Chapter 68 Borrowing Money

  More than ten men in green robes stared at Xue Weihai and his four companions.

  The man in the lead, wearing a green shirt, had a toad-like head and beady eyes. He looked at Xue Weihai with a sly gaze, furrowed his brow, then stretched out his hand to block the path of Xue Weihai and his companions.

  "What's wrong with you!" The small-headed leader of the mouse gang stared at Xue Weihai.

  With Zhou Ce by his side, Xue Wei Hai was naturally unafraid. His face expressionless, he said in a cold voice, "Tea buyer."

  "Buying tea? I think you're up to no good! You're buying tea with weapons!" The little leader eyed Xue Weihai up and down, "Have you seen my second brother, Peng Zhi, a short and fat man, around here recently?"

  Xue Weihai shook his sleeve and said, "No! Let's go."

  After finishing speaking, Xue Weihai walked towards the tea garden with big strides.

  The little leader was about to intervene, but Zhou Ce rushed up from behind and grabbed the little leader's wrist. "Get out of here!"

  Zhou Ce's voice was cold and stern as he rebuked him.

  The little leader was so frightened that he shrank his neck, and didn't dare to speak out. He was usually a bully who feared the strong and oppressed the weak. This time, when he encountered Zhou Ce, he was scolded by Zhou Ce's loud shout, which made him feel quite terrified.

  Xue Weihai and several others left.

  The mouse-headed little leader hesitated for a moment, then let out a low shout, "Go! See Big Brother!"

  Xue Weihai arrived at the tea garden and met Song Kai.

  Song Kai Zheng was discussing something with Nie Ling Tong, Ji Ru Feng and Ge Shou.

  "Haha! Is there something difficult?," Xue Weihai sneered, sitting down opposite Song Kai, "If you need me to take action, just speak up."

  Song Kai thought Xue Wei Hai was a fake smiler.

  Ge Shou didn't notice Xue Weihai's smile, he smiled with relief and said: "With Old Xue here, I believe the matter will be settled."

  Xue Weihai knocked on the table and said, "Speak up, we're all our own people, what's going on?"

  Kesou then recounted in detail the death of Peng Zhi, the second master of Taihu Gang.

  After hearing this, Xue Weihai frowned in difficulty, "Taihu Gang? Taihu Gang's second-in-command Peng Zhi and the current Taihu Gang helping Shi Haopeng is a life-and-death friendship."

  Standing beside Xue Weihai, Zhou Ce spoke up: "It's said that Shi Haopeng is Peng Zhi's illegitimate son. The death of the old boss and Shi Haopeng's succession are both closely related to Peng Zhi."

  The crowd was left speechless.

  Xue Weihai took a quilt and poured himself a cup of tea, saying: "Peng Zhi is dead. Shi Haipeng will definitely not hesitate to take revenge for Peng Zhi at all costs. By the way, I saw someone investigating earlier, what was the result?"

  When Xue Weihai said this, Song Kai and Nie Tingting were fine, but Ge Shou's old face had already turned red with tension. "Just now when we were searched, of course, we didn't admit it, but it can be seen that the entire Taihu Gang has started to investigate Peng Zhi's whereabouts. I don't know how much longer we can keep it a secret."

  "I see... it's difficult! It's best to leave tonight, if not, the people from Taihu Gang will definitely find you by tomorrow," Xue Weihai sighed.

  "Then... Mr. Xue, can you help us out? I know you hold a high position in Suzhou and must have some influence, right?" Ge Shou asked with a flattering smile.

  "This busy, I can also...also help out, it's just...the price is too high," Xue Weihai sighed, looking at Song Kai.

  Song Kai sneered, "Alright, Old Xue, go ahead and state your conditions. However, let me make one thing clear: don't be too outrageous with your demands. You should know that right now, you and I are in the same boat."

  Xue Wei Hai smiled and stood up, saying: "Then... shall we discuss it in detail?"

  "Go ahead, Qingniang, you go and brew some tea, I'll go to my room with Old Xue to discuss some things," Song Kai also stood up.

  Two people walked silently towards Song Kai's room with an unspoken understanding.

  "Speak up, what do you want me to do? From the moment you came in and looked at me with a smile, I knew something was off!" Song Kai sat down in his own room, looking at Xue Weihai and muttering.

  Xue Weihai laughed and then let out a light sigh, "I also had no choice, to be honest, the financial situation is tight."

  "Financial difficulties?" Song Kai looked at the old man in surprise, who had spent the whole day fishing and drinking tea. He now knew that Xue Weihai was a governor, what is a governor? That's the big boss of Suzhou City! The economy of Suzhou City is absolutely among the best, how can it be financially tight?

  Xue Weihai was also not pretending, with a serious face, nodded and was about to speak when Qingniang walked in carrying a teapot and poured tea for Old Xue.

  Xue Wei Hai stopped talking.

  Song Kai smiled and said: "Mr. Xue, just say it, this is my maid, Qingniang."

  Xue Wei Hai laughed and shook his head.

  The young woman was indeed knowledgeable and interesting. After pouring a cup of water for Song Kai, she said: "My lord, I'm leaving."

  After finishing speaking, he left.

  Xue Weihai gazed at Qingniang's figure, shaking his head and smiling: "You, indeed a blessed person, this Qingniang I've seen a few times, although born in the countryside, but clever and spirited, is a very lively girl, and has beautified you."

