Chapter 943
Let's consider it first
Fortunately, I had arranged everything in advance, and I believe Kao Dong will agree. Now, I just need to negotiate carefully to get him to compromise.
"Your Majesty, this is the will of the people. You can see this document if you don't believe me."
Jiafeier produced the documents he had prepared beforehand, which contained many signatures of ordinary people, all of which were obviously forged.
"How is this possible?"
Kao Dong found it hard to believe when he saw the document, but since it was written clearly in black and white and had many signatures, he had no choice but to believe it.
"Your Majesty, of course it's all true. The people are particularly dissatisfied with this method; their needs are not being met, and the variety is limited."
Jia Feier kept fabricating facts on the sidelines; these were all excuses he came up with, and they were not the voices of the people at all.
Kao Dong frowned. The profits from salt production were enormous, and if it fell into the hands of the public, it could easily be monopolized, leading to a series of problems.
But Jiafeier provided himself with such a document, and the people were actually dissatisfied with this approach, which puzzled him greatly.
"How about this, I'll think about it first and then make a decision."
Kao Dong was indeed a wise and virtuous ruler. He would not be swayed by one side of the story and would not make this important decision based on Jia Feier's one-sided account.
He knew how important the salt monopoly was to Yan, and he couldn't possibly make a decision lightly.
"I will follow the King's arrangements. I will take my leave now."
Jia Feier knew that Kao Dong would investigate thoroughly before making a decision, but he wasn't in a hurry at all because he had already made all the necessary preparations.
Even if Kao Dong sent people to investigate, they wouldn't find anything conclusive; everyone from top to bottom had already colluded.
As Jia Feier had predicted, Kao Dong immediately sent people to investigate the salt monopoly issue.
Kao Dong had indeed underestimated Jia Feier's abilities. Jia Feier now practically controlled everything, and had won over all of Kao Dong's close associates to his side.
Kao Dong was completely unaware of these circumstances.
Jafiel has now become a dangerous figure, having seized a great deal of power and constantly seeking an opportunity to ascend the throne.
Kao Dong had no idea that Jia Feier had now colluded with Ram, and that they were preparing to carry out a huge conspiracy.
After Kao Dong had his men investigate, they concluded that Jia Feier's words were true.
"How is this possible? Are the people really dissatisfied with such a system? But once it falls into the hands of ordinary people, many problems will indeed arise."
Kao Dong refused to believe it was all true, feeling that the situation was extremely serious.
“Your Majesty, it is absolutely true. The people are really saying this, and they are full of complaints. If this continues, I'm afraid the people will develop a prejudice against Your Majesty.”
His men had already been bribed by Jia Feier, and they exaggerated the people's complaints, making everything up.
Upon learning these results, Kao Dong immediately fell into deep thought. Was his idea truly wrong?
Surrounded by so many people deceiving him, Kao Dong began to doubt his own judgment.
Normally, he would have immediately sought Yang Xia's opinion. But the situation was a bit special now, and he was too embarrassed to bother Yang Xia, and he also wanted to manage Yan Kingdom himself.
As the ruler of a country, one should possess the ability to think independently and not rely on Yang Xia for everything.
The people have many complaints about this matter, and perhaps it should be changed.
After much deliberation, Kao Dong decided to grant Jia Feier's request and change the salt monopoly to a private sale.
"Your Majesty is wise. Now the people will naturally be overjoyed and grateful for Your Majesty's kindness."
Upon receiving this order, Jiafeier was overjoyed. He immediately expressed his gratitude to Kaodong with beaming eyes; their conspiracy had finally succeeded.
"This is very strange. Yan Kingdom has always implemented a salt and iron monopoly. Why has salt suddenly become a privately sold commodity?"
The people of Yan could not understand this approach and raised many questions.
"Since this is what the higher-ups want, we have no choice but to do it. Perhaps the king has his own ideas."
The people still loved Kao Dong very much, so they didn't say much and the policy was naturally implemented, and salt became a private commodity.
