Chapter 262

The Shrewd Merchant (Supplementary Update)

To be able to become the richest man in Dongling, although Pei Baiwan looked like a clown, he was by no means an ordinary person.

The business world is like a battlefield; without shrewd methods, how could he have attained his current status?!

At this moment, seeing Pei Baiwan suddenly act this way and say such strange things, not to mention Nie Jinxuan, even Pei Yaoguang, who was on the side, was stunned. But after a brief moment of shock, Pei Yaoguang could not help but look at his father quite rudely, and then asked with a slightly skeptical expression.

"Father, what are you doing?"

Pei Yaoguang knew exactly what kind of temperament his father had. Don't look at how he smiled like the Maitreya Buddha on the surface; he was full of tricks inside. Even Pei Yaoguang couldn't guess what his father was up to, but he could be certain of one thing: whenever his father smiled particularly kindly and spoke particularly gently, it meant he was about to scheme something.

And when his father schemed, he would dare to strike at anyone, from the Emperor down to a beggar!

Therefore, the more he looked, the more Pei Yaoguang felt his father was a bit dangerous. But facing his son's questioning, Pei Baiwan ignored him completely. Since the matter of the title was already settled, there was no need to pay attention to his precious son anymore. So, Pei Baiwan just stared straight at Nie Jinxuan, waiting quietly for her answer.

At this moment, hearing Pei Baiwan ask this, Nie Jinxuan was also a bit stunned. But after a brief moment of shock, Nie Jinxuan first turned her eyes to look at Pei Yaoguang on the side, and then answered Pei Baiwan.

"Uh... that is of course! Actually, when it comes down to it, when an army goes to war, it uses provisions! If you only have silver but no provisions, it won't work. After all, when the soldiers are hungry, they can't just gnaw on silver to eat, right?!"

Although she didn't know why he asked, Nie Jinxuan still stated the facts one by one. Upon hearing Nie Jinxuan say this, Pei Baiwan's eyes lit up, and he began to chuckle to himself.

Pei Baiwan's appearance felt indescribably strange. Seeing this, not to mention Nie Jinxuan, even Shui Yun, who was usually calm, was stunned.

"Uh... Master Pei, are you... are you alright?"

Nie Jinxuan couldn't help but ask, but at this moment, Pei Baiwan, who had been chuckling non-stop, turned his head to look at Nie Jinxuan.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking that every man has a responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation. Princess Consort, you think I'm right, don't you... hehe..."

Pei Baiwan said this in a low and mysterious voice, and after he finished, he chuckled again. Seeing this, Nie Jinxuan couldn't help but blink, then looked silently at Pei Yaoguang on the side, who rolled his eyes at his father and said to Nie Jinxuan with annoyance.

"Don't mind him, he's thinking about how to swindle someone!"

"Uh..."

Regardless, Nie Jinxuan's trip to the Pei residence had finally accomplished its mission. Although Pei Baiwan had behaved abnormally later on, he recovered after only a moment, and then enthusiastically insisted on keeping Nie Jinxuan at the Pei residence for lunch. Pei Yaoguang had only returned to the residence temporarily and was originally going to leave, but he was forcibly detained by Pei Baiwan, under the pretext of keeping the distinguished guest company!

The Pei family had many people, and they were hospitable, so the meal was naturally lively. It wasn't until the afternoon that Nie Jinxuan took Shui Yun and left the Pei residence, then returned to the palace.

Nie Jinxuan did not know what Pei Baiwan was planning to do. But as soon as Nie Jinxuan returned to the palace, she sent the young eunuch Lian Xi to the Imperial Study to report that the matter was done.

Having found the source of the silver for the military expedition was naturally a great joy. Immediately after receiving the news, Yin Fengzhan summoned his ministers, had the various departments of the imperial court make emergency arrangements on the spot, and simultaneously appointed Duke of Qi Qiu Mubai as the Great General for the Western Expedition, mobilizing an army of one hundred thousand to depart from the capital and head north in half a month!

Having Duke of Qi Qiu Mubai lead the troops was something Yin Fengzhan had decided long ago. After all, among the current civil and military officials, the only generals capable of leading troops in battle were Duke of Qi Qiu Mubai and General of the State Mo Yuancheng! But the old general Mo Yuancheng was getting on in years, and the eldest son of the Mo family had only recently passed away, so after weighing both sides, Yin Fengzhan chose Duke of Qi Qiu Mubai!

