Chapter 1493: Chapter 1493: Enemy Presses South Yangtze

Amidst the chaos, Long Fei and his group returned to Southern Capital City.

As predicted earlier, the Imperial Court invited the Mechanical Tribe from Aurelius for assistance.

The Yin Yang Sect’s ironclad warships, which originally had an absolute advantage on the Great River front, were soon chased away by the Mechanical Tribe’s giant mechs, with three ships shattered into pieces and sinking to the riverbed.

These mechs, towering over a hundred meters high, were like heavenly giants descending, invincible and unstoppable.

The people in Southern Capital City were in a panic, and the opposition forces in South Yangtze Prefecture were jubilant, already preparing to take over South Yangtze Prefecture.

Especially some people from the South Yangtze Chamber of Commerce, who had been oppressed by Commandery Princess Ji Wanrong these days.

They originally intended to hoard goods, short the market, and disrupt the South Yangtze Prefecture’s market.

Unexpectedly, their grain couldn’t land, yet the market still didn’t lack grain.

It seemed the Prefecture Princess Mansion had been prepared all along, with elite officially run shops officially launched, opening stores within the city to distribute grain.

This wasn’t the main issue; the key was that this grain was below market price.

The Wang Family united with other merchants to stop trading, striking and ceasing business for many days, yet South Yangtze Prefecture continued to operate normally.

Moreover, this government-operated grain store quickly became popular.

The grain market originally monopolized by the Wang Family accidentally nurtured a huge competitor.

The common folk loudly criticized the Wang Family as dishonest merchants; not only was the quality of their grain poor, but the price was also higher than others.

What the Chamber of Commerce didn’t do, the official families did.

Originally, the port laborers and porters were striking and stopped working, resulting in a recruitment of a group from outside the area for the port.

With no one to unload goods, the government organized workers to do it.

With no one selling cloth, the government opened cloth shops.

With no one selling fish, the government opened fish markets.

No carts moved, fish couldn’t land, grain couldn’t be taken from storage.

Under the organization and crackdown by the Prefecture Princess Mansion, South Yangtze Prefecture remained unscathed, as usual.

The Chamber of Commerce chairman Wang Shouxin was left with no choice but to open stores to distribute grain, ceasing the strike and business suspension.

Merchants are profit-oriented; seeing the situation turn unfavorable, they immediately abandoned their initial ambitions, with some even actively seeking out the Prefecture Princess Mansion to apologize and promise to reform completely, severing ties with the Wang Family.

The Wang Family’s attempt to reap profits backfired, encountering a major crisis.

Because the Prefecture Princess Mansion suppressed prices, their grain still couldn’t sell.

They had to engage in a price war with the Prefecture Princess Mansion.

The Prefecture Princess Mansion sold grain for five copper coins per jin, they sold for four.

The Prefecture Princess Mansion immediately lowered the price to three, and the Wang Family sold for two.

Now the Prefecture Princess Mansion dropped to the lowest, selling for one copper coin per jin, and stipulated that one person could not exceed ten jin per day.

Like this, they were not afraid of the Wang Family causing chaos by hoarding supplies.

The price war fought from when Long Fei left to now, the Wang Family’s years of savings were already exhausted.

Continuing at this rate, their family was bound to meet ruin.

At this critical moment, good news arrived from North Yangtze.

The Mechanical Tribe’s giant mechs made a move, capturing the Huai River and Great River lines, seemingly about to approach the Southern Capital City.

Wang Shouxin was excited, inwardly noting that this commercial battle was not in vain; finally, it was time to see clear skies and disperse the fog.

He reassembled the Chamber of Commerce members who had initially turned traitor, coldly threatening them to continue opposing the Prefecture Princess Mansion.

These Chamber of Commerce members were masters at shifting with the wind, now seeing the Imperial Army from North Yangtze gaining an advantage, immediately flattering Wang Shouxin.

