Chapter 327: Chapter 232 It’s Time to Incorporate the North Land into the North Country_1

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After capturing Lin Wanyun, Lu Chen was completely relaxed and refreshed. Despite not having slept all night, due to his Grandmaster physique, he did not feel tired at all.

Lu Chen sat at the table in the great hall, eating breakfast and humming a tune.

At this moment, Mu Zixuan was nearby feeding the child and seeing Lu Chen so cheerful early in the morning, she curiously asked, “Prince, did something happy happen to you just now?”

Lu Chen put down his bowl and asked, “How could you tell?”

Mu Zixuan chuckled and then said, “Since the Prince returned, you’ve been humming tunes nonstop, with your mood written all over your face. Naturally, your concubine can see it.”

Lu Chen smiled and said, “Is that so, it seems I can’t hide anything at all.”

At that point, Lu Chen suddenly thought of something and then said, “Right, I obtained a method for producing salt not long ago. The eastern part of the North Country is by the sea, so later you could recruit some workers to go there and make salt.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Zixuan was momentarily stunned and then asked, “Prince, is the Prince’s Mansion going to make salt as well? Isn’t that somewhat inappropriate to place under your concubine’s responsibility?”

Lu Chen said with puzzlement, “My beloved, you should have heard by now, the imperial court has already abolished the state monopoly on salt production, so we Princes can make salt in private now.”

Mu Zixuan said, “Your concubine doesn’t mean that. What I mean is that the issue of the ownership of salt production rights is of great importance and should be handed over to the Small court of the North Country.”

Although the responsibilities between the North Prince Mansion and the Small court weren’t entirely separate, such as the Mansion’s profits still being periodically contributed to the North Country’s treasury, everyone knew that as the political power of the North Country gradually stabilized, there would certainly be a split between the Small court and the North Prince Mansion. Issues like the Harem not interfering in politics would inevitably be raised sooner or later.

Even though the central government of Great Sum had already liberalized the right to operate salt production, if such a remote place like the North Land opened up its salt business, the price of salt could surge upwards any day. The common people were already poor and if the price of salt rose excessively, then they wouldn’t be able to afford salt.

It would definitely be better to manage salt production rights uniformly. The right to operate salt production represented politics, and Mu Zixuan deeply understood that she was merely Lu Chen’s consort, a woman, and that the Harem should not carelessly meddle in politics.

Producing salt was not an economic issue, but a political one.

If Lu Chen insisted on involving her in the management of salt production, then that would imply he planned to liberalize the rights to salt production. Once those rights were liberalized, it wouldn’t matter who made the salt and there would be no issue with her involvement in politics. However, once those rights were liberalized, it could easily lead to chaotic fluctuations in salt prices.

Upon hearing Mu Zixuan’s explanation, Lu Chen instantly understood her point and then said, “The task of making salt needn’t be given to officials, the Prince’s Mansion’s people can handle it just fine. Plus, the method I’ve acquired is fairly superior, producing high-quality salt with no bitter taste. I don’t wish to leak the method of making salt just yet.”

“As for the issue with the right to operate salt production, that can be dealt with too. We’ll hand over a portion of the profits from the Mansion’s salt production to the treasury. Besides, I’ll establish a Salt Monopoly Bureau, which will be in charge only of selling salt, not producing it.”

Anyway, in this era, it’s like a family-owned world, the entire North Country belongs to him; his allowing the Mansion to produce salt is a trifle, especially since he himself made the production technique available, and offering part of the earnings from salt sales to the treasury is quite benevolent already.

For now, he was the sole decision-maker in the North Country; the Small court was filled with his people, so no one would have objections.

With so many industries belonging to the Prince’s Mansion, there wasn’t an official in the North Country daring enough to accuse the Mansion of competing with the people for profit.

Of course, only Lu Chen could do this. If another Prince tried, the Aristocratic Families would certainly jump out in opposition.

Mu Zixuan said, “Your concubine understands. I will arrange for some workers to go to the seaside to make salt shortly.”

Lu Chen then quickly finished his meal, and after breakfast, he rose from the table and left the main hall to head to Wang Qingci’s courtyard.

As he left the study earlier, a maid had mentioned that Wang Qingci had looked for him the previous night, likely having some matter to discuss.

But as soon as Lu Chen stepped out of the main hall, he saw a figure in a red dress leaning against the courtyard wall, Wang Qingci’s S-shaped figure was irresistible, accentuating her curves fully.

Before Wang Qingci had a chance to speak, Lu Chen smiled and said, “Mr. Wang, what business do you have with me?”

Wang Qingci replied with a smile, “I seek you, naturally, with important intelligence.”

“The Prince has indeed been very busy lately. Even to report intelligence to you, I had to wait an entire night,” she added.

By then, Lu Chen had approached Wang Qingci and casually placed his hand on her slender waist, “Mr. Wang, should we go to your room, or to my study?”

Hearing the question, Wang Qingci gave Lu Chen a sidelong glance. She knew that Lu Chen had not slept at all last night, so she wasn’t worried about him trying anything with her later, thus she said, “Let’s go to my room.”

Since Lu Chen had spent the previous night in the study with Lin Wanyun, the scent in there was probably quite strong. After all, she was just there to report intelligence to Lu Chen, and it didn’t matter where she did it.

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