“Bang!”

Qii County.

Inside the Qiao Family Mansion, the current Patriarch Qiao Zhiguang slammed his cane on the ground furiously, shouting, “What does this eunuch from the Capital City want? Is he so brazenly asking for money?”

“Who does he think the Great Yu World belongs to?”

“Such blatant exploitation of the people’s wealth, why has no one from the officials in the court impeached him yet?”

In addition to Qiao Zhiguang, there were several other figures in the great hall of the Qiao Family Mansion.

They were all Qiao Zhiguang’s sons, each overseeing various businesses and shops of the Qiao Family, living a life of luxury and ease.

The second son, Qiao Maokang, said, “Father, you don’t know how powerful Eunuch Liu is. He doesn’t even show respect to the County Magistrate and Prefect. Prefect Chen stood outside for more than an hour before seeing him, and after a few words, was driven out.”

“The Datong women we offered were all kept without exception.”

“Hey~! If it were up to my old temper, I’d have had that official robe stripped off him long ago!”

“Does he really think I’m afraid of him?!”

“Useless!”

Qiao Zhiguang slammed his cane on the ground again in anger, scolding, “Useless! What do you know!”

“Maoyong, you speak!”

The eldest son, Qiao Maoyong, said, “Father, I asked someone in the court, and this Liu Cheng’en is indeed a favored minister of His Majesty, the kind that is always brought along.”

“This time, he came to Bingzhou on the Emperor’s orders to demand military expenses.”

“Sigh, we were too hasty back then, intercepting Cui Xiawu to have him kill that group of peasants, or we wouldn’t be in this situation today.”

“He’s been here for a month and wants ten million taels of silver, is this how business is done?”

Qiao Maokang said, “Father! It’s not that I’m reluctant to part with such a large sum, but this is too much, how can he…”

“Silence!”

Qiao Zhiguang said, “Hasn’t anyone up there impeached him?”

Qiao Maoyong shook his head, “It’s not possible, Father. It’s said that these days His Majesty is again indulged in Immortal Techniques and hasn’t attended court for over half a month, the memorials impeaching him are left in the Cabinet, and His Majesty hasn’t seen them at all.”

“Sigh…!”

Qiao Zhiguang slammed his cane on the ground, gritting his teeth, “Do we really need to bleed?”

“Father!”

Qiao Maokang said, “It’s definitely not just our Qiao Family paying, Eunuch Liu said his target is the Eight Great Bing Merchants of Bingzhou.”

“Hey! Eight families pooling ten million taels of silver, a million taels each, that’s enough!”

“Plus other merchants and noble families.”

Qiao Maoyong said, “Bingzhou has many merchants, we can’t always be the ones paying, right?”

“What does the Wang Family say?”

In Bingzhou, many officials, noble families, and merchants look up to the Datong Wang Family.

This family has been around for over three hundred years, with its members and officials spread throughout the Imperial Court.

If the Wang Family pays, they certainly have to pay too!

Qiao Maoyong said, “We’ve already sent someone to ask, about today we should get a response.”

“By the way, Father, I see this as a good opportunity?”

Qiao Zhiguang said, “Oh? What’s your reasoning?”

“Eunuchs, without those two taels of meat below, all they want is money, if we can smooth things out with Eunuch Liu, won’t our future business prosper?”

Qiao Maoyong said, “Didn’t the shopkeepers under us also report back? This ten million taels of silver is for His Majesty, and he surely intends to scour once more, we can definitely pay a high price to make a friend, and there will surely be benefits in the future!”

“Speaking of which, the nearby Jing’an Grand Canal is said to be three to four thousand miles long!”

“It runs through Jiangzhou, Youzhou, Jizhou, and Bingzhou, directly to the Capital City, to build this Grand Canal, they would have to gather millions of laborers.”

“All this food for men and horses, along with earth transport and stone, aren’t all of these money?”

“If we could secure a share in this, it would be enough for us to profit for decades!”

Qiao Zhiguang nodded, “The old man has considered this too, which is why I haven’t refused Eunuch Liu.”

“However, our Qiao Family started with salt, iron, and fabric, we’ve never dealt with stone business!”

“Father, there’s no end to the world’s business opportunities.”

Qiao Maoyong said, “As long as we can connect with Eunuch Liu, won’t there be plenty of business coming our way in the future?”

“The business I most want to do is actually with the Royal Chamber of Commerce—that’s truly profitable!”

“For instance, a small bottle of perfume sells for ten taels of silver in the Capital City, when it reaches us, it directly raises to thirty taels!”

“And if transported to Jiangnan, it would at least fetch one hundred taels!”

“Also glass, refined salt, soap, women’s bags, every single one of them is a huge profit!”

“Unfortunately, for some reason, the Royal Chamber of Commerce has only opened three branches in the Capital City, with no movement elsewhere.”

“If we could get involved in the Royal Chamber of Commerce, tsk tsk tsk…”

Although Qiao Maoyong said nothing, everything was implied.

Qiao Zhiguang nodded slightly, “Maoyong is right, as long as we…”

“Father!”

Qiao Maokang suddenly interrupted Qiao Zhiguang, glanced at his elder brother Qiao Maoyong, and then said, “I have another idea.”

“Oh? What idea?”

“I have a brother in the military, he told me that the reason the Great Yu Army has been victorious in every battle these years, even occupying two states of the Wu Country, is all because of explosives, flintlock guns, and Thunderbolt!”

“If we can get this thing through Liu Cheng’en, we can definitely sell it for a high price!”

“I think over there in Wu Country, they definitely want these things very much!”

As soon as the words were spoken, the expressions of Qiao Zhiguang and Qiao Maoyong changed.

