Song Zining’s terms were generous enough to excite these merchants and make them consider whether or not this was a viable direction for expansion. This business field wasn’t too high-risk and the demand was really high. There would always be buyers as long as they could build a warship at a reasonable price.

The businesses Song Zining had attracted on top of the ones already in Southern Blue formed a more complete supply chain. There were enough workshops and factories to forge intricate airship equipment from raw metals. Even in its infantile stage, the benefits this arrangement would bring was evident—everyone who had worked their way to the manager position understood this.

Southern Blue was able to flourish under Ji Rui’s rule because of its stability and convenience in transportation. But no matter how skilled Ji Rui was, he couldn’t wipe out and recombine all of the mercenary corps in the city. Even if he could do it, he wasn’t about to create a massive entity that could contend with the city guard. If this kind of mercenary corps were to fall into an outsider’s hands, it wasn’t a certainty whether...