Chapter 183: You are driving up prices

Liu Daowen was like a trapped beast, walking back and forth in the cell, struggling, angry, hesitant, weighing... all of which were not enough.

Chen Guanlou made his attitude clear: he wanted five thousand taels, and not a single cent less.

It wasn't that he couldn't give five thousand taels, but giving so much money to this group of prison guards—what right did they have? What right did prison guards have to ask him for such a large sum of silver?

Moreover, his money had great use; he needed to handle relationships and needed to show filial piety to Jiang Tu, begging Jiang Tu not to abandon him. With Jiang Tu's greedy nature, without eighty or a hundred thousand, it was impossible to move the other party.

Everything needed money.

Five thousand taels seemed small, but it instantly raised the bottom line for handling relationships. When others handled relationships, they might only need two thousand taels, but when it came to him, it might be raised to five thousand or eight thousand taels.

It was equivalent to the Heavenly Prison opening its mouth and driving up prices, forcing him to pay double the price to achieve the same effect.

Bullying people too much!

He suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered one thing.

He hurriedly came to the prison door and beckoned Chen Guanlou to approach. "I heard that you are doing business in antiques, calligraphy, and paintings. It just so happens that my mansion has collected many famous calligraphy and paintings. In this way, you can also get a separate reward. How about it?"

Oh my, worthy of being an active corrupt element; his brain was truly flexible.

Chen Guanlou didn't say anything, but he didn't express opposition either.

As soon as Liu Daowen saw this, he knew there was a way.

"Ten thousand taels, valued at five thousand, how about it?"

Chen Guanlou sneered, very disdainful; did he think he was a three-year-old child! Antiques and calligraphy sold by criminal officials would depreciate, and taking ten thousand taels and valuing them at five thousand—he wouldn't earn a fart.

Using antiques and calligraphy to offset money, privately he couldn't earn three or five thousand taels, and this matter couldn't be concluded.

It wasn't that his appetite was big, but the industry attributes determined it. He helped to sell the goods, and he himself had to extract nearly fifty percent of the fees. Liu Daowen also had to pay a sum of money to block his mouth, and the rest was the money handed over to the Heavenly Prison.

Ten thousand taels of antiques and calligraphy, hehe, forget it. It was better to give real gold and silver; it was easier to calculate.

Seeing that Chen Guanlou was not on the path, Liu Daowen was both angry and anxious. He gritted his teeth, preparing to bleed heavily. "Fifteen thousand taels, valued at five thousand, how about it?"

Chen Guanlou advised earnestly, "Why bother? Does Lord Liu not feel heartache for ruining good things? It's better to have real gold and silver, don't you think?"

Liu Daowen's face was livid. Was it that he wanted to operate like this? It was because the Heavenly Prison was driving up prices and roasting him on the fire, and he had to endure the pain of parting with his love. There was a lot of moisture in antiques and calligraphy; one could say they were worth five thousand taels, or two thousand taels, or even if one was thick-skinned enough, say they were worth six hundred taels and sell them cheaply. The impact of driving up prices was instantly reduced to an acceptable level. The money saved later was far greater than the money lost by selling antiques and calligraphy.

Accusing Liu Daowen of talking nonsense, clearly valued at five thousand taels, why say it was sold cheaply for six hundred taels? Was he fooling people?

Liu Daowen could spread his hands and innocently say, "I don't know! I didn't handle it! The one who handled it was Chen Guanlou; I was cheated by Chen Guanlou. Chen Guanlou told me it was only worth six hundred taels?"

Why not sell directly to an antique shop? No matter what, it couldn't be sold for only six hundred taels.

"The Heavenly Prison forced me to ship, what can I do? I am the fish and the meat, and others are the knife and the cutting board; saving my life is still important."

In two or three strokes, Liu Daowen could push the matter clean, maintaining the basic price for handling relationships, so as not to disturb the market and drive up prices.

This calculation was very shrewd and powerful.

Chen Guanlou didn't indulge him and directly named a price. "Twenty thousand taels, no second price."

