Douluo: The blue phoenix cries loudly, and the wind whistles through the air

The head of the Wang family feigned ignorance and said repeatedly, "Lord Wu, I don't understand what you're talking about?"

"The commercial market in Wangbeicheng follows the current market rules. We are simply adapting to the market environment and raising prices accordingly."

"The relationship between supply and demand is the essence of the market. You are still young and do not understand the reasoning behind it, which is understandable to everyone."

The head of the Wang family spoke eloquently: "Wangbei City once suffered from severe banditry. If outside supplies want to come in, we need to spend more on security. With costs remaining high, the price of supplies will naturally not be low."

"Now, those mountain strongholds have indeed been wiped out, but many bandits are still hiding in various places. They may not dare to enter the city to cause trouble, but they dare to target our supply convoys."

"It's reasonable for the city guards to control the supplies entering the city in order to make it easier to suppress bandits. We are just doing what the law says."

"The increase in commodity prices is not what we want, but we are forced by the situation."

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency. Once the city guards finish their bandit suppression work and allow supplies to enter Wangbei City normally, we will immediately lower our prices and will never engage in unethical business practices."

Watt suppressed his anger.

The Wang family head's words clearly made them look like fools!
Back then, the Spirit Hall not only wiped out all the nearby mountain strongholds, but also swept through the area at the foot of the mountain for many days afterward.

Even if some bandits escaped, there were no more than ten of them.

This small number of people made the city guards of Wangbei City feel like they were facing a major enemy. How weak must the fighting spirit and combat effectiveness of these city guards be?
It seems that the bandit suppression is a pretense; the real purpose is to take the opportunity to inflate commodity prices.

Wu Qi's face was expressionless, and he asked in return, "Are you finished?"

The head of the Wang family was taken aback by his words. After a pause, he replied, "Sir, was there something I didn't explain clearly just now? Would you like me to repeat it?"

This guy is determined not to repent.

If that's the case, then they have no value whatsoever. The Wang family can disappear!
Wu Qi said indifferently, "Two choices, one of them. I don't have the patience. Please make your choice!"

The head of the Wang family was immediately displeased. So all that talk had been wasted?

He had hoped to use this opportunity to outwit Wu Qi, but unexpectedly, he ended up becoming a laughingstock!
The Wang family head's face was extremely gloomy. If he weren't weak, he would have torn Wu Qi apart with his bare hands!
He said in a deep voice, "Our Wang family is an affiliated family of the Black Tiger Sect. I'm making this clear today: anyone who dares to lay a hand on the Wang family is making an enemy of the Black Tiger Sect!"

The Black Tiger Sect is nothing but a dog of the Spirit Hall. It's quite amusing that a lackey of a lackey dares to bare its teeth at its master.

Wu Qi said calmly, "It seems the Wang family has made their choice. Then please return. I hope you can maintain this confidence."

Before leaving, the head of the Wang family spat at the door to express his dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, two family heads who were close to him also left in anger, expressing their stance.

Of the remaining two, the Li family member was already showing signs of kneeling down. Wu Qi didn't intend to question them for the time being, but instead looked at the Chen family head.

"What's your choice?"

The head of the Chen family did not want to offend the sect behind him, nor did he want to offend the Spirit Hall.

He asked, "Your Excellency, your conditions are too harsh. My Chen family cannot explain this to the Elephant Armor Sect behind us."

"If you can relax your conditions, we have no problem. For example, we can buy grain from farmers outside the city and sell it centrally in the city. We can offer a 30% discount on the price, how about that?"

Wu Qi shook his head.

Currently, the reason why city dwellers still have the motivation to survive is because they can go out of the city to buy grain from farmers.

If the farmers' grain is also controlled by a few powerful families, then people both inside and outside the city will have no way to survive.

Wu Qi believed that once these families had the opportunity to buy up the grain from the farmers, they would coerce and entice the farmers to sell all their grain, and then exploit the land they owned.

Doing so only hastened the "fall" of Wangbei City.

"I feel it's necessary to remind you that you only have the right to choose, there's no room for negotiation." "If you don't accept the first option, then you can only accept the second option."

"If you are dissatisfied, you can go find the people of the Elephant Armor Sect, and it would be best to call Huyan Zhen as well."

The head of the Chen family hesitated slightly.

He was hoping to please both sides, but Wu Qi deliberately refused to give him that opportunity.

Offending the Elephant Armor Clan means the entire family is doomed. Offending Wu Qi, however, might offer a chance for survival.

Thus, the Chen family head knew how to choose.

He stood up and sighed, "I'm sorry, the Chen family cannot accept your proposal."

After saying that, he left the private room.

At this moment, only Li Wenzhong and his son, along with Wu Qi, remained in the private room.

Seeing that the troublesome person had left, Li Jinglong quickly bowed and said, "Mr. Wu, my Li family is willing to accept your command."

"As I said before, we have no choice but to compromise in the face of the pressure from Xiangjia Sect. If Mr. Wu can resolve this trouble for us, my Li family is willing to pledge allegiance to you."

Wangbei City is just an obscure little city.

The five major families were doing well in their businesses until recently when powerful figures from the Black Tiger Sect and Elephant Armor Sect arrived, forcing them to join their respective factions in order to make huge profits.

Merchants are driven by profit, and the three families, led by the Wang family, were easily incorporated and willingly served as pawns for the lower four factions.

The Li and Chen families had tried to resist, but their strength was too weak, so they had no choice but to live a precarious existence.

Li Wenzhong and his son told Wu Qi a lot, and Wu Qi understood everything about the situation in the city.

The City Lord's Mansion was indeed not involved.

However, they themselves did not take charge, so the soldiers of the city guard were bought off with large sums of money by several powerful families and became their henchmen.

It is said that the soldiers receive a large red envelope every month, containing five to ten gold soul coins, which is much more than their salary.

Wu Qi chuckled and took out the Papal Decree from his soul tool. "Hu Yanzhen is nothing but a dog of my Spirit Hall. Does a dog dare to bite its master?"

Li Wenzhong and his son were terrified.

If Wu Qi had produced the papal decree immediately, the Wang family and other families would have immediately knelt before him, and would never have been so defiant.

Li Wenzhong roughly understood what was going on.

Wangbei City is too small to withstand the chaos caused by the five major families. Only by eliminating the other four and leaving only one can the city develop safely.

Li Wenzhong was extremely fortunate; if Li Jinglong hadn't encountered the other party earlier and made the Li family's stance clear, things would have been different.

It seems highly likely that this good fortune will fall into the hands of the Chen family.

"Our Li family is willing to follow Elder's lead. Effective immediately, all goods sold in our Li family shops will be priced at market value!"

Wu Qi nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "Do you have the capability to take over the market share of the other four companies?"

Li Wenzhong and his son thought to themselves, "As expected," and quickly replied, "With the elder's support, we will definitely be fine."

"However, the Elephant Armor Sect has placed guards within the clan to control us. Should we eliminate him?" (End of Chapter)