In the beginning, he was ranked alongside An Shigeng as a spoiled brat.

According to the Buddha, the Valley of Heartbreak's annual output exceeding 100 catties is not a problem, amounting to approximately 16,000 taels of gold per year!

"Thank you very much, Young Master Zhang!"

Hearing Zhang Xiaoshan's words, even Qiu Qianren was shocked by the Zhang family's wealth and power.

Unexpectedly, the seemingly useless flowers in the Valley of Heartbreak could bring such great profits, nearly 20,000 taels of gold, more than the Iron Palm Gang earned in half a year, and this was just from extracting a fragrant liquid from the seemingly useless petals.

"Hongxiao, escort 19 guests!"

Zhang Xiaoshan did not recruit Qiu Qianren, the leader of a gang, so how could he possibly become a guest of the Zhang family?

After Qiu Qianren left, Zhang Xiaoshan took a piece of dragon fish meat to Ghost Street.

At this time, in Ghost Street, Fire Cloud Evil God Yingxia had become one of the three upper families—Fire Cloud Evil God!

Having already established a reputation in the martial arts world, he naturally used his martial arts name.

The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion has three floors!

At this moment, Zhang Xiaoshan and Yingxia sat cross-legged.

Yingxia, who had been developing her influence in Ghost Street, immediately learned of Zhang Xiaoshan's arrival and understood that he had come to find Ghost Yama.

She saw Zhang Xiaoshan give a piece of fish he had brought yesterday to Ghost Yama.

"Has Miss Yingxia adapted well?"

"Fortunately, Ghost Street values ​​strength above all else. Only the strong can suppress those demons and monsters."

Zhang Xiaoshan nodded, but still offered some pointers:

"Whether it's the business world or the political arena, they all have their own rules."

Power is only one aspect. Just like seeking wealth, if you don't follow the rules of Ghost Street, who will sell you stolen goods? It's not safe that way.

So if you want to make money, you have to follow the rules here.

I know that the Sixth Prince is in dire need of money, but if he tries to make money by disregarding the rules, then it would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

If you don't abide by the rules of Ghost Street, who will sell your stuff through your door?

Just like in business, the most important thing is credit. If you lose your credit, you're basically finished in the business world.

By the way, please also tell the Sixth Prince this time:

Three hundred thousand gold coins, and one thousand divine crossbows!

A thousand crossbows? Do they think they're from the Ministry of War's manufacturing bureau?!

Even with a hundred Divine Arm Crossbows, the Sixth Prince had already put in a tremendous amount of effort; how much more so with a thousand?

"I will convey your words to the Sixth Prince!"

Why did the Zhang family need the Divine Arm Crossbow? Their intelligence network is evident in the fact that they found a thousand sets of Iron Pagodas at the Murong family's residence; clearly, these were part of a matching set.

The Zhang family didn't hand over the equipment, and now they want to trade a thousand crossbows; they're trying to build their own private army.

This is a right that only a prince has!

"Young master, Yingxia has another question. What about Yingxue?"

Just like the White-browed Eagle King and Wenjue went to search for the body, the day after they escaped, Yingxia returned to Zhuxian Town to look for Yingxue, but she did not find Yingxue's body.

It wasn't until Wenjue reminded her yesterday that she realized Yingxue might have become a prisoner of the Zhang family.

"The Flying Guillotine!"

"Thank you, sir!"

Although he knew Yingxue had betrayed the Sixth Prince, he at least knew she wasn't dead.

"You're welcome. You might be facing each other again in the future."

At this moment, Ghost Yama walked in and whispered in Zhang Xiaoshan's ear. Zhang Xiaoshan couldn't help but chuckle:

Goodbye, young lady.

"Master, walk slowly!"

Inside the core of Ghost Street, Lei Laowu was waiting for the two of them.

Next to Lei Laowu, there were also newly unearthed ghost goods, so the harvest should be quite substantial.

"Son!"

"what happened?"

Looking at Lei Laowu, who appeared somewhat disheveled, it was clear he had just gone through a major battle, even though Zhang Xiaoshan looked puzzled.

"Someone below has betrayed us! My men have been ambushed by a group of scoundrels!"

Lei Laowu's strength clearly indicates that the person who ambushed him was no ordinary person; otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state.

Although Lei Laowu is not known for his combat prowess, he is proficient in the Nine Yin Manual and the Heavenly Crippled Divine Skill. Even top-tier masters cannot withstand more than a few moves from him.

"Take a break for a while; your goals are too big right now."

"Well, there's a mission that requires me to go to Tiannan soon. Why don't you go there to hide and relax a bit?"

"Yes, son!"

Looking at the things Lei Laowu brought, which were numerous funerary objects from the underworld,

There was even an extremely sharp divine sword, which was probably the tomb of a feudal lord or emperor, since the sword itself appeared to be the sword of an emperor or feudal lord.

"Uncle Gui, find the informant, and wipe out his entire family!"

"Yes!"

Traitors will die without a burial place.

Since the Zhang family has not wronged the other party, they must bear the consequences of their betrayal.

Compassion does not command troops!

The Zhang family's benevolence extends to their own people, but if anyone thinks the Zhang family is easy to bully, remember that the blood from the last Blood Droplet incident hasn't been wiped clean yet.

Three days later, Yingxia brought news that the deal for the Divine Arm Crossbow had been finalized.

