The Demon Lords

Chapter 992 - 229: Eating Candy_2

Don’t always talk about the Eight Banners; it’s just a front. The essence is still the military meritocracy and war profits system, because here we inevitably have to deal with multi-ethnic issues.

Actually, what I truly want to do is to turn our Snow Sea Pass into a war machine, adopting a model of nationwide external plunder and annexation, just like the Qin Dynasty.

We need to make the people below actively and instinctively crave war, crave external plunder, and become so passionate about it that they can’t help themselves..."

"Here we go again, returning to your old tricks." Liang Cheng said helplessly, "It’s really like a multi-level marketing scheme."

"Everything is based on multi-level marketing." The blind man affirmed.

"But this model could easily collapse."

The blind man laughed upon hearing this,

and said:

"Just want to play a big game, and here you are, as a zombie, still thinking about long-term peace and stability? Overthinking, overthinking."

Liang Cheng leaned back slightly,

knocked on the table with his hand, and said:

"You handle the rules, I’ll handle the implementation. Let’s try to complete all the reforms before my lord returns, we have to hurry, I have a premonition that a major war might break out by the end of next year."

"Plenty of time, don’t panic." The blind man silently lit a cigarette, then said, "Actually, I’m not very concerned about whether there will be a war, I’m only concerned about Lord Jingnan."

"At least for now, Lord Jingnan can be considered very good to my lord."

"As good as it gets."

The blind man flicked the cigarette ash,

and said:

"Let me sort things out first, and tomorrow night we’ll convene a meeting at the Earl’s Mansion for military officers ranked captain and above."

...

Lord Zheng set out, and this time the march was assuredly rapid, displaying a wartime rapid march mode while minimizing livestock exhaustion to achieve the fastest pace.

Zheng Fan originally planned to stop by Fengxin City for a meal and chat with the marquis, but encountered a Jin Southern Army along the way, and learned from their interaction that the marquis had already left Fengxin City for Town South Pass to take a look.

Perhaps feeling that the turmoil caused by Xue Rang in Town South Pass was irritating, the marquis chose to personally intervene.

Since Lord Jingnan wasn’t in Fengxin City, Zheng Fan did not linger and continued his march southwards. About six days later, he joined the vanguard led by Xue Three at a small dock along the Lian River.

Lian River is a tributary of Wang River, flowing from northwest to southeast. Wang River is a grand river, but upon entering Chu State, many tributaries branch off from it.

Actually, entering Chu from here presents significant difficulty in marching, with very low efficiency, akin to the previous entry from Shengle into the snowy plains.

In times past, when Yan Army laid siege to Jade Plate City, the swordsmith from Chu State accompanied the Eighth Prince to return to Chu via here, not daring to head east past Town South Pass.

However, to Zheng Fan’s surprise, a pleasant surprise awaited him here.

...

"Your humble servant, Fan Yongxin, pays respect to Lord Pingye, may Lord Pingye be well."

Kneeling before Zheng Fan was a man nearing forty, half-bald, with a mole beneath his nose.

He is a member of the Fan Family, a merchant family from Chu State, under the patronage of the Qu Family.

Chu State operates under a noble system, where various court positions are essentially divided among noble families. Some positions are exclusively held by successive generations of a single family; when the lord dies, the father takes over, and when the father dies, the son succeeds.

Nobles should appear aristocratic; they need to maintain noble decorum outwardly;

but nobles also need to eat, drink, defecate, and require living expenses. Relying on what their estates produce is certainly an income stream, but the land is only so large, and there are only so many tenant households. In years of disaster affecting the yields, the deaths of tenant farmers may be a minor issue, but the decline in the living standards of the noble lords becomes a major concern.

So, typically, large noble families will have branches: some are military branches, while others focus on commerce. The Fan Family is part of the Qu Family’s commercial branch.

At first glance, this branching seems unnecessary excess, but Qian State’s lords also operate this way, and many Yan State merchant caravans are backed by noble figures, even in later generations, nobles engaging in commerce find it necessary to employ a "glove."

The Fan Family’s business is substantial. When doing business within a county of a nation, merchants are respectable; when conducting business throughout a nation’s territory, they have raised their status. If they can expand their business internationally, that’s when they truly prosper.

The Fan Family is among those prosperous merchants; although backed by the Qu Clan, they have their own considerations and calculations.

Previously within Snow Sea Pass, there was someone under Chengjue, and this person routinely handled some commercial matters, as well as managing correspondence. After all, communications between Lord Zheng and Chengjue must avoid official channels, to prevent any mishaps and exposure of subversive contents.

Moreover, this person held certain autonomy, allowing them to "make independent decisions" when timely transmission of letters was infeasible.

For instance, upon learning that Zheng Fan was ordered by Lord Jingnan to enter Chu State, this contact suggested reaching out to the Fan Family.

Before hostilities broke out between Yan and Chu, Chengjue had been doing business with the Fan Family. Now, as the two nations face increased friction, trade has not ceased but has intensified and become more frequent.

Due to the war, most trade routes have been disrupted, making this kind of smuggling way more lucrative, and the saying "front is in tight strain, rear is tightly eating" isn’t just rhetoric.