Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 343, Auctioning the Jade Buddha

Fang Yong looked at Shen Tu, who had stood up, took out a map, and invited Shen Tu to step forward.

Shen Tu stepped forward to examine it and discovered it was a map of the grassland.

The map is very detailed, showing the population distribution of various grasslands, including Hezhou, which is currently under construction, as well as the route connecting Datong, a route connecting Liaodong, and at the top, a route to the Rakshasa Kingdom.

Fang Yong began to speak:

"Hezhou is almost finished being built, and the resistance forces on the grasslands have been basically eliminated. I need you to set up another trading company to trade with the grasslands."

Shen Tu's pupils widened instantly, shocked by Fang Yong's words.

Fang Yong continued:

"You are more familiar with the business company, so you will still be in charge of its management. You will be given 35% of the shares to recruit talent. You can decide on the members yourself, but they should mainly come from the four provinces of Shanxi, Zhili, Henan, and Shandong. They should not be balanced, but rather biased towards the Kong family in Shandong."

"Try to open up a stable trade route between the Rakshasa Kingdom and Liaodong. Losing some money initially is fine. Jiang Ji, the chief of staff of the steppe army, will cooperate with your operation. Any other questions?"

Fang Yong explained the situation very clearly.

They made no attempt to conceal their malice towards the Confucius family, as well as their thoughts on the Russian Empire and Liaodong.

This trust made Shen Tu feel flattered.

He opened his mouth, a multitude of questions welling up in his mind.

For example, why was he chosen?

How will his crimes be dealt with? Will they be simply overlooked?
Will they bring up old grievances again in the future?
Is the trading company he's setting up a private or official entity?

The scale of a trading company's development...

But in the end, Shen Tu never asked these questions.

In fact, if he asked, Fang Yong would answer him in detail.

But Shen Tu was not used to this style.

He harbored a deep fear of Fang Yong, and therefore dared not inquire too intimately.

In the end, Shen Tu only asked one question.

"Your Highness, what should be done with the original trading companies in Jinling after I leave?"

Fang Yong replied:
"The Lu family will be eliminated, while the remaining members will continue to be managed as usual. A new president will be chosen from among them. Of course, this is a trading company you created, so you can appoint your own president if you wish, and then let it develop as it sees fit."

I want to observe how this model will eventually evolve, which will also help me gain experience. By the way, if anyone asks for your help, don't worry about it; just focus on managing the grasslands.

Hearing Fang Yong's answer, Shen Tu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

The easier it was to say "erase a single word," the more terrifying the coldness in his heart was.

"I want to observe how this pattern will eventually evolve."

The sentence was short and unremarkable, and the tone was so calm, but Shen Tu seemed to already see the end of the Jinling Chamber of Commerce being wiped out by the Huaiyin Army.

Blood flowed like rivers. Countless former friends, wealthy merchants, and prominent businessmen were paraded through the streets with disheveled hair. Their homes were trampled, their property confiscated, their wives and children imprisoned, and they themselves were taken to the execution ground.

Shen Tu's fingers were trembling uncontrollably.

That was almost his end.

Looking at Fang Yong sitting in the chair, he was clearly not pretentious at all, and his tone was very friendly, but why did he feel so oppressed?
Shen Tu is a smart man, but smart men tend to overthink.

Grasslands, armies, the four provinces of Central China, Liaodong, the Rakshasa Kingdom, and the Confucius family.

Shen Tu realized that he had just gotten rid of the bomb that was Jinling Trading Company, and Fang Yong had already strapped another bomb to him, several times more powerful than the previous one.

With a burden ten thousand times heavier on his shoulders, he almost collapsed the moment he stepped out of the palace gates.

Fang Yong was unaware of Shen Tu's thoughts.

He just felt that talking to smart people was convenient.

Although Shen Tu himself has many problems, his abilities are indeed reassuring.

Entrusting him with the trade routes on the grasslands would likely allow him to achieve his goals more quickly.

Fang Yong's demands were actually not high. He hoped that Shen Tu would establish a new trading company based in the four provinces, with official support, to develop rapidly and revitalize the economy of both the grasslands and central China.

As for the trade routes between Liaodong and the Luosha Kingdom, there were not many plans.

He simply sent some caravans in, partly to gather information about the local power structure, and partly to demonstrate the strength of his rule to the local aristocratic families and common people.

In the early stages, it's okay to lose money to gain publicity, since we won't be doing large-scale business in these two areas anyway, so losing a little money doesn't matter.

As for the Kong family, Fang Yong did it on purpose.

They deliberately gave the Kong family a larger share to incite conflict between them and others, thus setting the stage for a later resolution.

The Confucian family must be destroyed.

Although the Kong family did not put up much resistance to his rule, they instead surrendered and helped Fang Yong seize power.

But the Confucius family had reasons to die.

Fang Yong could not tolerate such a thousand-year-old family wreaking havoc on his land.

For Zhaolin's sake, we can allow the Kong family to have a descendant.

His and Zhaolin's descendants.

In the future, I will make it a mascot to inherit Confucius's thousand-year legacy.

This was the last bit of dignity he gave to the Kong family.

Moreover, Qin Baoqing is still around; he can use this as a pretext to launch an attack later, and he'll have no shortage of reasons.

If Shen Tu could see Fang Yong's thoughts, he would probably be terrified.

"Discarding a useful tool after it's been used, showing ruthlessness and cold-bloodedness—it's terrifying! The indifference of those in power is truly horrifying!"

The imperial examination lasted for nine days.

During this time, an envoy from the fourteenth prince of Siam also arrived in the capital.

Unsurprisingly, the other party was also after the jade Buddha.

Under Fang Yong's guidance, both parties made offers for the jade Buddha.

The price kept rising, and no one dared to give up the jade Buddha to the other party.

Fang Yong let both sides bid, and when the price approached one million taels of silver, both sides were clearly at a loss. So Fang Yong thoughtfully asked them to write down their bids.

The so-called "hidden price" means that the final price is written on a wooden board, and no one knows how much the other party wrote. The person who writes the most in the end gets the jade Buddha.

Therefore, both parties had to submit their highest bids.

Soon, two wooden planks were presented to Fang Yong.

After reading it, Fang Yong smiled at the envoy of the Fourteenth Prince.

The envoy of the fourteenth prince was clearly better prepared than the envoy of General Hanuk who arrived earlier.

The other party offered a high price of 120,000 taels of gold, which is equivalent to 1.2 million taels of silver. (For ease of calculation, the gold-silver ratio is set at 1:10.)
This far exceeded the offer of 105 million taels of silver given by General Hanuk's envoy.

Fang Yong agreed, and soon after, he handed the jade Buddha over to the envoy of the fourteenth prince.

As for why it's "soon"...

Naturally, it's because replicating a jade Buddha is extremely difficult and takes time!

Fang Yong then hosted a banquet for the envoys, expressing his support for the Fourteenth Prince's rule and declaring the Fourteenth Prince his eternal ally.

The fourteenth prince's messenger was overjoyed and praised Fang Yong highly, adding that the fourteenth prince wanted to marry his sister to Fang Yong.

Upon seeing this, Fang Yong quickly declined, citing feeling unwell.

He doesn't object to the marriage alliance.

However, certain characteristics of the Siamese people... did not quite fit his aesthetic.

(End of this chapter)