Chapter 850: First Volume_Chapter 850: Authority from the Bottom Up

First Volume_Chapter 850: Authority from the Bottom Up

No trade can afford to overlook the importance of "transportation costs." The more backward the transportation, the more these costs can decide life and death. Take the Northern Di merchants, for instance. If they wish to ship goods into Shedynasty territory without borrowing the road through Sangzhou, and instead take the longer route, the added time is no simple matter of a few hours or a few days.

Sangzhou stretches nearly fifteen hundred li from east to west, and merchant caravans travel slowly to begin with. Whether they go around through Gaoshan Country to the west or Yuezhao Kingdom to the east, bypassing Sangzhou will add a full two months to the journey!

During those two months, setting aside labor costs, the food consumed by men and beasts alone would be terrifying.

Besides, as the saying goes, a long night is full of dreams. Taking a long detour—and a detour that avoids the main trade route—will undoubtedly greatly increase all manner of risks.

Bandits who gather in the mountains and forests, mobs and outlaws moved by greed at the sight of wealth—any one of them would be enough to give a merchant caravan a hard time.

And these are only the risks the merchants themselves must bear. Expanded to the entire commercial sphere, the Sangzhou trade route directly determines whether Di Kingdom commerce has any competitive edge.

Lose the Sangzhou trade route, lose the shortcut, and together with the other countries, Di Kingdom is doomed never to be able to compete with Shedynasty.

Qin Feng seized Sangzhou at any cost precisely so that in the trade to come, he could hold absolute dominance.

Jing Ci, seated in the Upper Seat, clenched and unclenched her fists; her palms had long since been soaked through with sweat.

The way she looked at Qin Feng was like looking at some kind of monster.

Jing Ci had heard Chen Si's assessment of Qin Feng more than once: this man conceals a demon's cunning beneath a plain appearance, and with a single step he can already see ten steps ahead.

From the moment the National War ended, Qin Feng had already had every matter concerning the State Peace Talks mapped out in his mind.

Even stopping there would have been enough to shock and awe Jing Ci—but the result was… Qin Feng had seized the chance to take control of Sangzhou in one stroke.

Surely it should end here?

But facts proved that everyone from Di Kingdom, Jing Ci included, had still gravely underestimated Qin Feng's Strategic Vision.

Sangzhou had not only become Liang Kingdom's Buffer Land, holding back military threats north of Sangzhou and keeping the Border at peace. It had also become the place where the Wild Emperor Party of Di Kingdom rose to power, holding incomparable importance in both military and political terms.

And now, Sangzhou's value on the commercial front had finally come to light as well.

Judging by the present situation, both Sangzhou and the Liang Kingdom North Border are commercial hubs. These two stretches of land could have served as the gateway of exchange between Liang Kingdom and Di Kingdom.

Yet both of these most important pieces of land had been taken into Qin Feng's possession.

Perhaps Qin Feng is still a long way from being "richest under Heaven," but with these two pieces of land, no one would doubt that in the near future, Qin Feng would become the foremost merchant in all the world.

For a moment, Jing Ci did not know whether she should admire Qin Feng's foresight or be afraid.

"Marquis Qin, your scheming runs far too deep… Is this your true purpose in controlling Sangzhou?"

At these words, everyone present finally realized something was amiss and cast fearful glances at Qin Feng one after another.

Little did they know, this was precisely the moment for Qin Feng to establish his authority and harvest the hearts of men.

Qin Feng seized the moment, nodded, then shook his head.

Under the bewildered gazes of the crowd, Qin Feng said lightly: "His Highness has only spoken to one half of it, and missed the other."

"As the saying goes, winning the realm is easy; keeping it is hard."

"I am a merchant, but I am not only a merchant."

"If I had only money in my hands, then no matter how flourishing things appear at this moment, in the next instant my bones might vanish without a trace. The greater the wealth, the deeper the covetousness it draws; there will always be someone who tries every means to destroy me."

"Your Highness, answer me one question: between money and Authority, which is more important?"

Jing Ci answered without hesitation: "Of course Authority is more important. Once you have Authority in hand, you have everything."

The others nodded in agreement, finding the Princess's words reasonable.

After all, as the old saying goes, the common folk do not fight with officials, and wealthy merchants are common folk too. No matter how rich a merchant is, if he offends those in officialdom, he will be crushed like an ant beneath their heel.

Moreover, is not the very reason Qin Feng has been able to go everywhere unopposed precisely because of Authority?

The crowd felt there was nothing to argue about in this question—but Qin Feng, quite deliberately, gave a different answer.

"Wrong—gravely, completely wrong!"

"Your Highness has it exactly backwards. It is not that having Authority means having everything; rather, one must first have everything, and then Authority follows."

"Authority does not flow from the top down, but from the bottom up."

"I have money in my hands, I have won over the hearts of men, everyone respects me and chooses me as their leader, and so I have Authority in my hands. And this Authority is bestowed upon me jointly by those beneath me."

"Which brings to mind that old saying: the people are water, the ruler a boat; water can carry the boat, but it can also capsize it."

"Sitting high upon the throne, in the end one cannot withstand the raised fists of the Nubi crying out: 'Are kings, marquises, generals, and ministers born to their titles?'"

"Authority is important. It allows us to manage the entire nation more efficiently, to redistribute benefits, and to let everyone live prosperous lives. But do not overestimate Authority. Even an emperor unmatched across the ages can be dragged down by an angry populace. An empire at the height of its glory cannot escape the endless cycle of overthrow, destruction, rebuilding, revival, and decline.

"And everything I have said comes from the Common People!"

The entire Wang Family Mansion fell silent as a graveyard. The crowd stared at Qin Feng in a daze, feeling that he had touched a blind spot in their understanding.

Though they were not the powerful and famous, they too were "those who had already gained."

In their traditional understanding, the rich and powerful commanding the ordinary Common People was an unchanging truth since time immemorial.

How had it become a fallacy in Qin Feng's mouth?

Had these words come from anyone else, the crowd would have simply laughed them off and paid them no heed.

But as it happened, these words came from Qin Feng's mouth.

And who was Qin Feng?

The First Marquis of Liang, Lord of the Northern Border, in control of military, political, and commercial affairs alike—a being who could stride through foreign lands as if he owned them.

In light of this, these startling remarks could not help but give one pause for thought.

Seeing the crowd bow their heads in thought, Qin Feng felt deeply gratified—at least these people could still think.

Qin Feng looked at the dazed Jing Ci and said with a light smile: "Hide wealth among the people, bring peace and order to the realm, be loved by all, and the Authority in your hands will naturally be consolidated. Whoever dares to seize it will find the people refusing to allow it first."

"On the contrary, to consolidate so-called Authority by ignoring the people's suffering and acting against the natural order—the tighter you grip Authority, the faster it slips away."

"Princess, why do you think Sangzhou is firmly in my control?"

"If, as your kingdom's propaganda claims, the people of Sangzhou are living in deep misery, how long could military force alone keep them suppressed?"

"When that day comes, with the people of Sangzhou and your kingdom's Army engaged in Bandit Collaboration from within and without, the one crushed and worn down between them would, I fear, be me, wouldn't it?"