Today is a good day for a lottery.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go at all; Gao Yuan stood there awkwardly, stunned.

Seeing his defeated expression, the three women finally couldn't hold it in anymore, each of them laughing so hard they trembled like swaying flowers.

“Husband, don't forget, you told Uncle Fu about the saltpeter ice-making first.”

“Exactly. Did you really think we sisters wouldn't notice you two acting so mysteriously?”

“So that's how it is, haha... hahahaha...”

Gao Yuan scratched his head awkwardly, a dry laugh on his face, but inside he Was practically exploding with frustration.

“Gao Fu, I didn't expect a man with such thick eyebrows and big eyes like yours to act like a traitor. Just watch if I don't dock your wages.”

On the other side, Gao Fu, who Was busy working, suddenly felt a shiver and reached up to touch his forehead.

“Did I catch a cold? That shouldn't be right!”

Once the three women had laughed their fill, Zhao Xiyao finally spoke up while discreetly rubbing her stomach.

“Don't go blaming Uncle Fu. We noticed the two of you being secretive and called him over to question him.”

“Husband, are you planning to start an ice-making business?”

Gao Yuan had nothing to hide from the three of them and nodded.

“Yes. Our household expenses are quite high, and I can't touch the funds in the Government Treasury, so I want to start a business to supplement our income.”

In the early stages of a startup, it Was indeed easy to blur the lines between public and private; many of the Nanzhou Government Office's initial expenses had relied on the assets of the Princess's Residence and the Gao Family.

However, now that they had reached a certain scale, the public treasury and the Private Treasury had to be separated, otherwise, trouble would surely arise in the future.

Hearing Gao Yuan's thoughts, the three women nodded, agreeing with his perspective.

“Back then, Imperial Father organized many Imperial Merchant teams. Besides doing business to enrich the Inner Treasury, they could also gather intelligence everywhere.”

“It's a good idea, but Husband, who do you plan to put in charge of this?”

“Yes, saltpeter ice-making sounds like a secret, but honestly, there's no difficulty to speak of. Anyone who knows how can do it.”

“Right. If it's just under our noses in Dehong, it's fine, but once it's released outside, I'm afraid people might develop divided loyalties.”

Regarding the person in charge, Gao Yuan had already made plans and spoke a name.

“Gao Zhong!”

“Gao Zhong? Uncle Fu's son?”

“Yes. He grew up in the residence, so we know his background thoroughly. Most importantly, he's an honest man.”

The three women thought about it and also felt this Was a good choice.

Hearing that such an important matter Was being entrusted to his son, Gao Fu knelt on the ground in excitement, bringing Gao Zhong along to kowtow repeatedly in guarantee.

“Rest assured, Family Head. We father and son will certainly give our lives for the family.”

Gao Yuan helped the father and son up, patted their shoulders, and asked nonchalantly,

“Uncle Fu, how many years have you been with my Gao Family?”

“To answer the Family Head, it has been thirty-one years since I Was begging on the streets and Was picked up and brought home by the old Family Head.”

“Thirty-one years. There's no difference between us and a family anymore.”

Gao Fu bowed to Gao Yuan with fear and trepidation.

“This old servant is merely a servant.”

“I have never treated you as a servant. How about this: in a few years, I will remove your Slave Status and enter you into the Gao Family genealogy as a branch line?”

Gao Fu and Gao Zhong fell to their knees again with a 'thud,' kowtowing repeatedly to Gao Yuan.

“The Family Head's great kindness is something my whole family will never forget.”

“Alright, go on now, and do your work well.”

After the father and son left, Zheng Wan gracefully stepped out from behind the screen.

“Husband is becoming more and more like Father-in-law in his bearing.”

“It's just some small tricks to win people's hearts. How can it compare to Father?”

In truth, Gao Yuan Was still somewhat disdainful of his cheap old man's methods. After all, the scene of the tree falling and the monkeys scattering had only happened a year ago; the memory Was still fresh.

As soon as the three members of Gao Wu's family died, the old Emperor only needed to use a few tactics of wining over and suppression for many people to defect. This Was the main reason why Gao Yuan chose to flee to save his life.

Thinking about it, he Was truly a miserable profligate, with treatment worlds apart from that Xu Shizi.

