spiritual Treasures. It's not worth running off with the cash..."

Two or three Divine Spiritual Treasures, just that?

An Commandery Prince glanced at Wang Zong'an, "Young Clan Leader Zong'an, I've noticed you've been quite inflated lately. It sounds as though your Wang family's Divine Spiritual Treasures are numerous. Currently, only Miss Li Yao has one, right? And that was bought by the Enlightened One of Tianhe, who had to sell his cauldron and take on debts to afford it.

And you're saying that's not worth running off with the cash?"

Divine Spiritual Treasures?

Speaking of this, Wang Zong'an was somewhat speechless. Recently, he had heard that his beloved grandson Wang Anye had effortlessly broken a formation and obtained two Divine Spiritual Treasures at once; one of the swords even housed a Spirit Remnant of an elderly gentleman in the advanced stage of the Divine Power Territory, its value inevitably higher than ordinary Divine Spiritual Treasures.

It turned out that Wang Zong'an and An Commandery Prince had been busy for so long, going around deceiving and collaborating to trick the emperor. Yet their achievements seemed to be about the same as what his grandson did by casually tumbling outside the domain...

Truly, comparisons do kill.

"Not worth running, not worth running," Wang Zong'an couldn't help shaking his head at the thought, feeling even more that the six or seven hundred million Qian Gold wasn't much at all.

Having a grandson like Wang Anye was worth billions of Gold.

A group of young and competent officials listened until their faces nearly fell.

Both of you bigshots talk about running off with the cash as if you don't even see us in your eyes anymore?

However, everyone knew that these two bigshots were joking. Once the Dala Desolate Desert reclamation plan succeeded, what was this little sum of money?

A few officials solemnly critiqued the bigshots for being flighty, then sighed and said, "We work ourselves to death for Da Qian, trying to build up our foundation, yet that's not as good as Kang Commandery Prince casually embellishing his reputation. His Majesty... who knows what he's thinking, actually ennobling..."

"Alright, alright, let's not speculate on the sacred intent," An Commandery Prince comforted the young and outstanding officials, "Our grand plan's first step has been successfully completed. Now we just need to solidly do a good job on this matter. As for the position of the emperor's son, we'll vie for it if we can.

If not, we'll still make the Great Qian Land powerful and prosperous enough to support more common folk."

With An Commandery Prince's reassurance, the officials regained their morale and vigor.

...

Zhuozheng Pavilion.

Emperor Longchang, half-reclining behind the desk, listened to Old Yao's report on various feedback, his expression full of mockery and amusement.

"Heh heh! Emperor's Strategy makes it sound like no one else knows how to play emperor's games," Emperor Longchang said with some pride, "The battle for the emperor's son is not that simple. Is there really such a thing as a sure-win situation?"

"Wu Chengsi, oh Wu Chengsi, don't say I didn't give you a chance. The best education doesn't come from my scolding. Only the painful blows from enemies are the best nutrients for a man's growth."

"If you can come to understand the true path of the emperor and realize that a Great Emperor must learn much more than just Emperor's Strategy, then it's not too late. But if you fail to mature, hehe~~"

"And you, Stubborn Donkey Wu Mingyuan, don't think that just with the Dala Desolate Desert reclamation project you can completely turn the tables. You're just starting to play the game. Emperor's Strategy, hehe, you still have a lot to learn. But, considering your filial piety, I have secretly helped you once, no, twice. Be sure to seize the opportunities."