Chapter 1944: Crux

In the outside world, the Flash Gold Plains are also known for their fractured chaos. Fang Chanran is well aware that the Spirit Mountain has sent people here before, without exception, they all met their doom—Zhe Ji sank into the sand.

This place is easy to attack but hard to defend, easy to kill but hard to govern.

He just wants to hear what gives He Lingchuan the audacity to lay his hands on Flash Gold.

"My hometown has an old saying: 'Poor mountains and evil waters produce cunning folk,' which already sums up the reason quite clearly." He Lingchuan dipped his finger in water and wrote these two characters on the table:

Poor.

Evil.

Then he drew an arrow between the two characters.

"From poverty comes evil, from evil comes chaos." Poverty is precisely the breeding ground for chaos and wickedness. "Conversely, the root of evil and chaos still lies in this 'poor' character."

Fang Chanran is also very interested: "Then how do we solve it?"

"Talking strategy on paper, that's naturally easy. In the current Flash Gold, as long as the poor have food to eat, the common folk have livelihoods, and the people have a way out, the source of evil and chaos will dissolve on its own." He Lingchuan took a sip of wine, "Even if someone wants to rebel, no one wants to follow them and smash their own rice bowl."

Fang Chanran chuckled: "Only you would dare say it's easy. Not just talking strategy on paper—then how should it be done?"

So He Lingchuan wrote the character 'grace' beside the 'poor' character, and the character 'might' beside the 'evil' character.

Fang Chanran: "Grace and might employed together?"

"One must have the heart of a bodhisattva… a sage, and also possess thunderbolt methods." He Lingchuan spoke solemnly, "Even the poorest place will have vested interests. Why did the Dragon God reincarnate? To rectify the root and clear the source."

On the Flash Gold Plains, corrupt officials, tyrannical gentry, and water-and-land bandits run rampant.

The Dragon God and the Black Armor Army, along with the valiant troops he now personally commands, are precisely meant to deal with these things.

Fang Chanran stared at the few characters on the table, dipped his finger in water, and circled the 'grace' character:

"At the end of the day, it's still about money. Your Yangshan Merchant Guild is indeed a golden goose laying eggs, but can it handle such a huge undertaking?"

He too is an old merchant; this account, when laid out, is no small matter.

Did the heroes who once seized the Flash Gold Plains not want to govern well? Did they just want public resentment to boil over?

So-called 'letting the people live in peace and prosperity' still requires maintaining armies to exterminate the corrupt, suppress rebellions, and eliminate bandits— which of these does not burn money?

At the end of the day, the crux is simply having no silver on hand.

Without money, how many people can hold onto their original aspirations?

"The most important function of the Yangshan Merchant Guild is not making money, but opening up all the checkpoints in the transport of goods and materials—just like when the body's meridians and blood vessels flow smoothly, illness is less likely."

A stable and smooth supply and sales channel is itself one of the most important forms of wealth.

He Lingchuan gave a mysterious smile: "As for money, I just happen to have recently come into a great windfall—a large sum."

The last three words, he emphasized heavily.

No windfall, no riches.

Recently? Fang Chanran recalled that this fellow had asked him to help process a large batch of mystic crystals, of various grades, not lacking in supreme quality.

Combining what he saw today with the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, he subconsciously said: "Wait, wait a moment! Could this batch of mystic crystals be……"

He Lingchuan blinked: "Yes, they were sent by Miao Zhantian."

"……" Fang Chanran gave him a look that said, "If you believe that, you've got a screw loose," letting him figure it out himself.

He Lingchuan smiled faintly: "Come on, have a bowl of soup."

Neither of them spoke plainly; they raised their bowls and drank the fish soup, the flavor delicious and satisfying.

As the final victor of the Battle of the Overturned Sea, He Lingchuan inherited all the legacies of the two great powers, regardless of whether they wished to leave them to him.

All the wealth Miao Zhantian could bring forth, and most of the lifetime savings of the True Person Qianhuan, all became his.

The numerous magical artifacts and treasures left behind by these two factions are things money cannot buy, let alone mystic crystals.

Even if the Phantom Sect used super-large-capacity storage artifacts, transporting this wealth still gave He Lingchuan a headache. This was still made easier thanks to the spirit beast Pengqi—

After Old Luo passed away, Luo Xie took over as caretaker, properly soothing this spirit beast that holds a universe within its belly, loading it with thirty-seven thousand catties of mystic crystals onto the ship. Without this moving, super-large leather sack, even after scourging all the legacies of the Phantom Sect and the Heavenly Demons, one would still not find such a vast storage space—it would be completely full.

Therefore, He Lingchuan's return from the Overturned Sea fully laden cannot be measured in money—

As everyone knows, "cannot be simply measured in money" means it is extremely valuable, valuable to an astonishing degree.

He Lingchuan is not a rustic landowner; he has no intention of burying this wealth in a pit. For a successful businessman, money must circulate to be meaningful, to fulfill its true value.

"These so-called immortals, who have sucked the fat of the mortal world for many years, ought to give it back to all beings."

No mistake, one character, one stroke, one internal, one contained, one in one look!

He Lingchuan feels no pain at spending however much money; anyway, as long as he wins the final victory in the Dragon God War, the entire Flash Gold Plains will be his.

If he cannot win, what use is money then?

Fang Chanran pondered: "Is it enough?"

"Only need to cover the initial consumption—Flash Gold's prices and labor are very low." He Lingchuan tossed a peanut into his mouth, "It's so cheap you can't imagine."

He does business in Flash Gold, he knows this best: "Hiring a worker to pick palm fruits at Blade Harbor or the Yangshan Islands costs here enough to hire six or seven people, and they work day and night, literally worked to death for you."

Despite the danger of the Flash Gold Plains, merchants from elsewhere still come in an endless stream—this is the main reason:

Costs are too low, meaning profits can be increased.

"Moreover, the Flash Gold Plains are truly rich in produce; as long as I can organize them into orderly labor, even a small investment will quickly yield abundant returns." He Lingchuan, through the Yangshan Merchant Guild, has practiced this for two years and already has a plan in mind, "And there is one most important point—"

"All ears."

He Lingchuan said word by word: "The Imperial Flowing Jiang is coming soon."

He knows all too well how many gods have died in the heavens: "Heavenly spirit rain descends, all things grow, the Flash Gold Plains will surely become even more fertile because of it, and its living beings will thus receive deep blessings."

The frequent arrival of spirit rain will surely usher in a continent-wide era of universal benefit. This means every living being has an opportunity, every single one!

When the spirit qi tide arrives, there will be countless tide-players.

"This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity, this is also a brand-new starting line—we must seize it!"

Such heavenly timing and geographical advantage is the key to striking back as the weaker party.

"Imperial Flowing Jiang?" Fang Chanran gave him a deep look, suddenly put down his chopsticks, "He Brother, back then could Lady Lady Lady Mitian produce the Punishing Dragon Pillar because it was related to the Great Square Vessel?"

Over the years, he has also carefully studied the Dragon-Binding Pillar, discovering that its properties do not seem like something a heavenly demon could produce.

During that period, Lady Lady Lady Mitian had close ties with Panlong City and the Great Square Vase, so by inference, the appearance of this object is likely related to the divine artifact, the Great Square Vase.

At this point, He Lingchuan no longer concealed it from him: "Not bad. The Dragon-Binding Pillar is a product of the Great Square Vase."