The Turning Point of Fate

Wang Shouzhe broke into a cold sweat. He thought of those starving commoners—in a situation where even Qian Gold could not buy grain, what would they do to survive? Sell their sons and daughters? Sell their homes and property?

"This means that the more grain the noble clans hold in their hands this time, the more they can control the situation. They can use other means to recoup their losses and make their clans even more powerful." Qian Xue'an was indeed an excellent businessman; with just a few sentences, he laid out the aftermath of this disaster with crystal clarity.

"The Great Qian government and the Purple Mansion Academy will transport grain from other prefectures, won't they?" Wang Shouzhe was, after all, a transmigrator from Earth; he still couldn't bear to see the commoners suffer.

"They will. But the grain needs to be procured from various prefectures, transported, and then sold at a fair price," Qian Xue'an said with a solemn expression. "In fact, the Purple Mansion Academy and the government have already begun disaster relief starting today, but it is almost impossible to save the entire Longzuo Prefecture in a short time. Especially since our Changning Guard is located in such a remote area..."

Seeing Wang Shouzhe's brows knit tightly, he advised, "My brother, I know you have a kind heart, and truthfully, I cannot bear to see this either. But with our thin arms and weak legs, it's already good enough if we can look after ourselves at a time like this."

"Brother Qian is right; I was being a bit overly sentimental." Wang Shouzhe naturally understood this logic and said with a sense of relief, "Then, according to your meaning, I should demand that the firm pay me three times the contract price?"

"Brother, you must understand. Even if they pay three times the indemnity, it still means the Qian Clan Trading Firm has breached the contract. Unless absolutely necessary, the firm would never want to ruin its reputation for reliability," Qian Xue'an said, blinking. "I'll give you a figure: insist on ten thousand Qian Gold and three thousand Qian Gold worth of grain before you agree to cancel the contract."

"What?"

Wang Shouzhe's eyelids twitched. Qian Xue'an was even more ruthless than him. In his initial estimation, he would have been perfectly satisfied if the other party bought back the contract at double the price.

This price already exceeded the triple indemnity, and the three thousand Qian Gold worth of grain was even more valuable.

"Anyway, you've already offended the current manager of the Qian Clan Trading Firm, so you might as well go all the way and offend him thoroughly," Qian Xue'an chuckled. "Besides, even at this price, the Qian Clan won't lose money; they'll still make a profit."

What Qian Xue'an said made a lot of sense, but was it really okay to sabotage his own clan like this?

As if reading Wang Shouzhe's mind, Qian Xue'an explained seriously, "First, the Qian Clan is far too massive; a mere ten or twenty thousand Qian Gold in indemnity is just a drop in the ocean. Second, I am merely a concubine-born son; without your help, it would be difficult for me to climb any higher in this life, so consider this a return of a favor. Third, I very much hope that you, Brother Shouzhe, can become stronger. Your strength is more beneficial to our alliance."

"Fine, then let's do it." Faced with such huge benefits, Wang Shouzhe could not refuse. The Wang Clan was currently too poor; if such a massive injection of funds were to occur, it would be an opportunity for them to rise.

"In that case, let me handle this matter for you, brother." Qian Xue'an seemed to have already made up his mind. "When I report to the manager, I will raise the price by another thirty percent, then haggle it down to give him some psychological comfort. Furthermore, Brother Shouzhe, you must swear not to spread this abroad; the Qian Clan Trading Firm cannot afford to lose face like that."

Of course he wouldn't spread it; making a fortune in silence was the best choice.

Wang Shouzhe stood up and cupped his hands. "In that case, I will trouble you, brother. I must add one more condition: the Pest-Exterminating Powder must not be sold to the Ping'an Zhao Clan or the Ping'an Liu Clan." For Wang Shouzhe, while strengthening himself was a good thing, weakening his enemies at the same time was even better.

"Even if you hadn't mentioned this condition, I would have considered it," Qian Xue'an replied with a smile. "Moreover, with this disaster, the Pest-Exterminating Powder is in high demand and short supply. The Ping'an Zhao Clan and Ping'an Liu Clan are only bottom-tier noble clans; it would have been extremely difficult for them to secure a share of the powder anyway. Brother, congratulations!"

In the eyes of the Ping'an Wang Clan, the Liu and Zhao clans were very troublesome and powerful. But in the eyes of the Qian Clan Trading Firm, they were merely two ordinary, small clans.

"Congratulations to us both."

Both men laughed, the agreement settled.

Immediately, Qian Xue'an slammed his cup onto the ground and roared as he left the room: "Wang Shouzhe, you have gone too far! Do you really think our Qian Clan Trading Firm is a pushover? Just you wait..."

Afterward, he stormed out with his two guards, who were trembling in fear outside the door.

Wang Shouzhe was quite satisfied with Qian Xue'an's reaction and methods; it seemed he had not chosen the wrong ally.

