"The right time, the right place, and the right people?" Wang Shimao was still puzzled and asked, "What do you mean?"

"The right time is the flood season. When the people of Kunshan were displaced and in great misery, our Jiangnan Company brought cement and helped Kunshan County build a long dike within a month, and we immediately gained a firm foothold in Kunshan."

Then Wang Mengxiang explained:

"Kunshan has a favorable geographical location. It is adjacent to one state and five counties, and is located in the center of Suzhou and even Susong. It is naturally endowed with great advantages for developing industry and commerce. However, due to its low-lying terrain and annual floods, everyone avoids it, and it has become the poorest place in Susong."

"But now that we have cement, everything is different. We can build a solid levee for the entire county in half a year, so that Kunshan will be free from floods and become a land of fish and rice again. What do you think will happen then?"

Wang Mengxiang excitedly grabbed Wang Shimao's arm and screamed, "It will rise rapidly!"

"Yeah." Wang Shimao nodded to show that he understood. He pulled out his arm unnoticeably and rubbed it.

"I understand. Renhe means that we have established a deep relationship with the people of Kunshan through the dike repair. This will ensure our unique position in Kunshan. Therefore, we cannot do anything that hurts the feelings of the people of Kunshan, so we must pay them."

"Well said!" Zhao Hao nodded in satisfaction. It was easy to talk to smart people. He stood up with confidence and looked at Kunnan who was still soaked in water.

"Countless fertile fields have seen the light of day again, and the well-developed transportation can finally be put to use. We can use this place as a raw material base, a manufacturing base, and a talent reserve base. We can thoroughly develop and grow here, and form a loyal Kunshan army to fight for us and conquer the entire Jiangnan and even the Ming Dynasty!"

After saying this, he glanced at the stunned Er Wang and added with a smile: "I mean in business."

"Hey, I thought it was a Kunqu opera troupe..." The Second King, who was relieved by the false alarm, laughed awkwardly.

The three of them looked at each other and laughed out loud, and they all understood what the other meant.

"The acquisition of Wuji is also an important step in this grand strategy." Zhao Hao said in a deep voice: "Kunshan's development cannot be separated from the support of finance and logistics... Oh, you can think of finance as a bank and logistics as transportation."

"Is that so?" The two kings nodded, not quite understanding. They understood the role of transportation in the economy, but what did this money house have to do with economic development?

However, the two did not dare to ask again. They had received a lot of new things today and their heads were already buzzing. Anyway, if the young master said it worked, then it must have worked.

"Believe me, in a few years, Kunshan will quickly catch up with all the prefectures and counties outside the capital." Zhao Hao said, looking at the two of them nonchalantly and said, "If sea trade can be reopened, it is not impossible for Kunshan to surpass Suzhou."

When the second prince heard Zhao Hao mention the word "maritime trade" again, his heart skipped a beat. Now he was certain that Master Zhao was here for things related to the sea.

"Come on, stop hiding it." The two exchanged glances, and Wang Shimao coughed awkwardly and said:

"Last time in Yanshan Garden, the young master mentioned the Xiang family incident. I was scared at the time and didn't dare to say some things."

He glanced at Wang Mengxiang and said, "After the young master left, I felt deeply sorry, and my uncle advised me to explain it to the young master."

"Brother Linzhou, you are too kind. That was the first time we met. How could we talk about deep things?" Zhao Hao said in a fake tone, "You dare to say it, but I dare not listen."

"Hahaha." The three of them laughed loudly, and all the grudges were gone. Wang Shimao asked with a smile, "Does the young master dare to listen now?"

"Now you and I are half brothers. Can Brother Linzhou still harm me?" Zhao Hao said with a smile.

"Of course not." Wang Shimao let out a long breath and said in a deep voice: "Today I will tell you the truth. The Xiang family got their start by supplying goods to sea merchants. The fire in the first month of this year was because they broke the rules and attracted attacks from other families."

"The Xiang family lost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in a fire, so of course they wanted revenge." Wang Shimao continued, "The subsequent riots in Huzhou City, and even the chaos in Suzhou, Songjiang and Hangzhou, all started from this."

"Oh." Zhao Hao nodded and asked, "Which companies also supply goods to the sea merchants?"

"Yes, there are nine families in total, but they are not fixed. Currently they are the Xu family of Huating, the Qian family of Hangzhou, the Xu family of Jinling, the Gu family of Wuxian, the Lu family of Changzhou, and the Xiang family of Jiaxing..."

After a pause, Wang Shimao said with some difficulty: "There is also the Wuxi Hua family, and our Taicang Wang family. Of course, we don't get involved in the affairs at sea, we just sell the goods to fixed merchants. As for where the merchants buy the goods, it is not our concern."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded calmly, thinking that it was a very primitive way of whitewashing, and it would only work if it was combined with power.

Of course, it is also possible that people were too lazy to spend more time thinking about it in the past and were just pulling out a fig leaf... Hey, fig leaf, what a familiar name, I seem to have heard it somewhere.

He then asked, "These are only eight families, where is the other one?"

"The other family is the Pinghu Lu family, which is the family of the former Jinyiwei governor Lu Bing and his son Lu Yi." Wang Mengxiang took over the conversation and said, "Last year, the new emperor ascended the throne and liquidated the Lu family. This was also the beginning of all the chaos..."

Then the two of them told Zhao Hao about the past and present lives of the nine families.

Zhao Hao had already heard most of the contents from his grandfather, Hua Shuyang and Hua Bozhen. But the same contents spoken by different people not only had a different flavor, but also gave him many different insights.

Zhao Hao listened to them patiently until the end and finally heard something new.

"Last month, after we attended the groundbreaking ceremony, we did not return to Taicang, but went to Huating to attend a meeting convened by Mr. Xu San." Wang Mengxiang sighed, "But that meeting was not very successful..."

"Why?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile.

"Xu Ying has brought in the Jinling Xu family and wants to become the new King of Jinghai." Wang Shimao replied:

"That's not so bad. After all, once the Lu family goes bankrupt, the Xu family will have the qualifications. But they want to take all of the Lu family's 20% share. This is unbearable."

"Originally, the Pinghu Lu family took 20%, the Xu family took 15%, and each of us took 10%. The remaining 50% was given to the Jinling Xu family... Because Nanjing is too far away from the Yangtze River Delta, they should have nothing to do with it. But the Duke of Wei's status is there, and the Huating Xu family brought them in. It's hard for everyone to object, so we can only give them half of the share as a token of our appreciation."

"According to Xu Ying and Xu Bangning, the Xu family of Huating will monopolize 25% of the share, and the Xu family of Jinling will also increase it to 15%. This is simply ridiculous." Wang Mengxiang spat fiercely, "If his father was still in power, or if Duke Wei had not yet revealed his true colors, it would be fine. Now these two plates of rotten carrots are nothing but old ginseng!"

"Xiang Yuanbian left on the spot, and the other families also slammed the table." Wang Shimao smiled bitterly and said, "In the end, they parted on bad terms, and nothing was done."

ps. Second update, I will write another one.