Isolated town in northern border region

"Your Highness! All the aristocratic families have withdrawn. What should we do?"

"How about we send General Luo and General Xiao to scare them again?"

"Or should we send someone to try in other states and counties?"

"These past few days, I've been secretly following those aristocratic merchant caravans and have roughly figured out their sales channels..."

Xiao Lie patted Qian Wanli on the shoulder.

"Old Qian, don't worry, relax your brow and calm your temper."

"Noble families have their pride. If this pride cannot be completely shattered and force is used to suppress them, it can only control them temporarily."

"What I want is to utterly crush them!"

"As for sales channels, even if we know where they go, we don't have the connections of established families, so it's not worth it to do things twice as hard for half the results."

"Calm down and wait a couple of days. When real out-of-town merchant caravans come knocking, those aristocratic families will beg us to sell their goods."

Qian Wanli thought for a moment, and in the end, he could only force a smile and sit down.

"Your Highness, I have never experienced anything as thrilling as these past few days in my half-life of business."

"If we lose this round, we'll lose the entire northern frontier!"

Xiao Lie personally poured Qian Wanli a cup of tea.

"Old Qian, have you ever seen me lose?"

Upon hearing this, Qian Wanli couldn't help but laugh.

"Ah, that's true. If the Prince can clean up the mess in the Northern Frontier, what chance does he have with his aristocratic families?"

"It's also because I'm getting old, and I've become hesitant and timid in my work. I'm too petty."

"Let's take a gamble on him. Win and we're rich, lose and we're done!"

Xiao Lie looked at Qian Wanli, who was acting like a young man full of youthful exuberance, and suddenly said in a serious tone.

"This time, we will definitely win!"

"But it's not for making money, nor for any grand cause. I, the King, only seek justice for the people!"

"Old Qian, if in the end I return most of the profits to the people, will you still participate?"

Qian Wanli spread his hands, revealing his round belly.

"Your Highness, you've put it this way. If I, Old Qian, don't agree, would I still be a man of the Northern Frontier?"

"Over the years, in order to make a living, I've flattered the powerful, groveled, won, and lost..."

"But I always felt empty inside, until a few days ago when I saw those poor people scraping together a dozen or so coins just to boost the reputation of our Northern Frontier Trading Company!"

"That might be all they have..."

"Anyway... I'm going to risk my 180 pounds and follow the prince to seek justice!"

Xiao Lie was somewhat surprised.

He never expected Qian Wanli to say such a thing.

"Old Qian, you've really surprised me!"

"Truly worthy men of the Northern Frontier!"

Six days passed after their conversation.

During this period, the Beijiang Trading Company did not sell a single item.

Qian Wanli would squat behind the counter every day, staring longingly at the front door, looking just like a lonely, resentful woman confined to her boudoir.

"My lord!"

"When will this ever end?"

"This cloth is going to get damp!"

Just as Qian Wanli was muttering to himself, a burly man poked his head out of the doorway.

"Shopkeeper, do you sell this kind of fabric here?"

The man took a small piece of cloth from his pocket.

Qian Wanli squinted at him.

Hey! It's a special fabric from northern Xinjiang. The fine wool mixed with linen and silk is so good that no other company can imitate it!

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"This is the fabric we use!"

"May I ask where our distinguished guest comes from?"

The burly man beamed with joy upon hearing this.

"Hey! I finally found it!"

"My master is the major owner of the Fulai Trading Company in Yangzhou. He bought a batch of fabric from a merchant caravan in Yongzhou, and it sold out in just three days!"

"I was thinking of getting some more goods, but the caravans that went to Yongzhou these days all said they didn't have any. I had no choice but to ask my boss to run errands for me."

"My name is Qi Dongle. May I ask your name, shopkeeper?"

Qian Wanli felt a huge weight lifted from his heart, and he felt much better, even breathing became easier!

"My surname is Qian, and my given name is Wanli. I did not recognize you as Manager Qi. Please forgive me!"

"We have all kinds of goods here, all high-quality items from northern Xinjiang!"

"Feel free to browse! I'll give you a 20% discount!"

…………

Once your fortune takes off, it will flow in continuously!

Ever since he struck a big deal with Yangzhou Fulai Trading Company, caravans from other places have been coming to his door one after another, keeping Qian Wanli so busy that he didn't even have time to drink a cup of tea!

Of course, this news did not escape the notice of the powerful families of Yongzhou.

But when the major families of Yongzhou learned that their former partners had directly approached the Northern Frontier Merchants, it was like a bolt from the blue!

The sky has fallen!

The old aristocratic families talk about passing down their family tradition of farming and studying, but that's all bullshit!

To keep such a large family running and to live a life of luxury, everything costs money.

Do you rely solely on collecting rent from tenants? Or do you engage in usury?

How poor are those peasants? How much profit can they possibly make?

Only commerce can sustain a family's legacy!

But now, with the connections built up over generations, they can simply follow the scent and approach the Northern Frontier Trading Company!

What should we do next?

If Xiao Lie were to do business directly with his existing connections, what would become of the Yongzhou aristocratic families?

Are you even going to let the middlemen make a profit?!

What's even more frightening is that the aristocratic families used to have trade routes as leverage, but now that all their connections have gone to Xiao Lie's side, what qualifications do they have to compete with Xiao Lie?

What if Xiao Lie gets grumpy in the morning and sends troops to attack?

The powerful families of Yongzhou no longer even have the right to negotiate!

The powerful families were in a panic and immediately sent people to secretly purchase goods from Qian Wanli.

Qian Wanli ran excitedly to the post station, where Xiao Lie was practicing martial arts with Xiao Xiong and Luo Daniu.

"Your Highness! Those parasites have given in!"

"I even deliberately inflated the price, and they wouldn't even try to bargain!"

"Should we sell or not?"

Xiao Lie planted his spear on the ground and pressed his palm down.

"Calm down, this is nothing."

"How can you run a business without selling things?"

"Sell! Sell boldly! We don't lack stock anyway, so set the price as high as you can!"

"I have only one goal: to seize all the cash held by the aristocratic families within three days!"

"I want him to spit out exactly what he swallowed!"

Qian Wanli's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

"Alright! This is something I, Old Qian, can handle perfectly!"

"If you don't scrape every last drop of fat off the bones of this aristocratic family, I, Old Qian, will come running with my head!"

Qian Wanli rushed out in a flurry, leaving Luo Daniu looking astonished.

"Hey! Old Qian's got it!"

"They'd all be willing to pay with their lives; he's so passionate about doing business!"

"This is even more exciting than robbery!"

Xiao Lie rolled his eyes at him.

"Only someone with your pig brain wouldn't learn anything!"

"Have you finished copying the 'Military Law' five hundred times as I told you to?"

Instantly, Luo Daniu's face scrunched up like a bitter gourd.

"Your Highness! Are you even being reasonable?!"

"At first they said 300 times, then it became 400 times, and now they want me to pay 500 times!"

"You're even more ruthless than those aristocratic families!"

Xiao Lie smiled and gave Xiao Xiong a look, which the latter immediately nodded in response.

"Come! I've heard that Commander Luo of our Trapped Camp is incredibly brave and invincible!"

"General Xiao and I have come today to learn from your skills!"

"Xiao Xiong, go!"