Empress: Your Majesty, please respect yourself, I don't want to be promoted

Facing Lu Chen's questioning, a petty official's heart sank.

"Lord Lu."

He raised his head, glanced at Lu Chen, and then replied as calmly as possible: "You may not know much about the spirit stones produced by the Duke of Yan, their spirit stones are abundant in the Longquan Secret Realm, and the spirit stones mined from it , in addition to the pure spiritual power that a high-grade spirit stone should have, it also has a trace of real dragon spirit, which is an extremely precious treasure, and no emperor can rely on it..."

"A spirit stone is a spirit stone."

Lu Chen interrupted expressionlessly:

"I have a friend who is very proficient in formations. She told me that in formations, the only function of spirit stones is to provide a large amount of spiritual power to activate and maintain the operation of the formation. The criterion for judging is only the original spiritual power. The purity and magnitude of the original spiritual power, because the large formation needs to quickly absorb the original spiritual power, and the higher the quality of the spirit stone, the higher the purity and magnitude of the original spiritual power under the same volume, and the efficiency of supplying the original spiritual power The sooner, the top-grade spirit stone of Duke Yan's mansion, even if it breaks the sky, isn't its essential function the same as other spirit stones?"

As soon as the words fell, the shoulders of several petty officials trembled slightly.

Lu Chen asked again in a cold voice: "The effect is the same, but the price is twice as expensive. In this case, why not buy ordinary high-grade spirit stones, can the emperor's Dao formation only use the spirit stones from the Duke of Yan's mansion? Without their high-grade spirit stones, can't the grand formation be activated?"

Hearing this, a small official hesitated for a moment, and then responded with a humble face: "My lord, since the Duke of Yan's mansion opened up the space channel of the Longquan Secret Realm in the third year of Xuanping until now, for more than fifty years, the court has always They purchased high-grade spirit stones from the Duke of Yan’s mansion. Before them, in the years after the Duke of Sui’s mansion, which originally supplied the spirit stones, was imprisoned for treason, there were always problems with the spirit stones purchased by the court from time to time. It failed, and once even caused the formation to be destroyed, it took hundreds of thousands of taels of silver just to repair the formation, but after using the Lingshi from the Duke of Yan’s mansion, there was no problem again.”

After a pause, the little official said again: "The spirit stones in the Duke of Yan's mansion are a bit more expensive, but you get what you pay for, at least you can rest assured, this alone is worth a lot of money, and, Your Majesty is the Supreme Being in the world, and Ziji City is the center of Central Continent, how can you use ordinary spirit stones in the royal formation? Only supreme treasures can be used by the imperial court, this is the highest respect for Your Majesty!"

At this time, another small official took over the conversation and said: "Master Lu, my Great Xia Dynasty has a vast land and abundant resources, and Your Majesty is rich all over the world. How can you care about such a small amount of money? You are so meticulous in calculating, it seems that the court is a bit petty, and it will even attract people. If His Majesty doesn't like it, it may be bad for you in the future."

Lu Chen glanced at them, and didn't bother to pay attention to the last little official's reminder that seemed to be for his own good. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and said meaningfully:

"Oh? In the past few decades, the imperial court's Lingshi expenses have always been paid by the Duke of Yan?"

Several people nodded.

"Exactly, the spirit stones produced in the Longquan Secret Realm are famous all over the world, and one stone is hard to find. It is also thanks to the loyalty of the father-in-law of Yan State. If there is any good thing, we must first think of the court, so that we can use the Longquan spirit stone that can make people feel at ease. "

"Don't look at the high price of Longquan spirit stones. In fact, the government of Yan State didn't make much money. After all, the secret land of Longquan is extremely dangerous and difficult to mine. Its mining and transportation costs are extremely high. I don't know how much it will give out just for the pension. .”

"So……"

The corner of Chen's mouth slightly raised, revealing a cold smile.

"In other words, the Lingshi veins in Longquan Secret Realm have been mined for more than 50 years. Under the great consumption of many heaven-level formations such as Ziji City and Luojing City Protector, they have not been exhausted, and the source of energy is still available until now. Keep supplying high-grade spirit stones to the imperial court, right?"

As soon as these words came out, the complexions of several people changed again.

As we all know, high-grade spirit stones are extremely rare. Generally speaking, if there are one percent of high-grade spirit stones in ordinary spirit stone veins, it is already a very good rich mine, and spirit stones are still non-renewable. It takes hundreds of thousands of years to slowly form, but the Lingshi veins in Longquan Secret Realm have been dug for more than 50 years...

