YWTGU -Chapter 30 The Sky Is Falling! How the Hell Did This Make Money Too?

In the blink of an eye, the seventh day arrived.

Inside the main hall of the Bureau of Revenue.

Li An sat behind his desk, a towering stack of account books piled before him.

The past few days could only be described as a wild roller coaster.

For the first five days, he had been spending money like water. Approving budgets felt downright exhilarating!

Over three million taels of silver in allocations—whoever asked, he approved. Not even a blink.

The Prime Minister’s merchants had feasted greedily and shamelessly. Then there were the merchants on the Imperial Uncle’s side, represented by Liu Wanqing. Li An had assumed they would be just as voracious.

But what happened?

That “dead weight” Liu Wanqing actually did the opposite!

Not only did she forbid the Imperial Uncle’s merchants from embezzling, she even ordered the use of the best materials at the lowest prices!

How was he supposed to ruin the country like this?

Fortunately, even with Liu Wanqing’s strict quality control and her elimination of the Prime Minister’s inferior suppliers, the three million taels had still almost been fully spent.

Only then did Li An feel slightly better. As long as the money was spent, the mission was technically completed, right?

As for the one or two thousand points of national fortune that Liu Wanqing’s actions had raised?

Meh. Pocket change.

Seated high above in the hall, Li An called out to Jin Daya, who had recently been running errands for him.

“Jin Daya!”

“Present!”

“Have the accounts from these past few days been compiled?”

“Yes, my lord!”

Jin Daya approached with a thick ledger in his hands, wearing a beaming grin.

“Look at that smile on your face. What’s got you so happy? Your thirteenth concubine give you another son?”

“My lord, there’s no happy event in my household. The great joy is yours! You should see for yourself…”

Li An took the ledger and flipped it open.

Then he froze.

The pages were densely packed with numbers.

But these numbers…

Why were they all income?

Wait a second—

How was there income?!

Wasn’t he holding an exposition purely to spend money?

Why was there revenue?!

“Jin Daya, did you record this wrong?”

Li An rubbed his eyes in disbelief. “Why is it all incoming funds? Aren’t we hemorrhaging money?”

“My lord, there’s no mistake!”

Jin Daya scratched his head. “Every item’s source is clearly recorded—land auctions, naming rights auctions, shop rental fees…”

“Hold on!”

Li An cut him off. “What land auctions? What naming rights auctions?”

“My lord, have you forgotten?”

Jin Daya looked innocent. “Miss Liu handled it for you!”

“Miss Liu?”

Li An’s head buzzed.

Liu Wanqing again!

“What exactly did she do? Explain it to me in detail!”

Jin Daya flashed his signature golden teeth and began excitedly recounting everything.

“My lord, didn’t you enclose a thousand acres outside the capital to build the exposition grounds?”

“Miss Liu said that once the venue was built, the surrounding land would definitely skyrocket in value!”

“So she took the initiative to enclose the nearby wasteland as well, divided it into smaller plots, and sold them.”

“And guess what happened?”

Li An’s heart sank. Did he even need to guess?

But Jin Daya couldn’t wait to say it.

“They sold out like crazy!”

“Especially after word got out that Miss Liu personally supervises the construction site every day—those young nobles started fighting over the operating rights for teahouses and taverns around the site just for a chance encounter!”

“Land prices multiplied twentyfold! Twentyfold, my lord!”

Li An nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Twenty times? Isn’t that a bit absurd?!

He had chosen that land precisely because it was remote, barren, and desolate—no birds would even bother to crap there.

He’d thought building something in such a dump would surely waste a fortune.

Instead, land prices multiplied twenty times?!

Ding!

【Land auction a massive success! Calculating impact settlement…】

【Land value around the exposition site surges!】

【Great Qi treasury receives 1.5 million taels!】

【National Fortune +3000】

【Current National Fortune: 41,979】

Li An stared at the system notification, completely numb.

What… what the hell was this?

He tried to recklessly burn money, and instead drove up real estate prices?

“There’s more!”

Jin Daya continued excitedly. “Miss Liu also organized an auction for naming rights of the Twelve Zodiac Pavilions!”

“Cloth merchants, silk traders, jewelry shop owners—all saw the opportunity and fought to sponsor!”

“Especially the ‘Rabbit Pavilion.’ Since this year is the Year of the Rabbit, it alone sold for five hundred thousand taels!”

“The others sold too!”

“Rat Pavilion—three hundred thousand. Ox Pavilion—two hundred fifty thousand. Tiger Pavilion—four hundred thousand…”

“Altogether—three million two hundred thousand taels!”

When Li An heard that number, his vision went dark.

Three million two hundred thousand?

