EBE Chapter 393
Chapter 393
"To reply to Your Majesty, this humble subject specially searched all around Yutu Mountain and indeed found something!" Jin Yan said, his voice filled with excitement.After all, he had discovered a silver mine right on the outskirts of the capital.
It was well known that the Lannuo Kingdom's economy was lagging precisely because of a lack of silver and money.
Now that they had a silver mine, it was easy to imagine that their days would only get better from now on.
"What did you find?" Zhu Jingchen asked, looking at Jin Yan with a face full of anticipation.
Xu Heming, who had originally been in a hurry to leave, also quickly turned his gaze to Jin Yan.
"Your Majesty, a silver mine has been discovered on Yutu Mountain!" Jin Yan didn't beat around the bush and stated it directly.
"Really?" Zhu Jingchen himself could hardly believe his extraordinary luck. Not only did they have an iron mine, but now they had a silver mine too. Oh, wait, there was also a gold mine over in Heping County.
Suddenly, he felt as if the Lannuo Kingdom had stumbled into a nest of mines.
There were mines everywhere.
Thinking of this, Zhu Jingchen wondered if he was dreaming.
Otherwise, why would all these good things happen during his reign?
With this, a hundred years from now, when he went to meet his ancestors, he would be able to stand tall and proud.
"Your Majesty, I dare not conceal anything. This is indeed true!" Jin Yan affirmed once again.
"This is truly heaven blessing our Lannuo Kingdom!" Zhu Jingchen said with great excitement.
"Your Majesty, with this silver mine, I presume our weapons can be forged much faster now!" Xu Heming couldn't help but step forward and say.
The reason he hadn't mentioned the shortage of silver just now was out of concern that some unexpected situation might arise at Yutu Mountain.
Now, an unexpected situation had indeed occurred, but it was in a good direction.
A silver mine.
Wasn't this just like someone handing you a pillow right when you were feeling sleepy?
Thinking of this, Xu Heming looked at Zhu Jingchen with a hint of envy.
This emperor was truly lucky; he stumbled upon every good thing.
However, remembering that the title deed to this mountain originally belonged to Prince Lanhuai's estate, Xu Heming frowned again.
After all, if Prince Lanhuai knew there was a silver mine on Yutu Mountain yet deliberately kept it from the imperial court, what were his intentions?
Furthermore, no private individual was allowed to possess mineral resources; they were state property.
Prince Lanhuai knew about it but didn't report it.
This disloyalty was almost too obvious.
"Beloved Subject Xu, quickly arrange for people to mine it. Whatever you need, just arrange it yourself!" Zhu Jingchen felt like he would wake up laughing from his dreams.
As long as they could forge the new weapons, who among the surrounding nations could be their match?
Could the Qinling Kingdom also be made to pay tribute to them?
"Your Majesty, since this mine was discovered by Jin Yan's side, why not let him go?" Xu Heming felt like he was going crazy.
Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, the emperor was dumping it all on his head.
He was still waiting to get married!
"Then Jin Yan will assist Prince An!" Zhu Jingchen said without a second thought.
"Your Majesty, I believe we still need to investigate exactly what is going on with this mine!" Jin Yan said with a frown.
"Why, is there a problem inside that mountain?" Zhu Jingchen quickly asked.
"Your Majesty, don't you find it strange? Why would the title deed for this mining mountain be in the hands of a side consort from Prince Lanhuai's estate? And why would that side consort lose this deed to Second Miss Cheng?" Jin Yan was still harboring suspicions in his heart, wondering if there was some conspiracy hidden within the mountain.
He always felt like he was overlooking something!
"This matter indeed needs to be investigated. Why did Prince Lanhuai's side consort lose both of these title deeds to Qingli?" Zhu Jingchen frowned deeply as he considered the question.
"Your Majesty, it is already a certainty that Prince Lanhuai harbors ulterior motives. However, whether that side consort lost the estate and the silver mine to Second Miss Cheng intentionally or unintentionally still requires further investigation," Xu Heming quickly stepped forward and said.
"Beloved Subject Xu, Imperial Uncle, isn't he still waiting for you to take those two title deeds back? Have you taken the deed for the estate yet?" Thinking of Prince Lanhuai, Zhu Jingchen's brow furrowed.
He had originally wanted to let him off the hook, but it seemed the man didn't want to accept his goodwill.
If he insisted on courting death, then he couldn't blame him for being ruthless!
The royal family had never cared much for familial affection, let alone when it was just an imperial uncle!
If he couldn't behave himself, he couldn't complain about the emperor lacking mercy!
"I will go find him right away!" Xu Heming quickly said. After all, he had been planning to go meet Prince Lanhuai anyway.
Otherwise, the prince might start getting suspicious as to why he wasn't anxious even though his son had been in his hands for so long!
"Go on, use the estate's title deed to string him along first!" Zhu Jingchen had already ordered people to search the estate inside and out, and they couldn't find a single valuable item left!
Now, that estate was nothing more than an ordinary piece of property!
Since Prince Lanhuai wanted it, he would give it to him!
"Your Majesty, there is one more thing!" Speaking of estates, Xu Heming suddenly thought of another issue—the holder of the title deed for Wangxian Mountain.
"What else is there?" Zhu Jingchen looked at Xu Heming with a puzzled expression, thinking to himself that he shouldn't be hiding anything else from him, right?
"Does Your Majesty know who the owner of Wangxian Mountain is?" Xu Heming looked at Zhu Jingchen, raising an eyebrow as he asked.
"Who is it?" Zhu Jingchen was completely baffled.
"It's you, Your Majesty!" Xu Heming felt a bit annoyed thinking about it.
Wangxian Mountain was originally part of the dowry Li Tianyou gave to Li Zhiwei.
Later on, Li Zhiwei donated her entire dowry to the imperial court.
And that included the title deed for Wangxian Mountain.
However, Li Tianyou probably didn't know there was an iron mine on that mountain.
If he had known, he certainly wouldn't have dared to put it in Li Zhiwei's dowry.
"Me?" Zhu Jingchen really couldn't remember when he had bought Wangxian Mountain.
"This was part of the dowry that Miss Li donated to the imperial court back then!" Seeing Zhu Jingchen's expression, Xu Heming knew he definitely hadn't remembered, so he quickly explained.
"Hahahaha..." Zhu Jingchen burst into loud laughter upon hearing this. He hadn't expected such a coincidence.
Didn't this mean the Li family had made yet another massive contribution to the imperial court?
Seeing Zhu Jingchen laughing so loudly, Xu Heming felt a bit embarrassed to even look at him.
He also felt a little displeased in his heart, realizing the emperor was benefiting from his future wife.
Although he was very clear that if Li Tianyou had known there was an iron mine inside, he would have handed it over to the imperial court anyway!
Seeing Zhu Jingchen look so smug made Xu Heming uncomfortable!
This was his princess consort's property!
"Your Majesty, my wedding is approaching. Since Miss Li donated her entire dowry to the imperial court back then, I believe that now... shouldn't the imperial court compensate Miss Li with a portion of her dowry?" Xu Heming asked cheekily, looking at Zhu Jingchen.
Zhu Jingchen looked at Xu Heming with a face full of disgust. Was this still the Xu Heming he knew?
To actually ask him for a dowry?
"Is this your idea, or Li Tianyou's?" Zhu Jingchen pondered in his heart. That dowry shouldn't have been enough to shake the foundations of the Li family. Otherwise, was the wealthiest family in the Lannuo Kingdom really that poor?
Somehow, he found that hard to believe.