In the evening, after eating the meal prepared by his sister Suo Ningbing, he then took a comfortable bath, changed into comfortable silk pyjamas, and sat in front of the simple table. Using a pencil sharpened with graphite, he drew and wrote on the white paper.
Candles in this world were still quite expensive, but Suo Lun lit a full ten of them to ensure there was enough light.
Moreover, tonight he had eaten expensive venison, fish slices and so on.
Even in such a difficult situation, he would not deliberately economise, nor would he share joys and sorrows with the people below by drinking porridge.
Even the bottle of wine in front of him at this moment cost five silver coins per bottle.
Suo Ningbing walked in silently, carrying the prepared lotus seed soup. Then, taking advantage of the moment when Suo Lun paused, she used her small hands to rub and press his temples. Her beautiful eyes fell on the drawings that Suo Lun had made.
“What is this?” Suo Ningbing asked.
“A pond that can grow gold coins.” Suo Lun said.
“You are lying.” Suo Ningbing said with a coquettish pout.
Suo Lun reached back, hugged Suo Ningbing’s soft and slender waist, which was smooth and delicate, as flexible as if it had no bones. After a slight hesitation, his hands slid down slightly and rested on Suo Ningbing’s full and elastic wonderful place.
Suo Ningbing trembled slightly and said: “You are becoming bolder and bolder, and naughtier and naughtier.”
Suo Lun’s hand rested on the plump area below her waist and gently caressed it. Then he leaned back slightly and rested against Ningbing’s soft bosom.
“Did I not tell you the truth? Gui Qinshao is very beautiful, right?” Suo Ningbing asked.
“Yes, no wonder the royal family does not dare to marry her.” Suo Lun said: “If you take a woman like that out, she almost becomes the public enemy of all men. Marrying such a woman immediately gives the impression of being fond of women.”
“Then are you moved?” Suo Ningbing asked, with a trace of jealousy.
“My bird is moved, but my heart is not…” Suo Lun said.
Before he could finish, Suo Ningbing gently pinched him, first lightly, then heavily again.
“You scoundrel, you are not allowed to say such rogue words.” Suo Ningbing said angrily with puffed cheeks.
Suo Lun’s hand on her bottom suddenly tightened. Suo Ningbing’s delicate body trembled violently and she almost could not stand. Then Suo Lun gently pulled her, letting Suo Ningbing’s soft bottom sit on his lap. He then looked at her exquisitely beautiful face.
Suo Ningbing’s cheeks flushed red. She was nervous and uneasy, breathing heavily as she pleaded: “Do not do this, do not do this. If someone sees, it will be terrible.”
Suo Lun did not take any further action. He simply let her sit on his lap, with one hand around her small waist and the other hand continuing to draw and write.
Smelling the charming faint fragrance on her body and feeling her soft and delicate figure, Suo Lun concentrated fully on his work, moving at great speed.
As for Suo Ningbing, she felt as if she was on fire, burning hot. Full of tension and unease, she looked outside, fearing that someone might come in. However, her entire heart felt soft and sweet, as if it was about to melt.
“Master, the young miss… oh no.” At this moment, Ye Jingyu walked in from outside. Seeing the scene before her, she was immediately stunned, then secretly spat in disapproval.
This master was becoming bolder and bolder. He was actually being so openly intimate with the young miss. If a fourth person saw this, it would truly be terrible.
Previously, Ye Jingyu would still issue warnings about Suo Lun’s feelings for Suo Ningbing. But now, she would not defy any of Suo Lun’s orders.
Then she stood guard outside to prevent a second person from rashly rushing in.
A full hour later, Suo Lun had finished drawing the rough blueprints.
These blueprints were the key to earning one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins.
…
After finishing his work, Suo Lun opened a box on the side and took out a pile of portraits.
These were all portraits of Suo Lun’s former women. Suo Lun took out the portrait of Gui Qinshao.
Suo Lun’s painting skill was good, but the freehand style was still completely insufficient to capture Gui Qinshao’s stunning beauty.
Gui Qinshao herself was truly far more beautiful than the portrait. Honestly, even in films on Earth, Suo Lun had never seen a woman as dazzlingly beautiful as Gui Qinshao, with a beauty so bold and eye catching.
After glancing at it briefly, Suo Lun placed Gui Qinshao’s portrait over the candle flame and lit it.
Then he watched as the flames devoured Gui Qinshao on the scroll, until it finally turned completely into ashes.
When burning Gui Qinshao’s portrait, Suo Lun’s expression was very calm, but Suo Ningbing’s heart trembled.
Immediately after, Suo Lun found the portrait of Zhi Ning, placed it over the candle flame, lit it and burned it into ashes.
