A sense of collapse welled up inside Yun Zhe. This familiar feeling of déjà vu made him feel as if he had returned to the world before he transmigrated. In that world, it was certain unscrupulous public intellectuals and politicians in certain countries who colluded to deceive and fool the people, ultimately leading to the outbreak of world war.
I never expected that such a bizarre existence could exist in this world.
As if hearing Gao's heartfelt praise, Gao Chaizeng Wu Fangyuan was quite pleased with himself. Looking down at Gao with an air of superiority, he smiled and said, "Indeed, it is me. However, that is only a small part of my research. My truly profound and sublime research is only published in the Royal Academy's internal journal. Alas, it's not that I don't want to share my research results, but rather that those results are too profound for ordinary people to understand!"
Yun Zhe stroked his chin, suppressing the urge to pull him down and beat him up, then chuckled, "Your surname is quite strange. Are you from the Eastern Continent?" Yun Zhe hadn't expected this curious question to have such a wonderful effect. Gao Chaizeng Wu Fangyuan seemed to have been stepped on; his face flushed red, and he said resentfully, "What Eastern Continent? There's no Eastern Continent! It's just an uncivilized barbarian land. Although my skin is a bit yellow, I'm from the Western Continent, a thoroughly Western Continent person!"
Yun Zhe sneered inwardly. So, he really was someone who had fled from the Eastern Continent. However, unlike those who had escaped from disaster, this guy had once been powerful and influential in the Eastern Continent. He had only fled to the Western Continent because he had opposed the abolition of slavery and his petition had been rejected.
Gao Chai's brief mental activity told Yun Zhe all this, but it was enough for Yun Zhe to understand what kind of person this so-called great scholar was.
"Ah, ah, ah," Yun Zhe interrupted Gao Chaizeng's speech, asking curiously, "I just listened to your speech, you said that our obstruction of commerce is a regression of civilization. I'm very confused, we clearly allow commerce, so how did it become an obstruction of commerce?"
"Hmph, your permission is nothing more than bartering in a small-scale peasant economy; it's far from real business!" Gao Chai, seeing Yun Zhe's eager-to-learn demeanor, reverted to his initial arrogant attitude and replied smugly.
Emil and Omar exchanged glances, both seeing hope in each other's eyes. "This Yun Zhe is indeed someone we can talk to. As long as we reason with him and appeal to his emotions, we can definitely win him over!"
Yun Zhe glanced at the supporters surrounding the three and found that more than 60% of them were Emil and Omar's guards. Among the rest, only a handful of ordinary people had actually been fooled.
Yun Zhe realized that this was not a protest petitioning for the people, but a premeditated performance.
"Oh, I'm willing to listen to Lord Gao Chaizeng's insightful opinion," Yun Zhe said with a humble smile.
Emil was clearly the youngest and most impatient of the three. He pursed his lips and asked, "Does the master intend for our family to engage in business freely?"
Yun Zhe found it amusing and replied with a smile, "I wonder what business your family plans to go into, Emil? If it's selling weapons or mining iron ore, I think I probably wouldn't agree."
Emile grinned, his smile laced with disdain, thinking, "Selling weapons, mining iron ore, how much money do they make?" He was about to speak when Omar tugged at his sleeve. Seeing Omar's gesture, Emile reluctantly shut his mouth.
Gao Chaizeng put his hands behind his back smugly and said to Yun Zhe in a tone as if he were lecturing a child, "Sir, why are you so fixated on any particular industry? Shouldn't you be concerned about how much tax revenue and dividends you get? Shouldn't you be looking after these two families and using their power to make yourself stronger?"
Yun Zhe was surprised. "So straightforward?" Then he heard Gao Chaizeng's voice, which was feigned with respect, "We have heard a little about your achievements, sir. As for your thoughts, I am not very good at it, but I should be able to guess a thing or two. I suppose your expansion of the castle and your sheltering of refugees are not for charity. And your ambition is probably not just to be a mere baron."
Yun Zhe nodded repeatedly after hearing this, thinking to himself, "This is much more sophisticated."
Meanwhile, Gao, standing to the side, was already filled with excitement. He had long suspected that the lord was doing this to take advantage of the chaotic times to establish merit and achieve fame, and even be ennobled. Moreover, the lord had nodded in agreement, clearly indicating that Gao Chaizeng was a shrewd man who immediately understood the lord's intentions.
"However, if you want to achieve your goal, you need more than just people; you also need money. And right now, if I may be frank, with less than ten thousand households, it is clear that you don't have enough people. You are currently relying on supplies from the elves, so you must also be short of money and food. My lord, time waits for no one. If you want to achieve something, it will be difficult if things continue like this."
"Oh?" Yun Zhe asked curiously, "You've described exactly what's troubling me right now. So, in your opinion, what should I do to turn this situation around?"
Gao Chai, having overheard Yun Zhe's question, smiled smugly. The two young men beside him exchanged excited glances, practically ready to clap. Their eyes were filled with the words, "We won!"
“My lord, as I just said, what you should be concerned about is these two families in front of you,” Gao Chaizeng pointed at the two young men. “They, and the families behind them, are the key to your rise to power, and without exaggeration, they are the wings that will carry you to success!”
Gao Chai was quite satisfied with his persuasion, inwardly giving himself a perfect score. He looked smugly at the two young men, thinking, "You two actually questioned my reasons for coming and doubted my abilities. Now you see, this is my power. Violence is just the lowest level of tactic; this is the high-level method. With just a few words, I made this Aruru man applaud and nod in agreement. Hmph, two clueless brats."
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