Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2103 Dongfang Beiming Destroys Nangong, the Four Great Imperial Merchants Are No More

"Do you think I have any other choice?" Dongfang Yu replied without looking up.

Unlike the Bei Ming family, the Dongfang family had completely sided with the Han Dynasty from the very beginning. The Bei Ming family, on the other hand, simply cooperated with the Han Dynasty in every way possible.

At this juncture, if the decisions of the Eastern family and the Han Dynasty were to contradict each other, it would inevitably create discord between them.

Ultimately, the Dongfang family has already invested too much in the Han Dynasty, and the sunk costs are already too high.

If they can't stand together at crucial moments, their efforts might be in vain.

"Could it be that Brother Dongfang really intends to let the Nangong family fend for itself?"

Bei Ming Youyu's expression turned even uglier. If the Nangong family were to fall into their hands today, there was at least an 80% chance that the Ximen family would follow in the footsteps of the Nangong family in the future.

With two of the four major imperial merchants gone, they will truly be at the mercy of others in the future!

This is something that Beiming Youyu would never want to see.

People like them value self-preservation and independence the most. Without a sword in hand, they are just fat pigs to be slaughtered by everyone, and they can't even sleep peacefully from now on.

But once they are without swords, will the Han court refrain from taking action against them?
Bei Ming You Yu was never that naive!
He was well aware of the allure of the wealth of the four imperial merchants to every ruling power.

The imperial court may not openly slaughter them or take their lives to save face, but their blood and flesh will certainly be cut away piece by piece.

"What can we do! Since the Nangong family has completely sided with Zhongcang, and now that Zhongcang has been destroyed, the Nangong family deserves this calamity!" The head of the Dongfang family sighed.

For a family like theirs, if they only seek self-preservation, even chaotic times cannot harm them. At most, they might suffer a little more loss.

Just like Zhenbei, if they were willing to back down, both the north and the south would be willing to compromise with him.

Unfortunately, once involved, the losers are left to their own devices and be slaughtered.

In this game, once you've participated, the winner takes all, and the loser also takes all. Life and death hang in the balance, determined by the winner's single decision.

However, it remains to be seen whether the Dongfang family will have the last laugh.

If the Great Han also loses in this game, then the Nangong family of today will be no different from the Dongfang family of tomorrow.
"Hmph! What's so special about your Dongfang family?"

When Bei Ming Youyu brought this up, he became even more furious.

Of the four former imperial merchants, the Dongfang family sided entirely with the Han Dynasty, the Nangong family sided entirely with the Zhongcang Dynasty, and although the Ximen family did not sided entirely with the Song Dynasty, their inclination was already quite obvious.

Now, only Bei Ming remains, managing to remain untainted in this chaotic world.

If the four major imperial merchants remain neutral and do not give others any leverage, they can unite in private and avoid being slaughtered even in this chaotic world.

"The world is in chaos, so how can anyone truly remain unscathed? It's only a matter of time!"

"Moreover, even if one manages to remain untainted, can one prevent those with ulterior motives from actively seeking one out, especially in the event of a demonic calamity?" Dongfang Yu shook his head dejectedly.

Is the Nangong family connected to the demonic calamity? Do you think the Dongfang family believes it?

But how can we produce any evidence?

Not to mention, even if evidence is presented, what can be done when the whole world believes that the Nangong family is related to the demonic disaster?
After Wang Xu did that, countless people from the various schools of thought at the time pointed out that the Nangong family was involved with the demonic disaster. How could one person explain it all?

"I'm afraid your Beiming family will no longer be able to remain unscathed!" Dongfang Yu said meaningfully.

If Nangong is truly gone, and if the Ximen family follows suit in the future, leaving only the Dongfang and Beiming families, and if the Beiming family maintains its neutral and self-serving attitude, Dongfang Yu is confident that the imperial court will not let go of this lucrative opportunity!
It is important to understand that the more chaotic the times, the more money and supplies are needed.

In a sense, war is about money.

And by eliminating one of the imperial merchants, one could make a fortune.

Even an emperor cannot kill people at will. After all, if an emperor could kill people as he pleased, everyone in the world would live in fear.

