Chapter 597 - 182 Nan Batian: What, he has another move?_6

"This!"

Nan Batian’s eyes bulged as he said, "How do they know how much money we have in our accounts?"

Tang Ziyue said, "It’s most likely Chen Jiusi who spilled it. Chen Jiusi wants to use this to force our hand."

"Chen Jiusi, Chen Jiusi!"

"Why is it always him!"

Nan Batian roared in anger at this moment, and Tang Ziyue also said with a pained expression, "It looks like Chen Jiusi wants to fight us to the death!"

"I want to fight him to the death too. I, I must kill him!"

Nan Batian’s face was filled with rage. Tang Ziyue then said, "Gang Leader, killing him is a matter for later. Right now, the most important thing is to find that batch of military supplies. Secondly, how should we deal with these Mulan masters?"

After thinking for a moment, Nan Batian said, "There’s only twenty-five thousand taels left in the account?"

Tang Ziyue said, "Yes!"

"What about this month’s salt money and other incomes?"

Tang Ziyue said, "It’s not enough to maintain the guild’s normal operations."

"So, Gang Leader, what should we do? Should we ask Lord Yelu for a few days’ grace? If we give them the twenty thousand taels, we can barely sustain for a month, but next month we won’t be able to produce the money. By then, our brothers might have grievances!"

Nan Batian replied, "No, we can’t plead with Lord Yelu. If we beg again now, we’ll be even more passive. It’s just twenty thousand taels of silver, so give it."

"Ah, Gang Leader, if this money is given, how will our guild operate?"

Tang Ziyue said anxiously, and Nan Batian replied with a cold smirk, "Heh, with Chen Jiusi’s little tricks, he wants to kill me? It’s too soon for that. No problem, give the silver to the Mulan people and send these beggars packing first!"

"This, Gang Leader, what about our guild then?"

Nan Batian said, "The guild will continue to eat and drink as usual, nothing should be delayed. Just be at ease, isn’t it just some money? It’s simple to earn it back."

Tang Ziyue said, "Gang Leader, the salt has been heavily impacted by White Tiger Hall, the Cao Yun transport is not permitted, the iron mines are not allowed to sell, are we really going to rely on fishing to make money?"

Nan Batian said, "Fishing? I’ll resort to robbery!"

...

"Gang Leader Nan, this is robbery!"

At night, in Nan Batian Mansion, a voice rang out, followed by many more voices.

"It’s Gang Leader Nan, we really can’t make much from this trip of goods. If you do this, we can’t carry on trading."

"It’s Gang Leader Nan, this won’t do. The price isn’t right. Lower it a bit."

At that moment, inside the hall, Nan Batian was leisurely sipping tea, clearly able to keep his composure.

However, the Major Merchants of Mianshui County below could not sit still. Among them were big businessmen from various trades, dealing in grain, cloth, and trading soybean oil...

All sorts of goods were diverse.

They were all facing a problem now—the blockade of the Mianshui River. Once the Mianshui River was blocked, it meant their goods couldn’t be shipped out.

Some of these goods were pre-ordered from other places. If you couldn’t ship them out on time, then they would be stuck with you, and you would have to pay a high penalty for breach of contract.

So these big businessmen were very anxious, constantly seeking someone who could ship out their goods.

The result was that the ships of the Three Big Powers of Mianshui couldn’t enter the water, and Nan Batian was in charge of this matter.

These people thus came to beg Nan Batian. In the past few attempts, Nan Batian had refused to do it privately; shipping goods on your own was like asking for a death wish. What if he let go a member of the Zoroastrian Sect?

But this time, to everyone’s surprise, Nan Batian had spoken, and called these big businessmen to his home for negotiations.

Hence, this scene unfolded.

A group of big businessmen were desperately pleading the poor, saying it was too expensive.

Nan Batian sipped his tea leisurely and said, "Gentlemen, gentlemen, it’s not that I, Nan Batian, am being difficult and not helping you out. The risk is just too great. The Yelu Mansion is conducting a strict investigation, so naturally, during such times, the price must go up."

"Of course, I, Nan Batian, will not force anyone. If you all are unwilling to ship, I will not coerce."

"But if you’re willing to ship, I’ll take fifty percent of your total profits as a shipping fee. Not too much, right?"

"Gang Leader Nan chuckled, "It’s better than paying a penalty, after all."

After hearing this, the group of big businessmen knew that Nan Batian was taking advantage of the situation. Fifty percent was astronomical; normally, the shipping costs would be five percent of their total profits, and now Nan Batian was asking for ten times that!

Asking for such a hefty sum was essentially robbery!

But Nan Batian was right, if they could get the goods out, wouldn’t they save on penalty fees? Earning fifty percent was actually acceptable.

But to be fleeced by Nan Batian left a bad taste in their mouths.

However, Nan Batian’s following words quickly dispelled their anger. He said, "Well, I should also inform you that for at least the next half month, the Mianshui River will be blocked, and not a single boat will go down the river. And I will only send ships down this one time. After that, for about ten days, not a single one of my ships will go down, so all of you who can wait should just wait."

"This..."

A multitude of big businessmen deflated. They had been cornered.

Eventually, resigned, they said, "Fine, we concede. We’ll pay."

Instantly, Nan Batian smiled: "Ah, that’s more like it."

...

Meanwhile, Chen Jiusi also received news.

"Oh, so Nan Batian actually did it. Good, good, the fish has taken the bait. Xiao Hu, let’s arrange a meeting with Elder Liu later. I would like to have dinner with him today, haha..."