"The Sixth Cement Factory"

"Location: No. 91, Outer District D"

"Affiliation: Qin Family Business Association"

"Number of Workers: Eighty-six"

"Recommended Candidate for Management: Factory Captain Lu Qi"

"Current Responsible Person: Qin Shou"

Leyu glanced over, picked up the rectangular stamp, dabbed it in red clay, and firmly stamped two lines on the report—

"Reviewed by the President, approved for execution"

Then the next report was about the Ting Family's Celestial Court Restaurant. Leyu quickly skimmed through and stamped it with the same seal.

There were one hundred fifty-six such reports, all submitted by Yin Minghong alone—of course, that's what he said, and Leyu believed him, though everyone knew it was the intelligence diligently gathered by White Night over the past week.

Leyu allowed the Silver Blood Association a week to pool money to fill the military funds as a comprehensive judgment based on various considerations; it was not only to fish out and execute a group of greedy goblins but also to buy time for a thorough investigation to completely replace the Silver Blood Association.

Matters like taking over the Silver Blood Association's means of production could hardly be smoothly handled if the Linhai Army simply marched in, punched merchants, kicked nobility, and picked a random spectator to be the factory director.

Although it might not be impossible, it would certainly be inefficient and prone to numerous risks.

Leyu knew that smart people like the Sea Gazing Duke were certainly not few, but at most, they believed that the Jing Family merely wanted to unify Silver Blood to dominate Dongyang, or perhaps even ally with Blue Flame to extend their reach, so they didn't resist too much—after all, if Leyu wanted to rule, he'd have little choice but to rely on these nobles, ministers, and merchants.

Now it's clear to everyone that the next twenty years represent a change not seen in two thousand years of Radiance, and hardly anyone is willing to cling to the decaying tree that is the Radiance Imperial Court.

Who knows, perhaps Jing Zhengwei could enter Yanjing and establish the Thorn Dynasty?

Even if Jing Zhengwei is defeated in the future, these nobles and merchants can still pledge allegiance to the next master.

Because they are the backbone of rule, the foundation of the court's prestige, those who reach for the throne may lose, but they are forever winners.

If Jing Zhengwei truly has the talents of a brilliant leader, what harm is there in following his orders?

Of course, since Jing Zhengwei currently has the upper hand, they listen if they want to, but listen they must, as Jing Zhengwei dared to lead troops to besiege the Sea Gazing Duke's mansion; even the Silver Blood nobility, fearing death, can only optimistically hope that Jing Zhengwei truly is a wise ruler.

But all of this is contingent upon Jing Zhengwei truly intending to continue ruling Dongyang through them.

And the upcoming 'military administration' of Dongyang might make these smart people realize.

Jing Zhengwei.

Has no intention of relying on them to rule Dongyang.

Their false illusions are about to be shattered by the iron fist formed by the red tide.

To prevent their retaliation and preserve the Silver Blood Association's 'legacy' as intact as possible, Leyu can only prepare for safety beforehand; if halfway through, they find themselves counterattacked, it would indeed be awkward.

In fact, with the collapse of the Heyang Army and the Linhai Army watching from the outside, the Silver Blood Association long became a crab without pincers, lacking any capability for resistance. Leyu has even squeezed their last assets dry these days, equivalent to removing all their claws, leaving them to be steamed and stir-fried.

But Leyu remains cautious, as workers themselves are a force capitalists can command, and given the severe materialistic trend in Xuanzhu County, if the workers were to be incited, would Leyu strike or not?

To prevent this from happening, Leyu must quickly and decisively sever the link between Silver Blood merchants and workers, planning to replace all factory managers with worker representatives approved by White Night within two days. They are not required to do much, just continue production and stop listening to capitalists.

This is Leyu's real killer move.

Evaporating all their assets before the Silver Blood Association can react.

What are assets? Money? Land deeds? Jewelry? Goods? Connections?

No, they're equivalents.

They are values recognized collectively by people.

When Leyu, under the name of the president of the Silver Blood Association, initiates the establishment of transaction channels for factories and shops in Xuanzhu County, they will find out that even without business associations, factory managers, or store managers, they can still produce and trade normally.

Those high and mighty aren't anything remarkable.

Because we are the ones handling the means of production.

This requires only a short time, perhaps a month... no, maybe even just a week for them to realize that although capitalists say there's no workforce without them, the reality is they can live quite well without them.

At this point, Silver Blood merchants would completely lose their threat, and what awaits them is the 'public trial meeting' Leyu racked his brains to remember.

One bit Leyu is not worried about his own safety at all.

First of all, he has made it clear to White Night through 'Yin Yin Yin' that Jing Zhengwei has become one of them, willing to work together for a harmonious society. More crucially, he is unquestionably the leading character in this movement.

The one acting on behalf of the Linhai Army to 'militarily administer' Xuanzhu County is him;

When all factory representatives are anxious, he acknowledges their status as the Silver Blood Association president and organizes them to resume production and trade;

When the Silver Blood Association attempts to resist the tide of history, he will be the first to collect heads;

When everyone struggles to comprehend and attempts to restore the old system, he will step out to publicly reform the means of production and form a people's army.

