Many children, many blessings; the twelve ancestral witches forced marriages throughout the primordi

Xiqi, the residence of the Marquis of Xibo.

Ji Chang's hair has turned mostly white from worry these past two days.

He held a scroll of bamboo slips in his hand, his hands trembling like a leaf. The scrolls did not contain any writings by sages, but rather recent population movement data in Xiqi.

"They ran away? They ran away again?" Ji Chang slammed the bamboo slips to the ground. "Didn't they only flee three thousand households yesterday? How come another five thousand have fled today? If this continues, Xiqi City will become a ghost town!"

The officials below knelt on the ground, none of them daring to raise their heads.

"My lord... we... we can't stop them," an old minister said with a bitter face. "The people have heard that life is good in the Shang Dynasty, so they're all... they're all sneaking off."

"Life is good?" Ji Chang's beard trembled with anger. "Our Xiqi is a place where no one picks up lost items on the road, where doors are left unlocked at night, a land of sage teachings. Are we really inferior to that tyrannical Shang dynasty?"

"My lord, you are unaware of this," the old minister sighed, "The Shang Dynasty... recently implemented some kind of 'spirit stone coin' reform."

"What currency?" Ji Chang was stunned.

"Spirit Stone Coins," the old minister explained. "The Minister of Commerce of that Great Shang Dynasty, Su Daji, that fox... that Minister Su, she cut spirit stones into small pieces and used them as currency. I heard that if you work there, you get paid directly in spirit stones. That stuff can not only be used to buy things, but also to cultivate and strengthen your body."

Ji Chang was dumbfounded.

Spirit stones? Those are for cultivators! How could the Great Shang Dynasty use them to pay peasants as wages?

Has Lin Xuan gone mad? Where did he get so many spirit stones?

(Lin Xuan: Sorry, I have a treasure bowl and dragons as my wallet. As for spirit stones, even using them to pave the road would be too uncomfortable for my feet.)

"And another thing," another official added in a low voice, "the Shang Dynasty is currently undertaking massive infrastructure projects. They're building roads, bridges, and houses. As long as you're willing to put in the effort, you can earn three low-grade spirit stones a day. I heard that the strong laborers from our Xiqi can work there for a month and then come back to build a new house and get married. This... this is just too tempting."

Ji Chang felt a tightness in his chest.

His much-vaunted "benevolent governance" seemed so pale and powerless in the face of real gold and silver... no, real spirit stones.

Ordinary people are very pragmatic. If you talk to them about the teachings of a sage, they'll ask if you can get enough to eat; if you tell them that Xiqi is about to prosper, they'll ask how much you'll be paid.

"No! We absolutely cannot let them escape again!" Ji Chang stood up abruptly, his eyes turning ferocious. "Send the order! Seal off the border! Anyone who dares to go to the Great Shang without permission will be punished for treason! If you catch one, kill... kill them as an example to others!"

The officials below looked at each other in bewilderment.

Is this still the benevolent Marquis of Xibo?

"What are you all standing there for? Go now!" Ji Chang roared.

Just then, a commotion arose outside the door.

"Report—!" A guard rushed in, his helmet askew. "My lord! Something terrible has happened!"

"What's wrong now?" Ji Chang felt his heart couldn't take it anymore.

"The guards at the South Gate...they all just resigned!"

"What?!" Ji Chang's vision blurred, and he nearly fainted. "Why did they resign?"

The guard swallowed hard and whispered, "I heard... a recruitment team from the Shang Dynasty across the border came and was shouting at the city gate. They said they were recruiting security guards, and anyone with cultivation would be given a permanent position, a monthly salary of fifty spirit stones, plus room and board, and meat at every meal... When our guards heard this, they threw down their weapons and followed the recruitment team."

"puff!"

Ji Chang spat out a mouthful of blood.

This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!

This is going to sever the very roots of Xiqi!

"Lin Xuan! Su Daji! I, Ji Chang, am sworn enemies with you!" Ji Chang roared to the sky.

At this time, outside the city of Xiqi.

A group of people dressed in the uniforms of a large merchant family were walking back with gongs and drums.

"Everyone line up! Don't push!" a burly man at the head of the group shouted through a megaphone. "We, the Great Shang Dynasty, value rules above all else. Once we arrive in Chaoge, first get your ID cards, then we'll assign you dormitories. As long as you're willing to work, spirit stones will be plentiful!"

In the procession, the Xiqi people, who were originally pale and thin, all had a gleam in their eyes.

"Er Gouzi, do you think this Da Shang is really that good?" an old man asked the young man next to him.

"Of course it's real!" The young man called Er Gouzi pulled out a spirit stone the size of a fingernail from his pocket, waved it in the sunlight, and said, "See this? This is the deposit that recruiter gave me! Just this one is worth half a year's work in Xiqi!"

The old man looked at the shiny stone, and tears almost welled up in his eyes.

"Let's go! To the Great Shang! Whoever wants to believe in the benevolent rule of Xiqi can believe it; I certainly don't!"

And in the clouds not far away.

Lin Xuan was holding Su Daji's waist, watching the scene below.

"Madam, you're quite adept at this 'golden offensive'," Lin Xuan said with a smile, pinching Su Daji's nose.

Although Su Daji was heavily pregnant, her shrewdness remained undiminished. She held a small abacus in her hand, fiddling with it rapidly.

"That's called a market economy," Su Daji said smugly, raising her chin. "Xiqi only knows how to make empty promises, while we offer real benefits. Comparing the two, even a fool would know which to choose. My husband, that old man Ji Chang must be losing sleep now, right?"

"It's certain he can't sleep," Lin Xuan said, looking at the rising resentment from the direction of the Marquis of Xibo's residence. "However, that old fox certainly won't sit idly by. Next, it looks like war will break out."

"What's there to be afraid of?" Su Daji sneered. "We have money, we have people, and we have your precious sons, my husband. If he dares to come, we'll make sure he doesn't leave alive!"

Lin Xuan smiled, his gaze deep.

To draw swords?

That suits me perfectly. How can I take over Xiqi if I don't make a move?