Just when the Shatu Seven Tribes and all of Gan Province were in chaos due Lei Sitong's 'assassination' case, Yan Liqiang who was involved in both cases withdrew himself and returned to the manufacturing bureau.
Prior to this, Yan Liqiang had established a close relationship with the newly-appointed Pingxi Prefectural Governor Wang Jianbei and the Military Governor Liu Yucheng when he was still in Pingxi City.
Wang Jianbei and Liu Yucheng were both Lei Sitong's reliable subordinates. They knew about Lei Sitong and Yan Liqiang's plan on stepping into the salt business and they supported it. Given the situation that Yan Liqiang addressed Lei Sitong as 'Uncle Lei', both parties instantly became allies without any additional effort.
