Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 757 The Big Boss's Helplessness

What does a million people mean? Let's put it this way: among the world's largest cities, Nanjing is number one, and Chang'an is number two. Before the epic spectacle of the new Xianyang was built, Nanjing was basically the largest city.

What was the population of Jinling City? One million eight hundred and twenty thousand permanent residents. In that era, that was considered a megacity.

On ordinary days, during holidays or festivals, two or three hundred thousand people would suddenly appear, creating a sea of ​​people as far as the eye could see. But now, millions of people are flocking to this place, one after another.

When Xia Lin learned of this news, he was terrified. Emperor Jingtai issued twenty-three imperial edicts in succession, ordering towns along the route to guarantee the basic living standards of these immigrants.

Fortunately, these immigrants were not disaster victims or starving people. Most of them were tricked and coaxed by Liu Heita's men into embarking on this journey away from their homes, so their level of harm was not that great. However, such actions were still very dangerous. If any trouble occurred along the way, it would basically be equivalent to a man-made popular uprising.

Therefore, not only is material support needed along the way, but also security. This is a very costly undertaking in terms of manpower and resources. Who will pay for this?
It would be unreasonable to exploit the Dugu family again. There are rules to follow, otherwise no one can play the game. The shipbuilding project has already squeezed them out of money. Now, to extort the Dugu family for something that offers no benefit is not only unreasonable, but also illegal.

If it is legally unacceptable, then it is already untenable and unacceptable.

So Emperor Jingtai will have to pay part of this money, and Jiangnan Province will definitely have to pay part of it. But this is an extra expense, which means that it will create a huge, irreparable hole, and there will definitely be some problems.

"You'd better eat these million people."

Emperor Jingtai pointed at Xia Lin and angrily rebuked him: "Are all the people under your command this honest? Tens of thousands or two hundred thousand is one thing, but a million people right off the bat? What kind of nonsense is this? Fine, you say these people are going to immigrate, what will they eat and drink? Are they going to live like savages on an island? Sometimes I really don't know if you have a brain at all, how much of your supposed intelligence is just a facade!"

"Why are you so anxious?"

"Not in a hurry? That's a million people, living people! They were perfectly fine in Shandong, and now they've all been dragged here. You think they can just come here like that? But where is their destination? It's Japan, a country with less than five million people. You can't possibly not understand what will happen when so many people suddenly appear in a barren land, can you? My father and I spent thirty years painstakingly preventing cannibalism from happening in the world, and now look what's happened, it's all ruined by you."

"Calm down, you fucking idiot!"

Xia Lin was also pacing anxiously here: "How about we send some people back?"

"Popular uprising".

"Everyone on the island?"

"eat human."

"Should we leave some people here?"

"Popular uprising plus cannibalism."

"oops……"

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from outside. Xia Lin peeked out and saw the Dugu family's flags fluttering outside the courtyard wall.

"Good heavens," Xia Lin muttered, "that jackal caught the scent of blood."

Sure enough, not long after, several top managers of the Dugu family, who were essentially professional managers, walked in, with the last one being the Dugu family member, who was waving a fan.

"I heard that the two of you moved a million people here to populate Japan. In my opinion, this is going to be a difficult situation."

Having just been tricked, Bean Sprout walked in with her chin held high. She clearly didn't take the two most powerful and influential people in the world seriously, and simply waved her paper fan lightly, saying, "I wonder what tricks you two have up your sleeves?"

Xia Lin crossed her arms: "What? You want a piece of the pie too?"

"Oh dear, what are you saying, General Xia? I am a businessman, and we should talk business as it is. I have heard that your country is currently planning a war, and now there is suddenly a hole of a million people. I'm afraid it will not be easy to fill, right? Let me guess, at best, the court will be in turmoil, and at worst, the people's hearts will be unsettled. After all, the Jingtai Emperor established the country with benevolence and virtue, right, Brother Tuoba?"

"Look at this! Look at this!" Emperor Jingtai pointed at the bean sprouts and said to Xia Lin, "Now it's all right!"

"What's your hurry?"

Xia Lin rolled her eyes at him, then said to Douyazi, "Since you've brought the head manager here today, you're clearly here to eat meat. Name your terms."

