Jingzhou, Xiangyang.
Kuai Manor. Kuai Yue had slowly stepped down from his position in Jingzhou. One of the reasons was that Kuai Yue wanted to stay out of sight. Another reason was that the Jingzhou Imperial Court was no longer jointly managed by the Kuai Family and the Cai Family. Instead, it was now a conflict between the Huang Family, Huang She, and Liu Biao's second son, Liu Pan.
Instead of joining one side, Kuai Yue decided to give up some of his authority. Of course, he couldn't give up the main authority. Some of the important positions were still held by the Kuai Family's disciples.
"You're back!" Kuai Yue sat in the courtyard and drank tea as he looked at the busy figure.
"Father!" The busy voice heard the voice and looked over. When he saw the figure, he bowed to Kuai Yue. This person was Liu Mang's sworn brother, Kuai Yue's eldest son, Kuai Ran. Kuai Ran was no longer as frivolous as before. Instead, he had a steady aura around him.
Kuai Yue looked at his only son with satisfaction. In the past, Kuai Ran was a hedonistic son. Although he didn't dare to be too impudent with Kuai Yue around, there was no difference between level one and level nine.
However, ever since he met the King Of Shu, his son changed. He went from not caring about anything to knowing how to share his burden.
The Kuai Family was a large family. They were one of the few remaining aristocratic families in Jingzhou. As the saying goes, it's lonely at the top.
It was unknown how many people were eyeing the position of an aristocratic family. They wanted to replace the Kuai family, so the Kuai family needed a good successor. In the past, Kuai Yue didn't have much hope for Kuai Ran, but now, he was doing better and better.
"Didn't you go to collect the income for the past few months? Why are you back so quickly? " Kuai Yue asked. The Kuai Family was a large family, and their expenses were astronomical. Therefore, other than relying on Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang's salary, the Kuai Family also had their own businesses. They were different from merchants. They didn't do business themselves, but they did it for their subordinates. They only needed to provide their connections and collect money from time to time.
The Kuai Family's business wasn't small. They had over a hundred shops and every shop had to be handed over to the Kuai Family. They had been accumulating money for a few months now and the amount should be in the tens of thousands. At this time, Kuai Ran should be counting the money in the treasury. However, he returned so quickly today.
"Father, I've finished counting!" Kuai Ran said to his father.
"So quickly?" Kuai Yue was confused.
"Yes! It's just that the money isn't in the treasury yet! " Kuai Ran said to his father. He had rushed back to accompany his wife. His wife was pregnant, so he rushed back to eat and didn't go straight to the warehouse.
"Nonsense!" Kuai Yue was furious. "What if something happens to the money outside?" Kuai Yue wasn't worried about the money. He wanted his son to develop a good habit. If he did this now, what would happen in the future?
"Father, don't worry. I've already brought the money back!" Kuai Ran said to his father.
"You've brought it back?" Kuai Yue was stunned. He didn't understand what Kuai Ran meant. Tens of thousands of gold coins would require at least a dozen large carriages to carry it. Kuai Yue became even angrier. How could Kuai Ran show off his wealth?
"Father, it's a misunderstanding!" Kuai Ran quickly explained to his father. If he didn't explain clearly, his father might really slap him.
"Come, bring me the Gold Lü Bu!" Kuai Ran shouted to his subordinates.
"Yes!" Soon, a box was brought over. It was the size of a lunchbox.
"Father, all the income from the shops for the past few months is here! Please take a look! "Kuai Ran pointed at the box and said to his father.
"All the income from the past few months? It's all in here? "Kuai Yue was dumbfounded. Are you f * cking kidding me? Tens of thousands of gold in such a small box? Kuai Yue started to tremble.
He was angered. He had thought that this kid was a genius, but now, it seemed that he was just trying to cheat him. Do you really think that I'm old and muddle-headed?
Kuai Yue was about to throw the teapot at Kuai Ran. "I'll kill you, you prodigal son!" Kuai Yue said angrily and was about to slap Kuai Ran. He thought that his prodigal son had spent tens of thousands of gold on a broken box.
"Father, listen to my explanation. Listen to my explanation!" It was fortunate that Kuai Ran was agile. Otherwise, he would have died if the teapot hit his head.
"I'm not listening to you, you prodigal son. What did our Kuai Family do to deserve this? How could we have such a prodigal son like you! "Kuai Yue was about to slap Kuai Ran again.
"How lively!" At this moment, a person entered the courtyard.
"Second Uncle, Second Uncle, save me! Save me!" Kuai Ran ran towards Kuai Liang as if he had seen his savior.
"Kuai Liang, you came at the right time. I'm going to kill this prodigal son. Tens of thousands of gold for a broken box! Don't stop me! " Kuai Yue said angrily.
"Tens of thousands of gold for a broken box?" If that was the case, Kuai Liang wouldn't be able to help Kuai Ran. If Kuai Yue didn't beat him up, Kuai Yue wouldn't be appeased.
"Second Uncle, I didn't buy a box!" Kuai Ran complained. "All the money is in that box!" “
"You unfilial son, you still dare to quibble? I'll beat you to death!" Kuai Yue was even angrier.
