mtl008 Chapter 620 Second Uncle, Lend Me Some Money
Chapter 620 Second Uncle, Lend Me Some Money
Mi Wei was stunned by Mi Fang's question. After a moment's thought, he understood what Mi Fang meant and quickly explained, "This is what happened. I came to Jiaozhou to build a factory on the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince. The land was bought, the buildings were built, and the people were recruited. We were just waiting to start construction when General Shi Hui raised an army."
"After the uprising, they learned that I was in Jiaozhou, so they came to the factory to take me hostage to negotiate with the court. When they arrived at the factory, they found out that I knew how to make sugar, so they detained me and wanted me to make sugar for them to make money. Then I followed them all the way to Funan and came to Linyi."
"Second Uncle, these past few months have been so tough for me. It's so good to see you again."
Shi Hui was a connoisseur. After storming into the sugar factory and seeing the sugar, he quickly realized its value and immediately abandoned the idea of using Mi Wei as a hostage. This was a money tree and should not be wasted.
Shi Hui originally planned to have Mi Wei make sugar for him once things settled down, but Lü Dai's offensive was too fierce, forcing him to keep running away. Helpless, he had to postpone the sugar-making indefinitely.
However, because of Mi Wei's skills, Shi Hui blocked all information about Mi Wei. Mi Wei, who did not want to get too involved with Shi Hui, was more than happy to do so. Although he followed Shi Hui, he never offered Shi Hui a single plan or helped him once, which resulted in Mi Fang still not knowing about Mi Wei's existence even after fighting with Shi Hui for so long.
Upon hearing this, Mi Fang finally breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward to personally untie Mi Wei, saying, "My dear nephew, your second uncle is finally seeing you. You've suffered so much."
As long as it's not a rebellion, we're still one family. A family should love and cherish each other.
Mi Wei rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You weren't like this when we first met."
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Mi Fang turned to Shi Hui and said with a smile, "General Shi, it's been a long time. I, Mi Fang, am very pleased to meet you."
Shi Hui snorted coldly, still indignant, "I admit defeat in your hands. Do with me as you please."
He regretted coming to Funan. If he had known he would be captured by that traitor Mi Fang, he would have preferred to go with Fan Shiman to fight Lü Dai. At least falling into Lü Dai's hands would have sounded better in terms of reputation.
Everyone knows how incompetent Mi Fang is. If you were captured by Mi Fang, wouldn't that prove that you are not even as good as Mi Fang?
It’s so frustrating.
Mi Fang smiled and said, "General Shi, you flatter me. I have no right to punish you, so please rest assured that I will not do anything to make things difficult for you before handing you over to Lord Lü Dai. Just stay here in peace."
Shi Hui's expression softened somewhat, and he said insincerely, "Then thank you very much, General Mi."
When you're out there in the world, you have to be prepared to take a beating.
Even if he looks down on Mi Fang, he is now Mi Fang's prisoner, and as a prisoner, he should have the awareness of a prisoner.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the two sides returned to their camps. Mi Fang waved his hand and ordered the two or three thousand remaining soldiers of Shi Hui to be moved south and sent to the place where he had landed with Fu Shiren last time to farm.
Although Shi Hui would receive courtesy, his remaining soldiers would not, and naturally all of them would end up in Mi Fang's pockets, becoming Mi Fang's tenants.
After arranging everything, Mi Wei approached Mi Fang with a cheeky grin and said, "Second Uncle, let's talk about something!"
Mi Fang asked warily, "What is it?"
The Mi family were merchants, and Mi Fang knew all too well what kind of people they were, so he concluded that Mi Wei was definitely up to no good.
Mi Wei laughed and said, "I came to Jiaozhou to build a sugar factory on His Highness's orders. Before I came, His Highness scraped together 30,000 strings of cash for me, but Shi Hui robbed it all. After Shi Hui was defeated, the money fell into the hands of Prefect Lü. Prefect Lü will definitely not give it to me, but His Highness's business still needs to be done. So, Second Uncle, could you lend me some money? I don't need 30,000 strings, just 20,000 strings will do. I'll use it sparingly, and it might be enough."