  Song Kai waved his hand and said, "Let's get down to business."

  "Hmm, actually there's nothing strange about it, you also know that the entire Jiangnan region is under Yang Jian's control now. Under Yang Jian's command are 1.5 million soldiers and horses, and he has 13 subordinate states and cities. Although he is still the Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangnan, a high-ranking official in the imperial court, he no longer pays attention to the imperial court's decrees. Do you know why Yang Jian would let an outsider like me manage Suzhou City? Apart from it being an imperial decree and my having some reputation, more importantly, the taxes I submit every year are the highest."

  Xue Weihai drank water, slightly shaking his head, with a somewhat painful expression.

  "Yang Jian, although suspicious and lacking in courage, is very clever. He knows that whoever controls the military power and finance controls everything. I handed over all the taxes of Suzhou City to him, even more than required. He naturally understood that I was not greedy for wealth, and without money, I would not have the ability to plot rebellion. It was precisely because of this that he felt at ease with me as the governor."

  Song Kai suddenly understood, "What Old Xue means is that the expenses for training your death warriors... or rather, the silver pay, are insufficient?"

  Xue Wei Hai nodded, "A dead soldier's daily expenses are at least one hundred coins, three thousand dead soldiers, and in one day it would be three hundred taels of silver. In the past, it was secretly allocated from the imperial court to fund my training with Zhou Ce, but now the imperial court has no more spare money. However, we can't take action now, nor can we give up on this plan. So I need a lot of money, and who knows how long this hole will take to fill."

  Song Kai drank a cup of water, thought for a moment, and said: "I'm sure Xue Lao must know that in the past, the military system of the Tang Dynasty was the Fubing system, where soldiers were allowed to farm during peacetime and recruit soldiers during wartime..."

  Xue Weihai waved his hand and said, "I know what you mean, Song Lang. You want me to use these three thousand dead soldiers to make money and support myself, right?"

  Song Kai nodded, in fact, this is also the best approach. Many foundations and charitable funds in later generations actually used the method of rolling with interest to expand themselves. For example, the Nobel Prize, the prize money was insufficient long ago, but investors invested Nobel's prize money in various fields, making money with money, which made the Nobel Prize survive.

  "But it's not that easy," Xue Weihai sighed, "Three thousand people, still three thousand people who can't be discovered, what can they do? Escort goods? Farm? Perform acrobatics? If they form a gang, then it would be easy, but in that case, these three thousand people will no longer have any possibility of hiding."

  Song Kai understood that this era was after all not developed in commerce and did not have as many investment opportunities as later generations.

  Song Kai thought carefully and then burst out laughing, "Does Old Xue want to borrow money from me or a method?"

  "Haha, if I can borrow the money, that would be great. I'm an old man and don't want to worry about trivial things like firewood, rice, oil, and salt all day..." Xue Weihai thickened his skin and laughed straight, "Song Lang, rest assured, as long as you lend me the money, when the imperial court is stable, I will definitely repay double... no, quadruple."

  Song Kai gave Xue Weihai a glance, not expecting this old guy to issue such an empty check. As just an ordinary businessman, if he defaulted on the debt later, Song would have no recourse.

  "Xue Lao, this matter, I need to consider it, but what I want to make clear is that in order to make money, I definitely can't rely on myself. I'll need to use your dead soldiers, but I can guarantee that absolutely won't let these people's identities be exposed, nor will they be discovered by Yang Jian. Of course, neither will they go around burning, killing, looting and plundering, haha!" Song Kai burst out laughing.

  Xue Wei let out a sigh of relief, slapped the table and said: "It's settled then. If I had known it would be this easy, I wouldn't have needed to think so much when I came here. I thought of three countermeasures, but none of them were used. You just agreed."

  "You're really narrow-minded," Song Kai put on a wronged expression, "Am I that crafty and despicable in your eyes, Old Xue?"

  "Haha, no way, I'm just a bit selfish," Xue Weihai chuckled. "Alright, you can discuss the follow-up matters with Zhou Dounu later. As for the Taihu Gang's affairs, you and Zhou Dounu can handle it together. However, the money to support the troops must be prepared quickly, at the latest within a month, or my side will run out of funds." Xue Weihai's expression turned serious towards the end.

  "Go on, don't worry, by the way, when can I return to the city?" Song Kai asked.

  "Tomorrow will be fine, Suzhou City has stabilized. The one who came is a rough man, his kung fu is on par with Zhou's, but his brain isn't very useful. His biggest advantage is loyalty. To say it, this matter is still your credit, Song Lang. If you hadn't killed Yang Rongguang, I wouldn't have completely relaxed now." Xue Weihai drank water, his eyes fixed on Song Kai, "However, don't expect me to reward you for the time being. After the imperial court's affairs are restored, I'll give you a..."

  "Stop!" Song Kai let Xue Wei halt his words, "You can't say that anymore, whether or not we can protect the Tang Dynasty is really uncertain."

  "You scoundrel..." Xue Wei Hai stood up, "This sentence is a capital offense, but... never mind, do your best and leave the rest to heaven, I won't regret it."

  After finishing speaking, Xue Weihai walked out of the room and left with three guards, leaving only Zhou Ce staying in the tea garden to discuss the Taihu Gang's affairs with Song.

  With Zhou Ce's help, Song Kai knew that all the crises had finally passed...