Sounding the Horn of Counterattack / Super Stealthy Cao Cao

After all, how many nobles had clean hands?

As the former president of the Victoria Commercial Association, dealing with a few people to protect the interests of the old nobility was perfectly normal.

And these people's memories returned to the Originium.

Last night, Huang Cao had happened to be looking for the dark history of the president of the Victoria Commercial Association, and he had found this particular memory.

"Relying on enemies to deal with enemies—I've never heard of such a foolish farce anywhere in the world. If all of you trust me, I'm willing to become the president of the Federal Reserve Bank."

"After all, no matter what, as a foreigner, I could never collude with the old nobility."

The people below fell silent for a while. After several minutes, someone stood up and asked:

"May I ask, Mr. Huang, how will you lead us in resisting the old nobility after becoming president?"

Facing the question, Huang Cao had naturally prepared his answer long ago. "Drive everyone into the cities. The old nobles' lands require a large workforce to manage them. With access to this soil, our output can multiply several times over while also solving our raw-material shortage."

"Once the amount of raw materials being purchased decreases, the old nobles will inevitably dismiss their serfs on a large scale. We can seize this opportunity to absorb everyone into the cities."

"These people, driven from the land by bankruptcy, can provide our factories with a large supply of quality labor."

"And all we need to do is raise their basic wages slightly. Not every old noble is a fool. Waging a war of attrition against them would do us more harm than good."

"As long as we solve these people's basic employment problems, we won't have to worry about them returning to the nobles' exploited estates. Without people, how will these nobles manage their territories?"

"Here, we need to establish one principle: small gains are made for the sake of greater profits. Never abandon an entire sugarcane plantation for the sake of a single stalk."

"As long as people enter the factories, they can create profit. All we need to do is treat them just a little better than the old nobles do."

"At the same time, we must develop our own armed forces. Remember, this is not a rebellion, but a violent social transformation. We stand on the side of justice."

"Think of the blood debts you carry. Bowing your heads and begging for survival is no different from adding fuel to the fire."

To make these people trust him completely, Huang Cao had to do more than simply stir them up. He also had to propose solutions.

Fortunately, before transmigrating, Huang Cao had been quite good at history, and he had also been very interested in all kinds of historical events.

He would carefully investigate the reasons behind every event and even propose his own solutions.

He had never expected that this unusual little hobby would now become his most useful tool.

Although this world was fictional, it was impossible for the writer to claim that reality had provided no inspiration. Thus, the basic economic and social structures here could barely be considered universal.

Besides, Victoria's current economic development and operating principles were far simpler than those of the future.

Relying on the knowledge from his previous life and his naturally excellent eloquence, Huang Cao answered the questions of nearly every noble present. His conversations with them continued until the following evening.

In the end, he successfully won the complete trust of Victoria's new nobles.

At least, for now.

This had been anything but easy. If his actions failed to deal a serious blow to the old nobility, the trust he had worked so hard to gain would collapse.

After the meeting ended, Huang Cao drafted a set of regulations and instructed everyone present to complete each task according to its order.

The new nobles, thoroughly fired up, acted swiftly, frantically withdrawing the money they had previously deposited in the banks.

But just as the regulations had mentioned, such a massive run on the banks would inevitably paralyze the existing banking system.

The existing banks were controlled by the president of the Victoria Commercial Association, and he had not attended Huang Cao's speech the previous night.

Naturally, he had no idea what was happening and could only keep trying to stop them.

But his attempts at persuasion had disastrous results. The new nobles exploded all at once, storming into the president's home and turning it upside down. In the end, they successfully found evidence that he had secretly conspired with the old nobles to embezzle the bank's assets.

"Mr. Huang truly is a divine man! If this had happened a few years later, our money would probably have been emptied out long ago!"

Seeing the ironclad evidence in their hands, everyone could not help praising him inwardly.

The new nobles reclaimed the vast sums deposited in the banks, while the old nobles had originally planned to use that money for investments. This immediately created a cash-flow crisis.

