Chapter 74: A Colossal Lie
Since Chen Bai and the others already had a strategy, in order to seize every moment and act before Lan Ruoyun did, they naturally worked day and night.
However, they still ran into a small problem. First, selling salt to Yan at a low price—how was that any different from aiding the enemy in the eyes of ordinary people?
Second, it was not so easy to take the saltworks controlled by the court for their own use and place all the salt produced under unified command.
So when Qi Zheng made his request in court, one could imagine how great a stir it caused.
The one listening behind the curtain was still Empress Dowager Zhaosheng. The king was recovering from his injuries and could not conveniently attend court.
Even Empress Dowager Zhaosheng could not help glancing at Qi Zheng, while the Three Dukes looked at one another in confusion for a long while.
Chen Bai watched the reactions of the officials in court and frowned as well. Sure enough, many things were much harder to carry out than he had imagined.
He was still racking his brains over how to persuade the officials.
At this moment, Qi Zheng, Empress Dowager Zhaosheng, and the Three Dukes left for a while. They had likely gone to hold a private discussion.
When they returned, the expressions on Empress Dowager Zhaosheng and the Three Dukes’ faces were clearly strange to the extreme.
It was Empress Dowager Zhaosheng who spoke. “Prince Zheng will exchange the new refined-salt extraction technique for the half-year sales rights to Great Qian’s salt production. During this period, the salt produced by Great Qian will be sold under his responsibility. All profits will still belong to the court. During this time, no one is allowed to question or challenge any of his sales strategies. Beloved ministers, what say you?”
The officials could not help freezing. They knew very well how extraordinary the new refined-salt extraction technique was. The cheap, high-quality refined salt currently sold in Shangjing’s markets had come from precisely this method.
They were still worrying that once this new refined salt entered the market, their official salt would not be able to sell at all, and they had been thinking about how to deal with it.
Yet Prince Zheng was actually willing to hand over this new refined-salt extraction technique so easily?
Although what he was asking for was the half-year sales rights to Great Qian’s salt, the profits from those sales would still belong to the court.
Calculating it this way, Prince Zheng was not only providing the new technique, he would also help sell the salt. He himself did not seem to be gaining much benefit at all.
This…
“This minister seconds the proposal,” one of the Three Dukes, Lu Qingqi, said.
“This minister also seconds it.” Then came Duke Gan and Duke Shang.
The court: “…”
When one put it that way, Prince Zheng was the one taking a loss. Although it did feel slightly improper, there was no reason to refuse.
Besides, the Three Dukes had already taken the lead in agreeing.
After waiting for a short while, Empress Dowager Zhaosheng said, “Since no one has any objections, then for the next half year, Great Qian’s salt production will be entrusted to Prince Zheng. At least within these six months, no one may question any of his sales strategies.”
The corner of Chen Bai’s mouth lifted. This was good too. He did not even need to waste his brain thinking of a method.
He did not know how Qi Zheng had persuaded Empress Dowager Zhaosheng and the Three Dukes. At least, judging by the reason given on the surface, handing the new technique over to the court should not have been enough to exchange for such authority.
Chen Bai did not ask further. Sometimes, as long as one knew the outcome, that was enough.
Next came the comprehensive replacement of Great Qian’s salt production with the new technique. They were so busy that day and night blurred together as they ran all over the various saltworks. On the surface, Chen Bai, as the Writing Grand Scholar and Cabinet Consulting Grand Scholar, should have remained in court. But Qi Zheng found an excuse, saying that the reform of the saltworks required students from Cloud Academy to supervise, and he brought Chen Bai along too.
Wasn’t Chen Bai also a student of Cloud Academy? And he was Mountain Lord’s youngest direct disciple. Taking him along was perfectly reasonable.
Chen Bai also brought a group of students with him.
Thus, in the hectic days that followed, Chen Bai was so busy he nearly lost track of time.
Their main job was supervision. In order to complete the saltworks renovations as quickly as possible, every time Chen Bai arrived at a place, he would leave one student behind to supervise. With the students’ watches, if any problem arose, they could ask questions online. So these students were just barely capable of taking on the role.
