Chapter 913

This set of tea ware was bought by Zhangsun Wuji from Great Qin at a great price.

Watching them slam the tea cup lids down, he felt a bit of heartache.

"Enough, you old men have weathered a lifetime of storms; why have you become so impatient at a time like this?"

Seeing that Zhangsun Wuji had arrived, those old men began complaining the moment they opened their mouths.

"Lord Zhangsun, look at how this Siam affair has been handled; all four of our families have suffered heavy losses! I truly wonder if there is still any path for us to survive if we continue to follow the Great Tang?" These words already carried the implication of rebellion.

Zhangsun Wuji glared at him with dissatisfaction and flicked his large sleeves.

"It is merely one trade route. Have you earned little money within the borders of the Great Tang?"

Only then did that old man stop speaking.

They simply wanted to complain; their families had not truly reached the point of life or death.

"Lord Zhangsun, the Emperor's way of doing things is too unscrupulous. Last time, when Great Qin's troops were at the city gates, it was our four great clans who provided the money to help the imperial court resolve that disaster.

The Emperor has not the slightest intention of repaying our kindness!

If it weren't for the fact that we have no connections in Great Qin, we would have run off to Great Qin long ago. Who would still care to hold out in this wretched place?"

They had started digging up old grievances again.

Zhangsun Wuji knew that it was impossible to reason with them.

People of the noble clans only look at interests.

"An opportunity has come; see if you want to take it? I will not force those who do not want to."

Upon hearing that there was an opportunity, the few old men indeed shut their mouths.

And in the blink of an eye, they forgot the complaints they had just made.

"Did the Emperor distribute some benefits again?"

"Lord Zhangsun, you must distribute them fairly! Everyone knows that my Cui family suffered the greatest losses last time, and our vitality has yet to recover!"

"Old man Cui, you are being shameless now. If your Cui family hadn't been so greedy in the past, would Great Qin have targeted your Cui family first?"

"Stop arguing; let's first see what the benefits actually are."

The four old men gazed longingly at Zhangsun Wuji, waiting for him to speak.

Zhangsun Wuji's selfishness was no less than that of the four great clans.

If he could, he would also want to claim a larger share of the benefits for himself.

But this time, it was different from the past; it required effort and great energy to accomplish.

The imperial court itself felt it was difficult, and it was not something one or two clans could handle. Everyone must work together!

"Let me first tell you about the cooperation alliance the imperial court just signed with Great Qin."

Hmm?

"Cooperating with Great Qin? I didn't hear that wrong, did I?"

"Since when did the imperial court become so shameless?"

"Cooperation? I'm afraid that in the end, we'll be eaten until not even the bone fragments are left, right?"

Zhangsun Wuji was getting angry.

This bunch of old men reached such a conclusion before even listening; they were truly noisy.

"Are you still listening or not? If not, get out!"

With benefits right in front of them, who would be willing to leave?

They were merely complaining.

After being shouted at by Zhangsun Wuji, they immediately became much more docile.

"Lord Zhangsun, please continue; we won't interrupt."

Although Zhangsun Wuji was angry, he also knew what was important.

The Great Tang imperial court was the reliance of this group of people. Only if the imperial court was well would they themselves be well.

"Listen well, there are three matters in total.

First, the imperial court and Great Qin are to cooperate in firing porcelain in Changnanzhen.

Second, the imperial court has accepted a project to help Great Qin build a port in Liaodong.

Third, the imperial court is to help Great Qin transport ten million prisoners of war from the Tianzhu continent to Liaodong. Upon completion, we can receive one million prisoners of war!"

Three matters, each more shocking than the last.

The four great clans had actually wanted to cooperate with Great Qin for a long time.

Unfortunately, Qin Mu's prejudice against them was too deep, and he had uprooted almost all of their foundations within Great Qin's territory.

Being able to cooperate with Great Qin this time was indeed a heaven-sent opportunity.

"Lord Zhangsun, if we help the imperial court transport those ten million prisoners of war, can the final one million prisoners of war be divided among us?"

Ginger is still spicier when it's old!

They saw at a glance the part with the most abundant returns.

They didn't even mention the other two projects and went straight for the last one.

The few old men nodded in agreement one after another.

"Escorting ten million prisoners of war is not an easy task. It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the consumption of grain is also a huge figure."

"If you are willing to divide all one million prisoners of war among us, we can consider helping the imperial court transport this batch of prisoners."

Zhangsun Wuji knew that these old fellows were cunning as ghosts.

At a glance, they could see the pros and cons.

The loss of grain during transport was indeed the biggest difficulty.

"If you use ships for transport and catch large fish along the way to make up for the lack of grain, the actual cost will not be that high!"

Zhangsun Wuji had thought it through clearly long ago, and with one sentence, he pointed out where their little schemes lay.

It was nothing more than wanting to make the matter sound more difficult, while in actual practice, there would be many ways to reduce costs.

"But rest assured, the one million prisoners of war will all be divided among you."

The four old men finally received these words and beamed with joy.

Every prisoner of war is a sharp tool for creating profit.

The value that one million prisoners of war can create is immeasurable. That is why the four old men had kept their eyes fixed on these prisoners.

Zhangsun Wuji changed the subject.

"However, the one million prisoners of war are not given for free; you must help the imperial court do one more thing."

"What thing?"

The four old men were startled and uncertain.

Generally, matters attached to such huge benefits are not so easy to complete. Zhangsun Wuji spread out a map on the table.

"The imperial court wants to develop the two large islands of Yingzhou and Zhuyai. The rights to development will also be given to you, but it requires you to go and pacify the wild natives originally on the islands!" The four old men calculated rapidly in their hearts.

If this matter is done well, it seems there is still profit to be made.

On each of the two large islands, the number of wild natives exceeds one million.

Couldn't these people be prisoners of war?

As long as one is a bit more ruthless, one can obtain great benefits from it!

"No problem, our four great clans accept this matter!"