The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 407

Duan Hong gave a wink, and the servant said silently, "Since we're all friends now, let's go to the market at the Anxi Protectorate together."

Soon, the servant was dumbfounded. The timber that used to cost two taels of silver could now be bought for ten pieces for the same price.

Jekar kicked a piece of wood next to him and said, "Don't be fooled by how sturdy this wood looks. If you use it in the Jidi Tower, it will be eaten away by insects within a year."

The outside is hard, but the inside has become hollow.

The servant was taken aback at first, then said, "Who can predict what will happen in the future? Besides, the weather is so harsh now. It's normal for any problems to arise with this building."

Then Jekar nodded and said a few more words.

The building materials seller quickly brought all the problematic timber to the market as requested by Jekar, and the oxcarts pulled by the servant transported it all to the construction site of Hongwen Academy.

When Duan Hong saw the amount recorded in the ledger, he was shocked. After carefully calculating, he realized that the profits were enormous.

The servant, standing to the side, said boastfully, "Young master made a full 50% profit this time, all thanks to that Persian."

Duan Hong was also surprised and said something directly.

"That's not enough. My uncle is completely disappointed in me now. If I want to win back his expectations, I need to do something earth-shattering so that he can see my value as a member of the Duan family."

The servant twitched the corner of his mouth and then agreed, saying obsequiously from the side, "What you said is all correct, young master. Besides, young master is skilled in both civil and military affairs."

The servant gave a thumbs-up, which pleased Duan Hong, and his expression immediately improved.

He stuffed the ledger into his pocket and left, while Duan Lun was anxiously waiting at the guesthouse. He had been there for a month, but he couldn't do anything to Xu Tian.

They were like ants on a hot pan.

"I underestimated this wet nurse. I didn't expect him to use the slow-boiling trick on me. He knew I couldn't stay here for too long, but he used this delaying tactic."

"I'm truly forced to resort to any means against him."

The servant standing nearby said, "Master, are you really going to take action now?"

A look of disdain flashed in Duan Lun's eyes. "Duan Hong is a good-for-nothing, and there's nothing I can do about it right now."

After thinking for a moment, the servant handed over the booklet in his arms and said, "This morning, General Duan said that he wanted to give this booklet to the Minister. This old servant couldn't bear to see General Duan looking guilty, so I took the liberty of collecting this booklet. Please take a look, Minister."

The Minister immediately took the booklet, glanced at the accounts, and nodded in satisfaction. He was somewhat useful, but that was not enough. The Emperor had allocated two million taels of silver, plus one hundred thousand taels allocated privately and one million taels allocated later, totaling three million taels of silver. It was a waste to use this money just to build an academy.

Soon, there was another knock on Xu Tian's door. Jin Yang had put on earplugs, which Xu Tian had specially prepared for him.

But Dieyi was a martial arts practitioner, and his skills were so good that he couldn't help but hear it. He then went downstairs and pointed at the Minister of Works, saying, "You old bald monk, you disturb people's peaceful dreams every day!"