Longzang

Chapter 299: I have a great scholar to argue for me
There are now more than 10,000 forged plate armors in the entire realm. In the following days, as the weapon forging workshops adjusted their direction, they began to produce agricultural tools and various other tools in large quantities. The speed of land reclamation, logging, and city building in the realm has increased significantly.

After the young men had finally finished sowing the 100,000 mu of newly planted land, Wei Yuan looked at the vibrant life on the ground and the seeds beginning to sprout, and felt extremely at ease.

At that moment, he suddenly sensed that a strange convoy was approaching the boundary.

The convoy consisted of a dozen or so trucks, but including drivers and escorts, there were only a little over a hundred people. The guards were all highly skilled and not ordinary cultivators.

Several cultivators from different realms rode out on horseback and blocked the caravan. A middle-aged man stepped out from the caravan and said, "We are from the Six Realms Merchant Guild, and we have come specifically to open up trade routes. We hope you will inform the Realm Lord."

A moment later, the caravan was led to an open area outside Yong'an City to set up camp, and Wei Yuan and Cui Yu rushed over.

The two sides settled into the makeshift tent. The middle-aged man called in two young girls, set out a table and tea set, and prepared tea. Wei Yuan glanced at them and knew that these two girls were also Foundation Establishment cultivators, but they hid it very well, and most people wouldn't be able to tell.

Upon tasting the tea, Cui Yu exclaimed, "Excellent tea!"

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "This cup of 'Azure Water' is enough to sustain a month's cultivation. I can only afford this one pot. I wonder what the Realm Master thinks?"

Wei Yuan remained indifferent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but simply nodded and said, "It's alright."

The middle-aged man felt a chill run down his spine, realizing that Wei Yuan was indeed a man of the world, and that a cup of tea was not enough to win his favor.

In fact, Wei Yuan thought the tea tasted alright, but it provided too little spiritual energy, saving him half an hour of arduous cultivation, which was better than nothing.

The middle-aged man said, "We are an exploration caravan under the Six Realms Merchant Guild. My name is Xu Su, and I am the manager of this caravan. We have come here to establish a trade route between the realms and plan to open a branch in the realm in the future. We hope that the realm lord can do us some favors."

Wei Yuan remained expressionless, but inwardly he was somewhat surprised. Yuan Qingyan had sealed off the area like an iron barrel; how could this caravan have gotten in?

Cui Yu then asked, "The main routes to the south and east have been blocked. How did you manage to get here?"

Xu Su smiled slightly and said, "We are an exploration caravan, not an ordinary caravan. Blockade, hehe, relying on setting up a military fortress every few hundred miles? Such a blockade is full of loopholes in our eyes. As long as there is no Dharma Aspect Realm Master in charge, we can naturally pass through without anyone noticing. Speaking of which, I have to thank Lord Yuan for the blockade. If it weren't for him, I might have to face competition from many other caravans. We wouldn't be the only ones here now."

Wei Yuan said, "I know nothing about the Six Realms Chamber of Commerce. I wonder if Mr. Xu could tell us about it?"

"Our Six Realms Merchant Guild is headquartered in the capital of Zhao, and is one of the two largest merchant guilds in Zhao. We mainly deal in a large amount of basic materials, and also deal in military supplies. If the Realm Lord has a need for special treasures, we can discuss it in detail. As for our strength, the fact that we were able to bring this caravan here intact speaks for itself."

Wei Yuan said, "Your truck looks quite unusual."

"The caravans we explore use specially designed wagons, each equipped with a magic array that can reduce the weight of the cargo by 70%. When necessary, two Foundation Establishment cultivators can activate the array to fly a hundred feet in a short time. With these wagons, we have the confidence to traverse mountains and valleys."

Wei Yuan asked, "So what did you bring this time, and what do you plan to buy?"

Xu Su smiled and said, "I heard that the Realm Lord has only recently established Qingming, but is not favored by the Western Jin. Therefore, we have brought some gifts for the Realm Lord to represent the sincerity of our Chamber of Commerce. Here is the list."

Wei Yuan took the jade paper and scanned it with his divine sense. The list contained a large number of grain seeds, as well as seeds for textiles and medicinal herbs. Although the quantity was not too large, the variety was complete, and many of them were specifically suitable for planting in humid environments, which were exactly what Wei Yuan urgently needed.

These are ordinary items. In terms of cultivation resources, they also bring some medicinal seedlings and seeds, about fifty or sixty kinds. In time, the realm will be able to produce all kinds of beginner-level cultivation pills.

Finally, Xu Su ordered someone to bring over a heavily sealed box. Inside were seven saplings, each about a foot long, with a vibrant green color and rich spiritual energy. They were clearly not ordinary spiritual plants.

"These are seven saplings of Shuise Kongqing tea. Once they grow up, each sapling can yield three ounces of Shuise Kongqing tea per year, which is the tea we just drank."

Wei Yuan was finally moved. He took the box and examined it closely. He finally confirmed that these tea seedlings were all top-grade spiritual plants, only slightly inferior to the Red Jade Lantern, but of the same grade.

Seeing that Wei Yuan liked it, Xu Su smiled and said, "I wonder if the Realm Lord likes this gift?"

Wei Yuan said, "The gift is too heavy; I feel ashamed to accept it."

This gift is worth ten thousand taels of silver, enough to support ninety new disciples of the Taichu Palace for a year. The seven tea seedlings alone are worth over eight thousand taels.

Xu Su smiled and said, "This gift is just to ask the Realm Lord for a promise."

What kind of promise?

"The preferential treatment that the Realm Lord gives to other chambers of commerce in the future cannot be better than that given to our Six Realms Chamber of Commerce. If there is indeed more preferential treatment, then whatever conditions the Realm Lord gives to others, he must also give us the same conditions."

