Chapter 1077 Money Hunting!

"My Lord General, if you only have three thousand taels of silver, wouldn't that be too shabby..."

After saying this, Sun Xianger leaned close to Zhang Meng's ear and whispered:

"Thirty thousand taels of silver!"

Zhang Meng's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. Over the years, he had made many military achievements and was appreciated by the Marshal. His position became higher and higher, but because he was focused on the war, he had no energy to make money.

Therefore, despite being the commander of the Fourth Army and one of the most senior officials in the Fengwu Army, Zhang Meng was not particularly rich. He only had a three-story mansion in Yijing, ten thousand taels of silver, two shops in Yijing, five hundred acres of military land, and some gold and silver utensils and silk fabrics awarded by the Marshal.

Originally, Zhang Meng was very satisfied and grateful for the rewards from the Marshal. He had led his troops to fight and serve the Marshal wholeheartedly!
But after taking over Lin'an this time and witnessing the extravagant life, Zhang Meng's ideas and concepts changed!

There are two reasons why Zhang Meng made up his mind!

On the one hand, Zhang Meng discovered that everyone from He Jingyun to some commanders were secretly trying to make money for themselves, and even some military officers in charge of military discipline broke the law knowingly. Therefore, in such a background, if you don’t join in the fun, you are not in line with the group························

Therefore, even if you want to stay out of the mud and not be tainted by it, your colleagues will persuade you to do the same in order to prevent you from betraying them!
Secondly, when Zhang Meng looked at those wealthy businessmen who were fat and only knew how to exploit others, and who lived better than himself and enjoyed life more, he felt jealous and unwilling!
Under such internal and external factors, Zhang Meng, the iron-blooded general of the Fengwu Army, also fell. For this reason, he comforted himself that the Fengwu Army was about to unify the world, and the Marshal would establish a new dynasty and become the emperor for eternity. They, his subordinates, were also founding heroes and could enjoy the soup with him!
With this idea in mind, Zhang Meng accepted Sun Wenheng's kindness and even got together with Sun Wenheng's goddaughter Sun Xianger!
At this moment, thinking of the 30,000 taels of silver, Zhang Meng's heart became hot, but he also knew that although Sun Wenheng was rich, his money was not blown by the wind, and he could not give it to him for no reason, so he asked Sun Xianger with some caution:

"What does your godfather want from me?"

Sun Xiang'er threw a coquettish glance at Zhang Meng and said with a sweet smile:

"I don't know about that. General, you have to talk to my godfather in person!"

Although his heart was aroused by the thirty thousand taels of silver, Zhang Meng could not help himself when he saw the slutty behavior of Sun Xiang'er. He directly pressed Sun Xiang'er under him, and suddenly the quaint room was filled with spring scenes...

An incense stick later, Zhang Meng, looking somewhat listless, came to the study room of the Sun Mansion. There, an old man with a kind face was waiting for him.

Seeing the old man Zhang Meng sitting on the chair, he said lightly:

"Master Sun, what business do you want to find me for?"

The old man called Mr. Sun is none other than the head of the Sun family, the eldest family of Dashengchang, Sun Wenheng, who is 65 years old!
Faced with Zhang Meng's somewhat rude behavior, Sun Wenheng didn't care. He smiled and asked the maid to bring Zhang Meng some fragrant tea, and said with a smile:
"I'm here to ask you to come here for business, General Zhang, but don't be in a hurry. Try this tea first!"

As soon as Sun Wenheng finished speaking, a cute maid brought a cup of fragrant tea to Zhang Meng. Zhang Meng, who had only attended a private school for a few days since childhood, naturally did not know how to taste tea, but the cute little maid still made him look at her twice.

Seeing Zhang Meng's expression and behavior, although Sun Wenheng still looked smiling, there was a hint of imperceptible contempt in his eyes!

"General Zhang, this tea of ​​mine is the newly harvested Longjing tea from before the rain. I'm not bragging, but this tea used to be sent to the palace. Even now, not many people in Jiangnan can get it. You can try it and see how it tastes!"

Listening to Sun Wenheng's words, Zhang Meng was also a little curious, and immediately picked up the teacup to taste it.

