Chapter 014: Moving Overall

“Boss, is there a separate courtyard? We want to rent one.” At the largest inn in Mengdesha City, Old Mark approached the innkeeper to discuss Du Fan’s accommodation, as Du Fan was now a duke and couldn’t stay with ordinary merchants.
As expected, this was indeed the largest inn in Mengdesha City, with several separate courtyards available. After paying, Old Mark drove the carriage slowly to a secluded courtyard at the back, near the city wall.
Old Mark wasn’t just Du Fan’s personal bodyguard but also his longtime servant in charge of everything. Almost any trivial matter didn’t require Du Fan to get involved—Old Mark would handle it thoroughly.
Once everything was arranged, Old Mark and Bati went to Du Fan’s room.
“Young master, should we go back to our territory first and figure out a plan?” Bati had never dared speak up, as Du Fan had dealt a heavy blow to him. Old Mark, having taken care of Du Fan for so long, sometimes overlooked certain things.
“Hehe, that Marquis Fernando is quite difficult to deal with. He even refused to show respect to me, a special envoy from the south, and wouldn’t let me enter the city lord’s mansion.” Surprisingly, Du Fan didn’t seem angry; instead, he laughed.
“Young master, that Marquis Fernando is inside the city lord’s mansion. Could it be that supervisor named Bernis failed to report and blocked you at the door on his own? Shall I go again?” Old Mark remained dedicated to his duty, hoping to prevent Du Fan from taking extreme actions over this matter. After all, Du Fan was too young, and that supervisor was too arrogant.
With a laugh, Du Fan said, “Grandpa Mark, no need to bother. Even if that supervisor has boldness, without his marquis’s orders, would he dare stop a duke like me outside the city lord’s mansion? I think it’s Marquis Fernando trying to intimidate me, telling me to back down. If I endure this time, heh, he’ll demand even more harsh conditions next, making our negotiations for purchases even more difficult, with terms even more unacceptable than before.”
“Then we can negotiate purchases with other provinces. We don’t necessarily have to conflict with that Marquis Fernando. This is the south, not the north controlled by our family.” Old Mark was also angry, but at this moment, he thought more of Du Fan.

Old Mark was well aware of the current situation in the Siluo Province. If they encountered a few more powerful rivals during this difficult time, the development of Du Fan’s territory would truly be in jeopardy.
“Hmph, I’d like to take on that Marquis Fernando in a fight. Otherwise, the lords of other provinces will think I’m easy to bully, and building up the Siluo Province will face even more obstacles.” Du Fan wasn’t just young and impulsive—he was also highly cunning.
“Barty, didn’t you say your caravan is currently in Mendesa City? Take these; have your caravan secretly buy up as many shops as possible on that commercial street. Remember, buy even their houses too.” Taking out some remaining diamond cards from his pocket, Du Fan handed them all to Barty.
“This… this… What exactly is the lord planning?” Seeing these diamond coins for the first time, Barty’s hands trembled. He couldn’t hear Du Fan clearly at first and could only ask in a trembling voice.
With a mysterious smile, Du Fan said, “Use your caravan to buy all those shops. Remember, all of them. The price doesn’t matter—pay several times more if necessary. And make sure to buy the houses too. Don’t ask anything else. You’ll understand once you’ve done this.”
Watching Barty rush away in a hurry, Old Mark said worriedly, “Young master, this is all the gold coins we have. We can’t use those 50 million gold coins for now. If we spend them all on buying these shops, the development of our Siluo Province will come to a halt.”
“Grandpa Mark, don’t worry. These gold coins will definitely come back intact, and there won’t be any shortage.” With a chuckle, Du Fan reassured him.
For three consecutive days, Du Fan spent his time with Old Mark and Barty, indulging in leisure at restaurants, paying no attention to matters outside.
…
In the hall of the city lord’s mansion in Mendesa City.
“My lord, a small caravan in the city has been very active lately. They’ve bought most of the shops there, even the houses, at exorbitant prices,” reported Bernice, the supervisor, as usual to Marquis Fernando.
“Hmm!” After pondering for a moment, Marquis Fernando ordered with a smile, “Since they want to buy them, then sell them to them. Even the shops under our name should be sold to them. Remember, the price must be twice that of other shops. Heh, I really don’t know why that fool would do such a thing.”

