Mirror Lake Villa.
Wu Tianci was furious. The cold weather scared Liu Jin so much that he broke out in a cold sweat.
"emperor……!"
Gong Huanyu waited until Wu Tianci had vented his anger for a while before bowing and whispering, "Your Majesty, I've heard about this. This gold belongs to the Retired Emperor. I guess he took it with him when he left Daxia. Otherwise, who else would dare to covet this mountain of gold?"
Wu Tianci calmed down. "Father, Father, couldn't you have brought back mountains of gold and silver by going to sea? Why didn't he leave this mountain of gold for me?"
"This... maybe the emperor also needs to use this mountain of gold."
"Ninety percent of the annual profits of the Great Xia Golden Phoenix Group belong to him. He is the largest landlord in Great Xia and the richest person! He, he... oh, what should I do now?"
"Your Majesty, the Grand Emperor has been gone for nearly two years. I feel that it's not appropriate for the Great Xia Golden Phoenix Group to be in Li Jindou's hands. How about...how about Your Majesty summon Li Jindou to the palace after you return to Chang'an...I understand some business acumen. If I were to manage the Great Xia Golden Phoenix Group, I think I would be able to do just as well as Mr. Li."
"The most important thing is... that way, the Emperor will never be short of money again!"
Wu Tianci's eyes lit up. "This is a good idea. The Golden Phoenix Group was originally established by the Empress Dowager, and was managed by my mothers. Now they have all left Daxia. Li Jindou is an outsider after all... Let's go back to the palace, back to Chang'an!"
Gong Huanyu's eyes lit up, the corners of his mouth curled up, and he winked at Liu Jin.
Liu Jin hurried forward and helped Wu Tianci onto the dragon chariot.
…
…
Chang'an, Suzaku Avenue, Phoenix Group Headquarters.
Chen Qingyi stood in front of his mentor Li Jindou in a proper manner and explained to Li Jindou in detail all the arrangements on the Leah continent.
"Master, the Emperor wants to allocate a portion of the money stored in the Sitong Bank on the Leah Continent for investment... He said it could be invested in companies that are short of funds, such as Dingyuan Navigation or Weilan Commerce on the Leah Continent."
"A massive construction boom has swept across the continent of Alia since the arrival of the Supreme Emperor. Merchants from Great Xia have flocked to the city in just two months, causing Alia City to become overcrowded and causing house prices to triple!"
"When the Emperor met with his disciples and others, he said that Daxia is the foundation, and the Leah Continent is Daxia's largest tentacle."
"In the next few years, the strategic location of the Leah Continent will become increasingly important. It will become Daxia's long-range defense base, and it will also become the most important transit base for trade between Daxia and European countries!"
"So, I'm thinking, should we shift the focus of the Great Xia Golden Phoenix Group to the Leah Continent? Open a Golden Phoenix Group branch in Alia City, and use the enormous amount of capital at hand to invest in shipping, workshops, trade, and public welfare projects on the Leah Continent."
Li Jindou took out his pipe and stuffed some tobacco into the bowl. Chen Qingyi quickly took out a lighter and lit it for Li Jindou. He seemed to remember something and said:
"By the way, during the Emperor's first expedition to the Leah Continent, he ordered the Shangluo Kingdom to plant a large amount of tobacco in Jinye City. The last time the Emperor came to Leah Continent, he specifically mentioned tobacco. It seems he values it very much."
"But I am a little confused by what the emperor said."
"What did he say?"
"He said it's strictly forbidden to transport tobacco from the Leonian continent to Daxia... but he also said he'd have to wait until he returns from his trip to Europe to figure out what to do with the tobacco."
Li Jindou frowned slightly. Tobacco leaves were produced in Daxia, but the output was not high and it was not subsidized by grain, so there were not many farmers in Daxia who planted this.
But Fu Xiaoguan asked Shangluoguo to grow this thing. Obviously, he was not talking casually. He was probably afraid that there were huge business opportunities in it that he didn't know about.
"Then wait until he comes back and see what he does."
"You just mentioned opening a branch of the Golden Phoenix Group on the Leah Continent... This is feasible. I'll leave it to you!"
"Disciple obeys!"
"Qingyi," Li Jindou exhaled a puff of smoke, frowning slightly. He thought for a moment before speaking, "Sit down, make some tea. I have something to tell you."
Chen Qingyi sat opposite Li Jindou and made a pot of tea.
"That's right. You know about the Golden Phoenix Group. It was founded by the Grand Empress Dowager and handed over to the Empress Dowagers to manage."
"In fact, looking at the entire Great Xia today, the Golden Phoenix Group is the largest business empire. The Emperor had a secret conversation with me before he left Chang'an."
"He said that after he left, the Golden Phoenix Group would inject 10% of its profits into the imperial treasury every year to make the Emperor's life easier... This was originally the Emperor's good intention, but now it seems there are some problems."
Chen Qingyi was stunned. The Jinfeng Group was originally a royal property. It was understandable that the emperor, out of pity for him, would share 10% of the profits with the treasury!
This 10% profit is already quite considerable, estimated to be in the billions!
What could be wrong with that?
Li Jindou took a deep breath of cigarette smoke and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. In the smoke, he whispered: "The current emperor and the emperor emeritus are very different!"
"In the past, when the retired emperor was on the throne, the treasury was incredibly rich. But even then, the retired emperor rarely used the money from the treasury. At most, he would spend some money during the New Year to give officials a big red envelope."
"But since the Emperor ascended the throne, the Golden Phoenix Group has injected a total of 240 million taels of silver into the treasury twice! The Emperor didn't give red envelopes to his ministers last year, and this year... this year he certainly won't give any either, because there's no silver left in the treasury!"
Chen Qingyi was startled. He leaned forward, lowered his voice, and asked, "Did the emperor spend all the money from the imperial treasury? Where did he spend it?"
Li Jindou pondered for a moment. "I asked Li Cai to check. Aside from the money used to build the Summer Resort, the rest went into an account in the Xixia Autonomous Region. Don't ask me what he did with the money, because I don't know. But the treasury is empty, and that's an indisputable fact!"
Li Jindou took a deep breath and looked out the window at the snowflakes drifting in the biting north wind. "Something might happen!"
"I hope nothing happens!"
"Whether something unexpected happens or not, we must have a backup plan... I've called back the Li family, Li Wan, and Li Guan. They'll be here tomorrow. When they arrive, immediately—remember, immediately!—take them away from Chang'an and to the Leah Continent!"
"I have already told the Li family to disband the backbone members of the Great Xia Golden Phoenix Group. They will go to the Leah Continent in batches. You are to rebuild the Great Xia Golden Phoenix Group on the Leah Continent!"
"So the one in Leah Continent is not a branch of the Golden Phoenix Group, but its headquarters!"
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