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Chapter 1052: Lian Guoshi's Reassignment

Gao Yiye instantly understood. "This merchant will find a way to get more of these shrimp, either from our merchant ships or by sourcing them from coastal cities himself. A new trade route will open up."

Bai Yuan smiled. "Once he does that, he'll also provide a livelihood for many porters and coastal fishermen."

Li Daoxuan chuckled, gesturing to the sliced tuna sashimi. "Come, come, try this. Raw fish slices, they're incredibly delicious."

"Raw? A bit..." Gao Yiye hesitated.

Bai Yuan, however, was much braver. He picked up a slice with his chopsticks, dipped it in the seafood soy sauce, tasted it, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? This, too, is extraordinarily good."

Only then did Gao Yiye pluck up the courage to try a piece. The texture of thick-cut tuna sashimi truly captivated anyone who tasted it.

"My, I never imagined raw fish could be so delectable."

Li Daoxuan smiled again and waved over another merchant. "Come here, you. Come and try this fish."

The merchant scurried over, took a bite, and his expression instantly became wonderfully surprised.

The merchant was overjoyed. "Thank you, Heavenly Lord."

At this, the surrounding merchants understood. The Heavenly Lord was handing out tasks. Everyone should calm down, get in line, and collect their goods, and it would all be settled.

Before long, one merchant departed with two tubs of large lobsters.

A moment later, another merchant left with two tubs of large abalones.

Then another merchant hurried off with a large basket of huge crabs.

...

The five large ships of seafood sent by the Zheng family were completely distributed.

That same evening, the Prince of Fu's manor's dining table was laden with a lavish seafood feast.

The three-hundred-catty, corpulent Prince of Fu, Zhu Changxun, sat at the table in his "Warm and Sleepy" brand wool sweater, a napkin tucked into his chest to protect the 250 taels of silver wool sweater from drips. He looked at his concubines with a proud expression. "My dear concubines, this table of rare delicacies wasn't cheap, you know. This prince spent over 5,300 taels of silver to arrange this spread."

His concubines were a little bewildered. Over 5,300 taels for a table of dishes? Had the prince been fleeced by the merchants? But they dared not voice such thoughts, merely suppressing them.

Zhu Changxun grasped a large blue lobster with both hands, snapping off its head with a "crunch." He pulled out a massive, pristine white piece of shrimp meat, a look of utter satisfaction on his face. "Hahaha, just look at how big this shrimp is! This prince only ever ate shrimp this enormous in the imperial palace before I was enfeoffed. Since coming to Henan, I haven't enjoyed such a delicacy again."

A wistful sigh escaped him as he said this.

Dipping it in soy sauce and tossing it into his mouth, he sighed deeply. "This miraculous celestial soy sauce, this prince never tasted anything like it even in the imperial palace."

The Princess Consort quickly said, "We should buy more for our household in the future."

Zhu Changxun declared, "Indeed, buy more!"

And so, the silver from the Prince of Fu's manor began to gush out, nourishing countless fishermen, cargo laborers, and soy sauce bottling workers in the days that followed... —

While Li Daoxuan was busily selling seafood at the Xiaolangdi pier, a train steamed, whistling, into Xiaolangdi train station.

An old man in his fifties disembarked, none other than Shaanxi Governor Lian Guoshi—no, rather, the "former" Shaanxi Governor Lian Guoshi.

When he arrived at the pier, he found the Heavenly Lord, Gao Yiye, and Bai Yuan enjoying a grand seafood feast right by the water.

Seeing Lian Guoshi, Li Daoxuan smiled and waved him over. "Oh, Governor Lian, come join us. Hmm? How did you end up in Henan?"

Lian Guoshi quickly came over, bowed respectfully, and sat beside Bai Yuan. "Reporting to the Heavenly Lord, this subordinate has served as Shaanxi Governor for six years, and barely any taxes have been collected. It seems His Majesty was displeased with my performance, so he has reassigned me to Nanjing for a sinecure, as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue."

Bai Yuan said, "Oh? Is that so? So, Governor Lian, you're here at Xiaolangdi pier to take a boat to Nanjing?"

Lian Guoshi chuckled. "Precisely."

Bai Yuan expressed a hint of admiration. "From a high-ranking provincial administrator to being reassigned to Nanjing for a quiet post, and you're still so cheerful. Impressive, your composure is truly remarkable."

Lian Guoshi laughed heartily. "In the past, I would certainly have been frustrated by this, but this time, I feel no sadness at all. During my years as Shaanxi Governor, had it not been for the Heavenly Lord's assistance, this subordinate would never have been able to handle the mess of rebels. Not to mention such a peaceful reassignment, I might have been imprisoned, exiled to the army, or beheaded, just like Yang He, who died in a foreign land. That I can speak frankly and cheerfully here now is already an unexpected blessing. Unworthy of the position, truly unworthy."

At this, he turned to Li Daoxuan, cupping his hands. "After this subordinate arrives in Nanjing, I still wish to continue serving the Heavenly Lord. Should there be any place where I can be of use, I will fully commit myself upon receiving the Heavenly Lord's decree."

Nanjing, huh?

Li Daoxuan found it somewhat interesting. Having Lian Guoshi in Nanjing, biding his time, might be quite useful.

Gao Yiye curiously asked, "Governor Lian, what exactly does a Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue do?"

Lian Guoshi explained with a smile, "The Ministry of Revenue, well, it manages land taxes, customs duties, likin taxes, public bonds, currency... as well as immigration and land reclamation, pacifying and resettling refugees, preventing powerful gentry from seizing land, weighing market commodities, assessing prices... and so on."

Gao Yiye pondered, "Oh? These matters... are indeed quite important. Speaking of which, most of our Gao Family Village factories fall under the Ministry of Revenue's jurisdiction, don't they?"

Lian Guoshi affirmed, "Yes! As soon as I received the reassignment order, I began considering this. Once I reach Nanjing, I can imitate our factories and industries in Xi'an and develop them thoroughly in the Nanjing area. This will certainly benefit the people of Jiangnan."

Li Daoxuan smiled. "Excellent! It's commendable that you proactively want to do this. Go to Nanjing and take up your post first. Yiye, you can then arrange for a group of our people, with technology and supplies, to go and assist Minister Lian."

Gao Yiye smiled gracefully. "As the Heavenly Lord commands."

With this, Gao Family Village could once again extend its reach to Nanjing.

Bai Yuan suddenly thought of something. "Minister Lian, after you leave, who will be appointed Shaanxi Governor? If it's some unknown character, we'll have to find a way to deal with him."

A strange expression appeared on Lian Guoshi's face, and he chuckled. "No need to 'deal with' him; he's one of us."

Bai Yuan exclaimed, "What?"

Lian Guoshi said, "His Majesty has appointed Sun Chuanting as Shaanxi Governor."

Bai Yuan gasped, "Ah?"

Gao Yiye was also slightly surprised. "Principal Sun from the Yellow Pole Military Academy?"

"Yes," Lian Guoshi confirmed. "Right now, Sun Chuanting is probably feeling quite frustrated."

He was right. Sun Chuanting had just received the reassignment order and was standing on the roof of the Yellow Pole Military Academy's teaching building, looking down at the military academy he had personally built. He tore at his hair in frustration. "This is bad, I can't be in two places at once!"