The group led by Qu Wu sailed on the Yangtze River to the palace of Prince Mengshou of Gusu. After Qu Wu got off the ship, he inspected the warehouse where the goods were placed, and saw that everything was fine, and his faint heart was also relaxed.

After settling everyone's accommodation in the compound, Qu Wu specially visited Prince Mengshou in the palace.

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, now that the New Year has passed, you can start construction, I wonder if the location of the restaurant has been decided?" After saluting the prince, Qu Wu said.

"A few days ago, I have asked the king, the restaurant should be located outside the courtyard of the palace, and it can be convenient for the king to feast and drink, and now there is a courtyard not far from the courtyard, which is the private residence of the former uncle Wu to the twilight, Wu went to the twilight rebellion the year before and was cut off the title, this house has been idle, it is better to make a restaurant for you, tomorrow I will take you to see, you can find someone to renovate." Prince Shoumeng said.

"Your Highness. But we still need to rent the house,......" said Qu Wu, who feared that the property dispute would get into trouble.

"This mansion has been given to me, I regard you as a brother, this mansion will be lent to you with full authority, how you renovate, how to use without my consent, how to get it, it can be regarded as a cooperation between the two of us." I will pay for the decoration costs, and when the time comes, you will keep all the accounts and report them to me, and I will send someone to review them before giving them to you. ”

"Your Royal Highness, this is great. But even if you don't do anything, as long as you want, I will be willing to cooperate with you, and I will never let you suffer. Qu Wu said.

"You only need to give me one percent of the money you earn, and you can pay twenty percent to the king's treasury, and you can decide the rest." Shou Meng said.

"Give you 20%, hand over 20%, so that we can also feel at ease." Qu Wu said.

"It's easy for us brothers to talk to each other. I'll take you there early tomorrow morning. ”

After withdrawing from Prince Shoumeng, Qu Wu and Da Mao discussed the arrangements for tomorrow with Ji Zhi and Chen Shi, and Da Mao and Ji Zhi went to find a powerful carpentry workshop, and Qu Wu and Chen Shi went to see the mansion with His Royal Highness the Prince.

The next day, Shou Meng took Qu Wu and Chen Shi in a carriage to the former imperial uncle's house.

This is a very luxurious royal mansion, the wide gate is matched with a tall courtyard wall, after entering the gate through the wide courtyard, it is a magnificent hall, the hall has two large rooms on each side.

Qu Wu felt that this hall was just used as a hotel lobby, and the rooms on the left and right sides could be used as large private rooms.

Behind the hall are three long rows of wings at intervals of more than ten meters, each of which is the same size. Qu Wu felt that the first two rows could be converted into small private rooms, and the third row could be used for office, reception, and duty purposes.

Behind the two rows of wings is a large courtyard with water pavilions, ponds, rockeries, and groves, and within the courtyard walls along the courtyard are dozens of houses, apparently used as warehouses, kitchens, guards, and miscellaneous servants.

Although the whole house has been idle for two years, there is no sign of dilapidation, many rooms are fully furnished, and the renovation is not a big project.

Shou Meng took Qu Wu and Chen Shi to visit the mansion, handed him the key to the door, and left.

Qu Wu looked at the mansion carefully, estimated the scale of the project, and had a rough outline of the renovation of the mansion in his heart.

Qu Wu and Chen Shi walked out of the gate and boarded the carriage, slowly marching in Gusu City, this future paradise on earth, famous for Suzhou gardens, the scene at this time is bleak, in the square in front of the palace, the flow of people mixed with many beggars, some even drag their families along the street to beg, just to find a bite of food to continue life, and in the corner of the street, there is no shortage of poor people who are hungry and faint and sick, hungry and cold.

Qu Wu saw that these poor people were in such a predicament, especially the empty and helpless eyes of those yellow-skinned children, which made his heart ache.

Not long after returning to the prince's palace, Da Mao and Ji Zhi also returned, and the carpentry workshop they were looking for had also been implemented, Qu Wu immediately took them and Chen Shi to the renovated mansion again, and the four of them made a plan for renovation and decoration together, and Qu Wu asked the three of them to be specifically responsible for the transformation in the way of Hanyue Caiyun Building.

After arranging the renovation and renovation, they returned to the prince's palace, and it happened that Prince Shoumeng also returned to the palace, and Qu Wu immediately went to ask for a meeting.

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, is there a shortage of food now?"

"Yes, last year's natural disaster and the current lack of green and yellow crops, many people are starving, and there is not much grain in the country's granary, so there is no way to help these poor people."

"Can't you buy a little grain from Chu State and come back? The state of Chu sits in the land of Dongting fishing and rice, and the grain output should be very good. ”

"This method has been tried before, but the state of Chu generally does not sell grain to the country at this time, unless there is a special relationship. Besides, there is not much gold left in the treasury, and the whole country has huge expenditures, and now the king is also in trouble, mobilizing some officials and gentry to distribute food to the victims, and I handed over all the surplus food in the palace to the king, but the distribution of grain is not good, and many people who are not short of food also take the opportunity to grab food. If the famine continues, I don't know how many people will die. ”

"In this case, I have an idea, I will arrange for my subordinates to do the renovation of the restaurant, I have some milk and millet and other grains in stock, can I do something for the hungry people in the name of the prince, and set up a porridge shop, so that they can continue their lives." Because Qu Wu had seen the porridge shop in Xiafu in Zhuye, he also wanted to copy the practice of Xiafu in Gusu.

"That's nice, of course, but are those things enough, sir?" Shou Meng asked.

"With the materials I have in stock, there are definitely not enough, but there are still some pearls and jades in Xia, and I want to go to Chu to buy some food and come back to alleviate the famine."

"It's not easy to go to Chu to buy grain, and besides, the price of grain is very high now."

"It's not easy to buy food, so you should give it a try, I really can't bear to watch those people starve to death; If the price of food is high, we should do what we can, and buy as much as we can. ”

"Okay, brother's chivalrous courage is admirable, I also have a little gold cake here, so I have the right to be your brother's errand." Shou Meng said, taking out about three catties of gold from the inner room.

"Your Highness Xie supports. Although I can only do my best, I will do my best. ”

"Okay, brother can have such feelings, Shou Meng admires it very much, so let's do it, I will send four martial arts masters to protect you with my brother, I heard that there are many water thieves after entering the waters of Chu State, they often rob in gangs, very powerful, you have a lot of money, safety is more important."

"Thank you, Your Highness, but don't worry, a few water thieves and thieves are not difficult to deal with, there are too many people, but the target is too big, and it will be fine if you get off the car." Qu Wu waved his hand.

After saying goodbye to Shou Meng, Qu Wu immediately convened a meeting between Da Mao and Chen Shi, Ji Zhi and Zi Yan, and arranged for the renovation and renovation of the house and the establishment of the porridge shop from tomorrow, and found all the milk powder in the warehouse, and asked Da Mao to arrange to buy some millet tomorrow, and let Chen Ermao, Chen Qing's two brothers and sisters, Zi Yan, Chen Huan, and Chen Le carry out the matter of house porridge and milk.

However, Qu Wu still had a little selfishness, and did not take out the hundred bags of rice in the warehouse, because he felt that it was a guarantee of survival when it was most urgently needed, and could not be used easily.

After arranging these things, Qu Wu announced that he would go to Chu alone to buy grain, everyone felt incomprehensible, and after hearing Qu Wu say that it was to raise food for the poor, they all persuaded him not to go in person, Da Mao and Ji Zhi both asked Ying to go, or to go with Qu Wu, but Qu Wu refused.

Qu Wu insisted on going to Chu alone, in addition to raising food, he also wanted to take the opportunity to quietly inspect the powerful country of Chu, the motherland of Qu Yuan, a historical figure he admired, and also practiced the romantic feelings that he had always had to go to the end of the world alone.

Zi Yan insisted on accompanying her, saying that she was a native of Chu and knew very well about the affairs of Chu State, but Qu Wu was worried that Zi Yan would be too hard to travel and didn't want anyone to accompany her, so she refused Zi Yan, which made Zi Yan very unhappy.