Chapter 96 - 96: The Banquet at Hongmen_l

Translator: 549690339

The young man’s expression hesitated before revealing an eager look in his eyes.

The Breaking Soul Elixir could help Golden Elixir Stage cultivators break through one level of cultivation.

He was currently at Tier 6 Foundation Establishment, and one more step would put him in the late stage.

But for someone like him who squeezed every bit of potential to increase his cultivation, this step was too difficult.

In the Red Mill, strength equated to value.

“Thank you, City Lord!” The young man bowed his hands, completely letting go of the last little bit of resentment in his heart.

Women were far less important than his own cultivation.

Moreover, if Bai Liu could take action in advance and thwart that animal Qin Changqing…

Then he would still have a chance!

“Mm, go ahead.”

Jin Tianfeng waved his hand to let the young man leave.

Not long afterward, the steward walked over and whispered something in his ear.

Jin Tianfeng’s face lit up with joy: “Has the Marshal finally sent someone? Haha! We now stand a chance against the Lingxiao Sect!”

Qin Family.

Everyone in the Qin Mansion has been incredibly busy this past month.

Even Qin Changqing, the master who was always slacking off, no longer had time to dual cultivate with his wives. Can you imagine how busy that was?

With the collapse of the Gongsun Family, the Qin Family had to fully take over their remaining assets. While it may not have seemed difficult, the entangled details and conflicts involving other families’ businesses were endless and could not be resolved in a short time.

The Gongsun Family was just too massive!

The industries they regulated far exceeded Qin Changqing’s expectations.

Or rather, he hadn’t cared much about business matters before, occasionally checking up on the Qin Family’s situation, understanding the general picture, and knowing how many shops they owned and what the monthly income was. But when Qin Haotian roughly estimated the assets of the Gongsun Family, even he was taken aback.

It was more than a hundred times greater!

The Gongsun Family’s assets were more than a hundred times those of the Qin Family!

This was no longer just getting fat in one breath; it was practically choking to death!

However, great achievements come with great sacrifices, and the rise of a force inevitably involved many casualties.

The reverse is also true: with the fall of a whale, many things come to life.

Qin Changqing knew this well, so he had no mercy for the Gongsun Family. However, he had no intention of solely taking over the Gongsun Family’s assets.

There were two reasons for this.

First, it was difficult to digest.

It was like a third-rate domestic enterprise suddenly swallowing up an international top-tier brand. Not to mention the internal digestion issues, the external competition alone would make the process extremely difficult. Even if it was somehow swallowed, the assets would likely take a significant hit.

As for the second point, it was simple.

Qin Changqing planned to use the opportunity of taking over the Gongsun Family’s assets to win over more allies.

Firstly, the Mu Family definitely had to be given a share of the benefits. Although Mu Yuntao did not openly take action, his secret help was not to be underestimated.

Otherwise, if Jin Tianfeng took action, the Gongsun Family would never have been destroyed.

At that time, even if Gongsun Muyi died, it would have been meaningless, as Jin Tianfeng would definitely take over their assets.

Killing someone without getting the loot was incredibly uncomfortable, just like taking a dump without wiping one’s ass.

So Qin Changqing handed over 20 percent of the Gongsun Family’s assets to the Mu Family.

Don’t underestimate this share. Mu Yuntao was secretly thrilled.

As for the remaining 10 percent, Qin Changqing gave it to several closely related families, like Liu Shuisheng’s.Also, there was Jin Hong who came from Heiyu Town with him.

However, Jin Hong’s strength was not enough, his family was only Tier 9, eating too much would actually be bad, it’s better to rely on the Qin family for slow development, so Qin Changqing did not give much.

Even so, Jin Hong directly hugged Qin Changqing’s thigh, sniffling and tearful, making him quite speechless.

Get the hell off me, you old pervert!

Lian Caini laughed, Jin Hong finally has some prospects now.

The three of them came from Heiyu Town, so they felt more deeply about such matters than most people.

“Husband, it’s still very troublesome.” Su Xiaoyue’s exquisite face was slightly exhausted. As the ‘main wife’ and coming from a merchant family, she had to carry the heavy responsibility of swallowing the Gongsun Family’s assets.

“What’s wrong?” asked Qin Changqing.

“I just calculated it carefully. The Gongsun family has eight auction houses, four of which were co-founded with other families. There are also two large merchant associations, twelve ordinary merchant associations, and 206 shops. All these businesses are more or less connected to other families. Through such a means, the Gongsun family tied the interests of various major families together with theirs.”

Qin Changqing stroked his chin: “Quite a good idea.”

Su Xiaoyue sighed: “But it’s troublesome for us. It’s not realistic to pull out the Gongsun family’s share from these businesses, but it’s even harder to kick out

won’t be easy to offend so many families rashly in the future.”

Being born in a merchant family, Su Xiaoyue understood the tricks of the trade better than others.

Some things cannot be solved by brute force alone.

External hostility cannot be eliminated.

Even if Qin Changqing could wipe out these families, there would still be other families emerging to replace them.

It was the inevitable result of the large environment.

So Su Xiaoyue had two suggestions.

“Firstly, our Qin family can spend money to buy out the shares of the major families. They will benefit and will not resist desperately even if they are unwilling. However, this will still limit the business prospect of the Qin family in the future.”

“Secondly, you can talk to these families and continue doing business together in the future.”

Qin Changqing frowned: “You want me to adopt a conciliatory policy and take over the relationship that Gongsun family had before?”

“Exactly.”

“But these families don’t harbor any goodwill towards us, and I’m not so confident about making contact.”

“It’s not a problem.” Su Xiaoyue smiled lightly, “There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. In Yinxu Prefecture, how many family relationships are genuine? As long as the Qin family remains strong, we will only have friends around us, and no enemies.”

Qin Changqing laughed: “That’s right, there are no enemies around the strong.”

Because the enemies are all dead.

He decided to heed Su Xiaoyue’s advice.

Otherwise, it would take ages to completely clean up the entangled industries of the Gongsun family.

Even if the absorption is complete, the business of the Qin family will still be difficult to expand if the major families unite and secretly hinder it in the future.

“There’s also another option.” Su Xiaoyue joked, “Aren’t you good at marriage alliances, my husband? Since we have to get married anyhow, I think the power of these families isn’t bad.”

Qin Changqing was stunned: “Xiaoyue, you’ve become naughty!”

In the following period, it took the Qin family another two months to gradually sort out the affairs of the Gongsun family.

When Qin Changqing invited people from those families for talks, everyone thought that this would inevitably end up like a banquet at Hongmen.

But the result was quite the opposite.

Qin Changqing did not kill people, nor did he forcefully occupy the market, he continued to maintain the relationship that the Gongsun family had before.

This surprised the people of the major families.

Especially those who originally had interests in the Gongsun family’s industries, they thought that Qin Changqing not causing trouble would already be quite decent. Little did they know that they would still continue to make money.

For a time, amidst the joy, they were also somewhat frightened.

They feared that Qin Changqing was using some kind of delaying tactic to annihilate them one by one after they let their guard down.

In order to prevent them from having such concerns, under Su Xiaoyue’s suggestion, Qin Changqing deliberately added several conditions and reduced the benefits of these families.

Afterwards, they became even more grateful..