A group of students swallowed. Did this mean they were equivalent to imperial envoys of the court?
The students’ families were overjoyed and eagerly agreed to let Chen Bai take these children to the local saltworks. Who did not know the influence the new salt technique would have on Great Qian? This was a world-shaking achievement. If their children followed along, wouldn’t that be like picking up merit for free? To be honest, if they themselves understood the new technique, they would have tried to pull some strings and go along too, adding a rich and splendid stroke to their official careers.
Their families had prepared everything for these students’ trip. Chen Bai did not need to worry about a thing.
So Chen Bai was quite at ease leaving the students at the saltworks to supervise, because their families had arranged a large group of attendants to look after them.
At saltworks all over Great Qian, people could see these students in little robes, swinging their bare feet, occasionally stuffing their heads into their sleeves as they supervised.
To be honest, everyone who saw them was a little dumbfounded. The reform of the saltworks was such an important matter, a matter concerning the people of Great Qian, yet it was actually being handled by such young students?
What was the court thinking?
The key was that although these students were young, when they worked, they really did look the part. Holding little notebooks and writing records that no one else could understand, they truly managed to find some construction mistakes and have people correct them, leaving onlookers wide-eyed and speechless.
Apart from supervision, these students also had another task: teaching the local salt workers the new salt-making technique.
The process had been divided into an assembly line, to prevent the salt-making technique from leaking out. With these students running around, progress indeed became much faster.
Everyone said that apart from military strength, Great Qian was withering in terms of talent. Yet suddenly, all over the country, it was as if a group of little prodigies had appeared.
This time, Cloud Academy had practically come out in full force and spread throughout Great Qian. In the past, Cloud Academy had only been famous in Shangjing. Now, its reputation was probably going to spread to every region.
Apart from following Qi Zheng to the new saltworks, Chen Bai spent every day receiving reports sent by students from various places in the chat group.
The saltworks reform would inevitably encounter different problems due to different local conditions. He needed to use the contents of these reports to help the students handle specific issues.
So he was basically in a state of intense work at all times. He even forgot the time, forgot the jolting of the journey, and forgot the distance they had traveled.
Qi Zheng watched Chen Bai like this and froze slightly. In his mind, although Chen Zixiu was capable, he was sometimes far too free and lazy. He had not expected him to have such a cautious and serious side.
While Chen Bai and Qi Zheng were racing against time, Great Qian’s envoy delegation to Yan had also arrived in the Yan capital.
Logically speaking, Lan Ruoyun had caused Yan’s former crown prince to be deposed. One could imagine what kind of treatment he should receive after arriving in the Yan capital again. It should have been difficult for him to take even a single step.
Yet at this moment, inside the former Eastern Palace, Lan Ruoyun was sitting calmly in the first seat below the main seat, above the honored guests.
On the main seat, the former crown prince Ruohong was lowering his head, reviewing something. In the entire hall, there were only the two of them.
Lan Ruoyun sipped his tea. Only after a long while did he raise his head and look at the person working seriously. “Does Crown Prince Ruohong intend to ignore me like this? Ah, right. Should I now change the way I address you and call you… Crown Prince Ruoqing?”
Only then did the person on the main seat frown and lift his head. “You should not have come to the Yan capital again.”
Lan Ruoyun smiled. “Back then, in order to escape the schemes of the various states, Your Highness set up such an enormous trap. You borrowed my hand to turn the world-shocking Crown Prince Ruohong into the mediocre Crown Prince Ruoqing of today. Your Highness has lived quiet days ever since, while unfortunately, my reputation was utterly ruined.”
Who could have imagined that the former Crown Prince Ruohong, once unmatched in glory and said to have sunk into obsession over Great Qian’s Lord Lan, and the current Crown Prince Ruoqing were actually the same person? It was nothing but a colossal lie they had told the whole world.
Back then, Yan Crown Prince Ruohong was young and full of vigor. He possessed the heroic talent to lead Yan in dominating the world, but he did not know how to restrain himself. Assassination attempts from the various states never ceased, and he even caused Yan to become the target of everyone’s hostility.
