Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 345: Chapter 334, so what? This isn’t Liaodong, this is Jiangnan!

“Hehe, this Jiangnan is really interesting!”

Yang Zhenshan said with a chuckle.

“Third Young Master, Third Young Master, it was my fault, please don’t hit me anymore!”

A few Government Officials begged for mercy, but the young masters showed no sign of stopping. Instead, they shouted even louder, “What the hell is Lu Zhensu? It serves him right if an assassin wants to kill him. Dare to disturb me and you ask if Lu Zhensu has the face for that?”

…

Yang Zhenshan was surprised to hear this.

What a bold statement!

After all, Lu Zhensu is an Assistant Imperial Censor of the Standard Fourth Rank, and the Magistrate of Songhe Prefecture is also only of the fourth-rank, and crucially, the Magistrate isn’t really a match for the Imperial Censor.

The Assistant Imperial Censor usually monitors several prefectures. Although he doesn’t bear the title of governor, he effectively has the power of one, thus he is also known as the “Miniature Governor.”

The audacity of this son of nobility—his status must be extraordinary.

Yang Zhenshan looked over in wonder, only to see a fair-faced young noble viciously beating a Government Official.

“Sir, that is the Third Young Master from the New River Prince Manor!” whispered Luo Chen.

The New River Prince Manor!

No wonder!

Yang Zhenshan had not been aware of a New River Prince in Songhe Prefecture, but now he knew.

Well, better skedaddle when it involves the royal family!

Without another thought, Yang Zhenshan descended the stairs on the other side.

The royal family was synonymous with trouble, and he wanted no part in it.

In the Liaodong Region, there was Prince Qing, who kept him on tenterhooks every day, fearing Prince Qing would cause some disturbance.

Yet, without any moves from Prince Qing, he felt uneasy.

Ah, merely thinking about Prince Qing irritated Yang Zhenshan.

Till now, Ding Qiu was keeping an eye on the Prince Qing Mansion in Qinghua Prefecture, yet the mansion was utterly calm, yielding no results for Ding Qiu.

This doesn’t mean there were no issues with the Prince Qing Mansion, just that they were well concealed.

Yang Zhenshan looked solemn, his aura chilling, causing the Government Officials in his path to retreat involuntarily.

By the time Yang Zhenshan reached the ground floor hall, the group of Government Officials had already surrounded him.

Yang Zhenshan was speechless. Why surround him instead of chasing the assassin?

Wrong place, wrong time!

“Shopkeeper, here’s the money for the tea!”

Yang Zhenshan tossed a silver ingot onto the counter, not bothering with the Government Officials, and strode out of the teahouse.

The street outside was still in chaos, with a great number of Government Officials apprehending people everywhere. Lu Zhensu’s palanquin was still on the street, with the man standing before it.

Yang Zhenshan glanced at the palanquin and walked over.

“Stop right there!”

The man called out coldly.

Yang Zhenshan stopped and kicked a knife lying on the ground.

With a whoosh, the long knife shot towards the man like a rainbow, his pupils suddenly shrinking. His shortsword flashed from his waist, but by the time it was in position to defend, the rainbow had already grazed the blade and shot into the palanquin.

The palanquin was pierced through, flying out several dozen feet before landing.

“If I wanted to kill someone, you couldn’t stop me!”

“Make way!”

Yang Zhenshan stared coldly at the palanquin.

Inside, Lu Zhensu’s forehead was covered in cold sweat.

The County Magistrate who ruins families and the Magistrate who wipes out households cannot stop a Martial Arts Family; however, when one’s cultivation and power reach a certain level, officials have to avoid them.

“Let, let him pass!” stuttered Lu Zhensu.

The knife had passed by his ear just now, and the fact that Lu Zhensu hadn’t wet himself already showed tremendous mental fortitude.

The man looked at Yang Zhenshan and greeted him with a clasped fist, “Please, senior!”

Yang Zhenshan couldn’t care less about them and left the street with long strides.

This matter was never his concern to begin with; if those Government Officials hadn’t asked for his identity, he wouldn’t have gotten involved.

Yang Zhenshan no longer felt like strolling; he had intended to enjoy the scenery of Songhe Prefecture, but that was now impossible.

With the assassination attempt on Lu Zhensu, chaos was sure to ensue in Songhe Prefecture City. Staying in the city would only bring Yang Zhenshan more trouble, especially since his identity had to remain a secret.

As Yang Zhenshan left Songhe Prefecture City, Luo Shang was busy dealing with the sale of his fleet’s cargo.

The Tenglong Guard had brought a great amount of diverse goods, too much for just one or two merchants to handle.

He had previously contacted several merchants and agreed on the price and quantity for the goods.

After the cargo arrived at Crescent Bay, he contacted them again to fulfill their arrangement.

Most merchants were very willing to work with Luo Shang, as he offered prices about ten percent lower than the usual market rate.

Luo Shang negotiated with four merchants in succession, smoothly concluding the deals.

However, when he arrived at the Liu family’s, the largest jade merchants in Songhe Prefecture, he encountered some difficulties.

The Liu family is not only the biggest jade dealer in Songhe Prefecture, but also one of the largest salt dealers, with the support of the governor of Jiangnan, Gao Huai, behind them.

Originally, Luo Shang had agreed with the Liu family head, Liu Fuzhang, to sell all the Snake Pattern Jade Stones transported from Liaodong to the Liu family, but today when he came to the Liu family to honor the agreement, he never expected Liu Fuzhang to actually go back on their initial arrangement and deny the previously agreed upon price.

In the hall of the Liu family, Luo Shang’s face did not look too good as he gazed at Liu Fuzhang.

