Oh no! My grandmother made me shoulder the responsibility for eight households!

Chapter 244 Dongshan Infrastructure Plan

The carriage came to a stop in front of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion.

Lin Chen jumped down and casually straightened his robes.

The gatekeeper came to greet him, but he waved his hand and went straight to the study.

"Have Mr. Yuan come over," he said as he passed Lin Wu.

In the study.

Lin Chen sat down in the armchair, crossed his legs, and took out the land deed from his pocket to look at it again.

"A comeback..." he read it aloud, then chuckled to himself.

"This name sounds like it's about to cause trouble."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Yuan Tiangang pushed open the door and entered, bowing and saying, "My lord."

"Sit down." Lin Chen slammed the land deed on the table. "Take a look at this."

Yuan Tiangang picked up the land deed, glanced at it, and a slight smile appeared on his lips:

"Has the Lord truly taken Dongshan back?"

"What else?" Lin Chen leaned back in his chair. "The Empress herself approved it; it's the best it can be."

Yuan Tiangang put down the land deed and smiled, "What does Master intend to do with it?"

Lin Chen sat up straight, tapping his fingers on the table:

"I plan to build a villa there—no, not an ordinary villa."

He paused, his eyes shining with an unprecedented light.

"I want to turn this entire mountain into a base."

Yuan Tiangang raised an eyebrow slightly: "A base?"

"Yes." Lin Chen stood up, walked to the Great Derivation Geomantic Map hanging on the wall, and pointed to the location east of the capital.

"Look, Dongshan is thirty miles from the capital, neither too far nor too near. Its terrain is strategic, easy to defend and difficult to attack."

The mountaintop is flat, suitable for building houses and manors; the interior can be hollowed out to store grain, hide soldiers, and serve as private granaries.

He turned to look at Yuan Tiangang:

How many people do we have right now?

Yuan Tiangang thought for a moment and replied:

"The Great Snow Dragon Riders number one thousand, and the Bad People originally numbered one hundred. Now, by absorbing the original spies from the manor, distant branches, and martial arts masters, the number has been gradually expanded to three hundred and sixty-five, corresponding to the number of the heavens."

In addition, three thousand men selected from the surrendered soldiers of the Cui family are training at the manor outside the city.

"Three thousand surrendered soldiers?" Lin Chen raised an eyebrow. "Are they usable?"

"I only picked those with clean bases," Yuan Tiangang said.

"After the Cui family fell, those private soldiers lost their support and swore a blood oath when they surrendered, promising never to betray them."

Lin Chen nodded, then looked at the map:

"Three thousand men, plus the Great Snow Dragon Riders... We can't keep these people camped outside the city forever, or the Empress will be uneasy."

Yuan Tiangang suddenly realized: "Does the Lord mean to settle them in Dongshan?"

"Yes." Lin Chen walked back to his desk and sat down.

"On the surface, it's about building a separate courtyard, but in reality, it's about turning the entire mountain into a fortress, and then focusing all our influence there."

Yuan Tiangang pondered for a moment: "The workload is considerable."

"Nonsense, of course it's not small," Lin Chen laughed.

"That's why I've come to discuss this with you."

Lin Chen counted on his fingers:

"First, we need to hire craftsmen; I estimate it will cost at least 100,000."

Yuan Tiangang was taken aback: "One hundred thousand?"

"Is it a lot?" Lin Chen asked innocently.

"The entire mountain needs to be moved—roads need to be built, houses need to be constructed, the mountainside needs to be excavated, and formations need to be carved—even 100,000 might not be enough."

Yuan Tiangang was silent for two seconds, then asked, "Where's the money?"

Lin Chen chuckled, took an account book from the drawer, and tossed it over:

"Take a look at this."

Yuan Tiangang opened the package, glanced at it, and asked, "Is this the Cui family's spoils?"

"Nonsense, have you forgotten everything you handled?" Lin Chen rolled his eyes. "Is that enough?"