"In the box?" “
"Yes, it's all in the box with Gold Lü Bu!" Kuai Liang explained to his Second Uncle.
Kuai Liang picked up the box. It was quite heavy. When he opened it, he saw many pictures.
"You're telling me that these pieces of paper are worth tens of thousands of gold?" Kuai Yue pointed at the pictures in the box. He felt that the pictures on the paper were not bad. He had never seen the Lü Bu before, but he recognized the Sky Piercer. The artist had drawn well, but none of the pictures were worth tens of thousands of gold.
"Haha, haha!" Kuai Liang laughed when he saw the Gold Lü Bu.
"Kuai Liang, what are you laughing at? You spoiled Kuai Ran too much!" Kuai Yue scolded his younger brother.
"Elder Brother, you've wronged me. As the saying goes, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked. You can't blame me!" Kuai Liang winked at his elder brother.
"You!" Kuai Yue pointed at his younger brother and was speechless.
"Alright, Elder Brother. You've taught us since we were young to have a good memory, to see more, and to ask more questions! Now, you didn't even ask and beat Ran 'er up. Even if it was me, I wouldn't accept it! "Kuai Liang said to his brother.
"Don't be unconvinced! Elder Brother, you're really ignorant and inexperienced! Kuai Liang took out a piece of paper and handed it to his elder brother.
"This piece of paper is really worth a hundred gold!" Kuai Liang explained.
"This piece of paper?" Kuai Ran said in disbelief.
"This is not a piece of paper. It's called Gold Lü Bu!" Kuai Liang explained to Kuai Ran. "Take it and exchange it for a hundred gold at any gold shop in Yangzhou!"
"Yangzhou?" Kuai Yue was stunned. What did this have to do with Yangzhou?
"Ran 'er, explain this to your father!" Kuai Liang passed the ball to Kuai Ran.
"Father, this piece of paper is called Gold Lü Bu. It's worth a hundred gold. As for the gold shop in Yangzhou, this piece of paper was issued by Brother Liu Mang. This thing can make it easier for merchants to trade with each other. In the future, you don't need to bring books and money with you and you don't need so many carts and ships to transport your goods. This way, you won't be targeted by thieves. You only need to bring a dozen pieces of paper with you!" Kuai Liang explained to Kuai Ran.
Jingzhou was closest to Yangzhou. Although Liu Biao and Liu Mang had a grudge against each other, they could not stop people from trading. Therefore, the paper was very portable and could be exchanged with any gold shop in Yangzhou. That was why it became popular. In the beginning, some people were still watching. However, if you did not have enough gold and the other party was not willing to sell the goods to you, you could only cry. Therefore, for the sake of convenience, many people started to buy these gold notes.
This time, the Kuai Family earned a total of seventy thousand gold. There were seven hundred gold notes here. Each one was worth a hundred gold. They were placed in a box and were ready to be stored. If they needed gold, they could exchange for them directly.
"Gold notes?" Kuai Yue's eyes lit up. Although he hadn't seen these gold notes before, he quickly saw through the essence of these notes.
"Ran 'er, you said that many merchants in Jingzhou are using these gold notes?" Kuai Yue asked his son.
"Yes, many companies are using it. Even the Huang Family and Liu Pan are using it!" Kuai Ran replied. "Not only those merchants, but even ordinary people are using it!"
"The common people are using them?" Kuai Yue asked. "How can the common people afford to use them?"
"The common people use another type of paper notes. Father, look at these!" Kuai Ran took out a ten thousand gold note. The money on it was from the Hero Palace.
"There are also thousand and hundred gold notes!" Kuai Ran took out two other types of paper notes. "Father, do you want me to give you two?" Kuai Ran was very filial.
"Haha," Kuai Yue waved his hand and smiled bitterly. "Half of Jingzhou is in the hands of His Highness King Of Shu!"
"Hm?" Kuai Ran did not understand what Kuai Yue meant by half of Jingzhou was in the hands of the King Of Shu.
"Ran 'er, what do you think will happen if Yangzhou and Jingzhou go to war and His Highness King Of Shu stops the exchange?" Kuai Yue asked his son.
"Stop the exchange?" Kuai Ran thought for a while and his eyes widened. How many people would suffer great losses?
Taking the Kuai Family as an example, this was 70,000 gold. In the future, Kuai Ran was prepared to exchange a few months' worth of income for these gold coins. If Yangzhou stopped exchanging gold coins, then these gold coins would rot in their hands. That would be a huge loss. The entire Jingzhou would lose millions of gold notes.
That way, Jingzhou would lose the possibility of going to war with Yangzhou. Even if Liu Biao wanted to go to war, everyone in Jingzhou, from the nobles to the common people, would not agree.
If Yangzhou fought, their losses would be great. How could they agree? They might not even be able to win the war.
"Ahhhh!" Kuai Ran was shocked. He did not expect his sworn brother to be like this.
"Ran 'er, you have made a good friend!" Kuai Yue was still smiling bitterly, but he immediately rejoiced. This was because His Highness King of Shu had a good relationship with their Kuai Clan. All of this was brought about by his foolish son.
