Chapter 31 Tang Army
"Of course, it's from the West and very expensive." Tang Wen opened his mouth and blew out several smoke rings.
Li Dawang's face was beaming with joy, and he was probably imagining himself blowing smoke rings.
"By the way, I heard that you owe a lot of money to the craftsmen in the workshop?" Tang Wen asked.
"About 100,000 taels, otherwise, my workshop would not sell it at such a low price. Damn it, someone actually lowered the price to 180,000 taels. My workshop is not garbage." Li Dawang said angrily.
"Who are they?" Tang Wen asked casually as he took out another cigarette and handed it over.
"Fang Qiang, Liu Hesen and others." Li Dawang said.
"Although the workshop is shabby, the area is not small. Three hundred thousand taels is indeed not a high price. Manager Li is very honest." Tang Wen said.
"Of course. If you're not in a hurry to sell it, it will cost at least four or five hundred thousand taels," said Li Dawang.
"I won't play tricks on you anymore. I want your workshop. But I can't come up with three hundred thousand taels right away." Tang Wen said.
"Well, I need money. I don't give you credit." Li Dawang shook his head quickly after hearing this.
"Last time, that unruly man Tang Jun brought hundreds of people to surround the master's house. If we don't pay them, they will make trouble. So, there is no way to buy on credit." The lawyer explained.
"Mr. Li, how about this? I want to take all the workers from Qianyefang. Don't you owe them hundreds of thousands of taels? I'll take the blame for this and I'll only give you the remaining money," said Tang Wen.
" Will they agree?" Li Dawang said after thinking for a while.
"I will deal with them. If they refuse, I will give you money." Tang Wen said.
"Then you have to deal with them first." Li Dawang said.
"Deal!" Tang Wen nodded and said, "Gather them to Qianyefang and I will handle it."
"I could have gathered them before, but they won't listen to me after the siege of my house last time." Li Dawang shook his head.
"Okay, I'll take care of this." Tang Wen nodded and said to Ge Ziyun, "Bring the things up."
Ge Ziyun nodded and moved some mirrors, lipsticks and perfumes to the table.
"Did you buy this from Miss Lin Qianer from Piaoxiang Tower?" Li Dawang blurted out.
"How much silver did Lin Qianer give you for each item?" Tang Wen asked.
"This..." Li Dawang hesitated.
"Haha, you might be killed by her." Tang Wen laughed.
"This bitch, a mirror costs one tael and a half of gold, and a lipstick and perfume costs one tael of gold each.
I took a mirror back to the store and sold it for two taels of gold, and lipstick and perfume for one tael of gold, but they actually thought it was too expensive.
Doesn't it seem like I, Li Dawang, don't make any money, so can I just give it to them for free?
However, they don’t mind if it’s too expensive, because it’s out of stock now.” Li Dawang cursed.
"How much do you want?" Tang Wen looked at him with a smile.
"Do you have more goods?" Li Dawang was stunned.
"A mirror at two taels of gold is of course expensive and hard to sell. If it were one tael and five cents, wouldn't it be much easier to sell?" Tang Wen asked.
"Of course." Li Dawang nodded.
"My mirrors cost one tael and two cents each, and my lipsticks and perfumes cost seven cents each. Just tell me how much you want," said Tang Wen.
"Do you really have the goods?" Li Dawang's eyes suddenly widened.
"They just arrived, not many. There are still some over a thousand or eight hundred pieces." Tang Wen said.
"Okay, I'll take half." said Li Dawang.
"The gold must be paid first, and the money will be exchanged for the goods at the same time." Tang Wen said.
"Sure!" Li Dawang turned to his master and said, "Ningping, go back and get the gold right away."
"Master, I don't know how much to take yet. Let's calculate it first and then go back to get it." Ning Ping said.
"Two hundred mirrors are two hundred and forty taels, and five hundred pieces of lipstick and perfume are three hundred taels, making a total of five hundred and ninety taels." Tang Wen helped him calculate.
"When and where will the delivery be?" asked Li Dawang.
"It's right here. My goods are on the carriage. You can trade them right away." Tang Wen said.
"Ningping, go back and ask your wife for the gold." Li Dawang said.
Ning Ping nodded and hurried away.
After walking out of Wangjiang Tower, Tang Wen had more than 500 taels of gold in his pocket.
Of course, Li Dawang happily took away the lighter and a pack of cigarettes as gifts.
In the afternoon, Tang Wen arrived at the yamen, and Yang Yun asked Liu Bantou to take him into the cell.
