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Chapter 188 Tokyo's Number One Building (Part 2)
On the banks of the Longjin River, in the backyard of Li's Wine Shop, Li Quan watched the busy figures of his employees, and a hint of worry rose on his face.

The construction boom in and around Daliang City has now reached the Longjin Bridge area, and the government has given them a deadline of half a month to relocate all of them.

The cold notice posted on the door is like a death warrant—but the problem is, it's easy to move it, but where to move it?
The shop was rented, and the government ordered it to be vacated with just a word, but they didn't mention how to resettle it, leaving the shop to figure it out themselves.

But right now, Tokyo is like a giant construction site, with renovations and construction everywhere. How easy is it to find a prime shop that can rival Longjin Bridge, a thoroughfare and vital passage between the city and the outside world?
Moreover, Li Quan didn't want to give up such a good location as Longjin Bridge so easily.

He originally planned to close his business for a while, temporarily move his goods to his house in Chongxinfang, and then move them back to reopen once the renovation project along the Longjin River was completed.

However, Li Quan learned from the shop owner that the government was planning to redeem the land in this area, make unified plans and layouts, and build some kind of "comprehensive commercial district".
This left the listeners completely confused.

Even worse, once the land title is taken over by the government, even if the landlord is willing to renew the lease on the shop, there is nothing they can do.

Li Quan couldn't understand what the Zhou court's intentions were. He even went to inquire with the officials in charge of demolition, reconstruction, and mediation, but received no useful information.

Those officials were of low rank and insignificant position. They had no need to worry about the plans of the important figures in the court; they only needed to obey orders.

It was a complete waste of time and effort...

Li Quan then tried a different approach, intending to spend money to bribe officials and see if there was any chance of a turnaround in the shop's situation. He spent a lot of money, but in the end, he didn't get a single honest word.

Just a few days ago, a minor official from the government office who had some connection with him privately revealed to him that the reconstruction project in the Longjin Bridge area was being personally supervised by the brother-in-law of the official who was staying in the capital.

With such a powerful figure watching, who would dare to interfere?
Upon learning this, Li Quan suddenly realized something... He had been trying to bribe the wrong person. If he had just gone directly to that Commander Li, he would have avoided all these detours.

But Li Quan quickly dismissed the idea.

The other party is a general of the Zhou Kingdom's Imperial Guard and the brother-in-law of the Zhou Kingdom's emperor. He is a rising star in the Zhou Kingdom. How could he dare to trouble such a trivial matter as his own shop?
Moreover, when the Second Madam left Tokyo, she specifically instructed me to befriend that Commander Li. If I were to inadvertently incur his displeasure, it would be a great loss.

Li Quan knew in his heart that his connection with that Li Dushi was a coincidence, achieved by sheer chance.

Seeing that the other party's power was growing day by day, and that he had become a pivotal figure in the Zhou court, whose slightest move could affect the situation of the entire Zhou state and even the world.

The most striking example is that in the middle of this year, that Li Dushi personally led the Zhou Kingdom's imperial guards on a western expedition, and within one or two months, he conquered the four prefectures of Qin and Feng, causing the Shu Kingdom's rulers and ministers to tremble with fear and the Shu army to dare not advance eastward.

It is a privilege to have befriended this person, which may bring great benefits in the future. Therefore, we must not let this seemingly intangible but invaluable "friendship" be severed for the sake of small gains.

After much deliberation, Li Quan finally decided to close the shop first and see what happens next.

"Boss, are we really closing this shop?" The porter paused at the doorstep, his coarse cloth clothes soaked with sweat.

Li Quan was checking the account books when he heard this and looked up to see several anxious faces gathered around him.

He stroked the curled corner of the ledger and sighed softly, "It's not that I'm quitting, it's just that I haven't found a suitable new shop yet, so I'll be closing down for a while."

"Do those government officials care whether we live or die?" a younger helper said indignantly. "With a single word, they say we can't open the shop anymore. They have no worries about food and clothing, but we've lost our livelihood. How are our families supposed to survive?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the other guys started yelling too, mostly grumbling and complaining.

