NOVEL NEXT Chapter 628: The Fourth Prince with Heavy Losses
The situation had reached a point where the Fourth Prince could no longer avoid it, but in terms of momentum, he could not show weakness.
"Are you all in such a hurry to have me honor the crayfish agreement because you intend to extort me?"
"Humph, within You Country, there is no one who can extort me!"
Everyone present was intimidated by the Fourth Prince's authority, but Yang Gong, unfazed, stepped forward.
"Fourth Prince, we are but commoners, occupying the lowest rank of farmers, workers, and merchants with no status."
"We've paid with real silver and coins for the crayfish reservation, and this contract bears your own signature."
"Surely the Fourth Prince isn't going to breach the contract right here, is he?"
Having said that, Yang Gong produced the down payment agreement and handed it to the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince was extremely embarrassed. If word got out that a dignified Fourth Prince was dishonorable, how would he ever hold his head up in court again?
He glared fiercely at Yang Gong and the other ten merchants; a bold idea suddenly sprouted in his mind.
"You must have planned this. Guards, seize these men and banish them to the border!"
The Fourth Prince, with a wave of his hand, was determined to follow through without hesitation!
"Oh, what are we to do now?" A young merchant was so frightened that he paced in circles, hiding behind Yang Gong.
You should know, with just a word, the highly influential Fourth Prince could easily have someone banished to the border.
Yet Yang Gong was calm as he said, "Does the Fourth Prince intend to oppress the common people? There are thousands of merchants both inside and outside the Imperial City who are aware that we've come to seek justice from his Highness."
"If we can't get justice and return safely, then, Fourth Prince, your reputation for lacking integrity will become notorious."
"Rubbish! How dare you threaten me!"
The Fourth Prince was so furious that he rose from his bed. But the very next second, he realized that all of this was Lin Yi's doing, backing Yang Gong.
Without Lin Yi's support, Yang Gong would likely have hidden far away.
Understanding what mattered most, the Fourth Prince's anger subsided, and he spoke in a placating tone.
"Yang Gong, name your price. How much did Lin Yi pay you? I will give you ten times that amount!"
The Fourth Prince had realized that winning over Yang Gong meant the other merchants would likely compromise as well.
What he didn't know was that Yang Gong was not one to be bought with silver.
Yang Gong opened the document he had just presented at a leisurely pace.
"1,000,000 Silver Tael!"
"What?"
The number almost made the Fourth Prince faint.
1,000,000 Silver Tael, even if the Fourth Prince was wealthy, he wouldn't want to pay such an exorbitant penalty out of nowhere.
Faced with the written agreement, the Fourth Prince knew he was in the wrong, but he still wanted to resist, speaking slowly.
"Ten days, within ten days, I will surely turn the upper reaches of the Moat upside down and fulfill your order with a sufficient quantity of crayfish."
But Yang Gong was unimpressed, producing the strict laws and regulations of You Country.
"Do not push people too far, Fourth Prince. If we owed you 1,000,000 Silver Tael, would you be so gracious to give us a ten-day extension? Remember, Fourth Prince, what you do is watched by the heavens."
"This—"
The Prince was suddenly at a loss for words; if the roles were reversed, not to mention ten days, he wouldn't be able to wait even a quarter of an hour.
But merchants are solely motivated by profit, for without it, how could their wealth reach an immense scale?
Just at that moment, the steward Lu came running in, flustered and frantic.
"Disaster, disaster! Prince, the concubine is suffering from abdominal pain."
Hearing this, the Fourth Prince immediately bounced up from the bed, forgoing shoes, desperately wishing he could fly to the concubine's side.
Yang Gong and the others stood in front of the Fourth Prince, speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly.
"Fourth Prince, about our Silver Tael, shall we decide when you return?"
The Fourth Prince pushed Yang Gong aside, cursing and grumbling, "Can't you see I have urgent matters to attend to? Refund the money, steward, hurry and refund all this money, and then kick these people out! If they disturb the concubine's pregnancy, I'll make sure they regret it!"
With these words, Yang Gong and the others wisely stepped aside.
Half an hour later, Lin Yi, holding a one million Silver Tael note in his hand, felt indescribably elated.
After several days of twists and turns, the money was back in Lin Yi's hands.
This one million silver was bound to severely weaken the Fourth Prince, who would surely keep a low profile for some time.
"Heh heh, with this one million silver, I can exchange it for a few hundred billion Heavenly Bead Coins—just thinking about it is thrilling."
"These days have been tough on you all. As a token of gratitude, I will reward each of you with 10 stones of crawfish."
According to Lin Yi's plan, they would start selling the stored crawfish tomorrow, and together with the 500 tons he bought from the Nine-Eyed Mall, all would be sold at a fair price to the people.
At 30 coins per jin, each household would be limited to 5 jin per day, ensuring they wouldn't be hoarded and that most people could afford them.
At the shallow shores of the Longwan, they had already started planting juvenile crawfish, and artificial cultivation was underway.
Lin Yi certainly couldn't just give them money, it had to be put to good use.
Yang Gong and the others shook their heads and knelt down together.
"We dare to ask Mr. Lin to become the president of Yunding Commerce."
Yang Gong had this idea since he gave Zuile Workshop to the Fourth Prince.
In the eyes of the world, the Fourth Prince holds high power and status, having him as support may seem worry-free.
But Yang Gong, who has personally experienced it, knows that the Fourth Prince is no match for Lin Yi.
Lin Yi hesitated at this moment; becoming the president of Yunding Commerce meant he had to provide conveniences and a green channel for the commerce.
But there were advantages to becoming the president as well, such as mobilizing private capital, which would become much easier.
After pondering, Lin Yi decided to keep a low profile.
"I can be the president of Yunding Commerce, but I have one condition; my identity must not be disclosed. Only a few of you need to know. I don't want to attract unnecessary trouble; do you understand?"
Yang Gong and the others were elated; with Lin Yi backing them, their future in You Country would be greatly enhanced.
[Ding ding ding, the Nine-Eyed Mall detects that the host has obtained one million Silver Tael, but the host's growth level is insufficient to exchange for Heavenly Bead Coins.]
What? Can't exchange?
Lin Yi angrily slammed the table and cursed internally.
'I've been checking in daily without fail, and my growth level is still too low? System, are you scamming me?'
Feeling that something was off, Lin Yi went back into the system looking for a solution; after all, he relied on it to help the Emperor consolidate the realm.
After careful searching, Lin Yi finally found a solution to the problem.
[Ding ding ding, the host needs to obtain 10,000 tons of Jade to upgrade the growth level.]
Damn, 10,000 tons of Jade—where the hell do I find that amount of Jade? Even You Country combined doesn't have that much Jade.
Is the system deliberately preventing an upgrade?
Lin Yi, frustrated, couldn't upgrade the system—how to accomplish the great undertakings, how to take care of his woman and unborn children.
...End of chapter...