By the time he suddenly came to his senses, he personally directed and performed such a scheme. From then on, the stunning Crown Prince Ruohong disappeared and became the present Crown Prince Ruoqing. Aside from those involved at the time, perhaps no one else knew the hidden truth.
Everyone said that Crown Prince Ruohong, known as the number one crown prince among the states, no longer existed, and that his decline was truly heartbreaking. But the truth was often not like the rumors. He had merely changed his face and hidden his brilliance even more deeply.
The crown prince gave an “oh.” “Do you know that most of the people who knew this secret are already dead?”
Then he raised his head. “Great Qian’s spymaster, Lan Ruoyun. Surely you don’t think I was truly obsessed with you and wouldn’t dare kill you?”
Lan Ruoyun smiled calmly. Everyone knew that this Ruohong Crown Prince had fallen for him to the point of never turning back, preferring beauty over the throne. But who knew how hard Lan Ruoyun had struggled to escape from the Yan capital back then?
And the person who had sent men to hunt him down was probably this infatuated man right before him.
Only the dead could keep secrets.
Lan Ruoyun did not take it to heart. “Even if I were to die by the roadside, I could not possibly die in your residence, could I? If I died by your hand, the world would all think you had finally awakened from your obsession. The former number one crown prince, feared by all, would have returned. Wouldn’t all your past efforts be wasted?”
The crown prince smiled. “So the moment you arrived in the Yan capital, you came straight to my residence. Quite a good calculation. In that case, not only can I not kill you, but as long as you don’t leave this residence, I even have to send people to protect you at all times?”
“Aren’t you afraid that you’ll never be able to step out of this residence for the rest of your life? How would that be any different from being dead? I am rather curious. Back then, you clearly knew the secret, so why, after returning to Great Qian, did you guard it until now? You actually allowed Yan to remain peaceful for all these years.”
Lan Ruoyun took a sip of tea. “A secret loses its value once spoken aloud. Wasn’t I keeping it precisely for this moment?”
The crown prince seemed to know Lan Ruoyun’s purpose in coming. After all, Great Qian’s imperial prince competition had been carried out with such great fanfare. News of it had probably long since been sent back to the various states by spies. “You think such a secret alone can be exchanged for three cities from Yan? Since when did Great Qian’s spymaster, the first person to see through my scheme, become so childish?”
Lan Ruoyun was noncommittal and replied, “Naturally, I have conditions that can persuade Your Highness. But at any rate, we are old lovers who have not met for many years. Isn’t Your Highness’s attitude a little too heartless? Back then, I wonder who it was who spent time with me beneath flowers and under the moon, waiting on me before and behind the carriage…”
The crown prince’s lips lifted at that. “I truly am curious. Back then, I nearly believed it myself. How did you see the flaw?”
Lan Ruoyun raised his head. “Your Highness truly is a heartless person. If one truly likes someone, then no matter how well they disguise it, the other person can feel the difference. But I fear Your Highness will never understand that distinction.”
Though he said this, back then, Ruohong’s disguise had truly been brilliant. A peerlessly talented crown prince, willing to give up everything for one person—how many people could have resisted that? Hadn’t Lan Ruoyun himself almost willingly stayed forever in the Yan capital?
Those were the sins of youth. That flawless and sincere affection had been so perfect that one could not help suspecting it. Still, it was only enough to deceive the naive young boy he had been at the time.
Lan Ruoyun lifted his head. “Your Highness has sent no small number of people to assassinate me over the years. You harmed me so badly that I did not even dare return to Great Qian. I wandered everywhere, concealed my name, traveled from place to place, and suffered quite a bit. It seems Your Highness is not as indifferent to this secret as you just claimed.”
“You keep reminding me that your existence is the only flaw in my scheme back then. Now that you have delivered yourself to my doorstep, you have given me the chance to correct that flaw.”
Lan Ruoyun shook his head. “As a crown prince who takes the world as his chessboard, if Your Highness is still so entangled in what happened back then, doesn’t that make your vision seem a little too small? Speaking of which, although I was your flaw, it was also because of me that your scheme became so perfect.”
After saying this, he continued, “Is Your Highness truly not curious why I dare deliver myself to your door so recklessly?”