Just then, his second brother, Wang Shouyi, walked in, looking worried: "Shouzhe, Manager Qian has come to look for you several times over the past two days. Could it be that something has happened?"

The Wang Clan of today could no longer withstand any major storms.

"Don't worry, Second Brother; it's actually a good thing for the clan," Wang Shouzhe replied with a smile, then changed the subject. "By the way, how is the research on the live fish equipment going these past two days?"

At the mention of this, Wang Shouyi's spirits lifted: "I have to say, your ideas, Shouzhe, are truly unique and marvelous. Just the methods of using sprays to increase oxygen and pumps to circulate water are enough to change the entire aquatic storage and transport industry. My initial attempts have yielded very good results; the next step is to modify the horse-drawn water barrels and the rearing ponds in the shop."

"Then you must speed up the progress, Second Brother, and build more rearing ponds in the backyard," Wang Shouzhe laughed. "Otherwise, Sixth Uncle will definitely come to beat you up."

"That's true, there have been more and more live fish from Sixth Uncle's side these past two days..." Wang Shouyi cupped his hands. "Fourth Brother, please excuse me." With that, Wang Shouyi hurried off.

Heh, Wang Shouyi's initiative was growing stronger by the day, which was a good thing. It was no wonder; as the clan's momentum improved, it would naturally boost the morale of the clansmen.

Wang Shouzhe valued the fishing team and the fish stalls, both clan assets, very highly. Originally, the combined annual net profit of these two was only about four or five hundred Qian Gold. But after his suggestions and adjustments, a net profit of over a thousand was an easy feat.

He was even confident that by next year, the fishing team and the fish stalls would exceed the combined profits of the three major farms.

Seizing the opportunity to speculate on the Pest-Exterminating Powder to make a fortune was certainly worth celebrating. However, the development of clan industries was the true foundation of a clan's strength.

Furthermore, the three thousand Qian Gold worth of grain that Qian Xue'an mentioned also made Wang Shouzhe feel a slight headache. It was true that controlling grain during a disaster meant controlling the initiative.

But what kind of concept was three thousand Qian Gold worth of grain? Calculated at current grain prices, that was about fifty or sixty thousand dan—enough to feed a population of twenty thousand for a year!

One had to know that the total population of Ping'an Town was not even thirty thousand.

With such a massive quantity of grain, just the transport and storage were a major problem. The various farms of the Ping'an Wang Clan naturally had granaries built. But those granaries were already filled with last year's aged grain, and with the space reserved for this harvest, they were already mostly full; at most, they could squeeze in another ten or twenty thousand dan.

However, solutions are always found by people.

When Ancestor Zhouxuan built the main residence, he had considered the future development of the clan. Just the courtyards for important clansmen numbered fifty, and all other types of rooms combined totaled no less than several hundred.

Most of them were empty; cleaning them up slightly to store tens of thousands of dan of grain would be easy. During a disaster, the safest place was none other than the main residence of a noble clan.

The main residence of every noble clan was built in a location that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and they possessed the strongest defensive forces, making it reassuring to store grain there.

Furthermore, as mentioned before, the Wang Clan's main residence was built against the mountains and by the water.

The mountain it leaned against was naturally a branch of Liu Ping Mountain, and the water it bordered was a small lake called Zhuwei Lake. This lake was named by Ancestor Zhouxuan himself, using the maiden name of his most beloved legitimate daughter, Wang Zhuwei.

Zhuwei Lake was not very large, covering only ten thousand mu of water, but it was the natural barrier and back garden of the Wang Clan's main residence.

Most importantly, it had a waterway that was originally natural and later manually reinforced. The waterway branched off a few miles ahead and could lead to the other two major farms, excluding the Sericulture Farm.

Among them, the main waterway of Fenggu Farm wound its way and connected with Zhuwei Lake, with a total winding distance of about twenty-odd miles.

Upstream of the Fenggu Farm waterway was the tributary sluice gate built by Ancestor Zhouxuan back in the day, named Fenggu Sluice. This sluice was a water conservancy facility mainly used to regulate the water level of the inner waterway, but because it used a winch-style single-gate model, ships could not pass through it.

However, this did not matter much; the areas inside and outside Fenggu Sluice required regular dredging and maintenance to keep them clear, so the water levels were quite deep...

Wang Shouzhe quickly straightened out his thoughts. Without delay, he wrote two letters and summoned Wang Zhong and Wang Yong inside.

"Patriarch." Both family retainers were in high spirits, clearly optimistic about the clan's future development.

Wang Shouzhe handed the letters to the two retainers for delivery, instructing them, "After you deliver these, there is no need to return immediately; stay there and assist with the work."

Once the retainers had received their orders and departed, Wang Shouzhe sat alone, slowly sipping his tea. The shifting depths of his eyes betrayed that his heart was far from calm; if everything went smoothly, this insect plague would become the turning point that reversed the Wang Clan's fate of decline.