Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

Silent all night.

On the morning of the second day, Chang Baishan hurriedly found Qin Ming with several guards and said anxiously:

"Your Majesty, the wind direction in the northwest has been bad recently, and all the major families want to withdraw."

"Withdraw what?"

Qin Ming put down the pen and paper in his hand and looked at Chang Baishan in surprise.

"They're the people who built the canal. They all want to run away now. There's still a group of them waiting at the Beijing Chamber of Commerce, trying to delay the construction period with various excuses."

"Because the court has no money?"

Chang Baishan's words quickly reminded Qin Ming of what Chen Shimao had told him before.

"Yes."

"What does this have to do with them? Even if the imperial court doesn't have the money, they've only temporarily suspended construction of the canal to the south. Why are they trying to get involved?"

"I'm afraid the court will set a precedent for this kind of thing. If we don't build it anymore, why should they build it?"

When he heard this, Qin Ming immediately understood what Chang Baishan meant.

Before the construction of the canal, the major families were forced by Qin Ming to invest and take on this difficult task.

While he was repairing it himself, Qin Ming also began to build the canal from north to south.

Originally, both parties were minding their own business and there was no problem as long as they did not interfere with each other.

But the key is that Qin Ming stopped.

Seeing that Qin Ming personally took the lead in delaying the project, many people started to play tricks and began to slow down the project.

When asked, these people also have reasons.

If the imperial court can stop, why can't they?

"It's really troublesome."

Qin Ming snorted coldly, with a hint of frost on his face.

These people really take advantage of every opportunity to stir up trouble.

The construction of the canal from the northwest to Changzhou was already a huge privilege for them.

But these people are still not satisfied and repeatedly want to do less.

Chang Baishan made a mistake and asked Qin Ming tentatively:

"Your Majesty, why don't you take action against them?"

Since they are not convinced, we will use force again.

A group of troops were stationed in the northwest to specifically assist them in construction and also serve as a deterrent.

"No need. The last time we executed them first and asked for permission later, they were already on guard. If we go again this time, I'm afraid it will provoke a civil uprising."

The last time Qin Ming arranged for his troops to enter the northwest was to intimidate the major families.

They just chose the time when their envoys were coming to Beijing.

Now they have all gone back, and they still have strong troops and horses.

If troops were sent in directly at this time, it would likely intensify the conflict.

"So what should we do? They are using us as an example now."

"Come on, take me to meet their representative."

"Ah."

Soon, Chang Baishan personally drove a carriage and brought Qin Ming to the Capital Chamber of Commerce.

The people in the Beijing Chamber of Commerce did not want to be involved in this matter, which would cause their relations with the major families in the northwest to deteriorate.

So none of them showed up.

They just arranged some guards to take Qin Ming into their meeting room.

There were already more than a dozen people sitting in the conference room, all of them were representatives arranged by major families in the northwest.

The leader was a young man dressed in gorgeous clothes, exuding a noble aura. Everyone around him stood behind him, and it was obvious that he was the leader.

When the other party saw Qin Ming coming, he immediately walked forward and saluted respectfully.

"Your Majesty, I am Xu Youjia, a humble servant, and I have come to discuss the canal issue with you on my father's orders."

Qin Ming nodded slowly. He was not surprised by the arrival of the Xu family.

After turning to look at the others, he asked with a smile:

"Aside from the Xu family, are there so many other families coming to discuss the canal with the town?"

"Yes."

"Everyone, please tell us."

Although the other party came to cause trouble, Qin Ming did not attack them directly. Instead, he nodded slowly and listened quietly to them talk about their problems.

"Your Majesty, we have a batch of materials that won't be delivered until next month. The section of the canal we're responsible for may be delayed for some time."

"And we..."

"Your Majesty, the Liu family has recently..."

When everyone saw Qin Ming sitting here, they immediately started complaining, as if each of them had suffered a great injustice and had countless difficulties and troubles.

Qin Ming listened quietly to the various questions they raised and then slowly said:

"The Xu family and your families will all be delayed in their construction, right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, no one dared to respond.

What they said originally was very good, that both parties could assist each other and no one could delay the construction schedule no matter what.

The canal must be dug as soon as possible!

But now, everyone wants to regret it.

Seeing that no one around was talking, Xu Youjia took the initiative to speak towards Qin Ming's painting head:

"Yes, Your Majesty. We are currently preoccupied with other matters. Could you please be flexible and put the canal issue aside for a while?"

Although their words were nice and they repeatedly assured Qin Ming that they would just take a break for a while and then start working again.

But everyone can see that if they really nod and agree to their request, they will be giving these people an opening.

They will make more unreasonable demands in the future.

At this time, the atmosphere on the scene seemed to be at a stalemate, and both sides were silent.

After a long time, even Xu Youjia's heart began to beat fast.

After all, Qin Ming is the current emperor of Daqian, and the pressure he brings to everyone is extremely great.

After waiting for a while, Qin Ming suddenly said:

"Everyone, the canal construction period cannot be delayed. This was promised at the beginning. Even I cannot set a precedent for you."

Hearing this, Xu Youjia and others immediately grasped the topic.

"But Your Majesty, construction on the Northwest Canal is not just halted. As far as we know, construction on the North-South Canal has also been halted for a while."

"It's just that that section of the canal was taken over by the imperial workshops and construction corps, so it can be stopped, but our northwest section can't be stopped. Is that what you mean?"

"We are all doing things, how can Your Majesty be so partial?"

boom!

Chang Baishan slammed the table and yelled at Xu Youjia:

"How dare you speak so arrogantly in front of His Majesty!"

"I'm just telling the truth. If I do things this way, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince people."

The Xu family has a deep foundation, and Xu Youjia, relying on the false support behind him, is now speaking frankly.

Behind him, many people from small families also began to whisper to each other.

"Okay, no need to argue."

Qin Ming patted Chang Baishan on the shoulder and asked him to sit down.

One of them plays the good guy and the other plays the bad guy.

As Qin Ming spoke, everyone at the scene gradually quieted down, waiting for Qin Ming's response.

"The court has indeed been short of a batch of silver recently, but this is a minor matter. The construction of the North-South Canal was suspended for a few days, and I have already severely criticized them."

"Within three days, the canal will resume construction without any delays."

"Um?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone frowned. This was completely different from the information they had received.