“Oh? I would like to hear the details. You clearly know I want to kill you, yet you still appear before me so openly. If people didn’t know better, they would really think you, Lan Ruoyun, are someone who doesn’t even care about his life for the sake of prospects and power.”
Lan Ruoyun was noncommittal. “Naturally, I do not dare disobey the king’s orders. Since I have come, I naturally have a reason why Your Highness cannot kill me.”
The crown prince was in no hurry either. “Then let me see whether Great Qian’s spymaster has improved compared with back then. Don’t be like before, only able to preserve your identity under my protection.”
Lan Ruoyun no longer had the mood to reminisce. He straightened himself, then had someone carry in a chest. “I will continue keeping your secret for you. Add this chest of things to that—how about exchanging it for three cities of Yan?”
The crown prince laughed. He even walked down personally and opened the chest. “Then I truly must see what treasure could possibly have such value.”
But the things inside the chest made him frown. They were round and lumpy, still covered in mud. “This?”
Lan Ruoyun smiled. “This. This is what the king asked me to bring to Your Highness, or perhaps to Yan. It is called a potato. Its yield can exceed a thousand jin per mu. It can be eaten as a staple food. Most importantly, Yan cannot grow millet. Agriculture does not flourish there mainly because the land is dry and there are no water sources for irrigation. But potatoes are different from millet. Even dry land can grow them.”
Therefore, although potatoes were valuable to all the states, their importance to Yan was absolutely unmatched.
The crown prince’s eyes narrowed.
If that was the case, then this small chest of potatoes had a completely different meaning. One could even say it was priceless.
Yan valued commerce and was the wealthiest among the states, but because its land was barren, it had little production of its own.
Others might not know this, but the crown prince did. The current Yan was like a tower in the air without a foundation. In times of peace, it was still fine. But once war broke out, how fatal would it be for a country unable to produce for itself and completely dependent on trade and outside purchases? At that time, money would be no different from stones by the roadside. However wealthy one was, it could never compare to having enough grain to support oneself and set one’s heart at ease.
In other words, if this potato was truly as Lan Ruoyun said, perhaps it could solve the most fundamental and direct problem caused by Yan’s geographical environment.
In terms of long-term benefit, its value was more than merely three cities.
Lan Ruoyun said, “What does Your Highness think? How about exchanging it for three cities of Yan?”
The crown prince showed no expression and instead said, “If this is such an auspicious crop, why have I never heard that Great Qian is planting it?”
“It is also being promoted in Great Qian. Your Highness may send people to investigate. Such a matter cannot be faked.”
The crown prince gave an “Mm,” then continued, “Since it is something currently being promoted, how many seeds can your king provide to Yan?”
No matter how valuable it was, if there was only this one chest, it would not be of much use.
He hit the key point with one sentence. If Great Qian had already planted it on a large scale, he could not possibly have received no news at all.
When intelligent people looked at a problem, they could often see the most important point at a glance.
“This…” Lan Ruoyun hesitated slightly.
The promotion of potatoes was now being handled by Qi Zheng. What the king had was actually only a very, very small portion. If they truly bypassed the court and provided potatoes to Yan, the quantity would not be large.
However…
Lan Ruoyun said, “The king’s intention is to supply Yan with some every year. Yan can also cultivate its own seeds. Increasing year after year, in the end, they will cover every piece of Yan’s land.”
That logic was sound, but in the end, it made this transaction less perfect.
Those were three cities, Yan’s territory, not something that could be casually thrown away. Potatoes were good, but the quantity was uncertain.
The crown prince thought for a long while. “Let me consider it carefully.”
After saying this, he looked at Lan Ruoyun with some amusement. “Your king is aiding Yan so generously. I wonder what kind of extraordinary person the imperial prince your king is supporting must be?”
For him to pay such a high price to help that person ascend, that person must have some extraordinary ability.
Lan Ruoyun felt a little embarrassed. He more or less knew what sort of person Prince Zhuo was, but he could not weaken his own side’s momentum. “Of course he cannot compare with the number one crown prince under heaven, but at least he is the legitimate bloodline of Great Qian’s imperial house, is he not?”
