Transmigrated To Ancient Time: Thrive With An Auction System!

Chapter 449: A Massive Project ( 2 )

Now that Xue Ya’er had finished informing her husband about the land transfer, she asked, “Husband, now that the Northeast City is your fief, should we move here or stay at Zhu’an?”

Lu Qianxuan thought for a moment before he said, “Right now, we can’t transfer the White Tiger Army yet. So, I still have to return to Zhu’an. But if you want to stay here, you can stay.”

Hearing this, Xue Ya’er thought about the business at home and shook her head. “I will go back with you. There is still unfinished business at home. After I take care of it, I will come here to keep an eye on the situation.”

Knowing how capable his wife was, Lu Qianxuan had no objection. “Okay, I will listen to you.”

Just after they finished their discussion, a guard entered the tent and said, “Reporting to the General, Young Master Lei is waiting outside.”

Xue Ya’er was taken aback by this and muttered, “What brought her here?”

Lu Qianxuan glanced at the guard and said, “Invite Young Master Lei in.”

The guard bowed and left the tent. Not long after, Yao Zhi walked in.

The first person she saw was her husband. With his height, it would be hard to miss him.

Noticing that so many people were present, she smiled and cupped her fists. “Greetings, everyone.”

The military officers now looked at her with awe and admiration. For them, she was their God of Wealth now. They could go against anything and anyone, but they would never go against money. So, their behavior was extremely polite.

“Greetings, Young Master Lei,” they said in unison.

Yao Zhi was surprised by their sudden change in attitude toward her. Although they had never treated her rudely, they had never been this polite before.

Ignoring his subordinates’ actions, Lu Qianxuan gestured for her to take a seat and asked, “Young Master Lei, what brought you here today?”

After she took her seat, Yao Zhi said, “I believe that Lady Lu already informed Marquis Zhongyong about my land purchase.”

Lu Qianxuan nodded at her words. “My wife just told me about it.”

“My visit this time is to ask for a favor from Marquis Zhongyong.”

“Oh? I wonder what favors I can help you with?” Lu Qianxuan asked.

Yao Zhi took out the designs she had shown Xue Ya’er previously and placed them on the desk.

“These are the designs for my estate. I’m not familiar with the situation in this place, so I want to ask for the Marquis’ help to hire people.”

Everyone looked at the designs curiously. Although they didn’t understand architecture, they could see that each area was designed meticulously.

Lu Qianxuan studied the designs for a while and said, “Young Master Lei, I can help you hire people. But the size of your land is more than 320,000 acres. Even if we hire 10,000 people, it will take at least 3 years to finish.”

Yao Zhi frowned at this. “3 years is too long.” After a moment of pause, she continued, “Marquis, I don’t mind hiring more people as long as the estate can be completed within 6 months.”

“6 months?!” everyone exclaimed in shock.

“Young Master Lei, if your estate only includes farmland, orchards, and animal farms, it might be possible to finish it within 6 months. But your estate not only includes those, but there are also workers’ dormitories, workshops, a winery, stables, and even manors. It’s an impossible task,” Wen Liyan said.

When everyone thought that Yao Zhi’s demand was outrageous, Xue Ya’er thought otherwise. She had already investigated the situation of the nearby villages, towns, and cities.

While they looked peaceful and prosperous, the people living there were oppressed by local tyrants.

The merchant, noble, and official families hired people at very low wages to work for them, while the government collected taxes 50% higher than those stipulated by the Imperial Court.

The commoners were barely able to survive.

After she considered the options for a while, she finally said, “Husband, I think this is not impossible.”

The moment they heard this, everyone turned to her.

“Wife, do you have an idea?” Lu Qianxuan asked.

Xue Ya’er nodded and replied, “I have investigated the situation in this area and discovered that there are lots of commoners barely able to survive due to failed harvests and high taxes. If we announce that we are hiring people to work, I’m sure that a lot of people would be willing to come.”

“Wife, you mean to hire people from other cities and towns?”

“Not only the towns and cities, but also the villages,” Xue Ya’er said.

Yao Zhi also knew about this, but she had no authority. If she hired people, she would offend those local tyrants for sure. Without political or military power, she wouldn’t be able to go against so many people at once.

As the wise people said, even a dragon had to adapt when it came to the snake’s territory.

That’s why she came to find Lu Qianxuan.

As the lord of the fief, he had the highest authority here. Those local tyrants wouldn’t dare to go against him. What’s more, he held the strongest military power. Even if they dared to fight back, with a flick of his hand, his army would stomp those tyrants to death.

Seeing that her friend said nothing, Xue Ya’er asked, “Young Master Lei, what do you think about this idea?”

Yao Zhi smiled and nodded. “Lady Xue, this is a good idea.”

She calculated for a moment and said, “We can start by hiring 100,000 people with a daily wage of 30 wen, not including food.”

Xue Ya’er calculated for a moment and nodded. “The daily wage will be 3,000 taels of silver. If we can finish the project in half a year, the total wage would be 540,000 taels of silver. This does not include the materials.”

“I will prepare the materials. All they need to do is build the estate according to the design,” Yao Zhi smiled.