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There were even fewer supplies in the North. In the end, the You soldiers who needed supplies were stripped of them.

The You army was in a passive position because they were “seeking” from the local nobles. Naturally, the local nobles did not take the You army seriously.

After King Li of Zhou’s case, a group of nobles was punished. Then, the Imperial Court gave Youzhou the privilege of exempting salt from tribute, allowing the You army to buy supplies on their own. Those nobles would have to act according to the You army’s instructions.

After Yin Huaixi guarded the North, his control over it had been strengthened time and time again. Although the government was not under the rule of the Yue Fei’s Residence, they still had to fear the dignity of King Yue Fei and gradually began to develop trade.

After walking around Liancheng, Yu Youyao’s heart skipped a beat.

The geographical advantage of Liao Province was very obvious. There was food, medicine, labor, and resources. As long as one could live, one could be self-sufficient and did not need to rely on the Imperial Court.

Liancheng had little farmland and many forests. Raising silkworms could strengthen the soldiers and make the people rich. They could develop the economy. However, the fruit and sea industries were secondary.

The Xie family knew this better than Yu Youyao. Long ago, when the Xie family had decided to come to the North, they had also bought many special industries in the North one after another and made a lot of preparations to establish themselves in the North in the future.

In at most a year and a half, the Xie family would be able to take over the entire Liancheng.

In the past few years, Yu Youyao had bought many businesses in the North one after another. Even the forest in Liancheng was developed. She used Yin Huaixi’s connections to buy two manors with mountains in the North. The mountains were mainly planted with elms and trees, and she arranged for someone to raise silkworms. The silk produced was all bought by the You army to make armor.

The next day, the steward of the manor came over to greet her and even brought an account book.

Liancheng was considered a place in the North, and there were very few places that were less affected by the drought. However, even so, the production of the silk produced in the manor had been reduced by 40% to 50%.

Fortunately, the profits of the silk were considerable, so there were no losses.

The sweet potatoes planted in the farmland were not affected. The production was very impressive. Most of the sweet potatoes produced in the manor were sold to the You army at a low price.

After Yu Youyao flipped through the account book, she asked the stewards, “I want to expand the breeding of silkworms. What do you think the possibility is?”

One of the blue-robed stewards shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s very difficult. Seventy percent of the silkworm farming in Liancheng is in the hands of the local big families. The remaining 30% all belong to small retail farmers and are not promising.”

Another gray-robed steward also said, “The four families of Liancheng monopolized the silkworm business in Liancheng together and controlled the price of the silkworm cocoons, forcing those retail investors to sell the silkworm cocoons they had painstakingly raised to them at a price several times lower than the market price. Then, they sold them to silk merchants at a high price to earn huge profits.”

Yu Youyao understood. “Were all the silkworm cocoons produced by their families bought by the Imperial Court?”

According to the stewards, the four families were very domineering. The four families divided 70% of the business together, and each family only had less than 20% of the business. However, they allowed those incompetent individual silkworm farmers to continue their flawed business and divided the remaining 30%.

No matter how one looked at it, there was something wrong.

Yu Youyao thought about it carefully and understood.

The four families of Liancheng controlled most of the silkworm resources. They had to deal with the purchases by the Imperial Court. The price at which the Imperial Court purchased goods was usually lower than the market price. The families also had to organize affairs at every level. The bulk of the money was occupied by those in charge of purchasing. Therefore, the four families could only earn a small sum of money after working hard.

It was impossible for the Imperial Court to monopolize all the local supplies.

Thus, the 30% in the hands of the retail investors became a loophole for the four great families to exploit.

They joined forces to control the silkworm business, so that the retail investors had no choice but to rely on them to live. They bought the silkworm cocoons at a low price and sold them at a high price, earning huge profits from them and taking away the retail investors’ hard-earned money.

Even if the retail investors joined forces, 30% would not be able to resist 70%. They would not be able to do anything.

It pressed down on those silkworm farmers.

“That’s right!”

The two stewards looked at each other and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. The Eldest Miss was really a powerful person. She immediately understood the twists and turns.

“All these years, even the individual silkworm farmers in the city have been bullied by the four families. In the past few years, the situation in the North hasn’t been good. The production of silkworms has decreased every year, and the small families have invested more in raising silkworms and earned less. There are already many people who can’t even maintain their livelihoods. Previously, someone also targeted Eldest Miss’s manor. However, when the people from the four families found out who was supporting the manor, they didn’t dare to make things difficult for them.”

Yu Youyao frowned. “As far as I know, the three northeastern provinces have a very wide area. The areas suitable for raising silkworms are Henan and Shandong, as well as some additional areas. There are more than 30 counties in total. However, the silkworm farming in the three northeastern provinces can’t compare to that of Henan and Shandong. It’s obvious that this is the case in the entire northeastern area.”

King Li of Zhou’s case had made many aristocratic families and nobles in the North restrain themselves a lot. However, Rome wasn’t built in a day. If they wanted to control the trade in the North, the geographical location of Liancheng was the most important.

As one of the main materials for making armor, how could she tolerate these inhumane nobles monopolizing the silkworm market in Liancheng and choking the You army?!

Yu Youyao’s eyes were dark and cold.

The two stewards nodded solemnly. “Princess, you’re right.”

Yu Youyao thought for a moment. “The spring silkworms will start growing soon. Connect the countless retail silkworm farmers in Liancheng and provide them with some help. Contract them and sell all the silkworm cocoons they produce to us at market price.”

The retail investors were bullied by the four families. Usually, they would still be afraid of the power of the four families and not dare to cooperate with Yu Youyao and the others.

However, this time, it was different!

The retail investors were raising silkworms desperately to live. If they couldn’t even live, what was there to be afraid of?

If they did not risk it, the outcome of the hundreds of thousands of refugees outside the city would be their future.

The gray-clothed steward was a little hesitant. “This… You’re directly going against the four families. A strong dragon can’t suppress a local snake. If the four families of Liancheng join forces, we…”

Yu Youyao chuckled. “Send my and King Yue Fei’s business cards to the Liancheng County Office another day. According to the jargon, this is called paying respects to the sect. I wonder if my newly conferred Princess Shaoyi will be useful in Liancheng.”

The blue-clothed steward looked excited. He had long disliked the actions of the four families. “Eldest Miss is right.”

The gray-clothed steward immediately reacted. Princess Shaoyi was very famous in the North. The hundreds of thousands of refugees outside the city supported her very much.

Princess Shaoyi was not doing this for herself, but for Liancheng and the thousands of independent silkworm farmers who had been bullied by the four families.

There was not much farmland in the North, so raising silkworms was the best way for the refugees.

They had to join forces with the individual silkworm farmers and forcefully open the silkworm market that the four families of Liancheng monopolized. Only by further expanding silkworm cultivation would the refugees outside the city have a way out.

Everything the princess did was for the people.

It was what everyone wanted.