Miyata Takejiro clearly didn't know how to respond.
He had only been in Dongzhou for a short time and was worrying about how the batch of weapons couldn't be shipped out when news came from the warehouse.
When he raised his gun, he wondered if it was someone from the Xu family coming to investigate.
A man was shot.
Another man was pinned down. His men returned to report that the two men had escaped, and there was a lot of blood on the ground.
Later, Takejiro didn't take it seriously, since nothing in the warehouse was stolen anyway.
There were no signs that anyone had broken in.
However, he sensed something was wrong as soon as he arrived at Tiger Wolf Mountain today, especially when Xu Jixin pointed to the cane.
He knew he hadn't mistaken the person that day; that person was Cheng Muyun.
Miyata Takejiro chuckled awkwardly, “Young Master, you can just come to your own territory. Why did you have to sneak over at night, and bring the Second Young Marshal with you? I thought you were some petty thief trying to steal our goods.”
Xu Zhuohua glanced at Cheng Muyun.
Cheng Muyun is the Second Young Marshal, but many people dare not call him that because Cheng Muchuan is dead. Calling him Second Young Master or Second Young Marshal would bring back painful memories for him.
Miyata Takejiro couldn't possibly be unaware that he was deliberately trying to disgust Cheng Muyun.
Cheng Muyun's expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn't heard anything.
In this situation, it usually means that Cheng Muyun has begun to suppress his temper.
Xu Jixin had a smile on his face, making it impossible to tell whether he was angry or not. "Mr. Miyata also knows that's our Xu family's territory. With so many people guarding it, I thought it wasn't Xu family's territory."
Miyata Takejiro smiled awkwardly, "This shipment is quite important, and the Imperial Army attaches great importance to it, so they have sent more personnel."
Cheng Muyun suddenly spoke up: "Arms, three whole warehouses, of course they're important."
No one responded. Miyata Takejiro frowned and looked at Liang Shaozun, who lowered his eyes and didn't say a word.
"Since you both know, I won't hide it anymore. It was my fault for disguising the goods as cloth. I apologize."
Miyata Takejiro bowed reverently at a ninety-degree angle, awaiting Xu Jixin's response.
In Xu Zhuohua's view, these Japanese people bow at a 90-degree angle all the time not to express apology, but to put others on a pedestal and force them to forgive.
Xu Jixin deliberately remained silent for a while, then slowly said, "Actually, it's not a big deal."
Upon hearing this, Miyata Takejiro slowly raised his head, his face full of confusion.
Xu Jixin looked at Cheng Muyun and said, "You agree, young marshal, don't we also transport weapons? It's no secret."
Cheng Muyun continued, following Xu Jixin's words, "It's just transporting weapons, there's no need to be so secretive."
Miyata Takejiro was surprised by their response, which implied there was hope.
"Then the second young master..."
"Wait a minute!" Xu Jixin interrupted Miyata Takejiro. "I remember we have two different prices for transporting weapons and grain and cloth, right?"
This question was directed at Chen Sihai. Chen Sihai's eyes darted around, and then he took out a notebook from his pocket, moistened it with saliva, and opened it.
"Replying to the Second Young Master, according to industry practice, the cost for transporting cloth is two silver dollars per cart, with an additional one dollar charged for each stop along the way. The minimum charge is three carts, with a minimum freight of twenty dollars."
Xu Jixin nodded. "What about the weapons?"
Chen Sihai turned a few more pages. "Ammunition is priced by the box. A box that is one meter long and half a meter wide and high costs ten silver dollars. For each stop, an additional five dollars are charged. The minimum weight is one hundred jin. For each jin exceeding one jin, an additional one dollar is charged. Each truckload has fifteen boxes, with a minimum freight cost of one thousand dollars."
Chen Sihai then took out a delicate little abacus from another pocket, fiddled with it up and down, and muttered to himself.
Finally, with a slap, he said, "Second Young Master, Son-in-law, based on the storage capacity of those three warehouses, Mr. Miyata has embezzled a total of 145,800 silver dollars in shipping fees."
"He calculated so quickly," Xu Zhuohua couldn't help but exclaim.
When the precise figures were reported, Xu Zhuohua understood that Xu Jixin and Cheng Muyun wanted to take advantage of the situation to scam Miyata Takejiro.
The estimated value was 145,800 silver dollars, roughly 30% of the value of the weapons in the warehouse.
Xu Jixin raised an eyebrow and looked at Miyata Takejiro. "Mr. Miyata, our Xu family is in business. As long as you make up the shipping costs, we'll make money off you."
Miyata said somewhat awkwardly, "Thank you very much, Second Young Master, but so many silver dollars at once is very..."
Chen Sihai took out his abacus and tossed it around, shouting in a rough voice, "Converted to silver, it's 78,323 taels."
With another flick of the abacus, he said, "Converted to gold, it's nine hundred and seventy-nine taels."
Xu Jixin smiled brightly, "Is this a friend's price? What does Mr. Miyata think?"
Since things had come to this point, and Xinhai City urgently needed this batch of weapons, he had no choice but to agree.
"good."
Xu Jixin chuckled and called out, "Chen Sihai, calculate the total for these past few days: the warehouse rental fees, the losses caused by the blocked lines, the unpaid wages for the brothers at the previous stations, plus my and my son-in-law's medical expenses. Give Mr. Miyata a total."
Chen Sihai shouted "Good!" and swung the abacus three times.
"The warehouse rent is 300 yuan per month, and 900 yuan for three months."
"Mr. Miyata is seizing the line, losing between 700 and 1,100 yuan per day, totaling 33,000 yuan."
"There are thirteen stations ahead. The price difference for transporting and transferring cloth and munitions is twelve silver dollars, totaling eleven thousand six hundred and sixty-four silver dollars."
"The young master and son-in-law were injured. The cost of hiring a doctor, getting medicine, and having someone take care of them totaled five hundred silver dollars. The time lost during work is incalculable."
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