knife

Chapter 637 Demanding Officials
Zhu Chi clasped his hands together and bowed deeply to the ground.

"Zhu Chi greets the Regent King!"

Na Wei remained seated as still as a mountain, merely extending a hand to offer a slight gesture of support, saying, "Commander Zhu, please rise. We are old acquaintances, there's no need for such a grand gesture!"

Zhu Chi stood ramrod straight and said, "Times have changed. You, in the present moment, certainly deserve such a great honor!"

Na Wei laughed heartily: "Back in the Southwest, I had heard of Old Master Zhu's reputation for being flexible and adaptable. Today, it seems that Commander Zhu has indeed been personally taught by Old Master Zhu. I am still among the great families of Danyang. Who would come to me first? But I really didn't expect it to be the Zhu family!"

That's hardly a compliment.
It even had a tone of insult and contempt.

Zhu Chi, however, remained calm and composed, saying indifferently, "The old master's judgment was not very good either. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone against the Empress Dowager back then, forcing the Zhu family to pay a huge price to escape. It was precisely because of this blow that my old master fell ill and never recovered."

"I know, that's why we were wiped out in the battle to overthrow the Demon Queen!" Na Wei said, "Are you scared?"

"My grandfather was old, and the ups and downs, the great sorrow and the great joy, the double shock, finally took their toll. Otherwise, the Zhu family would naturally have followed in his footsteps and made a great career for him." Zhu Chi said, "But it's not too late now!"

Na Wei nodded and said, "It's not too late, it's perfect now. We haven't taken any risks, yet we can reap the greatest rewards. If this is your old master's plan, then I admire him wholeheartedly. It's a pity that the old master is no longer here. If he were here, I would definitely entrust him with an important task! Commander Zhu, I am a barbarian in the eyes of you Chu people. I don't beat around the bush. Just tell me straight, what is your value now? If you think I would spend a fortune to buy a horse's bones just because you were the first to come to me, I won't do that."

"Now that the Regent has taken over Danyang, what do you think is the most important thing?" Zhu Chi asked.

“Of course, it’s the army!” Na Wei laughed. “Isn’t that obvious? With an army in hand, I have the world at my fingertips. Anyone who dares to get angry, I’ll take care of them!”

Zhu Chi shook his head repeatedly and said, "Your Excellency, you are mistaken!"

"Zhu Chi, if you don't give me a straight answer, you might not be able to get out of this door today!" Na Wei didn't seem particularly angry, but his words were full of murderous intent.

“Your Majesty, the most important thing is not soldiers, but money!” Zhu Chi said. “With money, you have soldiers. Without money, even soldiers will scatter. Take the more than 30,000 Southwest Wolf Soldiers you currently control in Danyang, for example. The daily expenses are considerable. Salaries, rewards, and other expenses are a huge sum every year. I heard that Your Majesty is still transferring troops from the southwest. Although these people are Your Majesty’s fellow villagers, leaving their homes and hometowns is not a good thing if they are not well rewarded.”

Na Wei pondered for a moment, and realized that Zhu Chi's words had indeed touched on his concerns.

I used to think that the Great Chu court was rolling in money, but after I became the regent and had people take stock of its assets, I was shocked to find that the Great Chu was all show and no substance.

Not only was there no surplus in the treasury, but there was also a deficit year after year, with huge debts owed, and every year it was a matter of borrowing new money to pay off old debts.

Moreover, these debts are not easy to renege on.

Because those who dared to lend money to the imperial court were all very wealthy.
Unless Na Wei wants to break up with the business, it's really not good to refuse to pay back the money. At least he should pay the interest, right?
Na Wei now wants more than just to protect the southwest.
He wants to go even further!

Thinking of his promise to Li Dachui, Na Wei felt a surge of heat throughout his body.

But without money, it's really hard to get anything done. "Can you get the money?" he asked.

“Of course!” Zhu Chi nodded and said, “The Regent King may not know that the most profitable business in Great Chu right now is maritime trade.”

"Of course I know that, but as far as I know, you, Zhu Chi, are just one of many families. How much money can you possibly earn?"

Zhu Chi laughed: "If the Regent is willing, I can make the fleet of ships that run maritime trade in Great Chu only belong to my Zhu family and the Regent's family. If others want to make this money, they will have no choice but to follow us."

Na Wei's pupils contracted: "Tell me how you managed to do that? None of these people who do maritime trade are easy to deal with. They are businessmen near the shore, but once they go out to sea, they are no different from pirates."

"The sea is indeed lawless, but I, Zhu, have a good relationship with the Cai family of Xuanwu Prefecture outside the pass!"

"You might as well say you have a good relationship with Li Dachui!"

"It's all the same!" Zhu Chi laughed. "When interests align, we can all be friends! There's a massive ocean-going fleet outside the Great Wall, with formidable fighting power. If we just get their departure times and routes, we can easily ensure their fleets never return. Once they're gone, then only we can do the ocean-going business for the Great Chu!"

"Aren't you afraid that Li Dachui will double-cross us, causing our fleet to be unable to return?"

“The areas beyond the Great Wall also need our goods!” Zhu Chi said. “And I’ve always had a good relationship with them.”

"Li Dachui is also my enemy!"

“Regent, that’s a matter for the future!” Zhu Chi said. “Right now, the Regent needs his help, and he needs yours too. If you can’t get a large amount of money in a short time, your position as Regent might not be secure! The more Southwest Wolf Soldiers come, the more money they need. When you can’t get the money, they might find it themselves. Once they start doing that, it will be difficult for the Regent to control these unruly Wolf Soldiers. It’s like a tiger; once it has eaten a person and tasted their deliciousness, unless you kill it, it will definitely continue to eat people. If it really comes to that, forget about your future ability to compete with Li Dachui; the domestic resistance and riots will likely cause you a lot of trouble!”

“That makes some sense!” Na Wei nodded. “But Zhu Chi, how can I trust you? Are you loyal to the Great Chu or to Li Dachui?”

"Your Excellency is joking. My entire Zhu Chi clan, numbering in the hundreds, resides in Danyang. How could we possibly be disloyal to the Great Chu? The reason we feign cooperation with those beyond the pass is twofold: firstly, to gather more intelligence, and secondly, to acquire more money." Zhu Chi said solemnly, "Back then, I brought the latest warships from beyond the pass, but unfortunately, the court did not pay attention and missed a golden opportunity. Otherwise, how could we have lost the Battle of Red Cliffs?"

Seeing Zhu Chi's distressed expression, Na Wei felt somewhat relieved: "Is this the only way to make money?"

"Of course there are more!" Zhu Chi said, "If the Regent King can let me take charge of the Ministry of Revenue, I have quite a few ways to get some money from those powerful families in various places for the Regent King."

"You're one of them too, aren't you?"

“No, not anymore!” Zhu Chi laughed. “We used to be! But after the Zhu family went through a series of changes, they now see us as outsiders and won’t accept us anymore. So I’m happy to make them bleed a little. Especially people like the Xiong and Xiang families.”

Na Wei burst into laughter.

(End of this chapter)