My husband is pure and has few desires, but I gave birth to three children in a row

By the time Cai had prepared all the holiday gifts to be sent to the capital, Huang Chunsheng and Yu Wenlong had some clues about their search for the telescope.

Each of them found a telescope. It was not as luxurious as the two in Lu Zhenzhen and Fu Zhiyi's hands. They must have been bought directly from the captains at a high price.

Some wear and tear, but it does not affect the use.

When Huang Chunsheng and Yu Wenlong presented the items, they were still feeling uneasy because they only found second-hand goods and were really embarrassed to sell them.

Unexpectedly, Fu Zhiyi didn't mind at all and even rewarded the two of them handsomely.

The two of them finally felt relieved. Although they were a little curious about what Fu Zhiyi wanted to do with this, they were both very tactful people and didn't dare to ask at all.

Fu Zhiyi happily took two second-hand telescopes back to the backyard.

I saw Lu Zhenzhen, along with Nanny Ye and a few maids, counting the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to be sent back to the capital.

Each family had a box containing a gift list, which detailed the items and which ones were given to whom.

The gifts inside are all labeled, so just check according to the labels when the time comes.

Several families prepared Mid-Autumn Festival gifts, including their own, the Lan family, the Ningping Marquis's family, the second elder Fu Heyong's family, the Shu Wang's family, the Sixth Prince's family, and the biggest one was naturally for the emperor, the imperial concubine and the fourth princess.

Fu Zhiyi looked at the Western gadgets in each box, such as perfumes, silverware, mercury mirrors, etc., and doubts arose in his heart again.

He had previously felt that his wife seemed to pay special attention to these imported goods from the West or Southeast Asia.

At that time, he just thought that these imported goods were mostly things he had never seen before, so it was normal for his wife to be curious.

But now he doesn't think so. He always feels that his wife seems to have other plans.

He waved to Nanny Ye and the others to go down, walked to Lu Zhenzhen, and saw that she was still checking the list.

He sat down next to Lu Zhenzhen and leaned over to take a look.

What I saw was the list for the Lan family and the palace.

There was another piece of paper under the list for the Lan family.

Fu Zhiyi took it out and took a look. It was a price list of all imported goods from the West and Southeast Asia.

Fu Zhiyi shook the list in his hand and said half-jokingly, "You made this list because you want your uncle to reimburse you, right?"

Lu Zhenzhen pushed him in anger. "What are you talking about? I'm sending a holiday gift back to my parents' house, and they're supposed to reimburse me for it?"

"I'm making a list for my adoptive father, telling him that South Vietnam isn't the miasma-ridden place they think it is. It's actually very rich! These imported goods from the West and Southeast Asia are priced this way in South Vietnam. Believe it or not, once they reach the capital, their prices can increase several times, even dozens of times."

"This is all pure silver! Don't our foster father and His Majesty always complain about the lack of treasury funds? Isn't this an opportunity? I don't know why the government isn't involved in managing such a lucrative business. The local merchants are making all the money, and the government is only charging the cheapest docking fees and a head tax."

"And yet, the most valuable goods were left unattended, and these merchants were allowed to buy and sell them privately and transport them to the mainland to make a fortune."

"From the bits and pieces of information that Cai, Huang Chunsheng, and Yu Wenlong's wives mentioned daily, I made a rough estimate. If the government got involved, the annual revenue it could generate would be no less than the tax revenue from wealthy places like Suzhou and Hangzhou."

Fu Zhiyi was startled, and he sat up straight, his expression becoming serious: "Zhenzhen, do you have any basis for what you said?"

Lu Zhenzhen got up and pulled out an account book from the bedside table.

He pulled Fu Zhiyi aside and read out his estimates one by one.

Half a day later, Fu Zhiyi was almost torn apart. Half of him was in amazement. He was amazed that a county in Nanyue could make as much money as wealthy prefectures like Suzhou and Hangzhou just by trading with these overseas ships.

The other half was angry. Such a great opportunity to fill the national treasury was actually delayed by the previous ones. I don’t know what those predecessors were doing.

After settling the accounts, Lu Zhenzhen drank a cup of tea with a dry mouth before continuing, "I know that even if you complete the task given by His Majesty, you will not use this as an excuse to return to the capital. Instead, you want to build a career and return to the capital with dignity."

"If we can make this happen, find a good way to fill His Majesty's treasury, and regulate these overseas trades, wouldn't such a great achievement earn me a promotion three levels when I return? Maybe I could even be made a princess!"

Lu Zhenzhen was full of longing.

Fu Zhiyi frowned, thinking for a long time before speaking, "Zhenzhen, this matter isn't as simple as you think. You have to know that during the reign of Emperor Taizu, pirates constantly harassed the people along the Baiyue coast. Emperor Taizu issued a maritime ban, which lasted until the current emperor pacified the four seas and brought all four quarters under his rule. It was only after the third year of Chengping that the ban was lifted. It's only been a dozen years now."

"It was around the eighth year of Chengping that these imported goods began to appear in the capital, but they were not common—"

Lu Zhenzhen interrupted Fu Zhiyi, "The Cai family also said that before this, only the occasional overseas ship docked here. At that time, trading with Westerners and Southeast Asians was not allowed. Only those who were brave enough not to fear death would secretly trade with Westerners, but the number was not large, and it was just a small-scale trade at most."

"In the past five years or so, there have been more and more overseas ships."

Fu Zhiyi pondered for a moment, "There's probably something fishy and fishy going on here. We can see this is a big piece of juicy meat, so maybe others can see it too. But everyone has remained silent, and no one has reported it to the court. This is unusual."

"I'll ask someone to check and see if they can find anything." After saying that, Fu Zhiyi turned around and walked out of the house and went to the front yard.

Lu Zhenzhen ignored him. Based on her understanding of Fu Zhiyi, it was fine that he didn't notice.

Once he realizes something is wrong, Fu Zhiyi's ability to unravel the mystery should not be underestimated.

I prepared the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts carefully, packed them in boxes and sealed them, and waited for the time to deliver the mail before sending them out.

As for how to transport it back to the capital and whether there are any special channels, that is none of her business.

It hasn’t been long since the festival gift was sent out, and I don’t know if it has arrived in the capital yet.

The festival gifts from the capital were delivered first.

Not only were there gifts from their own family, the Lan family, the Ningping Marquis's Mansion, the Second Master's family, and the Prince of Shu's Mansion, but even the imperial concubine and the fourth princess in the palace gave festival gifts, which were sent together with those from the Prince of Shu's Mansion.

The journey was long, and there was no food or anything like that. All they had were precious medicinal herbs, expensive fabrics, and the like.

Along with the holiday gifts, there were also letters from home.

The letters from the Lan family were filled with casual conversation. Besides saying that they were doing well, they also reminded Lu Zhenzhen and Fu Zhiyi to take care of their health.

Lu Zhenzhen really didn't expect to receive letters from Hu and Sun.