His mission was to squander three million taels within ten days!

But the naming rights auction alone had earned over three million back?!

Ding!

【Naming rights auction creates a miracle! Calculating impact settlement…】

【3.2 million taels credited!】

【National Fortune +5000】

【Current National Fortune: 46,979】

“And there’s more!”

Jin Daya grew even more animated, practically glowing with excitement.

“My lord, didn’t you have me purchase some withered wood and Taihu stones to decorate the exposition grounds?”

Li An nodded.

He had indeed ordered Jin Daya to buy those useless junk items.

The original intention? Spend outrageous amounts on worthless things and waste money legitimately.

But—

“When Miss Liu saw the withered wood and Taihu stones, she said, ‘Young Master Li has refined taste. This symbolizes withered wood coming back to life.’”

“And somehow that spread through the city! All the noble ladies started scrambling to buy withered wood and Taihu stones!”

“Now even a worthless rock can sell for over a thousand taels!”

“All the stock I hoarded in the warehouse has skyrocketed in value!”

After hearing this, Li An felt like the sky was collapsing.

With a single sentence, Liu Wanqing had turned his ‘wasteful procurement’ into ‘value-added investment’?

What kind of divine move was that?!

Ding!

【Withered wood and Taihu stones become bestsellers! Directly stimulate luxury consumption in the capital! Calculating impact…】

【Host Li An’s ‘wasteful purchases’ transformed into ‘investment management’!】

【National Fortune +2000】

【Current National Fortune: 48,979】

“My lord! My lord! There’s more good news!”

At that moment, Zhao Dadan rushed in from outside.

Seeing the grin on his face, blooming like a flower, Li An felt an even worse premonition.

“What good news now?”

“Foreign merchants heard that Great Qi is hosting a World Expo—they’ve gone mad!”

Zhao Dadan rubbed his hands excitedly. “They want to come to the capital early to scout the market!”

“Dozens of foreign caravans have already arrived outside the city, all scrambling to rent our shops!”

“I tripled the normal rent—and they paid without hesitation!”

“In just the past few days, rental income alone has reached five hundred thousand taels!”

Ding!

【Foreign merchants flock to the capital!】

【Exposition earns massive revenue before even opening! Great Qi’s trade influence surges! Calculating…】

【National Fortune +5000】

【Current National Fortune: 53,979】

After hearing this cascade of “good news,” Li An slumped into his chair.

At this moment, his mood could be summed up as—

He wanted to die.

He came to ruin the country!

Not to help Great Qi rake in wealth!

The money he had spent these past few days had all been earned back by Liu Wanqing.

Not only earned back—but nearly doubled!

Land auctions: 1.5 million taels!

Naming rights: 3.2 million taels!

Shop rentals: 500,000 taels!

And that didn’t even count the appreciation of the Taihu stones!

Nearly five million taels in total!

And how much had he spent?

At most, just over three million taels.

And more than half of that had been controlled under Liu Wanqing’s “no embezzlement allowed” policy.

What the hell is this nonsense?!

“My lord, are you alright?”

Jin Daya looked at Li An’s ashen face with some concern.

Li An opened his mouth, trying to say something.

But he found he couldn’t get a single word out.

At this moment, he finally understood what it meant to “want to squander money but can’t.”

……

“Lord Li!”

At that moment, Hongmei walked in from outside.

She was holding a ledger and strode forward with a cold expression.

“I’ve organized the accounts.”

She placed the ledger in front of Li An. “Congratulations, my lord. You’ve netted five million taels for the Great Qi treasury.”

Her tone carried a hint of sarcasm.

“Your methods of making money are truly eye-opening for your subordinate.”

After saying that, she turned and left.

Li An looked at her back, wanting to cry but having no tears.

Hongmei had completely misunderstood him.

She must think he intentionally helped Great Qi make money!

The problem was, he really didn’t do it on purpose!

“Lord Li?”

At this moment, Liu Wanqing’s voice came from the side.

She was looking at Li An with sparkling, excited eyes.

“I heard you made so much money, Lord! You’re amazing!”

Li An looked at her innocent face and felt both exasperated and amused.

“Miss, all this money—you helped me make it!”

And yet she had the nerve to say he was amazing?

“Miss Liu, do you know how much money you’ve helped me make these past few days?”

“Huh? Wanqing just wanted to share your worries, didn’t think about making money.”

Liu Wanqing blinked innocently.

Li An sighed deeply and said helplessly:

“Five million taels. A full five million! I’ve worked my ass off selling official positions and didn’t even make this much…”

“Five million taels? Wonderful!”

Liu Wanqing clapped her hands excitedly. “Lord, you’re incredible!”

