I am a living immortal.

Didn't the imperial court want it? They did, but without the cooperation of the locals, it would be useless and impossible to move forward. The imperial court wanted everything, so of course it couldn't persuade the merchants. Of the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans, merchants were at the bottom. So what if they were rich?

The imperial court originally wanted to promote trade between states in order to establish trade routes connecting the entire country, but in the end it came to nothing.

Why? Because those high-ranking officials often look down on the local tycoons, hoping to reap the lion's share at the lowest possible cost. Those local tycoons pay more, take on more risk, and receive less in return. No fool would agree to this. Even the powerful dragon can't suppress the local snake. What can you do to me if I don't participate? Forget about being an imperial envoy, even if you were the emperor, it wouldn't matter. You can say whatever you want; you can't stay here forever.

He says one thing and does another, there is nothing you can do about it.

The county magistrate is a transient force, but the aristocratic families remain. The magistrate has no control over the situation, nor does he want to. Ultimately, it's because of the inequality of interests, and ultimately, no one has the courage to do so. It's human nature to seek stability.

In the end, it was left unresolved.

Afterward, the court never mentioned the matter again. It's unclear whether it was suppressed or waiting for an opportunity. Therefore, while there was still communication between the various states, it was only with the states adjacent to each other. Each state's caravans, large and small, were controlled by the local tycoons, with few others entering.

However, the massive sum of money poured in by Mirage Dragon was immediately effective. Starting from Wending, and moving on to Shanqing, Dujun, Youxing, and Yongping, they conquered state after state, gathering hundreds of thousands of martial arts masters from here and there. With a single wave of their hands, they attacked from south to north. They appealed to their emotions if possible, but not to their interests. If they remained indifferent to those interests, they would be beaten until they submitted. This would inevitably take time, and the vast network behind the scenes was not indifferent either.

Another purpose of this caravan was to test the waters, like a butterfly trapped in a spider's web, flapping its wings. The more it struggled, the more attention it attracted. The spider hiding in the shadows wouldn't sit idly by either; it was only a matter of time before it revealed itself.

Since the other party likes open conspiracy, he will use open conspiracy to deal with it.

Either you watch me, a butterfly, break free from the spider web, or you have to reveal some traces. As long as you reveal them, they will be able to dig deeper based on the traces.

Fight back! Fight back! Fight back! No one wants to be tricked.

What's more, it's not the Mirage Dragon's character not to fight back. Come on, let me see what you've been planning for the past two years. Don't let me down.

As he expected, despite the initial unstoppable momentum, the further north they approached, the greater the resistance they encountered. To Shenlong's surprise, the counterattack was like a raging storm, dragging officials into the imperial court, from the imperial court to the aristocratic families, and finally even involving the underworld forces, with even traces of demonic influence among them.

This thundering move only stirred up the tip of the iceberg, yet even that tip revealed a great deal. Mirage Dragon listened to the report. He knew there would be obstacles, but these obstacles were so great that they made it impossible to move forward. If he weren't an ordinary person, any ordinary person would have been trapped.

Shenlong smiled and handed the message in his hand to Wei Ming.

"The Yan Dynasty is not as clear as we imagined. In two years, just two years, it is unknown whether the entire north belongs to the Yan Dynasty or to someone else. Our opponent is very smart, and he can think of what we can think of. Controlling the north means controlling the lifeline. If a natural disaster comes, then if it is delayed here or there, tens of millions of people will die. It is really a good strategy." Every word of the mirage dragon struck Wei Ming's heart.

He held the thin piece of news in his hand, squeezing it so hard that his fingers turned white, his brows furrowed, and he looked extremely angry.

Wei Ming knew that the prosperous times had covered up many loopholes, but he had not expected this group of people to be so unscrupulous. The emperor was far away, so were they really not afraid of the emperor knowing?

Grasping the key grain-producing areas, we can further consider whether the annual tax revenue is accurate and what kind of life do the people in the north lead?

The little information he'd leaked was not good. The tax cuts he'd advocated didn't seem to be implemented in the north, where grain taxes remained high, even more so than before the heyday. Yet, the figures reported to the court were after the reductions. Who pocketed the difference?

How dare they? They were so bold. Officials protected each other, and without even needing the guidance of those behind the scenes, these officials had already spontaneously resisted the destabilizing factors from the outside world. How could the Mirage Dragon caravan possibly enter?

No matter how much money you spend, it will be useless because the benefits involved are incomparable to the small profits.

After figuring this out, Wei Ming sighed heavily.

He put down the news in his hand and looked at Su Mu: "I understand. I will find a way to make His Majesty pay attention to this, and then look over there. There are more secrets hidden in the north than you can imagine."

Su Mu smiled and said, "I won't say much more about thanking you."

"Haha, of course, but you don't have to thank me. Now is the perfect time to clean up the north. How can we allow others to control the lifeline of food?" Wei Ming said this with murderous intent. These bugs that were lying on the people could be the perfect target.

"What are you going to do next?"

Shenlong smiled and said, "Of course, we should make a big fuss. The bigger the fuss, the more attention it will attract, and the more problems will be exposed. If we make the waters in the north even more muddy, it won't be so easy to cover up everything."

Wei Ming nodded, so that he could say it at the right time.

"I didn't expect it to happen so soon," Wei Ming said. He had originally wanted to take action against these malignant tumors, but these people were so deeply intertwined and powerful that finding a suitable excuse was not easy.

Now is the perfect opportunity to strike back at the north. Compared to the problems of grain transport corruption and illegal salt trafficking in the south, grain is undoubtedly the most important issue. Your Majesty is also quite concerned about the problems of trade within the country, but in recent years, no merchant has been so bold, which is unavoidable.

Now that I have it, maybe I can give it a try.

It is not a bad idea to cut off the cancer before it grows into a towering tree. After all, the later it grows, the more difficult it will be to deal with it.

The caravan formed by the Mirage Dragon was making great strides in the north. One side came with ill intentions, while the other side was stubborn and occupied the home turf. This game kicked off the prelude to the confrontation.

While the caravan was struggling to move north, desperately trying to carve out a piece of meat, a banquet was taking place in Yuannan. After this banquet, the future of the Yan Dynasty would be completely determined.