Chapter 554: Business Affairs and Land Cessation

Chapter 554: Business Affairs and Land Cessation

Chapter 554: Business Affairs and Land Cessation
"Master Lu, take care."

In front of Guichun Medical Clinic, Zhu Jinyu and the manager came to see them off in person with a smile on their faces.

The sun shines on her.
It seemed to have given her a layer of glow, making her look even younger and more attractive.

Lu Yunyi, who had already walked far away, did not look back, but just raised his hand symbolically as a response.

Even so, Zhu Jinyu's smile unconsciously widened a little.

This shocked the steward and the blue-robed waiter who were standing quietly by the side.

When Lu Yunyi and his group disappeared at the end of the street corner,

Zhu Jinyu's smile gradually faded, and the excitement in her eyes slowly faded away.

The whole person suddenly became quiet, as if he was lost in silence.

She turned around, glanced at the steward and the waiter in blue, and said calmly:

"If Lord Lu comes again in the future, please inform me immediately and do not stop me."

"Yes"

The steward bowed slightly, his eyes full of disbelief.

At this moment, she was certain that her young lady was really attracted to Lord Lu.

The waiter in green also bowed, with a look of grievance and reluctance.

Zhu Jinyu ignored them and turned back to the room.

The coolness emanating from his body made the steward and the waiter hold their breath.

At the door, the steward looked at the grief-stricken look of the blue-robed waiter and sighed slightly.
He reached out and patted his shoulder, saying earnestly:

"You are young and you are taken in by the shopkeeper, so it is inevitable that you have some thoughts in your mind.

But as a fellow countryman, you must study medicine well and serve your guests attentively.

But don’t ruin your future because of some inappropriate thoughts. "

"Butler. Me."

The middle-aged female manager raised her head and stopped him from explaining.

Then he smiled and looked at the neat bluestone floor in front of Guichun Medical Clinic with a deep gaze.

"A talented man and a beautiful woman, this is the most beautiful thing in the world.

As for the plots of prostitutes marrying talented men, servants and rickshaw drivers winning the favor of their mistresses,

Those are all tricks in the storybooks.

Since we are from the same hometown, I will give you a few reminders.

Study medicine well, and you will at least have enough food and clothing in the future.

If you anger the owner and are kicked out of the clinic, where can you go?
Should I go home to farm, work as a waiter in a restaurant, or be a pimp in a brothel?
Being a waiter in a clinic is your best option.

If you learn some skills in the future, it would be nice to be a traveling doctor."

After hearing these words, the young servant in blue fell into deep thought.
After a long time, he nodded angrily and said in a low voice:

"Butler, I understand. I will do my job well and live up to your expectations."

“Well, go do something.

Serve tea to the students from the Imperial Academy. Our clinic is not the place to serve different dishes to different people.

These students may be in trouble today.

But maybe he will rise to prominence tomorrow, and you can’t offend him easily.”

"Yes"

Lu Yunyi brought a group of people to Yingtian Commercial Bank on Fudong Street.

Although it was almost noon, the place was still busy.
The sounds of the craftsmen hammering and banging continued one after another without stopping.

Lu Yunyi stood in the shade not far away, and surprisingly did not pay attention to the construction of the business.

Instead, he kept thinking about Zhu Jinyu's every move and her various performances in his mind.

Her behavior was both like that of a Yiwei and yet not quite like that.

Judging from all these actions, it seems that it is inconsistent with the style of Jinyiwei.

But her identity is too special.

It was so special that Lu Yunyi felt that someone had designed it deliberately.

After much thought, Lu Yunyi decided to put her on the list of suspicious persons.
Look for more opportunities to contact her in the future and see if you can find more clues.

At this time, Li Zhigang hurriedly walked out of the business.
He was covered in dust and his hair was covered in white dust.

He was not wearing an official uniform, but a black casual dress, which had now turned grayish white.

Li Zhigang saw Lu Yunyi waiting for him, so he stopped in the distance.

He brushed the dust off his body, trying to make himself look cleaner.

"Alright, alright, come here, a little dust is nothing to worry about."

Lu Yunyi waved at him, and Li Zhigang stepped forward and bowed:

"Greetings to the Minister,
My Lord, the midday heat is unbearable.
There is an ice cream parlor not far away, why don’t you go there and take a rest for a while?”

"No need, I'm not that hypocritical."

Lu Yunyi waved his hand, then looked at Li Zhigang who was covered in dust:

“The dust here is so severe, why don’t you wear a mask?

I have already asked the Imperial Hospital, working in this environment,

If you don’t take good precautions against dust, it can easily damage your lungs, and you’ll have trouble breathing.”

Li Zhigang was flattered and quickly explained:

"My Lord, it's lunch time now.

There was a problem with the floor just now, so I went in to check.
I usually wear a mask when I work.”

Lu Yunyi looked at him suspiciously and said seriously:
“Since the Governor’s Office and the Ministry of Works have already allocated money, there is no need to save money in this regard.

Although masks are a bit expensive, I still have enough money to change two a day.

We must distinguish the primary from the secondary, what is truly valuable is people.

