Chapter 42: Kickback

  Zhou Shan heard it from behind and was also shocked. He thought to himself, "It's all over." These eunuchs are ruthless, this time the master is in trouble, what can be done?

  During the Eastern Han dynasty, the one person you couldn't afford to offend was the eunuchs. Even towards the end, even a great general like He Jin was killed by the eunuchs. However, Qin Feng knew that all the eunuchs cared about were power and money. His business had just begun, and the Han dynasty was corrupt from top to bottom, it wouldn't be long before no one dared to cause trouble. If he could establish a relationship with these powerful eunuchs... danger and opportunity coexisted, Qin Feng gritted his teeth and said: "Sir, may I have a word with you?"

  The eunuch looked up and down at Qin Feng, seeing that he was respectful to him. "Hmph! You few wait here." The eunuch understood the meaning of his eyes, let out a coquettish hum, swung his sleeves and walked into the house.

  Qin Feng's goosebumps fell off more than half a catty, and he secretly thought that this guy was too pretentious, couldn't he just speak properly?

  "What's your business with me?" After entering the house, the eunuch fiddled with a few decorative objects on the table and then threw them back.

  Qin Feng Drama Academy graduate, performance emphasizes a grasp of the character, this eunuch's thoughts are naturally clear, respectfully saying: "Sir, I don't know your name?"

  "Xiao Huangmen Zhang Jiu is just a certain family." Zhang Jiu said as he saw Qin Feng being respectful.

  "It turned out to be Huangmen Zhang Gong, I didn't know that Zhang Changshi was your...". Qin Feng said it was the first of the ten attendants, called "my father" by Emperor Ling, Zhang Rang.

  He said with great satisfaction: "That is some family's uncle."

  My goodness, later generations have their own ways of being treacherous. The Eastern Han had their own ways of harming their nephews. What can't be done is to let the nephew enter the palace and become a eunuch. Is Zhang Rang also learning from those bureau chiefs and hall chiefs of later generations, manipulating his juniors into serving under him as officials?

  Qin Feng thought to himself, but his face didn't reveal a hint of it. Instead, he showed reverence and said: "I said that the noble's face is full and round, with a broad and square earth, I should be a great rich and noble person. It turns out to be Zhang Changshi's relative, truly sorry for my disrespect."

  "Qin Feng, stop flattering certain people. What do you think about buying sugar? If it's possible, send 2,000 catties to the palace tomorrow." Zhang said.

  Damn it, 2000 kilograms, you can eat that as rice. Qin Feng thought anxiously, since this person is Zhang Rang's nephew, he might be able to pull some strings through him.

  In his eyes, there was no difference between the aristocracy and eunuchs' power struggles. As long as it benefited himself, he would pull strings. With a plan in mind, he said: "Sir, I have nothing to offer as a tribute for our first meeting, Qin Feng. How about this? One thousand catties of white sugar, half a guan for you. On the surface, we'll still be one guan, and the other half will be your kickback. As long as the palace's money is in place, I'll immediately send someone to deliver it to your mansion."

  "A rebate? Ah!" Zhang's eyes lit up in front of him. He often purchased supplies for the palace, but had never encountered such a situation before.

  But Zhang, being astute, instantly grasped the benefits. A glint of cunning flashed in his eyes as he chuckled and said: "Hehe, Qin Feng, I was just joking with you earlier. In our great Han Dynasty, we value benevolence, righteousness, and etiquette. How could I possibly buy your white sugar for only ten guan? It should be a hundred guan, don't you think?" He then winked and made eyes at him.

  Ma De, with your abacus, even my little toe can see through it. Seeing things developing in the direction he had thought, Qin Feng smiled and said: "Sir, to be honest, this principal of mine is worth five guan. I beg for a favor, just leave me with this five-guan principal, and the rest will naturally be sent to your mansion."

  This is 5,000 taels of silver, the entire family property of an ordinary wealthy family is only 5,000 taels. Good boy, on the right track. Zhang nodded his head in satisfaction, "Qin Feng, you're great, really great."

  Qin Feng cursed inwardly, "I won't make money from you, I'll just cancel the Qin character." Taking advantage of the heat, he said: "Your Majesty, ordinary white sugar is used by ordinary people. The one used by Your Majesty must be a tribute product, I have 1,000 catties of carefully selected white sugar here. Each catty costs 50 guans..."

