After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Looking further ahead, Qiu Cheng realized that His Highness had already provided the rules.

The existing craftsmen are divided into ten groups, and craftsmen are recruited from all over the country. The wages of veteran craftsmen will be increased by 20% on the basis of the previous wages, and the wages of new craftsmen will be increased by 10% after three months of work.

Qiu Cheng's teeth ached from looking at the bill. Now his head was no longer hurting, but when he saw that the cost was more than he had expected, the pain instantly shifted to his back teeth.

While it may seem that ten ships would cost over a million taels of silver, this was actually just the cost of materials.

Including labor costs and miscellaneous expenses, it would cost at least two million taels!

Qiu Cheng didn't think he was being stingy; he just felt that the two million taels was likely the entire fortune of the Empress and the Second Prince.

Is it really necessary to take such a desperate gamble just to go to sea? Is there no future in this?

What if we go out to sea and find nothing?

We can't recoup these costs!

It can't be said that Qiu Cheng, as a subordinate, was worrying unnecessarily; how can this not be considered having a "sense of ownership"?

It's rare to find an employee who can put themselves in others' shoes and think about saving money for their boss.

While Qiu Cheng was reading the letter and struggling with his thoughts, Master Qian and Wangchuan had already settled the accounts.

"My lord, I've figured it out!"

This seafood shipment yielded a profit of seven hundred taels, and the expenses at the docks during this period were only five hundred taels, leaving two hundred taels remaining. We didn't do any losing business!

It was supposed to be good news, but with the impact of two million taels of silver in front of him, Qiu Cheng really didn't care about the two hundred taels.

In the past, he would be happy for half a day if he saved an extra penny.

It has to be said that the two million taels of silver bombarded him quite a bit.

"Okay, sure, thanks for your hard work!"

Huh? That's it? Master Qian and Wangchuan were waiting to see Lord Qiu in high spirits, and this is all the reaction they got?

Something's not right! Something's definitely not right!

Is this still the Lord Qiu they know? Could he have been switched at Tianjin Port?

Oblivious to the scrutinizing gazes of the two men, Qiu Cheng thought for a moment and then left the office.

As Qiu Cheng stepped out of his office, a servant rushed over and said, "Lord Qiu, a wealthy man is waiting for you at the dock."

"Master? What master?"

"They said it was for your delivery and asked you to come outside to pick it up."

!

Qiu Cheng realized that this was Eunuch Chen, who served the Second Prince!

Eunuch Chen has arrived! He arrived almost immediately after the letter; his pace is quite fast.

However, the Second Prince delivered the silver very quickly last time, and this time it was just even faster.

Does His Highness know what I'm thinking and send the silver over first to reassure me?

Sigh, Qiu Cheng blushed. His Highness knew him far too well…

Qiu Cheng didn't dare to delay and hurriedly ran to the dock.

"Master Chen, it's been a long time! You must have had a long journey!"

"Lord Qiu, I am here to deliver something for my master. Is there a safe place to store the goods?"

"Yes, yes, of course! Let's head to the Tongzhou County government office first. Magistrate Jiang has set aside a sizable storeroom for us. There are guards there, and I'll send people to watch over it as well, to ensure everything is foolproof!"

"Oh? Where is Magistrate Jiang? That's good. There are people coming and going at the dock. It's fine if there's not much cargo, but there's a lot this time. It's not safe to leave it at the dock."

Qiu Cheng didn't notice Chen Lin mentioning that there were quite a lot of goods; he just kept nodding, knowing that a county government office with guards was safer.

Last time, to ensure the safety of the silver, he even considered digging a few rat holes to hide it in. Fortunately, the silver was spent very quickly, and it was all gone before he could even lose it.

But this time is different. This time it will definitely be more than last time. Perhaps the first batch of silver will be 100,000 or 200,000 taels. Of course, it must be kept in a safe place.

Magistrate Jiang is not an outsider, his character is impeccable, and he is also the biological father of Scholar Jiang, which makes things even safer.

“Master Chen, let’s go straight to the county government office. It just so happens that Lord Jiang is here too, and he can come with us.”

Chen Lin was somewhat surprised that Jiang Xiaoqi's father, Magistrate Jiang, would be at the dock at this time. Wasn't that the legendary magistrate who never got involved in anything?

Is this because he saw his son becoming more and more successful and wanted to make a breakthrough after years of hard work?

Jiang Wenqing sneezed a few more times for no apparent reason. How strange, there was no wind at all. Could it be that his son was thinking about him? Jiang Wenqing strolled around, indulging in wishful thinking.

Before they even reached a suitable spot to cast their lines, Master Qian called out to them.

"My lord! My lord! Stop wandering around, Lord Qiu is looking for you!"

"Someone from the capital has arrived to store the items we discussed earlier in the county yamen's storeroom. Lord Qiu wants you to come back to the county yamen with him!"

Master Qian guessed what it was, but he couldn't shout it out loud, so he could only tell his master in a roundabout way.

Jiang Wenqing was completely taken aback, since last time Lord Qiu only said he wanted to borrow a storeroom, without specifying what to put there.

Jiang Wenqing never cared about such trivial matters, thinking that as long as it wasn't storing dangerous materials like black fire, it was fine.

When the items were put into storage, the clerks Qian and Xing would oversee the process. Neither of them were fools; if something was truly unsuitable for the county government, they would definitely come and tell them.

Jiang Wenqing, this hands-off manager, is unaware of his own laziness and instead considers himself a model of "trusting those he employs and not employing those he distrusts."

"Oh, you and Lao Xing can go back together, I can't help you much!"

Besides, the keys are with you two, what use would I be if I went back?

Master Qian, who came to call for help, choked for a moment, but upon closer reflection, it made sense.

"Alright then, don't stay out too late, sir. Remember to come back to the back office for dinner!"

Jiang Wenqing shook his hand and was already sitting on the shore.

My two advisors are good in every way, except they're incredibly long-winded.

I'm not a child anymore. Don't I know to eat when I'm hungry?

Besides, the food at the dock is quite good, so why bother going back to eat?

Does Lord Qiu really care about a few coins?

Qiu Cheng didn't seem surprised that Master Qian and Master Xing had come. He figured that Magistrate Jiang had probably found a good fishing spot and wouldn't be leaving the dock tonight.

Sigh... I'll have to drink fish soup again tomorrow. The southern craftsmen are quite happy, but this true northerner feels like he's about to smell fishy from the inside out!

Southern craftsmen also really like steamed fish, but it's bland and tasteless; I don't know what's the point of eating it! Isn't braised fish better?

"Alright, the keys are with the two clerks anyway, it doesn't matter whether Lord Jiang goes back or not."

Last time Chen Lin used an oxcart, this time he used a horse-drawn carriage, which is faster.

However, while their carrying capacity is not as large as that of oxcarts, the number of horse-drawn carriages is enormous.

A line of about a hundred horse-drawn carriages stretched as far as the eye could see.

As they set off, Qiu Chengfa belatedly realized the sheer number of carriages.

This is... this is how much silver has been transported!

Even if each carriage costs five thousand taels, a hundred carriages would amount to five hundred thousand taels!

Good heavens! His Highness is using this to test his officials!