"Don't worry, this prescription of mine works like a charm. Pass the word on that this prescription is to be made public and not a single coin can be charged for it."

As far as Lin Yi was concerned, nearly every household needed the recipe for herbal tea, and this money from the medicine recipe must be saved for the people.

After Divine Doctor Zhang left, Lin Yi began discussing the real issue with Yang Gong.

According to reliable information to Lin Yi, the crayfish supplied by the Fourth Prince would start selling in a couple of days, and the Imperial City, with its large population, was the best place for sales.

The price for crayfish was set about the same as lamb, 50 coins per pound.

In order to make a huge profit, the Fourth Prince had secretly secured deals with three merchants, preparing to monopolize the trade of crayfish.

Lin Yi had someone investigate and found that the amount of crayfish upstream of the Moat was not significant. If supplied to the entire Imperial City, it would sell out in just three days.

"President Yang, could you introduce me to ten merchants? I want to compete with the Fourth Prince. Rest assured, I won't let them exert effort in vain; I'll give each person 500 Silver Tael."

Upon hearing this, Yang Gong made a grand gesture and hastily said, "Lord Lin, you are too kind. You are my great benefactor, and it's my privilege to be of service to you."

"Don't worry, I, Yang, may not have many abilities, but I still have some life-and-death business friends. So, let me get ten friends to come over tomorrow, and let's not talk about money."

Yang Gong was lucid, realizing that it was rare to get a chance to do something for Lin Yi, an opportunity that couldn't be bought with any amount of silver. How could he dare to accept Lin Yi's money? That would be too foolish.

With Yang Gong's assurance, Lin Yi was naturally at ease and took an envelope out of his chest.

"President Yang, I'll trouble you for tomorrow then. Just follow the instructions in here tomorrow. Bai Lu, let's go!"

It was almost the third watch of the night, and it was time for Lin Yi to return.

After leaving the Yang residence, Lin Yi did not go back to the Imperial Palace but went upstream along the Moat with Bai Lu to the spot where the Fourth Prince found the crayfish.

Bai Lu lit a torch and pointed to the large expanse of water ahead, "Lord Lin, all these belong to the Fourth Prince. Only the small area upfront was discovered in the name of the court."

Lin Yi shook his head as he looked, feeling that the Fourth Prince was far too greedy, taking the lion's share of the discovery for himself.

While Lin Yi was inspecting the water area, Han Jiang from the Water Control Bureau hurried over with several servants.

"Lord Lin, please forgive my inability to welcome you from afar on such short notice due to the lateness of the hour."

Han Jiang, a minor official from the Water Control Bureau, despite his diligent service, had spent over a decade by the Moat without a single promotion.

Lin Yi surely took note of his cooperation in the middle of the night.

"Come, tell me, which parts of this water area have not been discovered to contain crayfish?"

"Yes, yes, Lord Lin, if you cross this bay, there's a large shallow area ahead, completely devoid of crayfish. We were wondering why there aren't any in this similar area."

Han Jiang confirmed that the Fourth Prince managed to claim the crayfish-populated waters all to himself by being the first on the scene. Upon discovering the crayfish, he marked the territory and deployed men to guard it, effectively making it his own.

Lin Yi nodded, confirmed the shallow area in front of him was unclaimed, and ordered Bai Lu to guard the spot.

To return like for like.

"If this area is to have crayfish in the future, let's call it Dragon Bay Shallows. Han Jiang, make sure you remember this, the crayfish harvested from Dragon Bay Shallows in the future will belong to Bai Lu."

Han Jiang, somewhat confused and bewildered, thought to himself that the place was clearly a empty shallow with nothing in it, where would the crayfish come from.

"Lord Lin, but there are no crayfish here. If you wish to claim Dragon Bay Shallows for this gentleman Bai, it's only a matter of your word."

Dàyòu is vast and sparsely populated; the common people would rather spare time to work on an extra two acres of land than to keep watch over a river.

"This, well, the secrets of heaven cannot be revealed. You've worked hard today."

Afterwards, Bai Lu arranged for people to guard the shallow beach of Longwan, forbidding anyone from approaching.

Only after everything was busy did Lin Yi and Bai Lu, dragging their weary bodies, go.

Despite the exhaustion, they still returned to the Good Sound Music Workshop to check the day's earnings.

Goodness, after moving to the new location, even without the Fourth Prince's involvement, they earned twenty thousand Silver Tael today.

The distant guests, besides coming to listen to the music, stimulated the surrounding restaurants, tea houses, and Yihong Courtyard as well.

At this rate, the Imperial City will soon become the entertainment center.

This was clearly not allowed by Lin Yi; the Imperial City, being at the feet of the Emperor, should rather become the center of politics and economics.

Thinking about how to transform the Imperial City into a political and economic hub while diminishing the influence of the Good Sound Music Workshop, Lin Yi pondered for a long time until he unwittingly fell asleep.

Because he went to bed too late, Lin Yi missed the morning court session the next day.

"Where's that rascal? Didn't return all night, did he go to select candidates for the Harem again?"

The young Emperor woke up, waited and waited, but couldn't wait for Lin Yi even when it was time for court, causing her to angrily slam the table.

The young Emperor was growing older, but without Lin Yi by her side, Ying Qi alone couldn't handle everything, so the young Emperor had to preside over court herself.

The rarely seen court, with its Civil and Military Officials, all looked the same as always.

Given that the Qixi Festival had just passed, there were generally no important issues to be reported inside and outside of Dàyòu.

"All ministers with matters to report, come forth; without matters, court is dismissed."

Small Emperor spoke on her own without needing the eunuchs to call out.

Fourth Prince stepped forward and "truthfully" reported the discovery of the crawfish.

Having not eaten crawfish for a long time, the young Emperor immediately perked up, excitedly saying.

"Now that the crawfish have been found, ensure they are promptly offered as tribute; such a culinary delight must be turned into a signature dish by the Imperial Kitchen and passed down."

Yet, the Fourth Prince appeared distressed, "Your Majesty, we only found a small portion of the crawfish. The villagers upstream from the Moat discovered them before us, and they have already claimed 80% of the crawfish."

Crawfish were just a type of food, and Lin Yi even initially mistook them for pests. Now they have been discovered and claimed by the common people.

Of course, the court cannot outright compete with the common people, claiming the crawfish belong to the court.

"Cough cough, no matter, it's encouraged by the court for the common people to sell the crawfish they've found." Although the small Emperor was somewhat disappointed, she had already planned to send someone to buy crawfish after court.

It had been a long time since she tasted crawfish; just the thought of it made her salivate.

"Your servant will follow the order, Your Majesty need not worry. The guards dispatched by the court last time also found some crawfish in two depressions."

"Your servant has already arranged for two 'shi' of the finest crawfish to be sent to the Imperial Study Room, along with some newly developed seasoning."

The young Emperor could hardly contain her delight. When did her Fourth Imperial Uncle become so understanding?

...End of chapter...

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