The crown prince replied indifferently, “What a pity. He is only fighting for the position of crown prince, yet he still needs others to secretly support him. He lacks a little of the bearing of an imperial clansman.”
Lan Ruoyun: “…”
“Do you think everyone in the imperial houses under heaven is like you, Ruohong, with schemes as deep as an abyss?”
Ruohong did not mind Lan Ruoyun’s mockery and said, “In a world full of strife, who can sit peacefully on a soft couch? Having more methods and more schemes is only natural. Think of the crown princes of the various states. Which one of them is ordinary?”
Lan Ruoyun sneered inwardly. Great Qian’s former crown prince had been especially simple-minded. He was truly stupid. Compared with the methods of the crown princes of the various states, he was indeed more than a level behind.
Lan Ruoyun and Ruohong’s reminiscing was about done. As for exchanging potatoes for three cities, Ruohong would certainly need to think it over carefully. Lan Ruoyun was in no hurry. He said, “In that case, may Your Highness arrange a residence for me in your estate? Because of a certain brilliant and far-sighted person, I’m afraid I cannot show my face too often before the people of Yan.”
Ruohong smiled. “Since Lord Lan came to my estate with such great fanfare, naturally you must stay here.”
Lan Ruoyun: “…”
After his residence was arranged, Lan Ruoyun stayed in the courtyard. In the courtyard, a red-bean tree was growing beautifully.
Lan Ruoyun’s mind drifted slightly. He was familiar with this courtyard. When he first came to the Yan capital back then, he had stayed in this courtyard. Even the red-bean tree in the middle had been planted together by him and Crown Prince Ruohong during the time when they had been inseparable.
Because the land in Yan was dry, greenery did not flourish, yet this red-bean tree was rather special and grew everywhere. It was as famous as Lu’s white moon flowers and Wei’s hollow mulberry blossoms.
“They say the red beans of Yan represent longing,” Lan Ruoyun muttered. Yet the corner of his mouth held endless mockery. Now that he had come to Yan and entered this estate again, whether he could walk out of it alive was still a question.
Just then, a group of noisy voices came from outside the courtyard. A crowd of pretty women surged in.
“So you’re that fox spirit from Great Qian?” The voice was somewhat shrill, a finger pointing at the tip of his nose.
Lan Ruoyun froze slightly. Fox spirit?
What a long-lost title.
He quickly reacted. These pretty women lived in this estate, so they were probably Ruohong’s wives and concubines.
He had heard that in order to restore Ruohong’s ambition, the Yan imperial house made him marry three times a year. This too had long been a tale passed around among the states. What boundless good fortune.
He muttered, “The courtyard is still the same courtyard, but sadly, the people and things have changed. Back then, when was there ever such chattering to disturb one’s peace?”
After muttering this, he raised his head and revealed a smile. “Since you know who I am, you still dare come here?”
“Crown Prince Ruohong gave up even the position of crown prince for me. If I go to him and say a few words, what do you think will happen to you?”
The group’s voices abruptly stopped. If someone else had said this, they might not have been afraid. But the person before them was different. Crown Prince Ruohong had gone mad for him. Who knew what he might truly do?
Lan Ruoyun smiled. He did not even have the will to fight. They were truly too easy to defeat.
At this moment, Crown Prince Ruohong happened to walk in. Hearing those words, he could not help freezing.
Indeed. In everyone’s eyes, the person before him was not someone who had escaped his assassination attempts again and again, but the Dreamlike Divine Lord whom he held dear in his heart.
“Why aren’t you leaving?” Ruohong’s voice rang out.
The pretty women’s faces changed almost instantly, and they fled in utter defeat.
Lan Ruoyun turned around. “You even order your lovely wives and beautiful concubines around like this. Your Highness truly is heartless.”
After saying that, he continued, “What brings you here?”
He did not believe Ruohong would come here for no reason.
Ruohong smiled. “Lord Lan has come to my Yan capital. If I, the one who admires him, do not often remain by his side, wouldn’t that be inappropriate? I wonder whether Lord Lan has time to accompany me in revisiting the Yan capital.”
