Ye Li suddenly understood. It turned out that Zhang Baiwan had lost a lot of money yesterday. The servants in the residence were afraid that they would be an eyesore to the master, so they specially found these clothes to wear, so as not to make the master unhappy.
Ye Li smiled and said, "This one was rude. Being thrifty is always a good thing."
The housekeeper smiled helplessly. Being thrifty was naturally a good thing, but with the Zhang family's wealth and status in Nanjing, they were often ridiculed because of this. They had long been used to it.
Zhang Baiwan had already been waiting in the hall with his wife and daughter. Looking at Madam Zhang and Young Miss Zhang, Ye Li suddenly had a deeper understanding of Zhang Baiwan's stinginess. Because of his injury, Zhang Baiwan's face was still a little pale, but when he saw Ye Li come in, his face was full of smiles and was very attentive, "Young Master Chu has come. This old one did not come out to welcome you. Please forgive me."
Ye Li cupped her hands and smiled, "Lord Zhang is too polite. This one is Chu Junwei. Greetings to Madam and Young Miss Zhang."
Zhang Baiwan was very happy and said to his daughter, "Zhu 'er, quickly greet Young Master Chu."
Young Miss Zhang very shyly stepped forward and bowed, "Zhu 'er greets Young Master Chu." When she saw Young Miss Zhang, Ye Li finally understood why Master Lin had a strange expression when he mentioned Zhang Baiwan's daughter.
In all fairness, Young Miss Zhang's appearance was not ugly. Although she could not be considered a stunning beauty, she should be a delicate and pretty woman. However, this young lady gave off a very strange feeling. Even someone as calm as Ye Li couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat when she stared at her. Ye Li's eyes twitched and she inadvertently took a step back, "Young Miss Zhang is too polite." Then she turned her gaze to Zhang Baiwan, swearing not to look at Young Miss Zhang again.
Seeing that Ye Li wasn't looking at her, Miss Zhang's eyes reddened. Zhang Baiwan looked at Ye Li, then at his daughter. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He smiled at Ye Li and said, "Young master Chu, why don't we take a seat first?"
Ye Li smiled and said, "Lord Zhang, please."
Because only Ye Li was invited, Lord Zhang brought Mrs. Zhang and Miss Zhang to the table. The banquet wasn't very sumptuous, but it wasn't disrespectful. It seemed that even though Lord Zhang was stingy, he was still aware of the situation. After Ye Li sat down, Miss Zhang happened to sit beside her. This made Ye Li's body stiffen again.
"Young master Chu, Zhu 'er will pour some wine for you." Miss Zhang picked up the wine jug and eagerly poured some wine for Ye Li. Ye Li could only thank her. She sighed and went straight to the point with Lord Zhang. If Lord Zhang really said that he was planning to marry his daughter to her, it would be ugly. "Lord Zhang, actually, this one is here today because I have some important matters to discuss with Lord Zhang."
Lord Zhang was taken aback. He smiled and said, "What is it? Why don't we talk after the meal?"
Ye Li said calmly, "If it's about the one million grains that Lord Zhang donated to Prince Li yesterday?"
Zhang Baiwan's face immediately darkened. Just thinking about that one million grains made his heart bleed.
"What does young master Chu want to talk about?" Zhang Baiwan looked at Ye Li in confusion. Ye Li asked with a smile, "Is it convenient to talk here?" Zhang Baiwan hesitated for a moment. In the end, he still looked at his wife and daughter and said, "Madam, please bring Zhu 'er down first. I have something to discuss with young master Chu." Madam Zhang was just an ordinary woman in her boudoir. She treated her husband as her sky and did not know anything about business. She could only pull the somewhat unwilling Miss Zhang away.
"What does young master Chu want to talk to this old man about?" Zhang Baiwan asked.
Ye Li smiled and said, "Yesterday, Lord Zhang donated one million grains to Prince Li. But according to this one's knowledge, Prince Li is sending out at least eight hundred thousand soldiers this time. Taking everything into account, even if everything goes smoothly and we can agree to the Mohist army in the shortest time possible, it will still take at least half a year. In this period of time, the amount of grain needed is at least three million grains. And this is the most conservative estimate. Does Lord Zhang think … that Prince Li's Mansion can defeat the Prince Ding Mansion in half a year? "
Zhang Baiwan looked at him with some vigilance and said, "What does young master mean?"
Ye Li smiled and said, "This one also has another piece of news. This time … the army has set out, but the imperial court did not transfer much grain from the granaries of various places. Because … this year, Xi Ling is suffering from drought and a lack of harvest. The situation of the Northern Tribes is also not very good. I think that Lord Zhang has some understanding of the grain business. The imperial court sold a large portion of the grain that had just entered the warehouse to Xi Ling a month ago. So, this conservative estimate of three million grains … in the end, I am afraid that Lord Zhang and the grain merchants of Jiangnan will have to bear the cost. "
Zhang Baiwan's face darkened when he heard this. "Prince Li … Prince Li wants to destroy my Zhang family." Donating one million grains had already greatly damaged the vitality of the Zhang family. If the Zhang family had to bear the cost of all the grain, the Zhang family would probably be finished. More importantly, the Zhang family would not be able to gather so much grain in such a short time. When the time came, the crime of delaying military plans would be brought down. Zhang Baiwan's head would still roll. As expected … Prince Li did not plan to let him go from the beginning.
"Not only that, but … honestly speaking, this one can say that this war is not something that can be finished in a year or so. When the time comes, the Zhang family … "Zhang Baiwan's face was ashen. He looked at Ye Li and said," Young Master Chu, you did not come here just to scare me, did you? " Zhang Baiwan was also a shrewd businessman. He naturally knew that Ye Li would not come here just to play with him.
Ye Li lowered his eyes and said lightly, "This one does have a way to help Lord Zhang, but I don't know if Lord Zhang is willing?"
"Please save me, Young Master Chu." Zhang Baiwan hurriedly said.
Ye Li smiled and handed over an envelope. Zhang Baiwan took it and skimmed through it. His face could not help but change. He stared at Ye Li and said, "You … Young Master Chu, you are …" Ye Li smiled and said, "This one's surname is Chu. The Chu family … and the Xu family are related by marriage."
Zhang Baiwan understood. His expression kept changing. After a while, he asked, "Can Young Master Chu make the decision?"
Ye Li smiled and took out a token from his sleeve and placed it on the table. Zhang Baiwan stared at the black jade token with a murderous look on it. Even though he had never seen the Prince Ding Mansion's token, Zhang Baiwan really did not think that anyone in this world would dare to copy the Prince Ding Mansion's token. Also … the Chu family and the Xu family were related by marriage. With the Xu family's position in Li City, the possibility of Chu Junwei working for the Prince Ding Mansion was much higher than coming all the way to Jiangnan to rely on the Li Palace.
"What does Lord Zhang think?" Ye Li asked.
"If … this old one does not agree, what does Young Master Chu plan to do?" Zhang Baiwan asked.
Ye Li said calmly, "Then I ask Lord Zhang to forget what happened today." Zhang Baiwan said in a low voice, "This old one needs to think about it." Ye Li did not waste time. He stood and said, "Since it is like this, this one will leave first."
Zhang Baiwan looked at Ye Li and said with some luck, "Actually, if Young Master Chu can agree to this old one's request, this old one can give you an answer right now." Seeing Zhang Baiwan's satisfied and expectant gaze, Ye Li rolled his eyes in his heart. He quickly said, "Lord Zhang, please forgive me. This one is just … running errands. If Lord Zhang has any request, this one can pass it on for you. But if it has to do with me, I'm afraid … please forgive me, Lord Zhang. "
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