Some old nobles with weaker resistance to risk suddenly faced the danger of bankruptcy and even began begging the new nobles to stop.

That would have been impossible in the past.

"When I borrowed money from you before, you charged me forty percent interest. Now you know how it feels? Let me tell you—too late!"

In truth, Huang Cao had not done much. The new nobles themselves possessed tremendous influence, and any collective action would inevitably affect the old nobles' interests.

But no matter how one looked at it, after this battle—

Huang Cao's name had truly resounded throughout Victoria, and he had seized an unimaginable fortune.

And all of this had begun with his original plan to sell pepper.

Several years earlier, Warfarin had already judged Huang Cao to be the sort of person who always wanted more. On the surface, he claimed not to want anything, but in reality, his desires were greater than anyone else's.

For example, Huang Cao had originally wanted Warfarin to wear a simple nurse's uniform, but the outfits afterward became increasingly strange and increasingly embarrassing.

Chapter 40: Sounding the Horn of Counterattack

As the soil spread rapidly,

Huang Cao felt his mind gradually connecting with this land.

However, because he lacked a concrete mental map, Huang Cao had no idea how much area this soil covered.

But without a doubt, even if the covered area was small, Victoria's new nobles would do their utmost to mix a little of it into as much as possible.

"Ten months remain. Theresia probably doesn't have the time to pay attention to Victoria right now. Is this the benefit of information being cut off?"

Huang Cao sat in his luxurious office, enjoying the respectful gazes of the people around him.

Quite a few people even tried to send him flirtatious looks, but their appearance and substance could not compare to even a single hair of Warfarin's or Kal'tsit's. He could not be bothered to look at them.

It could only be said that the characters who appeared in the story really were special. Most people were no ordinary figures, and each possessed distinctive traits.

"Sigh. Although I could reach Kazdel in a very short time and enjoy the maid service of Warfarin and Kaitian Cat, I really can't leave this place."

So it was time to line his own pockets.

Since he was already here, wouldn't it be a waste if he did not take something from these people?

Some might say that Huang Cao was thinking too small. If he was so capable, why was he still coveting such petty profits?

Huang Cao still held respect for the Antlered Goddess. That goddess had told him to do his best to improve the lives of the people on the land.

What if he really became a great demon, and the iron fist of the Blonde Goddess came crashing down on his head?

Therefore, from beginning to end, Huang Cao believed that he had come here bearing a mission.

After all, the Blonde Goddess was probably still watching him. No matter what, he did not dare act too recklessly.

Otherwise, when he had possessed a physical body, she would not have sent him a dream.

This time, Cao Cao is genuinely scared!

So, without knowing the goddess's attitude, Huang Cao was still willing to be a good person in name.

Whether because of the education he had received in his previous life or because of his own conscience.

"Next, I need to open a trade route between Victoria and Kazdel."

With that thought, Huang Cao once again used his specialty, claiming that he had a relative in Kazdel who cultivated spices.

The spices produced there were both high-quality and inexpensive, and this method could once again deal a heavy blow to the old nobles' trade.

The new nobles all expressed that they had no objections.

After all, very few members of the new nobility were involved in the spice trade. This business had always been controlled by the upper nobles, and ordinary people had no chance of coming into contact with it.

Actually, according to the course of history, they would certainly have become involved in the future. Unfortunately, someone had gotten there first.

"A family managing the border... Windermere... Good grief, why have I run into this surname again?"

The old nobles did not possess the authority to manage the border, nor did they maintain many private soldiers.

Aside from money, they had practically nothing.

This situation would only improve in the future, after Victoria abolished the Steam Knights.

The conflict between the Border Duke and the new nobles was actually not very deep. After all, no matter how difficult life was inland, it could not compare to life at the border.

Besides, Windermere was not a member of the Aslan Royal Family, so the new nobles' hatred was not focused on that family.