Previously, Suo Ningbing had told him that there were three women he needed to pay special attention to: Zhi Ning, Gui Qinshao and Yan Nai’er.
Now, the portraits of the first two had already been burned by Suo Lun, which meant that in Suo Lun’s heart these two women were now enemies. Of the three important women, only Yan Nai’er remained.
Suo Lun found Yan Nai’er’s portrait from the pile and examined it carefully.
Although this was a freehand portrait and not very realistic, Suo Lun could still see the woman’s temperament.
There was a very contradictory quality about her. Her face was exquisitely delicate, like a porcelain doll. Yet she was also very serious, even as cold as ice and frost.
A temperament as cold as ice and frost was usually paired with a slender and graceful figure.
However, Yan Nai’er’s figure appeared very… unrestrained. Although she dressed conservatively, her figure was simply too full and voluptuous, completely like a flesh bomb. Even in the freehand portrait, Suo Lun could feel this woman’s plump and exquisite delicate body.
This was the woman Suo Lun had pursued with the greatest difficulty, and also the one who had left the deepest impression.
“Sister, what kind of person is this Yan Nai’er?” Suo Lun asked.
Suo Ningbing thought for a moment and said: “She is a very stubborn, very serious and very earnest girl. On the surface she is as cold as ice and frost, but inside she is very passionate. She is not very good at expressing her emotions and is very conservative. Although she loved Suo Lun very much, before marriage she would not even let him hold her hand.”
Then Suo Ningbing said: “I liked her very, very much. At that time, if it had not been for the fact that Suo Lun already had an engagement with Gui Qinshao, I really wanted Suo Lun to marry her.”
Suo Lun said: “Then how is her martial skill?”
Suo Ningbing said: “Extremely, extremely high.”
Suo Lun said: “Then how could such an outstanding girl be pursued by a prodigal like Suo Lun?”
Suo Ningbing said: “Suo Lun’s skin is so thick. Yan Nai’er appears cold as ice and frost on the surface, so no one dares to approach her. But in reality her heart is passionate and very innocent, so she was deceived by that scoundrel Suo Lun.”
It was more than just deception. It completely broke her heart.
At the beginning Yan Nai’er was extremely disgusted with Suo Lun and even used violent means to beat him until he howled in misery. However, a fierce woman fears a persistent suitor, and Suo Lun’s pretty little white face was stunningly handsome.
Over time, under Suo Lun’s relentless pestering, this innocent hearted girl Yan Nai’er completely fell. Even though she knew Suo Lun was a worthless prodigal wastrel, she still fell deeply in love with him.
In order to be with Suo Lun, Yan Nai’er almost severed ties with her father. Suo Lun once became her only emotional support.
However, their relationship lasted only half a year. Perhaps because the other party never allowed any touching, or perhaps because Yan Nai’er’s deep affection made Suo Lun feel guilty.
In short, Suo Lun shifted his affection elsewhere.
When Yan Nai’er heard that Suo Lun was pursuing Princess Zhi Ning, she was first struck as if by lightning, then rushed straight into the royal city academy, placed a sword across Suo Lun’s neck and forced him to marry her immediately.
A pure and innocent proud girl, an peerlessly beautiful girl whom countless men regarded as their dream lover, a girl with extremely high martial skill, actually used a sword to force a marriage. On the surface it looked like she was forcing Suo Lun, but in reality she had completely thrown her own dignity to the ground for Suo Lun to trample upon.
And even then, Suo Lun still insisted on breaking up with her and turned to pursue Princess Zhi Ning.
One can imagine how heartbroken and devastated Yan Nai’er was at that time. After the breakup, she disappeared directly from the royal city.
And her uncle Yan Nu almost rushed straight from the Tianshui City territory to the royal city to kill Suo Lun.
Yes, it was that Yan Nu. The number one expert under the Suo clan and the master of Suo Hanyi.
Yan Nai’er’s father Yan Yan had even higher martial skill than Yan Nu, but he was free spirited by nature and unwilling to be constrained. Therefore he had not entered service with the royal family or the feudal lords. Instead he led a mercenary troop himself and fought everywhere.
Yan Nai’er had inherited her father’s martial dao talent. When she was very young her martial skill was already very high. Moreover she had followed her father everywhere to fight since childhood. Although she was a girl, and an unmatched beauty at that, her father had raised her like a boy from a young age, which also shaped her special personality.
One could say that if it had not been for her special upbringing environment, a girl as outstanding and as beautiful as her would never have been pursuable by a prodigal wastrel like Suo Lun.
“She really is a pitiful girl. Now her uncle Yan Nu has already died at Suo Hanyi’s hands. I wonder if she knows?” Suo Lun said.
Suo Ningbing looked at him and said: “Little brother, are you thinking of going to find her?”
