“OK, thanks for our first-ever group meeting. The next time should be more detailed or, if any emergencies require it,” Julius concluded, standing up from his armchair. He shook hands with them, getting their names as a tradition to get their names frequently on the first day to memorize it.
Solomon handed him a note before departing his residence, leaving first. The Kang Twin sisters stood by watching the other three strolling out of the living area with their face down, not even a polite farewell.
Julius turned to the Kang Twins, expecting an answer. “It seems only Solomon and you two, right?”
Daiyu closed the doors, and the four sat back on the couch, each refilling their ceramic cups with more baijiu.
“You mean us four,” Feng corrected, mentioning Daiyu.
“Right, then that’s four. That could work. We don’t need those worthless brats anymore.”
Julius, disappointed, didn't anticipate the sudden refusal happening so early during the conclusion of the first meeting. In that regard, Solomon only left for personal reasons he had to fulfill that were specified in the note. He will return once it is completed. But it can’t be said the same for the other two that departed the residence after him. They didn’t believe in his method of rule and almost berated Julius for suggesting that. It was too rational or destructive. Julius recalled their words. He didn’t take offense at their comments, as it was partially true. However, following this unfortunate confrontation, he decided to reduce any potential outliers and trivial debates, refusing any more ministers for his team. Additionally, the two specifically ranted while offering no rebuttal other than emotions. That was what mentally threw him off.
The Twin Kang sisters maintained their support, further boasting about their commitment to rebuilding Longyue. They insisted on taking further action by taking the responsibilities of the vacancy. Daiyu took the military department, leaving the Department of state in a hang.
At first, Julius was hesitant to give them more jobs as he had a goal of reducing heavy workload across the entire rule of government with the intent of testing efficiency. Despite the concerns, the two, with high-held confidence, urged giving it to him. He did, on one condition where they would be the first reported to him in advance if any situation desired his attention before any other issues in place.
Julius took a sip of the baijiu from the ceramic cup, initiating a new meeting. “I’m starting to get sick of formal meetings. They are too long and can be disorientating, especially the formalities. Starting today, all our meetings will be professional but casual unless situations require different standards,” he declared before taking another sip. “So, I can go straight with it…The budget that was mentioned minutes ago, I recalled that the reserves were only at twenty percent at most, is that right?”
Daiyu placed down her ceramic cup. “Shockingly, yes, it is…I have Empress Cai’s last financial report,” she said, pulling a stack of papers out of thin air as if taking out of a folder. Putting it on her lap, she glimpsed over and took four pages out of the stack and placed them on the table. “The top line on the first page displayed the current amount. As for the rest of the charts, it is all the expenses.”
“How long ago was this?” Julius asked, not seeing the dates or day it was recorded.
“About a month ago,” Daiyu replied.
Julius grimaced upon seeing the amount spent in ratio to the remaining reserves. Good lord. That is millions of Thalers being wasted. He was mind-blown at the overly expenditures, and the lack of consistent revenue sources to maintain above the borderline. He let Skoltor record the data provided on the first page, and after reading it through, he handed it to Feng. Yang handed the last three pages in exchange, listing more behemoths of careless spending. If there had been no war, it would have been almost impossible to cancel all these debts and such malicious owing to the corruption that is feeding above Empress Cai’s shoulders, who was trying to deter and hunt it down. All four papers blatantly expressed deficits and debts all over the place from top to bottom with no surplus. To keep up, the taxes were high on the unfortunate workers. While the corrupt officials that he, her, and Daiyu killed paid nothing in return. This ongoing war was like a reset, crashing every worth of monetary value and technically putting everyone in an equal spot.
“Excluding our palace, how much material do we have for the rebuild? Do we have enough for at least one district?”
“I don’t think so. At most it is half if things go as planned and on time,” Yang replied. She pointed at the map, intending to start from the closest to the palace complex before going outwards to the farther regions. “Even in a compromise, I think we can only do half.”
“And how many builders will that take for it to be possible? Include the approximated time to refill half the district.” Julius asked, scratching his fingers. His mind began to grow weary of it as the optimism went short.
“Twenty is possible. Fifty is the safe zone within the three-day workload.”
That’s not bad. Pretty quick for a rebuild in a large city. “So, are we going to rely on our builders, or do the whole five ruling groups each have their own groups of construction workers?”
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“We have our own,” Feng said, offering a thirty immediately to the recommended district.
“In exchange, I can offer a raised salary for the duration of the reconstruction in my account. All will be fed and have proper bedding to rest.”
Feng and Yang’s eyes widened, appearing to be taken by the possibility of Julius having money. "Your own?!”