They were fighting enemy soldiers at the border with their own elbows. We shouldn't make things difficult for them too. Besides, being stationed at the border didn't mean they were in charge of customs duties.

Especially in the future, when King Aslan died, Victoria would still have the Windermere Duke—indeed, one of the most prominent figures.

Perhaps they had been at odds with King Aslan all along?

With that in mind, Huang Cao decided to search the Originium Database further and see whether he could cater to their interests and open a trade port.

Huang Cao could also simply dig an underground passage and transport all the necessary supplies through it to his territory.

Ultimately, he would still need manpower to move them. He could indeed control vines to deliver construction machinery and metal raw materials to his territory.

As for organic materials, Huang Cao could make them himself.

But Huang Cao did not want to experience the feeling of working on two fronts again. Last time, he had nearly developed split personalities.

For example, Huang Cao now held the two positions of president of the Victoria bank and member of the Lower House. His status was extremely high, but he had successfully outsourced all his work.

Our Master Huang only needed to speak and give orders from the podium, while the people carrying them out below had to consider countless matters.

"Victoria only just finished downsizing its military. They even threw some Steam Knights into storage. The people at the border probably aren't living very well."

The Border Duke received limited resources. This limitation was not because King Aslan was unwilling to provide them, but because it was extremely difficult to deliver them to the people who needed them.

After the war ended, Victoria required a large amount of funding for development.

To reduce costs, even fewer resources could be sent to the border. If the soldiers could chew on a loaf of white bread each day, that was already quite good.

Moreover, Gaul had not been causing much trouble recently, so professional scholars within Victoria predicted that no major battles would occur on Terra's land for the time being.

"If we were in Yan Country and a merchant dared to provide supplies to the army, he definitely wouldn't survive until the next day. Unfortunately, the country beneath my feet is Victoria, and it has its own national circumstances."

A month later, Huang Cao's approach produced remarkably obvious results.

The head of the Windermere family completely ignored King Aslan's border-control policy.

They essentially kept one eye open and one eye closed regarding goods being shipped out of the country, only occasionally confiscating supplies such as alcohol when they spotted them among the cargo.

Because someone's reasoning was too convincing, the Windermere family showed no reaction even when the goods were being transported toward Kazdel.

We can't even afford to eat, and you still expect me to obey your orders?

I'm the one risking my life on the battlefield, not you!

As a result, over the next six months, vast quantities of precious seasonings instantly occupied the entire Victoria market.

Huang Cao's original territory did not produce seasonings, but fortunately, the Shi Huaiya Family was involved in the transportation. They cooperated completely and concealed this fact.

Thus, these precious seasonings were all directly cultivated by Huang Cao using his abilities, then sold to the new nobles at relatively low prices.

The prices were lower, but there were enough buyers to make up for it.

Vast quantities of goods crashed into Victoria's market like sand.

This successfully dealt a heavy blow to the old nobles who controlled the seasoning trade. Seeing that they could barely recover even their costs, they hurriedly dumped their stock.

If they did not sell it off, the old nobles might soon have to eat pepper for every meal. But this caused prices to plummet even further.

Under Huang Cao's direction, the new nobles almost simultaneously released all their supplies to the lower classes, with prices far below those of the old nobles.

As a result, once ordinary citizens had finished buying, no one paid any attention to the old nobles' goods.

Chapter 41: Super Stealthy Cao Cao

Huang Cao earned a great deal, while everyone else earned very little—but in the end, some people still made money.

Especially after the series of actions over the past few months, practically everyone had gotten a share of the profits from Huang Cao's plan.

If everyone's income during this period were calculated on a scale of one hundred,

Huang Cao alone had taken sixty percent of the profits, and he had long since transported all that money to his own territory.

The remaining forty percent was divided among everyone else. And these profits were net profits, with all costs completely deducted.

Therefore, every new noble who worked with him made money. No one lost out; the only question was who earned more and who earned less.

This made the new nobles trust the leader above them even more.