After traveling through time, I was spotted by the new emperor

Ye Wuwei and the other two came to the emperor's private vault. Nie Youren said to the soldiers guarding the vault:

"We are ordered by His Majesty to go in and investigate. Do not let anyone get close."

Nie Youren is the soldiers' direct superior, and with Chu Fuchi around, no one would doubt that Nie Youren's words were untrue.

After entering the private vault, Nie Youren took out the key from his body and opened the first door.

While opening the door, he explained:

"Originally, the keys to the first and second doors were in the hands of the eunuchs. When I saw so much gold today, I took the keys."

Ye Wuwei smiled and said, "Old Nie, you are really thoughtful."

Nie Youren laughed and said:

"Now that we're in Chamdo, we have to be careful, otherwise we'll be eaten alive by those people from the aristocratic families."

"You make it sound like you're not from an aristocratic family."

"Our family cannot be compared with the aristocratic families in Changdu. We have only become wealthy in the past twenty years thanks to His Majesty and the Prince of Chu.

To put it nicely, he's from a middle-class family, but to put it bluntly, he's just a local tycoon."

As he spoke, Nie Youren had already opened the first door.

It was a very large room, windowless but not stifling.

This means that the room has ventilation, but I don’t know where the vents are located.

Ye Wuwei looked into the room, which was filled with various wooden boxes, many large wooden chests, antique display racks, and cabinets, including insect-proof camphor wood, precious golden nanmu, rosewood, etc.

"The things in this private vault are not overly valuable, but some precious cloth, calligraphy and paintings from previous dynasties, antiques, and various jewelry."

Ye Wuwei casually opened a camphorwood box, and inside was a shimmering silk cloth.

Ye Wuwei didn't know the value of the goods, but Chu Fuchi did: "This is 'Yanxia Brocade' produced in Ledu. One piece of cloth is worth at least thirty taels of gold."

so expensive?

A piece of cloth costs two hundred thousand yuan?

There must be more than twenty horses in this box, right?

Isn’t it just a few million yuan?

Hearing about "Yanxiajin", Nie Youren came over.

"Is this 'Yanxia Jin'?"

Ye Wuwei looked at Nie Youren, "You don't know him either?"

Chu Fuchi explained:

"The craftsmanship of 'Yanxia Jin' is in the hands of the Zhuang family. It is said to be very difficult to weave, with an annual output of no more than a hundred pieces. Therefore, it is not sold to the public, but only used by the Zhuang family members themselves and given as gifts.

Noble women are proud to wear Yanxia brocade."

Nie Youren said to Chu Fuchi:

"Your cousin and I have talked about Yanxiajin many times. I haven't seen her in three years since I came to Qamdo. You see..."

"You'll have someone carry them away later, and remember to leave a few for Tai'an."

Nie Youren smiled, showing his big white teeth: "Don't worry, there will be no shortage of Taian."

Ye Wuwei asked curiously, "Old Nie, what is your relationship with the prince's cousin?"

Nie Youren looked at Ye Wuwei: "You don't know?"

Ye Wuyi was confused: "What should I know?"

Nie Youren glanced at Chu Fuchi and said, "The prince's cousin is my wife."

Ye Wuwei suddenly realized: "So you two are relatives by marriage. Then aren't you and His Majesty also relatives?"

"My wife is your Majesty's cousin."

No wonder Nie Youren was more casual in front of Qi Wushuang than other generals. It turned out that they were relatives.

Ye Wuwei asked curiously: "What business does your family run?"

Having said that, Chu Fuchi simply stated some of the relationships:

"The Nie, Hu, and Di families control all the food and fodder in the north and all the horses in the Qi Dynasty."

Nie Youren took over the conversation:

"The Nie, Hu, and Di families are all related to the Chu family by marriage. My wife is the Crown Prince's cousin, and the legitimate daughters of the Hu and Di families married the Crown Prince's cousins."

Ye Wuyi was stunned. "So, the food and horses in the north are actually controlled by His Majesty and the Prince of Chu?"

“Yes, the Nie, Hu, and Di families were originally small families. They were chosen by His Majesty and the Prince of Chu to support us in developing into our current size.

Therefore, there are no real aristocratic families in the north except the Chu family. Aristocratic families only exist south of the Chang River."

That's it!

No wonder Chen Shusheng’s description of the Andu scene was so down-to-earth. It turns out there are no aristocratic families in the north!

Chu Fuchi added: "There is one most important reason why there are no aristocratic families north of Changhe."

"What is it?"

"More than a hundred years ago, the Ati people moved south and occupied the southern part of the desert. However, the southern part of the desert is also a desolate and barren land, so the Ati people often moved south to plunder cities in the north.

Over time, the noble families in the north were unwilling to stay in the north and moved south of Changhe River.

That's it!

After learning about the general situation of the northern family, Ye Wuwei casually opened a wooden box on the antique shelf, which contained a set of ruby ​​jewelry.

The largest ruby ​​weighs more than ten carats.

In modern times, natural unheated rubies are very expensive. A set of ruby ​​jewelry like the one you see now would cost at least tens of millions.

"Prince, isn't ruby ​​jewelry expensive? Why is it placed in this room?"

Chu Fuchi took a look and said, "It's not cheap, but not as expensive as Nanzhu."

South Pearls are natural seawater pearls.

Ye Wuwei didn't care. He thought that rubies were not a scarce resource in ancient times, but it was much more difficult to collect sea pearls than it is today.

Nie Youren then took out the key and opened the second door.

The room behind the second door is not much different from the previous one, and the furnishings are similar. I think the only difference is that the items placed there are more valuable.

Nie Youren handed several account books on a wooden box to Chu Fuchi: "These are private treasury account books."

Chu Fuchi took it and read it: "It says there is gold, but the amount is less than 10,000 taels."

Ye Wuwei said, "Let's open all the boxes in this room and see if there is any gold."

The three of them began to rummage through the drawers.

Sure enough, they found gold, and the amount was almost the same as the amount recorded in the account book.

The three of them looked at each other and said, "Let's go to the next private vault."

Nie Youren took out the key and opened the last door.

However, when this door opens, it does not lead to a room, but to a staircase leading down.

A row of square holes were carved out on the staircase walls, and many of the holes were filled with glowing "night pearls".

Each night pearl is about the size of an egg.

Ye Wuwei thought to himself, "Damn, this is so extravagant! How much is this worth?"

The three of them walked down the stairs.

The last private warehouse was built underground. Its area was the size of the two private warehouses on the upper floor combined, but there was no sign of moisture, and it was unknown what moisture-proofing methods were used.

However, this private vault is not arranged like the two private vaults on the upper floor. They are all filled with neatly arranged gold boxes.

The Jinkui is equivalent to a modern safe. It is usually made of nanmu wood and covered with gilded copper to prevent insects and mildew.

Nie Youren said, "These golden boxes are filled with gold."

The three of them opened all the golden boxes, and sure enough, they were all full of gold!

The three of them exchanged a glance, and Ye Wuwei said, "Prince, do you see if these night-shining pearls are recorded in the account book?"