From a freeloader to a world leader

Chapter 333: The Dragon Boat Race in Hengzhou

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

On the broad river surface which was seven or eight hundred steps wide, there were eight very similar but different colored dragon boats, which were bravely advancing like giant pythons under the beating of their respective drummers.

Emperor Yuanfeng called Sun Shan to his side and looked at the river, where the competition had become more intense and the contestants more crazy because of his arrival.

In such an excited atmosphere, Emperor Yuanfeng's voice was a little trembling: "Zhongshan, how did you arrange this dragon boat race? Tell me."

When Sun Shan heard the name Zhongshan, his heart trembled.

Especially when it came out of Emperor Yuanfeng's mouth, it gave people a feeling of time and space confusion.

"Your Majesty, there are a total of 168 teams from Hengzhou participating in the competition. Because there are so many teams, we have arranged elimination rounds, finals, and the grand final."

"The knockout rounds will be played by randomly drawing eight teams from the 168 participating teams, with the top two teams in each group automatically qualifying for the finals."

"The remaining teams will be randomly drawn into groups of 8 and will play a rematch. The top two teams will advance to the finals."

In this way, after another elimination round, the remaining 74 finalists will play two more rounds, and the 16 teams with the best results will compete in the finals on the Dragon Boat Festival to determine the final champion, runner-up and third place.”

Because Sun Shan spoke very simply and clearly, Queen Qian Ruyu understood it immediately.

I couldn't help but interrupt excitedly and asked, "Zhongshan, why did you arrange it so complicated? Why not just go through two rounds and select the champion and runner-up?"

"hey-hey-----"

Sun Shan smiled like a fox, his eyes sparkling. He secretly looked at the queen who seemed very enthusiastic about him and said, "Queen, it is like this. Since there are so many teams participating in the competition, every time there is an extra round of competition, the failed or successful contestants will feel better and will look forward to striving for a higher ranking in the next year's competition."

"Besides, this way, everyone will pay more attention to the dragon boat race."

Then, he chuckled, "Besides, this is also a way to make money. Each team, including the service staff, has about 100 participants. So many people spending money in Hengzhou City is a huge expense."

Hearing this, Lu Jinxi, who was standing aside, brightened his eyes.

A quick calculation shows that there are more than 170 teams and nearly 20000 people living in Hengzhou for half a month.

My God, if each person consumes half a tael of silver per day, how much would that be?

As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lu Jinxi must have been an expert in financial management, otherwise he would not have sat in this uncomfortable position in the Ministry of Revenue for nearly ten years.

He immediately calculated the result to be 15 taels.

Moreover, this does not include the relatives, friends and fellow villagers who came to participate in the competition, as well as the cheerleaders who are now cheering in neat costumes on the banks of the Xiangjiang River.

Then, it was extended to a singing competition that has been going on for three months, with the same number of participants in the tens of thousands, but several times more people involved.

I was so excited that my whole body trembled.

It seemed like they had found a good way to make money and collect taxes.

So, he interrupted and said, "Zhongshan, if you were to help our Ministry of Revenue organize a national dragon boat race, what do you think the results would be?"

This question made the high-ranking officials around Emperor Yuanfeng dumbfounded.

However, Emperor Yuanfeng was quite satisfied.

He touched the white beard on the upper half of his chin, and was quite satisfied with himself, the Minister of Revenue who was only interested in money.

Sun Shan thought for a moment and said, "Lord Lu, your idea still has a lot of room for maneuver."

Then, his tone changed: "However, the empire is huge, and there are differences between the east, west, south and north. People in the northwest are good at riding, and people in the southeast are good at swimming. By then, the performance of each place will be quite different."

"The dragon boat event is not suitable for national competitions, but other events are still okay."

After hearing this, the senior officials present nodded one after another.

"However, we in Chuzhou can do this. It is still feasible to hold a statewide dragon boat race during the Dragon Boat Festival next year."

As he spoke, Sun Shan looked at Ding Zhilai, who was grinning with joy, and asked with a smile, "Master Ding, I don't know what you think. If possible, I will personally lead people to participate in the competition next year and win a championship for the people of Hengzhou!"

