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Chapter 613: Let's Cooperate

Though his patience had worn thin, Zhu Cunji decided against unleashing his full wrath.

Recovering his composure with difficulty, Zhu Cunji said in a deep voice, "Very well, I won't waste any more breath on useless words. I'll get straight to the point, Li Daoxuan. Cooperating with those so-called 'upright literati officials' won't earn you much money, but cooperating with this heir will make your coffers overflow."

Li Daoxuan replied, "I'm already making my coffers overflow right now, so why would I need to cooperate with you? What's the necessity?"

Zhu Cunji: "..."

His anger began to build anew.

Zhu Cunji continued, "I've heard, Li Daoxuan, that you're buying land everywhere to build various unusual factories: mines, chicken farms, cement plants... But, if you'll forgive my bluntness, very little land around Xi'an isn't already under my name. If you wish to expand, it will be difficult to achieve anything significant without cooperating with this heir."

This time, he finally hit on the crucial point.

And it was the main reason Li Daoxuan had indulged his rambling.

Most of the land around Xi'an belonged to the Prince of Qin's estate; only a small portion was in the hands of ordinary people. Li Daoxuan had recently spent a considerable sum acquiring shops for food, clothing, housing, and travel. However, when it came to large-scale construction for things like coal mines, iron mines, farmland, or breeding farms, he couldn't bypass the Prince of Qin's estate. If Gao Family Village had already broken ties with the Ming court, they could simply march in, seize the lands, and redistribute them. But at this stage, open conflict was clearly not advisable, especially since Li Daoxuan's 'field of view' was still almost a hundred *li* away from Xi'an.

Thus, it boiled down to this: helping the Prince of Qin's estate make money was, in fact, helping the future Gao Family Village make money. There was no need to worry. Any wealth the Prince of Qin's estate accumulated would merely be stored within the mansion, perhaps hidden in a cellar, much like the Salt Administration Bureau in Hedong Circuit.

When Gao Family Village eventually swept in, they could unearth these treasures, transforming them into the wealth of the people. This was something Gao Family Village could do at any time, depending only on their will.

So, Li Daoxuan feigned a troubled frown, appearing quite hesitant.

The silicone figure's expression was truly stiff and eerie. His frown, to Zhu Cunji, sent shivers down his spine. *Why is this person's expression always so strange? It feels like he isn't human.*

After a long pretense of deliberation, Li Daoxuan finally spoke, "Wu Shen and Shi Kefa have been quite generous to me. Both sirs promised me half the profits if I help them solve their livelihood problems."

Zhu Cunji chuckled. "If they can offer you half, this heir can offer you six-tenths."

Li Daoxuan responded with an exaggerated, "Oh?"

Zhu Cunji continued, "Build a fertilizer plant on my land, and the profits will be split six-tenths for you, four-tenths for me, as long as the fertilizer produced can be used on my farmlands."

Li Daoxuan exclaimed, "Oh, oh, oh, oh!"

Zhu Cunji went on, "Chicken farms, pig farms, mining, and so forth, can all be allocated according to this principle."

Li Daoxuan pretended to ponder, while Zhu Cunji secretly chuckled to himself. *Merchants are driven by profit. As long as I offer enough, there's no reason he wouldn't side with me. Heh heh heh, you can't escape this heir's grasp.*

But in his mind, Li Daoxuan was calculating: *There's a coal mine in Xi'an's Ba Bridge District, located on the Prince of Qin's land. I can mine coal there, supplying Xi'an directly, which will be much more convenient than transporting it from Heyang County. Ba Bridge District has not only coal but also iron, making it ideal for simultaneous iron and coal mining, and on-site smelting. The vast fertile lands along the Wei River are all part of the Prince of Qin's fief. By developing these lands with scientific methods and increasing yields, the Prince of Qin's estate won't be able to consume all the produce and will inevitably have to sell it. Furthermore, the Prince of Qin's estate won't be able to artificially inflate grain prices because I can use Gao Family Village's grain stores to sell grain at low prices, driving down the market. The Prince of Qin's estate will be forced to match the affordable prices, thereby helping the common people access cheap food. And...*

*The Prince of Qin's estate has no experience running various factories, so they will certainly have to rely on Gao Family Village's management personnel. This will allow Gao Family Village's people to gradually increase the wages of the tenant farmers and long-term laborers working for the Prince of Qin's estate, helping them to prosper as well.*

In short, as long as the power of the outdated old system loosens, advanced productivity can quickly infiltrate it, dismantling the old power structure piece by piece. History has already proven this.

Li Daoxuan pretended to consider for a long time, then raised his head, a terrifying silicone smile on his face that made Zhu Cunji inwardly cringe. "Your Royal Highness, how about a seventy-thirty split?"

Zhu Cunji shook his head without hesitation. "No more than a sixty-forty split."

"Fine! Sixty-forty it is. A pleasure doing business."

Zhu Cunji's bottled-up fury, which had been accumulating for so long, vanished without a trace, as he had no grand move to unleash.

***

Meanwhile, in Daizhou, northern Shanxi.

Chuǎng Wang (Gao Yingxiang) and Chuǎng Jiang (Li Zicheng), leading twenty thousand rebel troops, pressed toward the city walls of Daizhou.

At this time, northern Shanxi had become a haven for marauding bandits. Apart from Taiyuan Prefecture, which proved impregnable, all other smaller cities, prefectures, and counties were ravaged by the rebels. Local prefects, magistrates, and county officials desperately organized militias for self-preservation. Many imperial officials died with their cities, and numerous captured cities had their walls torn down, leaving them exposed like turtles stripped of their shells.

Chuǎng Wang glanced at Daizhou city ahead, feeling it was just like the small towns and counties they usually attacked—easy to breach, nothing to worry about. He waved his hand, "Attack the city!"

Large numbers of rebel soldiers surged toward Daizhou city.

Just then, figures stirred on Daizhou's city walls. A tall, imposing gentry member, accompanied by his household retainers and the Daizhou city militia, made a dramatic appearance.

This gentry member was named Sun Chuanting, with an imposing stature of eight feet. He had once served as a director in the Ministry of Personnel's Bureau of Merit Evaluation but had taken leave and returned home due to dissatisfaction with Wei Zhongxian's dictatorial rule, remaining idle for several years.

Facing the surging rebel forces, Sun Chuanting showed not the slightest fear. He drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and unleashed a barrage upon the rebels below the walls. The Sun family's retainers were well-trained, advancing and retreating with disciplined precision, fighting no less effectively than regular army troops.

Chuǎng Wang and Chuǎng Jiang had truly run into terrible luck; they never expected such a formidable individual to emerge from an obscure little prefecture.

After a bitter assault, Daizhou city remained as unyielding as Mount Tai.

Chuǎng Wang and Chuǎng Jiang had no choice but to retreat. Unable to conquer Daizhou, they couldn't advance further north. The rebels hesitated for a while, seriously considered their options, then turned their army south, once again sweeping towards central and southern Shanxi.