Dragon's Origin

“You are ruthless!” The Emperor glared at Wang Sheng for a long while before finally relenting. There was no helping it; Wang Sheng was shameless, actually wanting Mei’er to negotiate with him. How could he possibly gain an advantage from Mei’er?

Aside from Mei’er being his daughter, her innate charm alone, if fully unleashed against the Emperor, he wasn’t sure he could withstand it. How many times had the Xia and Gan families’ negotiations fallen below four hundred million gold coins?

If Mei’er were really to negotiate, the Emperor estimated he’d be lucky to get a 30/70 split, and that was with the Emperor getting 30 and Mei’er 70. If Mei’er wasn’t satisfied, the Empress wouldn’t let him off the hook.

“Isn’t that the right way to think?” Wang Sheng looked at the Emperor and nodded with satisfaction.

The Emperor gnashed his teeth in anger, unable to say another word.

“If you dare to be even more ruthless…” Wang Sheng said half a sentence, then stopped, deliberately leaving it hanging, signaling Zhou Guanshi to pour wine so he could slowly savor it.

After waiting for a long while, with the Emperor and Zhou Guanshi unable to get the rest of the sentence, and watching Wang Sheng leisurely drink, the Emperor really wanted to smash his wine cup over Wang Sheng’s head.

Unfortunately, the Emperor couldn’t throw his cup. Even if Zhou Guanshi were to act now, he could certainly capture Wang Sheng, but so what? That wasn’t the outcome the Emperor wanted. The Emperor just wanted to know what good ideas could come from being even more ruthless.

“After careful consideration, We believe that a fifty-fifty split is a more reasonable division.” The Emperor finally relented and lowered his head once more.

“Not forced?” Wang Sheng asked with a smile.

“Not at all.” The Emperor’s ability to change his expression was far superior to Wang Sheng’s, making Wang Sheng marvel.

“That’s good, business is best when it’s a win-win, you earn and I earn, right?” Wang Sheng smiled and then asked, “Where were we?”

“Duke, you were saying, ‘If you dare to be even more ruthless…’” Zhou Guanshi eagerly answered. He was joking; the Emperor was already forcing a smile, and to make him answer now would just add to his frustration.

“If you dare to be even more ruthless, move the entire outer city out,” Wang Sheng continued with his shocking statement: “Anyway, the majority of the outer city’s residents are ordinary people. As long as they are given larger land, bigger houses, and more gold coins, they will be happy to move to the suburbs.”

“And then?” the Emperor interjected.

“Construction!” Wang Sheng replied, “No need for people from various factions to buy land and build their own residences. You directly divide the area, re-plan it, and build a large number of equal-sized residences, big and small. Whoever likes which one buys it. In addition, the banks of the moat should be carefully designed, with waterside estates and luxury residences, selling them for several times the price, and not worry about no one buying them.”

The Emperor was already tugging at his beard, pondering the feasibility of Wang Sheng’s words. Such a large-scale relocation was something the Emperor had never imagined before. Not just the Emperor, but among all the civil and military officials combined, who had ever thought of it? No wonder Wang Sheng said to be even more ruthless; it was indeed ruthlessly boundless.

“Will people buy them?” The Emperor asked with some uncertainty, but his tone showed considerable interest.

“Safety!” Wang Sheng smiled: “First, stipulate that within the inner city area, no one without a noble title is allowed to buy. What rank of nobility buys what size of residence; your civil and military ministers are good at this, let them set a rule.”

“On the outer city side, sell to whoever has money.” Wang Sheng continued to give pointers: “Don’t tell me that, apart from the important figures of the eight great feudal lords, the other wealthy and powerful small families aren’t afraid of death. Anyway, martial arts are forbidden in the capital, so compared to other places torn apart by fighting, the capital is the safest place. Moreover, the capital has enjoyments that Worry-Free City can’t compare to. Don’t these wealthy and powerful guests like living in a safe place in the capital, and casually strolling around Qian Shengyuan, Runzi Workshop, and Dream Workshop?”

“More foreign experts will flood into the capital…” Zhou Guanshi interjected appropriately, raising his concerns.

“Old Zhou, tell me, is it easier for the royal family to concentrate its strength and defend only the imperial city, or to defend the entire capital?” Wang Sheng didn’t answer Zhou Guanshi’s question, but simply asked a rhetorical one.

That was enough; defending the imperial city was certainly easier than defending the entire capital.

“Abandoning the entire capital is definitely inappropriate, but only defending the inner city area is completely fine.” The Emperor spoke from the side: “Since only people with noble titles are allowed to buy in the inner city, then naturally it is the title We bestow. The royal family’s power protects the meritorious officials We reward with titles, right? Is that justifiable?”

“Anyway, whether it’s the inner city or the outer city, the more foreigners there are, the less everyone knows about each other’s strengths and weaknesses.” Wang Sheng said with a smile: “If the royal family has any hidden strength, they can easily disperse it within the capital. Everyone has experts guarding them, and these experts can stay openly and brightly without anyone suspecting their origins.”

“As for the outer city’s defenses, it’s even simpler.” Wang Sheng continued to say to the Emperor, whose eyes were growing brighter: “The Emperor has stated his position so thoroughly, even tearing down the city walls. It’s reasonable for the eight great feudal lords to each send some manpower to jointly maintain order, right?”

“It’s reasonable.” The Emperor nodded: “I’m afraid they’ll be happy to do so.”

“Anyway, throw the outer city’s defenses to them, let them fight each other openly and secretly.” Since Wang Sheng had spoken, he wouldn’t hold back: “But set rules for them, forbidding them from disturbing the residents, no matter how they fight each other in private. Completely eliminating fighting within the capital is absolutely impossible, but as long as they can suppress it, there’s no problem. If anyone can’t suppress it, then don’t blame everyone for attacking them.”

The Emperor and Zhou Guanshi nodded frequently, knowing that completely stopping the fighting was impossible, even for gods. But achieving what Wang Sheng said would be enough to draw the attention of all the world’s wealthy people.

“Think about it, the wealthy people all over the world painstakingly earning gold coins in various places, and then rushing to the capital to give you the gold coins, what does that feel like?” Wang Sheng was simply trying to bewitch the Emperor, even though what he said would be the truth if realized.

Isn’t that how the United States on Earth extracts global wealth? And isn’t that how the real estate in Earth's capital concentrates the nation’s wealth? This technique has almost no technical content, but it is extremely effective.

“At that time, the capital will certainly be the economic center. As for the cultural center, it depends on how you continue to manage it.” After Wang Sheng finished speaking, he didn’t forget to draw a big cake for the Emperor, one that he seemed to be able to eat as long as he nodded: “You roughly calculate, the entire outer city of the capital, sold at several times the price of the inner city’s land, how many gold coins is that? Taking half of it from you isn’t too much, right?”