Relying on his power, Jia Feier appropriated 80 percent of the salt production for himself.
Now, Jia Feier not only made a fortune, but also controlled the salt sales chain, completely grasping the economic lifeline of Yan Kingdom.
Seeing that Jafiel did indeed have some skills and had actually achieved their previous goal, Ram kept trying to get closer to him.
"Lord Jia Fei'er is indeed a man of great skill; there is nothing he cannot do."
Ram gave Jafiel a thumbs-up and kept flattering him, his real purpose, of course, was to get the production and sales rights of the salt from him.
Jiafeier knew exactly what Ram was thinking, but since they were in a mutually beneficial relationship, he felt awkward refusing.
The two men's cooperation grew closer. Although Jiafeier kept a backup plan for himself, he still allowed Ram to control half of the salt production rights, which gave him control over the economic lifeline of Yan Kingdom.
Ram was extremely pleased with himself. At this rate of development, he could really undermine the strength of Yan Kingdom from within.
By the time the ruler of Yan Kingdom realizes what's happening, it will be too late; Yan Kingdom will have already been divided up by Xingyun Kingdom.
However, this was just Ram's wishful thinking. Jafiel was also keeping a watchful eye on him and was on guard at every turn.
Once he has the opportunity to ascend the throne, he will not hesitate to kick Ram aside.
As for Ram's methods, Jafiel saw them all clearly and naturally came up with corresponding countermeasures.
Once I become the king, I certainly won't let Ram control me, otherwise I'll lose the meaning of power.
Thus began a clandestine contest between the two sides, each wanting to use the other as a pawn.
These are all things to be discussed later. Ram knew that he couldn't dismantle the Yan Kingdom by relying solely on this aspect; he needed to approach it from many other angles.
Within the Great Zhou Dynasty, Yang Xia continued to meticulously care for Yu Meiren's daily life.
However, there are some things Yang Xia cannot let go of, such as the inspection of military equipment, which he insists on doing personally every time.
These matters concern the fate of the Great Zhou Kingdom, so they cannot be taken lightly. Only after personally inspecting them can one be at ease. On this day, Yang Xia came to inspect the military equipment as usual.
Suddenly, he noticed that the military equipment was covered in corrosion.
"What's going on? Why is the military equipment corroded? Find out the cause quickly, this is no joke."
Yang Xia became extremely nervous upon seeing this situation, as he knew, of course, what these military equipment meant to a country.
In peacetime, these military equipment remain silent and seem useless, but once war breaks out, they become a matter of life and death for a country.
"Your Majesty, I will immediately investigate the cause."
General Meng Yu also knew that this matter was extremely serious, and immediately led his men to carefully investigate the specific cause.
After a careful investigation, the cause was quickly identified and immediately reported to Yang Xia.
"Your Majesty, these military equipment have been stored by the sea, where the high concentration of fog has caused irreversible corrosion."
General Meng Yu quickly shared the findings of the investigation, but they also felt that the matter was difficult to rectify because, in the Great Zhou Kingdom, these military equipment could only be stored here.
Yang Xia was certainly aware of this situation, and he also found it particularly troublesome, as there seemed to be no good way to change it.
The Great Zhou Kingdom is an island nation, and a large amount of military equipment can only be stored here, as there are no other storage locations.
The reality is that these military equipment have become corroded. If they are not repaired, their effectiveness will be greatly reduced, and they will all become a pile of scrap metal if they are ever needed.
"What can we do? Are we just going to watch these advanced military equipment corrode like this?"
Yang Xia was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks. He had never been so anxious before, and he could easily solve many problems.
Through redemption in the system store, I have acquired more advanced weapons and equipment.
However, unexpectedly, storage has presented him with a major problem, and if he cannot make changes, the consequences will be quite serious.
Yang Xia immediately summoned the researchers from the Great Zhou Kingdom and asked them to work together to find a solution to the problem, making sure that these military equipment did not encounter any unexpected situations.
