Chapter 252: The Tiger and Wolf Cabinet, chatting and laughing, sharing the food
In the lobby.
Prince Yu and Prince Jing sat at the top seats, and the rest of the people sat in order.
"Lord Yan, please tell me what arrangements you have." At this time, Prince Yu raised his hand and motioned for Yan Song to speak.
The others also turned their eyes to Yan Song.
"Yes." Yan Song turned slightly, first bowed to Prince Yu and Prince Jing, then slowly looked around at everyone, and then he spoke slowly and started a conversation.
"Your Majesty is so kind that he has granted us the opportunity to enter the world of immortal cultivation. This is such a great favor. As his subjects, we should devote all our energy to your service until our death. We cannot repay you in the slightest."
"The only thing we can do is to do our part and seek benefits for the Ming Dynasty and the Emperor."
Although everyone knew that Yan Song was just bringing up the topic and his words were just for show, everyone nodded in agreement.
After all, although what Yan Song said was just polite words, he always maintained a heart of gratitude towards the emperor, which was definitely not wrong.
"First of all, we must understand," Yan Song said without further ado, getting straight to the point: "We must understand that although we have the Immortal Cultivation World, a huge source of resources, the development of the Ming Dynasty is the top priority."
"Therefore, the most urgent task for us is to use Fengling Town as a base to quickly gain a foothold in the world of immortal cultivation and at the same time transport a large amount of spiritual stone resources to the Ming Dynasty."
"Transporting a large amount of spiritual stone resources into Ming Dynasty is the main task of all of us."
"Of course, apart from the spirit stones, everything that the immortal world has but our Ming Dynasty doesn't have is our goal."
"Our first goal now is to gain a foothold in Fengling Town and strive to become the fifth largest force in the area besides the four major families."
After that, Yan Song looked at Xu Jie and said, "Shaohu, do you have any ideas on how to become the fifth largest force?"
Xu Jie nodded slightly to Yan Song first, and then, under the gaze of everyone, he said: "We are from the Ming Dynasty, although we are backed by the emperor, a cultivator in the middle stage of the golden elixir."
"But we still have to be cautious." Xu Jie paused and continued, "As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake, so we must not conflict with the local families."
"Humph," Yan Shifan snorted, "Since interests are involved, it is impossible not to have a conflict."
He was already unhappy because Xu Jie had just spoken and pushed his father to the front, causing the Yan family to take on the issue. After hearing Xu Jie's nonsense, he couldn't help but speak.
"From what we have learned from the intelligence provided by the Emperor, the businesses of the four major families in Fengling Town are all related to spirit stones, elixirs, formation talismans, and refining equipment."
Facing Yan Shifan's ridicule, Xu Jie acted as if he didn't care at all and continued to express his views.
Being ignored by Xu Jie, Yan Shifan snorted coldly and stopped talking, just listening with a cold face.
"And if our Great Ming wants to gain a foothold in the world of immortal cultivation, the first thing we need to consider is our clear understanding of ourselves."
Hearing this, King Jing's eyes flashed and he looked at Xu Jie, "Xu Ge means that we don't do these kinds of business?"
"Yes and no." Xu Jie shook his head slightly and glanced at Yan Song, who was listening attentively with his hands in his pockets and his brows lowered. He already understood in his heart that Yan Song had heard what he meant.
"The purpose of our coming here is not to expand our territory, but to establish a stable channel for transporting spiritual stones between the two worlds for Ming Dynasty. Other things come second."
"Therefore, we are just a supplier!" Xu Jie said bluntly:
"We want to let all the families, including the Jin family, know that there is an extremely huge market behind us that can consume all the products of their families."
"In this way, we will become a unique and special existence in Fengling Town."
"When the four major families all have to rely on us for support, I believe that Fengling Town will also be under our sole control. Then, we can use this as a foundation to expand outward."
After listening to what the Xu family said, everyone present fell into deep thought.
After a moment, Yan Song suddenly chuckled, "What Shaohu said coincides with what I said." Then, he bowed to Prince Yu and Prince Jing and said:
"What do you think, Your Highnesses?"
Prince Yu and Prince Jing looked at each other, nodded, and said, "Yes!"
