After the morning court session, His Highness Prince Fu seriously considered the manufacturing of wooden rail tracks. This matter could no longer be neglected. Now that the rail track project was showing a shortage of materials, if he continued to seek profits and use a large number of workers for personal gain, he might attract unwanted attention.
One primary reason he took control of the rail track production was to prevent the entire rail transportation project from falling solely into Jinrong’s hands. The court’s rail transportation was a major project, and should it prove significantly effective, the rail track work would continue for many years to come, with tracks spreading throughout the lands of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Such a monumental project must not fall under the control of another prince.
Taking the whole wooden rail track project into account, there was some profit to be had in supplying materials, which is why Prince Fu took on the task of producing the tracks himself, but indeed, the profits were not substantial.
Initially, he thought Qi Younian was just an old craftsman on the brink of retirement, incapable of much, and that the materials supplied by the Ministry of Works would be sufficient for him. However, he did not anticipate this current situation.
Now, it seemed that in order to keep the rail track transportation project from going astray, he needed to shift his focus and divert more workers to the production of the tracks.
As for using the court-maintained officials and craftsmen for personal affairs, that too needed to be restrained. When nothing was amiss, naturally, no one would take notice. But now was different, and it was very easy for others to detect something was off, providing a reason to criticize him.
As for his own private properties... Prince Fu was very satisfied with Wong Qiao’s performance lately. Not only were Wong Qiao’s skills excellent, but his management of manpower was also outstanding. The same resources, under his guidance, produced exceptional results. He figured that even if he withdrew some workers, it wouldn’t greatly impact the work on his private properties.
Prince Fu was somewhat displeased that he was forced to change his usual practices because of Jinrong and the artisan from a small place like Qingyuan County.
Fortunately, his largest workshop had recently produced a batch of construction tools. Not only did this use up a lot of iron materials and mines, but selling these items would also bring him massive profits, much more than in previous years.
He wanted to see what expression both Jinrong and Ye Xinyan from the Ye Family would have when he amassed a substantial profit from these items.
In the eyes of many private construction industries, Guangsha Construction had taken on a huge project from the court, which should keep them busy for quite a while.
However, over the past three months, not only was Guangsha Construction progressing smoothly with the rail track installation, but their work on two gardens and two minor projects was also booming, without showing the slightest sign of difficulty.
This situation led the more substantial artisans and workshop heads involved in the capital’s construction industry to feel uneasy with resignation.
After all, those who managed to survive in the capital as workshop heads and craftsmen were indeed skilled. The Qi family came from a remote county to the capital, and they did not bring many core workers with them. Yet they were able to take on so much work calmly and ensure the projects ran on schedule. There had to be a reason behind this.
So, a few prominent workshop heads began to discreetly inquire through old connections, trying to uncover what unique advantages Guangsha Construction had over others.
After some investigation, everyone was surprised to find that this construction industry, newly established in the capital, was handling so many tasks in an orderly fashion and progressing so rapidly not solely because of innovative staffing and appointment strategies. The use of new tools and machinery that were highly efficient also played a significant role.
Within less than two months, Guangsha Construction had recruited so many craftsmen that their loyalty couldn’t be guaranteed, making it inevitable for news to leak out. With just a bit of inquiring, the details of what was happening on the worksite could be easily understood.
Just as people were astonished and inquired about the origin of those amazingly efficient new tools, wondering if they might also own a few, two shops in the capital city’s bustling main streets of the Eastern and Western areas began offering all the equipment used by Guangsha Construction.
These two shops were located in popular sections of the capital’s main thoroughfares, dealing primarily in construction tools and a variety of materials.
At this point, it wasn’t just the construction industry; many other sectors were also very interested in those tools. Thus, the two shops were bustling with customers and thriving in business, and they were operated by none other than His Highness Prince Fu.
Looking at the booming business scene and projecting into the future, one could easily imagine that Prince Fu would make an unprecedented fortune just from selling these construction tools.
When Jinrong mentioned to Ye Xinyan that the tools produced by Prince Fu would soon be available on the market, her response was full of righteousness. Indeed, she really had never considered keeping these items only as a means for her own financial gain.
The words she spoke were at least eighty to ninety percent sincere.
But with matters escalating to this extent, if neither she nor Jinrong showed any indication of a response, it would seem highly abnormal, and would also cast great doubt on Wong Qiao’s undercover identity.
Therefore, on the third day after the two shops in the Eastern and Western parts of the capital started offering the construction tools, Ye Xinyan filed a lawsuit with the capital’s yamen against the two shops.
Although the two shops that dealt in construction tools and materials were not directly registered under Prince Fu’s name, everyone knew they were Prince Fu’s property, and the people inside the yamen were especially aware.
When the Intendant of the Capital Prefecture, You Chenghui, received the lawsuit, his hands shook along with his heart and lungs.
Why did he have such a hard fate? The high-ranking elites could just fight among themselves. Why trouble him, a minor fourth-ranked official?
The plaintiff was none other than the granddaughter of Duke An, the Miss of the Duke’s Mansion. Miss Ye had been extremely well-known in the past, but her influence was confined to the inner courtyards, only causing a stir among young women and girls. And every time she caused trouble, although it seemed she had the upper hand, in the long run, she suffered great losses.
Now it was not so simple. Miss Ye of the Ye Family was no longer like before; she had stepped out of the inner courtyards and into the wide world of the Great Xia Dynasty. Looking at her actions since her return a few months ago, every incident ended with a total victory.
Complete victory! The thought of this word made You Chenghui even more worried. A complete victory for Miss Ye would mean a total defeat for the accused party, wouldn’t it? He, You Chenghui, to judge that His Highness Prince Fu would suffer total defeat... That was an outcome he could not bear!
Given the Crown Prince’s weakness and inactivity in recent years, it was quite possible that Prince Fu could be the future Son of Heaven.
How was he to handle this case?
Prefect was inwardly complaining about Duke An not disciplining his granddaughter properly. The imperial throne had not yet been secured—who knew what the outcome would be? If Duke An failed to keep his granddaughter in check and she offended the future emperor, even as a noble and prestigious figure, without capable descendants to sustain the family, how would the Ye Family manage then?
Besides, you, sir, are a person of high status, and naturally, your granddaughter should be more precious than other women. Couldn’t matters be settled privately? To make your granddaughter personally submit a lawsuit at the yamen—do you think that looks good?