Read Novel Full Chapter 1037 - 103: Is His Luck Just Too Good?_2
Chapter 1037: Chapter 103: Is His Luck Just Too Good?_2
"Is there someone living here?" Zhao Yao looked surprised, then he walked into the mountain cave. After a while, he saw a place resembling a room. Inside, there was a stone bed with bedding on it. Apart from the bed, there was a stone table and stone stools. Next to the stone table, there was a stove made of stones. It seemed that no one had lived here for a long time, as there was a thick layer of dust on the bed and the stone table.
Zhao Yao searched the room, looking for any treasures. After a while, he finally found a space under the bed, where there was a box, which was locked.
The lock on the box was rusty. Zhao Yao took a stone and hammered it a few times, finally breaking the lock open.
When he opened the box and saw what was inside, Zhao Yao was dumbfounded.
Could it be true, just like the stories say, that there really is treasure in the cave?!
And is his luck unusually good?
General Hu, seeing Zhao Yao staring dazedly at the items in the box, curiously asked, "Yao Yao, what are these things, stones?"
"They are stones, but not ordinary stones." Zhao Yao looked helplessly at the items in the box. He wasn’t interested in them, but leaving them in this cave didn’t seem right. After hesitating for a bit, he decided to take the items with him.
Zhao Yao took the items out of the box and tucked them into his chest, then put the box back in its original place.
"Da Hua, take me down the mountain." If he didn’t hurry back, Tong Xi and the others would worry about him.
General Hu asked, "Yao Yao, what about the person living here? Aren’t you going to look for them?"
"No need to look, they died long ago." As for where they died, probably near the cave.
General Hu carried Zhao Yao down the mountain. On the way down, Zhao Yao took the opportunity to dig up a few medicinal herbs.
They moved quickly. By the time they returned to the manor, Tong Xi and the others had not yet returned. Just as Zhao Yao was about to send people to find them, they all returned safely.
After returning to the manor, Song Jicai and a few others clamored to go fishing. Zhao Yao, feeling helpless, had to take them fishing. They had good luck and caught quite a lot of fish in the afternoon. In the evening, they had a full fish feast: boiled fish slices, braised fish, carp tofu soup, grilled fish, etc.
After dinner, Song Jicai and the others even lit a bonfire. They ate, drank, and danced until the hour of the pig.
After bathing, Zhao Yao sat on the bed, staring with bitterness at the item he brought back from the cave. This thing was like a hot potato to him, something he couldn’t keep in his hands. He also couldn’t let anyone know he had it, especially his second uncle.
It would be more appropriate to give it to his fourth brother, but now wasn’t the right time; otherwise, his fourth brother would be in danger. This thing was extremely dangerous, and keeping it in the world wasn’t good for anyone. It would be better to destroy it now to avoid future troubles.
Zhao Yao raised the item in his hand and smashed it onto the ground with great force. Bang! The item didn’t shatter, but a corner was broken.
"This thing is really hard; it won’t break so easily." Zhao Yao picked up the item he despised, "Maybe I should throw it into the ocean, where no one can find it." The item, with a corner broken, did not cause Zhao Yao any heartache.
Forget it, he decided to keep it for now, but he must hide it well, or he would be in danger.
Zhao Yao casually found a box and placed the item inside. He planned to take it to the North Mountain Laboratory in a few days.
Keeping it at the Han Prince Mansion wasn’t safe; it was better to store it at the heavily guarded North Mountain Laboratory.
Zhao Yao and the others rested at the manor for a few days before leaving. He and his four brothers were very busy and didn’t have the time to stay at the manor to escape the heat.
After leaving the manor, Zhao Yao went to the North Mountain Laboratory, then found a random place to bury the item he took from the cave. After that, he didn’t bother with it again.
After the trade conference ended, the North Mountain Laboratory’s main task was to extract rubber, but unfortunately, they hadn’t succeeded yet. The secondary task was to continue improving firearms and cannons.
Zhao Yao stayed at the North Mountain Laboratory for two days, then returned to the Han Prince Mansion. After a few days of rest at the manor and two days at the North Mountain Laboratory, he had to return for court meetings.
Today’s morning court was about rewarding officials who made achievements in the first half of the year. Naturally, those with particularly outstanding achievements were promoted and given raises. Other officials with good results would receive bonuses. The bonuses were divided into three levels. First prize: one hundred strings of coins. Second prize: sixty strings of coins. Third prize: thirty strings of coins. In addition to the bonuses, there were also rewards of cloth, meat, porcelain, and other items.
Zhao Yao personally awarded the achievements in front of the ministers, which was an immense honor for the award recipients and a motivation for those who hadn’t received awards.
The awarded officials could also give acceptance speeches in front of Prince Han and all the civil and military officials, which was an exciting and prideful thing.
After the awards, Zhao Yao first praised the awarded officials, encouraging them to keep up the good work. Then he motivated the non-awarded officials to continue working hard, saying perhaps next time they might be the ones receiving awards.
Besides encouraging officials to diligently perform their duties, Zhao Yao also encouraged them to innovate. Any official who created something useful or a practical method would receive a reward.
He also mentioned that any official with excellent performance throughout the year would receive a generous year-end bonus, potentially a mansion.
The civil and military officials were thrilled to hear that the year-end bonus could be a mansion. Although Prince Han had already allocated housing to them, which were more like dormitories, they weren’t very large. A mansion would undoubtedly be much bigger than a dormitory. Compared to dormitories, they preferred to live in grand mansions.
After the trade conference, Zhao Yao issued a law stating that officials’ residences must be constructed according to their rank. A lower-ranking official’s residence must not exceed the specifications of a higher-ranking official. Officials who wished to live in luxurious mansions had to work towards promotions.
Zhao Yao was generous to his officials, allocating free dormitories and offering discounts on land or house purchases, a 30% discount. This 30% discount was exclusive to officials. Of course, to prevent officials from exploiting this discount for profit, Zhao Yao stipulated that officials could only use the discount once.
Recently, many people, including officials, pre-ordered land and houses from the Ministry of Revenue. Besides the 30% discount, officials could also borrow money via loans from the Ministry’s bank. Naturally, there was interest on these loans, but it wasn’t high. Once approved, the Ministry of Revenue would directly deduct the loan repayments from the officials’ salaries.
At present, borrowing via loans was only available to officials, not the general public, as Zhao Yao felt the timing wasn’t right. He planned to open loan access to everyone in a few years.
There was no need to worry about specification issues with the mansions awarded by Prince Han. Naturally, all the officials desired to obtain one.
To win a mansion at year-end, officials were ready to give their all, hoping to achieve remarkable accomplishments in the second half of the year.