Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

() Although Li Lu and Wan Wendong have been entertained with delicious food and drink, they have been waiting in Runing Mansion for such a long time, and they feel like the flowers are all withered.While they were waiting extremely anxiously, Li Lu received a notification from Chang Meng, asking Li Lu to go to Wu Shigong's family banquet alone.This notification made both of them breathe a sigh of relief.They understood that Wu Shigong finally had a result here.Even being rejected by Wu Shigong is much better than waiting endlessly like this!

As expected, Wu Shigong immediately told Li Lu the theme of today's family banquet at the family banquet after drinking for three rounds: "Brother Li, our family will stop talking about each other. You have been waiting here for so long these days, and you should know that it is a bit troublesome to ask my younger brother's Runing Battalion to send troops. I will not hide this from Brother Li. Regarding sending troops, my subordinates are very controversial!"

Seeing that Li Lu was about to argue, Wu Shigong made a gesture, stopped Li Lu's words and continued, "What's the key? The key is that those miners who rebelled are powerful. Brother Li also fought against those miners who rebelled. , I also know their strength. The younger brother is afraid that after the troops are sent out, the soldiers of our Runing Battalion will suffer too many casualties."

"But after all, my younger brother and Brother Li are a family. Brother Li is in trouble, and it's not good for my younger brother not to lend a helping hand. Therefore, after my younger brother tried his best to persuade us, our Runing Battalion finally decided to send troops."

"However, I don't live alone, and I have to explain to my subordinates. Therefore, the benefits that should be collected from sending troops are always inevitable. To be honest, being an official for thousands of miles is only for money. There is no money, and nothing can be said. It’s hard to say. Besides, Brother Li is also a matchmaker in the middle, so Brother Li should also be taken into consideration.”

"Exactly!" Wu Shigong's words reached Li Lu's heart, "How much benefit does my brother-in-law want?"

"Little brother doesn't like to give up halfway when doing things, and I don't like to cheat my friends and fatten myself. So this time, they came to trust my little brother. If my little lion speaks loudly, I will take advantage of others' danger too much and do things too badly." It's righteousness. So the younger brother thought of a way to combine and benefit both."

"Say it!" Li Lu also became interested in Wu Shigong's method. <>

"My little brother thinks so. If my little brother drives away those horse bandits and takes back those iron mines, those iron mines must be integrated to form a big iron mine. And my little brother will also have a share in it."

Hearing Wu Shigong's words, Li Lu also nodded and said: "Since my brother-in-law is so thorough, I will not hide it from you, brother-in-law. This time, thousands of people came to find my brother-in-law, and I am also prepared to give my brother-in-law iron ore. Tell my brother-in-law, their possible bottom line is to give my brother-in-law [-]%."

Wu Shigong smiled slightly when he heard this.The purpose of his family banquet today is to find out the bottom line of the negotiation of those private mine owners, and now that purpose is obviously basically achieved.However, Wu Shigong certainly understands that this is not the final bottom line of the private mine owners, because they will never fully reveal their cards in front of Li Lu.

So Wu Shigong pretended to be a little dissatisfied and said: "Those local rich people are too stingy. They have lost those iron mines, and they are so fussy about those things that are no longer there. Can such conditions be called sincerity?"

"What is the condition of the brother-in-law? It's not difficult to talk about."

"At least thirty and a half percent. Brother Li, don't spend too much time, half of it is for you."

Wu Shigong's words made Li Lu smile.Wu Shigong wanted to achieve this goal by giving Li Lu some benefits, and asked Li Lu to help him put pressure on private mine owners like Wan Wendong.

Wu Shigong went on to say: "I still have a few conditions. One is that in addition to the iron mine, I will also contribute a part of the silver to build an iron workshop with the gentry other than Wanyuan. And this iron workshop, the younger brother's members It's going to take the lead."

"You ask those people outside Wanyuan to think about it carefully. Is it because you get more money from selling iron ore? Or is it more money from selling iron materials? In addition, my younger brother's business is located in Guide Mansion and Runing Mansion. There are also connections on both sides of the canal, and the output of this iron mine will also increase greatly. The future income of these gentry outside the ten thousand members will definitely not be less than their previous income.”

