The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

Otherwise, given the general mentality of emperors in the era of dynastic rule, they would certainly not have agreed to Prince Zhongshun doing such a thing. Which emperor's desire for control wasn't so strong as to be insane?

If things are not made a fait accompli in one go, they may be easily ruined by the present.

The so-called "good start" completely fizzled out.

Unfortunately, I didn't hear anything about it at the Prince Zhongshun's residence.

In other words, Prince Zhongshun was still reluctant to give up the benefits he had!

Jia Huan didn't care. The reason he got involved was to train his fleet.

Once they have gained sufficient experience at sea, they will have plenty of time to shine and contribute.

Whether or not he will include Prince Zhongshun in the party is entirely up to him.

On the other side, after Jia Huan and Xue Pan left, Prince Zhongshun called his staff for a small meeting.

He recounted the events, concluding, "Trying to get something for nothing from the Xue family is probably impossible; I can't afford to lose face like that!"

"That brat Jia Huan is audacious and reckless. If he really causes trouble, the Prince's Mansion will probably be disgraced again!"

Upon hearing this, the staff of the Prince's mansion were also helpless against Jia Huan.

"Your Highness, then we can only proceed according to the established plan. Our goal is not to do business!"

"What a pity! I never expected that conducting overseas trade with Goryeo would be accomplished so easily!"

"Yes, it's estimated that the profit is over a million taels of silver a year. If the scale is expanded, it will probably double. It's really a pity!"

"There's nothing we can do about it; you can't have your cake and eat it too. I think Jia Huan is right; with the Imperial Household Department involved, we can act much better!"

"The basic information about that island has been thoroughly investigated, and it's pretty much as Jia Huan described!"

"Let's just get started then. Since we can't fight city hall, let's not think about anything else!"

"I still feel a little uneasy, but I hope everything goes smoothly from here on out!"

Prince Zhongshun's face was ashen; after listening to his advisors' suggestions, he felt a headache coming on.

He was naturally very unwilling, but unfortunately, he was facing the current emperor, and he was helpless.

"The Xue family's business channels are really useful!"

He changed the subject, saying, "Goods from all over the country, if you want them, you can basically get them!"

The staff had to agree with this.

Only after truly cooperating did they realize just how much resources and power a world-renowned business could mobilize.

It's not impossible for the Prince's Palace to purchase the goods for trade with Goryeo itself, but the time and efficiency would be too low. It would be better to entrust the Xue family's business to handle it all.

"However, the Xue family is not easy to handle!"

Prince Zhongshun said in a deep voice, "After all, they depend on the Jia family in the capital for survival, and they have an extremely good relationship with Jia Huan!"

"If a conflict arises in the future, they might easily part ways with us, so we must be wary of this!"

"Your Highness, I've heard that Xue Pan has a younger sister. Why don't you let the young prince take a concubine? That way, we can strengthen our relationship with the Xue family!"

One of the advisors suggested, "At the same time, the Prince's Mansion could also set up its own caravan, or directly recruit a few powerful merchants who have no backing, and have them help the Prince's Mansion operate the caravan?"

"In short, a two-pronged approach should still be somewhat effective!"

Chapter 268 I'm Stimulated (Please Subscribe)

At this time, the Xue family was unaware that they had been targeted.

In fact, they were not very clear about the importance their caravans could play in the commercial circulation field, given the prevailing circumstances.

The traditional social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants has existed for a thousand years, and the overall social environment is far from friendly to top-tier wealthy merchants.

Of course, those who become top-tier business tycoons are generally not good people. They've all done some heinous things, regardless of the era.

This time, the Xue family was responsible for providing all the supplies needed by the fleet of ships. As a result, they were able to allocate them in a very short time, demonstrating remarkable efficiency and capability.

The time saved is pure money!

It was precisely because of the outstanding performance of the Xue family's caravan that they caught the eye of Prince Zhongshun, who even considered annexing them.

After all, in terms of logistics coordination capabilities, sometimes even government agencies can't match them.

It's not that government offices lack such talent, but rather that their work efficiency is completely incomparable.

Most importantly, the Xue family caravan was able to mobilize supplies from all over the country in the shortest possible time, which was quite remarkable.

Looking across the entire Great Qian Dynasty, top-tier wealthy merchants with such strength and influence can be counted on one hand.

As mentioned earlier, the Xue family's ability to establish a business network spanning the entire world as imperial merchants was largely due to a combination of chance and luck.

It's not that the status of imperial merchants wasn't prestigious enough; it's just that in traditional agricultural society, due to transportation issues and the fact that imperial power didn't extend to the county level, local powerful families might not necessarily give face to the imperial family.

When it comes to interests, they will stop at nothing; even the reach of imperial merchants has its limitations.