Lan Ruoyun gave an “Oh.” Another show, then. Why not?
When Lan Ruoyun and Ruohong’s carriage left the estate, the entire Yan capital was shaken.
“Our Crown Prince Ruohong hasn’t stepped out of his residence since that incident, has he? This, this…”
A man who had sunk into obsession had unexpectedly walked out of that estate again.
Just as joy rose in someone’s heart, another person said, “I heard, I heard that the Great Qian Lord Lan, that disaster-bringing beauty, has come to our Yan capital again. He is staying in Crown Prince Ruohong’s residence.”
“What!”
When they thought of why their once peerless crown prince had become like this, their hearts ached. They stamped their feet and beat their chests, their eyes red, wishing they could skin the culprit alive.
At this moment, Lan Ruoyun was stepping down from the carriage. Ruohong personally placed the footstool for him, held his hand, and attended to him before and behind the carriage, his expression full of infatuation.
Lan Ruoyun listened to the curses around them and said quietly, “Is Your Highness not overacting a little?”
Ruohong said, “For the person one loves, what can one not do?”
Lan Ruoyun froze, as if he had returned to that time full of deception, impossible to distinguish from truth. He could not help smiling. “Since Your Highness still insists on playing that hopelessly obsessed, fallen crown prince, then I shall accompany you. It is only that after this, I fear my reputation will never recover.”
The noisy voices outside continued.
“That damned enchantress. Relying on his good looks, it wasn’t enough that he harmed our crown prince before. Now he has come again.”
“And the crown prince still treats him so… so…”
In the eyes of the world, Lan Ruoyun and Ruohong were like this. At the very least, this love of abandoning the throne for beauty was rather moving. As for the unsightly ugliness hidden beneath the lies, it was often never known to anyone.
Lan Ruoyun thus accompanied Ruohong in putting on this show day after day, waiting for the other party to give him an answer.
On Great Qian’s side, Chen Bai and Qi Zheng were also returning, because everything had been arranged. All they lacked was the east wind.
Chen Bai was on his way to bring the students back to Shangjing.
When he saw Chen Xiaobu, the clever little rascal had pulled his little brows into a figure-eight shape and was vividly telling a story among a group of people. “And so, Linghu Chong, in a cave on Mount Hua, encountered Grandmaster Feng Qingyang and learned the Nine Swords of Dugu…”
Only when he saw Chen Bai did his little face turn red and he run over. “Brother, I’m famous now. They all call me the little prodigy storyteller from Shangjing…”
It seemed he had been having so much fun that he had forgotten to return.
The people listening to the story were somewhat reluctant to part with Chen Xiaobu, because Shangjing’s storybooks were just different. They were too good to listen to.
Chen Xiaobu also talked about how he had been living recently.
When they found Gan Xin, the little fellow was walking with his feet turned out, moving like a crab.
Even Chen Xiaobu could not help saying, “He’s actually showing off even more than me…”
It seemed that this trip had benefited these students quite a lot. At the very least, they had grown bolder and had seen more of the world.
Aside from bringing these students back to Shangjing, Chen Bai also wanted to check on how the saltworks were doing.
The saltworks had already begun producing salt with the new technique. Not only was the salt good, the speed of production was faster than before.
Knowledge was the primary productive force. Here, that fact was displayed to the fullest. Naturally, he had to make these students study it properly.
Before Chen Bai and the others even returned to Shangjing, the salt merchants from various places had already set off toward Yan according to the agreement.
By the time Chen Bai returned, the new salt had already flowed into the Yan market.
Those Yan merchants were stunned at the first moment.
Such good salt, and its price was only a little higher than coarse salt. In that case, with the circumstances of Yan’s common people, wouldn’t every household be able to eat refined salt?
People always said merchants valued profit. That was not necessarily entirely true, but when a merchant obtained a new product, he would absolutely estimate the profit within it at the first moment.
And in their eyes, this new salt was simply a business of huge profits.
Thus, instinctively, they immediately began purchasing it in large quantities.
As for the friction between Great Qian and Yan, why would Great Qian still sell them such good salt?
They had wondered about it too. They had even suspected whether it might be poisonous salt.