Especially Qiao Zhiguang, who even threw the cane in his hand over and it hit Qiao Maokang hard.

“You unfilial son! Didn’t I repeatedly warn you not to discuss matters related to Wu Country!?”

“Afraid of what!”

Qiao Maokang stood up abruptly and said, “It’s not like it’s the first day we’re doing business with Wu Country, didn’t you sell things to Wu Country before?”

“Not to mention salt and iron, but weapons, armor, and even border military intelligence you sold, now what are you afraid of?”

“Unfilial son! You unfilial son! Cough, cough, cough…”

Qiao Zhiguang suddenly started coughing hard, scaring Qiao Maoyong to quickly run over and comfort him.

“Dad! Don’t worry! Breathe! Don’t rush…”

“Maokang! The times have changed.”

While comforting Qiao Zhiguang, Qiao Maoyong explained, “A few years ago, the Great Yu Border Army was weak, and there were signs of chaos in the world. We had to do business with Wu Country for the sake of an escape route, and it was all done secretly.”

“It’s not just us, who among the Eight Great Bing Merchants in Bingzhou hasn’t done it?”

“The most ruthless was the Wang Family, even… anyway, those things are all in the past now.”

“Who would have thought the new Emperor would be so formidable, putting his trust in Xu Mujun, not only did he repel Wu Country’s invasion but also captured two major provinces of Wu Country.”

“Now that Black Mountain Pass in Wu Country is occupied by Great Yu, along with the advantage of firearms, Wu Country wanting to fight back is a fool’s dream.”

“Those letters, border maps, travel permits we traded with Wu Country are all evidence of our treason and betrayal of Great Yu!”

“If discovered, our entire family will be executed!”

“At this time, instead of hiding, you still want to target firearms, aren’t you afraid the Embroidered Uniform Guard will trace back to us and find our evidence?”

“Afraid of what…”

Originally intending to shout loudly, Qiao Maokang, seeing his angry father and brother, finally softened his tone a bit: “Forget it, I won’t talk nonsense anymore.”

“But I really don’t believe Your Majesty dares to touch us. As long as we want, we can rally an army of hundreds of thousands at any time, at worst rebel like Yongzhou!”

“Unfilial son! Unfilial son! Get out! Get out…”

Qiao Zhiguang was so angry his lips trembled, his eyes almost spewing flames.

“Hmph! I’ll leave then!”

Qiao Maokang swiftly ran out, looking at the heavy and vast outer wall of the mansion, spat and said: “Old and useless, only cares about making big money for himself, regardless of his son’s life or death.”

“If you can sell weapons and armor, why can’t I sell them?”

“Now Wu Country is eager for revenge, they’re bound to pay a high price for firearms, I refuse to believe no one in this world loves money?”

“First bribe Eunuch Liu, then find a way to bribe the Garrison Commander at Black Mountain Pass, if it doesn’t work, sneak through the mountains or take water routes, one way or another, I’ll sell explosives and firearms to Wu Country.”

“Hehehe, by then, those firearms could sell for a sky-high price!”

“A flintlock gun, has got to sell for… one hundred, no, one thousand taels of silver! Hehehe…”

“This is much more profitable than selling iron weapons and armor…”

The more Qiao Maokang spoke, the more excited he became, as if he could already see countless gold and silver waving at him.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Qiao Zhiguang held Qiao Maoyong’s hand and said:

“Maoyong, among my several sons, you’re the most promising. Our Qiao Family’s vast business empire will depend on you in the future!”

“Don’t worry, Dad, I’ll definitely develop the Qiao Family well and ensure it doesn’t fall.”

“Good, good, good…”

Qiao Zhiguang finally calmed down, saying: “Our Qiao Family might have started late, but it’s been over a hundred years, we’ve seen all kinds of storms, isn’t it just the authorities asking for a contribution? Then give it!”

“But we shouldn’t be pioneers, nor should we be the last to give, just follow everyone else.”

“As long as the Wang Family contributes first, we’ll contribute too, understood?”

“Rest assured, Dad, your son understands.”

A few days later, the Datong Wang Family suddenly sent out invitations, gathering the Eight Great Bing Merchants and various noble families, landlords to Datong for a meeting.

Almost all merchants and landlords sent capable representatives to the gathering.

At the meeting, the Wang Family first expressed their stance, willing to cooperate with Liu Cheng’en to contribute ten million taels of silver for military expenses.

What remained was to discuss how much each family would contribute.

After a whole day of discussions, a decision was finally made.

The Eight Great Bing Merchants, the Wang, Qiao, Chang, Meng, Hou, Qu, Kang, and Fang families each contributed one million taels, totaling eight million taels.

The remaining two million taels would be collectively funded by other merchants and noble families.

In addition, the Eight Great Bing Merchants privately gave an extra two million taels to Liu Cheng’en as “tea money.”

Ten million taels of silver were transported by the Imperial Guard into the camp where Liu Cheng’en was located.

And the extra two million taels, along with other additional ‘tea money’ secretly given by interested parties, were transported through back or side entrances to the tent of Liu Cheng’en.

That night, Liu Cheng’en happily received the representatives of the Eight Great Bing Merchants, praising their righteous deed.

Almost all the Bing Merchants and local Bingzhou officials breathed a sigh of relief, as eunuchs are quirky and hard to deal with.

“By the way! My family’s fiftieth birthday is in a few days, isn’t this fate?”

Liu Cheng’en laughed, “So, I’ll host a birthday banquet at the Phoenix Pavilion in Datong, inviting all the brave men of Bingzhou, what do you say?”

Looking at the representatives of the Eight Great Bing Merchants in front of him, Liu Cheng’en smiled broadly and said, “It’s my family’s fiftieth birthday, all the clan leaders and gentlemen must give face!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep