Chapter 51: Soap
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The workshop area officially began construction during the cold winter, and Xiao Ming suddenly found himself responsible for feeding over 900 additional mouths. With new recruits also joining the military camp, the number of people to feed quickly rose to around 3,000.
The continuous drain on silver reserves made Xiao Ming feel immense pressure. Moreover, aside from commerce, he had no other means to quickly amass wealth.
Therefore, whether it was setting up his own trading company or leveraging the Wang and Qin families to make money, time was of the essence.
After arranging matters related to the slaves, Xiao Ming went to the Wang family to discuss trade with the barbarians.
“Your Highness, our Wang family dare not bear such a grave accusation!” Before Xiao Ming could finish speaking, Wang Chengchou fell to his knees with a thud. Wang Shijie, too, broke out in a cold sweat, trembling as if struck by a chill.
They had received news that both the Emperor and the Empress had sent silver to Xiao Ming. Rumors from Chang’an also suggested that the Emperor and the Crown Prince’s faction seemed to be leaning toward supporting Xiao Ming.
A neglected prince and a supported prince were two entirely different matters. In the past, they might have dared to take advantage of Xiao Ming’s ignorance.
But now, with the forces backing Xiao Ming, they had to carefully weigh the pros and cons. If Xiao Ming accused the Wang family of colluding with foreign enemies, the entire family could face execution.
Even if the Wang family was powerful and unafraid of Xiao Ming, and even if the Qingzhou army was insignificant, the Emperor and the Crown Prince could still mobilize their forces. In that case, the Wang family’s destruction would only be a matter of time.