"Your Highness, someone has arrived!"
Just then, Haitang's voice came from outside the door.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yi was taken aback, somewhat surprised. However, after being away for almost a month, Lin Yi was actually pleasantly surprised to hear that someone from his home had come.
"Let him in!"
Haitang pushed open the door and walked in, followed by another person with a scar on his face and wearing Net garment.
"Greetings, my lord!"
"No need for formalities. Is there any news from home?"
Lin Yi glanced at him. The people from the Net had always been stationed at the saltworks to control the overall situation. Unless something unexpected happened, they wouldn't come looking for him.
Now that they're here, something must have happened; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to come here.
Scarface nodded and said solemnly, "My lord, the saltworks are now making an astonishing five million strings of cash. Even Commander Shen dares not handle such a huge sum of money, so he requests permission from you to transport it to Xiliang Commandery."
"What, five million strings of cash?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yi's pupils constricted. Such enormous profits in such a short time were simply too outrageous.
On the surface, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu were in charge of the saltworks, but in reality, the person in charge was a deputy commander of the Net named Shen Fu.
Shen Fu was a deputy commander of the Net Heaven). He was a genuine intelligence agent, but his secondary identity was that of a merchant. He usually concealed his true identity as a merchant, so he was very skilled in this area, which is why Lin Yi left him in Northern Liang.
After all, the saltworks is a treasure trove, and it would be somewhat risky to leave it in the hands of Zhang Long and Zhao Hu.
Now it's proven that I wasn't wrong about him. This Shen Fu is truly remarkable; he managed to acquire such enormous profits in such a short time. This is something that not just anyone could do.
Lin Yi couldn't help but ask curiously, "How did Shen Fu manage that? Even if he sold all this salt throughout Northern Liang, he couldn't possibly earn this much money. That's five million strings of cash!"
Five million strings of cash?
Haitang, standing nearby, was even more dumbfounded. The young master had earned five million strings of cash in just one month! He must have struck it rich.
If you calculate it all, the Crown Prince's annual income probably exceeds the annual tax revenue of Northern Liang. This is simply outrageous. Is the Crown Prince some kind of god of wealth descended to earth?
"Please see, Your Highness, this is a letter from the Commander." Scarface took out a letter sealed with wax from his pocket and handed it to Lin Yi, then stepped aside.
Upon opening the envelope, Lin Yi's eyes lit up; so that's how it is.
Shen Fu actually seized Ran Zijin channels and, through Ran Zijin's associates, smuggled large quantities of salt into the Great Ning, and even into Great Ning.
In this way, in less than a month, he obtained the sales share that others had for a year, thus accumulating five million strings of cash.
Lin Yi couldn't help but exclaim, "What a brilliant move by Shen Fu! He's poached Ran Zijin's girlfriend!"
That makes sense when you think about it. Merchants are all profit-driven and have no loyalty whatsoever, so why would they give up something as valuable as refined salt?
It's okay if I don't eat rice, at least I can eat steamed buns.
However, few people can survive without salt, so in some ways salt is no different from gold; it's definitely a profitable commodity.
However, given Shen Fu's actions, Lin Yi could even imagine how furious the Ran Clan must be.
The Ran Clan was already suffering greatly because of their own assassination attempt, and the betrayal of these partners was probably adding insult to injury, causing their business to suffer a huge blow.
At that moment, Lin Yi thought of Ran Chao, who was his equal in fame. This guy was probably thinking of killing someone right now.
Thinking of this, Lin Yi couldn't help but laugh, muttering, "There's a destiny at play. It seems Heaven is determined to bring us together, and then let me ruin you."
This is destiny!
But this time it really isn't my fault, Lin Yi; it was that brat Shen Fu who acted on his own!
Haitang shuddered. The young master's smile was so sinister; someone was probably going to suffer a great loss. The last time the young master smiled like that, only two of the three great clans survived, and they even became the young master's underlings.
The fact that the Crown Prince is laughing like this now is probably no small matter.
Cough cough!
Seeing the trembling Haitang, Lin Yi glanced at her and couldn't help but smile. Although Haitang was used to grand occasions, she still couldn't keep her composure in the face of a five million guan (a unit of currency).
However, what Shen Fu did with those five million strings of cash is a problem.
Five million strings of cash is no small amount; transporting it over would be a major problem. Besides, he had just given the old man two million, and now another two were being sent to him, which was somewhat of a waste of manpower and resources.
I'm not a miser; this money is just for myself, at most used to buy some food or something. Even if I wanted to buy other things, no one would sell them to me.
Moreover, the grain they had previously captured was enough to last until the sweet potatoes and potatoes were harvested, so there was no need to rush into this matter.
On the contrary, the weapons, equipment, and warhorses need to be significantly optimized.
Thinking of this, he said in a deep voice, "Tell Shen Fu not to send the money over, but to use his own money to buy a large number of warhorses from the Western Regions and send them to Xiliang Commandery. Then, he should go to various places to search for talented people and send them to Xiliang Commandery as well!"
Xiliang Commandery had no shortage of food and soldiers, but it lacked talent, supplies, and warhorses for its cavalry.
Instead of transporting this money all the way here, it would be better to use it locally to buy warhorses. There's no such thing as too many warhorses; if each rider could have two horses, the cavalry's fighting power would certainly increase significantly.
"Understood!" Scarface understood immediately and agreed before leaving.
After he left, Lin Yi fell into deep thought.
Now that I have more and more money in my hands, it's becoming very inconvenient to circulate it. It seems I need to promote the issuance of banknotes, which would make things much easier.
Another point is the use of money. It would be such a waste to let it sit there and rust. It must be put to use to generate more money.
A thought suddenly occurred to him: he remembered the Mi Zhu had previously obtained.
This is a business tycoon; if I let him manage things, it might save me a lot of trouble.
Chen Qun and others are all busy with their own affairs, and the entire Xiliang Commandery is somewhat occupied, so a capable person is needed to manage the finances, Mi Zhu is a very good choice.
With a thought, Lin Yi summoned Mi Zhu.
Dressed in blue, Mi Zhu appeared before Lin Yi Lin Yi, immediately kneeling down and solemnly saying, "Your subordinate, Mi Zhu, greets your lord!"
Seeing Mi Zhu's expression, a smile flashed in Lin Yi's eyes.