After his anger subsided, Prince Huan Ji Ao quickly calmed down. Anger could not solve problems; minimizing losses in the shortest possible time was the proper course.
"What are the reported losses from the various trade caravans and firms? How soon can operations be restored? Will half a month be enough?" Prince Huan Ji Ao raised the first crucial question.
Prince Huan Ji Ao now supported a large number of subordinates. Intelligence and commerce—none of those operations could function without wealth.
What was more, he maintained no small number of private soldiers.
Then there were the connections with the military and court officials that Prince Huan Ji Ao had painstakingly cultivated over the years. They, too, could not do without spirit stones.
Without sufficient spirit stones, the power Prince Huan Ji Ao had so painstakingly built over the years might collapse in less than half a year.
"Your Highness, the losses are devastating. Let alone half a month—even half a year may not be enough to fully recover!" Mr. Tu said with a bitter expression.
"Half a year?"
Prince Huan Ji Ao abruptly sat upright. "How can it take that long? Business is business—if there are shops, staff, and goods brought in, then operations can resume, can't they? As for the spirit stones and goods lost from those shops, I'll treat them as having been thrown away."
"Your Highness, that is precisely the key issue!" Mr. Tu's face remained bitter. "The enemy who struck us seems exceedingly seasoned. They looted whatever spirit stones and goods they could take, then burned the account books, records, and the like.
"But their most vicious move was taking away those shopkeepers, clerks, and all manner of craftsmen—those they did not take, they killed.
"It can be said that Your Highness's commercial system has been