With wives as numerous as clouds and soldiers as numerous as a million, you say he's a useless

In all the time Shen Jingchuan had known Ye Cheng'an, he had never seen him with such a cold and stern expression.

It seems that this time, the gathering of troops from all nine cities beneath the city walls has truly angered the eldest son!

If he wants to stay and work under the eldest son, he must choose sides and state his position.

"Don't worry, young master, I will handle the follow-up matters properly!" Shen Jingchuan bowed to Ye Chengan's back, and only after the other party's figure completely disappeared from sight did he look coldly at Gu Mingxuan and his ilk.

At this moment, Nie Chongshan, oblivious to his own mortality, threatened Shen Jingchuan, "Shen Jingchuan, don't think that just because you have Ye Cheng'an backing you up, you can stand above us and act like a tyrant!"

"Let me tell you, we are all the Princess and the Crown Prince's people. If you treat us badly, the Princess and the Crown Prince will not let you off!"

"The reason Ye Cheng'an came to Liuzhou is because he can't defeat the Princess and the Crown Prince. He's a defeated general, and even if he comes to Liuzhou, it will only be a fleeting moment. Once the Prince and Princess find out about his outrageous behavior here, they will definitely not forgive him!!!"

"Shut up!" Shen Jingchuan's head was throbbing from Nie Chongshan's shouting, and he also found Nie Chongshan's inability to see the situation clearly ridiculous.

He immediately signaled his soldiers to gag him.

Then, his gaze turned to the officials of the other cities. "My lords," he said, "you all heard what the eldest son just said. I don't care who you are on, nor do I care what you plan to do after this, whether you report to the royal court or seek revenge. I only care about the present!"

"Now you only need to answer one question to me: will you agree to the eldest son's conditions, or will you not?"

Gu Mingxuan frowned. "Lord Shen, why are you doing this? To put it bluntly, this struggle is still between the Princess Consort, the Heir Apparent, and the Eldest Son. We are all just pawns..."

"As the saying goes, 'Leave a way out for yourself, so you can meet again in the future.' Now that the eldest young master has returned to his residence, why don't you take this opportunity to let us leave the city and take your troops away?"

"As for the 100,000 taels of silver that the eldest young master wants, we will raise the money after we return to the city and send it to Yong'an City in exchange for the locust-killing magic water."

The city lords of the other cities echoed, "Indeed, Lord Shen, we are all local officials of Liuzhou. Who knows who will need whom in the future? By showing leniency to us today, you are essentially leaving yourself a way out."

Hearing these people's words, Shen Jingchuan's face grew even colder. What a load of rubbish about leaving a way out for others so you can meet again in the future! He knew all too well what kind of people these were.

Long before the eldest son even arrived in Liuzhou, they had already begun forming cliques and eliminating dissidents. Many officials who were unwilling to pledge allegiance to Su Wanrou and her son were framed and implicated by them using underhanded tactics. If he hadn't been careful and vigilant enough, and hadn't made any mistakes during his many years as prefect, he would have been dead long ago.

He will show no mercy to these wolves and tigers!

Moreover, given the eldest son's personality, he would never tolerate his subordinates disobeying his decisions.

"My lords, there's no need to say any more. If it weren't for the eldest young master, the locust plague in Yong'an City would have ravaged the city, and all the people would have starved to death. The eldest young master has saved countless lives in Yong'an City. I, Shen Jingchuan, will follow his lead for the rest of my life and will never betray him!" Shen Jingchuan said each word with unwavering determination.

This infuriated Gu Mingxuan and the others. "Shen Jingchuan, you'd better think this through!"

"If you really do that, we will never let this go!"

"My mind is made up! Please give me an answer quickly!" Shen Jingchuan said coldly.

...

Half an hour later, Ye Cheng'an was sitting in the courtyard of the eldest son's mansion, basking in the sun and enjoying a massage from Zhu Yu.

Shen Jingchuan walked in with nine contracts. "Young Master, everything is settled. All the officials of the nine cities have agreed to your request and signed the contracts."

"The armies in each city have all returned to their cities to collect the money as instructed by their masters. If nothing unexpected happens, they will deliver the money in five or six days at most."

"Furthermore, I have arranged for the nine city commanders to stay at the post station. We will use the locusts to ransom them after the troops of the nine cities successfully eradicate the locusts!"

"Hmm." Ye Cheng'an didn't even open his eyes, giving a light reply. "You handled this matter well. Therefore, I should give you some reward..."

"Zhuyu, go and bring me what I have prepared for Lord Shen."

