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

"Where is Accountant Sun? Where is Accountant Sun?" The city lord asked weakly, his hands gripping the gate.

Now, things have truly reached a critical point. Not only are the private army without salt to eat, but the entire economy of Jiangcheng Prefecture is also paralyzed.

This was arguably the biggest crisis in the history of Jiangcheng Prefecture, and naturally some people thought that it was because the city lord's mansion was incompetent.

Upon hearing the city lord's shout, Accountant Sun rushed over, not even bothering to put his felt hat on properly, and hurriedly knelt on the ground, thinking he had made a terrible mistake.

"Go quickly, take all the money from the warehouse and come with me into the city to buy salt!" the city lord said, trembling, his heart filled with unspeakable anguish.

The savings in the dried salt warehouse were a minor issue; his real concern was that Su Hongxin was stubborn and refused to part with any salt.

Upon receiving the order, a dozen servants rushed into the storeroom and busily carried out box after box of silver.

Since most of the boxes here are empty, there are only five boxes in total, worth about 50,000 taels of silver.

"Finally, we're going to go all out," Lin Ping thought to himself, turning to look at Jiang Yunying, who had a worried expression, and felt a pang of pity.

"Ying'er, Yu'er, come with your father to the inner city to buy salt!" the city lord said weakly, unable to think of any other good solution.

Jiang Yunyu's face turned unusually serious. He realized that the City Lord's Mansion was in a life-or-death situation, and as the heir, he felt it was necessary to do his part.

"Husband, don't you plan to go and take a look?" Jiang Yunying looked at Lin Ping with pleading eyes, naturally hoping that he would help the city lord.

"If I don't go, will I ever have the chance to consummate our marriage again?" Lin Ping stepped onto the carriage first, his serious face still bearing the frivolous words.

For Lin Ping, consummating their marriage was the most serious and important thing at the moment, and he was willing to make any effort to achieve it.

Before long, three carriages came running side by side: the city lord and Jiang Yunyu in a four-horse carriage, Jiang Yunying and Lin Ping in a three-horse carriage, and an open carriage carrying three boxes of silver.

With dozens of guards and servants accompanying them, even Li Mingxuan, the personal attendant, seemed somewhat inconspicuous, demonstrating the immense scale of their presence.

This was the result of trying to keep a low profile. If Jiang Xiuwen found out about this, he would definitely lead his troops to raze the mansions of the four major salt merchants and, incidentally, raze the government office as well.

At this moment, Jiangcheng Prefecture was also in chaos. The weak and powerless common people surrounded the mansions of the four major salt merchants. If they weren't so weak that they would have broken in to steal salt, they would not care about the law in the face of death.

Su Hongxin had long anticipated this outcome, and had borrowed dozens of yamen runners from the prefect well in advance. They were all armed with knives to intimidate people, under the guise of maintaining order.

"Master, all the big bosses in Jiangcheng are kneeling on Xiangpu Street waiting for you to sell salt!" The Su family steward said with a fawning smile, bowing and scraping, clearly seeing a very promising future.

After months of planning, the Su family is finally about to make their move. If all goes well, they can not only secure the position of president of the Chamber of Commerce, but also acquire several shops, thus achieving complete dominance.

Su Hongxin nodded in satisfaction, almost laughing out loud with excitement. Finally, with the help of the Su family steward, he slowly stood up from the armchair, stroked Hu Xu, and looked up, saying, "Let's go!"

This matter was of utmost importance to Su Hongxin, and his entourage was no less impressive than that of the city lord. He was accompanied by attendants and servants, and even had several yamen runners clearing the way. The only thing missing was a sign in front of him that read "Avoidance".

The moment Su Hongxin appeared, he was greeted with... cabbage leaves, rotten eggs, and so on.

The common people shouted, "You unscrupulous merchant, go to hell!"

Su Hongxin was immediately dumbfounded. What happened to being admired by thousands?

Where is the pinnacle of life I was promised? Why does this feel like I'm being paraded through the streets?

If it weren't for several constables clearing the way with gleaming curved swords, Su Hongxin would never have been able to leave the gate.

Su Hongxin was not angry. Instead, he gave a cold smile. The more the people hated him, the more difficult their situation was, and the more they would buy salt at any cost.

Next, four carts of pure white salt were pulled out of the mansion. Thousands of people had their eyes shining and greedily stretched out their zombie-like arms, but they were powerless to break through the obstruction of the yamen runners.

Before long, Su Hongxin paraded through the streets from his mansion to Xiangpu Street, looking arrogant and smug all the way. He was surrounded by fans who shouted his name, probably wishing him dead.

Su Hongxin was dressed in silk and satin, which were extremely smooth. Whether it was a cabbage leaf or a rotten eggshell, they would all slide off along the fine silk.

As he walked into the busiest part of the crowd, several well-dressed, obese men, and even more obese men, immediately knelt on the ground, begging and pleading, some even grabbing his legs and wailing, "Boss Su, please, give us some salt! We'll buy it no matter the price!"

Among the crowd were many restaurant owners who had closed down due to the salt shortage. Not only that, but even the owners of weaving workshops and ceramic workshops were kneeling on the ground.

If the workers stop eating salt, production will have to stop, resulting in even greater losses.

"What are you all doing? Please rise, please rise! I, Su, will sell salt right away!" Su Hongxin said hypocritically, trying his best to win people over.

Upon seeing several truckloads of salt, everyone's eyes widened immediately, and their mouths watered involuntarily, completely abandoning any semblance of wealthy merchant demeanor.

As several carts of salt arrived, the crowd grew larger and larger. More than 80% of the business owners in Jiangcheng Prefecture surrounded Su Hongxin, all sticking out their tongues to curry favor.

"Gentlemen, the election for president is tomorrow. I wonder..." Su Hongxin deliberately dragged out his words, openly threatening the others.

These are all clever monkeys; how could they not understand Su Hongxin's unspoken meaning? If anyone doesn't vote for him, he won't sell salt to them, and they'll end up going bankrupt or even dying from salt shortages.

The crowd remained somewhat rational, knowing that the election of the president was of great importance. They stood there, looking at each other, and finally nodded reluctantly.

Recently, Su Hongxin has been riding high, not only hoarding a large amount of salt, but also becoming related to the prefect by marriage.

The president of this chamber of commerce is not simply elected; the decision also requires the prefect's approval.

Because of the booming market economy in Wu Kingdom, even vital industries like salt and iron can be privatized, which could potentially lead to an uncontrollable situation. Therefore, the government has taken measures to regulate the market.

Just like the election of the chairman, although it involves voting by major merchants, it ultimately has to be decided by the government.

The prefect needs to choose a chairman from among the bosses who have received more than ten votes. In order to convince everyone, the prefect would choose the person with the most votes every year to be the chairman. But now it's different. He and Su Hongxin have become in-laws. As long as he gets more than ten votes, he can become the chairman.

Therefore, these bosses chose to compromise. Even if they lost one vote, the other party would still have more than ten. Rather than making a fool of themselves, they might as well add to the good fortune.