Upon hearing such blasphemous remarks, Zhou Jingyuan turned pale with fright and quickly tried to stop them.
"Everyone, watch your words! Insulting the princess is punishable by death!"
"Lord Zhou, even if I'm beheaded, I will never hand over the land!"
"That's right! This princess is worse than a bandit! She's actually trying to take our land. She's trying to kill us!"
The crowd launched into a tirade against Chen Qingqing, leaving her thoroughly humiliated.
Zhou Jingyuan was speechless; he had expected this outcome.
Unable to disobey Chen Qingqing, they had no choice but to invite the wealthy men over.
Now look what's happened! Not only did we fail to get things done, but we're also being verbally abused by these people.
He glanced behind the screen, shook his head; he was powerless to change the current situation.
Chen Qingqing remained calm. If it were that easy, how could landlords have been paraded through the streets wearing dunce caps in those days?
She took a deep breath and slowly stepped out from behind the screen.
Kexin followed closely behind; in her heart, Chen Qingqing was the best person in the world.
Hearing these wealthy men insult the princess, Kexin was already furious. Before Chen Qingqing could speak, she shouted angrily.
"Shut up, all of you! If you dare to curse the princess again, you'll all be arrested and each of you will receive twenty lashes!"
When Fan Tong saw Chen Qingqing emerge from behind the screen, he secretly rejoiced that he hadn't spoken up for her earlier.
He immediately stood up and knelt down on the ground with a fawning expression, "Greetings, Your Highness."
Upon seeing this, the others panicked instantly; the princess had actually been hiding behind the screen, eavesdropping on their conversation.
Oh no! They were cursing so fiercely and enjoying it so much just now, and now they're getting their comeuppance. They might all be accused of disrespecting imperial authority.
It's a trap, absolutely a trap.
Their goal is to take their land; this is an extremely malicious tactic. What can we do now?
Everyone looked at each other, completely dumbfounded.
Zhou Jingyuan coughed lightly to ease the awkward situation, "Esteemed sirs, Princess Anyang is the adopted daughter of the Emperor Emeritus and the mistress of our Anyang County. Every blade of grass and every tree in Anyang is under the control of Princess Anyang. Everyone, come and pay your respects to Her Highness the Princess."
After regaining their senses, everyone hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down respectfully to pay their respects, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness."
"Alright, get up, everyone!"
"Thank you, Your Highness." Everyone looked up and secretly glanced at Chen Qingqing. Seeing that she looked calm and not angry, they stood up tremblingly.
Chen Qingqing's gaze swept over everyone, and she said in a calm and unhurried tone, "You all seem very dissatisfied with my idea of unified land management. Tell me, why?"
Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to speak. After a long while, one of them cautiously spoke.
"Your Highness, land is our main source of livelihood. If you distribute all the land to the people, wouldn't that be tantamount to taking our lives?"
Upon hearing this, everyone echoed his sentiments.
"That's right, I can agree to anything else, but I will never give up this land to anyone else."
"Yes, I would even agree to donate some money, but I definitely won't agree to this."
“I disagree. Even if we were to lower the rent by 10%, I would not hand over the land.”
Fan Hun was getting restless again and was about to stand up to express his opinion when Fan Tongyi, who was already on guard, pressed him down.
"You silly son, behave yourself and stop spouting nonsense. If you really give up the land, you'll starve!"
Fan Hun had no choice but to sit properly.
Chen Qingqing frowned, a look of displeasure on her face.
“I understand how you feel right now. The land is indeed very important to you, but have you ever thought about how your lives can be peaceful when the people of Anyang are not getting enough to eat or wear?”
Only by ensuring the prosperity of the people can the Great Ning Dynasty enjoy lasting peace and stability, and only then can your family business be passed down forever.
"As long as you are willing to hand over the land, I will not let you suffer any losses. I will give you certain compensation, and as Anyang develops in the future, you will also have more opportunities to make money."
"Compensation? What can that little bit of money do?" one of them muttered under his breath, dissatisfied. "Our main source of income is collecting land rent. If we lose our land, what difference is there between us and those poor bastards?"
"Exactly. Without land, what foundation do we have left in the local area? Those poor people are born with the mindset of being poor. Even if we give them land, will they become rich?"
"That's true. As the saying goes, you won't get poor from eating or drinking, but you will get poor if you don't plan ahead. Those peasants don't have the mindset to enjoy life. They just fill their stomachs and know how to eat, sleep, and have children. They don't understand long-term planning at all. They'll end up selling their land for money and still be poor. Doing so is just like taking off your pants to fart, wasting your time."
"Yes, that's what happened."
“You don’t need to worry about this. I have my own way of dealing with it.” Chen Qingqing’s expression turned serious. “As long as you sign the land purchase agreement, you can join Ruyi Restaurant for free. At the same time, you can develop side businesses locally. Whether it’s handicrafts or poultry and livestock breeding, our company will purchase them all. This is a long-term income, which is many times better than collecting rent.”
Chen Qingqing had already planned it out. In order to reclaim the land from the dozen or so townships in Anyang County, she had to give them enough benefits. Ruyilou's business was making a fortune every day, and many people were eyeing it.
If we offer them this benefit, I'm sure some of them will be tempted.
As expected, these words caused an uproar among the crowd.
"I heard that a few days ago, many out-of-town merchants came to join Ruyilou as franchisees. The franchise fee alone was one thousand taels of silver. Now they want us to form an alliance for free. This is a good deal."
What is franchising?
"You don't even understand this? To put it simply, it means you should also open a restaurant and name it Ruyi Lou."
"What kind of good deal is this? I'm spending my own money to open a restaurant and then giving her a thousand taels of silver? That's just crazy!"
"You're wrong about that. The reason their business is so booming is because of their spicy and flavorful hot pot. If they don't provide you with their secret broth, how would you know how to make it?"
"You mean they're giving us their secret recipe? If that's the case, we'll really save a lot of money."
"Yes, right now the best-performing restaurant in all of Anyang is Ruyi Lou. They make a fortune every day. If we opened one there, we'd be rich!"
"Yes, yes, I happen to have several hundred furs in my shop that I can't find a market for. If I can get in touch with the princess, how can I not make a lot of money?"
“You’re right. This princess is extraordinary. She has trading companies all over the world, and her business is very extensive. I heard that her tea, ceramics, and silk are exported to foreign lands, and she brings back rare and precious treasures in return. If we can really get in touch with this goddess of wealth, then we will never have to worry about not having business to do.”
"Yeah, why don't we just sell the land?"
...
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