Chapter Thirty-Eight: Zhang Cai Hosts a Banquet

  He also handed over some trivial matters, Wang Shen stood up and bid farewell, saying: "Your Excellency is tired from the journey, rest for a few days first to take care of your body, that's the right thing to do. I'm leaving now."

  Chen Lin got up to see him off, and accompanied him all the way to the gate before turning back.

  The back of the county government office was where they lived. Since neither Chen Lin nor Taishi Ci had a family, they temporarily resided in the rear residence.

  Wang Shen originally arranged some miscellaneous tasks for Li Chong, but how dare Li Chong use these people? Who knows if the wine and dishes brought up have poison in them? So he sent those people away and called a few close guards to attend to him.

  After some thought, Li Chong arranged for two martially skilled personal guards to be assigned to Chen Lin, fearing that something unexpected might happen to his only strategist, and of course, there was also a hint of surveillance in this arrangement.

  Arriving at Li Chong's living room, the three of them sat down to drink tea. Since they were all close friends, there was no need for restraint in their conversation. Chen Lin spoke up first: "I don't know what Wang Shen meant by mentioning Zhang Jia, but we must find out as soon as possible."

  Tai Shi Zi nodded in agreement.

  Li Chong sneered and said in a low voice, "I don't care what Wang Shen's intention is, but one thing is certain: Guangwu must have the existence of the Zhang family, and the strength of the Zhang family must not be small. However, Guangwu County can only have one voice, that is my voice, Li Chong's voice. Others just need to listen."

  Taishi Ci asked: "Does the Zhang family still dare to resist the imperial court?"

  Li Zhongyu tapped his fingers on the table and said slowly, "The Zhang family would not dare to resist the imperial court, but in the face of great benefits, it is hard to guarantee that they will not resist me."

  "Why? Would adults encroach on their interests?" Taishi Ci continued to ask.

  Chen Lin smiled and said, "General Taishi, is this still necessary to say? If the adults want to recruit soldiers and buy horses, they must have money and grain. Where does the money and grain come from? It's naturally the taxes of Guangwu County. Not to mention Zhang's family business, whether it's decent or not, just his private army alone is competing with the adults for troops!"

  "I see, thank you for reminding me, Lord Chen." Tai Shi Ci made a fist and bowed to Chen Lin.

  "It's not deserved!" Chen Lin hastily returned the courtesy. He knew that he was still not considered one of Li Zhong's trusted advisors, so naturally he didn't dare to be arrogant.

  Li Chong didn't think that much, Wang Shen had said before, the Zhang family mainly traded with foreign tribes outside the Great Wall, war horses from outside the Great Wall, grains, salt and iron from Central Plains, all of which made Li Chong's mouth water, how could he not want a share?

  "Let's put this matter aside for now and talk about it when Tong Hui and the others arrive. You're all tired, get some rest." Li Chong said as he looked at the darkening sky.

  Tai Shi Zai and Chen Lin also felt a bit tired, so they withdrew from the living room and went back to their respective rooms to rest.

  The next day, Li Chong slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up to wash and dress. When he went outside, he saw that Taishi Ci and Chen Lin had also just gotten up, and the three of them couldn't help but exchange a smile.

  After finishing breakfast, Taishi Ci went to inspect the soldiers under his command, Chen Lin led a group of people to check the treasury, and Li Chong rested in the government office.

  Before long, Taishi Ci returned to the county government office. His soldiers were exhausted and could not continue training, needing a good rest to recover their combat effectiveness. Taishi Ci went to the military camp just to check the number of people.

  However, Chen Lin did bring back a message that the Zhang family in Guangwu was indeed as Wang Shen had said, with assets worth tens of millions.

  Three days passed in this way, and County Magistrate Wang Shen came to see Li Chong, claiming that Zhang Cai had invited Li Chong to a banquet. Li Chong also wanted to meet the local emperor of Guangwu County, so he brought Taishi Ci and Chen Lin to attend the banquet.