"I think we should not act too hastily," Zhang Juzheng said at the right time after Prince Yu finished speaking, "We can cooperate with the Jin family first. When the Jin family makes more profits, the other three major families in Fengling Town will definitely not sit idly by."
As Zhang Juzheng spoke, everyone else looked at him.
"From what we know now, the four major families in Fengling Town are equally powerful."
“If the other three major families suddenly discovered that the Jin family’s strength had suddenly increased dramatically and their resources were endless, they would definitely take action to avoid being swallowed up by the Jin family one day.”
When he said this, Zhang Juzheng raised his hand and stroked his long beard, with a calculating look in his eyes.
"At that time, they will definitely take the initiative to contact us, and the Jin family will naturally not sit idly by. In this way, our Ming Dynasty will have many possibilities for operation."
After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, how could everyone present not understand that he wanted to build on Xu Jie's direction and seize the entire Fengling Town and completely swallow up the four major families.
For a moment, everyone present couldn't help but become interested.
Even Yan Shifan, whose originally tense face, now relaxed, his eyes glowing slightly.
Well, when it comes to how to take advantage of other people's interests and bring them to your side, the young minister loves it the most!
Daming had originally come to the world of immortal cultivation for the purpose of plundering profits, so he naturally became excited when he heard this.
Although the direction given by Xu Jie just now has given everyone many ideas for seeking benefits, now that Zhang Juzheng has said something more specific, they naturally want to listen.
After all, brainstorming brings together ideas!
"The Jin family will then be faced with only two choices," Zhang Juzheng said, holding up two fingers, "or, when they find that they cannot satisfy our appetite, they will remain indifferent to the contact between the other three families and us."
"Or, the four major families will start fighting each other for their own interests."
"For the former, these four families will inevitably become suppliers of our Daming. On the surface, at least in terms of interests, they are one with our Daming. If our Daming wants to take them down, it is only a matter of time."
"If that's the case, our Ming Dynasty can also reversely infiltrate the four major families and eventually devour them bit by bit."
"If it is the latter, it would be better."
"The four great families fought against each other, and both were ultimately defeated, while the Ming Dynasty was able to reap the benefits."
"Profits can move people's hearts, especially in a free land like this where gangs and families fight against each other and there is no one to control them. For the sake of profit, they would like to eat each other up completely."
From beginning to end, Zhang Juzheng's tone was very calm, as if he was not facing four immortal cultivation families, but four ants that could be manipulated at will.
After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, the others also smiled.
This is indeed the truth.
"But we still need to be cautious," Zhao Zhenji, who always acted prudently and steadily, said slowly, "We should eat one bite at a time."
"I think we should send someone to establish contact with the Jin family before we eat up the piece of meat of Fengling Town."
"First, find out what kind of person the head of the Jin family is." Zhao Zhenji said, tapping the table with his fingers from time to time, "Who are the people in the family?"
"Among these people, we need to figure out who can be used and who cannot be won over. We need to stay away from those who are sober but unwilling to get close to us, and win over those who are willing to cooperate."
"As the saying goes, a lion will use all its strength to fight a rabbit. Although the strongest person in Fengling Town in the corner of Lingxu Island is only a pseudo-Jindan stage cultivator, he is still not something we can fight against."
“Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you be victorious in every battle.”
When the others heard this, they all nodded, thinking that what Zhao Zhenji said made sense.
"In addition," Gao Gong also said, "If possible, let some of our outstanding young people move around more."
"It is most appropriate for them to come forward. As for us, except for staying in this immortal world for a period of time when necessary, the rest of the time, we should still focus on the Ming Dynasty."
What Gao Gong said was not without reason. In other words, they were all high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty. They only needed to formulate a major strategic direction and leave the rest of the time to the younger generations under their command.
What they are most accustomed to is staying in the rear.
This time, entering the world of immortal cultivation is more for the purpose of entering the world of immortal cultivation for the first time.
To them, although this world of immortal cultivation is grand and vast, it is also full of threats.
They are used to sitting back and coordinating the overall situation and planning far ahead, so it is not suitable for them to rush to the front. The work of charging into battle should be left to the young people.
