Chapter 1 Jin Ze's Words

Jin Ze's words weren't loud, but his every action and demeanor exuded powerful confidence. Cen Lin was, after all, a man skilled at reading people. He looked at Jin Ze's expression and posture, so nonchalant, and then at the guards Jin Ze had brought, who seemed to be watching a good show with smiles. For a moment, he couldn't figure out their game. However, Cen Lin also thought that Jin Ze's arrogance today might be intentional.

Cen Lin quickly suppressed his anger and said calmly, "Very well. Since Mr. Jin can make the decisions, please. I am indeed only a deputy of the chamber of commerce. Even counting the behind-the-scenes bosses, I wouldn't even rank in the top five. I certainly don't have the qualifications to be angry with Mr. Jin. Please forgive me. Today, there are many seniors from the Bei Yi business world at the banquet. If Mr. Jin doesn't find it boring, please come upstairs with me."

Jin Ze was secretly surprised to see Cen Lin suddenly change his face, and his evaluation of Cen Lin rose a few notches in his mind. Even as a head guard, perhaps because he had been following Tan Wei Shi, he had picked up some of Tan Wei Shi's lively and unrestrained personality, making him relatively flamboyant. However, he had a soft spot for flamboyant people. In his view, being flamboyant, and having the qualifications to be flamboyant, was actually quite normal. If such people were difficult to get along with, one could simply avoid them. But those who could be flamboyant and yet restrain themselves were much rarer. And Cen Lin in front of him might be the kind of person Jin Ze admired.

Jin Ze also put away his previous arrogant posture and responded with a faint "Please," following Cen Lin upstairs. The soldiers and guards of the special forces camp, except for two who followed Jin Ze into the banquet and stood behind him, scattered and subtly occupied all the key points of Qingfeng House. In this way, the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce's evaluation of Jin Ze and his master was invisibly increased. Such a force of guards was definitely not something that ordinary people could train or afford.

Although the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce's invitation to Ye Tao's caravan was impromptu, after all, they had been operating on this route for many years, and the relationships between the various families were very familiar. The invited guests ranged from officials to local gentry, although they might not all be leading figures, they were at least people who had a say. Although he didn't have a deep understanding of Bei Yi, Jin Ze's sharp eyes could discern the levels of these people from the tone of their voices and the content of their speech. Amid everyone's harmonious flattery, Jin Ze was embarrassed to keep a stern face and intimidate everyone. He slightly revealed that his family had a great background and that this time they were just testing the waters on this route to see if the profits were rich enough to attract them to take a second trip… Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to answer Jin Ze. But in fact, everyone present didn't really want a new force to squeeze into this road all of a sudden. Moreover, looking at Jin Ze and the people around him, and then thinking about the owner behind them who was too lazy to even show his face and deal with them, everyone had no temper.

In Dongping, based on Dongping's military regulations, internal affairs regulations, and the temperaments of the several masters Jin Ze had served before, although Jin Ze had a very happy life, he never had the opportunity to play a certain kind of person: a powerful servant. And now this situation just happened to let Jin Ze have a good time. He could enjoy everyone's flattery while revealing a little bit of his master's power to these people, and then pretend to be profound amidst these people's deliberations and guesses. However, Jin Ze's high profile and skillfully guiding the conversation led the people present to reveal a lot about the situation in Yi Zhou and Yi Nan.

Yi Zhou was fine. Although it couldn't be said to be a place where the emperor was far away, it had not been affected even after Chun Nan captured Da Nan Pass because of its unique location. On the contrary, its status had been improved. After all, the commercial tax submitted by Yi Zhou to the central government every year was substantial, and Yi Zhou was also one of the few places where sensitive and precise instruments, tools, and even military equipment could be obtained. However, the situation in Yi Nan had gradually begun to change recently. Although the Samir family had made smooth progress in the founding war and had completely gained a foothold in the Middle East, the Samir family was not yet strong enough to dominate the situation. Because it had to divide its attention between the ocean and land battlefields, the Samir family's navy had not fully recovered its strength after a series of hard battles. And those surrounding countries and super families had begun to think about undermining them.