Suo Lun nodded and said: “Her father Silver Wolf leads an extremely powerful mercenary troop of fully two thousand people. I need this troop to become the seed of the Suo clan’s army.”
Silver Wolf Yan Yan was probably a legendary figure in the mercenary world.
He had high martial skill and peerless talent. At the age of twenty five he had already advanced to dragon warrior.
At that time not only the feudal lords of the world but even the royal family had offered him high official positions and generous salaries, leaving the position open for him. Glory, splendour, wealth and rank were completely within easy reach for him.
However, he discarded these high offices and generous titles like worn out shoes and turned to become a mercenary instead.
In the mercenary world he had fought for several decades, travelling across the entire world. He had fought against barbarian armies, against the Western Liang Kingdom, and against powerful beast tide armies.
He had experienced hundreds of battles and was almost undefeated. For thirty years the Silver Wolf Mercenary Group he led had also become one of the most powerful mercenary organisations in the world. And he himself had become a legend in the mercenary world.
Suo Ningbing said worriedly: “Suo Lun once hurt Yan Nai’er so badly. Her father probably… the moment he sees you, he will probably be filled with towering rage.”
It would be more than towering rage. He would definitely draw his sword and kill him directly.
Back when Yan Nai’er and Suo Lun were in a relationship, how strongly had Silver Wolf Yan Yan opposed it? How could he be willing to let his daughter be with a scoundrel like Suo Lun?
But once a girl falls in love, her intelligence drops straight away, just like water that has been poured out.
In order to be with Suo Lun, Yan Nai’er directly fell out with her father Yan Yan. Yan Yan directly said that if she followed this bastard, she should not recognise him as her father.
In the end, Yan Nai’er really left the Silver Wolf Mercenary Group, stayed in the royal city and stayed by Suo Lun’s side.
Yan Yan, whose heart had been broken by his daughter, turned around without looking back and returned to the border with the Silver Wolf Mercenary Group.
Yan Nai’er had been so devoted and absolute, casting aside a girl’s dignity and reserve, even falling out with her father Yan Yan, only to be abandoned by Suo Lun.
Now that Suo Lun was at the end of his rope, he wanted to turn around and beg her? And even scheme for her mercenary troop? Did he still have any shame?
If it were anyone else, the first moment they saw Suo Lun they would probably draw their treasured sword and tear him into ten thousand pieces.
Suo Lun asked: “After Yan Nai’er left the royal city, did she go to her father’s Silver Wolf Mercenary Group?”
Suo Ningbing shook her head and said: “I do not know, but she probably did. Apart from her father’s side, she had nowhere else to go.”
Suo Lun looked at Yan Nai’er’s portrait and said: “Suo Lun really deserves to be hacked into a thousand pieces. He actually had the heart to hurt such a cute and innocent girl. This bastard was simply not worthy of her.”
Suo Ningbing said softly: “But you are worthy. Bring her back, and bring back her father’s army as well.”
“Are you not jealous?” Suo Lun smiled.
Suo Ningbing’s expression darkened slightly and she said: “You… after all, you cannot really marry me.”
“Who says so?” Suo Lun said firmly: “I will definitely marry you, and I will restore my original identity and marry only you alone.”
A happy blush floated onto Suo Ningbing’s peerlessly beautiful face. Then she gave him a fierce glare and said: “You can say what you want, but did you need to use your hands? And with such force?”
Suo Lun realised that when he said those words, his hand was placed where it should not be and he had gripped it hard.
Then Suo Ningbing said reluctantly: “When do you plan to go find Yan Nai’er and win over her father’s army?”
Suo Lun said: “After the basic construction here is completed, and after the plan to earn one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins has become a certainty and I have already obtained at least thirty to fifty thousand gold coins, I will set off immediately.”
…
The next day, the hall inside the small castle was packed full.
Not only were several family warrior leaders of the Suo clan present, but also more than a dozen leaders of the over one thousand slaves were all there.
Today, Suo Lun was going to officially announce the miraculous plan that could earn one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins.
Suo Mu’s eyes were bloodshot. He had not slept well the whole night because he really could not figure out how to earn one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins on this barren land, and in less than half a year.
He had thought over countless possibilities repeatedly but had no clue at all.
What was the most profitable thing in this world? Of course it was gold mines and silver mines. Using slaves and prisoners of war to mine, then refining them into gold and silver to cast coins directly.
But that was the privilege of the royal families of various countries. No other nobles could touch it. Whoever touched it would die.
There were also three kinds of ores that were even more profitable than gold and silver mines and were not exclusive to the royal family. Those were the three great secret metals: secret black gold, secret white gold and secret dragon gold.
Each of these three secret metals was a priceless treasure, worth several times more than the same weight of gold. Without exception, they were all related to martial power.
