novelTele Chapter 2771 The City Was Sold
Chapter 2771 The City Was Sold
When it comes to moral blackmail, Li Shen is a professional; he spent countless sleepless nights as a keyboard warrior in his past life.
I've seen it all.
Since the advent of the internet, the world has become incredibly diverse, and Li Shen has seen all sorts of things, both true and false.
This group of intellectuals are hypocritical and always like to stand on high righteousness and point fingers at others.
"You...we're talking about your city, not my Gao family." Gao Jifu didn't know how to respond, so he could only avoid the main point.
Li Shen did indeed press his advantage:
"What? Does Minister Gao not want to give the Gao family's property to the court? It seems you're not so loyal after all."
Li Shen smiled, but Gao Jifu saw it as nothing but mockery, which made Gao Jifu so angry that his chest heaved.
Seeing this scene, Changsun Wuji sighed inwardly. This Gao Jifu really doesn't learn his lesson. Last time, he was so angry with Prince Ji that he vomited blood in court. How could he still provoke Prince Ji?
He still doesn't understand that this is the Li family's domain, and this is their own family matter.
Whether you sell it or give it away, it's still the Li family's property. Are you going to donate it just out of spite?
Prince Ji can donate until you want to die.
"Your Highness, please calm down. Shouldn't this business be discussed slowly? Why don't you name a price yourself?"
Regardless of the circumstances, Gao Jifu was somewhat related to him, and he couldn't ignore it.
As expected, Li Shen's attention was drawn to Changsun Wuji, and Gao Jifu was just a passerby who was not important to him.
"What the Duke of Zhao said is absolutely right. Then I will also set a price: four million eight hundred thousand strings of cash. That's the lowest I can go."
Li Shen spoke.
In business, especially big business, prices are usually lowered little by little; they don't cut prices so drastically all at once like that.
"Hehe, Your Highness Prince Ji, you're not being sincere. This old minister just added 500,000 strings of cash, and Your Highness only reduced it by 200,000 strings."
Changsun Wuji laughed.
"Duke Zhao, I'm offering this 200,000 strings of cash to save face for you; there's no room for further concessions."
Li Shen remained calm and composed.
"This price is too high. How about 1.5 million strings of cash?" Changsun Wuji added another 500,000 strings of cash.
Li Shen shook his head and remained silent. He had said that the 200,000 strings of cash were to give Changsun Wuji face.
"Hehe, then I wonder what the value of this old minister's face is?"
Ma Zhou also came over and smiled.
Li Shen held up two fingers, meaning the same amount, which was two hundred thousand strings of cash.
The price then reached 4.6 million strings of cash.
Like the others who exchanged glances, Changsun Wuji received a nod from one of them.
“Your Highness Prince Ji, we will not hide it from you. We can offer a maximum of two million strings of cash to buy your city, and that would be more than enough.”
Two million strings of cash are enough to build a great city.
Li Shen shook his head and said:
"Duke Zhao, you are mistaken. The reason I am asking you for this money is not because the cost is high, but because of the important geographical location here."
This place offers both offensive and defensive advantages; controlling this area effectively blocks the passage of people.
In a place like this, do you think five million strings of cash is expensive?
"In that case, the imperial court is powerless to help. Although His Highness Prince Ji has given the court a lot of money, it is all for a purpose."
We can only study the Malacca His Highness mentioned when we have more money in the future.
This place is important, but it's not urgent for us right now.
Changsun Wuji looked disappointed.
"Actually, there is another way. If the imperial court is short of money, it can use two million to buy 40% of the shares. Then the imperial court will only need to pay dividends every year."
Seeing that Changsun Wuji really didn't intend to buy it, Li Shen quickly offered a second option.
It's a pity he didn't know that the price they wanted was two million for a city, but Li Shen actually told them it was two million for 40% of the shares, not even half.
"Hehe, His Highness Prince Ji is indeed a master strategist."
Changsun Wuji chuckled. How could an old fox like him not know Li Shen's plans?
"What does the Duke of Zhao want?" Li Shen's expression changed.
The situation reached a stalemate; neither side was willing to compromise. Although Li Shen hadn't spent a single penny on the city, it was still a city, after all.
Zhao Laosi worked so hard to build it, how can we just hand it over to someone else like that?
"Tenth Brother, you yourself said this place is very important. I suppose you intend to give it to the imperial court. Why don't we each take our own path?"
At this moment, Li Chengqian spoke up.
"Brother, do you have any good ideas?" Li Shen asked Li Chengqian.
"In this way, the imperial court will contribute one million to establish a naval force to guard the area, and you will be in charge of the arrangements. We will then split the profits fifty-fifty."
Li Chengqian had a smile on his face.
Li Shen frowned, weighing the pros and cons in his mind.
After a while, Li Shen shook his head.
“One million is too little. One million five hundred thousand, plus the imperial court sending people to guard it and dispatching officials to manage it. My people will only be responsible for commercial matters.”
Li Shen wasn't stupid. He couldn't touch the city's administration, as that would easily draw criticism. He also didn't intend to manage the navy.
What he really wanted was to not have to worry about anything and still get a share of the profits.
However, the imperial court might not have experience in business matters, and he also had another business that he needed to handle himself and couldn't let others know about.
Li Chengqian looked at the group from the Three Provinces and Six Ministries. They exchanged glances and then nodded to Li Chengqian.
"Alright, then we will do as you say. The imperial court will send 20,000 naval troops to guard the area, and will also send officials there."
Li Chengqian nodded and finalized the decision.
Li Shen nodded in agreement.
"Then let's prepare now. I will send someone to inform them as soon as I get back, and the handover will begin immediately once the imperial officials arrive."
Li Shen was overjoyed; he had finally received 1.5 million strings of cash, which would at least alleviate his immediate crisis.
He originally intended to give away the city for free and then use it as a 50% stake, but he never expected that these fools would actually give him 1.5 million strings of cash.
What an unexpected bonus.
The people from the three provinces were also delighted, as they never expected that Prince Ji would take the initiative to let court officials take over and relinquish his power.
This fool only cares about money. Now he's handing over the power of speech to the imperial court, and he doesn't even want it.
Both sides had their own ulterior motives, but overall everyone was happy.
"Haha, Wang De, go and serve tea to everyone." Li Shimin laughed heartily. With him as witness, the court could finally do business with Li Shen without his involvement.
Although he didn't know whether this would be a profit or a loss, it was a good start, and Li Shimin felt that the result was acceptable.
Li Shimin also saw the geographical location of Malacca. Based on his many years of experience in warfare, he knew that this place was indeed a strategic location that military strategists would fight over.
This was of great importance to the Tang Dynasty.
"By the way, Your Highness, this area seems to be entirely composed of islands. What about the native people living there?"
At this moment, Tang Jian looked at the islands next to Malacca and asked a question.
A gentleman is sensual but not lewd; his emotions are expressed but restrained by propriety; he is elegant but not vulgar; he is affectionate but not promiscuous.
A virtuous person upholds righteous thoughts, cultivates a noble spirit, guards their conduct and disciplines themselves, remains invincible, and has a mind as clear as a mirror—only then can they be considered a true man.