This time they accumulated experience in building a business, and they will be used again next time.

If anything goes wrong with these craftsmen,
Next time if there is any problem in the construction of the business,
That loss of money is enough to buy a lot of masks, do you understand what I mean?"

Li Zhigang was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded and said yes:

"Sir, I understand. May I ask, sir, is there any other place where the business will be built?"

“Nonsense, this is not a rare thing, it will be sold all over the country in the future.

It can't just benefit the people in Gyeonggi.

Aren't the people in the north and south the people of the Ming Dynasty?"

Li Zhigang fell into deep thought.

He suddenly realized that what the adults said was right, what is truly precious is people.

As a doctor in the Ministry of Industry, he knew better than anyone else,
How rare it is to have a mature team of craftsmen.

"Please rest assured, sir, for the craftsmen who participated in the construction,

I will do my best to protect them and will never let them make any mistakes!"

Seeing his sincere attitude, Lu Yunyi reminded him:

"I just went to the clinic. External injuries are easy to treat, but internal injuries are difficult to treat.

If you dare to cheat and withhold money and grain, just wait for the Censorate to come and trouble you."

Li Zhigang shuddered when he heard this.
Even in hot weather, there is a chill.

He quickly moved closer and confessed:

“I dare not lie to you, sir. Although the mask is made of fine silk and linen, it is indeed stuffy when worn.

The craftsmen don’t change often, usually only once a day.”

"How dare you cut corners?" Lu Yunyi put his hands on his hips and glared at him.

“No, no, no, the masks are all kept by the clerks, and the craftsmen can take them if they feel that the masks are no longer usable.

But the craftsmen said that they had always been like this before, and there was no need to wear it..."

Lu Yunyi scratched his head hard and let out a long sigh.

He could already imagine that the craftsmen would scold him bitterly.

There must have been a lot of people saying things like "it's a waste of time" and "you're pretending to know something you don't".

"Okay, okay, the money has been paid and the things have been distributed.

Tell them that if they don’t want to get tuberculosis, they should wear masks.

It's hard to persuade the damn ghost with good words,

They don’t want to make money and want to die early, and I can’t do anything about it.”

Li Zhigang nodded repeatedly:
"Please rest assured, sir. I will make them understand the seriousness of the matter."

Lu Yunyi nodded, looked him up and down, and asked:

"How much did the Pu'er tea sell for?"

what?
Li Zhigang was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and almost jumped up:
"My lord, you are wronged, I did not sell it!
I gave all the extra tea to Xie Jin.

But who knew that Xie Jin was so poor that he was blinded by money and sold all his tea to buy wine.

When I heard about this, I went to the market to buy back all the tea leaves.
But they are all sold out.”

"Xie Jin? He's from Jiangxi, is he so poor?" Lu Yunyi looked surprised.

Although Xie Jin offended the Minister of War Shen Xi and was sent to Jiangxi to serve as a censor,

But now that he has returned to Beijing, how could he have fallen to such a state? Li Zhigang quickly explained:
"Mr. Minister, you misunderstood. Xie Jin prefers wine to tea.

He thought that the tea would just sit there anyway, so he might as well sell it.

To be honest, I still haven't been willing to drink the tea I was given.

He is wasting God's gifts by doing this!!"

Having said this, he glanced at Lu Yunyi cautiously.
Seeing that his expression was calm, I let out a long sigh of relief.

"I don't know. How did you know this, sir?
Is someone trying to frame me?

My Lord, I swear to God that I have only been home three times since the construction started, and I have been staying at the construction site day and night.

You must be careful, my lord."

Seeing that he started to complain again, Lu Yunyi knew that he was obsessed with power.

He waved his hands helplessly:
"No one reported you. I just found out by accident."

After hearing this, Li Zhigang finally felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sir, although my family is not as rich as Wang Chen,

But he is still relatively wealthy and would never do anything corrupt.”

"I know about this. You want to be an official, a high-ranking official."

Li Zhigang did not refute, but just laughed and nodded repeatedly:

"Your Excellency still understands me."

Lu Yunyi smiled. For Shangguan,
It is troublesome if subordinates have no desires or demands, but it is easy to get promoted and make money.

"Don't worry, the business will be completed and open for business.
The palace will send people, and the six ministries and nine ministers will also send people.

As long as you do your job well, promotion is not far away."

When Li Zhigang heard this, he felt his blood boiling and his energy rushed to his head!

His breathing became rapid and his face turned red!

“Yes!! Don’t worry, sir, there are less than ten days left before the final paving work.

By that time, when the exterior walls have been smoothed and polished, the business will have taken shape.

The rest are just trivial matters, and as long as you put more effort into it, you will be able to get it done. "

At this point, Li Zhigang showed a trace of regret on his face:
"Sir, I have also visited the concrete and lime in the workshop outside the city.

If only this thing had appeared sooner,

We might be able to tear down these houses and rebuild a strong city within a city, that would be really impressive!"

Lu Yunyi smiled but said nothing:
"There will be opportunities. What our company needs to do now is to be innovative. Otherwise, we wouldn't be laying cement on the exterior walls."

