Cao Song was at a loss for words when faced with Lü Qiang's words, but given his personality, how could he possibly give up?

"Well...you dare spit? Let me show you what we're made of...heh~tui~!"

Feeling a sticky substance suddenly appear on his face, Lü Qiang immediately became furious. He coughed forcefully, and a mouthful of phlegm shot out of his mouth, heading straight for Cao Song's face.

"Ouch~, I'm hiding~!"

Cao Song, who was prepared, quickly dodged the attack.

"You old codger, you've got quite a bit of phlegm!"

Having dodged the attack, Cao Song couldn't help but launch into a tirade of sarcasm at Lü Qiang.

"Again??"

Seeing Cao Song and Lü Qiang start another battle, everyone in the room shook their heads and sighed helplessly.

These aren't the Nine Ministers; they're clearly just street thugs!

This time, however, Zhao Zhong did not speak up to stop them. Instead, like the others, he sat there with a furrowed brow and a disgusted expression, watching the show.

In the end, Lü Qiang was defeated once again without a doubt.

After the two men sat down again, still fuming, Zhao Zhongcai slowly and deliberately said:

"His Majesty's intention is that the Imperial Household Department and the National Treasury should jointly fund the establishment of a 'Royal Trading Company,' and all factories and shops should be placed under its name for unified management!"

"Um.....?"

As soon as Zhao Zhong finished speaking, he felt two murderous gazes directed at him.

"You little brat... why didn't you say so sooner?"

With a clump of phlegm still clinging to his hair, Lü Qiang looked at Zhao Zhong with a gloomy face.

"You bastard, are you deliberately making fun of me...?"

Cao Song glared angrily at Zhao Zhong, wishing he could beat the eunuch to death on the spot.

"Uh...please calm down, gentlemen! It's not that I didn't want to speak, it's just that you didn't give me the chance!"

Seeing that Cao Song and Lü Qiang were both attacking him at the same time, Zhao Zhong couldn't help but shudder and hurriedly tried to explain.

Cao Song glared at him, "Still dare to argue? Cough! Tui!"

"I'll have a bite too, hehe!"

So Cao Song and Lü Qiang gave Zhao Zhong another "baptism".

"Alright, Attendant Lü, let's talk about this trading company!"

"Yes! Grand Minister of Agriculture, please!"

After venting their frustrations, Cao Song and Lü Qiang chuckled and began discussing matters concerning the trading company.

Lu Qiang smiled and looked at Cao Song, "Grand Minister of Agriculture, I think we could ask His Majesty to bring Zhang Qian from Hejian into our fold and have him invest in the salt refinery and the imperial winery?"

Cao Song nodded. "Yes, Attendant Lü is right. Both of these are highly profitable projects. With the investment of trading companies, we can expand our scale more quickly and then make a lot of profits!"

Lü Qiang: "Absolutely. Since we are a business, we should get involved in all walks of life. Only in this way can we effectively curb hoarding and speculation!"

"That's right, factories like textile mills, glass factories, ceramic factories, furniture factories... and so on, are all very profitable businesses!"

"We also need greenhouses, medicinal herbs, grain, coal, timber, transportation, bricks and stones!"

Almost every profitable industry was taken over by Cao Song and Lü Qiang.

The two became more and more excited as they talked, their eyes gleaming with the thought of the vast sums of money that would flow into their accounts in the future. They looked at each other with expressions of regret for not having met sooner, as if they were just short of burning incense, buying joss paper, and becoming sworn brothers.

Seeing the two suddenly become so close, Xi Zhicai, Tian Feng, and the others couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

Today, Cao Song and Lü Qiang's actions have truly opened their eyes!

This was clearly a task assigned to me by His Majesty! How could you do this? Watching Cao Song and Lü Qiang having such a lively discussion, Zhao Zhong, who had been scolded, sat there feeling like crying.

He was about to interrupt, but then he remembered the two wads of phlegm he had just coughed up, and his idea to step forward vanished.

After a short while, Cao Song and Lü Qiang finally reached an agreement on the business's organizational structure and future development and operations.

Finally, Lü Qiang couldn't help but ask, "By the way, who should manage the money in this trading company?"

“Of course it’s up to me. You can’t even manage the national treasury’s money, how can you possibly take care of the business?” Lü Qiang said without hesitation.

"Bullshit... I can manage the finances and provisions of the entire Han Dynasty, what's a little bit of money to me?"

Cao Song slammed his fist on the table and immediately glared at Lü Qiang, beginning his struggle for control of the finances.

Lu Qiang's expression also changed, and he immediately glared at Cao Song, "You...you're being disrespectful! This money is ours to keep!"

The two, who had just been having a pleasant conversation, confronted each other again over money.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhong knew his chance had come and quickly stepped forward and said:

"Your Majesty's intention is to establish three branch presidents for this trading company, with myself and the two of you serving as them respectively, responsible for personnel management, financial revenue and expenditure, product production, and business operations!"

"Then who is in charge of the fiscal revenue and expenditure?"

Cao Song and Lü Qiang both looked at Zhao Zhong.

Zhao Zhong hurriedly said, "This fiscal revenue and expenditure shall be under His Majesty's control! From now on, half of the annual profits of the merchant guild shall be divided equally between the national treasury and the Imperial Household Department, and the remainder shall be used for the development of the merchant guild, with His Majesty personally serving as the general manager of the merchant guild!"

"Under His Majesty's jurisdiction...?"

Cao Song and Lü Qiang were taken aback.

"Yes, that's good. It's most reassuring to have His Majesty in charge!"

The two exchanged a glance, and their displeasure vanished instantly. They dared not compete with the emperor.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!