Chapter 912: Tricked into a huge loss (2/2)
Mu Linger nodded vigorously before Han Yunxi left her. She tried to figure out how to get Tang Li out of the jail cells to visit Ning Jing while heading for the great hall. There, the elders had just about lost their patience with waiting. Uncle Cheng was present too after failing to find Manager Jin’s indenture agreement before Han Yunxi’s move. It had to be said that he rather admired the woman’s skills, but it was a shame her heart was with Long Feiye. Otherwise, she would be leading the charge in reviving West Qin’s great cause.
Uncle Cheng gained nothing with Manager Jin, but he still laid low. He knew that it was impossible for Han Yunxi to quell the storms of the auction and gambling houses now. Once she arrived, the various elders all rose to greet her. Then the head elder said, “Someone come, see if Miss Jing is coming? Just say that the princess is waiting for her.”
“No need, I told her to go to the gambling house,” Han Yunxi said.
The head elder wanted to ask more questions, but Han Yunxi beat him to it. “Head Elder, come tell us about the situation at the auction hall.”
“Yes,” the head elder rose and began to explain in detail. The storm at the auction hall came from a pile of fake goods. The objects were indeed counterfeits, but it wasn’t the auction hall that sold them, but traitors who planted the goods to ruin them. Business at the auction houses feared fake goods the most, so the guests seized on that detail to demand huge compensation charges.
“Then pay them back. Give them as much as they want,” Han Yunxi said.
“We’ve already agreed to pay them back 10 times the value, but that guest wants both the price and the actual goods,” the head elder was in a fix. “Princess, we still haven’t found hide or hair of the person yet, nor any sign of the genuine goods.”
“What are the origins of this guest?” Han Yunxi asked.
“A rich merchant from Western Zhou that deals in tea leaves,” the head elder replied, “He’s collected a bunch of fellows to block the door of the auction house everyday. If they won’t leave, then the auction hall can never open for business again.”
Han Yunxi nodded, then added, “And what about the situation at the gambling house?”
“Uncle Cheng has been dealing with that,” the head elder said.
Uncle Cheng quickly stepped out and explained the situation. It was worse than the auction hall, because ever since their swindling ways had been exposed, the gamblers had taken over the premises and refused to leave. Many of them demanded that the casino pay them back for losses incurred over the past three years with interest. That was small potatoes, however, compared to the few who not only wanted compensation, but brought along their pageboys to smash the grounds and vowed to destroy it for every day Myriad Merchant Hall opened its gambling houses for business.
“Pageboys?” Han Yunxi huffed. “Even a crowd of them can manage to smash up a gambling house? Are the guards nothing but rice buckets you raised for nothing?”
Uncle Cheng was quick to explain. “Your Royal Highness, at a time like this, we’ll just be more in the wrong if we use force against them. Thus, this subordinate only coaxed them to stop instead of using force. This subordinate has already punished those dealers, but Golden Wing Hall exposed all our sleights of hand. Even East Origin Hall’s gambling houses are at stake at this point. Besides the gamblers causing a ruckus, all the other ones are gone.”
A cold smile flitted past Uncle Cheng’s eyes as he said desperately. “Your Royal Highness, both the gambling house and our auction hall are Myriad Merchant Hall’s main source of revenue. What do we do now? The military camp sent word the day before yesterday that they need Myriad Merchant Hall to transfer silver in preparation for the troop’s winter supplies. The spies in Northern Li are asking for silver too. Right now, Northern Li’s trade consortium has chosen a new president and they need vast amounts of money to mediate between our two parties.”
Everyone fell silent at Uncle Cheng’s words as they looked to Han Yunxi for ideas. The elders of Myriad Merchant Hall had weathered their share of storms and weren’t easy foes, but this calamity had forced them into a rare moment of hesitation. They didn’t dare to take any risks. After all, if things went wrong, then Myriad Merchant Hall would lose its main sources of revenue. The army would then be unable to supply its troops. In any other situation, they could make up the differences here or there, but this was different. They needed ample reserve funds to face a war that could break out at any moment.
Han Yunxi fell silent for a long time before declaring a shocking idea. She said, “Send orders to close the gambling house!”
“You can’t!” Uncle Cheng was the first to stand up, followed by all of the elders except Fifth Elder. Although none of the old men spoke, they were in agreement with Uncle Cheng.
“Then do you have any better ideas?” Han Yunxi asked.
“Your Royal Highness, this subordinate dares to say that this isn’t a solution at all! Once the gambling house closes its doors, we’ll lose a huge source of wealth! Right now, we’re lacking silver in all areas, so just say--”
Han Yunxi cut Uncle Cheng off. “Uncle Cheng, I’m very sorry to say that the path of wealth at the gambling house has long dried up!”
Her words were the truth. Even if the casino persisted, it wouldn’t make any profits.
“There isn’t even anyone gambling at East Origin Hall, to say nothing of ours,” Han Yunxi added. “Do you think keeping it open won’t incur costs, too? Have any of you calculated just how much it costs to run those casinos for a few days? The price of servants, official salaries, and other extraneous costs--don’t we need to pay those too? Even lighting the lamps need money!”
The room was silent. No one could retort, but none of them were satisfied with this answer. Only Fifth Elder, who supported her wholeheartedly, couldn’t bear the thought of the casinos shutting their doors.
“Rather than wasting funds, why not use these natural resources well before someone else seizes upon a business opportunity?” Han Yunxi asked.
Nobody understood what she meant, but Han Yunxi next said, “After shutting down the casinos in Three-Way Black Market, we’ll just open few more under individual ownership in nearby counties. People addicted to gambling will never abandon a casino!”\
Previous Chapter
Next Chapter
Lambasting Lateness Close
The story goes like this: I wake up to a beautiful Sunday and decide to clean the house, cook, dress up, be a cute wife, etc etc.
The reality goes like this: I dreamt up an entire lifetime complete with superpowers, spent 30 minutes trying to tie a perfect bow on my collar, I can't find lamb in any of the three supermarkets I try, vacuuming takes a while, and hubby comes home late for dinner!
The bubble tea I had on the way was great though. The driving around, not so much! Anyways, long story short, let's PGC...