Even if White Night wanted to usurp the nest, Leyu remained unfazed.

By that time, fame, public support, and even the army might stand by him. Picking the fruit wouldn't be that easy. Conversely, Leyu could easily pick White Night's fruit—whether he liked it or not, as the de facto master of Xuanzhu County now, all merits and demerits would automatically be attributed to him.

However, Leyu felt he was mostly willing to be just a transporter of knowledge.

Once he applied all his understanding of a people's nation to the land of Dongyang and created the prototype of an advanced civilized country, he would probably be tired of it.

Although it's said that one's position determines one's mindset, and becoming a leader makes one a leader, Leyu felt he wasn't suitable to be a ruler. He preferred being a righteous assassin who executes tyrants and treacherous ministers.

By then, he could hand over Dongyang to White Night or any other capable person. Anyway, Leyu would retire with Qing Lan, retreat to a small building, and work with Luminous Stone craftsmen to see if they could make air conditioners and refrigerators out of Luminous Stone.

Once the light of prosperity stabilizes, he and Qing Lan would travel everywhere enjoying the mountains and rivers, and by the way, look for the secret realms of the world, the Divine Demon Well.

If they couldn't find it, so be it.

If they found it, then once Qing Lan passed away, he would go in and have a look.

Speaking of which, before the civil war ends, the prosperity is actually quite dangerous. It might be better to make preparations early and build a seaside villa in Scandinavia, and live a life facing the sea, with spring in blossom...

Knock knock.

Yin Minghong pushed the door open and entered: "President."

"Second-in-command, you're here." Leyu warmly greeted him, "I just finished handling these documents, you can take them."

"Yes."

Yin Minghong took away the stack of reports, noticing the note "President has read and permit to slaughter," and couldn't help but pause.

Seeing he wanted to flip through other pages, Leyu waved his hand directly and said, "No need to look, all the reports have the same approval result."

"All of it?"

"All of it."

"Isn't this a bit too hasty..." Yin Minghong hesitated.

"No need to rush, the most important thing is speed." Leyu shook his head, "One hundred and fifty-six factory stores, if we let them relinquish power voluntarily, how much time do you think we need? A month? Two?"

"You need to understand, factory stores are their territory. If they want to pull any tricks, it's too easy, and what do we have?"

"We only have five hundred Linhai Army."

"If we take it slow with them, we might not be able to completely take over the industries of Xuanzhu County even in a year."

"More importantly," Leyu said, "Lanyan sent a letter two days ago, he can only stay in Dongyang for another half month at most."

"In other words, in half a month, either we're celebrating the farewell of these Linhai Army invaders, or the Silver Blood Association is celebrating our doom."

Yin Minghong asked, "Do we really have to go for the kill?"

"If they are willing to accept reality and leave, there's no need to take action." Leyu raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled, "Second-in-command, are you sympathizing with them?"

"I just... hate to kill too many people." Yin Minghong's voice was low, "I want to exterminate the Silver Blood Association, but not out of vengeance or hatred, but because I deeply love the land of Dongyang."

"Killing is just a means, not an end. The Silver Blood Association has indeed sustained many people; compared to the chaos in other areas of governance, they have done quite well."

"It's just that in this era, many people are involuntary, going with the flow... not everyone can find the chance to meet a life-changing wise mentor, as you did, President."

"Among these people, there might be some worth winning over, good people who usually care for workers, just... I'm sorry, I seem to be talking too much."

"It's quite normal for you to think that way," Leyu laughed, "Compassion, mercy, fairness, justice... these are all beautiful qualities worth cherishing, but real interests are also important. Balance them, and the thing called 'conspiracy' emerges."

"Among these leaders, of course, there are those good to workers, full of sympathy for workers, but more are greedy capitalists exploiting workers to stuff their own pockets. We don't have the luxury to differentiate slowly; we can only cut the Gordian knot."

"This is a life and death struggle between two classes; either they bleed, or we do. The more they bleed now, the less we'll bleed later..."

"I understand now." Yin Minghong interrupted without courtesy, turned, and left.

"A speck of dust from the times falls on a person's head and it's a mountain... Hey, I haven't finished, why are you in such a hurry?"

Leyu called out to Yin Minghong and said, "If you wish, you can ask the workers' thoughts, combine it with your own judgment, and make a decision."

"Kill, break their legs, or even let them go, it's up to you."

"After all, the one doing it isn't me; it's you."

Yin Minghong suddenly bowed deeply at ninety degrees, and sincerely said, "Thank you, President, for tolerating my willfulness."

"Ugh, don't let Qing Lan hear such words, or she'll start suspecting something again." Leyu waved his hand, "Then, I'll leave the next matters to the second-in-command."

"I will live up to the President's trust."

Watching the back of Yin Minghong as he left, a thought suddenly crossed Leyu's mind.

Without the double support of fear and absolute calm, he seemed to have become... overly confident.