I just wrote a love poem, how did that make me so powerful?

The mountains are high and the roads are long, farewell to the world of martial arts.

The following day, the front hall of the Xiao family mansion was temporarily requisitioned as a meeting hall.

Xiao Wanjin had a long table moved to the center of the hall, on which lay a copy of half of the treasure map and a preliminary estimate of the river engineering project.

Xu Qing went through the entire plan she had discussed by the river yesterday again...

Procurement commitments, tax deductions, profit sharing, and employment opportunities for migrant workers were printed in booklets and distributed.

Xiao Mingyuan was the first to stand up, slamming his hand on the table and saying, "The Xiao family pledges 50,000 taels."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell silent.

Immediately afterward, someone whispered, "Fifty thousand taels? Is this a shill?"

Another voice followed: "The Xiao family is in business. If they invest 50,000 taels, and then go through the Xiao family's shops to buy supplies, it's just money coming in and going out. What's the difference between that and not investing at all?"

Someone else chimed in, sounding like they were watching the spectacle: "If they actually find treasure, that's fine, but if they don't, then those 50,000 taels are just a waste. Nobody's money grows on trees."

Another middle-aged businessman added, shaking his head, "The imperial court has done river engineering projects before. Every time, it started with great fanfare, but halfway through, the money ran out and it was abandoned. This time they're talking about 'work relief instead of economic relief,' which sounds nice, but who knows how it will end up?"

The chatter in the hall gradually increased. Although the voices were not loud, the constant chatter was quite annoying.

Xu Qing didn't rush to refute, but gave Zhou Xing a look.

Zhou Xing turned and went into the back room. A moment later, he and another person carried out a slightly worn wooden box and placed it on the long table in the center of the hall.

Xu Qing lifted the lid of the box, and the silver ingots and pearls inside gleamed in the sunlight.

He took a silver ingot out of the box and threw it on the table. The ingot rolled in the sunlight, revealing a dark pattern on the bottom.

Then he took out a string of beads and placed it next to the silver ingot. The pearls had a milky white luster, and each one was about the size of a little finger. It was clear that this was not a style worn by ordinary people.

The murmurs in the hall abruptly ceased.

Several businessmen who had been shaking their heads just moments before couldn't help but stand up and take a couple of steps toward the table.

Someone bent down and peered closer to examine the markings on the silver ingot.

Someone reached out and compared the color of the pearl above their hand, their lips moved but no sound came out.

The man who had previously claimed the 50,000 taels was a shill opened his mouth, but after a long pause, managed to utter, "This...this is official silver from the previous dynasty?"

Xu Qing closed the box lid again. "This is what we found by the river. Do you think there would only be this one box in a river?"

The hall instantly buzzed with excitement.

The people who had just shaken their heads exchanged glances, and their doubts vanished instantly.

Soon, the first name appeared after the Xiao family pledged 50,000 taels of silver…

Qian Sihai stood up and said decisively, "Fifty thousand taels from the Qian family."

Su Man put down her teacup and calmly replied, "Twenty thousand taels from Zhuangyuanlou."

Li Wan also stood up: "Let the Li sisters chip in and contribute ten thousand taels."

Immediately afterwards, Ma's wife and the other wives who had business dealings with him also pledged their amounts, some offering ten thousand and others twenty thousand.

In a short while, the figures recorded in the ledger had reached 500,000 taels.

Xiao Mingyuan signed his name on the last line of the ledger, put down his pen, looked up at Xu Qing, and smiled with barely suppressed joy.

Xu Qing flipped the ledger of the subscription back to the first page, read it from beginning to end, and after confirming that there were no errors, closed it and placed it in front of Song Huaiyuan.

Song Huaiyuan pressed his palm on the cover of the ledger, suppressing his excitement as he silently confirmed the weight of the book.

--split line--

Due to unsatisfactory test results, this book is now concluded. Thank you all for your support.

We'll meet again in the next book, though the journey is long and uncertain.

Wishing all my friends the best of luck, promotions, wealth, lottery wins, booming stock markets, good health, and all the best.

