Chapter 198: Surveying Land, Recruitment Notice

For cultivators, a hundred li took only half the time needed to drink a cup of tea—just a few minutes, since they were flying in a straight line.

This was Qin Xiao accommodating the others’ speed; if he went at full speed, faster than sound, it wouldn’t even take two minutes.

Qin Xiao thought he had slowed down enough for the others. He had no idea they were following as fast as they could. It was only a boundary survey—why the rush?

The official knew he could not afford to offend Qin Xiao. He had killed a Grand Commander, gotten away with it, and now come to Qingzhou City to buy land. He must have powerful backing.

With the official accelerating, the rest of the surveying staff had to follow. Everyone was pushing their speed to the limit, while Qin Xiao was still holding back. At his full speed, they would not even keep his back in sight.

At their destination, Qin Xiao noticed some of them panting.

“You all, it’s only this short distance, and you’re already breathless. You still need to train.”

Several yamen runners, only at Foundation Establishment, were out of breath. Qin Xiao shook his head as he spoke.

“Young Master Qin is right. Let’s first survey the area and determine the boundary.”

That official didn’t argue, instead suggesting taking care of the main business first.

“Then you go survey. I’ll just watch here.”

Qin Xiao wasn’t about to follow them around to measure slowly; he was just here to supervise.

“Yes, Young Master Qin. This is the main road, so the plot starts one zhang back from it. We must leave three zhang by the river too. Don’t worry; we won’t give you a bad spot.”

That official quickly agreed and then roughly explained the planned area to Qin Xiao.

“Then it’s settled.”

Qin Xiao didn’t mind either. It was just a distance of one zhang from the main road. As for the riverbank, it didn’t matter; anyway, he would eventually raise the entire foundation, and there would also be a city wall, so he didn’t need to worry about flooding.

Afterward, that official had his subordinates go survey.

“Young Master Qin, a square of three thousand mu would have sides of four hundred and twenty-four zhang, two chi, six cun and six fen. I’ve taken the liberty of rounding it up to four hundred and twenty-five zhang. Does that suit you?”

That official, seeing that his subordinates had already left, began showing favor to Qin Xiao.

That would give Qin Xiao about ten extra mu. But no one would buy this poor location anyway; ten mu was a small price for his goodwill.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you’re quite a good official. By the way, I still don’t know your name?”

Qin Xiao became a bit curious about this official.

“This official is Xu Zhiwei, Deputy Director of the Qingzhou Land Planning Bureau. I may be only a fifth-rank official, but I work diligently.”

Xu Zhiwei, seeing Qin Xiao ask his name, quickly reported his name and position. This story is hosted at novelрing.com.

“Ah, Director Xu. Since you’ve done me a favor, what would you like in return? A kickback?”

Qin Xiao had not expected a favor from the old fellow. He did not mince words; he simply asked what Xu wanted.

An ordinary project would not interest Xu Zhiwei, but Qin Xiao’s was huge and would need plenty of stone. That was why he had thought of introducing his father-in-law to Qin Xiao. His father-in-law could then pass a share back to Xu’s wife, which was as good as giving it to Xu himself.

Qin Xiao didn’t care either. He originally needed to find stone materials anyway. Since someone was handling this, it saved him trouble.

“Rest assured, Young Master. My father-in-law may not be Qingzhou City’s biggest stone supplier, but he is in the top three. He’s certainly as good as the other two.”

Xu Zhiwei quickly guaranteed.

Qingzhou City had three large stone suppliers. Xu’s father-in-law had only recently entered the business through Xu’s connections. He had made a fortune and caught up, but the other two were long established. Unless Xu helped him, Qin Xiao was bound to choose one of them.

“No problem. As long as he can supply what I need, why not?”

Qin Xiao directly agreed too. He might well need this Xu Zhiwei in the future.

One shichen later, the sky had already darkened, and the land surveyors finally returned.

“Sir, the survey is complete. We placed a stone marker every zhang. Both the length and width are four hundred and twenty-five zhang.”

The surveyors reported to Xu Zhiwei.

“Alright, since you’ve finished, go back first.”

Xu Zhiwei sent them back first so they would not have to struggle to keep up again.

“I wonder where Young Master Qin lives? So I can have my father-in-law visit.”

After some casual chatting, they had become somewhat familiar. Xu Zhiwei no longer referred to himself as an official, though he still called Qin Xiao Young Master Qin.

“Have your father-in-law come here tomorrow. As long as he mentions your name, I’ll know.”

Qin Xiao didn’t want any visits, meals, or social engagements; he hated those the most.

Afterward, the two returned to Middle City.

Just as they reached the Middle City gate, they saw over a hundred carriages leaving the city. It seemed those five hundred-plus ordinary workers had started their journey.

Yun Man was waiting outside the gate with Li Liangping and a group of cultivators at low realms.

“Master, you’re back.”

Seeing Qin Xiao, Yun Man quickly stepped forward to greet him.

“Yun Man, well handled. Everything’s arranged.” This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.

Qin Xiao habitually patted Yun Man’s head.

“Young Master, everyone I found is here. How would you like to put them to work?”

Li Liangping also quickly stepped forward.

“Tell me how many people you found.”

Qin Xiao counted roughly thirty or forty people, but did not know their cultivation levels.

“Young Master, there are thirty-seven of us including me: four at Foundation Establishment and thirty-three at Qi Condensation, all at the fifth layer or above. Their strength and endurance are several times those of ordinary people. You won’t lose out.”

Li Liangping hurried to explain. He knew Qi Condensation cultivators were several times, even over ten times, stronger than ordinary people. But their wages were thousands of times higher. He was far from confident.

One Spirit Stone could be exchanged for a thousand taels of silver, and one tael for a thousand Copper Coins. An ordinary worker earned four hundred Copper Coins a day, while a cultivator required at least one Spirit Stone. Who would be foolish enough to hire Body Refinement cultivators?

“Alright then. You all go to that site first. Your speed is faster than ordinary people, so go ahead and build some simple dwellings. Otherwise, when those ordinary people arrive tomorrow morning, there will be nowhere for them to stay. You know how to do this, right?”

Qin Xiao did not know what else to assign them, so he sent them to build temporary shelter first. He still had skilled workers to recruit here.

“Thank you, Young Master. You can rest assured, we guarantee completion.”

Li Liangping had no thought of choosing his work. He could hardly thank Qin Xiao enough.

“By the way, have the dwellings built slightly farther from my land, about a hundred zhang away.”

Qin Xiao added another instruction.

He still needed to lay the foundations, so the temporary shelters could not stand on his plot.

“This humble one understands. Young Master can rest assured.”

Li Liangping quickly nodded in reply.

Afterward, he led his men toward the destination.

Qin Xiao took Yun Man into the city to post a notice. It was late, and he did not know where to find workers now. He could put up the notice in the Middle City square and recruit people there tomorrow.

Soon enough, a large recruitment notice appeared in the Middle City square.

The requirements and conditions listed upon it quickly spread throughout the area.