"Okay!" At this time, Yan Shifan slapped the table and said, "Tomorrow, I will go to the Jin family in person!"
Seeing that Yan Shifan took the initiative to volunteer to contact the Jin family, everyone looked at each other and finally turned their eyes to Yan Song.
All the people present were high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty.
The Silijian, Chen Hong and others are here to serve as supervisors. They will record the discussions of the cabinet members and even the future plans of the Ming Dynasty in the world of immortal cultivation.
Eventually, it will be presented to the emperor by the Imperial Household Department.
Therefore, the people in the Imperial Household Department would naturally not personally participate in these matters. And the Second Prince, with his noble status, how could he sit in the back while his "master" ran errands?
Finally, there are the two national masters, Qingfeng and Chanshuang. As women, they are not suitable to show up in public. Most importantly, Qingfeng and Chanshuang's personalities make them unsuitable for doing business with others.
One is lazy and the other is compassionate and Buddhist. If you let these two people talk business with others, it takes a big heart.
As for the others in the New Party, Hu Zongxian is okay, Wang Chonggu is not capable enough, and Yu Dayou is just a military general.
Therefore, there were only a few suitable people among those present.
And the first time to discuss business, the person who must be brave, greedy and daring enough to fight and fight must be chosen. Obviously, the young cabinet minister Yan Shifan, a naturally greedy madman, is the most suitable person.
The most important thing is that standing behind Yan Shifan is Yan Song.
Yan Shifan came forward to contact the Jin family. Although most of the credit would go to the Yan family in the end, the advantage was that it was safer. Anything that happened would be personally controlled by Yan Song.
Moreover, for everyone, the benefits of Fengling Town are just an appetizer that cannot be touched.
When they have completely established their foothold in the world of immortal cultivation, they will each develop their own forces and develop towards the entire world of immortal cultivation. At that time, it will be the time for them and the families behind them to have a good time.
"In that case, then Shifan, you should go to the Jin family tomorrow." It was not difficult for the old fox Yan Song to guess what everyone meant, and he nodded in agreement immediately.
"Everyone," after seeing that everything that needed to be discussed had been discussed, Prince Yu stood up first and said with a smile, "Why don't we spend the night in this world of cultivation tonight?"
"After the young minister contacts the Jin family and the business is fully settled, we will return to Daming. What do you think?"
"Yes." Everyone stood up.
At this point, with just a few words and in laughter, the tigers and wolves in the cabinet decided the first step in entering the world of cultivating immortals, which was how to share the piece of meat in front of them.
There was no conversation that night. The next day, the young elder in a long gown set out from the manor, but he was not in a hurry to travel. Instead, he strolled in the market of Jin's family, feeling the rich atmosphere of cultivating immortals.
The most powerful cultivators were only at the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining. They were haggling over the price of a low-grade talisman with other cultivators at the stall.
There are also independent cultivators who spend all their money on a second-hand magic weapon, but in the end they are still short of money and have to use other things to make up for the loss.
Some male monks bought a hairpin-shaped defensive magic weapon for their partners, but because of the price of just a few dozen taels of spiritual energy, they didn't even dare to look at it, and hurriedly walked away with their envious partners.
There were also quite a few wandering cultivators who were exhausted and injured. Several of them bought a package of healing medicine powder and shared it among themselves. There were also people nearby who reminded them from time to time to use it sparingly.
Of course, Yan Shifan also discovered some monks with sullen faces, sunken eye sockets, unsteady steps, but with good cultivation and the late stage of Qi training, and they looked haggard and ghostly.
He guessed in his mind that these cultivators who looked like they would not live for many days were probably the independent cultivators who used spirit stones.
Along the way, walking through the distant market town, taking in the dim morning light scattered on the hard stone slabs, smelling the aroma of the snack stalls, and listening to the occasional cries of monks, Yan Shifan's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and his pace unconsciously quickened.
At this moment, his fantasy about the world of immortal cultivation was shattered.
Even in the same market town, the living of these independent cultivators is not as good as that of the cultivators in the Ming Dynasty's Nanjing city.
The young cabinet minister, having lost his sense of novelty, really couldn't stay in this "filthy" atmosphere for even a moment.
