Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

Chapter 716 The Ouyang Family Arrives, No Retreat Conditions

If all the roads ahead and behind are blocked, how can Liu Chuang escape?

"Are you wondering how I'm going to get Liu Chuang to retreat?"

"Yes."

Yan Ziqiong nodded and looked at Qin Ming curiously.

"It's very simple, just come to me."

"Within three days, I will arrange for someone to open a road to the Yun family."

"get through……!?"

Yan Ziqiong gasped and turned pale with fear.

"What you and I are after is the entire Yan Dynasty. We don't necessarily have to attack the imperial city."

"After taking over most of the country, who will be the king?"

Qin Ming’s words made Yan Ziqiong’s eyes widen.

Now, both the southeast and the north have been taken over by Qin Ming.

The Wu family and the Yun family are also willing to support him.

Only one company is left, but it has never expressed its position.

Yan Ziqiong rested her chin on her jade hand and thought for a while, then suddenly said:

"I'll go to the Ouyang family."

"I'm writing a letter."

Qin Ming thought for a moment and prepared to write a letter to the Ouyang family personally.

If the Wu family, the Yun family, and the Ouyang family could all be taken down, the area occupied by Yan Ziqiong would be larger than the royal territory.

The reason why the royal family was able to command the four directions was because the subordinate nobles controlled by the Four Pillars paid money to the higher authorities one level at a time.

Depending on the rank of the nobility, each noble paid different amounts.

The Four Pillars State families definitely have the most interactions.

Adding the silver from taxes, it is already a huge sum of money.

Ever since Qin Ming brought the Yun family and the Wu family under his command.

Not only the Yun family and the Wu family, but also the hundreds or thousands of nobles under them who held territories, began to gradually break away from the control of the court.

This resulted in the Yan Dynasty royal family collecting much less silver from local areas.

Without money, there is less they can do.

If the Ouyang family is taken down now, the territory controlled by the royal family will become an isolated island.

Without the support from other wealthy families, they are actually no different from ordinary wealthy families.

A few days after the letter was sent, news from the Ouyang family arrived.

"Your Majesty, the Ouyang family said they have arranged for Young Master Ouyang Qing to come visit."

"Oh?"

Qin Ming raised his eyebrows.

The Ouyang family's initiative exceeded his expectations.

"He should arrive this afternoon. We've arranged a train to pick him up. These past few days... the train tracks have also been laid into the Ouyang family's territory."

At this time, Chang Baishan on the side spoke.

"How did you get it in there?"

Qin Ming raised his eyebrows.

Even he had to use the inland rivers in the Yun family's territory that connected to the port to transport the things to Yan Ziqiong's territory.

They had been thinking before that if there was a chance to transport it directly from the Ouyang family’s southern port, the journey could be shortened by more than half.

However, the Ouyang family is still the bully in the south. If it is not handled properly, it will bring them a lot of trouble.

Fortunately, during the time when Qin Ming was stirring up trouble in Yan Dynasty, the Ouyang family pretended to be dead and did not interfere in the struggle between Yan Dynasty and Daqian.

Even if the imperial court gave the order, they would just arrange some people to come out and pretend to retreat.

"A few days ago, someone below told me that the train tracks can pass through the Ouyang family's territory, so there's no need to take a detour."

"I thought about laying it out and trying it out. The Ouyang family didn't say anything when I laid the first one, so I just laid all the others out."

Chang Baishan spoke as a matter of course.

In his opinion, since the Ouyang family didn't say anything, it meant they agreed.

If it is something that is taken for granted, there is no need to put it out there in the open. Just take advantage of it quietly.

"Arrange a team to come over via the southern port and try."

Qin Ming thought about it and decided to test the Ouyang family's bottom line.

It takes more than ten days to get here from Yunjia in the western port and take the inland river.

However, it only takes three days to deliver things from the southern port to Yan Ziqiong's territory.

The time gap is very fatal on the battlefield.

If the Ouyang family can agree, everything will be easy.

After two days of travel, Ouyang Qing arrived at Yan Ziqiong's capital.

This time, he brought dozens of guards with him, and nothing else.

It was obvious that he came here immediately after receiving the order.

"Greetings to His Majesty Daqian."

Following Chang Baishan to Qin Ming, Ouyang Qing immediately stepped forward and saluted him.

"Did the Ouyang family give you my letter?"

Qin Ming poured him a cup of tea and gestured for him to sit in front of him.

Ouyang Qing slowly sat down and nodded:

"My father roughly told me what you meant. He arranged for me to come here this time and gave me full authority to handle the matter."

"I have full authority to dispose of it. It seems that you, like Wu Tianxing, are also expected to do the same."

Qin Ming smiled and said that big families like theirs all need inheritance.

The Ouyang family has experienced several upheavals and is also looking for a suitable candidate.

Ouyang Qing was the successor to the head of the family they chose.

What he needs now is to achieve results.

The best choice to achieve good results is to find Qin Ming.

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. I just want my family to find a big tree to rely on."

"If you are willing to treat us and the Wu family the same way, the port will be open for trade now."

"But we can't participate in the war."

The Ouyang family's attitude from the beginning to the end was unwillingness to participate.

They just wanted to develop peacefully. Anyway, Yan Ziqiong's territory was here, isolating them from the battlefield.

There is a buffer zone between Yan Ziqiong and Yan Zheng’s territories.

No matter how fierce the battle between Yan Dynasty and Daqian is, it is impossible for them to be implicated.

Therefore, there is no need for the Ouyang family to waste their energy.

He is willing to support Qin Ming now just to get some benefits and prevent himself from being liquidated in the future.

"You can protect yourself, but there is one thing."

Qin Ming's words made Ouyang Qing serious, and he waited quietly for Qin Ming's explanation.

"The Ouyang family needs to open up Daqian to trade. It would be best if they could give us two or more ports to facilitate the garrison."

"garrison?"

Ouyang Qing's eyelids twitched.

He had actually thought about this matter, but after weighing it over and over again, he felt that it was too disadvantageous.

The Ouyang family is well aware of Daqian's strength.

Although the Wu and Yun families have Daqian garrisons, they are not garrisons in the traditional sense.

The reason why Qin Ming stationed his troops at the border between them and the Yan Dynasty royal territory was to help them block possible attacking troops from the Yan Dynasty.

In contrast, the Ouyang family, with Yan Ziqiong and Yan Zheng's territories as barriers, actually does not need Qin Ming's help to station troops.

Proposing to station troops at this time clearly shows that Qin Ming does not trust them very much.

Ouyang Qing shook his head slowly, disagreeing with Qin Ming's statement.

"You don't trust the Ouyang family, and I understand why you want to station troops there. However, I cannot agree to this. I can offer you some other conditions in exchange. Would you be willing to listen to them?"

"What conditions?"

Qin Ming became somewhat interested.

What kind of exchange conditions would allow him to not station troops and still trust the Ouyang family?

"The Ouyang family wants to exchange local industry for yours, Your Majesty. Is that acceptable?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Qin Ming laughed.

"How dare the Ouyang family, a mere family, use industry as a bargaining chip in front of me?"