Lu Yunyi turned his head and looked at the antique wooden buildings on Fudong Street.

The carved beams and painted buildings are exquisite.

“Look, these are buildings that have stood the test of history. The fact that they have been passed down for thousands of years is their essence.

Buildings made of concrete and lime,

If there is less, it will seem novel; if there is more, it will seem monotonous.

Now it’s pretty good.”

Li Zhigang looked at him in surprise, his expression becoming more respectful, not daring to show any contempt.

The adult in front of him was so young that sometimes he would have the illusion that he was talking to his own child.

However, what adults say is often very profound.

Next, Lu Yunyi and Li Zhigang walked around Yingtian Commercial Bank.

Although there is no finished product design drawing,

But Lu Yunyi could already feel the grand aura of the business.

At least, it is much more impressive than other businesses.

After going around in circles, the two were covered in a layer of dust when they left the business.

Li Zhigang patted his head and asked:
"Sir, regarding the internal structure and layout of the business, do you think there are any areas that need improvement?"

Lu Yunyi waved his hand:
“The initial drawings have been given to you, and you can decide how to proceed.

I know nothing about construction, and I am not as knowledgeable as you experts."

Although I have heard adults say this many times,

But Li Zhigang still feels fortunate.

It is really great to have a superior who does not interfere in specific affairs.

"The official knows."

“Okay, thank you for your hard work on Yingtian Commercial Bank.

The government is now much more financially comfortable, and when the monthly salary is distributed, everyone will receive a bonus."

Li Zhigang's face changed and he wanted to say something.

But Lu Yunyi waved his hand:
“You may not think highly of this little money, but the craftsmen care about it.

And, needless to say, it’s also a form of motivation.”

Li Zhigang smiled and bowed quickly:

"Thank you, Lord Minister. I will do my best to build the business!"

"Ah."

Lu Yunyi nodded, left with his personal guards and headed for the Five Military Commander's Office.

He said he was going to meet the Luchuan envoy and he was not deceiving Zhu Jinyu.

But it really happened, it happened in the afternoon.

At 2:30 pm,

The meeting hall of the Central Military Governor's Office,
Lu Yunyi walked in with a thick document in his hand.

The lobby is very spacious, with a huge long table in the middle of the room.

There is a chair at the top, and a dozen chairs on each side.

Some officials from the Governor's Office had already arrived here in advance.
Hold a pen and paper in your hand, ready to take notes at any time.

After Lu Yunyi walked into the lobby, a group of officials quickly stood up, their faces full of respect.

"Master Lu."

Lu Yunyi looked at the staff officers and clerks who were older than him and waved his hand:
"Sit down, when does it start?"

"Your Excellency, it will take another cup of tea."

An official stood up and answered, with a strange look on his face.

I had heard from the clerks of the Ministry of Works that Lord Lu liked to arrive early for every meeting. When I saw him today, it was indeed true.

Lu Yunyi nodded:
"Sit down."

After the clerk sat down, Lu Yunyi leaned back in his chair and looked at the document in his hand.

It recorded the ceasefire conditions proposed by the imperial court and the amount of compensation that Luchuan was willing to pay.

You don't need to look to know that the two are very different.

The imperial court required Luchuan to pay the silver spent on the five-year war and pensions.

A total of 5.6 million taels,

They also had to bear 80% of the construction costs of Jingdong and Chuxiong, which was nearly two million taels.

In addition, a batch of the best quality wood and minerals will be paid as tribute every year.

These figures are shocking.

Even Lu Yunyi couldn't believe his eyes.

It's too cruel.

If Luchuan agrees to such conditions, they will never be able to turn things around.

What shocked Lu Yunyi even more was that
I don’t know if these people in Luchuan are crazy or not, they can’t even bargain.

They just tentatively cut the compensation amount in half.

In Lu Yunyi's opinion, this was completely unnecessary.

Whether it is cutting 90% or 50%, their behavior has already shown an attitude.

They are prepared to lose money and have already planned to lose money.

The bottom line has been exposed before the real negotiations even started.

Lu Yunyi didn't know what Si Lunfa would think.

If he were from Luchuan, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood.

A cup of tea passed quickly, and a group of people walked into the lobby one after another.

Most of them were assistants of the Metropolitan Governor's Office and officials from the six ministries who were attending the hearings.

They saw that Lu Yunyi had already sat down.
Although a little surprised, he didn't say anything.

Immediately afterwards, the Luchuan delegation walked in, consisting of more than ten people.

The leaders were two men in their fifties.
One is the chief envoy, the other is the deputy envoy, and they are followed by the recorder.

Finally, Xu Huizu, the Duke of Wei who presided over the meeting, came in.
Following behind him were Duke of Cao Li Jinglong, Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army Geng Zhong, Minister of Revenue Yang Jing, and Left Censor-in-Chief Zhan Hui.

When everyone in the room saw them come in, they quickly stood up and bowed.

Xu Huizu waved his hand and walked straight to the top seat.
He placed the document in his hand on the table and said calmly:

"sit."

(End of this chapter)