For example, the Samir family's fleet didn't come to Ya Nan as frequently as before because they had to deploy more ships to deal with enemies at sea and privateering fleets from certain enemy countries. However, Ya Nan hadn't declined as a result, but had become more prosperous because more forces wanted to get a piece of the pie on this trade route. The Seven Seas Trading Company and the Chun Nan maritime merchants were a given. They had never had any conflicts with the Samir family before. Although they wouldn't be given special treatment, they wouldn't be treated with hostility either. The Seven Seas Trading Company had set up its branch in Ya Nan, which was also the westernmost branch of the Seven Seas Trading Company. Further west was directly the Samir family's lair in Dubai. With the good relationship between the Seven Seas Trading Company and the Samir family, so good that they called each other brothers, shared business information, ships, and naval warfare technology, and even began to share airship and tethered balloon technology, the Samir family actually supported the entry of the Seven Seas Trading Company when it was unable to take care of Ya Nan Port. But the Samir family's control over Ya Nan had weakened after all. At this time, various forces began to enter Yi Nan, and various interested parties began to collude among the local Tusi, trying to establish their own ground routes and trying to destroy the trade routes of competitors and even enemies… And the Tusi who received various benefits, some still firmly supported their original partners, or chose partners who were more compatible with them, some swayed back and forth depending on who offered a higher price, changing their orders from morning to evening, and some simply ignored all parties and waited for the highest bidder. On the one hand, it was troublesome to deal with the many Tusi, and on the other hand, the Tusi themselves realized that the larger the territory they controlled, the stronger the power they possessed, and the stronger their bargaining power with those merchants or kingdom representatives who could bring them various benefits. They also began to set their sights on their weaker neighbors. Although Yi Nan could be said to have never been stable, it had never been as chaotic as it was today.

At this time, the appearance of Ye Tao's powerful caravan especially touched the hearts of the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce, who relied on this route to make a living. On the one hand, they suspected whether this was a test and signal from Xi Ling to deeply intervene in Yi Nan, but they were also worried that the intervention of a powerful force would destroy their painstaking efforts. The Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce was currently spending a great deal of money to barely maintain the cargo route without being greatly affected, and the transportation cost had not increased much. Yi Nan was too complicated. Even the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce hadn't fully understood the entire Yi Nan. Many places in Yi Nan still seemed to be shrouded in heavy fog for them.

And in the end, the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce once again stated that they didn't want to hinder their colleagues in the business world from making money, but they still hoped that Jin Ze could go back and tell his master that in order for everyone to make money peacefully, it would be best to take the routes they could control. They only needed to pay a road maintenance fee that might not be a small amount, but was definitely very cost-effective. The Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce not only provided routes and guides, but also sent liaison officers to help them manage along the way, so that they would not have other troubles along the way, and would not be subjected to other forms of exploitation… If the road maintenance fee charged by the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce was less than the actual expenses of the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce, they would not ask Jin Ze's master for more money. They only asked that this route could be stabilized… You are good, I am good, everyone is good…

This time, Jin Ze didn't know what to say. What could he do when he encountered such a group of people who were so earnest… at least they sounded earnest? Jin Ze felt that his previous show of power had been a bit pointless, and that he had been too disrespectful to these hard-working merchants. Although the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce used violent means to attack competitors, or used certain Tusi to do such things, at least now, it could be seen that they were still relatively sincere. Moreover, although the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce had never shown mercy to competitors, as long as they reached any agreement or contract with them, they had never been heard to have regretted or broken their promises. Jin Ze felt that perhaps he should go back and ask about this matter. At least the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce now looked like a group of pure merchants.

Although there was a not-so-good start, both sides actually achieved their goals at this gathering. Jin Ze fully demonstrated to the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce: we are very awesome; and the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce also achieved the situation of conveying their ideas and forming good communication. The only difference was that Jin Ze, who attended the meeting, had no intention or qualification to make a decision on the spot.

But when Jin Ze went back and talked about it, it aroused Tan Wei Xin's great interest. In Tan Wei Xin's view, if the situation in Yi Nan was indeed more chaotic than before, and the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce hadn't exaggerated and could really maintain the transportation route and cost control, then the strength of the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce should be stronger than imagined. If there were not a few Tusi in Yi Nan who needed to rely on the Chamber of Commerce and could be completely controlled, it would be almost impossible to do this entirely by paying tolls or routine arrangements. In this way, the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce's acts of murdering competitors also became logical.

Tan Wei Xin didn't object to cooperating with the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce to some extent. Their current goal was to reach Ya Nan, not to kill their way to Ya Nan. If they could avoid trouble, both Ye Tao and Tan Wei Xin were willing to pay some tolls. Since the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce was so "deeply affectionate," it would be impolite to refuse. Ye Tao and Tan Wei Xin postponed their departure date by one day, and before noon the next day, they let Jin Ze send the "road maintenance fee" required by the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce in full. Jin Ze was not an easy person to deal with either. He vaguely threatened again that if the Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce didn't handle things properly after receiving the money, they would definitely take action later. The Bei Yi Chamber of Commerce, which had never figured out the route of Ye Tao and his party, never thought of acting rashly, but only confirmed the strength of Jin Ze once again.