Chapter 415: Unexpected Fortune (Thanks to the book friend 65216 for the reward!)
After observing carefully for about a cup of tea, seeing the woman in the pavilion still drinking tea leisurely, Huo San's patience was gradually exhausted. Although he still had some doubts whether this woman was the rumored Kobayakawa Takahide, now that it had come to this, the arrow was on the string and had to be shot. No matter whether this woman was Kobayakawa or not, Huo San would not let her leave safely like this...
Thinking of this, Huo San raised his hand and waved it violently. Hundreds of members of the Coordination Office's action team who had been lying in ambush in the surrounding areas, upon receiving his order, immediately surrounded the pavilion on the top of the mountain from all directions.

Feeling the hundreds of dark shadows rushing towards him from all directions, Kobayakawa Takahide, who was sitting in the pavilion on the top of the mountain, smiled and continued to make tea and drink it leisurely.

After a while, the action team of the Coordination Office climbed to the top of the mountain and surrounded Kobayakawa Takahide in the pavilion. More than ten Weiyuan guns were aimed at Kobayakawa Takahide's delicate body. If Kobayakawa Takahide made any unusual movements at this time, she would probably be shot into a sieve!
Glancing at the fully armed and ready-to-fight action team in front of him, Kobayakawa Takahide chuckled and said calmly:
"Director Huo and Director Wang of your department are here?"

Looking at this charming young woman who was surrounded by people but still calm and seductive, any doubt in Huo San's heart disappeared. He believed that this woman was the beautiful and vixen-like Japanese temptress...
Thinking of the rumors about Kobayakawa Takahide, Huo San knew that he was no match for Kobayakawa Takahide in terms of martial arts, but he was confident that with the protection of hundreds of his subordinates, Huo San was naturally not afraid to face her directly. He immediately walked out of the crowd, took a deep look at this enchantress who seemed to be able to suck people's energy dry, and said:
"I am Huo San!"

Seeing the sturdy young man in front of her, Kobayakawa Takahide's eyes were filled with beauty. She looked at this man with great interest, who had replaced Shen Jianzhong and became the biggest spy chief in Liaoyang. If nothing unexpected happened, she would have to deal with him frequently in the future.

"I have long heard of Director Huo's name. Would Director Huo be willing to come in and have a cup of tea?" Kobayakawa Takahide invited with a smile:

Listening to what Kobayakawa Takahide said, although Huo San had a blank expression on his face, a trace of doubt emerged in his heart. At first, when he saw this vixen was not at all panicked, Huo San thought that she was pretending to be calm, but now the more he looked at her, the more he felt that this vixen seemed to be fearless...
After thinking for a while, Huo San secretly gave a look to his subordinate Wang Yixiao behind him. Understanding Huo San's look, Wang Yixiao immediately nodded and disappeared into the crowd. Seeing this, Huo San walked into the pavilion and sat directly opposite Kobayakawa Takahide.

"Director Huo, you came at the right time. The water in the furnace is now at its best temperature!" said Kobayakawa Takahide with a smile.
After saying that, Kobayakawa Takahide picked up the kettle and poured matcha into the teacup. Although Huo San didn't know much about the Japanese tea ceremony, he felt that Kobayakawa Takahide's skillful movements were very elegant, but he became more wary of Kobayakawa Takahide.

When the matcha was ready, Kobayakawa Takahide held the bowl with his left palm, held the edge of the bowl with the five fingers of his right hand, and respectfully presented the bowl to Huo San.

Although the tea was fragrant at this time, Huo San was still a little hesitant when facing the bowl of tea because he was on guard against Kobayakawa Takahide.

Looking at Huo San who looked hesitant, Kobayakawa Takashige chuckled, put down the tea bowl and said leisurely:
"Director Huo, this tea is made from the finest tea leaves I brought from East Island, plus the sweet and refreshing spring water from Xiaoliu Mountain. It would be a pity if you don't drink it. As you Zhou people say, you're missing out on a good taste, right?"

