Making you a son-in-law is not about making you conquer the world.

Inside the hall, the air seemed to freeze.

The city lord sat high in the center of the hall, his face as gloomy as if dark clouds were pressing down, and his deep eyes seemed to contain a storm about to erupt.

Every subtle movement of his exuded unquestionable authority and unassailable majesty, as if the air in the entire hall was so heavy it could drip water because of his emotions.

Standing below, Lin Ping felt as if a thousand drums were beating in his heart, each beat striking his nerves.

He knew all too well that every word and every action he took at that moment was a matter of life and death, as if he were dancing on the edge of a knife, and the slightest mistake would lead to utter destruction.

Lin Ping thought to himself, "This is gambling with my life!"

He hadn't started spending money yet, and if he were killed by the city lord, he wouldn't be able to complete the mission.

However, he wanted to use this opportunity to test the city lord's bottom line, and he had to carefully gauge the situation.

"Lin Ping, now that you've entered the City Lord's Mansion, you must abide by its rules. It's best to avoid places like brothels and gambling dens in the future."

The city lord finally spoke, his tone relatively calm.

Everyone was stunned. This was illogical. Jiang Yunyu was so angry that his eyes were blazing with fury.

He even doubted whether he was really Lin Ping's biological son, wondering why Lin Ping hadn't been punished for saying such outrageous things, while he was beaten for just smiling.

The city lord was not angry at all; in fact, he spoke in a consultative tone and did not even explicitly forbid him from going to brothels or gambling dens.

In order to continue testing the city lord's bottom line, Lin Ping seized the opportunity to say, "No, you have to go at least five times a month!"

"If this goes unpunished, I, Jiang Yunyu, will take your surname, Lin Ping, from now on!"

The prince secretly rejoiced, thinking that Lin Ping was utterly shameless.

The city lord's suggestion that you avoid such places is a euphemism, but Lin Ping is truly oblivious to the situation and tries to bargain.

In fact, the reason Lin Ping kept challenging the other party's bottom line was not only to test him, but also to tell the city lord that he was a spendthrift with no ambition and would not pose a threat to the city lord's mansion except in terms of money.

This will result in a more stable position.

The city lord's face grew even uglier, and he angrily extended a finger.

"Haha, Father's going to do it himself!"

Jiang Yunyu covered his mouth with both hands, unable to hold it in any longer. In his understanding, the city lord's extended one finger meant "kill," two fingers meant "go to die," and three fingers meant "you're finished."

"Once, that's right, at most once!"

The city lord spoke, not with a cold word of killing, but with a suggestion to discuss.

"Deal!" Lin Ping replied with a grin.

The city lord's gaze was somewhat complicated; it seemed... they had fallen into a trap.

Lin Ping's expectation was just one time, but he deliberately raised the requirements very high so that the city lord would have the opportunity to lower the price. He couldn't refuse his father-in-law, could he?

"What do we do with the money after paying for prostitutes and gambling?"

The city lord, his face flushed, continued to ask. At his advanced age, he felt it was a disgrace to utter those two words.

"I'll pay the rest back slowly..."

Lin Ping was about to emerge; brothels and gambling dens were notorious money pits, and a thousand taels of silver might not be enough.

Back when he was with the Lin family, he could easily squander tens of thousands of taels of silver. He never expected the City Lord's Mansion to be so stingy.

But Lin Ping swallowed his words. If he said them, he might completely enrage the city lord and be beaten to death.

Moreover, the city lord has an enraged Jiang Xiuwen by his side, a guy who's like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment.

If it weren't for the protection he received from being an ordinary citizen, he would have died countless times.

Lin Ping suddenly became serious, first standing up straight and then asking in return, "May I ask, Father, what is the most valuable thing in Jiangcheng Prefecture these days?"

Lin Ping was truly ashamed at this point. As the son of a wealthy merchant, he was completely ignorant of the prices and business opportunities in Jiangcheng Prefecture. Apart from squandering his family fortune, he was utterly useless.

"Natural salt is the most expensive. In recent years, Jiangcheng Prefecture has experienced more cloudy weather than sunny weather, and the salt fields in Yancheng County have been abandoned. In addition, large merchants have hoarded the salt, causing the price of salt to soar dozens of times!"

The city lord frowned and said with a worried expression.

Sodium ions in table salt are an essential element for the human body. Table salt is equivalent to a second type of food. Not eating salt for a few days can lead to weakness all over the body, and after a few more days, it can cause edema and even endanger life.

Therefore, salt has always been highly valued throughout history, and places that produce a lot of salt become wealthy. The State of Qi during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods became a hegemon because of the benefits of fish and salt.

Later, with the development of salt production technology, salt production increased, and ordinary people could finally afford salt. Some wealthy merchants saw the business opportunity, hoarded large quantities of salt, and sold them at high prices, making huge profits.

To prevent such occurrences, the imperial court established the Salt Administration Office, requiring all salt in the country to be distributed by the court.

However, the Wu Kingdom did not have a salt administration policy. In order to vigorously develop commerce, the market was highly developed, and even vital resources such as iron and salt could be freely bought and sold.

Jiangcheng Prefecture is located near the sea and is rich in salt, supplying most of the Yue Kingdom. This is also one of the city lord's biggest sources of income.

However, in recent years, the weather in Jiangcheng Prefecture has been mostly cloudy with little sunshine, so salt frost cannot form on the plant ash in the salt fields, and high-concentration brine cannot be formed, making the boiling process time-consuming and laborious.

Left with no other choice, the salt makers directly boiled seawater with a low salinity. One dou (a unit of dry measure) of water could only yield one liter of salt, which was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also consumed a lot of firewood.

This situation has caused the price of salt to soar fivefold, with a liter of salt costing fifty coins (ten coins is equivalent to 6.6 yuan in RMB).

Later, wealthy merchants profited from this by hoarding large quantities of salt, causing prices to soar again. Now, one string of cash can only buy five liters of salt.

However, a family of five could only spend five taels of silver a year, equivalent to five strings of cash, and ordinary families simply couldn't afford salt.

Based on some scattered memories in his mind, as well as the city lord's expression, Lin Ping roughly guessed how bad the situation was.

During these years of salt shortage, the city lord's government suffered financial losses, which was a minor issue compared to the fact that ordinary people could not afford salt.

The city lord repeatedly tried to get the salt merchants to release salt, but was repeatedly refused, which is a major drawback of the market economy.

Seeing Lin Ping deep in thought, the city lord was taken aback.

Everyone says Lin Ping is a spendthrift, but he actually thought of hoarding salt to make money?

Or perhaps he planned to distribute salt to the people to win their hearts and minds?

Regardless of the reason, it proves that Lin Ping is ambitious, which makes him a major threat to the City Lord's Mansion.

"Lin Ping, are you planning to use this thousand taels of silver to buy salt?"

The city lord asked, his eyes misty.

If Lin Ping agrees, then he will have to reconsider Lin Ping's future at the City Lord's Mansion.

"No, no, no, Father, you've misunderstood. I was planning to buy wood!"

Lin Ping answered in a very serious manner.