"This humble subject greets Your Highness!"
A moment later, a handsome middle-aged man entered the room with small, quick steps and excitedly knelt down to Liu Wei.
"useless!"
Liu Wei quickly stepped forward to help him up.
This person is my future father-in-law.
Although he was a prince, it was understandable that Zhen Yi would pay him a great salute, but Liu Wei himself felt a little awkward.
"Your Highness, it is my duty! It is my honor to meet Your Highness, and I must not be impolite!"
Zhen Yi was taken aback by Liu Wei's politeness and apologized repeatedly.
"When I interact with people, I value shared interests and don't care about these formalities!" Liu Wei smiled slightly. "I especially enjoy dealing with merchants like you!"
Zhen Yi was taken aback. He had thought that this prince would be extremely arrogant, aloof, and keep people at arm's length.
Unexpectedly, Liu Wei is not only handsome and talented, but also so easy-going and approachable!
It seems that the matter of marrying one's daughter into the royal family is worth discussing!
"Your Highness, what do you mean by that?" Zhen Yi asked hurriedly.
It is important to know that in the Han Dynasty, the social hierarchy was: scholars, farmers, soldiers, artisans, and merchants. Merchants were ranked after artisans and had a very low social status.
For a prince to say he enjoys dealing with merchants is simply beneath the dignity of the royal family.
Zhen Yi glanced at Liu Yu, but Liu Yu remained calm and indifferent, as if it were none of his business.
"Everyone in the world knows that Father Emperor set up a market in the Western Garden, not only selling rare items from the palace, but also selling official positions. He can be considered a businessman!"
"I bought my position as the General Who Guards the North, haha!"
Liu Wei spoke frankly and burst into laughter.
At this moment, Liu Yu, who was standing next to him, suddenly looked uneasy.
Even if that's the truth, you can't just blurt out this messy affair of the Liu family!
Zhen Yi was speechless.
He dared not respond, for saying anything good or bad would offend people.
Seeing that Zhen Yi remained silent, Liu Wei continued:
"Businessmen only care about interests and equal exchange!"
"You've come to see me, what do you want from me, and what can you offer in exchange?"
Liu Wei's straightforwardness startled Zhen Yi.
To my utter surprise, this prince was so straightforward and blunt, starting to discuss business with me the moment we met.
But this is great!
However, Zhen Yi felt that Liu Wei's straightforwardness was somewhat unreal, and he hesitated for a moment:
"It is an immense honor for this humble subject to meet His Highness the Prince. This humble subject..."
Liu Wei immediately waved his hand to interrupt Zhen Yi: "Stop, let's not talk about these empty words!"
"It is said that your Zhen family are wealthy merchants in Hebei, with assets exceeding 100 million. Is this true?"
Zhen Yi was startled and quickly said, "This humble one is merely quite wealthy, with assets exceeding one hundred million. That is an exaggeration!"
"You're such a boring person!"
Liu Wei put on a stern face, "I passed through Jizhou and heard a children's rhyme: Zhen is not fake, his hall is made of white jade and his horses are made of gold!"
"Your Zhen family is already so wealthy, what would be considered 'quite wealthy'?"
"I'm afraid even my father, the Emperor, isn't as wealthy as you, Zhen Jiafu!"
Zhen Yi's face turned deathly pale, and he broke out in a cold sweat. He was so frightened that he immediately knelt down and pleaded guilty!
Liu Yu watched in alarm, never expecting that Liu Wei could so easily manipulate Zhen Yi with just a few words.
"Nephew, don't frighten him!"
Liu Yu hurriedly advised, "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are subjects of the king. No matter how rich Zidan is, how can he compare to Your Majesty?"
"Everything we have, including our worthless lives, belongs to His Majesty!"
Liu Wei chuckled: "Zongzheng, I was just joking with him!"
As he spoke, he stepped forward and helped Zhen Yi up.
"Your Highness, this joke could cost me my life!" Zhen Yi wiped the sweat from his brow and it took him a long time to stand up.
Now he understands that although he is incredibly wealthy, he is as insignificant as a feather in the face of power.
We must find a way to firmly cling to this powerful figure.
"Zidan, just say what you want to say to your nephew! Otherwise, he might come up with some new tricks," Liu Yu reminded him.
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Zhen Yi nodded vigorously, "When I heard that Your Highness was going to wage war against the foreign tribes, our You and Ji provinces had been looking forward to this day for a long time! As a native of Hebei, although I cannot fight on the front lines, I would like to contribute some money and food to help Your Highness achieve a great victory as soon as possible!"
Zhen Yi spoke with great righteousness.
But merchants are profit-driven; how could they do business at a loss?
Liu Wei asked calmly, "So how much do you plan to sponsor?"
Upon hearing Liu Wei inquire about the quantities, Zhen Yi knew he had a chance. So, gritting his teeth and steeling his resolve, he said, "Ten million coins and one hundred thousand bushels of grain. Please accept them, Your Highness!"
What!
Before Liu Wei could react, Liu Yu jumped up beside him: "Ten million coins and one hundred thousand bushels of grain! That's more than half a year's tax revenue for Youzhou!"
"Zidan, are you serious?"
“Your Excellency, I never speak recklessly! Money is just an external thing, and I have no interest in it!” Zhen Yi said loudly.
That's quite a lot!
Liu Wei couldn't help but sigh.
It seems Zhen Yi went to great lengths to befriend him!
It should be noted that when Liu Wei was in Zhenjiazhuang, Zhang Baiqi of the Black Mountain Army asked Zhen Yi's son, Zhen Yao, for 100,000 shi of grain, but Zhen Yao said that he definitely could not come up with it.
Now that Zhen Yi says he can take it out, it must mean that he has stored the grain elsewhere.
However, since Zhen Yi really provided such substantial financial assistance to Liu Wei in winning the battle, Liu Wei certainly wouldn't treat him unfairly!
Yang Lian's father, from the third branch of the Yang family in Hongnong, had already made a fortune since joining Liu Wei's side, relying on his exclusive sales of coal and snow salt from the Hetao region in Guanzhong.
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