lcionline Chapter 278 Meeting the Saint
Chapter 278 Meeting the Saint
"I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" Mu Tonghai asked Xu Shu with a smile.
Xu Shu wasn't interested at all and just lazily said "whatever".
Mu Jinghua poked his head out curiously, and when he saw that it was Mu Tonghai, a hint of disgust flashed across his face.
Mu Tonghai met his gaze and coughed awkwardly. He obviously thought that Mu Jinghua and Qiao Wan were sitting together. He had no intention of disguising what he said just now. Now that he was caught, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and act: "You are riding with a man outside your marriage before you get married, you..."
Mu Tonghai didn’t dare to say anything, after all, Xu Shu’s expression was really not good.
No matter if it was fake or real, some things should be said in moderation. After all, he was not the real Mu Tonghai.
So he changed the subject and quickly poured out what he wanted to say: "The good news is that I have a badge that can help you enter the palace. The bad news is that His Majesty wants to see you."
"To see me?" Xu Shu smiled first, then thought of the soul under the emperor's skin, and felt that Mu Tonghai had done something about it.
But Xu Shute knew that Mu Tonghai was still trying hard to cover up his identity, otherwise he would not have been so harsh on Xiao Mujin just now.
Of course, whether it was sincere or false, he would fight back: "I, Xu, am so honored that I had to trouble Prime Minister Mu to come and tell you personally. If you don't know, you would think that His Majesty summoned me to make me a marquis and prime minister."
Mu Tonghai's face turned red, and he couldn't help looking around. He really saw a few people coming over, and each of them looked like they had "got something". He felt even more embarrassed.
He had clearly made sure that there was no one around when he stopped Xu Shu to talk, but who knew that Mu Jinghua was sitting in the sedan chair and there were a few people eavesdropping outside.
Why are Xu Shuye and Mu Ge'er so inseparable and can't be separated for a moment?
Mu Tonghai finished cursing in his heart, but pretended to be indifferent on the surface: "I just came out of the Yangxin Palace and happened to meet Master Xu, so I said something extra. My friend, you can't help teasing me like this, but it hurts the feelings of an old man like me."
Xu Shu did not give him a way out: "This sedan chair of mine was moved from the Qiao Mansion. There is no name of mine, Xu Shu, nor any emblem on it. We have drawn the door curtain and closed the window. How could Prime Minister Mu have guessed that I was inside?"
Mu Tonghai was not good at bickering, but he was good at pretending to be confused. He shook his head when he heard this: "I'm just trying. If I call you and you agree, then it means you are not me, right?"
Xu Shu was convinced by his words. Qiao Wan came back to urge him. Mu Tonghai took off his badge and handed it to Xu Shu, saying hurriedly, "Goodbye, my friend."
Then he disappeared without a trace.
Xu Shu looked at the jade token that was almost thrown in, a little speechless: "Let's go."
Mu Jinghua came up to look at the jade token, and his tone was tense: "Xu Shu, what does the dog emperor want to see you for? Is there something wrong?"
Hearing him call him that, Xu Shu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He put away the jade pendant in his hand and couldn't help but kiss Mu Jinghua: "Who did you learn this from? Calling someone a dog emperor in their territory?"
Mu Jinghua realized that he had said something wrong and stuck out his tongue in embarrassment: "I'm sorry, I was just worried about you."
"I know." Xu Shu stroked the jade in his hand, "Little Mu Jin, do you hate Mu Tonghai?"
"People like this are not worth my trouble." Mu Jinghua shrugged indifferently, but thought in his heart that it would be better to die and have peace.
Xu Shu saw that he was not very hostile to Mu Tonghai, at least not as much as he thought, so he did not hide it from him and told him the truth: "Before I came to look for you, the court sent the prefect of Yuzhou."
"Ah?" This was the first time Mu Jinghua had heard of this. He was no longer the ignorant boy he once was, and he immediately realized what this meant. "Did he embarrass you?"
"No."
After all, before he had time to make things difficult for me, he was killed by him.
But Xu Shu was afraid that the bloodiness would scare Mu Jinghua, so he just said, "But I did offend him after all, and the emperor will definitely come to settle accounts with me."
"But it may not be." Xu Shu said, "Yuzhou is left to Jiang Yu to take care of, and Xu Shi is watching over it, so it's safe."
"The news may not necessarily leak out. Of course, it is also possible that Qiao Jianhong reported it."
Speaking of Qiao Jianhong again, a hint of disgust flashed across Mu Jinghua's eyes, but he soon remembered something and curled his lips slightly.
Xu Shu didn't pay attention to these, but was thinking about the current situation in Yuzhou.
He has done everything he can. Just the forging industry that has formed an industrial chain and exports only cold weapons is enough for Yuzhou to stand proudly in troubled times.
Then there is the military strength. As long as Jiang Yu does not cause trouble and operates according to the tax system formulated by Xu Shu at that time, the physical fitness and living standards of the people in Yuzhou City will definitely improve rapidly.
Once living conditions improve, it will be difficult to avoid disaster victims or residents from the surrounding areas moving into the city.
In the past, Xiao Ran’s followers, and even Jiang Yu, who was famous as a businessman, did not understand the importance of this group of laborers, so as soon as Xu Shu took over, he immediately adjusted the immigration policy.
If you have some money and want to live in Yuzhou, we can give you some preferential policies to encourage you to settle down.
As for the penniless disaster victims, they have always been despised wherever they go.
Troubled times are always cruel.
But although Xu Shu felt sorry for them, he did not plan to pay out of his own pocket to save them. As a qualified profiteer, what he had to do was to squeeze the value out of these people.
Those who still have some strength go to move bricks, serve in the army, grind mills, and hoe the fields... Those who don’t have much strength, the old, weak, sick, and disabled, go to weave cloth, cook, feed chickens, and run shops...
This policy has achieved considerable results within one month of its implementation.
It’s a pity that people in ancient times were not well-informed. Although Xu Shu wanted to recruit more laborers, the laborers didn’t know to come this way.
But... Xu Shu thought, before he left, Yuzhou was still in good order, and those who communicated with the court might have been killed by him.
To serve as a warning to others, I am afraid that those who originally had the idea of doing so would not dare to do so now.
Except for the fact that Qiao Jianhong's spies who had been ambushing in Yuzhou early in the morning had not been completely removed, other places were in good order.
As long as Jiang Yu doesn't do anything naughty, Yuzhou will continue to develop at its current scale and it won't take long for it to become a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery.
Xu Shu reviewed the current situation in Yuzhou in his mind and felt more confident.
Even if he failed to reach an agreement with the emperor, he was not completely helpless and would not have to wander around the world with little Mujin and be hunted down.
"Xu Shu?" Mu Jinghua suddenly spoke up, pulling Xu Shu's sleeve and lowering his voice, "It's that eunuch again."
When Xu Shu came back to his senses, he found that the sedan chair had stopped at some point, and in front of him, Eunuch Wang, who had come to Bai Mansion to read the imperial edict last time, was looking at him with a smile.
"Mr. Xu, His Majesty invites you."