"Bang!"
Li Yi knocked away Li Xuan's "East Wind" and chose a card. "Thirty thousand!"
Two days ago, the students of the Arithmetic Faculty had begun to calculate the accounts nervously. The officials of the Imperial Court were all on edge because of this matter. They couldn't sleep well or eat well. They had lost five kilograms in two days. As the dean of the Arithmetic Faculty, if he were to play mahjong in the faculty, it would be a little too much.
Fortunately, the school was not far from the palace. Li Xuan had been busy in the Academy of Sciences next door. Since the Princess Royal was playing Mahjong, they needed one more player. Finally, they called the arrogant Lolita over.
"Win!"
The arrogant Lolita pushed down her card wall and smiled. "Give me money, give me money!"
Yong Ning stood by Li Yi's side. Her heart ached as she passed a copper coin to Li Yi. In just an hour, the copper coin in her hand had been reduced by half.
While shuffling the cards, MIngzhu looked up at Li Yi and said slowly, "Today, more than ten officials said they were sick and didn't attend the morning court. The morning court ended in less than a quarter of an hour."
She paused and said, "If it drags on for a few more days, I'm afraid half of the people in the court will be gone."
"We'll know the result tomorrow." Li Yi looked at the cards. They were very good. He casually played a South Wind. Now he just needed to wait for six or nine rounds of winning.
"Win!"
The arrogant Lolita pushed down the card wall and said with a smile, "Give me money!"
Mahjong couldn't be played anymore, so they played poker. Li Yi and the arrogant Lolita were on one side, while Li Xuan and the Princess were on the other. After a while, Yong Ning's smile became bright.
"Father, are you really going to find all the corrupt officials?"
Play cards well. Look at how professional Li Xuan was. The Princess Royal Highness couldn't stop talking about the state affairs. Li Yi waved his hand and said, "How is that possible? If we catch all of them, I'm afraid the entire court will be purged."
MIngzhu's expression softened as she asked, "Then why do you still want to check these accounts?"
"You'll know during the morning assembly tomorrow." Li Yi arranged his cards and changed the topic. "How's your matter going?"
"Everything is going well." MIngzhu nodded her head and said, "According to what you said, a large piece of land has been set up outside the city and a workshop has been built. Most of the farmers near the capital have sent over girls above the age of 13. The textile machines have also been improved. Soon, the clothing shops in the capital will be able to open on a large scale."
"When the time comes, we'll have to break it down. Clothes for the commoners and those for the nobles and officials have to be separated. For the latter, it'll take two more days of work and the craftsmanship will be more exquisite. The price will be a hundred times more expensive."
"Also, send someone to manage the military rations business with the family of generals. You're a princess, so it'll be easier for you to interact with them. No one will gossip about you. I'll just be in charge of collecting money …"
Li Xuan was a little depressed as he asked, "Why can MIngzhu do the military rations business, but I can't?"
Li Yi glanced at him. Was this guy stupid? Although he was considered half a member of the royal family, he was still the son of a prince. What would the courtiers think if he made such a good relationship with the family of generals and went there every other day?
A smile suddenly appeared on Li Xuan's face. He didn't mind this matter anymore. He threw out a few cards and said, "Three and two. I only have one card left."
"I can't afford it."
Li Yi waved his hand. Three twos and two threes. He couldn't afford it.
MIngzhu was on his side. Even if he could afford it, he wouldn't want it.
"Royal bomb!" The tsundere Lolita threw out all the cards in her hand. "Straight, we won again …"
"Give me money, give me money!"
When it came to playing cards and chess, there was no more reliable teammate than the tsundere Lolita. Yong Ning was busy collecting the money. Li Xuan was a little discouraged. He thought of something and asked, "MIngzhu, your birthday is coming soon. What present do you want this year?"
This kind of question was wrong. Who would directly ask others what present they wanted? When the time came, they could directly give others a few million taels of silver. It would definitely be more shocking than any present.
The tsundere Lolita raised her head to look at Li Yi and asked, "Sir, what present do you intend to give my royal sister? My birthday is coming soon. Your present can't be worse than my royal sister's!"
"It's a secret for now."
Li Yi actually didn't know when MIngzhu's birthday was. However, it was just in time this time. He should be able to prepare it soon.
"My birthday is the same as MIngzhu's." Li Xuan turned to look at Li Yi with a meaningful gaze.
Li Yi cupped his hands at him. "Happy birthday!"
…
…
"The second day, it's already the second day."
In an official's mansion in the capital, a middle-aged man was anxiously pacing in the courtyard. There were a few blisters on his mouth.
"Master, are you still not going to the court tomorrow?" A woman walked out of the house and said worriedly.
The middle-aged man waved his hand impatiently and said, "No, I'm not going. Just say that I'm sick, very sick!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a servant came forward and reported, "Master, people from the palace have come!"
The middle-aged man's face immediately turned pale. His legs went soft and he asked with a trembling voice, "Come … How many came?"
"One." The servant said, "Master, do you want to see him?"
"No, no. Go ask him what's the matter." The middle-aged man waved his hand and quickly walked to the bed in the room to lie down. He used two pieces of old ginger to wipe his face. He immediately looked much weaker.
Not long after, the servant came in from outside.
"Left?" The middle-aged man asked.
The servant replied, "He left."
The middle-aged man got up from the bed and asked, "What did he say?"
"The eunuch from the palace said that His Majesty has something important to announce in the morning court tomorrow and cannot ask for leave. Even if his life is hanging by a thread, he must be carried to the Golden Hall …"
The middle-aged man's vision turned black and he weakly fell onto the bed.
At different times, there were many officials who also felt that their vision was turning black.
In the past few days, almost half of the officials in the court had been gone. It seemed that they had all contracted some kind of acute illness overnight. They were so sick that they could not even go to court and could only rest at home.
His Majesty did not say much about this. It seemed that nothing had happened in the past two days. There was nothing unusual in the court.
However, on the second day, he sent a eunuch to inform those officials who were sick that they were not allowed to ask for leave in the morning court. The message was very clear. Even if they were to die, they had to die in the court.
Everyone knew that all the accounts sent to the mathematics school would be settled the next day. Next, it was time for His Majesty to settle the accounts with them.
The various city gates of the capital had been tightly guarded by the imperial guards. It was easy to enter the capital but difficult to leave. Furthermore, the vicinity of the homes of the officials in the court had probably already been closely watched by the Secret Intelligence Unit. If they made any abnormal movements, the Secret Intelligence Unit would immediately come to their manors to ask for a cup of tea.
Li Yi was not worried that there would be people in the capital who would not be able to sleep that night. He was also not worried that their bodies would not be able to take it after not sleeping well for many days. He looked at the oval glass bead that Fang handed over. There were almost no bubbles inside. Although there was still a bit of color, it did not affect it much. In the past month, after many improvements in equipment and craftsmanship, he had finally pushed it to this step.
He could finally use it to swindle money … he could finally use it to benefit the vast number of women in the capital.
"If we improve the craftsmanship, it will be even easier to swindle money."
Li Yi handed the glass bead to Fang and reminded him again. At the same time, a carriage loaded with boxes drove out of the mathematics school and straight into the palace gates.
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