Chapter 627 - 455: Doing a Bit of Business

The information gathering work did not take much time.

From Zheng Yi’s perspective, the rule of the Zhao Family was already on the verge of collapse.

In a world not dominated by cultivators, the Zhao Family, with a presence like the Azure Moon Flame Emperor capable of suppressing the entire world, would have been overthrown countless times.

But Zheng Yi knew that probably no one else thought like him.

The Zhao Family still considered themselves as lofty deities, and ordinary people never imagined that such a behemoth could suddenly crumble.

Therefore, hardly anyone had any defenses in this regard.

Take the current mining site for instance.

In terms of management, it had countless loopholes.

In the Great Yu Immortal Dynasty, regardless of being the manager of this mining site or the officials responsible for the surrounding area, they would have been beheaded and displayed long ago.

But here, the Zhao Family didn’t seem to care much about such things.

The only concern they had for the mining site was whether they could receive the Fire Rock Ore they needed on time.

Besides this, no matter what Zhao Tianming did, they had no intention of caring.

The most obvious point was when Zheng Yi learned through inquiries that Zhao Tianming had gone for a report.

But after gathering more information, he realized the so-called report was merely Zhao Tianming’s excuse.

Because life on the mining site was uncomfortable, Zhao Tianming frequently went to Qingjiang City, to his mistress’s place.

Zhao Tianming’s lack of interest in the affairs of the mining site was good news for Zheng Yi.

"Used to be someone quite capable, but now... just a useless drunkard," concluded Zheng Yi after uncovering all of Zhao Tianming’s past.

In his youth, Zhao Tianming indeed had accomplished quite a bit.

However, as he aged and experienced more, he began to give up on himself.

This was quite normal.

In the Cangyan Realm, the only ones truly able to do something were the Zhao Family.

No matter how hard others tried, at most, they were just servants of the Zhao Family.

Probably recognizing this, Zhao Tianming completely fell and became increasingly indifferent towards his work, muddling through.

After all, no matter how well he did, it was meaningless.

If the Zhao Family randomly found displeasure with him, no matter how good his work was, tomorrow he might be sweeping the streets.

"Good!" Despite Zhao Tianming’s poor situation, Zheng Yi felt increasingly satisfied.

Because the worse Zhao Tianming’s situation was, the easier it would be to execute his plan.

"Master, I’ve brought the three most reliable village chiefs."

Only in the morning did Zheng Yi tell Zhou Kunshan to contact reliable villages for cooperation.

Unexpectedly, he brought everyone so quickly.

"So soon, there won’t be any problems, right?" Zheng Yi trusted Zhou Kunshan wouldn’t joke about such matters.

However, given the gravity of the situation, Zheng Yi asked another question. If anything seemed inappropriate, even if it raised suspicion, Zheng Yi would instantly terminate the meeting.

"Rest assured, Master. These people have always been close to me. Their villages are also in dire straits, and without a turnaround, they might not hold on for much longer."

"Even if we stopped them now, they wouldn’t tell anyone about this, even if they didn’t agree to cooperate with us."

"After all, it’s no benefit to them. The Zhao family won’t reward them just for betraying us."

"Good!" Zheng Yi nodded slightly, realizing he had chosen the right person.

Despite Zhou Kunshan’s rough appearance, making the first impression as someone who couldn’t hide anything.

In reality, this fellow was quite meticulous.

In the middle section of the Riverbend Village’s assigned mine tunnel, villagers had dug out a relatively spacious area.

Fortunately, the tunnel was filled with Fire Rock Ore. Those ores containing ample spiritual qi could be slightly processed and used as decent light sources.

Otherwise, in the pitch-dark mine, seeing each other’s face, let alone normal communication, would be impossible.

On their way here, Zhou Kunshan had briefly introduced to Zheng Yi the statuses of these villages.

Despite being sparsely populated small villages, those that survived usually had some tricks up their sleeves.

The people of Flint Village were naturally strong. Five years ago, they were the most prosperous among the surrounding villages.

Because the laborers in the village were generally robust, their Fire Rock Ore production was naturally the highest. Besides surrendering a part to the quota, the remaining ore could always be exchanged for something.

Although trading cultivation resources like Fire Rock Ore was explicitly prohibited.

But there were policies above, and countermeasures below.

Flint Village used the ore solely to trade for daily necessities. Despite losing in such transactions and having people like Zhao Qing extort the majority.

To Flint Village, it was still a remarkably advantageous deal.

After all, these cultivation resources didn’t mean much to them.

Even if exchanged for cash in the black market, buying resources inevitably involved extortion by individuals like Zhao Qing, resulting in little net gain after all the hassle.