The staff hired by the wine shop were all recruited from Kaifeng. Li Quan offered them better pay than their counterparts in Tokyo.

The workers had been working in the shop for several years, and now that they were suddenly going to lose their jobs, it was understandable that they felt lost and disoriented. Listening to their complaints, Li Quan could only comfort them, saying, "If you're willing to wait, you can come back when the new shop opens."

He spoke with such confidence that he intimidated everyone.

But Li Quan also knew in his heart that when the shop would reopen was still unknown.

These guys in front of me have elderly parents and young children to support, and they need to earn money to support their families. They can't just sit around waiting, so they have to find another way to make a living.

Thinking of this, Li Quan sighed... Although the shop assistants had lost their jobs, it wasn't hard to find manual labor jobs these days, at most the pay was worse than in the liquor store.

But the things he had to worry about were not so simple.

Although Li Quan presented himself as a servant of the Li family to outsiders, he actually held a very high position in the Li family and had the final say in many matters, both inside and outside the family.

He was originally a servant of the Hu family of Wuyuan, the same family as Hu San, the close attendant whom Emperor Zhaozong Li Ye entrusted with his son on his deathbed.

Originally named Quan Renzhong, he grew up alongside Li Erniang's father. More than twenty years ago, the Li family moved to Sichuan to avoid the war and changed their surname back to Li, so he changed his name to Li Quan along with his master.

Later, when Meng Zhixiang seized control of Sichuan, Li Quan joined the army and rose through the ranks to become a cavalry captain. It wasn't until ten years ago, when his master fell seriously ill and entrusted his orphan to him, that he finally laid down his arms and returned home to wholeheartedly care for the Li family's orphan and widow.

When Li Erniang came to Tokyo last year, he personally led a group of people to accompany and protect her, and then temporarily stayed here.

Originally, Li Quan was stationed in Tokyo to maintain this channel, since the strength of the Zhou Kingdom was already evident, and it seemed poised to sweep across the world and restore order to the land.

Whether for the sake of their own business interests or to fulfill their late master's last wish, they had to prepare for the future to establish themselves in the Zhou Kingdom.

However, the idea was nice, but the reality was cruel. Compared to the long-peaceful Shu region, the method of using money to pave the way was completely ineffective in the Zhou state.

The civil officials were a bit better; whether they got things done or not was another matter, but at least they usually gave a response after receiving the money.

And those thugs... they're utterly ruthless and heartless.

Over the years, I've been sending him jars of wine and countless gifts of money and treasures, but in the end, it's all gone without a trace, like a stone sinking into the sea.

Even if you give it to a beggar, at least you'll get a word of thanks, right?
Li Quan became increasingly distressed as he thought about it. Comparing the two, he suddenly felt that the envoy Li was truly a rare "breath of fresh air" among the warriors of the Zhou Kingdom.

The other party received financial assistance from their family for the betrothal gifts, and for the past six months, they have been sending alcohol continuously, showing no intention of taking advantage of the situation.

Otherwise, given the other party's current status and position, if they were to try to renege on their debt, what could we do to them?

Just as they were pondering this, they suddenly heard hurried footsteps coming from the front hall. Immediately afterward, a shop assistant rushed into the backyard in a panic, stammering, "Master, Master! A lot of men have come and surrounded our shop!"

Li Quan's heart tightened suddenly, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

In recent years, they have ostensibly come to Tokyo to do business, but they have also been secretly gathering information to send back to Shu. It is inevitable that they are suspected of being Shu spies... Could it be that the Zhou government has noticed something and is here to arrest them?
Just then, a hearty laugh came from the front hall: "I am not a wild beast in the mountains, why should I be so afraid of it?"

Immediately afterwards, a tall and imposing figure lifted the curtain and walked in.

The newcomer was dressed in a purple robe with a gold fish-shaped pouch hanging from his waist. Who else could it be but Li Yi?
(End of this chapter)