“Of course…but it’s paper money, not gold coins or any coins made of metal,” Julius said, summoning a small handful of it after he exchanged a portion of the gold bars in his inventory into paper bills. “I have got a couple hundred Thalers, sitting here. It’s definitely worth more than a hundred gold coins.”
Surprised, Daiyu and the twin sisters observed the stash of paper bills, viewing the entire front and back. For their ease, it also has numbers imprinted on it in a large font. The whole stack was worth around two hundred, which was divided evenly into fifty as the three held one of each, leaving one remaining on the table. “How much do you have?” Daiyu asked.
“How many people live in Longyue? I need an estimate.” Julius drank the entire remaining baijiu in his ceramic cup, finishing and calling it done for the day.
“Around three hundred thousand,” Yang replied, placing the money bill down.
Hmm. That could work. Julius calculated the value of one gold bar. Skoltor showed the maximum value below the info box.
--
Tarnished Gold Bar (1/65)
Monetary Value: ~$2,690,413.60
--
Not even the highest quality is worth that much…Raal, what an interesting world you are. Julius decided to take two tarnished gold bars, putting a whole cash stack on the floor with portions on the table.
Feng jolted up in shock after witnessing a stash of paper money appear out of thin air, overtaking the parts of the table and the floor that flooded the entire rug. “Are you kidding me?!” she yelled, pointing her index finger at it. “This can’t be real! There’s no way someone can generate this much!”
“You want more?” Julius muttered.
She swiftly waved both of her palms, urging him not to. Julius almost chuckled, as she was the most reactive compared to the other two, which he mentally noted. When she calmed herself down from the blend of shock and excitement, Julius continued. He announced that the entire stack is the foundation to reset the national economy. Since the purchasing power of the gold coins is significantly lower than the Thalers of his from the paper money, the recovery should be much quicker, too.
He guaranteed the money today to the builders if they agreed to begin the reconstruction as soon as possible. The twin sisters stood from their seats and Julius gave them some cash for themselves. They were going to leave right away to tell the entire house and the potential builders. The three shook hands before leaving, as Julius and Daiyu watched them off before closing the door.
“Well, that’s a start,” he commented.
“It’s somewhere,” Daiyu replied while cleaning up the baijiu from the table.
Julius took all the paper money at the scene, returning it back to his inventory, and assisted her with the ceramic cups.
36.2
Empress Cai evaded death, as told by Daiyu. She was experiencing a rare condition called hypoqi fatigue, with one cause being heavy injury, leading to a fluctuation in qi, putting the individual at a life-threatening complication. The chances of lethality were around eighty percent, taking the other twenty by luck. Julius was relieved when he heard the news, but was not allowed to see her at the moment. The only news he could rely on was from Daiyu, who also had proper medical experience, which gave her access to the visit. She wasn’t the only one recently diagnosed from hypoqi fatigue as a couple others are facing the same dilemma but with worse results, with the least being in a critical condition.
The hospital is across from the palace complex, a few blocks away from the main palace’s entrance. And the entire street leading to the entrance is packed with concerned individuals and injured patients, clustering the doorways. A couple of cultivators had to go through the roof to enter inside. Which was how Daiyu did when taking Empress Cai into the emergency room. Julius also sent a couple thousand Thalers to reduce potential budget strains the hospital might experience in the distant future.
It had been a couple of hours since the meeting had ended, and Julius was setting up his room. He got all his luggage opened out and organized around the given shelves and drawers available. It was a very open space with a section for the bathroom. The remaining had no walls, and the furniture made up the rest of the room. Once finished, he leaped with his back lying on the bed, staring into space.
“You were awfully busy,” Hu said, already sounding bored.
“It’s nostalgic, per se. It has been more than a year since going through that experience underground and now back to politics.”
“I don’t know if I can speak the same. I get tired from sitting around.”
“No kidding, you put me in the darkness for a while. Being a tough boss yourself, inactivity does make you toasted, ain’t it?”
Hu sounded not fazed by his comment. She continued talking in a rugged voice that agonized Julius.
“Are you messing with me?”
“No. I’m not—” Hu muttered before ending with a whining noise.
“Oh, stop it. Yes, you are!”
“I’m…not.”
Well, whatever. He let her be, continuing to stare up at the screen. As he gazes, his eyes feel a little tired. The eyelids grew heavier every minute. Man, I haven’t even slept in a long while. I hate to admit it, but I'm missing it. Julius thought. The next minute, both of his eyelids descended, removing all light from view like a garage door closing down. Hello, sleep. It has been a while.