"Become a chef?"
Su Mu was stunned, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
’The dignified Young Master of the Golden Wind Tower, an assassin with a boundless future, and his life’s ambition is to be a chef?’
Su Mu certainly wouldn’t object to him becoming a chef.
In fact, even if Xue Shan went off and opened a restaurant on his own, Su Mu would never have noticed.
The fact that he was being so frank with Su Mu now meant he truly had no other plans; he really just wanted to open a restaurant.
"As long as you abide by the laws of Songjiang Prefecture, then Songjiang Prefecture welcomes you to open a restaurant."
Su Mu said.
"Deal."
Xue Shan grinned and pulled a wooden box from his robes. "One million taels in silver notes. They’re from Datong Bank, redeemable on demand."
He tossed the wooden box to Su Mu, then vaulted out the window and vanished into the night in a flash.
The moment he went out the window, Su Mu could no longer sense his presence at all. He couldn’t help but marvel internally.
’This world is vast, filled with countless talented and extraordinary people.’
’You can’t underestimate any Martial Artist.’
Su Mu had to admit that he was no match for Xue Shan’s skills in concealment and stealth.
Although he had already comprehended a phenomenon, he still had much to learn and improve upon on the path of the Martial Dao.
...
SLAP!
A thick stack of silver notes was slapped directly down in front of Lu Mingyang, the Prefect of Songjiang Prefecture.
"What’s this?"
Lu Mingyang asked, his face full of confusion.
"Silver notes from Datong Bank. One million taels."
Su Mu said calmly, "I’m lending it to Songjiang Prefecture. I’ll give you a cheap interest rate—one-thousandth."
"Lending it to Songjiang Prefecture?"
Lu Mingyang’s eyes went wide as he stared at the stack of silver notes in disbelief.
He couldn’t believe it. Where had Su Mu gotten one million taels of silver?
What was even more incredible was that Su Mu actually wanted to lend these one million taels to Songjiang Prefecture!
"You don’t get it?"
Su Mu said, "If you don’t get it, I’ll break it down for you."
"The Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy is the imperial court’s project, not my personal one. Correct?"
"Correct."
Lu Mingyang replied, still confused.
"Although I was ordered to build the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy, there’s no reason I should have to pay for it myself. The court should be funding this. Correct?"
Su Mu continued.
"Correct. The court authorized you to raise funds from the local Government Office."
Lu Mingyang nodded.
"But Songjiang Prefecture has no money."
Su Mu went on, "Although I confiscated the assets of a few corrupt officials, the illicit funds recovered are nowhere near enough to build the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy."
"And while Songjiang Prefecture sold off some land to raise capital, it’s still not enough to complete the construction of the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy, right?"
"Right."
Lu Mingyang said. The Songjiang Bailu Academy was being built to last a thousand years, so of course they had to strive for perfection.
However, the costs were immense. Even with the Wu Family’s staunch support, funds were extremely tight.
Stone, lumber, artisans—everything cost money.
Every morning he woke up, silver was gushing out like water.
Lu Mingyang worried about this every day. He had even forgotten that building the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy was technically Su Mu’s task.
"Since there isn’t enough money, I’m lending it to Songjiang Prefecture."
Su Mu continued, "You can just use Songjiang Prefecture’s annual tax revenue to pay me back later."
"For now, Songjiang Prefecture can use this money to get the Bailu Academy built."
"Once the Bailu Academy is established and students from all over the world come here to study, won’t wealth pour into Songjiang Prefecture?"
"That makes sense."
Lu Mingyang mulled it over for a moment, then took the silver notes.
With these silver notes, the construction timeline for the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy could be shortened even further.
Clutching the silver, Lu Mingyang hurried straight to the construction site.
’Lending money to the government... this feels pretty good.’
Watching Lu Mingyang’s retreating figure, a slight smile touched Su Mu’s lips.
The Taiping Bureau’s lightning-fast operation had all but wiped out the forces of the Golden Wind Tower and the Pure Land Sect in the Songjiang Building, which also served to intimidate the other Jianghu People who had come from afar.
Combined with the compensation money from the Golden Wind Tower, the ample supply of silver allowed the construction speed of the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy to reach a new level.
In just a month and a half, news arrived that the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy’s construction was complete.
...
"As planned, the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy is divided into a teaching area and a residential area."
Lu Mingyang and Zhang Tongxiang led Su Mu on a final inspection. "The residential area is near the commercial district at the foot of the mountain. Per your request, my lord, the residential area—especially the section reserved for demons—is stratified. The free option is to live directly in caves. If they want better food and lodging, they’ll have to spend money..."
As Su Mu walked through, he was full of praise for Zhang Tongxiang’s design skills.
’He’s truly a master architect renowned throughout the world. The pavilions, towers, and garden landscapes of this Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy are all exquisitely and uniquely designed.’
’This will definitely captivate those country bumpkins from the Demon Court who’ve never seen the world, so much so that they’ll never want to leave.’
’Once they’ve witnessed the prosperity of Da Xuan, if we can’t manage to empty the silver from their pockets, then that’s a failing on Songjiang Prefecture’s part!’
"We can have the venerable Lord Zhu Jiuyuan come for his inspection now."
Su Mu nodded in satisfaction and said, "Once he, the Mountain Master, gives his approval, our mission will be considered to have reached Perfection."
"Master Zhang, your contribution to finishing this task so quickly was the greatest."
"Lord Lu, giving Master Zhang a generous bonus wouldn’t be too much, would it?"
"Not at all."
Lu Mingyang nodded with a smile.
"I have one more suggestion."
Su Mu mused for a moment before speaking. "We could place a stone stele in front of the memorial archway at the foot of the mountain. The front of the stele should tell the origin story of the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy. For that, I’ll have to ask you, Lord Lu, to compose a piece."