Yuan Tiangang closed the ledger and took a deep breath: "More than enough."

"That's fine then." Lin Chen leaned back in his chair.

"Money is not the problem, people are not the problem, the problem is—how to build it, how long to build it, and who will design it."

Yuan Tiangang thought for a moment and said, "My lord, I have a suggestion."

"explain."

"The Great Snow Dragon Riders are all at least first-rank martial artists, so quarrying and clearing mountains is no problem for them. We can send them over first to dig out the foundation of the mountain."

Lin Chen's eyes lit up:

"Right! How come I didn't think of that? Martial artists work more than ten times faster than ordinary people."

Yuan Tiangang continued, "As for the design and formation, I suggest we wait for Mr. Zhuge and Li Chunfeng to return."

Lin Chen nodded: "They're helping Zilong in the Northern Territory right now, I wonder how things are going."

"By the way, any news from the North?"

Yuan Tiangang took a letter from his sleeve and handed it over:

"Just received this message from Mr. Zhuge."

Lin Chen took the letter, unfolded it, and read it carefully.

The letter was written by Zhuge Liang himself, with neat handwriting and clear organization.

The gist is: The situation in the northern border has stabilized, government affairs are running smoothly, Zhao Zilong is leading troops to patrol the border, and the spies from Dongli and Beishuo have all retreated.

He and Li Chunfeng are setting up several large formations and expect to return in a month.

"One month..." Lin Chen calculated.

"There's still time. We can have them come back and design Dongshan."

Lin Chen put the letter away and looked at Yuan Tiangang.

"Old Yuan, how detailed do you think the formation should be on the Dongshan side?"

Yuan Tiangang thought for a moment: "How strong does the master want it to be?"

"The stronger the better," Lin Chen said.

"That will be the foundation of our Lin family in the future, not something we can just live in for a few years and then throw away."

Yuan Tiangang pondered for a moment and said:

"If Zhuge Liang and Li Chunfeng were to oversee the deployment of a defensive formation of the Eight Trigrams Formation, combined with the terrain and ley lines, it could withstand an army of a million."

"Can it block a celestial being?"

"Celestial beings... if three to five terrestrial immortals were in charge of the formation, it could be blocked."

Lin Chen nodded: "Okay, we'll talk about it when they get back."

After saying that, Lin Chen stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the sky outside:

"Get things started on the craftsmen in the next couple of days. Start with 50,000, and add more if that's not enough."

"Yes."

"As for the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, select five hundred men to go to Dongshan first and level the mountaintop. The rest will be deployed when Zhuge returns."

"clear."

"Also, take a clear inventory of the Cui family's assets. Put what should be put into the vault and liquidate what should be liquidated. As for the construction of the mountain, whatever costs are covered by these funds. Don't try to save money."

Yuan Tiangang cupped his hands in greeting: "Your subordinate will take care of it immediately."

He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and looked back at Lin Chen.

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"

Yuan Tiangang hesitated before speaking, "My lord, what about Mei Jiu Niang..."

Lin Chen's face darkened: "Old Yuan, can you please not mention her?"

Yuan Tiangang's expression remained unchanged:

"I just wanted to say that there have been unusual movements in the Hehuan Sect recently, and it seems that a large number of people have already headed to the Eastern Region."

Lin Chen was taken aback: "The Joyous Union Sect is here too?"

"The information is not yet confirmed, but the Zhongzhou Bad Guard has noticed some clues."

Lin Chen remained silent for a while.

With a major upheaval imminent, the forces of Zhongzhou have begun to infiltrate and expand into the Eastern Regions.

Looks like I need to hurry.

"Okay." He waved his hand. "You go ahead and do your work."

After Yuan Tiangang left, Lin Chen stood by the window, looking at the old locust tree in the courtyard.

Hehuan Sect...

Mei Jiu Niang...

Over three hundred years old...

Battle-hardened...

Lin Chen shuddered and quickly put the thought to rest.

No, no, this car can't be driven.

poisonous!