Feeling the fragrance of the tea between his lips and teeth, Zhang Meng thought it was very good, but he had no ink in his stomach, so he could only nod and say:
“Master Sun, your tea is indeed good tea…”

Sun Wenheng smiled and said:

"Since General Zhang thinks it's a good idea, I'll have someone send you two taels of it later. General Zhang, don't think it's too little. I only have less than half a catty left. The two of us will split it into half!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Meng was a little embarrassed and said:

"Master Sun, you are too polite. I, Zhang Meng, drink this stuff like a cow chewing a peony. Such a good thing should be left here for you to drink slowly!"

Sun Wenheng waved his hand and said with a smile:
"General Zhang, drink slowly, you will get used to it!"

Seeing Sun Wenheng's insistence, and Zhang Meng's pre-rain Longjing tea was indeed good, he also said:
"Then I will respectfully obey your command. Thank you, Master Sun!"

"It's just some tea leaves, General Zhang, you are too kind!"

The two chatted about other things. Just when Zhang Meng couldn't help asking again, Sun Wenheng took the initiative to ask:
"General Zhang, what do you think of the name Dashengchang?"

Hearing Sun Wenheng's question, Zhang Meng didn't know what he meant. He hesitated for a moment before saying:
"The name Dashengchang is of course good, but my commander-in-chief will ascend to the throne in the future, so your Dashengchang signboard must avoid his name!"

Seeing that Zhang Meng said without any hesitation that Ye Mingsheng was going to ascend to the throne, Sun Wenheng's eyelids couldn't help but twitch...

Although Ye Mingsheng's intentions are known to the world, the Great Zhou has only been around for three hundred years after all, so such things cannot be brought up openly!

Seeing Sun Wenheng's stunned look, Zhang Meng said nonchalantly:

"The Marshal will become the emperor. This is an open secret, as our Commander He said!"

"If he doesn't become the emperor, how can we become the founding fathers and be granted titles and appointed as prime ministers!" Sun Wenheng smiled bitterly in his heart when he heard this, but he also agreed with him a few words, and then he said:
"Although we have been calling Dashengchang for over a hundred years, it is still an offense to Marshal Ye's name, so I have made up my mind. Before Marshal Ye ascends to the throne, we will change our name to Dadechang!"

"General Zhang, what do you think of the name Da De Chang?"

Zhang Meng gave a thumbs up and praised:

"Master Sun, your loyalty is evident to all. I believe our commander-in-chief will be very happy to know this!"

In response to Zhang Meng's praise, Sun Wenheng stroked his white beard and said:

"My Da Dexing Company deals in grain, silk, porcelain, tea and other businesses. We own 29 shops in Nanyang, Jiaozhou, Huainan, Jiangnan and other places, and our annual turnover is 200,000 to 300,000 taels of silver!"

Having said that, Sun Wenheng paused, and his pair of somewhat turbid old eyes seemed to observe Zhang Meng's facial expression. Although it could be seen that Zhang Meng had tried his best to conceal his thoughts, Sun Wenheng could see some greed from Zhang Meng's expression···························
Sun Wenheng was not angry at all. Instead, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he preached in a rather tempting tone:
"I wonder if you are interested in becoming one of the shareholders of Dadexing, General Zhang?"

"what?"

Zhang Meng was a little surprised by Sun Wenheng's sudden invitation. He was also very envious when he heard Sun Wenheng bragging about his own business!

I was wondering when I would be able to build such a large business, but I never thought that Sun Wenheng would extend the invitation to me right now!

Seeing Zhang Meng's somewhat stunned expression, Sun Wenheng continued to seduce:

"Dashengchang, also known as Dadechang, now has a total of 50 silver shares and 15 personal shares. My Sun family owns 38 of the 50 silver shares. I am willing to give three of our Dadechang silver shares to you, General Zhang!"

"Although there are only three shares, General Zhang, please don't think it's too little. According to our Da De Chang's current wealth, these three shares are worth at least 30,000 taels of silver in the market, and the annual dividend is at least 2,000 taels of silver!"

"These three shares are just a gift for us. As our relationship grows stronger, I believe that General Zhang will own more shares of our Dadechang."