But after cautious testing, just as they had seen, there was no problem at all. They even thought the people of Great Qian were fools for selling them such a good thing.
For a time, Yan’s salt merchants swarmed in, obtained the new salt, and sent it to every region of Yan.
Wherever the new salt arrived, it immediately struck the old salt market. The difference was too great.
The result was that old salt had no choice but to be sold at even lower prices. Losing money was certain, but if it stayed in their hands, they feared that soon they would not be able to sell it even if they wanted to. Those Great Qian merchants had said that they had as much salt as anyone wanted.
The worst off were probably the saltworks all over Yan. They had no choice but to stop production, because the salt they produced could not be sold at all, and continuing would only waste time, labor, and capital.
For a time, saltworks closed one after another, workers were dismissed, and salt-making tools that could be sold were sold. After all, no matter how they looked at it, they could not make salt as good as Great Qian’s.
The saltworks also had to be rebuilt and converted to other uses.
This period of time was unexpectedly short, because there was simply no competitiveness at all.
Just as Chen Bai had predicted, Yan, which had no commercial defense measures at all, would have its industries destroyed like rotten wood once a major change occurred. Yan’s salt production was exactly like this now.
The news soon reached the Yan capital as well.
And the news that came was that Yan merchants had made a massive profit.
Crown Prince Ruohong also received the news and frowned slightly.
Why, when Great Qian was so enraged, would it still give Yan such enormous benefits?
Great Qian’s king had given Yan potatoes in exchange for three cities, which was still understandable. But selling Yan salt at such a low price—what was that for?
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed Yan was the one benefiting. The common people could eat cheap refined salt.
After sending people to investigate, the news that came back was only that Great Qian’s salt industry was now under the control of Prince Zheng, and the sales plan had also been proposed by Prince Zheng.
Ruohong fell silent. “I heard that a remarkable famous scholar called Mountain Lord has appeared in Shangjing of Great Qian. He is a retainer of Prince Zheng’s estate. Do we know what this Mountain Lord is like?”
Ruohong even deliberately went to find Lan Ruoyun. As they were still out sightseeing, he casually asked, “Do you know that your Great Qian’s Prince Zheng has now brought his business to my Yan? He is selling refined salt to Yan merchants at an extremely low price. I heard this refined salt came from Mountain Lord of Prince Zheng’s estate. Tell me, what is this Mountain Lord like?”
Lan Ruoyun froze. Being in the Yan capital, his information was indeed not as swift as Ruohong’s. He only answered, “Mountain Lord? I have met him once. His eyes are especially beautiful, capable of enchanting the world.”
Ruohong: “…”
Although he had not expected to gain much information from Lan Ruoyun, he had not expected it to be such a simple sentence either.
Lan Ruoyun added, “I have only met that Mountain Lord once, so I truly do not know much about him. However, in such a short time, his reputation has begun to rival the Four Gentlemen of Great Qian. I imagine he must have some ability.”
As Lan Ruoyun spoke, he was somewhat absent-minded.
Prince Zheng was currently participating in the imperial prince competition. Why would he do something like this at such a time? Was he not afraid that someone would memorialize against him at this critical moment? It was truly difficult to understand.
Just then, they happened to pass a stall selling dates. Lan Ruoyun said, “How about I buy some dates for Your Highness?”
Since they were putting on a loving show, they might as well carry it through to the end and let everyone see.
Lan Ruoyun got down to buy dates. The old woman selling them had a face full of disgust.
Lan Ruoyun did not mind. After selecting the dates and paying, he said, “The next time I come, give me the recent movements of Prince Zheng and Mountain Lord.”
The old woman’s face was still full of disgust. When Lan Ruoyun left, she even secretly spat.
These were the reactions of Yan’s nobles and merchants. As for Yan’s common people, they were simply rejoicing to the extreme. Although Yan was wealthy, that was only relative to the other states. As commoners, being able to buy good and cheap salt was naturally the best thing.
But once they could no longer buy this salt, and Yan’s own salt production had already been destroyed, who knew what their reaction would be then? Since ancient times, uprisings had mostly begun because of livelihood.