--split line--

The following is the main outline for the subsequent development.

Xu Qing discovered traces of the sunken treasure at the river mouth by exploring upstream.

With a little effort, they managed to salvage gold, silver and jewelry worth 200,000 taels of silver.

In order to fully explore the area, and in conjunction with the construction of water conservancy projects, the river was diverted to a side branch during the autumn and winter dry season. The river was blocked and excavation began. In the end, gold and silver jewelry worth more than three million taels was unearthed.

It turns out that when the previous dynasty finally collapsed, the national treasury was empty. In order to raise funds for the army, the emperor of the previous dynasty directly ordered the confiscation of the property of all wealthy merchants and officials in the capital, which amounted to more than 40 to 50 million taels of silver.

It was precisely because of these funds that they were able to support their army in fighting for five years, moving from place to place, before finally fading away.

Even at the end, some troops were left behind to restore the kingdom...

After the harvest, in accordance with the contract, three times the amount of 500,000 taels, or 1.5 million taels, was returned, and the remaining 500,000 taels was used to build water conservancy projects upstream and downstream of Hengyang.

……

Xu Qingxian's registration for the county examination was blocked by Chen Chengbo using some excuse. Headmaster Zou Linchuan used his status as a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination) and headmaster to vouch for him. If Chen Shijin still did not approve, he would go to the prefect to file a complaint.

Xu Qing proudly participated in the county examination and ultimately won first place. Even Xiao Mingyuan, inspired by him, barely made it to the next round, finishing last.

Next, during the water conservancy project, a large number of coal mines were discovered in Xishan, so Xu Qing used his cement and glass manufacturing techniques.

Cement helped save a lot of manpower and money on the dam.

After small-scale trial production, the glass began to be produced in secrecy, initially sold as a high-end product, then targeting middle-class families, and finally reaching ordinary households.

The sales revenue from cement and glass is more than ten times that of bras!

Xu Qing successfully passed the provincial examination, the prefectural examination, and the palace examination, and obtained the title of Jinshi.

Although he wasn't the top scholar, for him, the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) was enough.

At this time, the old emperor passed away, and Chengping agreed to let the crown prince ascend the throne.

The Prince of Jin and his heir attempted to cause trouble, but were thwarted by Chengping, Li Jingyan, Xu Qing, and others.

The Prince of Jin and his heir were exiled from the capital.

Xu Qing discovers by chance that Chengping is actually a woman.

The late emperor had no sons and originally intended to pass the throne to Li Jingyan. However, Chengping's talents in all aspects surpassed those of Li Jingyan.

In particular, Li Jingyan also has a problem with indecisiveness.

Therefore, the late emperor raised her as a boy.

After Chengping's identity was discovered, he was not angry. Instead, he made a promise to Xu Qing: as long as Xu Qing could demonstrate sufficient strength, he would repay him with his body, and any son he had would become the heir to the country.

As for the other women, Chengping didn't care.

……

Song Yao's health improved day by day. Xu Qing inspired Li Yedao to develop penicillin, which completely cured Song Yao.

Su Man and Xu Qing also established a good relationship.

Song Yao and Su Man married into the family together, becoming equal wives.

Gu Zhiyi was a courtesan, but she sold her art, not her body. She kept her virginity and eventually became Xu Qing's concubine.

Princess Nian'an was also captivated by Xu Qing and secretly became his lover.

As for Gu Zhiyi's master, he was completely obsessed with making money and couldn't extricate himself.

As for the restoration of the kingdom, with the people living in greater peace and contentment, she simply stopped thinking about it.

Although she was still obsessed with restoring her country, she knew that living in the good old days would never allow her to establish an even better era, so she gave up completely.

With the cooperation of Xu Qing, Xiao Mingyuan and Li Yan both became capable ministers of the imperial court...

After the purge of Prince Jin, the court bestowed upon Xu Qing's father, Xu Wenhan, the title of Wenzhong.

For a layperson, that is the highest honor.

The End...