Chapter Nineteenth A Deal

  "As long as it is within the reach of my Wind and Rain Great Army's power, you will all be able to enjoy free trade rights and safe trade routes." Feng Yu said word by word.

  A woman who is not inferior to men!

  Looking at the excited expressions of those commercial representatives he had invited himself, Feng Yu couldn't help but comment on that uninvited girl from last night.

  Forming an alliance with the merchant's power is one of Fengyu's purposes, but it seems that this girl truly understands these merchants' thoughts, and this promise is far more effective than her original idea.

  Safe and free trade is absolutely the dream of merchants. However, in Sheng Long, agriculture is valued over commerce, and merchants are at the bottom of the four occupations, with a very low status; coupled with the policy of closing the country for generations, this dream is far from reach.

  Now, however, there is a powerful figure who has promised to make this dream come true, which has left the businessmen both extremely excited and deeply worried.

  "Excuse me, General, what do we need to do?" an old man asked cautiously. A merchant's habit is that there is no free lunch in the world, and if you want to make a deal, of course, you have to figure out the price.

  "Feng Yu smiled and said, 'It's simple. I hope you can provide me with intelligence from various places in a timely manner, including local customs, political strategies, geography, and military affairs. These things should be easy to collect when you're traveling for business, right?'"

  "Is that all?" The old man said with doubt.

  "Not bad, that's all," said Feng Yu. "The above is the premise of our cooperation. If everyone agrees, we can discuss specific matters with my financial manager below."

  Gao Fengyang stood up with a knowing look and said loudly, "Everyone, the above is the general principle of cooperation between General Fengyu and everyone. I wonder what you all think?"

  "As for this principle, we are all willing to accept it, but how can it be implemented specifically?" The businessmen discussed it briefly and continued to ask questions.

  Gao Fengyang said with confidence: "All merchants within the sphere of influence of my Wind and Rain Army will be subject to a tax rate of 15%, guaranteed by my army. In principle, we do not prohibit you from trading with any other forces, but due to military considerations, we may impose partial embargoes on strategic materials for belligerents at certain times. You will coordinate with Mr. Wei Liao of our army to form a communication network and provide us with various information."

  In addition, our army is also preparing to set up a business team by investing in stocks. For some sensitive materials, we will provide armed transportation services. We hope to cooperate with you, and the decision to invest or not is entirely up to your discretion.

  It was another sensation, the 15% tax policy is almost unheard of throughout the continent, other places generally collect 20% to 50% in taxes, it can be said that this is an extremely preferential policy.

  Although spreading the message may offend other forces, as long as it is done cautiously, there should be no major problems. After all, merchants have always had information exchange between them, and it's not possible to completely eliminate business transactions, which are an important source of revenue for other forces. Moreover, merchants prioritize profits, so if Fengyu can really implement a 15% tax rate and guarantee safe and free trade rights, those merchants would be more than happy to see Fengyu's territory expand, as their own interests would also be better protected. Therefore, they would naturally be willing to provide assistance. Besides, transactions themselves require mutual benefit anyway.

  As for the issue of entering the stock, although most businessmen still have some doubts, some bold businessmen are already very interested in asking about it. In this era, the more forbidden something is, the more profitable it is. If a military group serves as a backing, the safety factor will be greatly increased. This is indeed a good deal.

  Of course, there were also many businessmen who were cautious and raised their questions: "The general has not yet received the imperial edict from the court, and the tax system is related to the central government. Does the general have confidence in promoting it?"

  "Feng Yu Ha Ha laughed loudly and said: 'Everyone is a clever person, should know that the current imperial court is in an uproar over the right to inherit the throne. Even if the situation subsides, the power will still fall into the hands of the four major families. Can they still manage local affairs? In times of chaos, the strong are respected. The reason I can negotiate with you is because I have troops and territory. This is my guarantee for cooperation with you, and it is also my capital to fulfill my promises. What do you think?"

  Everyone was intimidated by the momentum of the wind and rain. In fact, it is true that the wind and rain trade with themselves because they have something to trade with, as long as there is money to be made. If one day, he no longer has capital to trade, then it's a clean break, who cares what happens next!

  Watching the transaction being completed, everyone left satisfied. Feng Yu and Yu also felt very happy, didn't expect that coming to Shengjing would settle a matter so quickly.

  "What do you think, General?" After everyone left, the girl emerged from behind the curtain like a ghost and asked Feng Yu.

  With one hand holding the teacup and the other gently moving the lid, he suddenly shot out a piercing gaze and asked in a loud voice: "Who are you? Why do you want to help me?"

  "I've said it before, my name is Li Zhonghui, and I'm a representative of the Li family from Luoyang. I'm helping you because my family was originally a noble family in Goryeo, but was later destroyed by the Holy Dragon, so I want to use your hand to revive my family." The girl replied calmly, not moved at all.