Yin Fengzhan was swift and decisive, and the matter was settled just like that. But what no one expected was that, just after deploying the military strategy against the Western Di, Yin Fengzhan made another decision: to celebrate his ascension to the throne, he decided to hold a grand banquet in one month!

Upon hearing this, all the ministers present, including Duke of Qi Qiu Mubai and the others, were stunned!

One had to know that Yin Fengzhan had a steady temperament and never liked extravagance or being too boisterous; this was something all the civil and military officials knew. Furthermore, two emperors had passed away in succession in Dongling, so holding a celebration at this time was truly baffling!

The ministers did not understand what Yin Fengzhan was planning, but Yin Fengzhan had made up his mind. So, after announcing this decision, Yin Fengzhan directly ordered the Minister of Rites to prepare, and at the same time ordered the widespread issuance of national proclamations to announce it to the world.

Yin Fengzhan's decision left people feeling confused. This was the time to test the ministers' trust in the Emperor. Yin Fengzhan's iron-fisted rule since his ascension, combined with his persistence in the Western Di expedition and the fact that he had resolved the problem in just one day, made all the ministers trust him deeply. Thus, after a moment of bewilderment, the ministers ultimately chose to believe in this young new Emperor of Dongling!

The matter was decided, and the next day, the news that Dongling was going to send troops to the Western Di spread throughout the capital! Of course, at first, everyone was panicked, and some even felt that this new Emperor, Yin Fengzhan, was too violent, wanting to crusade against the Western Di just after ascending the throne, which clearly seemed too bellicose. But after hearing that the Western Di had acted first and was harboring wolfish ambitions by stationing troops at the border, public opinion suddenly turned, and the entire Dongling was immediately set ablaze!

One must know that many years ago, the Western Di had taken advantage of Dongling's political turmoil to occupy the two cities of Rong and Jin, which originally belonged to Dongling. This had always been a wound in the heart of every Dongling person. Now that the Western Di was suddenly stationing troops at the border again, showing their wolfish ambitions, how could the people of Dongling not be angry?!

So for a time, the people of Dongling were filled with righteous indignation, and many even volunteered to enlist just to teach those Western Di wolves a lesson. Of course, upon learning that the new ruler intended to take this opportunity to recover the two cities of Rong and Jin, the people of Dongling became even more impassioned!

The people were in high spirits, and the imperial court was naturally happy to see it. Pei Baiwan was truly straightforward. He promised Nie Jinxuan on the first day, and in just three short days, he had the five hundred thousand taels of silver ready.

But what followed made even Nie Jinxuan marvel at Pei Baiwan's shrewdness. It turned out that after preparing the silver, Pei Baiwan did not have it quietly delivered to Nie Jinxuan; instead, early on the third morning, he loaded the five hundred thousand taels of silver onto carriages and openly transported them to the palace gates!

Five hundred thousand taels of silver was not a small amount; the Pei family had prepared ten magnificent large carriages, and they were all packed to the brim. After loading the silver onto the carriages, they tied them up with festive red silk cloth, and then Pei Baiwan sat on the head of the first carriage, traveling all the way to the palace with gongs and drums.

So, one can imagine how many eyes were dazzled when those ten large carriages filled with gleaming white silver traveled through the streets! And when the public learned that Pei Baiwan was willingly sending this entire five hundred thousand taels into the palace, they were once again boiling with praise!

Therefore, it must be said that Pei Baiwan was truly a man who knew how to do things! Because by doing this, first: Pei Baiwan's reputation for kindness was established, and he received praise from all of Dongling.

Second: Because of Pei Baiwan's actions, the people of Dongling developed a favorable impression of the Pei family's businesses, feeling that buying from the Pei family was contributing to the country. This virtuous cycle ensured that the entire Pei family's industry would have a very good influence for many years to come!

Third, by doing this, Pei Baiwan also proved to the public that this five hundred thousand taels was something he, Pei Baiwan, and his family were willing to give to the imperial court, not something the Emperor or the court had actively borrowed. In this way, it invisibly made Yin Fengzhan and the imperial court look better, preventing malicious people from saying that the court was short on money and had set its sights on the common people!

