After the people from the Millennium Chamber of Commerce had a meal with Li Yu, they were personally escorted to the yamen by Li Yu. As he watched the six of them walk toward a house that was going to be sold, Li Yu looked at the darkening sky and muttered, "I'm finally a proper county magistrate."
"Sir, aren't you afraid that they're lying to you? I don't think they're good people. They signed the contract too quickly. " One of Li Yu's advisors didn't know about this before. Li Yu had just found him from somewhere else. It was said that he didn't do well in the imperial examinations, but he was very good at other things, especially economics.
It wasn't until Li Yu signed the contract with the six people and called him over to drink with them that he found out what the person he was supposed to be assisting had done. There were too many people earlier, so he didn't ask. Now that there was no one around, he reminded him worriedly.
"Little Worm, do you feel uncomfortable that I didn't tell you about this in advance? Don't worry, other than this, I'll ask you about everything else in the future."
Li Yu said to his advisor.
"I don't dare. Sir, you must have thought things through. Besides, it's my first time here. There are many things that I shouldn't know." The advisor had indeed thought of this before. Why didn't he discuss it with him? Was it because he wasn't good enough? If that was the case, why did he ask him?
Now that he saw Li Yu speak so calmly, he was slightly moved. He hurriedly denied it vaguely, letting Li Yu know that he had thought about it and giving Li Yu a way out.
Li Yu didn't care about what the advisor thought and explained, "I don't think you can interfere in this matter. You just want to persuade me not to cooperate with them, right?"
"That's right," the advisor replied calmly as well.
"Then how will this county develop? The people who came up with the idea behind the contract were Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. If it weren't for the fact that I have a good brother who's familiar with them, they wouldn't care about this matter. That's why I must cooperate with the Millennium Chamber of Commerce. "
Li Yu told his advisor about the source of the idea.
When the advisor heard this, he was puzzled at first. Then, his eyes widened and he asked in disbelief, "Sir, are you talking about Zhang Xiaobao from the Zhang family in Sanshui County? The one who went to Jiannan Circuit? "
"That's right. What's wrong? Are you unconvinced? Do you think you're better than him?" Li Yu asked.
"No, no, no, Milord, with him around, you really don't need this lowly one. How could this lowly one dare to refuse? This lowly one once played a game of Monopoly with the young master of the Zhang family, and couldn't even last two hours. I wholeheartedly accepted my loss. If Milord is looking for him, then you can rest assured. When it comes to economics, no one dares to surpass you.
I really don't know what to say. Sir, can you find an opportunity to let me see him again? I've been studying economics very hard recently, and I want to get some pointers from him. "
The advisor shook his head repeatedly. He was Xiao Chong, the one who Zhang Xiaobao once said could last for six hours. This time, he came here with Zhong Gang. Zhong Gang didn't join Li Yu's side, but was busy doing business in the capital. It was Xiao Chong who gave him the idea.
After knowing who helped him behind the scenes and gave Li Yu the idea, all of Xiao Chong's arrogance disappeared. Those who hadn't faced Zhang Xiaobao before wouldn't be able to understand that formless pressure.
Xiao Chong was convinced. He looked at Li Yu with reverence. Someone who could ask Zhang Xiaobao to help him couldn't be weak.
This time, the one who was shocked was Li Yu. He stared at Xiao Chong for a while, then said, "You actually competed with Zhang Xiaobao? Hahahaha, did you feel very wronged when you lost? "
"How do you know, sir?" Xiao Chong was indeed very wronged back then.
"Of course. Zhang Xiaobao's methods are not simple. Come, come, come, come, follow me. I'll let you see what Zhang Xiaobao's plan is all about. If the people from the Millennium Chamber of Commerce really do do business properly, and they really do make a lot of money, I'll also exempt them from taxes for ten years. If they dare to have any bad ideas, I'll make sure they don't leave."
Li Yu pulled on Xiao Chong's sleeve and walked into the room, talking as they walked.
When Xiao Chong heard that he could personally see Zhang Xiaobao's plan, he was so excited that he trembled. He raised his other arm and wiped the sweat from his forehead due to excitement. He said, "I believe everything you say, sir. The young master of the Zhang family is indeed like this. When you fight, you give others a chance first. If they don't accept, then they will face an overwhelming attack."
*****
"President, if we sign the contract like this, won't we lose a lot of money?" After buying a house in the county, the six people from the Millennium Chamber of Commerce first returned to the restaurant. The house needed to be renovated before it could be lived in. Now they had to stay in the local area, so they couldn't continue to live in the restaurant. As soon as they entered the restaurant, the pockmarked man asked President Tian.
While President Tian was busy with other things, he was also thinking about the contract. When he heard the question, he asked back, "Can we not sign it? Li Yu raised a lot of money. If we don't sign it, we'll be cheating him. For people like him, face is very important.