“My Lord Marquis, is there some kind of conspiracy here? Otherwise, no one would be foolish enough to spend such a large amount of gold to buy these shops. Shouldn’t we be more cautious and investigate first?” Bernis sensed something unusual, though he couldn’t quite figure out what it was at the moment.

“What’s there to fear? This is the Province of Els, this is the city of Mendesa—this is my territory. Who could possibly cause trouble here? Once I’ve subdued Duke Duvan of the Province of Silo and made him completely obedient to me, with the southern passes once again open to me, why bother with these small shops?” Marquis Fernando laughed arrogantly. Indeed, as long as it wasn’t Prince Fisher or Duke Wade from the imperial capital, or even Duke Green, the second most powerful figure in the military, he, Marquis Fernando, had nothing to fear.

Nodding in agreement, Bernis left to handle the transfer of ownership of the shops under the city lord’s name. Yet, he still felt an inexplicable fear deep in his heart.

……

“Lord, we’ve acquired all the shops,” Bati said, handing Duvan a stack of parchment scrolls containing deeds, and waited respectfully for his next orders.

Looking at the pile of contracts beside him, Duvan smiled cunningly.

“Bati, tell those commoners that anyone who dismantles these shops here, transports them to the city of Doha, and rebuilds them exactly as they were will own those shops forever, without having to pay taxes for three years.”

“What… what?” Bati could hardly believe his ears. He had once been a commoner himself and knew how desperately these poor people longed to own their own shops. He was sure that once he spread this news, commoners from across the Province of Els would flock here.

“Did you not hear what I said?” Duvan asked impatiently, looking down at the contracts.

By this point, Old Mark had somewhat understood Duvan’s plans, but he still didn’t agree. Approaching Duvan, Old Mark tried to persuade him, “Young master, even if you move these buildings back to Doha, Mendesa will still be built. And constructing a commercial street is much less labor-intensive than building a city wall.”

Watching the anxious Old Mark and the at-a-loss Barty, Du Fan helplessly shook his head. He took out the parchment map from his pocket and placed it in Barty’s hands, saying, “The provinces in the south are all vast plains; it’s hard to even find any slightly elevated mountains. Especially in the Els Province and the Natmu Province—though they are fertile, there are only three or four cities in each province. Why is that?”

Hearing Du Fan’s question, Old Mark and Barty exchanged glances. No one in the entire Gavin Empire didn’t know this answer, but precisely because everyone knew it, no one had ever delved deeply into the matter.

Smiling slightly, Du Fan had already anticipated Old Mark and Barty’s reactions. He didn’t need them to guess any further. He said, “The reason there are so few cities in those provinces is that they lack the stone materials needed for construction. Even in Mengdesha City, where we stand now—ranging from the bricks on the city walls to the stone mills—every single piece comes from the quarries in the Siluo Province. Hmph! I’ll empty their shops and cut off their sources of income. By the time they realize what’s happening, it will be too late for them to regret it. By the way, Barty, go and pass on my orders: all quarries in the Siluo Province must be closed, supplying stone only to Douha City. If anyone wants to buy it…” As he spoke, Du Fan smirked cunningly and kicked a palm-sized decorative stone in the flower bed beside him. “This big piece costs 2,000 gold coins. Otherwise, no transactions are allowed.”

Old Mark and Barty were stunned. They never expected the Siluo Province to have such resources, let alone that Du Fan knew so much about it. If Mengdesha City wanted to rebuild its commercial district at Du Fan’s set price, it would cost far more than just the price of the shops they had purchased so far—possibly even a hundred times more.

Looking at Du Fan strangely, Old Mark felt a chill run down his spine. Although Du Fan wasn’t targeting him, it still made him break into a sweat. It was then that Old Mark realized he had underestimated his young master too much. To come up with such a vicious plan, one that could trick victims without them realizing it and even help Du Fan deceive him—this was something even those seasoned politicians couldn’t achieve.

“I’ll go announce it right now.” Unlike Old Mark, Barty was truly happy. If all these shops really moved back to Doha City, then as the Minister of Commerce, he wouldn’t just be in charge of gold coins but also entire streets of shops.
“Ah! Let’s first spread the word on a small scale within the city,” Du Fan said after some thought.
Barty nodded without hesitation and rushed out. He believed that even with just a small-scale announcement, it wouldn’t take an hour before the whole city of Mendesa would know.