Differentiation
Before Feng Ji left Yang Fujin's secret residence, Yang Fujin called him back again.
The man who had been bowing his head raised his eyelids, even more cautious than before. He heard Yang Fujin ask, "How is Lu Chang performing in Lingnan?"
Feng Ji feigned doubt: "Lord Lu..." After a while, he said, "He is someone who doesn't get involved in anything. It seems that he has no say in the affairs of Chaozhou. Lord Yuan holds most of the power."
Yang Fujin nodded and waved for Feng Ji to leave.
The account book matter angered Yang Fujin, and to avoid further trouble, Feng Sinian was beheaded before autumn. The new Director of the Maritime Trade Office was Feng Ji, a collateral relative of the Feng family.
Everything went as Yuan Cheng had predicted, and he finally felt relieved.
After Feng Ji took office as the Director of Maritime Trade, his first task was to regulate the navigation of merchant ships. Previously, because the Feng family was dominant, many merchant ships were extorted and were unwilling to dock in Feng's harbor. This move can be seen as sweeping away the filth of the past.
The second thing was that the ships of the Feng family's collateral branches separated from the main branch and formed their own fleet.
This is the best solution after discussing it with Lu Chang: to gradually divide the Feng family.
Feng Ji knew that the direct line of the Feng family would not agree to them forming their own fleet. Those engaged in maritime trade were all family alliances, with their travel routes kept secret and assisted by experienced master craftsmen. If they were to break away from the family, it would also be detrimental to the collateral line fleets.
How can we break this deadlock?
It was Cui Dongchi who came to the rescue. His fleet was largely resisted by the Feng family. If he could defeat the Feng family, how much of their market share could he take away?
As a businessman, he knew that his methods for profit wouldn't be exactly ethical.
With Lu Chang's help, he learned the route the Feng family's fleet was taking back. He then had his men disguised as pirates and attack the Feng family's fleet at sea.
Having operated at sea for decades, the Feng family had long since established a cooperative relationship with pirates. They would never rob merchant ships that flew the "Feng" flag, because the Feng family would regularly give them money.
However, if they did not fly the Feng family's flag, they would act without restraint and plunder without any regard for consequences. The Feng family also used this method to control other merchant ships.
As the fleet approached the waters controlled by the Feng family, they relaxed their vigilance. However, they did not expect that countless people would emerge from the seabed, climb onto the fleet, and commit arson, murder, and looting. Within half a day, seven or eight large ships were completely robbed, and two ships even sank to the bottom of the sea, never to see the light of day again.
How could the Feng family tolerate such a thing happening on their own turf? But there was no time to cause trouble for the pirates; everyone had to start thinking about what to do with the cargo that had been lost from the ship.
This fleet is returning from overseas. Setting sail and returning safely is not an easy task. If the weather is bad, strong winds and waves can capsize ships or cause the fleet to get lost. There are also pirates overseas, so vigilance and defense must be maintained at all times. Therefore, although merchant ships at sea can make a lot of money, the risks are also extremely high.
In addition to rare treasures such as ivory and rhinoceros horn, the returning fleet also carried a special incense called frankincense.
Incense burning is very popular in Pingdu. People burn incense for bathing, fumigating clothes, and worshipping Buddha. Even ordinary people have this hobby. Frankincense is the most popular incense among the nobility.
This fragrance is not produced in the Central Plains; it is only found in foreign lands across the ocean. Because it is so precious, the Feng family does not allow it to circulate in the market and gives it away specifically to nobles in Pingdu.
And those ivory pieces were all pre-ordered by nobles. Now that everything has been looted, how are they going to explain this? Just the financial losses alone will amount to a huge sum of money. More importantly, the Feng family will lose credibility because of this.
When Madam Feng gathered the Feng family members together, she looked around at the younger generation who were bowing their heads in silence, and realized that the Feng family was no longer the powerful Feng family that once dominated Lingnan.
The younger generation had different thoughts, especially the collateral descendants. Watching from the sidelines was more in line with their current mindset, because the fleet belonged to the direct line. If something happened and there were losses, it would be the direct line who would suffer. They wished that the direct line would fall like a giant whale in the sea, so that they could then share the spoils.
Finally, Feng Ji offered a solution: to invite outsiders to invest. There were also merchants in Lingnan who did maritime trade; if the Feng family couldn't raise the money or the goods, they would have no choice but to ask outsiders for help.
This time, the Feng family unanimously disagreed, but when the old lady asked who would solve this problem, everyone shut up.
Finally, Madam Feng made the decision and did as Feng Ji said.
With Feng Ji's help, Pei Gong and Cui Dongchi jointly invested in resolving this major problem. Cui Dongchi and Pei Gong also became a major force in sowing discord within the Feng family.
Everything was moving in a positive direction, and after several months, Lu Chang finally had time to go home and have dinner.
On the terrace, willows sway gently, a few branches playfully resting on the railing, moving gracefully.
Jingwan sat on Lu Chang's lap, her hands on his shoulders, panting heavily. She closed her eyes, completely absorbed in this intimate moment, as if the world consisted only of the two of them.
The small building was so quiet that they could hear each other's heartbeats. Even Ali didn't dare to meow. Especially Lu Chang, who only glanced at his busy master a few times before jumping up to play in the willow tree.