Secret black gold was an extremely hard and heavy metal. Powerful strongmen used it to forge swords, while dragon archers used it to forge arrowheads. Arrowheads forged from secret black gold were completely unstoppable.
Last time on the southern border, the arrows Suo Lun had spent a large sum of gold coins to buy, which were only gold plated black gold arrows, were already unstoppable.
The price of one tael of secret black gold was roughly equivalent to two gold coins. Suo Lun estimated that the so called secret black gold should be similar to tungsten on Earth, except that here, because it was extremely rare and the difficulty of mining and refining it was high, it was even more expensive than gold.
As for secret white gold, it should be a metal unique to this world. It was very light and somewhat soft, but its flexibility was astonishingly high. A platinum thread as thin as a hair could bear a weight of dozens of jin or more. Soft armour woven from white gold threads could not be pierced by swords or sabres, and even black gold arrows could not penetrate it.
One tael of white gold was equivalent to more than ten gold coins or so.
As for secret dragon gold, it was completely a very mysterious divine object. Its hardness exceeded secret black gold, its toughness exceeded secret white gold, but its weight was even lighter than secret white gold. It also had a strong memory function. Many people regarded it as a mysterious metal with life, and legend said it was transformed from the bones of ancient divine dragons.
Swords forged from secret dragon gold were the most astonishing sharp weapons in this world, truly unstoppable.
The first two secret metals still had prices, but secret dragon gold had no price at all. They were also not a type of ore but existed in this world very occasionally as whole pieces.
Even Tianshui City, which was a noble feudal lord territory, did not have a single weapon forged from secret dragon gold. One could see how mysterious and rare this thing was.
Apart from the three great secret metals, gold and silver, the next most profitable things were copper mines, iron mines and so on. Although they could not earn tens of thousands of gold coins, they were definitely hugely profitable.
However, the entire Rocky Island had no mineral resources at all. Apart from stones, it was almost completely barren.
“Master, what exactly is the plan you mentioned for earning one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins within half a year?” Suo Mu could not help but ask: “We really cannot think of any possibility.”
Suo Lun looked at this slave leader and said: “What industry were you more than one thousand people hidden on this island by Gui Xingfu engaged in?”
The slave leader said: “Boiling salt. Cutting firewood from the mountains, diving into the sea, and boiling salt in large pots.”
This village was actually one of Gui Xingfu’s secret salt fields, with fully ten thousand mu of salt fields.
Suo Lun asked: “Then how much salt does this salt field produce in a year? How many gold coins can it earn?”
The slave leader said: “In the best years in the past, there were more than three thousand salt slaves. In one year they produced over one million jin of salt and could earn three thousand gold coins. Now because the trees on the mountain have been cut down, the salt production is getting lower and lower. Last year the salt production was less than four hundred thousand jin and the profit was less than one thousand gold coins. That is why this salt field and we slaves were completely abandoned.”
You heard correctly. In this world the ex factory price of salt was already several dozen copper coins per jin, equivalent to more than twenty yuan in RMB. When it reached ordinary households it would at least double or triple, making it completely sky high in price.
Of course in ancient China salt was almost the same. Because the cost of boiling salt was high and there was the salt and iron monopoly system, throughout the entire two thousand years of the feudal dynasty, salt prices of several dozen to over a hundred wen per jin had always been the norm.
Ancient China also had well salt and rock salt. But in this world it relied entirely on boiling, so the price of edible salt remained even higher.
Suo Mu said: “Master, this island is already completely useless. So what exactly is your money making plan?”
“Salt, still making salt.” Suo Lun said.
Suo Mu and the salt slave leaders present said: “But the trees on the mountain have almost all been cut down. There is no way to boil salt anymore. Otherwise this salt field would not have been abandoned by Gui Xingfu.”
Suo Lun said: “We will not boil salt. We will sun dry salt.”
“Sun dry salt? Use what to sun dry it?” Suo Mu asked.
“Of course use the sun to dry it.” Suo Lun said.
The salt slave leader said incredulously: “Can the sun really produce salt? How is that possible?”
Suo Lun said: “Not only can it produce salt, but the yield is fully dozens of times, even over a hundred times that of boiling salt.”
That was right. When Suo Lun was in the royal city, he had already set his sights on Gui Xingfu’s Rocky Island.
According to the descriptions from Ye Jingyu and Suo Ningbing, this island was completely the most perfect natural salt drying field and could easily open up tens of thousands of mu of salt ponds.
As long as there were enough people, in one year it could produce an astronomical amount of edible salt.
And salt in this world was almost like silver coins, copper coins and grain, an absolute hard currency and monetary equivalent.
Earning more than one hundred thousand gold coins could be said to be easy!