Zhu Yu agreed, turned around and went back to Ye Cheng'an's room to take out a blueprint, which she handed to Shen Jingchuan.

Shen Jingchuan glanced at it a few times, puzzled, "This is...?"

Ye Cheng'an opened his eyes, smiled faintly, and said, "This is a spinning wheel. If it can be made, the speed of weaving can be increased by dozens of times."

"I plan to establish a factory in Liuzhou to develop the economy... to put it more simply, I want to make money!"

"I am very satisfied with Lord Shen's performance today. I am willing to let you invest in the company. You will receive 20% of the total income of the textile factory in the future. However, the prerequisite is that you must find someone to build the spinning wheel, and you must ensure that the manufacturing process of the spinning wheel is not leaked."

"I'll leave all the complicated matters of setting up a textile factory, such as land and workers, to you."

Today, Shen Jingchuan forcefully confronted the nine city officials and placed them under house arrest in Yong'an City, which was tantamount to offering Ye Cheng'an a pledge of allegiance.

He has already offended the chief official of the Nine Cities to the death, and there will be no place for him to stay with Su Wanrou and her son in the future.

Therefore, Ye Cheng'an felt very reassured using him.

Upon hearing these words, Shen Jingchuan's breathing became rapid. A spinning wheel? If it were created, the weaving speed could be increased dozens of times?

If what the eldest son said is true, they can indeed make a fortune!

Most importantly, this way of getting rich doesn't involve stealing or robbing, nor does it exploit the people; it can even lead the people to prosperity...

This made Shen Jingchuan's heart pound with joy. "Young Master, rest assured, I will handle this matter well! I will never leak our core secrets!"

In the following days, Shen Jingchuan devoted himself to supervising the production of spinning wheels.

With nothing else to do, Ye Cheng'an secretly had an affair with Mu Yanqi, flirted with Zhu Yu, and annoyed Zhao Xuefu. He was living a very comfortable life.

Until seven days later.

The troops from the nine cities arrived at the city walls of Yong'an, carrying the silver that Ye Cheng'an wanted.

Ye Cheng'an ordered Zhang Hanfeng and others to collect the piles of silver, and then sent the Tiger Roar Army to distribute "locust-killing divine water" to them and teach them locust-killing techniques.

The eldest son's mansion was piled high with gleaming silver.

A full nine hundred thousand taels of silver!

It was so easy to pile up the entire yard.

Zhao Xuefu was stunned into silence; she had never imagined that money could be earned in this way.

Who exactly said that the eldest prince of the North was benevolent and righteous? He clearly extorted and cheated people, and did whatever he pleased.

But ironically, all his underhanded tricks were aimed at the treacherous officials within the Northern Territory...

It was hard to feel disgusted or repulsed; on the contrary, Zhao Xuefu felt that her father should learn more from Ye Cheng'an. There were so many corrupt officials in the Great Qian Dynasty. If her father had even a tenth of Ye Cheng'an's methods, the national treasury wouldn't be so short of money.

"Um, Ye Cheng'an, I have a few questions for you..." Zhao Xuefu looked at the silver coins, her mouth watering, and looked at Ye Cheng'an with hopeful eyes.

Ye Cheng'an answered without hesitation, "If the princess asks, then it means I loved her."

"!!!" Zhao Xuefu was stunned. What was he saying?

She immediately realized the other person was teasing her, and gritted her teeth, saying, "I have serious business to ask you, can't you be serious?"

Ye Cheng'an chuckled lightly, "This young master has always been very serious."

Zhao Xuefu's heart skipped a beat. Did he mean that he had loved her?

But why is he so gentle and considerate to Mu Yanqi, while frequently treating her coldly?

Could it be because he realized his own thoughts and the court's intentions?

Zhao Xuefu felt that she needed to have a serious talk with Ye Chengan.

"Since you're so serious, let's find a secluded place and have a proper talk behind closed doors," Zhao Xuefu said.

Ye Cheng'an raised an eyebrow slightly, then moved closer to Zhao Xuefu, lifting her chin and forcing her to look him in the eye. "A lone man and a lone woman, alone in a room with the door closed, what does the princess intend to do to me?"

"Let me tell you beforehand, Princess, I am not a man of many kinds! If you try to take advantage of me, I will not do so."

"...Don't worry, I will never do anything to you!" Zhao Xuefu was speechless. This guy!

Even if she really wanted to do something to Ye Cheng'an, it should be the woman who suffers the loss!

Moreover, as a princess of the dynasty and the most beautiful woman in the Great Qian Dynasty, would she be so desperate as to throw herself at anyone?