vstars Chapter 638 added to the archives! Locked!
Chapter 638 added to the archives! Locked!
The gleaming silver was deposited into the vault, and the hands of both Master Qian and Master Xing trembled slightly as they held the keys.
Use this to test the advisor!
Oh no, I need to use more locks, and the keys need to be stored separately.
Lord Qiu gets one, Lord Jiang gets one, and their two advisors each get one. It would be best if the new captain who arrived today also got one.
The more people there are, and the more dispersed the keys are, the safer it is.
But this is just their bookish way of thinking. If they really wanted to steal silver, why would they go through the trouble of collecting several keys?
One axe was all it took; brute force can overcome any skill.
Would robbers be so particular as to be afraid of breaking the lock?
It's also possible that they would simply dismantle the warehouse door.
"Sir, not many people noticed us when we arrived, did they?"
"How could we not notice? Hundreds of carriages were coming in a grand procession. Sigh, Master was too impulsive this time. Where did he get so much silver all at once?"
As Lord Qiu spoke, his eyes kept glancing at Chen Lin. Chen Lin snapped his fingers, and dozens of secret guards appeared out of nowhere.
"Master Chen!"
Chen Lin nodded and instructed everyone to continue secretly guarding the county government warehouse, and to send messages by carrier pigeon if anything happened.
Jiang Xiaoqi generously sponsored more than a dozen homing pigeons this time.
Chen Lin arranged the carriages himself. It can only be said that Manager Chen's business has really taken off recently. His network of connections is getting wider and wider. Even Jiang Xiaoqi doesn't dare to guarantee that he can gather a hundred carriages to transport goods in a short period of time without any cheat codes.
But Chen Lin did it, and very promptly.
Speed is only one aspect; the well-trained escort team also owes much to Chen Lin's daily training.
This kid is a real talent.
Entering the palace as a eunuch is truly a waste of talent.
However, the Second Prince did not treat Chen Lin as an ordinary palace servant; Chen Lin still had the opportunity and stage to demonstrate his talents.
After giving instructions to the guards, Chen Lin conjured a carrier pigeon from his pocket and released it in front of Qiu Cheng and the two advisors, Qian and Xing.
The three were dumbfounded by Chen Lin's actions. Hmm, the Second Prince was indeed very thoughtful.
Their idea of buying a few new locks was really childish.
"Lord Chen, this storeroom is locked. Do you have the key?"
Master Qian stopped addressing the other party, Master Chen, as a man of such high status. What was wrong with calling him "Master"?
"You can just take the key. Lord Qiu can also have a copy made for easy access in the future."
"Uh, yes, yes, of course, Lord Qiu should have a key. In the future, we'll use all three keys to open the storeroom door, just in case."
"Yes, don't worry, the guards are all nearby, no villains will dare to come here."
This statement sounds both reassuring and threatening; in short, people with different intentions will interpret it differently.
Fortunately, all three were honest people, and their only worry was the safety of the money. With Chen Lin's words, their hearts finally settled down.
However, I still plan to collect the silver at night in the future, instead of making a grand entrance into the county government office in broad daylight like today.
Sigh, let it go today, but I'll have to be more careful in the future.
"Now that the matter is settled, I will return to the capital. I hope the three of you will continue to take care of me in the future."
The employer knows everyone is busy, and will soon send suitable personnel to help and share the burden, so everyone can rest assured.
"Really?" Lord Qiu's eyes lit up. Was reinforcements coming?!
Heaven knows he's been using himself like an octopus. Although he has two or three assistants, two of them have become crew members. These two clerks are very capable, but they don't own the business. They do the work, but they still belong to the county government.
If they could get a few of his own shipbuilding team members, that would be a fantastic thing.
Now that his son has been appointed to the Ministry of War, he cannot be easily transferred. The helpers that Eunuch Chen mentioned might be those people he had previously sponsored.
Qiu Cheng's idea was indeed good, but he did not expect that the people who came to help would include several members of the Jiang family, and three of them, all of whom were promising young talents of the Jiang family.
The youngest among them is the third-ranked scholar in this year's imperial examination. Oh my, His Highness really values shipbuilding. Lord Jiang is also recommending talented young men from his family without any favoritism.
Qiu Cheng was not averse to this. What does it matter what surname a capable and competent person is?
Besides, what's wrong with having the surname Jiang? This just proves that Scholar Jiang is wholeheartedly following His Highness and has staked his entire clan on it.
This made Qiu Cheng feel very safe. He used to feel that there was something between him and Scholar Jiang, but now that the money was in place and the personnel were about to arrive, Qiu Cheng felt more at ease than ever before.
So many years of perseverance and dedication, this unwavering commitment to going down this path to the bitter end, have finally paid off.
Although there is no obvious light at the end of the tunnel yet, Qiu Cheng feels that his and his son's future is already mostly secured.
"Click," "click," "click."
Three thick brass locks, each as thick as an arm, were put on, and three keys were strung on red ropes and hung around the necks of Qiu Cheng, Master Qian, and Master Xing, respectively.
The three of them unanimously kept inserting the key until they felt a chill on their chests.
Chen Lin returned to Beijing with an empty convoy, still as grand and imposing as ever, the only difference being that the tire tracks left behind were much lighter than when they arrived.
"Sigh~ Never mind, everyone, keep up the good work. There will be plenty of work to do at the docks. You two clerks should rest early. I'll head back to the docks now."
"Sir, does the higher-ups really mean to build ten more ships?"
"That's right, ten ships. The owner wants to build a fleet, an ocean-going fleet."
The two advisors nodded. No wonder, no wonder they paid money to support the craftsmen for more than half a month. It turns out they had planned this all along.
The owner is truly powerful and has real guts.
Regardless of what the two thought, Qiu Cheng left the county government office clutching his chest.
His composure just now was an act; the key on his chest reminded him that he now had control over 500,000 taels of silver.
However, we still need to save money wherever possible. His Highness's money doesn't grow on trees, so every little bit saved counts.
Second Prince: Um, if I said this was sponsored by a wealthy patron, I don't know if Lord Qiu would believe me~
Jiang Xiaoqi, the behind-the-scenes financier, still didn't want the world to know that he had funded the construction of the ships, after all, there's a saying, "His merits are so great that they threaten the master."
It's not that he doesn't trust the students he taught, but being cautious is perfectly reasonable, since people can change.
It's enough for your boss to know about your achievements. As for the other lower-ranking officials, what difference does it make whether they know or not? Are they going to enthrone you?
Ahem, Jiang Xiaoqi doesn't have such grand ambitions. Mainly, he thinks being an emperor is really not a good job.