Afterwards, Jingwan leaned against Lu Chang's chest. Her hair was a little messy, especially on both sides, with fine beads of sweat soaking through the strands that clung tightly to her skin.
No one spoke.
Her hand rested on his white neck, feeling the delicate whiteness beneath her fingers. Jingwan clutched Lu Chang's clothes with one hand, extremely intimate and dependent, even more clingy than Ali.
A long, long time passed, so long that Jingwan was almost asleep when she heard Lu Chang's gentle voice: "Let's get married. Let's find an auspicious day and get it done, okay?"
Jingwan thought she was still half asleep. When she opened her eyes, she was still somewhat incredulous.
Lu Chang saw that there was still some confusion in her eyes, and knew that she hadn't listened. He tucked the hair behind her ear and repeated it again.
Jingwan sat up without saying anything; in fact, she didn't know what to say.
Why did you suddenly bring up marriage?
This suggestion caught her completely off guard, and she didn't know how to respond!
Although Lu Chang remained as calm as ever, only he knew that the hand behind his back was clenched into a fist.
He was born with little sense of tension; even when he did something wrong as a child and was chased and beaten by his parents, he never felt this way today, fearing that she would reject him.
The idea of getting married wasn't something I thought about on a whim; it was something I had seriously considered many times before.
When she went with him to build stone steps at Daguanling, she stayed by his side every day. Some kind-hearted women and children recognized her as their wife and called her Madam Lu.
Her heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, but then she saw the woman standing beside her waving her hands repeatedly, explaining anxiously, "Auntie, you've got the wrong name! I'm just Lord Lu's cousin!"
The woman left somewhat awkwardly, but there was still a hint of doubt in her eyes before she left: what kind of cousin and brother are so intimate?
He was actually a little disappointed, but after thinking about it, he realized that he had made a mistake. Why couldn't he marry her? How could he convince everyone and put his mind at ease with her being by his side as a "cousin"?
"How about we pick a good day and get married?" he asked again.
Looking at Lu Chang's expectant eyes, Jingwan was so nervous that she didn't know what to say.
She and Lu Chang liked each other. Actually, it didn't make much difference whether they got married sooner or later, since they were going to reach this point anyway. But she always felt that she was still young. Actually, she wasn't young anymore and had reached the age to get married, but... but why was it so hard for her to agree to her cousin's request?
She opened her mouth several times, but couldn't bring herself to give the answer Lu Chang wanted.
Lu Chang slowly released her hand. Although disappointed, he couldn't bear to make things difficult for her any longer. He pulled her into his arms and, as usual, gently patted her back: "Then let's wait a little longer, cousin. Tell me when you're ready."
Jingwan nestled in his arms and mumbled, "I'm sorry, cousin."
Lu Chang kissed her fair ear, and then heard her say, "Cousin, I like you."
She heard Lu Chang say in his usual gentle voice, "Me too."
But Lu Chang had a different answer in mind, but he was afraid of scaring her, so he didn't dare to say it.
The fact that Cui Dongchi had someone impersonate pirates and plunder the Feng family's merchant ships gave Lu Chang a jolt, and another idea gradually became clear to him.
Knowing that time was of the essence, he immediately set about the matter, leading the craftsmen to renovate Shiyu Water City. Behind the high-hanging sluice gate, a naval camp gradually took shape and was put into use. Here, he trained a naval force of several hundred men.
Following Feng Ji's advice, Lu Chang led everyone to explore the sea and built water fortresses on several nearby islands. Most of the people in these fortresses were his private soldiers whom he had raised in the lychee orchard.
When Feng Ji came to Chaozhou for inspection again, Lu Chang asked him, "The Feng family is gradually weakening. Aren't you afraid that the Feng family will eventually be destroyed by me?"
Feng Ji asked him with a smile, "Do you think every member of the Feng family is greedy for money?" He looked at the vast sea and said again, "My closest relatives died at the hands of my clansmen. The great wealth brought me only profound disaster. I just want to end these disasters as soon as possible."
Lu Chang did not ask any further questions. Even Feng Ji was just a partner with shared interests in his mind.
Pei Gong was an extremely shrewd man. He established a large workshop for repairing and building ships in Shiyu Town. He also cooperated with the government and hired many people to transport timber for shipbuilding from the mountains. The houses he bought in Shiyu Town were not left idle. They were all used for commercial purposes, either as inns for merchants to rest, restaurants, or gambling dens. Shiyu Town was even more prosperous than before.
Amidst this thriving scene, the townspeople pooled their money to commission craftsmen to carve an enormous carp from stone, which stood atop the water town. Merchants and fishermen who came to Shiyu Town could see the carp at a glance.
On the day the red cloth was unveiled for the giant carp, even Jingwan went to join in the fun. Looking at the lifelike carp, she remembered what Yuan Cheng had said when she first met him in this small town. She still remembered Yuan Cheng's words—"I will not fail you." But now that she thought about it, the man standing beside her had done just as much.
Recalling his dark face that day, Jingwan realized that her cousin was truly angry.
"Why are you looking at me?" Lu Chang looked down at her.
Jingwan stuck out her tongue, too embarrassed to look at him, but her hand, which was clasped tightly with her cousin's, tightened even more.
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