Douyazi fanned himself, squinted, and looked at Xia Lin smugly, saying, "Right now, your country is running out of manpower and resources. If things continue like this, we'll probably have to use our reserves. But I'm sure you both know that using reserves is a serious blow, but if we don't use them, we probably won't be able to fill this hole. I'm a businessman, I don't get involved in politics, we're just talking business. If a piece of pork is worth one tael of silver, then it will cost three taels of silver when it's shipped to Japan. You both understand the cost, right?"

"Speak directly."

"I'm just doing the math for you two. If a piece of pork is this expensive, what about a person? I already calculated the cost for you on the way here. The cost for one million people is about thirty-three million taels of silver, which is thirty-three taels of silver per person. For every seven days of delay, the cost increases by 20%. This is a conservative estimate considering factors such as disease, food, transportation, accommodation, clothing, heating, etc."

"Oh dear... I wonder if your country can hold out this long?"

When the accounts were presented, Emperor Jingtai nearly flew into a rage. He stamped his feet and shouted, "Look at yourself! Look at yourself!"

Xia Lin scoffed, "You're quite conscientious; I calculated it to be fifty million taels."

"so much?"

Xia Lin smiled helplessly: "Don't forget how much the officials along the way have to eat."

"Oh...right, right, fifty million taels."

"Xia Lin! Whose side are you on!?"

“Of course, it’s fair.” Bean Sprout picked up his tea and took an elegant sip. “Do you think I wouldn’t do a second calculation? It’s reasonable for him to give 50 million taels. If I were to calculate it, it would probably be double. Since that’s the case, I’ll give you, Xia Daosheng, face and calculate it as 50 million taels. So, gentlemen, how will you come up with this 50 million taels? Ah, this is hard to guess.”

Xia Lin had already silently started rolling up his sleeves, and Emperor Jingtai quickly stepped forward: "Don't do it... don't do it, calm down!"

"Are you going to hit me again? The money is in my pocket. You either order the annihilation of Dugu's business, or you sit here obediently and listen to me do the math." Douyazi had finally seized an opportunity, and she obviously wasn't going to let it go so easily: "The basic expenditure of fifty million taels of silver includes the food, clothing, housing, and transportation of this workforce, right?"

"Correct."

“Alright, I’ll cover it for you.” Bean Sprout held up three fingers. “But, I want a 30% stake in the gold and silver mine over there. A 30% stake isn’t a big deal for us in this urgent situation of 50 million taels, is it?”

"you!"

Xia Lin suddenly laughed; this man could genuinely laugh out loud when he was speechless. "Why don't you just say you'll get the exclusive mining rights?" "That's fine, but I'd have to be alive to get them. If that were the case, I doubt not only you, Commander Xia, would let me off the hook, but even Emperor Li Tang probably wouldn't let me go." Bean Sprout beckoned to Xia Lin with a finger. "Commander Xia, what do you think?"

"One and a half percent." Xia Lin cut the price in half: "But I will allow you to have exclusive rights to operate the subsequent shipping business, and the surrounding infrastructure projects will be given priority to the Dugu family."

"Twenty percent."

"One and a half percent." Xia Lin stood firmly on this red line: "If it's even a fraction more, we're out of the question. I'll just go find someone else to cooperate with."

“Other families? No other family can come up with fifty million taels of cash. The only one who can is me.” Dugu Han shook his head: “Twenty percent.”

“One and a half percent!” Xia Lin’s brows furrowed slowly. “Even if you swallowed two percent, you wouldn’t survive.”

Upon hearing this, Dugu Han's brows relaxed, and then her eyes began to dart around. She was incredibly intelligent; although Xia Lin hadn't explained things very clearly, she immediately understood just how vast the gold and silver reserves in that area were.

If even the Dugu family can't consume 20% of the reserves, then things are basically settled.

“That’s fine, one and a half percent it is, but let’s make it clear first, I don’t trust you anymore, I need him to vouch for me.” Bean Sprout pointed at Emperor Jingtai: “Vouch for me with his reputation.”

Hey, that's really a brilliant move. Emperor Jingtai is the face of the empire, and his reputation is extremely important, perhaps even more important than anything else. If he personally vouches for him, Xia Lin will basically have no way to touch Dugu Han.

At this point, some people said that emperors have gone back on their word countless times, so how can their promises be kept?

Yes, brother, I guarantee it. Considering the current overall situation, Emperor Jingtai is above Third Sister in the current legitimate order. As the emperor of a legitimate empire, his primary task is to restore the credibility of Luoshui, because the current currency of the Great Wei is not anchored to gold and silver but to the national credit.

