Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 197 Closing the Net
Nanpi County,
Treasure hunting in wasteland has been going on in full swing.

Ever since the Hu family in Cangzhou dug up nugget-head gold in the fields, not only the river channel but also the wasteland on both sides of the river have been turned over.

There were weeds everywhere in the wasteland, but now they were all dug up by the roots. They went down to more than ten inches underground and did not stop until they dug out sand and soil.

All the wealthy merchants had harvested good things from their fields and earned a lot of gold.

In this way, there will be more motivation to dig further.

After the news spread back to Cangzhou City, people began to come in continuously.

At the beginning, villagers within a five-mile radius were hired to dig the fields. Later, villagers within a ten-mile and twenty-mile radius, and even villages around Cangzhou City, were driven to Nanpi County to dig the soil.

The incident was so large that it even spread to neighboring counties. However, the Nanpi County Magistrate Chen Youmin turned a blind eye and was happy to see the villagers being used as laborers to earn some food to supplement their family income.

This further encouraged the trend of treasure hunting.

Within seven days, more than 50,000 acres of wasteland on the outskirts of Nanpi County and on both sides of the ancient river were dug up.

After all, the gold was washed out by the river, and who knows where it will go? We can only keep digging along the river.

Today, at the end of May,

As the first family to discover gold, the Hu family reaped a rich harvest.

The strange-shaped dog-head gold filled an entire carriage. If these were burned into gold, according to the current gold-silver ratio of 1:6, this cart of gold would be worth about 120,000 taels of silver.

Whether it is the labor cost of digging the fields or the recent deficit caused by the Hu family due to food shortages, this cart of gold can solve all the problems.

The gold was dug all over Nanpi County and transported to Cangzhou City.

The head of the Hu family did not dare to neglect such an important matter. Upon learning that his servants would escort the gold back to the city today, he waited outside the city gate early in the morning, looking at the official road in the distance.

Until noon, even though he was sweating profusely from the sun, the head of the Hu family was still excited.

This is 120,000 taels of silver, which is equivalent to the Hu family’s savings for more than ten years.

With these, his Hu family can overcome the difficulties, but other families cannot say the same.

When your own family is prospering while others are falling to the bottom, isn't this the happiest time for a businessman?
Outside the East City Gate,

Now a large number of laborers are building houses along both sides of the official road.

The naked workers on the construction site were uttering obscene words, accompanied by incessant banging sounds, which made the head of the Hu family feel a little unbearable.

At first glance, the layout of the house was strange, with a very wide gap between it and the official road. There was enough space for four cars to drive side by side between the houses on both sides.

"Master, the laborer just said that this was done intentionally by the Marquis. When the government office is no longer short of money, this road will be widened and paved with stone slabs to leave room for maneuver."

The head of the Hu family frowned slightly and said disdainfully: "What an arrogant thing! It's several miles from here to the dock, and it has been widened? They just took some money from us, but it can't support the large-scale construction in and outside the city of Cangzhou. It won't be long before these things become half-baked things."

"Besides, what's the point of building such a wide road? How can there be so many people in Cangzhou? Is it the capital city?"

The head of the Hu family shook his head and said, "Forget it, let's not worry about that unlucky thing. It took our money and spent it recklessly without any regret."

"What is the current situation in Nanpi County?"

The servant at the side replied, "Master, the people who came back from Nanpi County said that our family had the largest harvest, and we were the only one that used a horse-drawn carriage to load it. The Huang family was slightly better, but they couldn't be compared with ours."

The head of the Hu family was very pleased, and he smiled and said, "Yes, you did a good job this time. When we come back, everyone will be rewarded handsomely."

After waiting for a long time, the head of the Hu family wanted to take a rest in the sedan chair, and saw the figure of a convoy gradually appearing at the end of the road.

The Hu family's flag is still flying in front of the convoy, and we must not make a mistake again this time.

When the convoy approached, the butler of the Hu family stepped forward and bowed, "I have lived up to the master's expectations and brought back all the gold."

After lifting a corner of the tarpaulin, the head of the Hu family took a look and saw that the entire car was golden. He breathed a sigh of relief and was overjoyed.

"Okay, I'll reward you handsomely."

The housekeeper struck while the iron was hot and said, "Master, I haven't married yet, I don't know..."

The head of the Hu family smiled and said, "It's not a problem. They are just a few women. You can choose any of them when you get back. It's not a good place to stay for long. Let's go back to the mansion and try alchemy first."

The butler smiled flatteringly and drove the carriage slowly into the city.

There were guards at the foot of the city who watched the whole process. When they saw a large number of vehicles returning from Nanpi County, they went to the government office to report the news.

……

Hu Family,

Several furnaces had already been built in the backyard for today's alchemy.

When they heard that gold had been brought back, the entire Hu family came to the courtyard to watch. The curious women also hid in the house, looking out through the windows.

A carriage slowly drove in from the corner gate. After the tarpaulin covering the courtyard was completely lifted, a bright light appeared in the courtyard. The sunlight made the gold shine brightly and was extremely dazzling.

But the head of the Hu family was even more excited. With this gold, everything would be different.