"Also, my younger brother knows that there is a saltpeter mine in the iron mine. More than [-]% of the saltpeter mine will be owned by my younger brother. I know that there was no one to buy the saltpeter in the past, so it was just thrown in the wilderness. I am interested. In the future, the output of the saltpeter mine will be purchased at [-]% of the market price. To be honest, this is also a free gift of money to those gentry who are beyond the ten thousand members!"

After listening to Wu Shigong's words, Li Lu's expression softened, and he smiled and said to Wu Shigong: "My brother-in-law has such a generous condition, it would be too embarrassing for me to be unable to talk to my brother-in-law." .”

Wu Shigong also laughed with Li Lu for a while, and then said to Li Lu: "But this matter, brother Li has to agree to one condition."

"Oh? If my brother-in-law needs my help, please tell me quickly. As long as my brother can do it, it is absolutely obligatory."

"If my brother is lucky enough to take back the iron ore this time, we must ensure that the production of the iron ore will not be interrupted in the future. Wouldn't that cut off our source of income? But this time the mine is in chaos, and there is no guarantee that the miners will not be in chaos in the future. This is not like the millennium The principle of guarding against thieves."

"So the younger brother asked Brother Li to give up some troops, and the younger brother sent some soldiers to hang under the account of Brother Li in name, so that these soldiers can maintain the stability of the iron mine."

"But Brother Li, don't worry, my younger brother will not take a cent of the rations allocated by the court to Brother Li, and they will all belong to Brother Li. And the rations and salaries of these soldiers will all be collected from my younger brother."

"Then how many soldiers are you going to send?"

"Of course, the more the better. But we are all a family. If Brother Li really has difficulties here, these soldiers can also help Brother Li."

Li Lu rolled his eyes and thought about it for a while, and he finally figured it out: "I came to Henan to be an official to get rich, and not to fight. Why do I need so many soldiers?"

"Now that there are Wu Shigong's soldiers to supplement him, then Li Lu can justly eat empty salary, so why not do it? Besides, Wu Shigong is his relative after all, no matter what he does, he will not deceive himself."

Li Lu, who had figured it out, immediately smiled and said, "Since my brother-in-law has said so, of course I will support my brother! My brother still has [-] soldiers by his side. How about the rest of the troops being arranged by my brother-in-law? It would be too much of a disadvantage for my brother-in-law, and it would be too much if the soldiers’ salaries should go to Wan Yuanwai and them. But the soldiers’ food and grass should also be borne by them.”

Seeing Li Lu, he agreed, and Wu Shigong said at the end: "My younger brother is a warrior, not a businessman. So I ask Brother Li to tell Wan Yuanwai that the above conditions must be agreed or not. My younger brother doesn't like it." Someone is bargaining. If you don't agree, then the younger brother Runing Camp will definitely not send troops."

"However, let the gentry of Wan Yuanwai feel at ease. My younger brother has never done anything like demolishing bridges. Let Wan Yuanwai and the others go to Runing Mansion and Guide Mansion to inquire. The cooperation between my younger brother and the gentry has never been a fat one. thing."

Li Lu nodded, Wu Shigong's reputation for trustworthiness was indeed widely spread among the local gentry in Henan.Otherwise, the owners of private mines like Wanyuanwai would not dare to seek skin from the tiger, and they would discuss with Wu Shigong about recovering the private mines.

Li Lu also assured Wu Shigong: "Brother-in-law is such a good condition, if they still have to bargain, I will be the first to see it. Brother-in-law, don't worry, this matter will be covered by my brother."

Before he knew it, Li Lu was completely on the same side as Wu Shigong.

The atmosphere of the family banquet suddenly relaxed, so the two began to talk about the past and romantic affairs in the capital.While talking, Wu Shigong said to Li Lu: "I still have a way to get rich here. I'm thinking about Brother Li. I have a saltworks in Yangzhou..."

The "hahaha" laughter of the two of them echoed all the time in the room.

But after the family banquet, after Li Lu told Wan Wendong about Wu Shigong's conditions, Wan Wendong was a little relieved.Because Wu Shigong put forward such a high condition, it shows that Wu Shigong will not go back on his word on this matter.

This time I came to Runing Mansion, in fact, those private mine bosses have handed over the negotiation power to Wan Wendong.Therefore, after Wan Wendong repeatedly weighed the pros and cons, and under Li Lu's beating and drumming, Wan Wendong finally fully agreed to Wu Shigong's conditions on the second day.