As one of the most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty, he really couldn't empathize with these "ordinary people".
The most important thing is that in today's Ming Dynasty, no matter whether they are ordinary people or the newly developed independent cultivators in the Ming Dynasty's immortal cultivation world, they all give him the feeling that they live a happier life than the cultivators in this immortal world and immortal cultivation town.
At this time, there were many people who had the same idea as the young cabinet minister Yan Shifan, including Prince Yu and others who walked out of the manor, strolled around the market, and experienced the world of immortal cultivation.
"The people in the world of immortal cultivation have a hard life. They need our Ming Dynasty to bring them light and order..." Zhao Zhenji walked in the market town and spoke to everyone with his spiritual sense.
Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard, nodded, and responded: "The system of the world ruled by Confucian academies is already rotten."
"The academy in this world can actually be regarded as a dynasty," Hu Zongxian nodded and responded with his spiritual sense: "The Dazhu Academy in the Western Continent is equivalent to a dynasty without its own laws. The lower-level cultivators will naturally have a hard life."
"After all, immortal cultivators are not immortals. They are still human beings at heart. As human beings, they have desires and needs."
"They also hope to have a better life, but this life is more inclined to the supply of immortal cultivation resources..."
"The Master said, 'The reason why Jie and Zhou lost the world was because they lost their people. Those who lost their people lost their hearts. If you have the right way to win the world, you will win the world. If you have the right way to win the people, you will win their hearts. If you have the right way to win their hearts, you will gather with them what you want and not impose on them what you hate."
"He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. I think these Confucian academies cannot fail to understand this truth. It's just that they are too big to be shaken off. Any continent has a vast territory. A simple reform will cause a huge shock..."
Several people from the cabinet walked in the streets and alleys of the market town, constantly communicating and discussing with their spiritual senses.
It starts from the world of cultivation in front of us, the living conditions of the lower-level cultivators, to the entire academy that manages a continent, and finally returns to the future development of the Ming Dynasty.
Among them, Zhang Juzheng, who was devoted to perfecting the content of his reform, was the most deeply touched.
Looking at the grand world under the rule of the academy, with the bottom layer like a dead tree rotting, made him more and more determined in his heart that while the Ming Dynasty was expanding and developing wildly, it must have phased reforms.
Only in this way can we ensure the long-term prosperity of our country.
While Yan Song and others were strolling around and experiencing the world of immortal cultivation in front of them, Yan Shifan had already arrived at the Jin family.
"Fellow Daoist, you are Senior Zhu Cong's..." In the reception room of the Jin family, Jin Ao looked at Yan Shifan and asked tentatively.
Jin Ao, who was in the late stage of foundation building, naturally found it easy to see that Yan Shifan's cultivation was in the middle stage of foundation building.
Moreover, he knew in his heart that compared to his own blocked acupoints and meridians, which made it impossible for him to make a breakthrough in this lifetime, the cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building in front of him had far greater potential than him.
The most important thing is that behind the other party stands a great cultivator in the middle stage of the Golden Core, or even a huge sect or family.
Therefore, Jin Ao's attitude can be said to be very humble.
"He is our boss," Yan Shifan naturally knew that the so-called "Zhu Cong" was the emperor's pseudonym in the world of immortal cultivation. He immediately addressed him as the boss and after a brief explanation, he said directly:
"I came here this time to finalize the next business regarding spirit stones and weapon refining with the Jin family."
As he spoke, Yan Shifan looked at Jin Ao and the two old men with gray hair beside him. In addition, there were four or five middle-aged men and five or six teenagers sitting around.
The two people beside Jin Ao are the elders of the Jin family. The one on the left with slightly darker skin is the first elder, named Jin Zhong, while the one on the right with slightly lighter skin is the second elder, named Jin Yi.
As for the four middle-aged men next to him, they were Jin Ao’s brothers and two cousins, all of whom were sons of the two elders.
The five or six teenagers are the third generation of the Jin family.
In order to make friends with the great monk in the middle stage of the Jindan period, well, to be more precise, to make friends with the huge sect family behind the great monk in the Jindan period, the Jin family showed all their sincerity.
