Protect Our Clan Leader

The Eastern Sea.

The vast, magnificent ocean, its blue-green waves surging endlessly.

A gigantic sailboat is sailing through the billowing sea with the wind in its sails. The ship is made of hefty wood, its hull and crucial parts covered in a layer of iron replete with rivets, imbuing it an aura of sturdiness.

It is approximately ninety feet long and stretches over twenty-four feet wide. This indeed is a massive cargo ship.

At the bow, stern, and sides of the ship lie massive crossbows, each of their arrows more than three feet long, portraying an air of formidable dread. Once released, even a level three fierce beast would be in imminent danger from such a crossbow arrow.

The ship is loaded with massive amounts of cargo, including precious items made of glass, paper, and rock candy. However, the most abundant cargo is something called cement.

Cement is a type of construction material. Some prominent families in the Profound Martial world would use a kind of building material called oyster cement to construct critical structures such as dwellings, gates, and city walls.

Oyster cement is a high-quality adhesive for the construction, its only downside being the exorbitant cost. The price of a single load of oyster cement is comparable to that of a corresponding load of ordinary grain.

Such a price is not something ordinary households can afford. Even the Profound Martial families would only use this material for crucial structures due to its costliness.

On the contrary, cement is an affordable construction material that doesn’t lose to oyster cement in any way. It costs only two copper coins per load which is much cheaper than oyster cement. Therefore, as soon as cement was introduced to the market, it became widely popular, and many Profound Martial families began using it as a substitute for oyster cement.

Even some ordinary civilian families would use cement for constructing their homes, despite its initial costliness, simply because it would make their homes more sturdy and durable.

This large ocean-going sailboat is loaded with a total of a hundred thousand loads of cement, with a total value of two thousand Qian gold. Even so, these hundred thousand loads of cement hardly make a dent.

Upon arrival at Donghaei, it would be sold out instantly.

Chen Clan of Donggang owns five such large sailboats, delivering five hundred thousand loads of cement, as well as other items like glass products and rock candy every three months to Donghaei.

Just this one trip would result in a total value surpassing thirty thousand Qian gold.

At the bow of the ship, an elegant young man, Wang Shouzhe, stands with his hands behind his back, gazing out at the sea and listening to a report from a person beside him. As the waves rise and fall, he stands as steadily as if he were on solid ground.

Surrounding him were two elder men of extraordinary stature and a man in his thirties.

The man was also extraordinary, dressed immaculately in long robes, and a dashing face adorned with two small mustaches. He said with a smile, “Shouzhe, this is mainly the trading situation regarding cement. The biggest problem is that the production is insufficient. Otherwise, we could transport the cement even to more distant counties.”

Cement is a basic construction material, widely used in markets, and regardless of the amount produced, it will always be sold out. The handsome young man was indeed Wang Shouzhe. The other man is Chen Fangjie, Shouzhe’s brother-in-law.

“I will notify the Gongsun Clan and Liu family about the production and urge them to arrange manpower for the excavation of raw materials,” quotes Wang Shouzhe calmly. “The most important thing for you is to keep it a secret, and never let anyone know that the cement comes from our Changning.”

“Rest assured, Shouzhe. The names like cement and foreign glass are all carefully chosen. People only know that our Chen Clan of Donggang imports it from overseas,” Chen Fangjie confidently said, “We, Chen Clan of Donggang, have over a hundred years of experience in overseas trade, and a unique shipping route that will never give us away.”

Wang Shouzhe nodded in approval. Over the years, Chen Clan of Donggang had performed exceptionally well in this field.

Only because they were still weak and feared people would covet their industry, did they choose this alternative tactic.

However, the main purpose of his trip to Donghaei was not to inspect the industries. He was here because he heard about a Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill being available at the Auction House of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion in Donghaei.

“Shouzhe, I have already prepared the funds you need to allocate. This time, I prepared a hundred thousand Qian gold for you,” said Chen Fangjie, full of pride. “Our Old Ancestor Ruhong said that, as long as Shouzhe needs money, even if we have to put the industry as collateral, we should raise the money. If that’s not enough, I’ll find another way.”

“That’s about enough,” says Wang Shouzhe, in a calm and composed tone.

On this trip, he took thirty thousand Qian gold with him, which was the most that the Ping’an Wang Family could afford to divert at present. Any more, and it would affect the operation of various industries.

To prevent any unforeseeable circumstances, he had the Chen Clan of Donggang, Gongsun Clan, Liu Family, and Lu Family all prepare a sum of backup funds. After all, the items they planned to purchase were quite pricey. It never hurts to have too much money since they were determined to acquire the items.

With the backup funds prepared by his allies, the total sum amounts to seven hundred thousand Qian gold. With such a tremendous magnitude of capital, even the wealthiest of families would be cowed to compete with him.

Yes, this is the strength of the Wang family and their allies currently. Everyone involved focused on their respective parts of the joint industries, with Wang Shouzhe being the core figure in all of them.

This initiative was a part of Wang Shouzhe’s long-term plan. The Wang family alone was too weak, and any signs of change posed risks. It was better for allies to share benefits, develop together, and survive as a group.

Not only did the Wang family grow rapidly because of this, but so did their allies.

A while back, Gongsun Qiang of the Gongsun Clan and Lu Zhengjie, two of the uncles, successfully advanced to the Spirit Platform Realm, adding two more warriors to the alliance. These two new forces would not stay in their own families but would join the industries of the alliance, safeguarding the alliance’s industries.