Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

Li Chengqian walked up to Wang Renzhe and pointed to the refugees huddled together at the bottom of the valley.

"Lord Wang, what's the use of killing them?"

Look at them, they're all skin and bones from hunger, they'd fall over in the wind.

This meat is inedible, the hide is useless, and even if you sold it to a mine as a slave, no one would want it.

He held up two fingers and waved them in front of Wang Renzhe's eyes.

"Even if you kill him, you still have to spend manpower digging a hole to bury him. Isn't the labor for digging the hole a cost? Isn't the burial mat a cost? It's a losing proposition from start to finish. Lord Wang, how could someone as shrewd as you do such a money-losing business?"

Wang Ren was completely bewildered by this fallacy.

Does murder have a cost?

"You see, killing them is just for peace of mind, but peace of mind is worthless."

Li Chengqian continued his analysis.

"Why not make use of it?"

He patted Wang Renzhe on the shoulder with a genuine smile on his face.

"I'm preparing to open a mine and build a factory in Hedong, and what I need is a group of hard-working laborers who are not afraid of death."

Keeping these people around is a hassle; you'll have to constantly guard against them causing trouble. Sell them to me, and you can get some money in return.

I'll buy them all for two hundred strings of cash; whether they live or die is entirely up to me.

You saved yourself trouble and even made some extra money for free.

"How about it, Lord Wang? Isn't this a good deal?"

Wang Ren was even more bewildered.

He looked at Li Chengqian's sincere expression that said "I'm thinking of you," and then at the hundred or so lowly people at the bottom of the valley who were worth less than two hundred coins in his eyes.

For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating.

Buy a bunch of starving good-for-nothings for two hundred strings of cash?

This young master Li is either mentally ill, or...

A thought flashed through his mind in an instant.

He got it.

This young master Li is no benevolent person at all; he is a complete and utter tyrant.

He didn't care about these people's lives or deaths; what he wanted was absolute control.

Buying people and using them like livestock is much more cost-effective than killing them outright.

Such people treat human life as worthless, and only care about money and profit; they are practically kindred spirits.

Moreover, they are like-minded people whose skill level is much higher than mine.

Having figured this out, Wang Renzhe was overjoyed.

"What a bargain! It's such a great deal!"

"My lord, you truly possess remarkable foresight, grasping the crux of the problem at a glance. I am utterly impressed! I admire you beyond measure."

Fearing that Li Chengqian might change his mind, he immediately turned around and shouted at the clerk:

"Bring me pen and ink! Quickly."

Soon, a contract for goods was completed by Wang Renzhe.

It is clearly written above:

Wang Renzhe, the magistrate of Longmen County, has sold 113 unregistered refugees to merchant Li Ming for 200 strings of cash. From now on, their fates, whether they live or die, will be left to fate, and they will have no further connection with the Longmen County government.

He even took out his official seal from his pocket, stamped it heavily, and then presented it to Li Chengqian with both hands.

"Young Master Li, please take a look. From now on, they are your private property."

Li Chengqian casually handed the "deed of goods" to Xiao Shunzi, then gestured with his chin toward Cheng Chumo and Fang Yi'ai.

"Go and give our new guys some food."

Then, he roared at the numb crowd at the bottom of the valley:

"Listen up, all of you. From today onwards, your lives are mine."

I'm feeding you now so you'll have the strength to work for me.

"Eat your fill, everyone. Get ready to come with me to the mine and work until you die."

Cheng Chumo and Fang Yi'ai carried several large bags of grain downstairs and began distributing them.

Those dying refugees, who had already closed their eyes and awaited death, suddenly smelled the aroma of food, and their survival instincts drove them to rush forward frantically.

But when they heard Li Chengqian's words, many of them started to shed tears as they ate.

Having just escaped one tiger's den, they entered another.

They fell from one hell into another, even deeper hell.

Standing on high ground, Wang Renzhe looked at this human tragedy and actually laughed.

Not only did he get rid of these burdens, he actually made money.

This is absolutely perfect.

"Young Master Li, please take care."

Wang Ren then caught a money bag that Cheng Chumo tossed to him, and smiled as he weighed it in his hand.

Li Chengqian waved his hand without looking back, and with his more than one hundred "private properties," he walked grandly towards the county town.

......

On the third day after Li Chengqian returned to Longmen County with his more than one hundred "private properties", a fast horse stopped in front of the mansion of the Taiyuan Wang family in Chang'an.

The messenger called out at the gate:

"Express delivery from Hedong Road, 800 li away! Presented to the master."

Inside the study.

Wang Gui was calmly copying a calligraphy work by a famous calligrapher from a previous dynasty.

The butler respectfully presented the secret letter.

"Master, an urgent letter from Wang Renzhe of Longmen County."

