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

Without saying much more, Lin Ping asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why exterminate them all? Doesn't the City Lord fear offending the imperial court?"

Lin Ping knew his father-in-law quite well. He might be able to protect the family business left by their ancestors, but expanding the territory would be very difficult.

Therefore, the other party probably wouldn't dare to offend the imperial court.

“This is the City Lord’s cash cow. How could the City Lord not care? If we don’t wipe them out, the situation will become even more complicated once the news reaches Yingtian Prefecture. Besides, this is the last emotional link between the Prince Consort and the City Lord. The City Lord dares not make the slightest mistake,” Pang Xingji explained.

After listening, Lin Ping nodded. There was no room for sentimentality in such matters. Killing these people would be even better, and the blame could even be placed on some mountain bandits.

As for the last sentence, he felt it was somewhat insincere. Perhaps the city lord really wanted to reconcile with Lin Ping, but it was definitely for his own benefit.

The longer Lin Ping was away, the more he realized how capable Lin Ping was.

To this day, his legend still circulates throughout the streets and alleys of Jiangcheng Prefecture.

To avoid causing panic, the two did not dare to make their divorce public.

"Does the Prince Consort not want to see the City Lord?" Pang Xingji asked with a hopeful expression.

After all, they had a father-in-law and son-in-law relationship. If they answered that it was a familiar place, it would be easy for them to be moved by the scenery. Lin Ping was also soft-hearted, so he might stay. In that case, he could definitely help the city lord expand the territory and also fulfill Pang Xingji's long-cherished wish to fight on the battlefield.

"My wife is gone, what would be the point of me going back?" Lin Ping answered directly.

He didn't have deep feelings for the city lord's mansion, but there were some people he missed, though he felt there was no need to see them again.

"Well... how about this, Old Pang, lead these thousand men to Lotus Palace and snatch the princess back," Pang Xingji said confidently.

Whenever he mounted his warhorse, Pang Xingji felt a sense of confidence, as if the whole world belonged to him. Little did he know the power of the Lotus Palace.

Lin Ping held the opposite view. He knew that the Lotus Palace was hiding in the shadows, yet he hadn't seen a single Lotus Palace disciple these past few days, which further demonstrated their strength.

Let alone a thousand cavalrymen, even ten thousand cavalrymen would surely not return.

Lotus Palace isn't something you can just set up on the main road; it's mostly hidden deep in the mountains and forests.

These cavalrymen became useless, even less effective than infantry.

"Let's discuss this later. Right now, the most important thing is to protect the salt mines. I'm sure the imperial court has its eyes on this place," Lin Ping said seriously, picking up the token from Ruan Dan's hand. It even had the seal of the Salt Transport Ambassador on it.

It seems Ruan Dan was used as a pawn; it's just that he was too stupid to figure it out until his death.

Lin Ping's eyes turned cold, and the corners of his mouth slightly turned up.

He only hoped that the salt transport ambassador did not only own the salt mine; otherwise, it would prove that he was hostile to him.

It’s getting really interesting.

Sensing that the number of enemies behind him was gradually increasing, Lin Ping's fighting spirit soared.

He dared to beat the crown prince, so what wouldn't he dare to do?

Since the enemy wants to come, let them come even more fiercely, otherwise how can we prove his strength?

"Rest assured, Your Highness, unless they step over my dead body, they won't be able to touch this place," Pang Xingji said, patting his chest.

He was a man of great loyalty; once he made a promise to Lin Ping, he would risk his life to protect it.

Moreover, this was also the city lord's intention; the salt mine was the lifeblood of the entire city.

After a long while, Zhu Xiaoji finally came to his senses from the fear. As a spoiled brat, he had never seen a scene of killing before, and he really admired Lin Ping's composure.

“The Salt Transport Commissioner’s men have been killed, so this batch of salt probably won’t sell. Should we reduce production?” Zhu Xiaoji had a keen business sense and understood the supply and demand relationship.

The recent salt shortage caused many households in Jiangcheng Prefecture to stockpile salt, and they are unlikely to be able to purchase it in the short term. Now that the salt transport route has been cut off, the sales volume of salt will definitely decrease significantly.

Mining too much can lead to stockpiling of goods and easily result in losses.

"Not only should we not reduce mining, but we should expand it," Lin Ping replied outright.

Zhu Xiaoji stared at Lin Ping with suspicion, thinking that his wasteful habit had relapsed.

"Seriously?" Zhu Xiaoji asked again.

"Brother Zhu, withdraw all the money from the accounts. We need to hire a large number of workers, not only to mine salt but also mirabilite. In addition, we need to increase manpower at the oil mines near Yancheng." Lin Ping immediately perked up and said indignantly.

Zhu Xiaoji regretted saying one more thing, and even more regretted telling Lin Ping that the oil field had produced oil and had hundreds of thousands of taels of silver on its books, and that he really didn't keep a single tael?

How come he's already fallen back into his old spendthrift ways as soon as he got back to Jiangcheng?

Sorry, this problem has never gotten better. Back in Yingtian Prefecture, I still treated people for free, didn't I?

Zhu Xiaoji knew he couldn't win against him; after all, the man was the major shareholder, he had never miscalculated, and he was handsome.

Ultimately, it all comes down to him not being handsome.

Zhu Xiaoji couldn't help but blame his father for not finding him a mother who was as beautiful as an angel.

He couldn't bear this injustice, so he went home and urged his father to divorce his wife. What a good son...

Left with no other choice, Zhu Xiaoji hurriedly started arranging to hire workers.

Three-legged toads are hard to find, two-legged men... seem hard to find either, but three-legged humans are a dime a dozen.

Moreover, Lin Ping pays high wages, so some workers from the kilns are thinking of coming to him for help.

The Prince Consort has spoken: those with stable jobs are not to be hired; only the poor who cannot afford to eat will be accepted.

Skills can be learned gradually. He didn't want to condemn all unskilled people. As long as they worked diligently, they were guaranteed a good life.

"Sigh... there's not enough money." Lin Ping sighed as he looked at the two hundred thousand taels of silver in the account.

Although the salt mine is profitable, it's impossible to earn millions of taels of silver all at once. Considering the investments made in the oil mine these days, it would be good if we could save 200,000 taels of silver.

"Brother Zhu, Brother Xu, are you selling your house? How about we offer you shares? We'll sell the farmland too!" Lin Ping tempted them.

The two men were so frightened they stumbled, their faces turning green, as if Lin Ping were a demon.

What else can we do? Go home and steal the land deeds and house deeds. Maybe by the time the old folks find out, we'll have already made our money back.

Would Lin Ping tell them that investing in highways is a slow-return endeavor? Absolutely not.

They'll understand this when they're sleeping on the streets.

"I'm tired too. I'm going home to visit you. I'll be waiting for your good news tomorrow. See you there!" Lin Ping smiled mysteriously.

They suddenly envied Feng Yanhao, who was mining in Yancheng. Although the conditions were tough and tiring, at least he wouldn't be ripped off.