Qitian Village had a sizable trading house in Mengyang, occupying half a street. This was secured thanks to Xin Yuetu's connections. The Mengyang prefect had initially been reluctant to allow a bandit to open a trading house in the city, let alone one that took up half a street. However, Xin Yuetu successfully persuaded the prefect by promising a steel trade and offering a small bag of glass beads. As a result, the "Four Nations Chamber of Commerce" quickly became a prominent merchant in Mengyang City, and its president, Jiang Ping, became a close friend of the prefect, with whom he shared everything.

Jiang Ping couldn't understand how a place like Mengyang could become such a major Khmer city. The extreme humidity and heat were fine, considering it was summer year-round. After all, rice could be harvested four times a year, so to say it wasn't hot or humid wasn't a stretch either. But Mengyang was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. It was the first time Jiang Ping had ever seen a white mosquito net hung at night, only to turn black the next morning. A flick of the hand would unleash a swarm of mosquitoes. If you lit a dozen mosquito coils in the house, you could sweep out a basketful of mosquitoes the next day. When Jiang Ping first heard about a Khmer torture method involving hanging people in the woods to feed the mosquitoes, he'd thought it was no big deal. Now, it seemed just as bad as the punishment inflicted by the powerful.

However, what Jiang Ping found most unbearable was that the entire Mengyang City was located on a small plain in a mountain valley, and transportation was extremely inconvenient. It was understandable that it was easy to defend but difficult to attack in a war, after all, no large army could emerge from those damn forests, but when it came to traveling for business, it would be a big problem.

Although according to the agreement, Cambodia should be responsible for most of the road construction from Mengyang to Qitian Village, and the prefect immediately expressed his willingness to follow the orders of his superiors and start mobilizing slaves to build the road after receiving the news, but until half a month later, Jiang Ping only saw two slaves on the construction site. One was catching mosquitoes, and the other was trying to gather the killed mosquitoes to make a famous local delicacy - mosquito cakes.

Only after Jiang Ping agreed that all road-building tools would be provided by the Four Countries Trading Company and would not need to be returned did the prefect formulate a plan to use 1,000 slaves to build the road. However, he did ask Jiang Ping for 1,500 sets of tools, saying they needed replacements. Upon returning to the construction site, Jiang Ping saw three slaves: one catching mosquitoes, one making pancakes, and one baking them, covering the entire food processing process.

Jiang Ping did not contact Xin Yuetu. After all, he was in the capital of Cambodia, and going back and forth would waste a lot of time. Besides, he knew very well that the "friendship" between Xin Yuetu and Qitianzhai was not enough for him to take care of everything. Moreover, even Jiang Ping, the former peddler, understood that a royal family member who had lost his power could not control a powerful prefect.

A visiting card and a glass bracelet were once again handed into the prefect's villa.

The number of slaves on the construction site increased to four.

The prefect's steward warned Jiang Ping with a wry smile that the two gifts would have been enough for the prefect to send a thousand, or even two thousand slaves to build the road. But Jiang Ping, a lowly bandit, had dared to bother the prefect for personal matters. So the two gifts were to be considered an apology to the prefect. As for the four slaves, they were only given because of the covenant...

"Boss Jiang, how do you explain this?" The speaker was Wang Wu, the accountant of the Siguo Trading Company. Jiang Ping knew that this man was originally called Wang Wu, but the leader, well, they called him minister. However, Jiang Ping felt that ministers were not as prestigious as leaders. The leader, Wang Zuo, noticed that there were too many refugees named Zhang San, Li Si, and Wang Wu, so to make it easier to distinguish them, he changed Wang Wu's name to Wang Wu. It was said that Wu means black, and looking at Wang Wu's dark face, Jiang Ping thought it was quite appropriate.

"That damn prefect accepted our gift but didn't do anything for us." Jiang Ping sighed and said, "I heard from the housekeeper that he wants more things, but the stock is running low. This thing is said to be easy to get, but it's a hassle to transport it."

"That's not what I'm talking about, Chief Jiang. I'm the accountant. Whether it's Sihai Trading Company or the department's accounts, as long as they're with Meng Yang, I'm responsible for them. Giving gifts is not a big deal. It's said that brothers in various lines all use generous gifts to pave the way, and this is also allowed by Lord Lin. But those 1,500 sets of tools are all ironware, our goods. The original plan was to sell them for food, but now they're just being fed to the dogs. How are you going to explain this to the chief? I heard that the prefect is ordering the iron tools used for digging to be melted down and made into weapons to be used for the task. If things go wrong, he might be promoted and transferred after completing this task, and then we will really lose everything."

Jiang Ping could not see any change in expression on Wang Wu's dark face, but he knew that Wang Wu was telling the truth. Transportation was inconvenient now. Although Qinghe had cleared out most of the bandits in Xichuan and was building roads and dams, it was impossible to bring any changes to Jiang Ping who was far away in Cambodia. If he wanted to open up a smooth transportation line, he still had to rely on himself.

"Curry also has a set of crystal (this is Lin Hai's arrangement. Anyone who leaves Qinghe must call glass crystal and not let it slip) chess pieces. It took a lot of effort to make them. How about sending this to him?" Jiang Ping was hesitant to make up his mind.

Wang Wu put down the pen he was using to record accounts, walked to Jiang Ping, and looked at Jiang Ping, who was squatting on the threshold and smoking. He sneered and said, "Boss Jiang, I know you don't want to, and you don't dare to, give me that chess set. The chess pieces have other uses. Although I don't know where they will be used, I know that it is definitely not a gift that a prefect can afford to accept. Besides, you have read the notice above. The four countries are preparing for war. This prefect is doing such a thing as killing the chicken to get the eggs. It is obvious that he wants to get promoted and transferred away from the border city. He dares to accept anything you give him at this time, but he won't do anything. After all, Meng Yang should have sent the official documents that can immediately provide weapons to the Cambodian court."

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