"Oh? What's up with that kid now?"

Wang Gui's brush never stopped.

After he finished writing the last stroke, he put down the brush, took the envelope, and slowly opened it.

In the letter, Wang Ren used all the ornate language he had learned in his life to describe a young master named "Li Ming" from Chang'an in a fantastical way.

What does it mean to "spend money like dirt"? What does it mean to "spend a fortune to buy a job for a smile"? What does it mean to have "bodyguards who are as brave as ten thousand men"?

Wang Gui initially wanted to laugh, thinking that Wang Renzhe was so poor that he treated every wealthy merchant as a god of wealth.

But when the name "Li Ming" appeared on the letter for the third time, Wang Gui felt something was wrong.

Li Ming?

Why does this name sound so familiar?

He remembered that the alias the Crown Prince used at Wangyue Tower was Li Ming.

Could it be...?

Wang Gui immediately brought the letter close to his eyes and began to read it again, word by word.

The letter details Li Ming's various "heroic deeds," including how he was deceived by Wang Renzhe's "banquet for ten thousand people," and how brave Xue Rengui was.

Wang Gui felt something was amiss the more he looked at it.

The Crown Prince Li Chengqian in his memory, although domineering in his actions, was fraught with danger in every step he took, and his mind was terrifyingly deep.

How could someone like that be fooled by a fool like Wang Renzhe with a "banquet for all people"?

Moreover, where would the Crown Prince find someone with the strength to lift a heavy weight around him?

Furthermore, the letter stated that "Li Ming" was greedy, lustful, eccentric, and utterly naive; he was even so cruel as to buy refugees to work as laborers, just to enjoy watching them suffer and struggle...

This is hardly the Li Chengqian who dared to storm the palace with a knife for his sister and was willing to break with his father for the sake of family.

Wang Gui fell into deep thought.

He put down the letter and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

If the Crown Prince were to personally visit Hedong, he would surely strike with overwhelming force, delivering a fatal blow.

How could he be so ostentatious, as if he's afraid people won't know he's rich? And why use the same alias?

Is he treating himself like a fool, or is he the fool?

No, Li Chengqian is definitely not a fool.

Then this person must be treacherous.

Either it's some arrogant and ignorant nobleman from Chang'an who's imitating the Crown Prince's style of doing things to swindle and deceive people.

Or they are pawns sent by other political enemies to muddy the waters.

Moreover, the Wang family's spies had already reported that Li Chengqian's entourage was still several days away from Longmen County, and that Li Chengqian himself was in the entourage.

The Li Ming from Longmen County could not possibly be the Crown Prince himself.

"Just a clown."

Wang Gui gave a disdainful sneer.

Just then, another servant came to report from outside the door.

"Master, the steward of the Cui family of Qinghe has come to visit. He says that the Cui family head would like to confirm with you one last time the date for initiating the plan to exterminate the family line."

The three words "extermination plan" instantly drew all of Wang Gui's attention.

That's right, this is the most important thing right now.

Compared to completely severing the Crown Prince's foundation in Liaodong, triggering a mutiny, and eliminating this major threat once and for all, the mere "nouveau riche" of Longmen County was simply insignificant.

The contempt on Wang Gui's face deepened.

"Someone come here!" he called out.

The butler immediately bowed and entered: "What are your orders, Master?"

"Go tell the Cui family that everything will proceed as planned, and when the time is right, the Wang family will not hesitate."

"yes!"

The butler accepted the order and left.

Wang Gui then picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and prepared to reply to Wang Renzhe.

He's just a nouveau riche, yet he really thinks he's someone important.

However, since he is so rich and so stupid, he is not entirely useless.

Wang Gui quickly wrote a reply.

"My nephew Renze, I am delighted to have read your letter. The Li Ming you mentioned is a god of wealth bestowed upon our Wang family by heaven, so we must not neglect him."

Such people are brave but lack strategy, are pleasure-seeking, and are the easiest to control.

You should cater to his desires, satisfy all his extravagant and licentious demands, and squeeze every last penny out of him.

When their wealth is exhausted, find a pretext to dispose of them along with their guards, making sure to do so cleanly and without leaving any future trouble.

He paused here, then added a sentence.

"The money extracted from them can be used to smooth things over in various places in Hedong, adding fuel to the fire for our important cause."

Wang Gui looked at his handwritten note and nodded in satisfaction.

He blew the letter dry, carefully sealed it in an envelope, sealed it with sealing wax, and personally stamped it with his personal seal.

"Someone, send this letter by express courier to Longmeng County. Do not delay!"

"Yes, sir!"

The messenger mounted his horse again and disappeared into the streets of Chang'an.

Wang Gui never dreamed that the "reassuring letter" he sent would be a death warrant he personally signed.