The officials below the emperor would not allow him to kill people at will. To be more realistic, they would not allow the emperor's power to expand to that extent.

There was inherent struggle between the emperor and his ministers. The struggle between imperial power and the power of the prime minister was a constant throughout feudal society.

If the emperor can kill people at will, he can kill officials and generals indiscriminately according to his own whims. The officials below also have to protect their own rights, especially these fundamental rights. They cannot back down in the face of imperial power.

When an emperor can kill indiscriminately according to his own whims, that dynasty is not far from its demise.

Therefore, even if the emperor really wanted to kill someone, it was not impossible. At the very least, he had to have a reason, a reason that everyone could accept, even if it was only superficially accepted, or something that they had no choice but to accept.

However, if the entire court, from the emperor to the officials, all want to kill someone, then the situation is different!
After all, in chaotic times, these civil and military officials all wanted to make a name for themselves. And making a name for themselves required fighting, which in turn required money and supplies. Faced with wealthy and well-supplied imperial merchants who had lost their former ability to protect themselves, wouldn't everyone in the court want to kill them?

Even if there's no reason, create one to kill him.

Therefore, Dongfang Yu said that the Beiming family no longer has much room to continue to live in seclusion, and if they do not make a choice soon, they may not even have the opportunity to make a choice in the future.

Making a choice means you might suffer a few cuts and have some flesh cut off in the future. But if you don't make a choice, one day you'll be swallowed whole, flesh and bones.

"What a chaotic world!" Bei Ming Youyu sighed dejectedly.

In the previous chaotic era, these four families, by fully supporting Emperor Cang, were appointed as the Four Great Imperial Merchants when the Great Cang Dynasty was established, thus standing at the pinnacle of the merchant world.

They were merchants, but also officials in a different way. Although they had no official title, the imperial merchants were responsible for managing the commerce of Da Cang on behalf of the imperial court. They had no official title, but they wielded real power.

Throughout the entire seven dynasties, apart from these four families, no other merchant could achieve what they had!

Among merchants, they held a position equivalent to that of the four powerful clans of the Great Xia Dynasty—they had already reached the pinnacle.

However, everyone only saw the power and wealth that followed, and few remembered that during those chaotic years, in order to support Emperor Cang, they had exhausted their family's resources, with eighty percent of their clan members dying in battle. After the Great Cang Dynasty was established, it took several decades to gradually recover.

Now, another chaotic era has arrived! Whether the lineage can continue in this chaotic world is uncertain, even for the Northern Underworld and the Yu Dynasty!

"I have no intention of getting involved in the Nangong family's salt fields and businesses!" Dongfang Yu glanced at Beiming Youyu and gave him a hint.

When he first arrived in Tianjing, the emperor arranged a private banquet for him, during which he openly and subtly discussed the Nangong family.

Although he didn't say it outright, he knew that if the emperor really wanted to destroy the entire Nangong family, he would need his help to stabilize the economic shock that would follow.

If the Nangong family, which is involved in the economy of Dacang, were to perish, how could it not have an impact?

This impact cannot be completely stabilized by the imperial court alone in a short period of time. Therefore, the imperial court needs both the Dongfang family and the Beiming family.

Moreover, the imperial court wouldn't do things for nothing. With such a large piece of meat like the Nangong family, the court wouldn't mind sharing it with Dongfang and Beiming as well.

However, while this piece of meat can be eaten, there are nuances to consider regarding which portion is consumed by the imperial court and which portion by the individuals themselves.

Of all the businesses the Nangong family has, salt accounts for the largest share in the entire Da Cang region.

Things like salt, iron, and coinage would never have been controlled by merchants in other dynasties. In the entire Tianqi Empire, only the four major imperial merchants of the Great Cang Dynasty possessed such control.

However, Dongfang Yu could already foresee that maintaining their transcendent status as imperial merchants would likely be impossible. Therefore, they would have to relinquish certain things. If their virtue did not match their position, the outcome would probably be dire.

"Hmph! I'd rather not eat this meat!"

Bei Ming Youyu was usually very refined, but every time he saw Dongfang Yu's face, he couldn't help but feel angry.

"The Nangong family!"