"It seems like we have to make preparations as soon as possible!" Kuai Yue was indeed worthy of being the Chief Strategist of Jingzhou. He was able to discover so many things from this small exchange. In the past, the Kuai Family did not want to help because there was no possibility of them colluding with the enemy. That was why Liu Biao did not go too far with the Kuai Family. However, the Kuai Family was now taking the initiative to stand.
"Brother, I am here to talk to you about this matter!" Kuai Liang said to Kuai Yue.
"Hm?" Kuai Yue raised his eyebrows because he saw his brother looking around. He was afraid that the walls had ears.
"All of you can leave now!" Kuai Yue said to the people around him. When most of the servants and maids had left, Kuai Liang stepped forward and said to Kuai Yue.
"Brother, that person is about to give birth!"
"About to give birth?" Kuai Yue suddenly felt that his brain was not enough. "Wasn't she aborted?" This person was none other than Cai Mao's sister, Madam Cai. Madam Cai had been imprisoned by Liu Biao because of that incident.
In order to vent his anger, Liu Biao had sent troops to attack Yangzhou. Unfortunately, he had suffered a great defeat. Jiang Xia was gone and he had been extorted.
Liu Biao was burning with anger. Naturally, he wanted to abort the child in her stomach and had someone send over abortion pills.
"Brother, it's not like you don't know about abortion pills!" Kuai Liang shook his head. The abortion pills in this era weren't like the painless abortion pills in the modern era. Even the painless abortion pills in the modern era could cause a death.
In this era, even a healthy woman would die from an abortion, let alone Madam Cai's condition. Moreover, the child in her stomach had already been delayed. Relying on abortion pills was useless. Unless both of them died, the child would definitely be born.
The head of the prison was also from the Kuai Family. With the help of the Cai Family and the Kuai Family, the abortion pills had long been replaced with pregnancy pills.
This led to today's outcome. That person was about to give birth.
When Kuai Ran heard the conversation between his second uncle and his father, he rolled his eyes and suddenly shouted that his stomach hurt. "Aiyo, aiyo! Father, I ate something bad in the afternoon. Let me go to the toilet. I have to use the toilet to escape!"
"You ate something bad in the afternoon? You haven't even eaten lunch yet. How could you have an upset stomach? "His father immediately exposed Kuai Ran's little trick.
"Hehe, Father, I remembered wrongly. It was this morning. I ate something bad in the morning!" Kuai Ran wanted to leave so he smiled. After saying that, he prepared to leave.
"Come back!" Kuai Yue shouted at his son, but Kuai Ran was still preparing to leave.
"If you walk out of this house, you are no longer my son!" Kuai Yue said angrily to his son.
"Father, don't force me!" Kuai Ran looked at his father awkwardly. He had to spread the news.
"Do you think I don't know what you are going to do?" Kuai Yue looked at his son with disappointment. "Your second uncle has already said it so bluntly. Don't you understand?" Kuai Yue shouted at his son.
"Understand?" Kuai Ran was stunned.
"Ran 'er, come back. Your father naturally knows that you are going to tell your brother, Liu Mang, right?" Kuai Liang smiled and waved at Kuai Ran.
"Yes!" Kuai Ran nodded.
"Do you think your father doesn't know? Come back! Your father will also inform your brother, Liu Mang, but not now! "Kuai Liang said to his nephew.
Right now, the Kuai Family was being monitored. If Kuai Ran were to go out and inform Liu Biao, the Kuai Family would have a huge weakness. If Liu Biao was not able to destroy the Kuai Family, the Kuai Family would suffer a great loss.
Therefore, it was necessary to inform Liu Mang, but it had to be done secretly. Moreover, even if the Kuai Family did not inform him, would Cai Mao and Cai Degui be able to tolerate it?
"Father, I am sorry!" Kuai Ran said. He realized that he had wronged his father. He thought that his father would stop him from contacting his brother.
"Hmph!" Kuai Yue coldly snorted. If it wasn't for Kuai Zi, Kuai Yue would have grounded Kuai Ran. This was because the Kuai Family would be implicated if they weren't careful. Kuai Yue didn't want Kuai Ran to be implicated.
However, after seeing Kuai Ran, Kuai Yue's thoughts changed.
With the appearance of Jiaozi, it could be said that His Highness King of Shu had already controlled half of Jingzhou. At the very least, whether they were willing or not, those nobles in Jingzhou had already been subtly bound to the warship of Yangzhou.
The other half was waiting for the arrival of Yangzhou's army.
Unless Liu Biao's subordinates united and vowed to resist Yangzhou, Jingzhou had no chance of winning. In the past, Jingzhou had not been able to defeat Yangzhou. Now that Yangzhou had taken over Jiangdong, it was even more impossible.
Therefore, the Kuai Family had to take sides.
"Men!" Kuai Yue shouted. A black shadow appeared in front of Kuai Yue. "Tell Qingshan to send a message to Yangzhou's King Of Shu. Tell him that the Little Prince is in Jingzhou!"
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