"Your Majesty, the solution is actually quite simple. The simplest and most direct way is to store these military equipment in a place surrounded by land."
"Then we will apply an anti-corrosion treatment to these military equipment, and within two months, all of them will be restored to 90% of their original condition."
The researchers immediately came up with a solution that sounded remarkably simple and straightforward, requiring minimal effort.
However, Yang Xia shook his head repeatedly after hearing this, feeling that this method could not be implemented.
“Our Great Zhou Kingdom is an island nation, surrounded by the sea, so it is impossible to find a place that is entirely surrounded by land.”
Yang Xia pointed out this reality, which is also an unsolvable problem.
"Your Majesty, perhaps we can find a neighboring country with land to store these military equipment."
One researcher suddenly offered a solution: the military equipment should not be stored solely within the Great Zhou Kingdom; otherwise, the problem would truly become an unsolvable puzzle.
"That makes sense."
After hearing this new suggestion, Yang Xia nodded thoughtfully and then began to search his mind for landlocked countries.
After careful consideration, it was discovered that among the surrounding countries, only the Kingdom of Jaqi was a landlocked country, surrounded entirely by land, which perfectly suited the conditions for storing military equipment.
However, the ruler of the Kingdom of Zhuaqi has not yet shown any intention of cooperating with the Great Zhou Kingdom, and may still be considering it.
They were unsure whether Yang Xia's request to store military equipment would be rejected, as they were truly uncertain about the matter.
"The only landlocked country around us is the Kingdom of Zhuaqi. It seems I need to make a trip to Zhuaqi and have a good talk with A'Za to have our Great Zhou's military equipment stored there. These problems will then be solved naturally."
Yang Xia seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps discussing the next steps with General Meng Yu.
"Your Majesty, will King Aza of the Jaqi Kingdom grant our request? With Cahill and Yoo Ji-soo causing trouble, things may not go well."
General Meng Yu was particularly worried, feeling that this method was not feasible. Last time, they had helped the other side solve a severe drought by providing weather controllers, but ultimately no cooperation was reached.
Moreover, this time they need the help of the Clawed Qi Kingdom, which will likely make things even more difficult. General Meng Yu is not optimistic about these aspects.
"It's all about human effort. How will you know if you can succeed if you don't even try?"
Yang Xia was determined to leave. He believed he could achieve his goal and perhaps take this opportunity to get closer to A Zha, enabling the two countries to successfully conduct trade cooperation.
Having made up his mind, Yang Xia went to the Kingdom of Claw once again, confident that the outcome would not disappoint him.
After their previous trip to the Kingdom of Jagi, they had established some trust with each other.
Yang Xia could clearly sense that A'Za was no longer so resistant to him. Although the two countries had not yet started trade cooperation, Yang Xia could tell from A'Za's eyes that the other party still trusted his character.
Given time, I believe A-Za will make the right choice.
Having considered all these factors, Yang Xia arrived in the Kingdom of Zhuaqi with great confidence and stood before A'Za once again.
"King Aza, hello! We meet again." Yang Xia greeted the other party very warmly, as sincerely as an old friend.
"Yang Xia, hello! Welcome back to our Claw Qi Kingdom. Is there something important you need?"
After what happened last time, A-Za's attitude towards Yang Xia did change a lot, and he became exceptionally enthusiastic when they met again.
Seeing the other party's attitude, Yang Xia felt very confident that the matter could definitely be settled.
However, for certain reasons, the truth was not revealed.
They are, after all, two different countries, and some secrets should be kept appropriately, so that the other party cannot fully understand their own situation.
Yang Xia's brilliance lies in his ability to handle things flawlessly while preserving some of his secrets.
“King Aza, I do indeed have a request to make.”
"The Great Zhou Kingdom has recently developed a batch of new military equipment, so there's no storage space left for the older versions. Could we store them in the Clawed Qi Kingdom?" (End of Chapter)