Dongfang Yu and Beiming Youyu were both deep in thought, already considering how to completely divide up this huge family.

The profits of a once-powerful merchant after its demise, the wealth accumulated over hundreds of years—others may not know how much it was, but how could the emperors, who were also emperors, not know?

These are things that you can simply not do, but if you're going to do them, then do them thoroughly.

If possible, they really wanted to save the Nangong family.

Given the current situation, it's clear they have no chance of getting it approved. So, they should consider the distribution of profits next.

The succession of leadership among the four major imperial merchants may not be as cruel as some might think, but it is certainly the most realistic process.

The profession of businessman is inherently extremely pragmatic.

Therefore, Dongfang Yu and Beiming Youyu will not have any compassion at this time. On the contrary, when it comes time to take action, they will be even more ruthless.

If we don't act, all is well; but once we do, we won't give them any chance to turn things around.

Both of them were equally envious of the profits brought by a royal merchant.

Anyway, since the old celestial being of the Nangong family is dead, they can act even more recklessly.

Sometimes, when destroying a powerful force, the first step is to kill the Celestial-level expert behind them. This isn't because the Celestial-level expert is truly strong enough to defeat ten thousand people, but rather because they are worried about leaving this potential threat behind. If the opponent is single-mindedly focused on assassination, it will cause them immense headaches.

There are indeed unspoken rules among the various factions, such as that celestial beings are not allowed to participate in assassinations. However, if you have already killed someone's entire family, can this rule still restrain them?
Furthermore, this restriction only applies to assassinations. If someone jumps out and kills you face-to-face when your guards are not present, that doesn't count as an assassination! That's exactly what happened to Gao Huan back then!
While external martial arts, when mastered to the highest level, can also lead to the pinnacle of martial arts, this only applies to combat power.

In terms of comprehensiveness and unpredictable variations in methods, battlefield warriors who practice external martial arts are indeed far inferior to those who practice internal martial arts.

At least in terms of scaling walls and leaping across rooftops, or stealth and infiltration, you external martial arts practitioners can't compare to those internal martial arts practitioners!
It can be said that if one develops internal strength in all aspects, becoming a well-rounded warrior, then external strength is only comparable to internal strength in terms of combat power, while all other aspects are weaknesses.

After all, every gain has its loss!
Compared to becoming a celestial being, how long does it take to become a divine general?
The path to becoming a god is essentially about focusing solely on combat.

For example, when both internal energy martial artists and external energy martial artists exhaust their power, the former will be completely finished. However, while the latter's combat power will decrease significantly, they will not lose their fighting ability entirely.

The banquet lasted until well past midnight.

The numerous civil and military officials, both high and low rank, then staggered out of the palace, supporting each other.

At today's banquet, with the exception of a very few people, most people were clearly singing and dancing, and were in a very good mood.

In particular, Li Hui, who had someone carry his bow while he himself carried a gun, followed behind Zhuge Liang and Li Xuanyi, his mouth agape.

The contest was between young men under twenty, and it wasn't a real competition. The use of strength was minimized, and the ruthless and vicious methods honed by those who had been on the battlefield were also useless.

This kind of "competition" completely avoids any of Li Hui's disadvantages.

If it were a life-or-death battle, there would definitely be quite a few young men among those who just entered the arena who could kill Li Hui.

If it were an absolutely fair competition, and someone could defeat him, then they could count even more.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a performance-like "competition".

Furthermore, Wang Yu clearly had a high opinion of Li Hui, so the judges didn't mind showing a slight bias in their final scores.

As for the other guests at the banquet, they also received some gifts, though they were just inexpensive trinkets. However, the meaning behind these gifts was different.

As for the original painting by the Sage of Painting, it was successfully acquired by Huangfu Qing, a noblewoman from the Huangfu family, and Zhuge Dan, the younger brother of Zhuge Liang. How they divided it afterward was their own business.

In fact, Huangfu Qing was indeed capable to be chosen by the Empress Dowager. On the contrary, it was Zhuge Liang's younger brother, Zhuge Dan, who dragged him down during the performance.

However, thanks to the referees' guidance, they narrowly won by a tiny margin in the overall score.