"Why don't you go rob?" Liu Daowen scolded Chen Guanlou for being greedy.

Twenty thousand taels, even if discounted by fifty percent, could sell for ten thousand taels. Handing over five thousand taels to the Heavenly Prison, Chen Guanlou could still get five thousand taels. If he could find a suitable buyer, he might be able to sell it for twelve or thirteen thousand taels, which was truly making a fortune.

Chen Guanlou smiled, not caring about the other party's scolding at all. "I said long ago that real gold and silver are better than anything; why is Lord Liu unwilling to listen to advice?"

"You, you, you... you know clearly how much trouble the five thousand taels asking price will bring me, why are you unwilling to let me go? I will get out sooner or later; do you understand the importance of making good connections?"

"Lord Liu, don't fool me. There are not a hundred but eighty officials who have come out of the Heavenly Prison, and so far, not one has looked back. It's better to give money. Lord Liu, ask yourself, do you look down on our prison guards? You look down on our prison guards even when you are a prisoner; if you return to your official position, if you are willing to give us a straight look, it will count as my loss."

Chen Guanlou was telling the truth.

Even if a criminal official was so down and out that he was crawling on the ground like a dog, they wouldn't look at a prison guard straight. People could be down and out, but they couldn't be lowly. And in the eyes of this group of criminal officials, prison guards were lowly people, and looking at them one more time was polluting their eyes and then polluting their souls.

Liu Daowen had nothing to say and nothing to refute.

He was still weighing the pros and cons.

Giving five thousand taels of real gold and silver, he was unwilling, and the aftermath was very large.

Giving antiques and calligraphy worth twenty thousand taels, he was also unwilling, but the aftermath could be ignored. Antiques and calligraphy didn't have a standard, and he was now a prisoner.

Weighing again and again, he finally chose the plan with the smallest aftermath. "Fine, antiques and calligraphy it is."

"Determined, not changing?"

"Not changing! Let me eat my fill first, and by the way, brew me a pot of tea; this matter is settled."

"Once I receive the antiques and calligraphy, I will naturally instruct the kitchen to let you eat your fill and have hot tea."

"I want to eat now." Liu Daowen was hungry until his eyes were green, and he wanted to gnaw on everything he saw; the key was that he was also thirsty. The prison guards only gave him a small cup of water every day to ensure he wouldn't die of thirst, and wouldn't give him an extra mouthful of water. He was suffering! His lips were already dry and cracked; licking them could lick out blood foam.

"Let's write the note first. Rest assured, there will be food and drink. Someone, prepare a cup of warm water for Lord Liu, don't neglect him."

Not seeing the rabbit, he wouldn't release the hawk; Chen Guanlou would at most give an extra cup of water. If he wanted to eat and drink well, wait until he got the antiques and calligraphy worth twenty thousand taels.

Liu Daowen poured a cup of warm water into his mouth gulp by gulp, still not satisfied, looking at Chen Guanlou with eager eyes.

Chen Guanlou pointed to the four treasures of the study, urging him to write quickly. If he wanted to eat hot food early, he had to seize the time to complete the transaction early.

Liu Daowen was under the eaves and had to bow his head, honestly writing the note and pressing his fingerprint.

Chen Guanlou instructed people to call the Liu Prefecture steward, and Liu Daowen gave instructions in front of him.

Afterward, the time was set, and Chen Guanlou took Master Du to the Liu Prefecture to verify the goods.

Doing such a big business for the first time, Master Du was trembling with excitement.

"The Master is not in the capital; who can eat such a big business? Could it be that you want to find the Second Master?"

"The Second Master doesn't have that capital."

Although the second branch had embezzled a lot of money, the financial power was in the hands of the Second Madam. The Second Master could advance a few thousand taels at a time, but advancing over ten thousand taels was definitely difficult to handle.

Rather than arguing about payment, it was better to earn a little less and find a big buyer who paid readily. Moreover, he already had a goal. ===== CHAPTER 184 =====