  "Huh, Qin Feng, you're absolutely right. Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, how can he use the same things as commoners? The tributes used by the Son of Heaven must be carefully selected. How can 50 guan worth of inferior goods be used? I think we should use 100 guan per catty of tribute white sugar..." Zhang was shocked and thought to himself, "This guy is not to be underestimated, I didn't even think of this point."

  "My god, you're a lot more ruthless than I am, truly worthy of being an eunuch who devours people without spitting out their bones. Qin Feng was overjoyed and laughed, saying: 'Alright, the 90 taels will be personally delivered to the Duke's residence.'"

  "What, 90 taels!" Zhang had initially thought it was 50 taels, and now he felt uneasy. This is a lot of money, Uncle sells official positions but doesn't look at the money, most of it goes to the Emperor. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he said sternly: "5,000 catties."

  "Madam, it's really a big deal. Can't bear to part with the child, let alone not losing out myself," Qin Feng said without hesitation, "Sir, I don't have that much goods here temporarily. One thousand catties is already the limit, and as soon as the payment arrives, nine million taels of silver will be sent to your mansion immediately."

  "What! 900 million!" Zhang was shocked this time, he only knew there was a lot of money, an amount his uncle couldn't earn in a short period of time. He didn't expect it to be so much. This was a huge sum of money, and Zhang became indecisive, thinking about going back to report to his uncle Zhang. "Alright, Qin Feng, you're a shrewd person. Our family is willing to make friends with someone like you, haha..."

  I don't want to be friends with you, Qin Feng saw Zhang's neither male nor female appearance and was furious.

  "Qin Feng, this matter is between you and me, I'll go back and tell my uncle, but neither of us can tell anyone else." Zhang said, having already set his mind on getting a large sum of money.

  Qin Feng naturally knew how bad it was... In this way, Qin Feng sent Zhang Xiao Huang away with a smile.

  "My lord, this is a disaster. We'll lose everything we've invested and it will all be for nothing. These eunuchs are really detestable..." said Zhou Shan.

  "These eunuchs aren't bad..."

  "Ah, Master, you......" Zhou Shan was shocked, could it be that Master had gone mad?

  "Who told you that money is always one yuan per kilogram?"

  "How much is it?"

  "One hundred coins for one catty..."

  One hundred taels for one catty! Zhou Shan is as stupid as a wooden chicken, has the master gone mad or is it that eunuch who's gone mad, or am I the one who's gone mad?

  "Zhou Shan, when doing business, you need to be more flexible. It's not their own money, it's the emperor's money, so if it needs to be spent, then spend it. The benefits in between aren't all yours, are they?" Qin Feng imparted his theory of commercial kickbacks to Zhou Shan. After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked towards the main house, with this Zhang will definitely report back after returning, but doesn't know if there will be an opportunity to meet this number one eunuch of the Eastern Han dynasty.

  Zhou Shan seemed to have an epiphany, and his face was filled with reverence. The master is indeed extraordinary, able to come up with such a novel bribery method. To deceive the Emperor! Tsk tsk, the master truly has guts and wisdom.

  In the afternoon, eunuchs came to the store.

  "Your Excellency, Your Excellency! The eunuch Zhang has invited you to his mansion as a guest!" Zhou Shan hastily reported. The eunuch Zhang was indeed the most powerful man in the land.

  ……

  In the north of Luoyang City, there was a huge manor. This manor was the tallest one Qin Feng had seen since he came to Eastern Han, even taller than the imperial palace. The emperor cannot ascend to great heights, ascending to great heights will inevitably lead to great disaster. Qin Feng thought of Zhang Rang's famous sentence that deceived Emperor Ling, and this nonsense was actually believed by Emperor Ling. Tsk tsk, what a foolish ruler and treacherous minister, you are all in the same nest, if such an emperor is not overthrown, who will be?

  Qin Feng had seen the walls of the Eastern Han imperial palace, but later generations said that Zhang Yan's estate was even more magnificent than the imperial palace. As soon as he entered, he felt a bit dizzy, with towering and majestic palace-style buildings, and just the steps in front of the hall were tens or hundreds. Tsk, tsk, just in terms of architectural form, it was much stronger than the Three Kingdoms City of Zhuozhou.

  In the garden, there was a servant leading a fierce dog on patrol. After a burst of barking, Qin Feng saw it and couldn't help but feel a chill, thinking that what kind of master one has depends on what kind of subordinates they have.