Chapter 1

Yongchang Fang, Princess Manor.

Xiyunfei informed Princess Pingyang Li Xiuning of his plan to buy Pingkang Fang.

Li Xiuning did not expect Xiyunfei to have such grand plans. After careful consideration, she finally gave a suggestion.

"Do not build armed forces in Pingkang Fang!"

What she called a suggestion was actually somewhat pleading. Li Xiuning had some knowledge of Xiyunfei's weapons.

If those weapons appeared in Chang'an, the entire Li clan would be restless.

Xiyunfei smiled awkwardly. He already had a draft for the plan for Pingkang Fang.

As for the armed forces, unfortunately, they were indispensable, but more would be secretly deployed.

After some thought, Xiyunfei said, "Your Highness, rest assured, I promise not to disrupt the existing order in Chang'an."

Such a vague answer made Li Xiuning both laugh and cry.

But after a night of contemplation, she finally agreed with Xiyunfei's proposal.

Perhaps Chang'an could become like Shuofang?

Seeing Li Xiuning agree, Xiyunfei proposed to buy the entire Pingkang Fang under Li Xiuning's name.

Li Xiuning definitely refused, as the value of the entire market exceeded ten million guan. Buying it under her name would not only invite gossip in the court but also be insufficient to justify such a huge sum in her relationship with Xiyunfei.

In the end, Xiyunfei made the decision. Since Li Xiuning was unwilling, he would buy it under Muziyi's name.

Li Xiuning did not understand why Xiyunfei had to make things so complicated until she discussed it with her father and younger brother in the palace.

Li Yuan's words enlightened her.

"Xiyunfei's identity is too sensitive. Occupying Shuofang is one thing, but if people knew he directly built a market in the most prosperous area of Chang'an, what would others think of our Li clan?"

"So, he is still considering us, even going through all this trouble?" Li Shimin muttered in disbelief.

Li Yuan smiled without speaking, tacitly acknowledging his speculation.

Thus, the seemingly complicated market acquisition case was simply resolved.

The Right Chancellor Du Ruhui personally went to the Princess Manor to sign the land transfer agreement with Muziyi.

At noon, in the reception hall of the Princess Manor.

Du Ruhui licked his slightly cracked lips and said, "Miss Mu, the agreement has been signed. When will the funds for the land purchase be available?"

The court had been short of money for a long time. Du Ruhui not only came to sign the agreement but also to collect the first installment of the land purchase.

Pingkang Fang is 500 meters long from north to south and 1022 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of 511,000 square meters, equivalent to 72 football fields.

Especially since this land is in the northwest corner of the most prosperous East Market in Chang'an, the final total transaction amount exceeded 13.5 million guan. This amount of money would be enough to significantly boost the entire Tang Dynasty's economy.

Of course, such a large sum of money could not be paid in full by Xiyunfei at once. Instead, it was agreed to be paid over two years, in eight quarters, with 1 million guan per quarter for the first seven quarters, and the remaining 6.5 million guan to be paid in the last quarter.

This installment payment method was proposed by Xiyunfei. In his plan, once the entire Pingkang Fang was built, the 13.5 million guan would be just a year's profit.

Of course, everything was still just a shell, and Pingkang Fang was still a dilapidated old market.

Muziyi picked up a box from the table beside her and handed it to Du Ruhui, saying, "Chancellor Du, please keep this. These are the commercial bills used for large transactions by the chamber of commerce. There are ten bills inside, each worth 100,000 guan in copper coins. You can exchange them for goods of equal value or convert them into copper coins."

Du Ruhui quickly reached out to take the box, opened it, and saw ten exquisitely printed paper bills inside.

Du Ruhui took one out. The front center was a watercolor painting of the Great Wall, with the words "100,000 guan" written in clerical script, and at the bottom, the small words "Shuofang People's Bank" that he had seen before.

The back was a pattern of a large city. What surprised Du Ruhui the most was that the city seemed to be truly engraved on the paper, looking very three-dimensional and feeling uneven to the touch.

Just from these, Du Ruhui determined that these paper bills, called bills, could not be imitated by anyone on the market.

"Ha ha, the papermaking and printing techniques of Shuofang are truly impressive."

"Chancellor Du, you flatter us."

After seeing Du Ruhui off, Muziyi went straight to Xiyunfei's small courtyard.

As soon as she entered, she smelled a strong tea aroma in the air.

"Ziyi, come quickly, try this rose tea."

Xiyunfei was sitting on a green stone slab in the courtyard, with a straw mat laid on the stone to keep warm, and a coal stove was set up beside him.

At that moment, Xiyunfei was holding a copper pot and shaking it.

Muziyi waved the land deed in her hand and approached, as if to claim credit...

...

...

Chongren Fang, Yu Mansion.

Wang Dachui looked up at the slightly faded sign and glanced around the two pillars. Seeing no guards or servants, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Captain, isn't Chancellor Yu too low-key? Even if he has resigned, there should still be a couple of servants at the gate, right?"

Wang Dachui shook his head, also puzzled. "Forget it, don't meddle in other people's affairs. Go, call someone."

The team member smiled awkwardly and ran a few steps to the door, knocking hard and shouting, "Is anyone home? Is anyone home?"

After a short while, the door was opened from the inside, and a middle-aged servant poked his head out.

"Who are you?"

Seeing this, Wang Dachui hurriedly approached and took out a gift list from his pocket, saying, "Sir, I am here to deliver a visiting card on behalf of my master."

The middle-aged servant was stunned for a moment and glanced at the carriage behind Wang Dachui, which was loaded with gifts.

"Who is your master?"

The middle-aged servant was unsure. The master had ordered the entire mansion to close its doors to visitors recently. It was quite coincidental that someone came to visit at this time, perhaps the master was guarding against these people!

Wang Dachui's brow furrowed. The middle-aged man's reaction made him uncertain about the other party's intentions. However, since he had confirmed that this was Yu Mansion, the master he mentioned should be living here.

After a pause, Wang Dachui said frankly, "Let me tell you, sir, my master comes from the Xiyun family of Shuofang and has a teacher-student relationship with your Chancellor Yu. He came south to the capital and should have visited first, but he was delayed by some matters these few days. Today, he..."

"What did you say? The Xiyun family of Shuofang!"

Unexpectedly, the middle-aged servant was startled at first, then without thinking, he retreated inside and slammed the door shut.

Wang Dachui stood there dumbfounded, still holding the gift list in his hand.

Several team members rushed up angrily: "This scoundrel, does he know any manners? You're from the capital, yet you're even less polite than us from the mountains. Really..."

Wang Dachui's expression changed several times, and he finally raised his hand to stop the team members, saying in a low voice, "Enough, don't disgrace our master."

"But, Captain, the people of Yu Mansion are too much. Why did they close the door just because they heard the name of our Xiyun family? It's really too much. If this were in Shuofang, I would burn their house down with my brothers."

"Enough, don't say more. Let's go back and inform our master. Perhaps there is some misunderstanding..."