Chapter 176 Negotiation
"Brother Wang, why must you be so polite to him?" the fat monk said indignantly.
"Brother Xu, if you can't kill someone, then it's best not to become his enemy."
"He has been an enemy for a long time."
"There are no eternal enemies, Brother Xu, I want to see the host."
The fat monk hesitated for a moment: "Senior Brother is still a little angry about Xiao Qin's death."
Duke Yue nodded slightly: "That's why I want to meet the owner of this building."
"Okay, I'll arrange it."
Zhao Yushu declined the prince's carriage escort, and walked around twice to avoid the seemingly unlikely pursuit, and came to a restaurant.
Jiangning's nightlife is not inferior to that of Dongdu. Even when the moon is at its highest point in the sky, there are still many people drinking and chatting in the restaurant. He was worried that the restaurant would close early.
With a wrong step, Zhao Yushu disappeared in the back alley of the restaurant. The next moment, he came to the door of a private room, pushed it open and walked in.
Princess Li Tong was sitting at the table, opposite an old monk. Zhao Yushu had seen this old monk in Yu Shu's memory. At that time, he had no idea about the power system of this world. Now that he thinks about it, this old man must be at least a master of the sixth or seventh level.
The old monk did not move on the surface, but his heart was suddenly shocked. This young man was only in the fourth heaven, but he did not sense it until he appeared at the door. What kind of skill is this? He is indeed a member of the academy. Even if the princess and the little celestial master look down on him, it does not prevent the old immortal from liking this first-class person.
"Master." Li Tong said these two words softly, and the old monk immediately stood up, exchanged greetings with Zhao Yushu, opened the door and walked out.
Zhao Yushu sat opposite Li Tong and said, "You didn't order any dishes? I didn't eat enough at Zuihuafang. You royal family members are so stingy when you treat us."
"What you said is enough to kill you ten times."
"If you can kill him, you should have killed him earlier. If you can't kill him, don't say such nonsense. It's childish."
Li Tong narrowed her beautiful eyes and said after a long while: "I underestimated you before. I apologize."
He is a man of character who can bend and stretch. Zhao Yushu stopped when he saw that things were going well: "The princess called me, what's the matter?"
"Mr. Liu, you are here for the salt tax, right?"
"There's no need for such a superficial test. Princess, you are very smart, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid, right?"
Li Tong nodded. "Okay, then I'll show some sincerity. The court will take 55% of the southeastern salt tax, our Fuwang Mansion will take 15%, Jiangning locals, that is, the Yue Guogong faction, will take 10%, your academy will take half, and the eight major salt merchants and other small families will share the rest."
Li Tong paused and said, "Wang Yan is my man. The so-called corruption is just an excuse. The court wants to take 15% of our money."
Zhao Yushu smiled: "It sounds like it has nothing to do with the academy."
"No, it does matter. If the prince doesn't come, it will be enough for us to spit out half of it. If the prince comes, everyone will have to spit out everything except for the Duke of Yue, who is one of us."
Zhao Yushu did not comment: "This is your speculation."
"That's right, my guess is that in six days, Wangjiang Tower will make you famous, and the prince will invite you for a boat ride as soon as he gets off the boat. I said the prince doesn't want to touch you, do you believe it yourself?"
Zhao Yushu shook his head: "I don't believe he has that much courage."
"Maybe not before, but the abbot of Dabei Temple went to Dongdu, Zhao Yushu, the old Pavilion Master was tied up, everyone knows it."
Zhao Yushu clenched his fists instantly: "No one can kill the teacher."
Li Tong smiled coldly: "Of course no one can kill the old Pavilion Master, and no one dares to kill him, but there are many people who want to uproot the power of the academy in Jiangning and make you, Mr. Liu, roll back to Dongdu in disgrace, and dare to do it."
Li Tong leaned forward and stared into Zhao Yushu's eyes. "With the old Pavilion Master away, can you, Mr. Liu, handle the overall situation in Jiangning alone?"
Zhao Yushu suddenly laughed: "You can't bear it either."
"I am now willing to admit that I underestimated you before. Yes, I can't handle it either, so after the matter is completed, I will give the academy half of the proceeds."
Half completion is 250,000 taels. The original purpose of the academy was to support Brother Sun's father-in-law to seize the position of Salt and Iron Commissioner. It is impossible to take all the share from Prince Fu, so the approximate goal is to complete half of it.
The identity of the prince has a natural advantage in Jiangning, and he is also the weakest in terms of military force. Cooperating with Prince Fu seems to be a good choice, but where is his value?
In addition, the southeastern salt tax has been divided tacitly for many years. Why did Xijing suddenly take action against Prince Fu to snatch these hundreds of thousands of taels of silver?
"What other concerns do you have, Mr. Liu?"
"A lot, but I don't think you'll be honest with me, so I'm going to figure it out on my own."
For example, when do you plan to rebel, or what is your basis for rebellion.
Li Tong gave him a deep look and said, "Okay, even if we cooperate, you have to survive Wangjiang Tower. If you are beaten to a pulp by the challengers from the southeast, then there is no value in cooperation."
And there is also the challenger she has prepared. If Zhao Yushu is really a waste, she doesn't mind giving the academy a big gift first.
Zhao Yushu was a little confused: "You seem to have no confidence in my martial arts."
"I can't help it. After all, I have seen Mr. Liu's miserable defeat. It's getting late. Please."
Zhao Yushu walked out of the restaurant in a daze, thinking to himself, I, Zhao, will kill gods if I meet one, and kill Buddhas if I meet one, and I mean that literally without any exaggeration. When have I ever been defeated miserably?
I never thought that one day I would actually consider teaming up with the princess. Although we don't have a life-and-death feud, we do have grudges against each other, and the attitude of Prince Fu's Mansion towards the academy is definitely not friendly.
Zhao Yushu looked back at the box which was still lit, and a trace of doubt flashed through his mind: Does the princess really want to join forces with him?
Zhao Yushu learned one thing from the Nanyang incident: don't underestimate anyone, especially those who come from aristocratic families.
In this spiritual world, the ruling power of the family has been greatly weakened due to the absolute randomness of the awakening of the cultivators, and the big clans that have survived to the present day have all been fought for by generations of elites. If there is any waste, the end is that the family will be killed and the clan will be destroyed. Wang Shaolin taught Zhao Yushu a good lesson with more than 10,000 lives.
Compared to these young men and women who have been exposed to the world of intrigue and deception since childhood, Zhao Yushu, a social animal who traveled through time, is as pure as a white lotus. After being humiliated many times, Zhao Yushu has to be more careful when considering things.
Zhao Yushu wandered all the way back to the Taoist temple. As soon as he arrived in Jiangning, Princess Li Tong and Prince Li Huan arrived almost at the same time. In this era with such inconvenient transportation, wasn't the timing too coincidental?
Back at the Taoist temple, Sun Wuyang opened the door for him and winked at him as soon as he entered.
"Brother Sun, what happened to your eyes?"
"You kid, you've only been here for two days, and you've already done something like this, and you even hid it from me, your senior brother."
"What's going on?"
The two talked as they walked. When they entered the side room, they saw Lin Shan sitting in the room chatting with a woman. When they saw Zhao Yushu come in, they stopped talking. The woman turned her head with a sad look in her eyes.
Zhao Yushu felt his scalp tingling: "Miss Wanqing, why are you here?"