“Incredible? No, this is you being incredible…”

Li An muttered under his breath, “I really don’t know which one of us is the time traveler!”

……

Just as Li An was helplessly staring at the ledger, a commotion suddenly came from outside the door.

“Move aside! Make way!”

“We’re here to present gifts to Lord Li!”

A group of people who looked like merchants rushed in.

At the front was a chubby middle-aged man holding a golden plaque.

“Lord Li!”

The fat merchant knelt as soon as he entered. “I represent the merchants’ guild of the capital, here to present a plaque to your lordship!”

Li An looked at the plaque, which bore four large characters:

“Business Genius”

His mouth twitched involuntarily.

Business genius?

I clearly wanted to be a “spending genius”!

“Lord Li! We’ve never seen such brilliant methods!”

The fat merchant said excitedly, “First, you used Miss Liu’s reputation to make the expo famous throughout the capital!”

“Then auctioned naming rights, land, and business rights!”

“And used the dried Taihu stones to set a trend!”

“This entire combo—pure genius!”

Ding!

【Host Li An’s operations have made the capital’s commerce more prosperous, increased capital circulation, and the business world presents a plaque in recognition! Influence calculation…】

【Li An’s “wasteful spending” turns him into the “God of Wealth”!】

【Great Qi national fortune +500】

【Current national fortune: 54,479】

Li An listened to these “praises” and felt his temples throbbing.

How could this happen! The national fortune he had painstakingly spent was being restored, bit by bit!

Finally getting the merchants to leave, he could catch his breath.

But before he could relax, Jin Daya rushed in again.

“My lord! My lord! Something huge has happened!”

Li An couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

Finally, something big is happening!

Good! If something goes wrong, the national fortune will drop!

So Li An leisurely asked:

“What’s the panic? What’s the big news?”

“The Northern Yan envoy has arrived ahead of schedule!”

Jin Daya panted. “They’re outside the city gate! And they specifically requested to see you, my lord!”

“Northern Yan envoy?”

Li An was momentarily stunned. “How did they arrive so fast? The expo hasn’t even started yet.”

“I don’t know either!”

Jin Daya scratched his head. “I heard the leader is the Ninth Princess, Murong Xue.”

Ninth Princess?

Murong Xue?

Li An had some impression of the name.

She was said to be the Northern Yan emperor’s most beloved daughter, renowned for her beauty as the most beautiful woman in Northern Yan, but with a spoiled and capricious personality.

“What does she want with me?”

“Well…”

Jin Daya lowered his voice. “I heard the Ninth Princess is here for a matchmaking meeting.”

“Matchmaking?”

Li An was stunned. “With whom?”

Jin Daya looked at him, hesitating to speak.

Li An immediately understood.

“No way… with me?”

Jin Daya nodded.

Li An felt his head spin.

The Northern Yan Ninth Princess came for a matchmaking meeting with him?

What is going on?

He was Northern Yan’s undercover agent sent to ruin Great Qi!

Is the Northern Yan emperor insane?

Sending his daughter to arrange a match with his own undercover agent?

“Lord Li?”

At this moment, Liu Wanqing’s voice came again, now with a hint of fire.

“What Ninth Princess? What matchmaking?”

“Who is this wild woman, coming to snatch Wanqing’s man?”

Li An: “……”

Wild woman?

She really said it!

That’s the Ninth Princess of Northern Yan!

If this got out, the two nations might go to war!

And since when did he become her man?

Li An hurriedly tried to calm her:

“Miss Liu, don’t get excited—”

“Wanqing isn’t excited!”

Liu Wanqing grabbed Li An’s sleeve. “Lord Li, you must not be bewitched by that Northern Yan demon woman!”

Li An looked at her jealous expression and felt his head ache.

He turned to Hongmei for help, but she stood in the corner, her expression equally dark.

Damn…

This battlefield of emotions—there’s no escaping it.

……

Outside the city gate, a fleet of magnificent carriages was slowly approaching.

The lead carriage bore the flag of the Northern Yan royal family.

The curtain lifted slightly, revealing an absolutely stunning face.

“So this is the capital of Great Qi?”

Murong Xue looked at the bustling streets and smiled knowingly.

“That Li An—he’s in the capital now?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

A maid respectfully replied.

“I heard the expo he organized these past days has made all of Great Qi excited?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“And that he even helped the Great Qi treasury earn several million taels?”

“Exactly.”

“Interesting…”

Murong Xue smiled lightly, a cunning glint in her eyes.

“I want to see what kind of person could earn such praise from my father.”

She lowered the carriage curtain, muttering under her breath:

“Li An…”

“Didn’t expect me to come, huh? Your Highness has arrived.”