For example, in the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, the Xia family of Guihua, who were also imperial merchants, were far inferior to the Xue family in terms of both strength and influence, even though the Xue family had already declined significantly at that time.

The reason is simple: the palace needed far fewer osmanthus-themed products than palace flowers and silk ornaments.

Adding to other factors, the influence of the Guihua Xia family is limited to one region, and it's difficult for them to even leave the province. The title of "Imperial Merchant" serves more as a form of protection.

Because he had known Jia Huan for a long time, Xue Pan did not fall into depravity as quickly as in the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber; in fact, he gradually improved himself.

As their vision and abilities broadened, the Xue family's business empire gradually grew stronger.

Originally, the southern branch, which had a very tense relationship with the main family, immediately tried to ease the tensions and cooperate with Xue Pan's business in the south once they saw Xue Pan establish himself in the capital.

To put it simply, thanks to the favorable conditions provided by Jia Huan, the Xue family's business has been booming in recent years.

Instead of declining after the departure of the previous generation of leaders, they have reached a new level in strength and influence, and are able to exert even greater energy.

In fact, Xue Pan and Xue Baochai's deceased father was not a particularly capable businessman.

The reason why the Xue family's business network was able to spread throughout the world was because of his position as the chief of the Southern Secret Service, which allowed him to expand the Xue family's business network with the help of the royal secret service.

Those top-tier powers, vaguely aware of the danger, naturally dared not suppress it easily.

The other forces couldn't withstand the Xue family's powerful intrusion, so they turned a blind eye.

Over time, the Xue family's influence will gradually integrate with the local forces, and then they will be firmly established.

Unfortunately, it was precisely because of his powerful business influence that Xue's father harbored inappropriate thoughts, which led to his sudden death and caused a major upheaval in the Xue family's business empire.

Fortunately, the three allies of Jia, Shi, and Wang provided strong support, which allowed the Xue family's business empire to barely survive.

If the next head of the family is not capable enough, the vast business empire will naturally fall apart.

In the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, Xue Pan had to personally travel to Ping'an Prefecture to do business, which is simply a huge joke.

It can only be said that by then, the Xue family's vast business empire had already fallen apart.

At that time, Xue Pan's commercial power had probably shrunk to its limit, and it was even uncertain whether he could preserve his shops and businesses in the capital.

Otherwise, given the size of the Xue family's business empire, it would be unlikely that Madam Wang could completely drain them dry, and the Xue family would not have collapsed so easily.

Of course, the situation is different now. Xue Pan has gradually developed his skills, and at least his business network in the north has not been affected. In fact, it has expanded its influence even further.

Putting everything else aside, there's definitely no need for Xue Pan to personally run business anymore; wouldn't that be a slap in the face to the big shopkeepers in various places?

Xue Pan is not someone with much talent; one could only say he has mediocre abilities.

He did not have a clear understanding of the power and resources at his disposal.

Of course, in the era of feudal imperial power, unless one wanted to rebel, even if a top-tier merchant controlled a lot of resources, he couldn't make much of a splash.

Who knows which censor might have a fit of madness and impeach a top-tier wealthy merchant family with a single document?

Of all professions, only studying is noble!

This is not just a casual remark; it is a genuine and established rule of law in the Great Qian Dynasty society.

Xue Pan didn't think much of it and returned home after parting ways with Jia Huan.

"Brother's back! How did it go? Was it alright?"

Upon seeing Xue Pan, Xue Baochai, who happened to be at home, brightened up slightly and asked directly without hiding her thoughts, "What did the Prince's Mansion say?"

To put it bluntly, she is quite enthusiastic about these things, especially since she has also established a connection with the Prince Zhongshun's Mansion.

I felt both happy and a little shocked!

After all, Xue Pan was able to get in touch with Prince Zhongshun thanks to the help of Jia Huan.

The key point is that the Rong Mansion and the Zhongshun Prince's Mansion had a notoriously bad relationship, and Jia Huan had clashed with the Zhongshun Prince's Mansion many times. In the end, they were able to sit down and cooperate.

This ability reminded Xue Baochai of a phrase: "Turning one's hand to make clouds or rain."

Regardless of the circumstances, the fact that the Xue family was able to establish a connection with the Prince Zhongshun's Mansion is definitely a great thing.

As mentioned earlier, imperial merchants like the Xue family mainly dealt with the Imperial Household Department!

Anyone with half a brain knows that dealing with the Imperial Household Department is no easy task. As time goes on, those guys in the Imperial Household Department will only become more and more greedy.

Building a good relationship with a powerful prince like Prince Zhongshun can sometimes allow one to leverage his influence and influence.

Even if it doesn't intimidate the officials of the Imperial Household Department, it can at least make them less reckless when they reach out.

Today, knowing that Xue Pan was going to Prince Zhongshun's residence to discuss business, Xue Baochai was restless.