"This... this... Longquan Secret Realm is unique, and the Lingshi veins are naturally unique."

Regarding these remarks, Lu Chen shook his head coldly.

"If there are too many things, they will naturally be worthless. I don't need to remind you of such a simple truth, right?"

Hearing this, several people didn't know what to say for a while.

Lu Chen continued: "Besides, who can be sure that the Duke of Yan did not purchase spirit stones from other places, put them in the Longquan Secret Realm, take them out, and then sell them to the court?"

click...

A small official didn't stand still at all, he staggered and almost fell to the ground.

Lu Chen didn't bother to look at them any more, so he carefully inspected the warehouse and asked about the source, function, price and origin of each material.

Unsurprisingly, the price difference from what he learned when he was the governor of the two states was not a little bit different.

The quality is not a big problem, but the price is at least double the gap.

Moreover, nearly 20% of the materials are from the Duke of Yan's mansion, or in other words, from the Longquan Secret Realm that is "rich in treasures"...

Soon, Lu Chen had a general understanding of the warehouse situation.

When he left the warehouse, Wang Qi happened to walk over with three sweaty officials in sixth-rank court uniforms.

As soon as they saw Lu Chen, the three of them bowed nervously to Lu Chen without waiting for Wang Qi to speak.

"Xiaoguan Xu Sanping..."

"Xiaguan Li Quan..."

"My subordinate Cui Hao..."

"Greetings Lu Shilang!"

Lu Chen clasped his hands behind his back, nodded indifferently, and said calmly, "Where did you go? Why weren't you in the camp when you were on duty?"

A gust of cold wind blew by, but the three of them were dripping with sweat.

"Returning to Mr. Lu, my father didn't know what he ate wrongly today, and suddenly he vomited and had diarrhea..."

"My wife has a cold..."

"The lower official suddenly has abdominal distension..."

Hearing this, Lu Chen's expression didn't change at all, but he said meaningfully: "The three of you are really destined to be together."

Three people: "..."

"snort!"

Lu Chen suddenly snorted softly, then stepped forward, passed the three of them, and walked towards the tent not far away.

"Your dereliction of duty, there will be officials and the Metropolitan Procuratorate to settle accounts with you slowly, and now come with me first."

Seeing that Lu Chen was so indifferent, the pupils of the three shrank slightly, but they didn't dare to say anything, and quickly followed behind Lu Chen.

"Wang Qi."

Lu Chen called softly.

"The subordinates are here."

Wang Qi moved to Lu Chen's side.

Lu Chen casually asked, "Are the account books ready?"

Wang Qi nodded.

"Everything is ready, Mr. Lu."

"Well, thank you for your hard work."

"My lord, you are welcome."

After listening to the conversation between the two, Xu Sanping and the other three suddenly felt tense.

Soon, Lu Chen walked into the tent.

As soon as he came in, he felt a pleasant warm wind. With the blessing of the warm spring circle, the inside was as warm as spring, which formed a sharp contrast with the cold wind outside.

"It's not very comfortable."

Lu Chen walked directly to the main seat and sat down, then raised his head, looked at Xu Sanping and others who were seated one by one in front of him, and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Why is this world so strange? The servants outside can work without pay on the construction site against the cold wind, but if some people are asked to work in a place where the warm wind is blowing, they can't stay. You say, Isn't that hard to understand?"

Hearing these pointed words, Xu Sanping, who was being watched by Lu Chen, seeped a lot of sweat again, and even his official uniform was almost soaked.

"Master Lu...this..."

"The lower official is blunt. I don't know what your lord said. Please forgive me."

Lu Chen smiled.

"Blunt?"

As he spoke, he shook his head slightly.

"It's better to be blunt. In this way, even if you are unlucky in the future, it will probably not be too uncomfortable."

Boom...

The teacup in Xu Sanping's hand fell to the ground inexplicably.

The crisp sound made Lu Chen involuntarily glance at him.

What, throwing a cup for a sign?

But it was obvious that he was thinking too much.

Seeing that the teacup was accidentally knocked over, Xu Sanping hurriedly stood up to apologize, but did not take any other action.

Lu Chen shrugged and didn't look at them any more, but instead focused on the account book in front of him.

Originally, he didn't care much about managing the tricks of the Ministry of Industry. After all, how can there be any fragrance in being an official? But now, as far as he is concerned, being an official is not just for the sake of being an official, there are some things that he has to care about.

The Ministry of Industry is in charge of the world's fortifications, including key royal projects, water conservancy projects, road engineering, and ordnance manufacturing. They are all in charge of the Ministry of Industry. Simply put, it is a department that spends money.