Liu Fuzhang, in his forties, had a genteel appearance and scholarly demeanor. Every action was accompanied by an air of ease and sophistication, but his eyes twinkled with an unfathomable sharpness.

“Brother Liu, what price do you want?” Luo Shang asked, trying to keep his patience.

The Luo family’s assets in Liaodong were not small, but their assets in Jiangnan were just trifling in comparison.

Although Luo Shang had established quite a few shops, lands, and tea estates in Jiangnan over the years, those were merely to provide supplies for the industries in Liaodong. His assets in Jiangnan were not significant enough to matter.

It’s quite understandable – Yang Zhenshan was rooted in Liaodong; that’s where his foundation was. In Jiangnan, he couldn’t find any powerful support; at best, he could only establish some connections with officials through silver.

By contrast, the Liu family was Jiangnan’s local power. The Liu family’s enterprises spanned various industries throughout several prefectures. Although their biggest industries were the salt trade and jade business, they were indeed regional hegemons in the commercial sphere of Jiangnan.

Intent on the principle that harmony brings wealth, and also wishing to form a good partnership with the Liu family, Luo Shang decided to sell the Snake Pattern Jade Stones to them.

But he had not anticipated that the Liu family would be so untrustworthy, attempting to push down the price at this time.

“Thirty percent!” Liu Fuzhang said lightly shaking the folding fan in his hands, a cordial smile on his face. “Lower the previously agreed price by an additional thirty percent!”

“Impossible!” Luo Shang instantly rejected without hesitation.

Lower by an additional thirty percent?

What a joke!

His initial quote was already ten percent below the normal market rate, and the Snake Pattern Jade Stones he shipped were almost all large stones – such large stones are quite rare in Jiangnan.

“That’s the highest price I can offer!” Liu Fuzhang didn’t care about Luo Shang’s rejection at all and continued: “I understand the price of Snake Pattern Jade Stones in Liaodong. With this price, you will still make a profit!”

“After all, you shipped them by boat!”

Luo Shang’s expression grew even uglier.

Indeed, even if they lowered the price by thirty percent, the Tenglong Guard would not suffer a loss.

Under normal conditions, transporting Snake Pattern Jade Stones by land from Liaodong to Jiangnan would see their price increase by 1.3 to 1.5 times, with profits typically about thirty to forty percent of the sales price.

Who would go through so much trouble to transport a bunch of heavy stones to Jiangnan without a profit of thirty to forty percent?

And by sea, the costs are much lower, especially in terms of labor for the journey.

Based on their initially agreed price, there was a gross profit margin of about thirty percent.

If the price were lowered by an additional thirty percent, they would be doing a loss-making business.

Liu Fuzhang continued: “Not just this time, but from now on, you must provide at least 30,000 jin of Snake Pattern Jade Stones to us every month, and you cannot let the quality drop!”

Luo Shang narrowed his eyes – this was no longer a business negotiation, but a blatant threat.

Not only were they expected to take a loss this time, but they would also have to continue supplying Snake Pattern Jade Stones below cost to the Liu family in the future. But why?

Just because the Liu family had power in Jiangnan, just because the Liu family had backing there.

And the Luo family was nothing more than an outsider in Jiangnan!

The Liu family had Luo Shang cornered!

Luo Shang realized the crux of the matter in an instant.

He gave Liu Fuzhang a deep look and said, “Brother Liu, you must understand that this is not my business to decide!”

“So what? This isn’t Liaodong, this is Jiangnan!” Liu Fuzhang spoke deliberately and slowly, completely disregarding the reminder in Luo Shang’s words.

He was right in his thinking; this was Jiangnan, not Liaodong. Can your Liaodong officials regulate things down to Jiangnan?

Officials’ powers have geographical limitations.

Let alone local officials – even capital officials sometimes don’t have much clout when they are outside their jurisdiction.

As the saying goes, even a mighty dragon cannot suppress a local snake!

“There’s no room for negotiation?” Although Luo Shang felt angry, he still asked with patience.

“No!” Liu Fuzhang looked at him directly, speaking with a flat tone: “You should understand, you have no choice!”

The Liu family might not be able to control everything in Jiangnan, but they could definitely push out the Luo family.

With the Liu family’s strength in Jiangnan, just by putting the word out, all the merchants in Jiangnan would have to give them some respect.

As for foreign merchants like the Luo family, Jiangnan was teeming with them; one less Luo family wouldn’t make much of an impact.

Luo Shang took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, stood up, bowed with his fists, and said, “In that case, I shall take my leave first!”

“Good. You have three days to decide. I hope you make a wise choice!”

“Fugui, please show Brother Luo out,” Liu Fuzhang called as he lifted his cup of tea for a light sip.

…

When Yang Zhenshan returned to Crescent Bay, it was already dusk.

Going to Songhe Prefecture City had been a trip filled with anticipation but ended in disappointment. The round trip took more than three two-hour periods, and he only spent two hours in the city itself. It was truly disheartening.

Feeling somewhat irritated, Yang Zhenshan returned to his own courtyard. Damn it, not being on his own turf, he couldn’t even have a bit of fun to his heart’s content.

If it had been Liaodong, he’s not saying he could swagger around, but at least no one would dare to block his path.

Yang Zhenshan’s reputation in Liaodong need not be mentioned; leading troops into Liao’an Prefecture and sealing the Salt Transport Department, the key point is that he did not receive any punishment from the court. Just this alone made his name resound throughout Liaodong.

But what about in Jiangnan?

He couldn’t even reveal his identity, let alone anything else.