If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

"Was the reconstruction entirely funded by the imperial court?"

"if not?"

Who will do the work?

"Of course, the officials below find people to do the work, and the imperial court just provides the money."

"Damn, this has fattened up so many corrupt officials."

Zhou Wu was truly speechless. Such a huge project with so many projects, and they didn't even put it out to tender. He'd be grateful if even half of the money was actually used effectively.

"Hey~ You don't know how expensive firewood and rice are until you're in charge of the household."

Li Junren's words were something his father had taught him, but they were clearly effective on Li Junren, but completely useless on Zhou Wu, who was in charge of the household.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Am I not in charge? Did the South China Sea become like this on its own?"

"Uh~"

Zhou Wu's words left Li Junren with no reason to refute them.

"The imperial court is not only short of money, but also needs to patch up its holes."

"Patching the hole?"

"Nonsense, with this kind of spending, no amount of money will be enough. Regarding the reconstruction, for completed projects, immediately arrange for someone to audit the accounts; for those in progress, stop immediately and start the bidding process."

This money was all earned by Zhou Wu through hard work for the emperor. Zhou Wu will make these people spit it out in the same way they swallowed it.

"You keep talking about bidding, bidding, but what is bidding?"

Li Junren looked bewildered. Actually, this was Zhou Wu's fault. What did the people of Dalong know about bidding? He didn't think of it at first either. It was only when Nanhai started to run out of money that he remembered this matter.

"Let me give you an example. If you need to repair a house, what would you do?"

"Of course, we should find a craftsman."

"Then where do your craftsmen come from?"

"Go to the Ministry of Works."

Li Junren blurted it out without even thinking.

"Alright, this is our biggest problem right now. The craftsmen employed by our Ministry of Works are nominally royal craftsmen. They get paid the same amount of money whether they do a good job or a bad job. What makes you think they will cut costs to the maximum extent possible during construction?"

After Zhou Wu said that, Li Junren seemed to understand a little.

"If we put the house repair project out on a public platform, anyone who wants to do it can participate in the bidding. We'll state our requirements, and then everyone will submit their bids. This way, we can save money to the greatest extent possible, reduce corruption among officials to some extent, and ensure that the contractors can make money and the workers can get paid."

If Li Junren still doesn't understand now that things have been said this far, then he'll have wasted his time as crown prince.

Why didn't you say so sooner if you had such a great idea?

This idea was absolutely perfect, and Li Junren started blaming Zhou Wu at this point.

"Humph."

"What about making money?"

"You go and arrange the audit and bidding process; I'll think about making money."

"it is good."

The results we've achieved today are already a great achievement. As for making money, Li Junren knows it will be difficult, which is why he urged Zhou Wu to hurry up.

. . . . . . .

After seeing the Crown Prince off, Zhou Wu stayed alone in the courtyard, pondering how to make money.

Zhou Wu actually has many ways to make money, but they all take time.

The emperor's intention was that the court had a huge deficit and urgently needed a large sum of money. The reconstruction projects of Gaoli and Dazi could not be stopped, since those areas were now the territory of the Great Dragon.

"Hey!"

Zhou Wu sighed deeply, unable to think of a way to amass wealth in a short time.

I got up to go out. I had arranged to go to the theater with Li Baiwei today, but Li Junren suddenly showed up. It's still early, so I should be able to make it.

Zhou Wu hailed a carriage and hurried to the theater.

"Isn't the Crown Prince here? How come you have time to come out?"

Li Baiwei was chatting happily with Wu Tianji and Jin Xier backstage when Zhou Wu suddenly appeared, making her extremely happy.

"Oh, after he finished talking, he went back."

Since her husband and the crown prince were naturally discussing matters of state, Li Baiwei didn't ask any further questions.

"Please go and sit in the front. We'll get ready and then we'll begin."

The reason Li Baiwei came to see the play today is because it is a new play performed today, which was also written by her husband, called "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai".

Although I had the advantage of being close to the source and had read the book, nothing beats the excitement of a live performance.

With the new drama premiering, the theater was naturally packed today. Zhou Wu and his group certainly wouldn't sit in the main hall; Wu Tianji had already reserved a private room for them on the second floor.

The room was full of women, with Zhou Wu being the only man.

The lights gradually dimmed, which seemed to indicate that a performance was about to begin.

Under the spotlight on the stage, two giant butterflies are fluttering.

"This butterfly is so beautiful."

Women are the most beautiful things to be interested in, but butterflies are indeed quite nice.

Speaking of this butterfly, it was made by a paper butterfly that Zhou Wu specially found a veteran craftsman with decades of experience. How can you not take a look?

. . . . .

"The Butterfly Lovers" is a short play, so you can watch it from beginning to end in one performance.

Almost all the women were not spared; they all left the theater in tears.

Li Baiwei and the others kept rolling their eyes at Zhou Wu, as if silently protesting against him for not being able to be together with his lover.

Li Baiwei had already made plans to have dinner with Wu Tianji and Jin Xier, so she didn't leave but waited for Wu Tianji to finish removing her makeup before leaving together.

"Mr. Wu, I'm sorry to have troubled you. I really had no other choice."

Upon arriving at the day after tomorrow, a voice was heard pleading desperately for Wu Tianji.

"Go ahead, I've already spoken to the finance department, you can go and collect it today."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Boss Wu. I will always remember your great kindness."

The man knelt on the ground excitedly and kowtowed repeatedly. Wu Tianji quickly helped him up.

"Everyone encounters difficult times, and this is what you deserve."

The man thanked him repeatedly and then left.

"what's the situation?"

Zhou Wu and his group were quite curious.

"Oh, that person is a supplier for the theater, mainly delivering fruit and such. We had agreed that the payment would be settled in January, but he said there was an emergency at home and he wanted to settle the payment in advance."

"So you settled the score with him?"

"Of course, everyone encounters difficulties, and this is nothing serious."

Wu Tianji simply felt that since the other person was in trouble, she wanted to help if she could; she didn't think much of it.

"Collecting debts? Debts? Ah, haha, I've got it."

Zhou Wu suddenly muttered something under his breath, then burst into laughter, though everyone seemed to be used to his behavior.

"Husband, what's wrong?"

Li Baiwei, however, asked with concern.

"It's alright, let's go eat and celebrate Boss Wu's successful debut."

"Ah."

"Let's go, let's go get some good food."

Zhou Wu suddenly thought of a way to solve the court's problems, and his mood improved greatly.