It was like a person who was about to drown in the water, suddenly grabbed a vine, returned to the shore little by little, and saw the vast world again.

Because of this gold, the Hu family will go further under his leadership.

"Quick, start the furnace to make alchemy."

The craftsmen around did not dare to delay and hurriedly threw the unformed gold nugget into the furnace that had been burning for a long time. Then they heard crackling sounds from inside.

Air was continuously blown into the fire, and after nearly half an hour, the melted gold slowly fell into the mold and solidified into shape.

The head of the Hu family was overjoyed when he saw this.

The butler was wagging his tail and flattering, "Congratulations, Master. You are so noble that you can have such a good thing today."

The head of the Hu family laughed and said, "Okay, okay, don't look for a maid as a concubine. Go to my room and find a concubine that you like. It will be a reward for your meritorious service!"

Such a joyful situation did not last long.

The previous moment, the housekeeper was about to go look for the intoxicated aunt, and then there was a furnace of "golden water" that was bright at first, but after being exposed to the air for a moment, it dimmed.

The craftsman was horrified and said hurriedly, "Master, there is not only gold here, but also copper!"

The head of the Hu family was not as flustered as the craftsman. He handled the situation calmly and said, "In such a chaotic situation in Nanpi County, it is no problem to bring back a few pieces of copper by mistake. It will not affect the overall situation. I believe that no one in our Hu family would intentionally hide it."

The butler knelt on the ground and said, "That's right. We are loyal and have no selfish motives."

But what happened next left everyone dumbfounded.

At first, a few pieces of real gold were refined, but after that, there were more and more copper mines, and no real gold was seen again.

The face of the head of the Hu family became more and more ugly.

The housekeeper was even more dumbfounded. He didn't care about the concubines anymore. He kowtowed and said, "Impossible, Master. What we brought back was gold. The color cannot be wrong."

The head of the Hu family gritted his teeth and asked, "Then why did it turn into brass?"

"I don't know. I really don't know."

Originally, a cart of gold was worth 120,000 taels, but now it was worth less than 2,000 taels. 2,000 taels was simply a drop in the bucket for the Hu family.

The setting sun on the horizon is not as red as the eyes of the head of the Hu family at this moment.

At this moment, he wished he could just kill this idiot on the spot. How could he not tell the difference between gold and copper?

If his cart is made of copper and other families' carts are made of gold, then the Hu family will fall into an abyss and will never be able to recover.

Just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly solemn, a team of soldiers rushed in from outside and headed straight for the alchemy site in the Hu family's backyard.

The first one riding a red-maned horse was Yue Ling, the Marquis of Anjing, who was now in charge of all military and political affairs in Cangzhou.

Yue Ling raised a mysterious smile, ignoring the surprised face of the Hu family's head. He looked at the butler beside him and said, "I heard outside just now that you brought back a cart of gold?"

The butler wanted to prove his innocence to the master at this moment, and hurriedly said: "Gold, this is definitely a cart of gold, the weight can't be fake. I can tell the difference between gold and copper."

Yue Ling nodded slightly and said calmly: "Well, the Hu family dug gold in Nanpi County without permission. Today, I am here to take it back and confiscate it. Hand over that cart of gold!"

The Hu family's patriarch was stunned when he heard this. "Why hand it over? They dug up antiques locally, and no one ever asked them to hand them over."

Yue Ling patiently explained, "Antiques are indeed not required to be handed in, but gold is not an antique, it is called a mineral. How serious is the crime of mining without permission? Do you need me to find you a copy of the Dachang Code?"

Cangzhou has a flat terrain and no mines have ever been discovered. Perhaps there were some in ancient times, but they are rarely seen in literature.

A momentary greed brought disaster.

The head of the Hu family was so angry that he gasped, "Just picking up some nuggets of gold washed up in the river is considered mining? How can the Marquis convict me with just one word?"

Yue Ling chuckled and said, "If digging gold out of the ground is not mining, then what is considered mining? This marquis is magnanimous. If you hand over the gold, I will forgive your crime. Otherwise, you can only act according to the Dachang Law."

"According to the Dachang Law, if someone illegally mines sand, one pound of gold notes will be converted into twenty strings of cash..."

A good man does not suffer a loss in front of him. The head of the Hu family did not want to tangle with Yue Ling any more. He just thought that he had worked in vain for the past few days and decided to take this small loss. He interrupted and said, "My Lord, please take this car back to the government office."

Yue Ling smacked his lips and said, "I was talking about a cart of gold, how can you take away a cart of brass? Are you trying to fool the imperial envoy?"

"Your steward just said that he brought back a cart of gold. There is evidence, and you still want to deny it. Do you want to go to jail?"

Upon hearing this, the head of the Hu family was so angry that a fishy-sweet taste came out of his mouth. He almost fell to the ground, but fortunately he was supported by the people around him.

Only at this moment did the butler realize that Yue Ling had ignored the master of the house and asked him first, deliberately teasing him, but it was too late to realize that he had said something wrong.

His words no longer mattered at this moment.

Yue Ling drew his sword from its sheath, pointed it at the ground, looked down at everyone present, and finally said in a cold voice: "If you can't hand over this cart of gold, then I will take it myself today!"

(End of this chapter)