novelraw Chapter 154
Chapter 154
Speaking of how Sun and Xie family heads had good attitudes, it was because Wei Yu hadn’t expected that after all his deliberate disruptions, the two of them wouldn’t show even the slightest displeasure regarding the sugar matter. At most, they were just caught off guard and didn’t manage to keep their expressions in check.
Their attitude looked like they had already accepted their fate and genuinely wanted to make peace.
But even if they didn’t accept it or weren’t sincere, it didn’t matter—anyway, Wei Yu had already decided to hoodwink them!
Once he got his reward, Wei Yu began chattering.
“This prince asks you—have you people from the Yizhou noble families always only cared about selling white sugar?”
Xie Liang: “…Well, the majority indeed did so.”
Wei Yu: “Don’t give me that ‘majority’ talk. In the past, white sugar was dominated solely by your Yizhou. With such a sweet pie in hand, this prince doesn’t believe you’d give it up to go do anything else.”
If you already knew, why ask?
Xie Liang gave an awkward smile.
Wei Yu continued: “One prefecture, every household solely serving sugar—this is a classic example of a single-industry chain! When things go well, you can improve sugar production efficiency and quality, reduce costs, and increase profits. But if a problem arises—take the current situation, for example—look at all the sugar-making families in Yizhou. Haven’t they all suffered huge financial blows…?” “If you ask me, whether you want a place to prosper or for its people to live well, a single economic structure is absolutely untenable. Diversification is the best way…”
The four people present were dumbfounded: …?
The Second Prince held a teacup. From the start, he was silent, then surprised, and finally frowned. He stared deeply at Wei Yu.
What on earth was this Ninth Brother saying? Why did he feel like he both understood and didn’t understand?
If even the Second Prince didn’t understand, let alone Sun Xizhao and Xie Liang.
The two of them had furrowed brows. They could tell the Wise King was speaking on the issue of Yizhou’s noble families all selling sugar. The beginning part they could still follow, and with some deep thought they could vaguely grasp the meaning. But the latter part became more and more baffling the longer they listened.
He was saying such profound things—they really couldn’t understand most of it!
That’s exactly what Wei Yu wanted.
Wei Yu didn’t want them to understand. If they actually understood, then wouldn’t that be a problem?
Wei Yu talked for a long time, until his mouth was dry. He finally stopped and picked up a teacup for a drink.
Xie Liang seized the chance and quickly asked, “Your Highness the Wise King, your words are clever and each sentence is reasonable, but I, a mere commoner, am poorly educated and unable to comprehend much of Your Highness’s meaning. Might Your Highness be willing to explain it in more detail?”
Wei Yu glanced sideways, “Explain in more detail?”
That little side-eye told Xie Liang what he needed to know. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a green jade pendant, which he respectfully offered.
“Your Highness, please.”
Mm, someone who knows what’s what.
Right under the Second Prince’s nose, Wei Yu calmly accepted another “bribe.”
“Speak. Which part do you want to discuss?”
Xie Liang cautiously asked: “Your Highness seems to know much about how to reform a place? Since Your Highness believes Yizhou’s current state is unsatisfactory and that we should not solely rely on white sugar, then may I ask—what should we do going forward?”
Tsk, now he’s on the right track. That’s hitting the mark.
As expected of a family head. Even if he didn’t fully understand, he could still extract the core of what was being said.
Wei Yu asked: “You all know Yizhou best. Let me ask—aside from zhe (sugarcane), what else does Yizhou produce in abundance?”
What else?
That was a hard question. Xie Liang and Sun Xizhao were both heads of major families, born and raised in wealth and luxury. They had hardly ever visited their own fields, let alone knew what they produced.
The two racked their brains, while the Second Prince just sat calmly by the side, looking unbothered.
Now he more or less understood—this kid Wei Yu clearly had his own motives in dealing with these Yizhou nobles.
From the start, he had thrown off the rhythm, disrupted their composure, and before they could even recover, he launched into another bout of nonsense…
Glancing at the two below, the Second Prince looked at Wei Yu again—and happened to catch him secretly fondling two pieces of jade.
That greedy, sleazy expression made the Second Prince suddenly want to laugh.
Honestly, this kind of shameless, reckless move—only his Ninth Brother could pull it off.
Since Sun and Xie family heads couldn’t come up with an answer, they could only shake their heads in shame.
Wei Yu sighed, “Look at the two of you—such disappointing looks. I gave you the chance, and you didn’t even know how to take it.”
Sun and Xie family heads: …
“All right, I won’t say more for now. When you return, go ask some experienced farmers. Let’s talk about what an industrial chain should have.”
Industrial chain!
Everyone perked up, even the Second Prince sat straighter, wanting to hear what exactly this “industrial chain” was. After all, Wei Yu had mentioned it multiple times—it seemed like a very important thing.
“Let’s use white sugar as an example. The ‘industrial chain’ means the entire process from raw material—zhe—to the white sugar ending up in the hands of the people.”
“Zhe needs people to plant it, and people to harvest it. Once harvested, it must go to a workshop to be made into sugar. The sugar-making process requires many things to be prepared, which need to be purchased. After the sugar is made, it must be transported to shops across the land for sale, and only then will it reach the common people…”
“Why do I say Yizhou’s industrial chain is too single? Because everyone focuses on sugar-making and nothing else. It might seem fine on the surface, but the actual result—look at now—even if I don’t say it, you should understand.”
Two camps: Sun and Xie family heads were deep in thought, while the Second Prince and Gongsun Yi exchanged glances.
Xie Liang pondered for a while and more or less understood the Wise King’s point, but he still looked troubled.
“Then, Your Highness, given Yizhou’s current situation, what exactly should we do?”
Xie Liang looked intently at Wei Yu, eyes full of hope.
He wasn’t really a fool. At the start, he had been caught off guard by Wei Yu’s tactics, but once he grasped the gist of Wei Yu’s words, he followed along entirely.
Everyone had the same goal—one was willing to give an opportunity, the other eager to seize it.
Since the Wise King was willing to help them break through this crisis, why wouldn’t he accept?
Wei Yu smiled.
He looked at Xie Liang and said two words.
“Great Liang.”
Hm?
Great Liang?!
Xie Liang was momentarily stunned. “What does this have to do with Great Liang?”
He subtly glanced at the Second Prince seated above, not sure whether this was the Wise King’s own idea or the Prince Chen’s.
After all, the current relationship between Great Wei and Great Liang, while still friendly on the surface, wasn’t stable at the borders. Conflicts often arose. Doing open business with Great Liang was nearly impossible—doing it in secret might be another matter.
And they were closest to Great Liang. In the past, they had always quietly traded with merchants from Great Liang.