Chapter 172: Master! There is progress!
But the move made by the Lu Chamber of Commerce was completely rote, or it was a stupid move made by an outsider who had no knowledge of Korea.
The slight respect that the seven people had just felt for Ying Chengjiao was completely wiped out.
In ancient times, the importance of iron was second only to food, salt and other necessities.
Harvesting iron will lead to a shortage of farm tools, cooking utensils and other items.
If this continues for a long time, it may indeed cause unrest in other places.
But in Korea, it is impossible. This is the region least likely to be turbulent because of iron.
Except for Zhang Han, everyone was still laughing, and there was no respect for Ying Chengjiao in their words.
"Liang met Han Fei in the palace of Lord Chang'an. He is what you call a retainer of a young man."
In order to make the seven people take it seriously, Zhang Liang had to say some useful information.
As soon as the words fell, there was dead silence, and the seven people were speechless for a moment.
Soon, doubts arose.
"The master of the family is talking about Master Fei? Master Fei is the retainer of that bastard?"
"That's impossible. With Mr. Fei's personality, how could he be a retainer of the Qin people?"
"Can the Patriarch please repeat what you just said?"
In the past, these seven people not only obeyed Zhang Liang's every word, but also respected him to the extreme, and it was impossible for them to .
But today is different, Han Fei's status is already very high.
The two words "Han Zi" are enough to prove how famous he is.
In Han, Han Fei's status was much higher than in other places.
Han Fei was originally regarded as a savior by the Korean people.
"Liang met Han Fei, who was already a retainer of Ying Chengjiao in the Chang'an Jun Mansion. If any of you think you are better than Han Fei, you can ridicule Ying Chengjiao as much as you want."
After receiving Zhang Liang's affirmative answer, everyone was silent for a moment. All carelessness in their hearts was thrown away and they became 120% cautious.
Anyone who can recruit Han Zi as his retainer cannot be too cautious with him.
Zhang Han heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the seven people's mental outlook all changed. He didn't want his fellow tribesmen to become arrogant because of his speculation, thus delaying Zhang Liang's important plans.
Clearing his throat, Zhang Han continued his speculation.
"Han was the first country to be destroyed by Qin, but Qin only occupied the land of Han, not the people of Han, and did not apply Qin's laws. Nearly ten years have passed, except that the county magistrate has been replaced by a Qin person, and the patrol has been replaced by a Qin soldier. Han is still our Han, and the people of Han have never wanted to restore Han.
"Recovering Han is not just talk. We need weapons and war. Ying Chengjiao bought iron at twice the price and took away all the iron that can be turned into weapons. Is he preparing for Qin's second occupation of our Han?"
Iron itself is a strategic material.
Without sufficient equipment, even if there were a million Qin soldiers armed with sticks and stones, they would not be able to defeat the fully armed soldiers of the six countries and would not be able to unify the world.
"It's always like this. The Qin people are so cunning."
"This is a plan to cut off the firewood from under the cauldron, and destroy our Korean resistance."
"Ying Chengjiao is the younger brother of the King of Qin. In name, it is Ying Chengjiao who is betting with the Patriarch, but in reality, it is the King of Qin who is betting with the Patriarch!"
Although Zhang Liang never felt inferior, he was not arrogant enough to think that he could be taken seriously by the god who suppressed the world.
Shaking his head, Zhang Liang said, "The King of Qin will not know who Zhang Liang is, nor will he know what the Zhang family is like. Uncle Zhang, I think you are guessing in the wrong direction."
Zhang Han's expression straightened.
He has made great contributions to the Zhang family and has made outstanding achievements. Needless to say, his abilities are outstanding and he is the leader of the eight.
But compared with Zhang Liang, who was trained by two generations of Zhang family masters since childhood, was known to be able to take the Zhang family to new heights, and took over as the head of the Zhang family at a young age, he is still inferior.
"I would like to hear what the master has to say."
The seven people originally thought that what Zhang Han said hit the nail on the head.
Now, after hearing what Zhang Liang said, before Zhang Liang could even give his reasons, the seven people felt that Zhang Han was wrong.
They all fell silent and listened to Zhang Liang's explanation.
"If the King of Qin wants to attack Korea again, there is no need to go through so much trouble. It takes too long to collect iron. They only need to send troops to control the iron mines. The bet between Ying Chengjiao and I may not be the main topic, as Uncle Zhang said. But iron is definitely not the main topic either."
After Zhang Liang finished speaking, he saw the eight people nodding at the same time. The beautiful Zhang Liang, who had a feminine appearance, stroked his forehead, feeling very distressed.
His reputation in the Zhang family is too high, and he is also too recognized for my intelligence, which has both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that what he says is in line with the law, and the disadvantage is that everyone else agrees with what he says.
Never mind, I can’t figure out anything today.
Zhang Liang thought to himself and gave the order directly.
"Auntie Bao, each city should observe the birds in the sky and their trajectories to see where most of them fly to. All cities in Han will collect twice as much iron in one day. Ying Chengjiao must not be in Xianyang, but in Han. Find him for me."
The woman responded.
"only."
"Also, bring in everyone in Korea who can tame birds. Money is not a problem. We can't deliver letters through the air like they do, but we can train birds of prey to intercept their letters."
The woman was convinced by Zhang Liang's calculations and responded again: "Yes."
"Uncle Zhang, all nobles in each city must stop selling iron from today. Although Liang cannot know what Ying Chengjiao is planning for the time being, it does not prevent me from stopping them. The Zhang family has lived in this land of Han for two hundred years, and the Zhang family does not need to do anything more. As long as Ying Chengjiao cannot continue, the Zhang family will not lose."
Zhang Han did not agree immediately like the woman, but frowned and whispered: " We can only ask them for a while, but not for a long time. The price of iron was very stable even during the war in Korea. Now the Lu's Chamber of Commerce has doubled the price. I'm afraid they can't hold on."
Zhang Liang's face turned gloomy, but even so, it did not diminish his beauty. He looked like a beautiful woman who was sulking.
"We can delay it as long as possible. Tell them. Zhang Liang is willing to visit all the families that stand with the Zhang family after the war."
"only."
"Brother Dong, start stockpiling food from now on. Don't make a big fuss about it. Stockpile food in a way that won't impact South Korea's current food prices."
"only."
"...Why don't you ask why we are hoarding food?"
"The head of the family has his own reasons. Zhang Dong just does as he says."
Zhang Liang smiled half angry and half happy.
"No matter what means Ying Chengjiao has, in the end, the winner of a business battle will be determined by food. Without food, a man cannot survive."
"Thank you, Patriarch, for explaining this."
"Brother Wei, you..."
Zhang Liang sat alone in the main seat, issuing orders in an orderly and clear manner.
Soon, all eight of them left as ordered.
Zhang Liang rubbed his forehead and was about to go to sleep for a while.
A servant ran in with an excited look on his face, shouting loudly.
"Master! There is progress!"
Zhang Liang took a closer look.
This servant was the one he placed beside the papermakers.
This servant had only one duty, which was to report the craftsmen's progress to him every day.