Since it is engineering manufacturing, it will inevitably involve the procurement and expenditure of materials. In this regard, everyone understands it.

So the Ministry of Industry has always been a piece of fat.

It's just that this piece of fat doesn't necessarily belong to the official of the Ministry of Industry. After all, those who dare to set their eyes on this piece of fat have a lot of background. Try your best, if you dare to take a bite on this piece of fat, it depends on whether your body is tough or not.

Therefore, not everyone dares to touch this account book, otherwise the ghost knows whether there is some powerful person standing behind these accountants, or it represents the will of some people.

But for Lu Chen, this is not a problem at all.

At the same time, if he wants to make a difference, he has to hold on firmly to the pedal of the Ministry of Industry.

As for the entry point, it is simple.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Chen directly took out an account book, opened it and looked through it.

Seeing Lu Chen being so decisive, Xu Sanping and the others couldn't help swallowing.

I don't know if Lu Chen doesn't know the power of it, and those who don't know are fearless, or he is deliberately looking for trouble, throwing a huge rock into the stagnant pool of the Ministry of Industry, in an attempt to set off a stormy sea.

If there is a storm, what will happen to these miscellaneous fish, then only God knows.

At this moment, they felt something extraordinary in their hearts almost at the same time, and there was a faint hint of complexity in the eyes they looked at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen kept flipping through the account book in front of him, and at the same time used the charcoal pencil prepared in advance to write and draw on the white paper next to him.

Wang Qi was on the side to assist.

When he saw what Lu Chen wrote on the white paper, there was always a hint of doubt in his eyes.

can't read.

I can't understand it at all.

Even if he thought carefully about all the classics he had read so far, he couldn't find any characters that corresponded to what Lu Chen wrote, and judging by Lu Chen's focused appearance, it didn't look like he was scribbling.

Obviously, it's just what Lu Chen wrote, and others can't understand it.

Not to mention him, looking at the entire Central Continent, even counting the world of sword and magic in the Western Continent, apart from the Empress and Luo Xiaoyu who was trained by Lu Chen to be a little housekeeper, there is absolutely no fourth person who can do it. People who understand these contents.

click click...

The charcoal pencil kept scribing across the white paper, and when it was written, it made a crisp sound, which sounded one after another in Xu Sanping's extremely nervous heart, making them feel an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

Live like years.

Although the account details and so much data recorded in the account book, it is difficult for one person to check them all within the time limit. Even if it is handed over to the account department and let the "magic operators" in the account department do the calculations, it will take a long time to figure out the result. It is reasonable to say , even if there is any problem in it, Lu Chen should not be able to see it.

But... Lu Chen always gives them a very evil feeling, which makes them instinctively feel a little weird, and subconsciously dare not use common sense to judge.

Time passed by every minute and every second, and before I knew it, most of the day passed.

The moment Lu Chen closed the last account book, the three of them looked awe-inspiring at the same time.

"interesting."

Pushing the account book aside, a hint of sarcasm gradually appeared on Lu Chen's face.

"It's just the account books of two projects in the district, but there are so many mysteries hidden, it's really eye-opening."

Hearing this, Xu Sanping's eyes trembled immediately.

"Your Excellency, what do you mean... the account is not correct?"

Lu Chen shook his head, did not answer the question directly, but glanced at Cui Hao who was beside Xu Sanping, and spoke slowly.

"Master Cui, I remember that you are in charge of setting up the formation, right?"

Being called by Lu Chen, Cui Hao couldn't help but jump.

"Yes...the subordinate officer is in charge."

He looked at Lu Chen anxiously, and asked in a low voice:

"But what's wrong here, sir?"

"Hard to say."

Lu Chen responded indifferently, then leaned back in the chair very relaxedly, and continued with a blank expression at the same time:

"I would like to ask you first, why would 30% of the magic talisman, cinnabar, mithril and other materials be wasted in the arrangement of the Zhenyuan formation?"

After the words fell, Xu Sanping and Li Quan immediately turned their heads to look at Cui Hao, with a glimmer of light in their eyes.

"This...Master Lu doesn't know something."

In the eyes of everyone, Cui Hao's long horse face revealed a bit of bitterness.

"Although the Zhenyuan Formation is an earth-level formation, its technique is exquisitely constructed. Every talisman and seal script is extremely exquisite. It is extremely difficult to record and arrange. In addition, the auxiliary formation is too complicated to arrange, so..."

Lu Chen was noncommittal about this.