Once Emperor Jingtai's credibility collapses, what follows will be a snowballing financial collapse, which would be an absolutely unprofitable deal for the entire Great Wei.

Douyazi would rather trust Emperor Jingtai than her husband, because she knew better than anyone that when it came to national interests, her husband was ruthless and decisive.

Since that's the case, she might as well tie herself deeply to the national interest, knowing that being hesitant to act rashly will only lead to her being caught in the middle.

"You two have eight hundred and fifty schemes hidden in just a glance, you're quite the player."

Emperor Jingtai sneered, then sighed, "Fine, I'll vouch for it."

"Similarly, I also need Commander Xia, in his capacity as commander of the New Army and the Po Lu Army, to ensure that my subsequent caravans and merchants are not threatened by any person or force."

Xia Lin laughed again, pointing at the bean sprouts: "You've got it."

"No one falls in the same place twice, right, Xia Shuai?"

"Okay." Xia Lin nodded. "Just like you said."

"Alright, stamp them, gentlemen. Bring out the General's Seal and the Imperial Seal of the State."

The pre-prepared contract was laid out in front of the two of them. Bean Sprout's caution had reached its peak, leaving no loopholes or loopholes, clearly indicating that he had come prepared.

To be honest, with 50 million taels of silver, she really made a fortune. Conservatively speaking, she could break even in about three years, and the rest would be pure profit.

It has to be said that she is a genius opportunist. No wonder such a strange person, who is neither male nor female in the eyes of outsiders, has been able to take charge of the Dugu family for more than ten years without anyone being able to shake her.

Compared to her, all those Jewish tycoons and Buffetts were like a speck of dust in the clear sky. Even Xia Lin was astonished by her investment acumen.

He knows geography, understands history, and even has cheat codes, but what does she have? Could it be that she has a system? Everything she does is just a task assigned by the system.

After the contract was signed, she immediately instructed her chief manager to file it and then announce it to the business community. Then she took charge of the situation and began to strategize.

The Dugu family is extremely efficient, which is one of the advantages of aristocratic families. Although they are not good people, they have a natural advantage in organizational structure. They can even act before the court. The entire deployment is completed in one go, and then a huge network begins to extend in all directions.

It's no exaggeration to say that when Douyazi issued the orders, Xia Lin felt that if she hadn't gone down the trade route, she would definitely be a top-notch warrior. The clarity and completeness of the orders were absolutely astonishing.

"You think the people below can remember what she's saying so fast?" Emperor Jingtai turned to Xia Lin and asked during a break in Douyazi's long command, "That's amazing. The woman you found is quite capable."

"Those who can't remember have their own shorthand methods. As for her, she's more than just a few experts."

Xia Lin gave a soft snort, which showed some dissatisfaction.

"Don't talk bad about me there, my hearing is fine." Bean Sprout looked up at the two of them: "You should thank me for saving you from your urgent situation."

"Yes, yes, I thank you for your ancestors for eighteen generations."

It was rare to see Xia Lin swallow such a great injustice, and Emperor Jingtai was overjoyed. He even forgot which side he was on for a moment, and sat there reenacting a scene from a famous Chinese judge's case: "In my opinion, in all matters of the world, the principle of yin and yang cannot coexist, and only through cycles can there be true kingship."

"Stop spouting nonsense." Xia Lin took a deep breath: "My blood pressure is about to explode."

"That night, drag her into the house and ravage her. That'll teach you to defy me! Call me 'Grandpa'! Hurry up!"

Xia Lin turned to look at Emperor Jingtai: "Do you intend to suddenly contract a serious illness and be transferred to the capital?"

"Just kidding, don't take it seriously."

Of course, Xia Lin did the same thing that night, which was really partly to settle a personal score. Anyway, the next day, Douyazi was mute and could only say one sentence and drink three sips of water when issuing orders.

"Not bad." Emperor Jingtai stood there with his arms crossed: "You're still got it."

"Of course, you're kidding. I've been paying special attention to exercise lately. A couple of years ago, an Indian monk taught me a yoga technique, and I only started practicing it recently."

"Give it to me." Emperor Jingtai opened his arms to Xia Lin: "Don't be ungrateful."

(End of this chapter)