"Is it true? But I don't believe it. How about you ask your city lord to come and talk to me in person? Otherwise, I really won't go."
"this..."
Zhang Rang really didn't go this time. As the most favored minister of the Han emperor, he had never been treated so unfairly.
This time he must get back at the place.
If they saw that the other party refused to go, they would have no choice but to ask the city lord to come in person.
After his subordinates went over to report, the city lord was not angry at all. Instead, he actually came over in person.
He was not polite at all and patted Zhang Rang on the shoulder.
"Hahaha, envoy from the Han Dynasty, please forgive me for the poor hospitality."
“Ahem!”
This blow almost broke Zhang Rang's frail body apart.
"City Lord, can't you be gentler?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Messenger. I didn't realize you were so weak."
"Okay, let's talk about the matter and stop talking nonsense."
In this city, only Zhang Rang could speak to him like this.
The city lord was not angry, but laughed:
"Hahaha, fine, fine. Let's talk business. The messenger said last time that he wanted a toll, right?"
Zhang Rang did not act arrogantly in front of the city lord. After all, this was the other party's territory.
"Yes. Our demands are simple. The toll is like the city entrance fee, one copper coin per person. However, unlike people, boats are charged a fee of ten copper coins each. Small boats are charged a silver coin each, medium boats are charged ten silver coins each, and large boats are charged a gold coin each."
Faced with the big man's aggressive attitude, the city lord was very easy to talk to at this time.
"No problem, the merchant ship will charge according to your request."
However, Zhang Rang did not give him a chance to exploit the loophole and added:
"We're not just talking about getting on board, we're talking about all ships following this rule."
The city lord was a little unhappy about this.
He doesn't need to care about the merchant ship because it doesn't belong to him.
But he usually goes out to rob many ships, big and small.
If this hadn't happened once, how much extra money would he have spent every year?
"That won't work. Only merchants will benefit. Where will the other ships get the money to pay you?"
"City Lord, please don't deceive me. Fishermen can fish, raiders can rob, and passengers can collect fares. Are you telling me that no one except merchants can afford the toll?"
Seeing his words being exposed, the city lord said without blushing or beating his heart:
"Messenger, you misunderstood. I meant that, except for merchants, everyone else is making a small profit. If they pay tolls, they won't make any money."
Zhang Rang shook his head and said:
"Haha, the wool comes from the sheep, they just need to adjust themselves. I really don't believe that they can't survive with just this little travel fee."
"I'm talking about the messenger..."
Before the city lord finished speaking, Zhang Rang gave a suggestion.
"City Lord, listen to me. After I buy your sea area, what will you be lacking first?"
"Fisheries."
"Hahaha, I didn't expect that the city lord is very aware of his own situation."
"Isn't that nonsense? I don't even have any income from fishing. If the sea area is blocked by you, my fishermen will starve to death."
"So, if this continues, your fishermen will rebel."
"Humph! If they dare to rebel, let them have a taste of the musket."
"Hey, City Lord, please stop the violence. We can work together on this matter."
"Cooperation? How?"
"We'll go to sea, you'll provide the people and the boats, and we'll split the profits 50-50."
"impossible."
The city lord refused without even thinking.
"The city lord doesn't want to make money anymore?"
"Our profits are too low. You get half for doing nothing."
The city lord was a little angry at this time.
However, Zhang Rang refused to give in and said:
"What do you mean we're doing nothing? We didn't cheat our way into these waters. We bought them from your precious son with real money. We spent so much money, but are we saying they're worthless in your eyes?"
The city lord also knew that what the other party said was correct, but he had to continue investing, unlike them who invested once and then didn't spend money in the future.
But he was not convinced.
"While what you said is true, we invested more. We deserve a larger share."
"City Lord, are you kidding me? How much are those junky fishing boats worth? If you weren't the City Lord, I would have gone looking for someone else to cooperate with."
Seeing the other party's tough attitude, the city lord didn't want to make any concessions at all.
He thought for a moment and then said:
"Then we split the profits in half."
The city lord's words seemed a bit vague, so Zhang Rang immediately questioned it.
"City Lord, what do you think the cost of these sea areas should be? If that's the case, then you won't get a cent. First, share our costs and then divide the profits equally."
"this..."
The city lord was speechless for a moment. He had no idea how to calculate the cost.
Zhang Rang immediately continued:
"City Lord, what do you think? We are the ones who are at a disadvantage. If you still don't agree, then there is no way we can cooperate."
The city lord was still calculating the gains and losses at this time. Now that things had come to this, he could no longer change anything.
If we cooperate, I can more or less make up for the losses.
But if he doesn't cooperate, he will get nothing.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, let's split it this way. The other tolls will be yours as well."
"Hahaha, happy cooperation."
Now it was Zhang Rang's turn to laugh heartily.
The city lord took the agreement and left reluctantly.
Zhang Rang also returned to the Demon Shark with the agreement.
"Hahaha, General. I have fulfilled my mission and reached an agreement with the city lord."
"Very good, Master Zhang, thank you for your hard work. From now on, our ships will patrol our own waters, and they won't have to rob us."
This is of great significance to Fengyun.
Being a pirate was risky, but now that their roles have changed, they have become regular troops.
"General, how are we going to get people from those islands?"
Zhang Rang had heard about how the people on the Gem Island came from. They were all captured.
"Once we have the money, we'll go recruit people right away. With the flow of people in the royal city, the money we earn every year will definitely be enough to recruit a lot of people."
"Okay, okay. The eight of us have nothing to do right now. It's just right for me to be the village chief."
"Hahaha, then each of you will have a village chief, and recruiting villagers won't require a lot of money."
The few people were very happy to see Fengyun did not stop them.
"Hehehe, great. Then let's go recruit villagers."
Fengyun was also happy about this.
They are still short-staffed.
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