Tang Jun is about 1.76 meters tall, thin, with bright eyes. He is not very old, and looks to be around 23 or 24 years old.
"Tang Jun, this is Earl Tang Wen." Liu Bantou introduced after opening the cell.
"My Lord Earl, what do you have the pleasure of seeing a commoner like me come to this dirty and smelly prison?" Tang Jun asked coldly, leaning against the wooden fence and sitting on a pile of straw.
"The fact that you can bring the craftsmen to ask Li Dawang for their wages shows that you have a sense of justice and are a warrior!" Tang Wen said, looking at him.
"I'm not a warrior. I just want to get back my hard-earned money." Tang Jun snorted.
"That's what I should do!" Tang Wen nodded.
"Should? Why am I here? Ask them if there is still reason in this world?" Tang Jun pointed at Liu Bantou.
"You can ask for wages, but you can't lead people to besiege Mr. Li's mansion.
Mr. Li sued you for attacking private residences and provoking trouble.
We are the chief constables of Yanling Prefecture, so of course we have to arrest you." Liu Bantou snorted.
"You are dogs of the rich, of course you help them." Tang Jun snorted.
"Who are you calling a dog?" Liu Bantou was immediately furious and raised his whip to hit the man.
"Okay." Tang Wen snorted, and Liu Bantou's hand, which was raising the whip, stopped in the air.
"See? You don't dare to do anything when the lord farts . If you are not their dog, what are you?" Tang Jun said sarcastically.
"I'll beat you to death, you bastard!" Liu Bantou was furious and lashed at him with the whip.
However, Tang Wen put him aside and he moved to the side. Tang Wen threw him a tael of silver and said, "Go out first and wait outside."
Liu Bantou took the silver and glared at it, saying, "For the Lord's sake, I'll spare you today."
"No need! I don't know him well, just beat me to death." Tang Jun sneered. Liu Ban's face turned red with anger and he raised the whip again.
"Why? Do you want me to call Captain Yang over?" Tang Wen said coldly after taking a look.
Snapped!
Liu Bantou whipped the wood hard with the whip and left angrily.
“Although you are so generous that you saved me from a beating.
However, you don't have to plead for that beast Li Dawang. I, Tang Jun, will not appreciate this favor from you.
I am just a dead man, you can beat me or kill me as you like." Tang Jun said coldly.
"It's just him! He's not worthy of my intercession." Tang Wen said coldly.
"Then what are you doing this for? I, Tang Jun, have nothing except this miserable life." Tang Jun said.
"I want to buy your life." Tang Wen said.
"Oh? Hahaha, there is actually someone who wants to buy my life. How funny, so funny." Tang Jun was stunned for a moment, and then he burst into laughter the next moment.
"Since you are so eager to help others and want to stand up for hundreds of brothers and sisters, why do you give up halfway?" Tang Wen asked.
"Did I give up halfway? It was those beasts who caught me." Tang Jun shouted .
"Can arrogance solve the problem? Is yelling useful? I think you are stupid!" Tang Wen said.
"I'm useless, but you are useful. Tell me, how do you get the wages back for hundreds of people?" Tang Jun said sarcastically.
"If you work for me, I will pay you." Tang Wen said.
"What to do?" Tang Jun asked.
"Have you heard of Koh Samui?" Tang Wen asked.
"Of course, it's just a deserted island. Moreover, pirates are rampant and it's a mess." Tang Jun said.
"That island is mine." Tang Wen said.
"You...you..." Tang Jun was stunned and looked at Tang Wen blankly.
“I now need manpower to reclaim wasteland and build water conservancy projects.
In the future, we will build Koh Samui into a place where everyone can have food to eat.
A happy island where everyone has clothes to wear and children can go to school." Tang Wen said.
"Can you be so kind? Haha, you just want to exploit us and make us work for you." Tang Jun sneered.
"If you want to have enough food and clothes without working, you are a lazy person. I, Tang Wen, will not support lazy people. To be happy, you have to fight for it with your own hands, instead of dreaming every day and hoping for pie to fall from the sky." Tang Wen said.
"What exactly do you want us to do?" Tang Jun was stunned, thought about it, and asked.
"Simple, sell yourself to the Tang family. Let's build Koh Samui together and realize our dream.
Because I want to buy Qianyefang and take you over as well.
When the time comes, I will deduct your wages and use them to offset the money I paid for Qianyefang with Li Dawang.
That way you can get your wages back.
However, the condition is that you must sell yourself to the Tang family and work in Koh Samui." Tang Wen said.
