The cash raised will last for at most a month, and Ding Ruohai's task is to quell the anger of the Northern Desert Empire within that month.
Although he was not afraid of the Northern Desert Empire with his strength, who would want to be a demonic person hated by everyone if they could stand openly in the sunlight?
Moreover, he also has businesses throughout Qingxuan, providing him with a continuous stream of cultivation resources.
"Which forces are targeting my Hengtong Bank?"
"Within the sphere of influence of top powers such as the Dragon Guard Manor and Quanzhen Sect of the Tengyun Empire, the Angry Dragon Gang and Butian Dao of the Canyang Empire, the Tianxia Society of the Longyuan Empire, and the Beggar Gang of the Jiyuan Empire, our Hengtong Bank's cash cannot leave the country."
Ding Ruohai's head ached at the mere mention of these forces. Although they had all risen to prominence recently, each one possessed astonishing potential and extraordinary methods.
"And...and..."
"Stop talking nonsense and get to the point."
"And the Demonic Path's Demonic Master Palace and Blood Demon Cult are blatantly obstructing us."
"Pang Ban? You Quan? These two guys are still determined to kill me. I won't let them go once I have the chance."
"My lord, those rogue cultivators in the martial world have also robbed our silver transport teams. These people are all highly skilled and can appear and disappear without a trace. Our losses are also huge."
"Fine, I'll write them all down. I'll settle the score with them later; none of them will escape. I'm going to refine them into furnaces!"
"According to the news relayed by the Jia-class, there are forces opposing the ruler not only in the martial arts world of various empires, but also in the imperial court. However, they have not yet erupted. We acted quickly, which is why we were able to raise a considerable sum of silver."
"That's all for now, you can all leave."
"Yes, ma'am."
Ding Ruohai rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. These were truly turbulent times. He believed he could protect Hengtong Bank with his abilities, but he didn't know how terrifying the people who wanted to kill him were!
Another day passed in the blink of an eye. Ding Ruohai looked at the secret report in his hand, somewhat disbelieving his eyes.
"Is this a message sent back by Jia San?"
“My lord, this was indeed sent back by Jia San, and he has already died for it.”
"Yes, bring his family into the furnace pool."
If Jia San knew that the lord he had risked his life to serve not only broke his promise but also wanted to kill his family, he wondered if he would regret it.
"Do you think it's true or false that the powerful figure here demanded the Northern Desert Empire pay 300 million in reparations?"
"Jia San is dead, so it must be true. The Northern Empire attacked us to raise money."
Upon hearing this, Ding Ruohai frowned. He felt that this matter was strange in every way. He had never heard of the Longgan Dynasty, so how could there be such a powerful figure? And the Mobei Empire was determined to fight Hengtong Bank to the death over three hundred million taels of silver?
“I sent a message to Huangpu Yun, saying that I was willing to make concessions and give them 300 million to test their attitude.”
Although 300 million taels is a lot, and a large sum for Hengtong Money Shop, it is not enough to shake their foundation. If 300 million taels can resolve the crisis in the Northern Desert Empire, Ding Ruohai is not unwilling to make concessions.
Negotiations between the two sides quickly began. The Northern Empire was very sincere this time, and Huangpu Yun sent the Second Prince to negotiate in person.
The negotiations were completed in less than half a day.
Afterwards, the Northern Empire issued a document informing that, after negotiations between the two sides, Hengtong Money Shop felt that the money obtained by the rebels was all tax silver from the Northern Empire, so it would raise 400 million taels of tax silver within a month, and the two sides would cease hostilities and make peace.
The news spread very quickly, which relieved everyone, who all believed that the Northern Desert Empire was just putting on an act and had no real intention of killing anyone.
Hengtong Money Shop had an excellent reputation, and within a month, it transported a large amount of silver from various places and handed it over to the Northern Desert court.
To everyone's astonishment, half a month later, the Northern Desert Court killed a large number of people from Hengtong Bank and issued a document to the world, announcing that Hengtong Bank had colluded with the demon race and intended to plot against the human race.
Upon hearing the news, everyone was incredulous. Hengtong Bank had money, manpower, and status; it was one of the top powers in the Qingxuan Continent. How could it possibly collude with the demon race?
Even Ding Ruohai didn't believe it. He angrily cursed and issued a document to inform the world that the Northern Desert Empire was dead but Hengtong was not, and that they were deliberately looking for an excuse to cause trouble for them.
To everyone's surprise, when the Northern Desert Court was arresting the person in charge of the Hengtong Bank in the Northern Desert Empire, the person's true form was revealed due to the intense battle. He was actually a tiger demon, and many of his subordinates were of demon origin.
This not only let the world know that what the Northern Desert Empire said was true, but also made Ding Ruohai himself feel that the Northern Desert Empire was not wrong.
Humans and demons cannot coexist. Amidst the doubts of the world, Ding Ruohai personally stepped forward to clarify the situation. To compensate the Northern Empire for its losses and to vindicate Hengtong Bank, he once again reluctantly raised 300 million taels of silver for the Northern Empire.
The Northern Desert Court then withdrew its troops and ceased targeting Hengtong Bank. Hengtong Bank, however, had to undergo a thorough inspection by the court to ensure that no demons had infiltrated it.
Ding Ruohai readily accepted this, as he did not want any demons to appear in his team.
Just when everyone thought the matter was finally resolved, the Northern Desert Court suddenly announced that it had discovered Ding Ruohai was the sect leader of the Formless Demonic Sect, one of the ten major demonic sects, once again stunning the world.
Ding Ruohai finally realized that the Northern Desert Empire wanted his Hengtong Bank dead, and that they had just been toying with him before.
This enraged him, and he wished he could go and massacre the Northern Desert court right now!
The people of the world were also stunned by the actions of the Northern Desert Empire, unsure whether to believe it or not.
The clever people now understand that the Northern Mobei court must have known Ding Ruohai's identity all along. They had used various excuses to attack Hengtong Bank several times before, greatly weakening Hengtong Bank's strength in the Northern Mobei. Seeing that the time was right, they launched a general offensive. It was indeed a well-planned scheme.
And that was indeed the plan of the Northern Desert Empire. Having assumed that Hengtong Bank would not fight them to the death in their previous attacks, they acted without restraint, killing tens of thousands of Hengtong Bank cultivators above the Innate Realm, almost wiping out Hengtong Bank's influence in the Northern Desert.
Now, only one in ten of Hengtong Money Shop's people remain in the northern desert; they are prepared to surround and wipe them out completely.
Mo Bei's series of actions infuriated Ding Ruohai, who vowed to refine all members of their royal family into furnaces.
Ding Ruohai issued a document recounting the various wrongdoings of the Northern Desert Court. He had been making concessions step by step, but now they were directly smearing him, slandering him as a demonic cultivator, and deliberately trying to kill him. They invited the major empires to send troops to jointly destroy the Northern Desert, and Hengtong Bank was willing to bear all the expenses and promised that Hengtong would not take a single penny of the profits, but would let the four major empires share them equally.
This explanation swayed the other four empires, and even Li Chaoqing, who knew the inside story, wanted to get involved, since it was rare to see someone else foot the bill.
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