Hearing this, all the people in Hengzhou, including Yang Yuanqing, smiled happily.

With Sun Shan participating in the competition personally, I'm afraid there will be a lively scene of the whole city cheering.

If Emperor Yuanfeng had not been present, everyone would have waved their fists and cheered.

And all the high officials of Chuzhou who followed Ding Zhilai and accompanied Emperor Yuanfeng glared at him angrily.

If Emperor Yuanfeng had not been present, he would have probably started shouting: What are you talking about? With our Chuzhou boss here, do you think you from Hengzhou can win the championship?

Emperor Yuanfeng and Empress Qian Ruyu were so shocked to see that Sun Shan was so confident that he could make the high-ranking officials of Chuzhou blush with just one sentence.

He couldn't help but smile and said, "I think it's okay. If you hold a state-wide dragon boat race in Chuzhou, I will come to Hengzhou to watch the race next Dragon Boat Festival and bring my royal relatives with me!"

How quick Sun Shan reacted.

Before Ding Zhilai could react, he suddenly fell off his horse.

Then, he knelt on one knee and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty. Next year, Hengzhou will organize a dragon boat race for the whole state. We look forward to your visit. This time next year, we will meet by the Xiangjiang River!"

Sun Ziyong, who had always followed Sun Shan, had already mastered Sun Shan's ideas after a year of training.

He immediately knelt down on both knees, and at the same time signaled all the yamen runners and employees of the Datong Chamber of Commerce to kneel down together, and shouted loudly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, we will meet at the Xiangjiang River next year!"

Then, the whole street, the entire Xiangjiang River, and even the teams competing in the Xiangjiang River, all shouted together: "Thank you, Your Majesty! We will see you at the Xiangjiang River next year!"

Soon, the whole Hengzhou city heard the good news that the emperor would come to Hengzhou again next year to watch the dragon boat race.

Soon, people all over the city received the good news that a dragon boat race for the entire Chuzhou region would be held in Hengzhou next year, and that Advisor Sun would personally attend, and that the Emperor would come to Hengzhou again to watch the race.

This scene made Ding Zhilai, who had just reacted, tremble with anger all over.

Dozens of high-ranking officials in Chuzhou were so angry that they glared at Sun Shan with red eyes. Sun Shan had already stood up and high-fived Prince Heng and Zhang Pingan to congratulate him.

I felt like I had been tricked by this kid Sun Shan.

He actually used the emperor's words to grab the first statewide dragon boat race next year to Hengzhou.

Oh my God!

Just think of the huge events with tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, which will bring in people, business flow and tax revenue.

The Chuzhou officials, represented by Ding Zhilai, wanted to eat Sun Shan alive.

Suddenly, I felt that this originally cute boy had become hideous.

Yang Yuanqing, who had received Sun Shan's secret message, immediately took Emperor Yuanfeng's hand affectionately and deliberately said loudly: "Your Majesty, let's make this clear. Next year, you will come to Hengzhou to watch the dragon boat race in Hengzhou. All expenses will be sponsored by our Hengzhou government and Datong Chamber of Commerce!"

I rely on!

Ding Zhilai cursed inwardly, "Old dog and little dog, the whole family is full of dogs."

I heard about this good news, all expenses are covered, and I can go out of the Forbidden City again to enjoy the mountains and rivers.

Emperor Yuanfeng nodded and agreed without even thinking about it.

As for how to deal with things after returning to the capital, that is a matter for the future.

At worst, we can arrange a few more people to come along and shut them up.

Seeing that things had come to this and there was nothing he could do to change the situation, Ding Zhilai had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept that Hengzhou would host the statewide dragon boat race next year.

At the same time, he made up his mind that the competition next year must be held in Chuzhou.

But he was totally overthinking it.

By this time next year, the Hengzhou Bridge will have been completed, and the library, gymnasium, women's college in Jiangxinzhou, as well as cultural and commercial facilities on both sides of the Xiangjiang River will have opened, bringing with them a huge influence.

Even he himself didn't want to mention it anymore.

At that time, the population of Hengzhou had exceeded 500,000, and plans were already underway to build a new Hengzhou city that could accommodate a million people.