  Wang Shen and a young man from the Zhang family led the way, all the way to the front door of the Zhang family. The gate was wide open, and a middle-aged man in his 40s stood at the entrance with a smile on his face. Behind him were some people who looked like they had some status in Guangwu County based on their clothes and demeanor.

  A middle-aged man hastened to welcome Li Chong as soon as he saw him, bowing and saying: "Humble subject Zhang Cai has seen Lord Li, today I can invite Lord Zhang, it's really an honor."

  Zhang Cai's stature is tall and majestic, his face is very handsome, he must have been a handsome young man when he was young.

  Li Chong also smiled and said with his hands clasped together: "No need for formalities, Mr. Zhang."

  After some small talk, Zhang Cai introduced the people present to Li Chong. As Li Chong had guessed, they were all local gentry from Guangwu County.

  As he entered the hall, Li Chong glanced around and secretly sighed. The Zhang family's mansion was more spacious and majestic than his own county government office. In terms of luxury, Li Chong's county government office was no match for the Zhang family's, it was like comparing a pigsty to a grand mansion.

  The living room floor is covered with soft carpets, and it feels like walking on clouds. On both sides of the hall are placed dozens of exquisite bronze lamps, with candles lit on them, illuminating the interior as bright as daylight.

  The two ends of the desk are also carved with beast patterns, extremely magnificent and beautiful.

  Li Chong sat in the main seat, with Wang Shen and Zhang Cai accompanying him on either side. The maidservants stood behind them, holding wine utensils. Li Chong glanced at these maidservants and found that they were extremely beautiful. He silently cursed to himself for being wasteful and forcibly turned his head away.

  The banquet was nothing to talk about, all were mutual flattering words, such as "great leader", "can lead the people of Guangwu to prosperity and wealth" and other nonsense. Li Zhong had been through many battles, so it was easy for him to say these polite phrases, and he casually flattered those people a few times.

  For a time, the host and guest blended together in harmony, creating a very lively atmosphere.

  After three rounds of wine, Li stood up again, wanting to find a convenient place. Zhang Cai immediately stood up and followed him out, sending a maid to lead the way (the temptation of Hong Guoguo).

  Li Chong knew Zhang Cai had something to say and followed the maid after coming out, arriving at a quiet room.

  Zhang Cai had long been prepared with tea and snacks. Seeing Li Chong arrive, she waved her hand to let the maid retreat and asked Li Chong to sit down and drink tea.

  "Mr. Zhang, what's the matter?" Li Chong didn't plan to beat around the bush with Zhang Cai either, he already had the idea of eliminating the Zhang family as soon as possible, and didn't have the mind to compete with Zhang Cai in patience.

  Zhang Cai did not speak, but instead took out a gift list from his bosom and handed it to Li Chong with both hands. Zhang Cai smiled and said: "This time the adults take office, the gentry of Guangwu are all delighted... Donating 50 good war horses, 50 military tents, 100 steel knives, and 1,000 stones of grain, hoping that the adults will accept it."

  Li Chong glanced at the gift list and found that he still didn't recognize a few words, so he put down the list, closed his eyes and meditated. Zhang Cai's thin gift was too thick and heavy, its value almost the same as his own extortionate wealth. What did Zhang Cai want him to do with this thick gift? Was it because he was afraid that his own strength was not enough to eliminate these treacherous merchants?

  "No reward without labor, Mr. Zhang, please speak clearly." Li Chong smiled faintly and put the gift list on the table.

  "I'll tell you then." Zhang Cai poured Li Chongtian a cup of tea and said slowly, "So I won't hide it from you, sir. The fact is that we merchants trade with the Hu people, enduring wind and rain... even risking our lives, but the profits are meager, barely enough to make ends meet... yet the imperial taxes are extremely heavy..."

  "I'll drag your whole family down!" Li Chong finally understood what Zhang Cai meant. Didn't he just want to pull himself into smuggling together?