Wei Yuan immediately shook his head: "I can't agree to that. I won't accept the gift. Please leave, Mr. Xu."

Xu Su was immediately taken aback and said, "Lord of the Realm, our conditions are not excessive; we just want to be the same as everyone else." Wei Yuan said calmly, "If you want a permanent solution that lasts for eternity, this alone is far from enough, and I do not intend to make such a promise. I am very happy that you came, sir. I can buy the goods on the carriage at market price. If there is anything here that you like, you can take it with you."

Xu Su gritted his teeth and said, "Since the Realm Lord is unwilling to agree, then let's drop this proposal. We'd like to open a branch here in the future. What does the Realm Lord think?"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "Of course! And I've already chosen the locations for you. If Mr. Xu is free, you can go and take a look right away and pick a piece of land that you like."

Xu Su's expression turned serious, and he asked, "I wonder how much the land tax is here, and whether it's the same as in the Western Jin Dynasty?"

This is a crucial issue. The Western Jin Dynasty levied a 30% tax on goods, and there were numerous checkpoints within the country, with various pretexts for extortion. Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then said, "Two-tenths will suffice."

"Twenty percent of the revenue? That's acceptable..." Xu Su nodded. They had to transport goods across mountains and rivers and overcome numerous blockades, which was extremely costly. This tax percentage was already quite high, but still acceptable.

However, Wei Yuan said, "No, it's 20% of the net profit you earn."

Xu Su was taken aback and stood up abruptly, asking, "Is this really true?"

“That’s exactly right,” Wei Yuan said.

Upon receiving Wei Yuan's confirmation, Xu Su was overjoyed. A 20% commission on revenue versus a 20% commission on net profit—the difference is significant, potentially seven or eight times, or even ten times! With this, whether or not the promise was fulfilled was no longer important.

He immediately replied, “Good! Since the Realm Lord is so generous, I will definitely report this to the Head Manager when I get back. The Six Realms Chamber of Commerce will definitely give the Realm Lord its full support!”

At this moment, Cui Yu suddenly said, "Mr. Xu, your esteemed business association was the first to arrive here, so its strength is self-evident. Surely you're not just doing normal business?"

Xu Su laughed and said, "This must be Cui Yu, the young immortal. People from powerful families certainly have different perspectives. That's right, we do do some shady business, it just depends on what the Realm Lord wants."

Wei Yuan said, "What if I want someone to die?"

Xu Su was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Most people have a price. It just depends on how much money the Realm Lord is willing to pay and what kind of person he wants to die."

Wei Yuan said, "The Ningxi Prefect's family members, Yuan Qingyan's direct descendants, are limited to his children."

Xu Su frowned and said, "This concerns the Dharma Aspect True Person, and also the Prefect, this..."

Wei Yuan said calmly, "What, are you afraid of a mere Dharma Aspect with no future?"

Xu Su gritted his teeth and said, "Our chamber of commerce has handled similar matters before. According to the official system of the Western Jin Dynasty, the families of high-ranking officials stationed in remote areas must live within a hundred miles of the capital. I will report this when I get back, but the price... I'm afraid it won't be too cheap."

Wei Yuan's expression softened slightly, and he asked, "Does it require prepayment?"

"No need! We trust the Realm Lord's reputation. Once this matter is settled, we will give you a price. You can pay with immortal silver, or deduct it from our future taxes. Does the Realm Lord have any other requirements?"

"Two small things. First, after this matter is accomplished, place a mask at the scene; any kind of mask will do. Second, the children don't need to be killed. Erase their memories and send them south, find them an ordinary farming family, and let them live a poor life."

“This is easy to handle. The south is mountainous, and many Li villages in the mountains have never had any contact with the outside world. If we send them to the village, they may never be able to walk more than fifty miles in their lifetime.”

“Very good. Now I will take Mr. Xu to see the land.”

At this point, the planned area within the realm was no longer around the main hall of Qingming, but had been moved to Yong'an City. Xu Su went back to the caravan to retrieve the feng shui array measuring tools. Wei Yuan and Cui Yu waited outside.

While waiting, Cui Yu asked, "Why did you suddenly decide to target Yuan Qingyan's family?"

Wei Yuan said, "He used a 'extermination' strategy. If it had succeeded, the entire realm would be filled with starving corpses. For this one thing alone, wiping out his entire family wouldn't be an exaggeration! Just because his plan failed doesn't mean he didn't do evil. Now that's a good opportunity, I'll make a move and collect some interest first. However, his children might not be of much importance to him, and he might just be wasting his immortal silver."

Cui Yu frowned and said, "There is an unwritten rule in the court that one's family should not be implicated in a crime and that one's crime is absolved upon death. What you are doing may violate this rule."

"That's because the hatred isn't deep enough. What about the saying 'the sins of the dead are forgiven' and 'the crime is absolved upon death'? How many times have there been cases of widespread implicating others and killings in the court? In the past three hundred years alone, the Tang Dynasty has had nine major cases involving more than 100,000 people. The reason these rules are not written down is because they cannot be discussed openly and are simply unreliable."

Wei Yuan paused for a moment, then said, "Yuan Qingyan is known as a mad dog, but he's not really crazy. I'm targeting his family members for two reasons: first, to see if he's afraid; and second, to let him know that my only bottom line is that I have no bottom line."

Cui Yu sighed, "You are destined for great things, and your reputation is very important. Yuan Qingyan will surely mobilize a group of censors, and their insults will be extremely harsh, ruining your reputation."

Wei Yuan laughed and said, "Don't worry about our reputation! If that day ever comes, when we command a large army and roam the world, when we enter the pass, great scholars will be there to debate the classics for us."

(End of this chapter)