Chapter 168 Zhu Chong’s Slap

Before Zhu Chong had the chance to ask any questions, Cheng Hongbo came over and asked some questions.

"Isn't this Mr. Zhang from the Treasury Department? This gentleman is..."

Zhu Chong frowned upon hearing this and glanced coldly at Cheng Hongbo, "Zhang Quan, how can you do this? You're just a random person, coming right up to me, and you don't even try to block me!"

Zhang Quan was dumbfounded, Cheng Hongbo's face turned pale, and Hao Zhao and other cotton merchants who heard it clearly couldn't help laughing.

Looking at the expressions of the people around him, Cheng Hongbo could no longer maintain his smile, and anger surged in his heart.

When he saw that the Wucheng Bingmasi let Zhang Quan and his party pass, he knew that Zhu Chong must be an official, but at most he was only slightly higher than Zhang Quan.

In Cheng Hongbo's eyes, except for the Supervisor, all other officials in the Baochao Tizhuo Division were insignificant. He had seen them many times in his daily life and did not take them seriously at all.

Unexpectedly, when he got close to Zhu Chong, he didn't get any words out of him, but was instead kicked to the ground by Zhu Chong, and he immediately felt unwell.

But no matter how bad the situation was, he had to hold it in. In front of the Five Cities Military Commander, he dared not act rashly towards any Ming official.

Seeing that Cheng Hongbo did not attack, Zhu Chong felt sorry for himself and could only turn his gaze to the servant of the Wucheng Bingmasi standing beside him.

"What's going on? Why are so many cotton merchants left here? Who gave the order?"

The highest-ranking official present at the Wucheng Military Commission was only a centurion, a seasoned official. Seeing that something was amiss, he quickly stepped forward and said with an apologetic smile, "Sir, I'm only following your orders. I know nothing else. How about..."

The captain did not say everything, but his meaning was very clear. He asked Zhu Chong to go to the Wucheng Bingmasi to inquire the reason.

Zhu Chong was not angry and nodded. Even if he won, it would only lose face for him to compete with a centurion. However, since he was here, he must have an explanation for what happened today.

So he turned around and looked at Hao Zhao and others, then gave an order to Zhang Quan and walked straight towards the carriage they came from.

When Hao Zhao saw Zhu Chong leaving, he showed disappointment. They had originally placed their hopes on Zhang Quan and Zhu Chong, but they didn't expect that the newcomers would start well but end badly. After just a few words, they gave up.

When Cheng Hongbo saw this, he sneered and thought that Zhu Chong was just a silver-plated spear head, good-looking but useless.

But at this moment, Zhang Quan, who had not left, shouted to the cotton merchants present: "My master knows that you are working hard. In order to deliver cotton to my Baochao Tizhusi, he has spared no effort, so he wants to express his attitude to everyone."

"Everyone, keep your cotton safe. My Baochao Tizhu Office said before that cotton is 200 coins per pound. How much do you have? I will take it. We will settle it on the spot. No one is cheated!"

"However, I'd like to trouble you to deliver your cotton to the warehouse of my Treasury and Banknotes Department. I wonder if the shopkeepers have any objections?"

After hearing Zhang Quan's words, the eyes of the cotton merchants present lit up. How could they refuse? Those who refused were definitely fools!

"Don't worry, sir. As long as we can get into the city, I'll carry every ounce of cotton into the warehouse for you. I'll do it myself!"

"That's right, as long as the adults allow us to enter the city, there will be no problem on our side!"

"Thank you, sir, for your kindness..."

…

Zhang Quan's words gave the cotton merchants present a shot in the arm, but for Cheng Hongbo, it was like a bolt from the blue.

He never expected that Zhang Quan would do this. Seeing that the cooked duck was about to fly away, he immediately quit.

But he quickly regained his composure and sneered, "Ah, strange things happen every year, but this year they're especially numerous. I usually hear people talk about toads yawning, but today I've finally seen it for myself!"

When Zhang Quan heard this, he immediately glared at Cheng Hongbo, but he couldn't accept this. If he accepted it, wouldn't he be taking it personally?

But he ignored it, feeling a pang of anger in his heart. However, he knew Cheng Hongbo, and Zhang Quan had no good way to deal with such a person, unless...

At this moment, Zhu Chong, who had just walked towards the carriage, suddenly stopped and turned back. While looking at Cheng Hongbo with a raised eyebrow, he asked Hao Zhao, "Hey, I just heard you guys arguing with him about buying cotton. Is that true?"

"Exactly!" Hao Zhao stepped forward quickly. "Sir, this is Cheng Hongbo, the young master of Chengji Trading Company. He just tried to take advantage of us and rob us. He only offered thirty coins per pound and wanted to take all our cotton."

"Hao Zhao, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. What do you mean by taking advantage of someone's misfortune? I am clearly helping you in your time of need, so don't be ungrateful!" Cheng Hongbo didn't dare to deal with Zhu Chong, but he dared to look down on Hao Zhao.

"Don't think you've really reached a high branch; it's not certain whether it's actually a high branch!"

When Zhu Chong heard what Hao Zhao said about the price offered by Cheng Hongbo, he was shocked and suddenly felt that compared with Cheng Hongbo and his gang, he was a great philanthropist.

It turns out that the so-called collusion between officials and businessmen is just like this, and it is so cruel. If it were not him, he would have suffered the loss for sure!

"Thirty cents per pound, your Chengji Trading Company really dares to bid so high!" Zhu Chong looked at Cheng Hongbo with a smile.

"This Mr. Cheng must be planning to do business with my Baochao Tijushi. So, how much of the cotton you purchased do you plan to sell to our Baochao Tijushi?"

"Didn't you just say, sir, that it's two hundred coins per catty, fair to all? Do you want to go back on your word?"

Unexpectedly, Cheng Hongbo spoke without making a single mistake, but the more this happened, the more intense the smile on Zhu Chong's face became.

But what Zhu Chong didn't expect was that Cheng Hongbo hadn't finished speaking yet.

"But sir, we are all small businesses. Business, after all, requires the right time, place, and people."

"Today's cotton might be priced differently tomorrow. Who knows, in a few days, there might not even be a pound of cotton left in the Yingtianfu market!"

"That makes sense." Zhu Chong smiled and nodded. "It seems that if you become a family, you're determined to take over this business, and I'm also determined to take over this official. I will definitely do business with you. Is that what you mean?"

"Your Excellency, that's wrong." Cheng Hongbo said with a shameless smile, "Business is all about mutual consent. We will never force a sale."

"If you don't want to buy cotton from our Chengji Trading Company, you can buy from someone else, or wait until the new cotton comes on the market."

Cheng Hongbo's words made the faces of the cotton merchants present change drastically. Everyone looked at Zhu Chong and there was silence all around.

Zhu Chong then slowly walked up to Cheng Hongbo and held out his hand. "So, according to this, your Chengji Trading Company is planning to sell us cotton at this price, right?"

Seeing Zhu Chong's outstretched hand, Cheng Hongbo's eyes flashed with surprise, and he blurted out in surprise: "Your Excellency is truly a god. How did you know this?"

"Want to know? Come closer and I'll tell you!" Zhu Chong smiled and waved at Cheng Hongbo.

Cheng Hongbo was really curious at this time, and without any suspicion, he approached Zhu Chong.

The next moment, Zhu Chong swung his hand and slapped Cheng Hongbo hard on the face. The crisp sound of the slap resounded through the sky...