"Follow my orders?"

"Yes, I will obey your orders."

Qin Che said, "I can take it on, but I need to get information from three aspects first, and I need to be specific about them."

Zhao Lisu said, "Ask away."

"First, whose tools is the Scorpion Gang?"

Without hesitation, Zhao Lisu said, "Deng Xian of the Forest Group is someone he trained."

Qin Che narrowed his eyes. "Those bandits have new weapons. One Deng Xian probably won't be enough."

Zhao Lisu: "That's because Deng Xian's backer is the royal family, Prince Shu."

Qin Che suddenly realized that the intelligence matched up, and said, "Minister Li told me that the new weapons, including the .75 incendiary gun and the chainsaw, are produced in a secret factory under Prince Shu's command."

"It's just a suspicion. Deng Xian and the royal family have only recently started cooperating, and we haven't obtained any evidence yet, so it's hard to say for sure." Zhao Lisu shook his head.

"Since it's weapons production, why not entrust it to Lingbi Heavy Industry?" Qin Che asked again. "They are more suitable than Forest Group in terms of talent expertise and design resources."

Zhao Lisu sighed: "That's because Chu Qin and Lu Qingzhou are both thoroughly Dong Party members. Chu Qin is backed by Liu Baicang, who holds the fifth seat. However, recently, Su Pei, who holds the fourth seat, and his Su Party have been trying their best to win over Chu Qin, hoping to plunder the industrial resources held by the Dong Party."

"As for Lu Qingzhou, he was originally a man of Liu Baicang and Zhang Kejian, who held the fifth and sixth seats. They promoted him back then. In order to completely bind Lu Qingzhou, Zhang Kejian even married two of his daughters to him. As for Liu Baicang, he is also related to Zhang Kejian by blood."

Qin Che sneered, "Zhang Kejian... would a dignified Elder No. 6 really stoop so low as to try and win over a tycoon?"

Zhao Lisu smiled and said, "It's not about being humble. No matter how high the Seventh Elder's position is, it's based on strength. Whoever has more bargaining chips has a higher position. Moreover, if he forms a kinship with Lu Qingzhou, he can profit a hundredfold from various engineering groups and military industries, consolidating his strength and prestige among the Seventh Elder."

Qin Che nodded, just like Fu Xian and Han Xueshi. These two not only addressed each other as brothers, but were also relatives and had a marriage alliance.

In politics, to form a faction, one must rely on "direct relatives by marriage," which are even stronger than so-called "fellow villagers and fellow villagers," in order to firmly establish the relationship and prevent it from being used by outsiders.

Not to mention the past few hundred years, even in the thousands of years before Qin Che's transmigration, nothing has changed.

This is a kind of inertia in the way human society interacts.

—A marriage between close relatives.

The political leanings of Lingbi Heavy Industry were more aligned with the Eastern Party, so Prince Shu, for the sake of stability, did not offer them the business of new weapons for cooperation. Instead, he approached the Forest Group, which was in charge of grain, and even specifically chose a "fool" to better control the company.

Compared to the meticulous and cunning Duan Wujiu, Deng Xian is indeed the most suitable.

Qin Che continued, "My second question is, when can my project proposal be implemented? I need definite information."

Zhao Lisu pondered for a moment, then asked, "Your second batch of goods has arrived, right? How much is it?"

Qin Che said, "The third batch of goods has already been dispatched. If we include everything, there are a total of 700 tons of starch and 3,000 guns."

“Too little…” Zhao Lisu sighed and shook his head: “Keep shipping the goods over, don’t stop. With your current inventory, don’t even think about competing with the Forest Group. They are too big.”

Qin Che thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay, this matter can wait. I believe you understand how much of a blow this company will deal to the Forest Group if it is successfully established. It may even replace it. But the premise is that you have to settle the payment with me first so that I can continue production without pressure."

Zhao Lisu smiled and said, "No problem. We've discussed your matter. It is indeed an ace in the hole. However, you can't be too hasty in making decisions. If you go all in before you've accumulated enough chips, you'll easily be played to death. If you want to swallow the Forest Group in one fell swoop, you must strike decisively and not give them any breathing room. Trust me, Old Master Fu has already started to make arrangements for you in advance. Recently, our Fu Party members have begun to forcefully intervene in the personnel power of the Forest Group. I believe that you will receive a clear answer soon."

Personnel matters are very important.

Hearing this, Qin Che finally felt relieved.

He could see the sincerity of the Fu faction.

He gave him money and power, and even transferred Li Xin's subordinates to serve him.

Of course, this cannot rule out the possibility that Fu Xian wanted to use him as a pawn.

But as long as the company can be established and the main body of the Xibao regime is implemented, Qin Che's promise to help Fu Xian will not be an empty promise.

Cooperation,

As long as there is enough sincerity and both parties do their jobs well, it's that simple.

"The third question..."

"You have to tell me, is everything Old Man Fu has done really for the purpose of reviving the kingdom regime of two hundred years ago?"

Zhao Lisu was taken aback and pondered for a long time before answering the question.

Yes and no.

"How so?"

"Old Fu's wish has never changed. Lingbi City needs a radical transformation from top to bottom, and the people also need a strong and powerful government so that we can gradually eliminate the separatist forces in this desert and unite the scattered sands. At that time, the entire desert will undergo earth-shattering changes."

"Does it matter whether it's a dictatorial reform or the restoration of the throne?"

Qin Che smiled and said, "Don't misunderstand, this is not important to me, but I need to know this so that I can do some things for you."

"What is it?" Zhao Lisu frowned.

“The Scorpion Gang killed so many of my people and burned my goods. Not only them, but also Deng Xian of the Forest Group, as well as Prince Shu and the Fourth Prince, will be my targets. I have to settle accounts with them, otherwise, people will look down on the Fu Party, and even more so on Chaofan.”

Zhao Lisu frowned and said, "Don't be impulsive and ruin Elder Fu's plan."

"His plan is too lukewarm."

Qin Che slowly stood up and said, "In the future, we will have a large company, and our business will cover the entire desert. How can you tolerate letting our enemies steal our business?"

In fact, Qin Che had already roughly guessed Fu Xian's plan.

It's nothing more than a two-pronged approach: staging a military coup at Wall 10 and a centralized power movement at Wall 1. After consolidating resources, they will vigorously promote the reform plan. The specific intermediaries are either the royal court or the prince's forces.

Now that the goal is so clear, there's no need to be so timid and afraid of trouble.

Sometimes it's necessary to be rational, because things will work out better if you wait, and acting impulsively will only ruin the situation and result in more harm than good.

But sometimes, you have to be a bit reckless to break the deadlock and seize the opportunity.

We braved thorns and brambles just to take that one big step.

Just do it!