They stubbornly upheld the strike until Long Fei returned.

The once bustling taverns now had signs up, taking a break.

The streets looked much quieter than before.

Long Fei and his group didn’t need to think to know what was happening; seeking benefit and avoiding harm is human nature, like stocks.

The hotter the stock, the more people buy.

The worse the stock, the more people sell.

Pursuing rise not fall, it has always been like this.

Whether common folk or merchants, seeing the Prefecture Princess Mansion at a disadvantage, naturally choose what benefits themselves.

When they returned to the Prefecture Princess Mansion, Ji Wanrong disregarded her commandery princess demeanor, asking others to leave, staying alone with Long Fei in the hall, and immediately embraced him.

Long Fei felt a bit awkward, wanting to keep some distance from her.

But Ji Wanrong held tighter, and with a weary face pleaded, “Don’t move, I’m just so tired, just let me hold you for a bit.”

Her hair carried the fragrance of plum blossoms, a flower she liked, cold as frost, charming in the cold.

Long Fei hadn’t hugged a woman in a long time, embracing her soft waist, with a little impulse inside.

He coughed, placing his hands onto her back, soothingly said, “Don’t worry, the road is still long, what’s a mere setback? Bro will help you teach them tomorrow and vent your anger.”

Ji Wanrong raised her brows, couldn’t help but let out a snicker.

Something that was very serious sounded different from Long Fei’s mouth.

She released him, her face returning to a serious look, her big watery eyes meeting Long Fei’s, “I’m afraid of nothing when you’re here.”

Long Fei thought it familiar, like Wang Xiaoya had said it before.

“Shall we discuss business?”

He couldn’t help but stretch his hand to touch Ji Wanrong’s head.

Ji Wanrong didn’t resist, allowing him to tease her, then opened the door to summon all the civil and military officials into the main hall to discuss.

Lin Shanshan and Ji Wanyu waited outside, seeing Ji Wanrong leave with a flushed face, they pulled Long Fei smilingly, “Brother-in-law, what did you do to my sister? Why is my sister’s face so red?”

“Brother-in-law, you wouldn’t have done anything to wrong my sister, would you?”

Lin Shanshan grabbed Long Fei’s other arm.

Long Fei felt dizzy, his left and right hands were held by sisters-in-law, couldn’t speak recklessly.

He lied randomly, “Your sister was furious with the Mechanical Tribe from Aurelius, didn’t you see her leave in a fury?”

“Really?”

The two girls had a doubtful look in their eyes.

Ji Wanyu said, “I didn’t see fury, only saw shyness.”

Lin Shanshan immediately reached out to extort, “I don’t care, give me something good to keep quiet, or I’ll send a message to sister immediately.”

“Me too!”

Ji Wanrong also extended her small hand.

“Little brats!”

Long Fei smiled and shook his head, took out the Star Moon Fruits he had prepared from the Storage Ring and gave it to them.

This thing, one side is a star, the other a moon, seeming as if stars and moon are sticking together.

It emitted white light, looking very nice.

The two girls widened their eyes in surprise, immediately seeing it was a good thing.

They originally wanted to ask for more, Long Fei quickly reminded, “Hurry up and eat, this thing doesn’t stay fresh for long, once picked from the tree, within three minutes the essential Qi starts to dissipate.”

“Ah?”

The two girls opened their mouths to bite, each releasing their hand, no longer paying attention to Long Fei.

Long Fei thus escaped, heading to the council hall.

A group of generals and officials were already seated in the hall, as Long Fei entered, they immediately greeted with cupped fists and shouted in unison, “Greetings, commander!”

Long Fei smiled and nodded, sitting in the main seat at the round table in the hall.

After the Prefecture Princess Mansion reformation, the original council hall had been altered.

Previously, everyone stood for meetings; now they could sit, and on the opposite wall hung a map, while a sand table was placed on the conference table, with various precise data annotations, allowing for an intuitive understanding of the current situation.