Chapter 1732: Leaving Them No Way Out!

No one expected that Ye Chen would directly change the ancestor worship ceremony from once every twelve years to once a year.

One had to know that although the ancestor worship ceremony was of extraordinary significance, it was in itself a labor-intensive and money-wasting affair.

Thus, an older collateral branch member in the crowd said, "Ye Chen... the ancestor worship ceremony once every twelve years is a rule set by our ancestors. Changing it to once a year is too frequent, isn't it? I personally think that disturbing the ancestors' peace so frequently might not be a good thing! If the ancestors are displeased, that would be a great disrespect to them!"

Ye Chen looked at him and said coldly, "It's precisely because it used to be once every twelve years that you bunch of people surnamed Ye have long forgotten the ancestors! When others said they wanted to dig up your ancestors' graves, you all fled Yanjing overnight! Is this how you respect your ancestors?!"

The old man's face turned red, and he hurriedly shut his mouth.

Seeing him not speaking, Ye Chen asked, "Why aren't you speaking? Weren't you quite capable of talking just now?"

After finishing, Ye Chen pointed to the Ye family ancestral graves behind him and asked him coldly, "Come, in front of the ancestors, explain to them properly, how exactly do you respect them?"

The old man said with shame, "I... I was wrong..."

Ye Chen said coldly, "Don't tell me! Walk out and tell the ancestors yourself!"

The old man could only walk out of the crowd, face the more than one hundred tombs of the Ye family ancestors, and say with shame, "Ye family ancestors above, unworthy descendant Ye Weiming was wrong! I hope the ancestors will forgive me!"

Ye Chen snorted coldly, ignored the old man, and continued to say sternly to the more than seven hundred collateral Ye family branches in front of him, "Don't think that because you are collateral branches of the Ye family, me, the head of the main family, making demands of you is bullying you!"

After finishing, he pointed to Ye Changkong, Ye Changyun, Ye Feng, Ye Hao, and others kneeling on the side, and said coldly, "Open your eyes and look properly at these people kneeling beside you! They are all members of the Ye family's main branch! Here is my own uncle, my own uncle, my own aunt, and my cousins. They made mistakes, and they still have to kneel here for me for three days and three nights!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Ye Changkong and other main branch members lowered their heads in shame, and the more than seven hundred collateral branch members were all dumbfounded!

Only then did they realize that Ye Chen's iron-fisted approach wasn't just aimed at them, the outsiders.

He was even harsher on his own family than he was on them!

Ye Chen continued to say something shocking at this time, "And I might as well tell you, most of them will have to stay on Mount Ye Ling for the next three years to observe mourning for the ancestors!"

"In the next three years, even if it rains knives from the sky, they are not allowed to leave a single step!"

"Even if someone gets critically ill and needs the ICU, I will build the ICU on Mount Ye Ling for them!"

Hearing this, the collateral Ye family members were already a bit terrified. They had originally thought it was cruel enough for Ye Chen to make his own family kneel here for three days and three nights, but they didn't expect it to be even harsher!

At this time, Ye Chen looked at them coldly and continued, "So listen well, all of you. From now on, if any of you dares to betray the Ye family, or causes the Ye family to suffer losses, then one by one, your fate will definitely be even more miserable than theirs!"

Seeing this, the collateral Ye family members didn't dare to raise any objections regarding the ancestor worship ceremony anymore.

The reason Ye Chen wanted an annual ancestor worship ceremony was to continuously strengthen their loyalty to the Ye family through a faster frequency, while also making them understand the master-servant relationship between the Ye family and them, so that they would develop a sense of loyalty to the monarch, thereby strengthening the Ye family's control over them.

At this time, a young man said, "I can understand the ancestor worship ceremony being once a year, but why do we have to come to Yanjing to report for duty every three months?"

Ye Chen asked him back, "You take the Ye family's resources and earn the Ye family's money. I ask you to come and report for duty every three months. Do you have any objections to that?"

The young man hurriedly said, "Our family moved overseas a long time ago, and over the years we have gradually shifted our business focus out. Currently, the business we operate overseas has nothing to do with the Ye family."

Ye Chen nodded and asked him, "What is your name?"

The young man replied, "My name is Ye Tao."

Ye Chen nodded slightly and said, "Good, I ask you, what business does your family currently operate overseas?"

Ye Tao hurriedly said, "We produce and sell Chinese-style furniture for the whole of Europe, mainly facing Chinese customers, and our production base is in Romania."

Ye Chen frowned and asked, "Why do you produce Chinese-style furniture in Romania?"

Ye Tao replied, "Mainly because Romania's timber production is very high, and their labor costs are also relatively cheap."

Ye Chen asked again, "Then how many workers do you have in Romania? What is your annual output value?"

Ye Tao thought for a moment and said, "We have nearly ten thousand employees in Romania, with an annual output value of about two billion Euros, and a net profit of about 20%."

Ye Chen nodded and said, "In that case, just from this business alone, you have a net profit of four hundred million Euros a year."

"Yes," Ye Tao said, "A few years ago, our production base was still in China. It was my suggestion that the family move the production base to Romania."

Ye Chen asked him, "Why did you suggest moving to Romania when the production base was in China?"

Ye Tao explained with some pride, "Originally, we produced in China and sold in Europe. Although logistics costs were much higher, because domestic labor was relatively cheap, the overall profit margin was even higher than it is now. But five years ago, I had a premonition that the EU would definitely continue to increase tariffs and other taxes on foreign products in the future. If that happened, our products would lose all advantages in the European market, and the profit margin would drop significantly. And I indeed guessed correctly. Starting three years ago, the EU has been continuously increasing tariffs on imported furniture, and so far it has increased by at least 40%!"

Ye Chen nodded and said, "After you moved the enterprise to Romania, you could avoid this kind of tariff policy of Europe against the outside world, right?"

"Exactly!" Ye Tao explained, "While moving the production base to Romania, we also re-registered a company in Romania, which is equivalent to turning our products into local goods produced in Romania. And because Romania also joined the EU, the entire European market gave great preferential policies to Romanian products. As a result, we have truly enjoyed this kind of preference."

"With lower tax costs, our prices can be lower, which gives us more sales, so the overall profit margin is also considerable. By contrast, other enterprises that have been producing Chinese-style furniture domestically and selling to Europe have all suffered heavy losses."

Ye Chen smiled and said, "It seems you are quite good at management."

Ye Tao said confidently, "That's for sure. I finished my bachelor's degree at Yale University at twenty, finished my MBA in two years, and started participating in family business management at eighteen. I wouldn't dare say I'm a business genius, but I'm definitely stronger than most armchair entrepreneurs."

Ye Chen nodded slightly and smiled, saying, "In that case, you don't have to go back this time. Stay in China and help me out. By the way, I'll also test you to see if you really have some skills!" ===== CHAPTER 1733 =====