Dragon's Origin

Chapter 281: The Royal Family Must Learn to Do Business (Part 2)

For the Emperor, who had finally tasted a little bit of the sweetness of power, anyone who dared to threaten the stability of his throne was a mortal enemy, deserving of death.

The mere thought of his position being threatened to such a terrifying extent made the Emperor realize that he had once again been swayed by Wang Sheng, and he would inevitably have to seek a solution from Wang Sheng.

"With this kind of thing, put yourself in their shoes. You wouldn't want your own position to be taken away. Why do you think that others should just give you what they've worked so hard to create, without any compensation for labor or materials?" Wang Sheng added, pushing the matter to a more serious level: "This is just the common people. What if the feudal lords also think this way about you? What will you do then?"

In the end, the biggest threat to the Emperor was these feudal lords. As soon as this was mentioned, the Emperor immediately lost his temper and began to ponder the key issues.

"Does being the Emperor mean I don't even have the right to receive tributes?" The Emperor felt very aggrieved. Such a small matter in the capital was being made so serious by Wang Sheng. Of course, if it developed to the point Wang Sheng described, there would definitely be a catastrophic disaster, but was it wrong to receive normal tributes?

"You do!" Wang Sheng didn't care what the Emperor thought, as long as he achieved his goal: "The emperors of the previous dynasties also received tributes, but which dynasty lasted for ten thousand years? Didn't they all just last for a few hundred years before being replaced? Of course, if you think it's enough for the royal family to sit on the throne for a few hundred years, then it doesn't matter."

As the Emperor, and one who had just tasted the taste of power, how could he be willing for his dynasty to end in a few hundred years? Since Wang Sheng had raised this question, the Emperor had no choice but to ask for advice.

"Then tell me, what is the solution?" The Emperor picked up his wine cup and sincerely asked Wang Sheng for a drink.

"I actually already said it just now," Wang Sheng said with a smile, raising his cup to the Emperor, "Distinguish between public and private."

"What does it mean to distinguish between public and private?" The Emperor thought about it, feeling that he was already distinguishing between public and private. The imperial court's affairs were the imperial court's affairs, and the royal treasury was the royal family's. Wasn't that enough?

"First of all, as the Emperor, you can't have the idea that 'what's mine is mine, and what's yours is also mine,'" Wang Sheng was very relaxed now, not afraid of Zhou Guanshi's sudden attack, and said very easily: "Don't tell me you've never thought that way."

As the Emperor, his heart was set on being the ruler of the world, so how could he not have the idea that everything in the world belonged to him? It was just that he wasn't strong enough, so he felt very unbalanced when he thought that what belonged to him was being snatched away by the feudal lords.

"What else?" The Emperor suddenly realized that he was very unsuccessful. In front of Wang Sheng, ideas that he had previously taken for granted were actually not correct. He wanted to refute, but when he thought of the stories of the demise of the previous dynasties, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Another thing is, if you want this sword, then buy it honestly and properly at the market price," Wang Sheng instantly connected the Emperor's question to the matter of selling the sword: "Not just this one, but all future tributes to the royal family should not be requested from various places for free. Instead, they should all be purchased at market prices, just like the royal family is doing business."

"The royal family doing business? If things continue like this, won't the royal family lose so much that they'll have to sell their pants?" The Emperor sneered. Although he wasn't a real merchant, he could still figure out this calculation: "A business that only loses money and doesn't make money, let the royal family do it?"

"What you're paying is gold coins, and what you're buying is people's hearts," Wang Sheng completely ignored the Emperor's sneer and said to himself: "As for where your gold coins come from, that's your own business. In short, don't squeeze oil from the common people. If you do that, are you still afraid of not having people's hearts? With people's hearts, what are you afraid of in terms of the stability of your empire?"

Wang Sheng's words really moved the Emperor. Winning people's hearts was the most important business that the royal family should be doing. However, this business could only be done by the Emperor alone. If anyone else in the royal family wanted to do it, the Emperor would probably be furious. If it's not the Emperor's royal family, what are you trying to do by winning people's hearts?

"What else?" The Emperor couldn't wait to know more.

"Another thing is, the sword I bought for two million, if you want it, I'll give you a discounted price of two million six hundred and sixty-six thousand, for good luck! As for the rest, figure it out yourself," Wang Sheng didn't want to say too much, and just focused on the matter of the sword.

Seeing that the Emperor's eyes were almost spitting fire, Wang Sheng revealed a little more: "Knowing that the feudal lords are powerful, why not first win over the hearts of the people in the capital? Linglong Pavilion's reputation has some deterrence even outside. They don't have any ambitions. Why not try to bring such a loosely organized group to your side, instead of pushing them away?"

One sentence made the Emperor suddenly understand many things. The power of the feudal lords was an undeniable fact and had always been the Emperor's worry. How to resist the feudal lords became the most pressing issue.

Now Wang Sheng suddenly gave him an idea: unite some relatively weak organizations, even if they don't directly confront them, as long as they stand on his side at the appropriate time. As Wang Sheng said, Linglong Pavilion, an organization with a great reputation and no political ambitions, was still in the capital. If the Emperor didn't win them over and show goodwill, was he waiting for the feudal lords to do it?

It was just a matter of gold coins. Since the Emperor had learned from the major feudal lords and taken the sugar and salt business into his own hands, he didn't lack gold coins in the short term. In any case, in the Emperor's view, it was all free money. Sending out a little to win people's hearts seemed like a really good deal.

The royal family's business seemed to be done this way. The Emperor enjoyed thinking about it for a long time, thinking about Linglong Pavilion being brought over by him, thinking about Lao Jun Guan being brought over by him, and thinking about many others.

During the time that the Emperor was enjoying this, Wang Sheng and Zhou Guanshi quietly clinked glasses several times, drank several cups of wine, and quietly waited for the Emperor to return from that state.

The latest novel is at Six Ninety-Nine Book Bar!

"Okay! I'll buy it at the price you said." The Emperor pondered for a while and seemed to understand: "In the future, the items of those grandmasters in the Tiangong Workshop will all be purchased with gold coins, without forced tributes, how about that? But everything below the grandmaster level will remain the same, so as not to let those feudal lords notice anything wrong."

This time Wang Sheng didn't speak, but extended his right thumb and pointed it up at the Emperor. The Emperor immediately smiled.

"You earned me hundreds of thousands of gold coins with a few words, aren't you being too greedy?" After the Emperor thought about it, he began to joke with Wang Sheng.

"Or, you could also invest in Qiansheng Yuan, and I can give you a cost price." Wang Sheng smiled and suggested to the Emperor: "There will be a steady stream of gold coin income in the future, are you in?"