So it can be said that although Pei Baiwan's actions were flashy, they were definitely a move that achieved multiple goals. Therefore, when Nie Jinxuan heard at the Yongle Palace that Pei Baiwan had arrived at the palace gate with ten carriages loaded with five hundred thousand taels of silver, she was startled at first, but then she laughed. She immediately changed into her palace attire and went out of the palace to welcome him personally!

The scene at the time was magnificent! The crowds that followed all the way surrounded the palace gate layer upon layer! When the palace gate opened, Pei Baiwan stepped down from the carriage, went up to speak with Nie Jinxuan, and then very readily handed over the ten carriages loaded with silver to Nie Jinxuan!

The onlookers cheered, and after the handover was complete, to cater to the festive atmosphere, Pei Baiwan had his servants distribute red envelopes he had prepared in advance to the onlookers. For a time, as the red envelopes were handed out, the atmosphere was ignited to the extreme!

Seeing this, Nie Jinxuan was naturally very happy. But just then, just as everyone was infected by the atmosphere and celebrating, Pei Baiwan came to Nie Jinxuan with a smile and whispered.

"Princess Consort, I acted on my own initiative, I hope you won't mind... However, rest assured, the best is yet to come~! After all, every man has a responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation. Although I, Pei, am just a commoner, I still have that much awareness~!"

Pei Baiwan's eyes were not large, so whenever he smiled, they narrowed into a line. His round face, when he smiled, looked just like the Maitreya Buddha!

But hearing Pei Baiwan's words and seeing the smile on his face, Nie Jinxuan was stunned. Just as she was about to ask, Pei Baiwan laughed even more happily, and after saying a few more unimportant things to Nie Jinxuan, he turned around, patted his belly, and walked away triumphantly amidst the cheers of the crowd.

Watching his round back, Nie Jinxuan, after a brief moment of shock, could not help but laugh softly.

Nie Jinxuan did not know what Pei Baiwan's next move was. But three days later, when Nie Jinxuan learned that the Shen family in the capital had also taken the initiative to donate one million dan of rice to the imperial court, Nie Jinxuan suddenly understood!

It turned out that Pei Baiwan was not without pain when he gave the five hundred thousand taels of silver to the imperial court. But for the sake of the Pei family's future, Pei Baiwan had sent the money without hesitation. However, if he were the only one to send money, wouldn't that be a loss?! So, after learning from Nie Jinxuan that day that going to war required more than just silver, but also provisions and the like, Pei Baiwan had an idea, and the protagonist of this idea was the wealthy Shen family next door!

One must know that the Pei family and the Shen family had been fighting each other since their ancestors' time. Even the servants of the two families could get into a fight on the street just because of a look!

So now that Pei Baiwan had given the imperial court five hundred thousand taels of silver, although he gained something, he had ultimately bled quite a bit. Since he had bled, Pei Baiwan naturally could not let others rest, and certainly could not let the Shen family rest. But Pei Baiwan was always careful in his actions, so in order not to reveal the secret that Nie Jinxuan had come to the residence to borrow money first, he only went to the Shen family after he had sent the five hundred thousand taels!

The rest of the story is easy to imagine. Having fought for a lifetime, Pei Baiwan's rare visit left the current head of the Shen family, Shen Sanyuan, very confused. But as soon as they met, Pei Baiwan didn't wait for Shen Sanyuan to speak, and instead started bragging about how noble he was, how rich the Pei family was, and how they were willing to give the imperial court five hundred thousand taels of silver, which made Shen Sanyuan so angry he was fuming.

Shen Sanyuan was also a shrewd person; although Pei Baiwan's words were flowery, he was skeptical. He immediately sent people out to ask, and upon asking, he learned that Pei Baiwan had indeed given the imperial court five hundred thousand taels of silver to support Dongling's expedition against the Western Di. Upon hearing this, Shen Sanyuan was immediately incensed.

After all, one shouldn't lose face even if one loses the game. Over the years, the Shen family had already been overshadowed by the Pei family. So at this critical juncture, Shen Sanyuan, as the head of the Shen family, naturally could not lose his nerve!

Unlike the Pei family, the Shen family had started out in the grain business since their ancestors, and they were now the largest rice merchants in Dongling. So, while they couldn't compete with the Pei family in silver, the Shen family's rice was enough to drown half of Dongling. Therefore, the old man of the Shen family, Shen Sanyuan, didn't say a word and immediately mobilized one million dan of rice in three days, sending it directly to the military camp outside the city!