“Husband is too modest. To have achieved such results in this barren land on the Southwest border, your talent is far beyond that of ordinary people.”

Being praised so much by a beauty, Gao Yuan's face practically split with a grin as he pulled her onto a chair for a bit of flirtation.

After a long moment of tenderness, Zheng Wan left with a flushed face. As Gao Yuan sat there lightly sniffing the beauty's lingering fragrance, the system prompt suddenly arrived.

“Host still has two rewards unused. Would you like to use them?”

Gao Yuan slapped his forehead. He had actually been so busy he forgot about the two rewards; what a waste of God's gifts.

“System, open the supplies pack first.”

“Host has used an A-rank Supplies Gift Pack. Congratulations on obtaining supplies: twenty pairs of White Feather Chicken chicks.”

“Holy crap, the system is actually so generous this time—White Feather Chickens!”

Although the meat of White Feather Chickens wasn't the best tasting, their rapid growth Was an incomparable advantage.

Twenty pairs of chicks wasn't many, but it Was a start; he had to make good use of them.

His luck Was good today. Rubbing his hands together, Gao Yuan used the second lucky draw card.

Just like last time, a massive number of character cards appeared before his eyes, changing rapidly.

Soon, the image slowed down, finally stopping on one person.

“Congratulations to the Host for obtaining A+ rank talent Liu Rengui;”

“Name: Liu Rengui, Courtesy Name: Zhengze; Character Attributes: Versed in both letters and arms, upright and incorruptible; Comprehensive Evaluation: A+;”

“Liu Rengui: A Chancellor and famous general of the Tang Dynasty, a descendant of Emperor Zhang of Han, Liu Da;”

“Major Achievements: Famous for his direct and honest advice during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, rising to the position of Jishizhong; while guarding Baekje, he became world-renowned for defeating the allied forces of Wa and Baekje at the Battle of Baekgang while reinforcing Silla.”

Gao Yuan didn't expect his luck to be so good today—drawing the talent he lacked most with an A-rank card: a commander-type plus a Chancellor.

Although he didn't have a record of commanding massive army groups, Gao Yuan's current scale Was only a few thousand people. For a famous general like this, wouldn't it be a piece of cake?

With a thought, a purple light appeared before him, and soon Liu Rengui appeared in person.

“Subordinate Liu Rengui pays respects to the General.”

“Zhengze, no need for such ceremony.”

Gao Yuan helped Liu Rengui up and patted his shoulder.

“You have just arrived and haven't performed any deeds yet. I'll have to trouble you to serve as the Resident Official of Menge City for now, overseeing all military and political affairs.”

“Subordinate... Subordinate is willing to pledge life-long loyalty to the General and will never change heart!”

The twenty-year-old Liu Rengui didn't expect his first assignment to be so important; he Was so excited he almost knelt down.

Gao Yuan quickly supported him.

“As long as you can properly shepherd the common people, that will be the best reward for me.”

“I will certainly not fail the General's trust.”

Although Gao Yuan had the power to appoint officials, recruiting a newcomer still required everyone to evaluate him.

Gao Yuan wasn't worried in the slightest about the ability of this famous general and Chancellor. After introducing Liu Rengui to Zhao Xiyao and the others, he got busy with his chicken farm.

Since there Was nothing else to do for now, Gao Yuan did it personally, finding a piece of open land outside the city. Next Was hiring labor to build the structures.

Everything Was built as much as possible according to the chicken farms of later generations, keeping the chickens penned together to minimize activity and make them grow faster.

As for feed, there Was even less to worry about. There would be plenty of bran after the autumn harvest, and combined with some insects and such, the nutrition would be absolutely sufficient.

Even if they couldn't reach the thirty-to-forty-day slaughter speed of later generations, fifty or sixty days would surely be no problem.

Hearing that Gao Yuan wanted to raise chickens on a whim, the women were quite puzzled.

However, Gao Yuan's reasoning Was also very sound.

“How can we train strong and healthy elites without eating meat? Moreover, raising chickens not only provides meat but also eggs, and the chicken manure can be used as fertilizer after fermentation.”

With a few words, he convinced the women, and the construction of Gao Yuan's chicken farm began in full swing.