We won't lose anything if we sign it. At most, we'll take out 40,000 strings of coins first. Of which, 10,000 strings of coins will be used to buy things. Come, look at the contract again. What does it say? "
The other five people came over to look. The contract said that the first party was the Millennium Chamber of Commerce, and the second party was Li Yu. At the same time, there was a position of county magistrate. The five people looked at it for a while but couldn't see anything. They turned to the president in confusion.
Seeing that the five people couldn't see anything, President Tian smiled proudly and said, "Look here. It says that the Millennium Chamber of Commerce, which cooperates with Li Yu, is the first party. If we do business in Changning County, we'll be exempt from the annual tax. Do you see? Ten years, but it doesn't say that we'll be using clay and iron to make things.
In other words, we can do other business in our name. In this way, starting tomorrow, we'll find other local businessmen to cooperate with and do business in our name. We can save half of the tax. We don't need to spend a single copper coin. We just need to use our name. "
"Is it really written like this? That's great. Is Li Yu a fool? No wonder the president asked us to read it word by word. It turns out that he thought of this. "
A person in the Chamber of Commerce stared at that line and said in surprise. This time, he really admired the president. No wonder the president agreed so quickly. Amazing, just using his name to cooperate with others, he could earn half the tax of other people's transactions.
President Tian smiled reservedly and waved his hand. "It's just a small trick. Even if Li Yu finds Zhang Xiaobao, what can he do? Others are afraid of Zhang Xiaobao, but I'm not. Humph, when we find a businessman tomorrow, you can find someone to spread the news that Li Yu found Zhang Xiaobao. In the end, the Millennium Chamber of Commerce took advantage of the loophole. So, when it comes to economics, no one can avoid failure. Every time you suffer a loss, you learn a lesson. "
"President, do you really want to do and say this? I'm afraid that Zhang Xiaobao will come to deal with us after he knows. His family has a lot of money. If by any chance, he borrows hundreds of thousands of strings of cash from Li Yu, we won't be able to make money from the clay business. "
The person who spoke just now asked worriedly.
"What are you afraid of? If he really dares to invest so much money, then we can use some tricks when we manage it. The contract doesn't say that we'll only make money, right? How can we make money just because we take out money? Do you understand? "
President Tian explained.
"I understand. President is really smart." Shaobai gave a thumbs up and praised.
*****
Xiao Chong, who had followed Li Yu into the room, first read the contract carefully. Just as he was about to look at Zhang Xiaobao's plan, his eyes landed on the clause that the Millennium Chamber of Commerce had mentioned. He was stunned. Suddenly, his expression changed. He said to Li Yu, "Sir, there's one clause in the contract that's not easy to deal with. It's the ten years tax exemption. What if they …"
"What if they use this as an excuse to work with the local businessmen to avoid paying taxes?" Li Yu continued Xiao Chong's words.
"That's right. What should we do?" Xiao Chong saw that Li Yu could say it out loud. He shouldn't have written this clause.
Li Yu didn't answer him. He took out Zhang Xiaobao's plan and threw it in front of Xiao Chong. "Look at it yourself. Tomorrow, come with me to find a place to build a road and dig a river. This run-down county doesn't even have a big river. I originally wanted to make more money to build one, but now I don't have to."
Xiao Chong carefully picked up Zhang Xiaobao's plan and flipped through it.
*****
The next day, the sky was high and the clouds were light. The sun came out early and shone on the earth and the people and things on it.
Li Yu led his men to the restaurant where the Millennium Chamber of Commerce stayed. He ordered people to invite them in to discuss the road construction.
As soon as they went up, the people from the Millennium Chamber of Commerce came down. However, there were only three people, not six. The other three were nowhere to be found.
"Sir Li woke up early. We were going to find you at the yamen to discuss the road construction. We didn't expect you to come here personally. People always say that you're good to the people in the county. When we first came, we didn't think so. Now we believe it."
Chairman Tian greeted Li Yu.
Li Yu looked around. "Where are the other three?"
"They're busy with other things. The Millennium Chamber of Commerce doesn't just do business. Since we're in Changning County, we naturally have to help the economy. Sir, you don't have to worry about them."
Chairman Tian said casually, as if he really didn't have anything to do.
Li Yu nodded happily. "Good. It's best if we can cooperate with the local merchants. Let's go."
The group talked as they got on the carriages and horses. They went to the place where they wanted to build the workshop. Li Yu wanted to put the workshop in the center of the county. This way, the roads on both sides of the county could be repaired. At most, he would have to pay more money. Li Yu wanted to find a place close to the border. He wanted to save as much as possible.
Both sides gave their reasons and argued non-stop. It was almost noon when they finally chose a place that was closer to the county in the east. There was a river there, so it would be convenient for transportation.
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