Listening to Sun Wenheng's words, Zhang Meng seemed to be a little dizzy from the big cake that fell from the sky, but after hesitating for a moment, he managed to keep a trace of calm in his mind and said to Sun Wenheng:
“Master Sun, I’m grateful for your esteem, but we in the Fengwu Army have strict military laws. Once our commander gets to know about this, I’m afraid I’ll lose my life…”

Although Zhang Meng refused, the old fox Sun Wenheng knew from his expression that Zhang Meng had been completely persuaded by him and said with a smile:

"General Zhang, you are too polite. You are a great contributor to the Fengwu Army's conquest of Jiangnan. Taking some shares is just a small matter. Even if Marshal Ye of your army knew about it, he would definitely not say anything!"

"Besides, this kind of thing is known only to heaven and earth, you and I know it, how could others know it!"

"General Zhang, if you take this share, you will be a shareholder of our Dadechang Company. You can get dividends from our Dadechang Company every year. Even if you do nothing every year, you can still get thousands of taels of silver!"

"And what I'm giving you are silver shares, which are different from personal shares. Even if General Zhang dies a hundred years later, as long as our Dadechang Company is still around, your descendants can inherit your shares and still get dividends from our Dadechang Company!"

Sun Wenheng's words seemed to have a magical power that kept lingering in Zhang Meng's mind, and soon broke Zhang Meng's psychological defenses. Zhang Meng gritted his teeth and stared at Sun Wenheng and said:
"Master Sun, I won't accept the reward without merit. Tell me, what exactly do you want me, Zhang, to do?"

“Let me be frank with you, if you ask me to betray the Fengwu Army and Marshal Ye, don’t blame me, Zhang Meng, for turning my back on you…”

Sun Wenheng heard this and said with a bit of a smile:
"Oh my, my General Zhang, what are you talking about?"

"Marshal Ye of your department is going to be the emperor soon. We small traders are busy trying to curry favor with him, how dare we challenge him!"

"If you ask me, this matter will not be disadvantageous to you, General Zhang. On the contrary, it may help you to make further progress in the future!"

Hearing what Sun Wenheng said, Zhang Meng became more and more curious about what Sun Wenheng was going to do. Seeing this, Sun Wenheng cleared his throat and said:

"I heard that the Fengwu Army has a banknote savings license. I'm not happy with what you said. I'm very interested in it!"

"In a few days, my good-for-nothing eldest son, Sun Teng, will be back from Southeast Asia. I am old and my legs are not so good, so I ask you to take him to Yijing to try your luck and see if you can get a license for my Dadechang Company!"

Zhang Meng frowned slightly when he heard this. Although as a military commander he did not care much about political affairs, he still had some understanding of the savings license. After all, half of the ten thousand taels of silver awarded to him by Ye Mingsheng was deposited by him in the Dadongsheng Bank, earning an annual interest of three percent...
After a moment's silence, Zhang Meng said to Sun Wenheng very sincerely:

"It's no problem for me to help you with this matter. As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely do my best to assist. But Master Sun, you know that I am a military commander, and I have been fighting outside. I don't have many friends among the civil servants!"

"Also, the savings license seems very important, but the Marshal has only issued it to a few companies. Therefore, even if I am willing to help you with this matter, the possibility of you getting the license is not high. I need to tell you about this first, Master Sun, so that you don't blame me when things don't get done!"

Hearing Zhang Meng's honest answer, Sun Wenheng nodded with satisfaction. As a businessman, he certainly knew the commercial value and importance of the savings license, as well as how difficult it was to get it.

And since he asked Zhang Meng for help, he must have investigated Zhang Meng. In fact, as the Fengwu Army showed momentum to unify the world, important generals of the Fengwu Army such as Yuan Song and He Jingyun were also well-known by people all over the world!

Although Zhang Meng’s reputation in Fengwu Army was not as great as Yuan Song and He Jingyun, as the youngest commander of Fengwu Army, Zhang Meng also attracted the attention of many people. In fact, Sun Wenheng’s decision to invite Zhang Meng to be his guest this time was not a sudden idea, but a premeditated one·································
(End of this chapter)