It's a pity that Zhou Zhaoyuan didn't know what Jiang Yue was thinking. He just looked at Marshal Jiang who was sitting on the main seat with a sincere look on his face, looking like he just wanted to help his Jiang family immediately.
Jiang Lu cleared his throat: "I know that the Zhou family used to be an imperial merchant, but now they died early in the morning. We can't just look at the past and always look forward."
"What the commander said is that the boy has learned a lesson."
Zhou Zhaoyuan is not stupid. He can tell that Jiang Lu is trying to lower the value of the Zhou family, so that he can negotiate more favorable conditions for Chaiyang City.
But Zhou Zhaoyuan could only nod. He couldn't say anything more. This was the Marshal's Mansion in Chaiyang City, Jiang Lu's territory. If there was anything he was dissatisfied with, he would have to move his head.
"What the Marshal is saying is, I said I was doing business with the Marshal this time, but in the final analysis, I still want to beg the Marshal." The way he nodded and bowed made Jiang Yue quite disdainful.
But when Jiang Lu looked at Zhou Zhaoyuan, his eyes were a little more appreciative. This man looked flattering, but he was neither humble nor overbearing in his words and deeds. He was really smooth.
Jiang Lu raised his eyebrows and looked interested: "Oh? How can Master Zhou use me?"
These words frightened Zhou Zhaoyuan so much that he quickly waved his hand: "Don't dare, don't dare, it's just a simple task for the commander-in-chief."
"Hahaha," looking at Zhou Zhaoyuan's humble appearance, Jiang Lu's hearty laughter immediately echoed throughout the study, "Whether I can help the Zhou family leader does not depend on whether this matter is easy for me, Jiang Lu.
.”
He looked sharply at Zhou Zhaoyuan: "It depends on what the head of the Zhou family can bring to Chaiyang City."
Zhou Zhaoyuan knew that this was Jiang Lu's intention to negotiate terms, and he immediately looked confused: "If the marshal has any use for me, Zhou Zhaoyuan, just mention it. Our Zhou family will do our best to satisfy the marshal."
"Okay!" Jiang Lu patted his thigh, "Master Zhou, please feel free."
"Then...Commander, let's talk first?" Zhou Zhaoyuan clasped his fists and looked at Jiang Lu.
Jiang Lu took the cigar handed over by the butler: "The conditions..."
He squinted his eyes, and the smoke coming out of his mouth made it difficult for Zhou Zhaoyuan to see his facial expression.
"In recent years, various places have been in recession, and I am the same in Chaiyang. All the taxes that should be collected have been collected, but the people are poor. Seeing that Chaiyang will soon have no food to support the army..."
Having said this, Jiang Lu lowered his head and pretended to sigh.
Zhou Zhaoyuan rolled his eyes: "Commander, do you want military pay?"
"Smart!" Jiang Lu immediately raised his head and looked at Zhou Zhaoyuan with admiration, "It's a pleasure to talk to a smart person like Mr. Zhou."
"How much does the commander want?" Zhou Zhaoyuan asked Jiang Lu tentatively.
Jiang Lu smoked a cigar, with a thoughtful look on his face: "This may need to be verified by the entire accounting room. The specific number will be announced at that time. As long as the head of the Zhou family has this intention, I, Jiang Lu, am not an insatiable person."
Zhou Zhaoyuan nodded with a smile on his face. He didn't believe what Jiang Lu said at all. He had found out clearly on the way here. It had been twenty years since Chaiyang's taxes had been collected. Aren't the people all poor?
?
Fortunately for Jiang Lu, he was able to speak out. He wore gold and silver and was extravagant, but he still talked about how much he loved his people.
Zhou Zhaoyuan respectfully chatted with Jiang Lu about the transaction, but in his heart he had disliked the other party countless times.
The folds on Jiang Lu's smiling face were all wrinkled together, and from a distance it looked like a withered old chrysanthemum.
But when he looked at Zhou Zhaoyuan, his eyes were full of calculations. From Jiang Lu's point of view, he didn't care whether Zhou Zhaoyuan was a waste or not. As long as Zhou Zhaoyuan could get money for himself, then Zhou Zhaoyuan would be his right-hand man.
Marshal Jiang Yue stood next to the screen, staring at Zhou Zhaoyuan with his only single eye. This might be a big deal, and he might be able to raise two more dogs.
The two parties chatted for a long time, and finally Zhou Zhaoyuan finalized the deal: "Then it's agreed that from now on, our Zhou family will supply Chaiyang's army according to the standards of the Yongzhou army, but accordingly, you will also have to reduce our taxes.
"
As soon as he heard that taxes were going to be reduced, Jiang Lu's face immediately showed a pitiful expression: "Tax cuts? Does the head of the Zhou family want to cut off the livelihood of my Jiang family?"
"How can this cut off your livelihood?" Zhou Zhaoyuan was anxious. He couldn't do a loss-making business. "With the tax reduction, our costs can be reduced. Otherwise, how can a newcomer get a foothold in Chaiyang?"
"Without a foothold, how can we make money to supply Chai Yang's army?"
Zhou Zhaoyuan gritted his teeth. It seemed that the Jiang family and his son regarded themselves as the culprits in raising Chai Yang. However, the Zhou family was not very prosperous to begin with. If they only relied on the remaining wealth, they would only be able to support Chai Yang.
The cost of the army for one year.
How can we do business then? Isn't it just to suck the flesh and blood of the men, women, and children of his Zhou family?
Seeing that Zhou Zhaoyuan really showed no intention of doing anything, Jiang Lu was not happy either.
"The tax cannot be lowered, but Master Zhou can raise the price. I don't care about that."
Seeing Jiang Lu taking it for granted, Zhou Zhaoyuan almost laughed out loud in anger.
"Raise the price? Does the commander know that you can't sell it at all? How do you do business? You are one tael more expensive than others. Then at this rate, one hundred pieces is one hundred taels. Who will come to Zhou's house?"
shopping?"
Zhou Zhaoyuan said to Jiang Lu righteously.
However, Jiang Lu had already set a bottom line for himself that he could not reduce taxes. At this moment, he just sat there and said nothing, just smoking the cigar in his hand.
Jiang Yue on the side looked at the tense situation in the study room and was a little at a loss for a moment, but fortunately his brain was still working well.
An idea immediately came to Jiang Yue's mind, and he immediately stood up and whispered a few words in Jiang Lu's ear.
"Okay, okay." Jiang Lu was full of praise for his method and nodded happily.
Zhou Zhaoyuan looked at the smiling father and son anxiously, feeling a little nervous for some reason.
Sure enough, he heard Jiang Lu say a plan that made his eyes darken.
I saw Jiang Lu holding the cigar between his index and middle fingers, and proudly said to Zhou Zhaoyuan: "Jiang Yue is right, you can raise the price, but as the warlord of Chaiyang, our Jiang family will protect you and we are not afraid that no one will buy it."
Zhou Zhaoyuan almost fell off his chair. Do the two father and son of the Jiang family know what they are talking about?
He had grown up under the care of Mr. Zhou since he was a child. Although he had no personal experience in the business world, he could only be said to have been exposed to it, but the two father and son really talked about it.
It seems that they have done this kind of immoral thing not just once or twice.
Two brainless idiots.
Zhou Zhaoyuan spat in his heart with disdain for this stupid father and son.
After mentioning his own conditions, Jiang Lu did not forget that Zhou Zhaoyuan also had conditions and asked him on the spot: "I was so busy talking about Chai Yang that I forgot to ask the head of the Zhou family what exactly he wants?"