When talking with Yan Shifan, the entire Jin family, whether it was the head of the family Jin Ao, the two elders, or the second generation of the Jin family next to them, all had kind eyes.
"Okay." Knowing that this powerful dragon must be from a powerful sect in the southern continent, unwilling to reveal its background and wanting to open up another business in the western continent, Jin Ao was sensible and did not ask any more questions. He said directly:
"How do you plan to buy the spirit stones?" Jin Ao took the lead in giving the Jin family's offer, saying, "Low-grade spirit stones, one tael for 220 taels of spirit source."
"Of course, it is an honor for our Jin family that Senior Zhu Cong can cooperate with the Jin family. I will give you a small amount of one or two low-grade spirit stones and calculate it as two hundred taels of spirit source. What do you think?"
Hearing Jin Ao's offer, Yan Shifan pretended to think about it, but secretly thought about the price that Lu Fang had given for the spirit stones in the southern continent.
In the southern continent, in some underground trading places, one zhu of low-grade spirit stone is sold for thirty taels.
How big is a baht? It's about the size of a drop of water.
One liang is equal to twenty-four zhu.
One tael of low-grade spirit stone can be sold for three hundred taels of spirit source.
One catty is equal to sixteen taels, which means that less than one catty of low-purity spirit stones can be sold for three hundred taels of spirit source.
To be honest, at this moment, even Yan Shifan couldn't help but be tempted by the huge profits in the spirit stone business.
It’s a pity that spirit stones can’t be converted into practical benefits such as spirit sources in the Ming Dynasty.
In the present Ming Dynasty, officials of the Cabinet and the six ministries and above of the third rank have already included spiritual sources in their immortal salaries.
The cultivation of this thing is incomparable to spiritual resources such as spiritual rice, spiritual wine, spiritual fruit, and spiritual tea.
Therefore, Yan Shifan could better appreciate the huge profits of Lingshi Business!
Thinking of this, Yan Shifan's heart became hot. His Yan family must do the spiritual stone business.
However, all this can only be done after Daming has established a firm foothold in the world of immortal cultivation.
After all, if you want to make a profit from the spiritual stone business, you need a huge market, which the Ming Dynasty simply cannot do. Moreover, the emperor will never allow spiritual stones to flow into the Ming Dynasty.
After all, this stuff is poisonous!
"It's a very fair price." Yan Shifan looked at Jin Ao and said with a smile, "But I also have a request."
After hearing that Yan Shifan was satisfied with the price, Jin Ao couldn't help but smile.
Although, after Jiajing left that day, the ancestor of his Jin family had given him a death order, requiring him to make friends with the great monk in the Jindan period, even at the cost of some losses.
But the source of all the cultivation resources of his Jin family is still spirit stones. He can't just ignore it and let the other party eat and take it for free just to make friends, right? That's not making friends, it's being taken advantage of!
Now I hear that the other party knows how to behave, and I feel happy.
"Fellow Daoist, please feel free to ask for anything you want." Jin Ao raised his hand with a generous look, but out of the corner of his eye he was constantly making eye contact with the two elders.
"I hope that the Jin family will stop all spiritual stone business with the outside world and only supply us." Yan Shifan smiled, "After all, we have a great demand for spiritual stones!"
"I think the boss has also said that we can take as many spirit stones as the Jin family has. As for the price, we will calculate it based on one tael of low-grade spirit stone and two hundred taels of spirit source."
"I wonder if Chief Jin can agree?" When saying this, Yan Shifan's tone sounded as if to imply that if you don't agree, I can cooperate with other families.
The posture can be said to be quite well controlled.
However, his attitude also gave Jin Ao some other thoughts.
He even had the illusion that the boss mentioned by Yan Shifan, that is, the great Jindan-stage cultivator "Zhu Cong", did not seem to be able to fully run the family business.
Of course, his guess in his heart that there might be a large sect or family behind Zhu Cong became more and more certain.
There are too many big families or sects involved, and there is also serious internal power struggle. Perhaps Zhu Cong is just the head of one branch.
In an instant, Jin Ao couldn't help but imagine a lot of things.
"..."
(End of this chapter)