"What about the Lingyun Great Formation, Guiyuan Great Formation and other mysterious-level formations, even these large formations have caused so much material loss, the formation masters and spirit seal craftsmen of our Ministry of Industry are only capable of this?"

Cui Hao's face turned bitter.

"This...the Ministry of Households has a lot of complaints about our expenses here, and these formation masters and spirit seal craftsmen are already the group with the highest level in the Ministry of Industry..."

Hearing this, Lu Chen immediately sneered.

"You are willing to spend a lot of money to buy those exorbitantly expensive materials, but you are not willing to spend money to hire people. Your style of doing things really opened my eyes."

As soon as these words came out, the three of them trembled immediately.

At this time, Lu Chen suddenly narrowed his eyes, and a dangerous cold light flashed quietly.

"I will ask you one more question."

Xu Sanping responded subconsciously: "Your Excellency, if you ask, we will know everything."

Lu Chen directly ignored this sworn and candid response.

Know everything?

I believe you ghost!

"I'm asking you guys."

Lu Chen stared into their eyes, and said word by word: "Where do you put the waste residue that was consumed due to mistakes in arranging the magic circle?"

Hearing this, the pupils of the three shrank almost simultaneously.

"My lord, why do you ask this..."

"This officer is asking you now, answer my question immediately!"

Lu Chen didn't want to listen to their nonsense, so he yelled angrily.

"Before I figure out the cause and effect, if you dare to ask again, believe it or not, I will let you stand up and go back lying down today?!"

The three of them shrank their necks immediately.

Afterwards, Xu Sanping hesitated for a moment, and then said cautiously: "Return to Mr. Lu, those waste... I will naturally have someone dispose of them."

"How to deal with it?"

Xu Sanping gritted his teeth inexplicably, and said, "Throw it to Mengjiang."

"oh?"

Lu Chen looked at him with interest.

"According to the Law of Great Xia, spiritual material waste should be properly collected and disposed of, but you and the others threw it into Mengjiang privately?"

Xu Sanping sighed, with a look of helplessness: "There is nothing we can do. The waste warehouse is full and the efficiency of the incinerator is low. These wastes are very harmful and cannot be left alone, otherwise the consequences will be unpredictable. We have no choice but to do this It’s a bad policy, and the Mengjiang River is vast, so it should be able to purify these wastes, if the higher-ups blame it, we will have to accept the punishment.”

Hearing this explanation, Lu Chen suddenly said meaningfully: "Mr. Xu is a generalist."

Hearing this, Xu Sanping was secretly relieved in his heart.

"Your Excellency is absurd."

However, it seems too early for him to relax now.

"Who gave the order? Who was responsible for the dumping? Where did it happen?"

Lu Chen asked suddenly.

Hearing this, Xu Sanping's heart tightened again.

"My lord, you ask this."

"answer!"

Lu Chen said coldly without hesitation.

Xu Sanping didn't dare to ask any more questions immediately, but after thinking for a while, he replied: "Mr. Xue Yi, the former right servant of the Ministry of Industry, Mr. Xue is a very righteous person. Because he was worried that this matter would hurt other people, no one told him about it." , and did not register it, but hired people from outside to pull the waste out of their own pockets and dumped the riverside."

"The predecessor of this official, Mr. Xue, who just became a scholar not long ago?"

Lu Chen said calmly.

"Exactly."

"When will he leave Beijing?"

Xu Sanping replied honestly: "Five days ago."

"In that case."

Lu Chen stood up slowly.

"I'm going to ask His Majesty to call him back to Beijing."

Seeing this, a look of eagerness suddenly flashed in the eyes of the three of them.

"Lord Lu, Lord Xue has already retired, why are you looking for this old man? And let His Majesty know about this, isn't it good?"

Lu Chen shrugged.

"There is an injustice and a debtor. Since he made the order, I naturally have to ask him to clarify. Otherwise, who will bear the responsibility?"

After speaking, he directly stepped forward and walked forward.

Xu Sanping and the others hurriedly chased after them.

"Master Lu, please listen to the officer's words."

Li Quan walked to Lu Chen's side, looking earnest.

Lu Chen stopped, and looked at him coldly from behind.

"explain."

Li Quan cupped his hands at him, then leaned in front of him, and said in a rather hoarse voice: "Master Lu, the water from the eaves is the successor, and the new official is not the old official account! Sir, you will also have to take over the post in the future."

"Lord Lu listened to the advice of the officials, let's forget about this matter, if the court pursues it, I will help Master Xue to carry it, and it will be regarded as full of my affection for working with Master Xue."