The cost of a single Divine Arm Crossbow is at most thirty gold coins, and at most less than fifty gold coins, but Zhang Xiaoshan's crossbow costs three hundred gold coins.

Such enormous profits would be enough for the Sixth Prince to take the risk.

Even if he spent 100,000 taels of gold to bribe officials, he could still make a profit of 200,000 taels of gold.

Why bother with who he is? Your Highness, you don't need money to smooth things over.

As for grudges?

The Zhang family were businessmen, and he was a feudal lord; what they valued most was always profit.

In the eyes of the Sixth Prince, although Zhang Xiaoshan was a peerless martial artist, he was definitely an honest and law-abiding businessman.

Doing business with business people is perfectly normal.

···

With the arrival of gold, the task of building dikes and dredging waterways before the spring flood season is progressing at an astonishing speed.

Where is the real money? And no one doubts the Zhang family's generosity and trustworthiness.

In less than a month, more than a million laborers completed the first phase of the task.

This is a task to be carried out before the spring flood season: repairing dikes that may have hidden dangers and dredging river channels.

In total, it cost no more than 300,000 gold.

This was even with the Zhang family paying a hefty sum to work overtime, seven hours a day, with the allowance tripled, and all three meals consisting of meat to replenish their energy.

The release of this ledger shocked the entire Kyushu.

The project was originally a massive undertaking, with budgets from all parties exceeding one million gold coins, but the final cost was less than a third of that.

It should be noted that the imperial court allocates millions of taels of silver every year, and the laborers are paid free of charge. With the addition of local subsidies, the total amount is nearly 100,000 taels of silver.

This wasn't just the case in one empire; it was the case in several empires.

The total cost would probably exceed one million gold.

Because the imperial court's resources and corvée labor were free; at most, the cost was just rice, vegetables, and soup.

Moreover, the cost is several times higher than that of Zhang's unlimited rice supply, where every meal includes meat.

If there wasn't something fishy going on with these 963 cases, who would believe it?

With the supervision of the crowd, the Zhang family kept the accounts, and the money exchange issued funds. Every transaction was clear and accurate, without a single error.

Immediately, scholars from all over Kyushu wrote a petition with ten thousand bloodstains.

The importance of the river is such that every year during the spring floods, tens of thousands of people die, yet everyone manages to get through it safely.

In the event of a major flood, millions could drown, tens of millions more would be displaced, and the landscape could be littered with bones, leading to acts of cannibalism...

That was a natural disaster, but it was probably also a man-made one!

Therefore, such corruption has definitely crossed the line for too many people.

This is no longer a matter of embezzlement, but rather murder for money.

They might become one of them in the future, but that's just a possibility.

Whether driven by genuine righteous indignation or by a desire for fame and fortune, the petition, signed by thousands of people, thoroughly criticized all the officials responsible for the river construction.

Similarly, the trouble caused by the Zhang family is considerable, and many people undoubtedly hate them.

Damn it, they just had to build a dam for no reason, and now they're all suffering.

But the Zhang family didn't care at all!

The Zhang family's relationship within the core of the Song Dynasty Empire was as stable as Mount Tai.

With such a life-threatening situation, who would dare to make things difficult for the Zhang family?

If they dare to push the Zhang family to their deaths, then the Zhang family's methods will be nothing short of ruthless and desperate killings, which no one can withstand.

Moreover, the Zhang family also had the emperor backing them up.

Although the emperor was incompetent, he knew that those officials were sucking his blood.

In addition, the memorials to the emperor regarding the spring floods were so numerous and piling up that he couldn't sleep for several days.

How are you now?

It's not a natural disaster, but a man-made one.

When an emperor is enraged, corpses float for miles!

Apart from the true elites who, if they made mistakes, were punished with work instead of fines, the Song and Ming dynasties only executed the ringleaders. But the Wu Tang and Later Zhou dynasties saw countless heads rolled and rivers of blood flow.

Before they could even cause trouble for the Zhang family, they were beheaded and their entire family was wiped out!

In an instant, the Zhang family's reputation soared even higher, but they also became a thorn in the side of many.

Chapter 213 Nine Yin Divine Skill Enhances Various Treasures

[Host: Zhang Xiaoshan]

True Qi: Peak of Innate Realm, Mid-Stage of Eight Cauldrons

Talent: Copper Skin and Iron Bones, Extreme Yang Body

Martial Arts: Dragon's Saliva Qi, Golden Cauldron Iron Shirt, Nine Cauldrons Mountain and River Fist, Nine Yin Manual (+)...

Items: Peerless Jade (Enhanced), Meteorite Folding Fan (Enhanced), Dragon Tendon Whip (+), Dragon Wings (+), Fiery Cloud Armor (+), Sacred Flame Token (+)...

Merit: 175845

Looking at his harvest, Zhang Xiaoshan was surprised to find that this was only the beginning, yet it had already brought him so much merit.

Ten thousand merits, Grandmaster!

In the past, Zhang Xiaoshan would have chosen to advance to the Celestial Realm without hesitation.

However, Zhang Xiaoshan has just eaten the Dragon Saliva Fruit and has not yet fully mastered the Dragon Saliva Qi, so his breakthrough can only be postponed.

On the contrary, the Nine Yin Manual and many other treasures can be directly enhanced.