Liu Shan only gave him 18,000 that day, but he knew his second uncle's character all too well. He would be lucky if his uncle agreed to half of the amount he asked for, so he had to ask for a larger number and then haggle over the price.
Upon hearing this, Mi Fang immediately bristled and refused, saying, "You're asking me for money? What a joke! I was exiled here. You know how poor I was when I came. I didn't even have three strings of cash, let alone thirty thousand."
Mi Wei sneered, "You were indeed quite poor when you left, but didn't you get involved with Princess Linyi? My second aunt must have some money. This little bit of money won't be a problem for her, right?"
How could I possibly ask my wife for money?
Mi Fang immediately refused, saying, "I won't go, I absolutely won't go. You'll have to figure this out yourself."
Mi Wei wailed, "Second Uncle, you can't do this! I'm your own nephew, blood is thicker than water! You can't just stand by and watch me die! Besides, it's not like I'm not going to pay it back. Can't I just give you interest?"
"Second Uncle, let's talk business. If you help your nephew through this difficult time, whatever you need in the future, as long as the court has it, I will find a way to get it for you. For example, the Jiangdong Shipyard has launched a new warship, which I heard is half a zhang longer than the Yuanxun."
Upon thinking of Yuanxunhao, Mi Fang's eyes immediately lit up. He put his arm around Mi Wei's shoulder and laughed, "Nephew, what are you saying? We're family, after all. It's just money. I'll ask your second aunt to lend it to you. But your sugar-making formula..."
Mi Wei was speechless. As expected, there were no good people in a merchant family.
Mi Wei pondered for a moment and said, "I can't make the decision about the recipe since it belongs to His Highness, but sugar making requires workers, and workers need to be recruited. Why don't you recommend a few people to me? But make it clear beforehand that they must be honest, reliable, and have clean hands. You absolutely cannot bring in those who steal the recipe."
Mi Fang patted Mi Wei's shoulder and laughed, "Don't worry, it's on Uncle Bao."
The uncle and nephew looked at each other and burst into laughter at the same time.
Although Shi Hui has been captured, the matter is not over yet. They will continue their campaign to cooperate with Lü Dai in attacking King Fan Shiman of Funan.
If Fan Shiman hadn't accepted Shi Hui, the Han army wouldn't have had a legitimate reason to attack Funan. Unfortunately, Fan Shiman brought this upon himself, so they can't be blamed.
After a brief two-day rest, Mi Fang led his army on another expedition, following Qu Lian to cut off Fan Shiman's retreat.
You should know that Qu Lian and Fan Shiman are neighbors, and Qu Lian has fought against Funan for many years and is very familiar with Funan's terrain. Following Qu Lian will at least prevent you from getting lost.
While they were on their expedition, Fan Shiman had already clashed with Lü Dai and was badly beaten by him.
After usurping the throne, Fan Shiman waged wars everywhere, constantly expanding his territory. His continuous victories made him extremely confident. Therefore, when he received Shi Hui's offer of allegiance, he ignored the threat from the Han army and decisively chose to accept him.
In Fan Shiman's view, even if she couldn't defeat the Han army, she could still fight them to a draw, or at the very least, to a 40-60 split. She was on the defensive and would use the advantageous terrain to keep the Han army out of the country.
After engaging in battle, they tragically discovered that things were not as they seemed. The Han army was well-equipped, while the Funan army's equipment was as fragile as paper in front of them. Moreover, the Han army was particularly adept at using ropes to climb steep peaks and then firing arrows downwards, thus gaining a superior position over the Funan army. The Funan army's proud fortresses were as fragile as sandcastles in front of the Han army, collapsing with a single puncture and offering no resistance whatsoever.
Therefore, Fan Shiman became Lü Dai's prisoner in less than a month, even a day earlier than Shi Hui was captured by Mi Fang.
After capturing Fan Shiman, Lü Dai did not linger. He continued to lead his army south to block Shi Hui's retreat. His primary target was Shi Hui, not Fan Shiman. He would not withdraw his troops until he captured Shi Hui.
But at this time, Mi Fang had already captured Shi Hui and led his army north, and naturally they met as they headed towards each other.