  "Why choose me? Putting a bet on a nouveau riche is too risky, isn't it?"

  "Because you are an outstanding military genius, in this chaotic world, you have quickly occupied a place of your own, and you have the qualifications to cooperate with us. On the other hand, it is also because the people who hold great power today all have their own factions and backgrounds, but only you do not, so it is possible for everyone to cooperate."

  "Usurping the world is originally a risky business, but after reviewing your information, we believe that this risk is worth taking because there are two things that make us think you are a person who may succeed. Firstly, during the Battle of Shenglong River, you did not hesitate to give up fighting for the emperor and chose to preserve your strength; secondly, you did not choose to become a mountain king or foolishly come to Shengjing to support the emperor, but instead seized Lianyu Pass, gaining both power and fame. All these show that you have great decisiveness in major events and are ambitious, so you will not refuse our conditions. Since everyone's overall goal is consistent, what follows is that success depends on human effort, while failure is due to heavenly fate!"

  "Hmph, you want me to help you restore the old regime? You're underestimating me! The wind and rain are vigilant, Goryeo was destroyed by the Great Emperor of Sacred Dragon, and now it has become a forbidden place for Sacred Dragon. If I were to help them restore the old regime, I would be a national sinner."

  "Restoration is just a notion of family elders. In fact, when a dynasty falls, it naturally has its own reasons for falling; otherwise, how could a country's power easily become the dust of history? Since being abandoned by the people and heaven, how can it possibly come back again? Even if rebuilt, it would only be a new dynasty, what is lost will be forever lost, only old men will reminisce about the past. So I don't have any intention of asking you to help us restore our throne, I just hope that in the future Wind and Rain Dynasty, there will be a place for my Li family."

  Clever woman.

  The wind and rain watched as the girl in front of him wore a black veil, thinking secretly in his heart.

  The establishment of a dynasty is never easy, and if it were not for the fact that his later generations did not live up to expectations and completely exhausted the will of heaven and the people, it would be difficult to perish - strong countries pressing on the border can only be an external cause.

  Delusional restoration is just a kind of foolish and unattainable obsession.

  Unexpectedly, this woman who doesn't look very big at all, can actually comprehend such profound truths.

  Think about it, from the moment we met until now, this girl has always been in control. The wind and rain, who had been somewhat resentful, suddenly said fiercely: "If we're going to cooperate, you should at least let me see your face."

  As soon as he finished speaking, the wind and rain suddenly attacked together, heading straight for the girl's face.

  The girl hastily parried, and was shocked to find that this girl's martial arts skills were extremely strong.

  Between the rabbit's rise and the crane's fall, the two of them exchanged over thirty moves.

  The martial arts of Feng Yu tend towards elegance, every move is carefree and gentle.

  The girl's martial arts were quite bizarre, always inexplicably avoiding the attacks of her opponents and often counterattacking from an impossible direction.

  The fierce storm suddenly subsided, and in an instant, the entire space became heavy with tension, as if a powerful force was pressing down on the girl.

  "The ground is frozen solid!"

  The girl exclaimed, suddenly realizing that every one of her movements had encountered strong resistance and could not be unfolded.

  This is one of the world-renowned ultimate moves after a stormy day, using powerful spiritual power to mobilize powerful elements, filling the entire space, making the entire space an intangible entity, rendering the opponent unable to move. Of course, the premise is that the opponent's skills must be inferior to oneself, otherwise being counterattacked would be a joke.

  The wind and rain understood during the brief exchange that the girl's skills were inferior to his own, and since he only wanted to teach a lesson to this housemate who made him feel at a disadvantage, without intending to harm her - after all, she was an ally - so he used this move.

  Just as the wind and rain slowly reached out to the black veil on the girl's face - in this space, her own movements were also slow, the girl exclaimed: "Don't, our family has rules, only husbands can lift the veil!"

  The wind and rain were shocked, but unfortunately it was too late. Just as the girl hadn't finished speaking, the wind and rain had already lifted her veil. There before him was a beautiful, moving face, slightly panicked yet more evocative of sympathy and love.

  For a moment, time and space seemed to freeze, and the two of them stood there stupidly for a long time.

  "I'm going to kill you!"

  The girl was stunned for a while before she said fiercely, but her body suddenly fell to the ground and burst into tears.

  The wind and rain were at a loss, scratching their heads, not knowing what to do. The girl who had just been full of clever plans and was so clever and capable now suddenly became girly, leaving the wind and rain bewildered.

  This matter became a joke for the famous general who had dominated the world, and years later, Li Zhonghui still proudly said: "Who told you to bully me, this weak woman?"

  It takes a great deal of effort for her to calm down every time she gets into trouble.

  Never offend a woman!

  After this incident, General Feng finally understood a truth.