Chapter 59: Marquis Xia's Fault (1)
10th of June.
Early in the morning, Chen Hao arrived at Su Yu's house in a rush. The moment Su Yu opened the door, he hastily said, "Yu, something happened!"
"Speak slowly."
Su Yu appeared calm and unhurried. It wasn’t like the sky was falling. Someone like Chen Hao couldn't possibly encounter something too major.
During the past two days, he had achieved basic mastery over the Lightning Source Blade. He was busy practicing the technique and increasing the speed in which he gathered source qi. Thus, his mind had been rather occupied when Chen Hao found him.
After opening the door for Chen Hao, Su Yu turned around and returned to the noodles he had just cooked for breakfast. Without his father around, his meals had been rather simple and bland. Furthermore, he did not have much money left. With only around thirty thousand dollars, he had to be mindful and save enough for his expenses in the academy.
Attending an academy wasn't free. Although the registration fee wasn't expensive, he still needed to make a one-time payment of over ten thousand dollars. And even after entering the academy, he still needed money for his daily necessities.
When Chen Hao saw Su Yu's noodles, he swallowed. He had only eaten a small breakfast earlier. After running all the way to Su Yu's house, he was hungry again. Su Yu ignored Chen Hao's gaze. He only had a bowl of noodles here. He had not prepared enough to feed Chen Hao as well.
"Yu..."
Chen Hao sat down opposite Su Yu and moved his gaze away from the bowl of noodles. He said, "My father said that something has changed at the capital. This year, the academies might reduce the number of the students they accept."
"Alright."
"They're reducing the number of students!" Chen Hao emphasized.
Su Yu looked up helplessly. "And how does that concern me? As for you, although you're still at the fourth-stage, you're not far from the fifth-stage. On top of that, you also have the bonus thirty marks from the kill you claimed. Do you think this reduction will affect you as well?"
Su Yu was unbothered by the news. He was somewhat speechless when he saw how nervous Chen Hao was.
"Do you think that they will recruit zero students from Nanyuan? If the capital dares to do so, Nanyuan will immediately separate from Great Xia and join Great Ming instead."
Nanyuan wasn't too far away from Great Ming. In fact, Great Ming was only about three hundred kilometers to the north of Nanyuan. Nanyuan was basically one of the closest Great Xia cities to Great Ming.
Sure, Nanyuan was a small city, but it still had a population of one million. It also had over ten thousand battle ready soldiers. Including the retired veterans, Nanyuan could easily raise an army of tens of thousands if it wanted. Thus, even if the capital was cutting costs, Nanyuan’s benefits would not be harmed.
In any case, the capital had never accepted too many students from Nanyuan anyway. Su Yu really wasn't too bothered by the reduction of students. He said, "It doesn't matter if this news is true or not. Those at the capital are the ones that will be crying. The academies have always recruited heavily from the capital. This reduction will hit them the hardest."
Su Yu appeared indifferent. However, Chen Hao had a sullen look as he said, "I know that. My father told me the same. But he also said that because of this, some of the students from the capital are no longer so sure of their ability to get into the academies. Thus, those with decent backgrounds will start taking the exams from the smaller cities."
"..."
Su Yu blanked out, realizing that he had been too naive. Chen Hao's father had been able to see more than him. That was true. The reduction would hit the capital the hardest, so what would the students there do?
Well, they could just take the exams from the smaller cities. Nanyuan was one of the twenty-eight cities of Great Xia. Although it did not have that many acceptance slots, it still had some.
These people might not be the best students in the capital, but in Nanyuan, things were different. The acceptance requirements for Nanyuan were definitely not as strict as the capital.
Each year, only about a dozen students from Nanyuan would be accepted to the capital. Even the reduction would not reduce the slots by much since what Nanyuan had was already the bare minimum.
If they dared to further reduce the slots, they would incite the fury of the masses. Nanyuan students were inferior not because they were less talented. They had simply grown up in an inferior environment. This was a place with low source qi density and insufficient cultivation resources. It was unfair to compare Nanyuan students with those from the capital. Thus, the acceptance slots of Nanyuan were basically fixed. They wouldn't increase, but neither would they drop.
Su Yu frowned, "Are all the academies reducing the intake?"
"Yes!" Chen Hao was vexed, "It's the fault of that marquis! The prefect has entered seclusion. Otherwise, this wouldn't have happened! That shitty marquis never does anything good for the prefecture. He only spends his time thinking about money!”
Chen Hao had a gloomy expression. He felt very threatened by this new policy. Su Yu laughed. He knew who the marquis Chen Hao was talking about.
Marquis Xia, Xia Longwu's uncle, son of Great Xia King. He was a well-known individual in Nanyuan, in Great Xia, and even in the entire Human Realm. Xia Trade Company was founded by him.
Marquis Xia wasn't his actual name. Nobody knew his real name, but everyone called him Marquis Xia at his request. Since his father was the Great Xia King, nobody found it unacceptable to call him a marquis. Thus, from a long time ago, everyone started referring to him as Marquis Xia.
"And how is this related to Marquis Xia?"
"Don't you know? He gave the order!" Chen Hao complained, "I heard that Marquis Xia was unhappy with how much money the academies were spending, so he reduced their funds by thirty percent this year."
"And that's not the worst..." Chen Hao's face fell as he said, "I heard...no, my father heard that Marquis Xia is even selling slots!"
"That person is actually selling slots! Not the academy slots, but the residence slots of the other twenty-eight cities in Great Xia! To take the entrance exam from a city, one needs to be registered as a local residence. Therefore, those people need to purchase a residency slot in the city!
"And that's not enough. One also needs to buy a house in the city. In total, one needs to spend no less than a million just to take the exam outside the capital!
"You don't know this, but many people are selling their houses recently. The real estate price is growing madly. Even your house is now worth ten thousand per square meter!"
"..."
Su Yu blanked out. ?So he was now living in a million dollar house as well? Previously, he had been willing to sell his house for only five hundred thousand dollars!
"Tell me. Isn't that scummy! The entire prefecture is scolding him now!"
/p>Chen Hao was still complaining, but Su Yu couldn't help but to laugh. "Marquis Xia is truly interesting. In the past, everyone was busy trying to enter the capital. With what he did, the reverse is happening now."
"What do you mean interesting? Isn't he increasing our competition for no reason?"
Chen Hao sounded resentful, "Just a million or two is enough for them to get a residency slot. There are so many rich people in the capital. This city is going to be filled with them!"
Su Yu smiled, "It won't be that bad. The truly rich and powerful ones will not lack source qi liquid. Their children will be able to compete even in the capital. Those running to the smaller cities are mostly the middle class. And do you think all of them can take out a million and two in cash?
"Even if there will be more competition here, it won't be that much more."
Su Yu could see things clearly. However, Chen Hao was right as well. No matter what, the entrance examination had just become more difficult for Nanyuan students. In the capital, the students at the fifth or sixth-stage Source Opening Realm would only be considered second-rate students. But in Nanyuan, they would all become first-rate students.
Those with the money to do so would most likely be coming to the smaller cities like Nanyuan. That would bring more competition to the local students. Of course, Nanyuan itself would profit from this. Hundreds of thousands of dollars could be made just by flipping a single property. Su Yu could only say that Marquis Xia was truly...ingenious.
"If I'm Marquis Xia, I'll build up a new district and force them to only buy from that district. Each unit will be sold at no less than a million dollars. The entire district will easily make me billions of dollars."
Su Yu’s emotions were complicated as he said, "If even a single city can earn that much, the twenty-eight cities will stand to earn an unimaginable amount of money. If they make this a yearly event from now on and make a policy forbidding the properties bought in this manner to be sold within ten years...they can continue squeezing money out of these rich people next year."
Chen Hao was stunned. After a long while, he said with a bitter face, "Yu, I'm here to talk about important business, not asking you how to make money. What are you thinking?"
Su Yu smiled, "It will be fine. Don't worry. Things won't be so simple. If they really take over all our slots, do you think Nanyuan will agree? I believe there will be a new policy to help us survive this mess."
"Really?" Chen Hao was rather confident in Su Yu. However, he was still uncertain. "So will this affect me?"
"I doubt so."
Su Yu was unsure as well. He could only guess, "If I'm Marquis Xia, I will launch a few other policies. For example, if Nanyuan has twenty slots, then fifteen of them would be preserved for the actual locals while the remaining five would be given to the transfer students. That way, he can earn money, provide more opportunities to the students from the capital, and protect Nanyuan’s benefits as well.
"And the transfer students will probably be those who are supposed to be able to get through the exam before the reduction. In the end, the academies will still end up accepting the same number of students. The only difference is that the government will make billions out of this. Not even the parents can complain since they are the ones willingly spending their money. The students can only blame themselves for not having the ability to take the exam in the capital."
Su Yu smiled, "In short, this plan has basically created a problem for a bunch of middle class families whose children were already supposed to be able to get into the academies and forcing them to solve the problem with money. The parents will end up injecting tens of billions into the economy. Marquis Xia will receive the money before spending it again. In the end, hundreds of billions will be generated in the economy."