As soon as Kobayakawa Takashige finished speaking, just when Huo San frowned and wanted to say something, Kobayakawa Takashige glanced at the people from the Coordination Office who were waiting not far away, and said lightly:

“Director Huo, please rest assured! I have been waiting for you for a long time and I will not harm you! And I am afraid that you can take my life with just one gesture...”

Hearing what Kobayakawa Takahide said, Huo San was immediately shocked. Could it be that the person Kobayakawa Takahide was waiting for in the pavilion was actually him?

Although Huo San's expression did not change at all, Kobayakawa Takahide seemed to see Huo San's inner thoughts through his eyes and said with a smile:

"Director Huo, you don't really think that I don't know that that loser Liu Dakang has defected to your Coordination Office, right?"

"The reason I'm here is simply because I want to make a deal with you!"

Huo San suppressed his surprise when he heard this, raised his head and looked at Kobayakawa Takahide and said coldly:
"Do you know what you're talking about?"

Feeling Huo San's coldness, Kobayakawa Takahide smiled and shook his head, took out a list from his arms and handed it to Huo San.

Looking at the familiar names on the list, Huo San's heart tightened. At this moment, Kobayakawa Takahide continued:

“Director Huo must know all the people on this list. They have all been corrupted and bought by the Supervisory Department or the Black Dragon Society, and are secretly collecting intelligence for Shen Jianzhong. I know the rules of you Zhou people, so this list can be regarded as a meeting gift from me to you, Director Huo…”

Putting down the list, Huo San took another deep look at Kobayakawa Takahide and said in a deep voice:

"I'll give you a chance, tell me what deal you want to make with me?"

Seeing that Huo San's attitude had softened, Kobayakawa Takahide continued:

"If the information I received is correct, Governor Ye assigned Director Huo a mission to kill his teacher Shen Jianzhong, right?"

"But Director Huo, you have sent out five groups of people, but you still can't do anything to Shen Jianzhong..."

"Just tell me what you want to do!"

Huo San, who had had enough of being led by Kobayakawa Takahide, interrupted the enchantress and said coldly:

"I'll help you kill Shen Jianzhong!" Kobayakawa Takahide said seriously without any nonsense:

"Why are you doing this?" Huo San asked back: "First, Shen Jianzhong and Sato Kaga are in cahoots with each other. I need help to deal with them. Second, I want to see Ye Mingsheng!"

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"Sir, please take a look at the results of my conversation with Zhao Fuqu's envoy Liang Kai!" In Ye Mingsheng's study, Gu Sansi handed the memorial to Ye Mingsheng.

Hearing Gu Sansi's words, Ye Mingsheng immediately became interested. He still remembered that Zhao Fuqu had written him a personal letter, asking him to sell him the technology of the Weiyuan gun in exchange for 30,000 taels of silver. Ye Mingsheng was too lazy to pay attention to him at the time, so he left the matter entirely to Gu Sansi.

It seems that Gu Sansi has almost handled this matter, but I don’t know whether the result is satisfactory.

With a little expectation, Ye Mingsheng took the memorial and began to read it. After just a few glances, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help feeling a little surprised.

The main content of this agreement is that Youyan will pay the remaining 30,000 taels of silver for the Po Lu gun technology as usual. In addition, Youyan will purchase 2,000 Po Lu guns from Fengwu Army at a price of 30 taels of silver each, and another 100,000 taels of silver to purchase the Weiyuan gun technology. Liaoyang needs to send craftsmen to Youyan for guidance...
What Ye Mingsheng cares most about is that Youyan will pay half of the total payment of 190,000 taels of silver as a deposit first, and the remaining half of the payment will be settled in full when the craftsmen arrive in Youyan and deliver the one thousand Po Lu guns!
This means that as long as Ye Mingsheng approves the agreement now, the payment of 100,000 taels of silver for the goods will arrive in Liaoyang from Youyan within half a month. Although Liaoyang's financial difficulties cannot be completely made up for by a mere 100,000 taels of silver, 100,000 taels of silver is not a small amount and can somewhat ease the financial tension.

"You did a good job this time. Think about what brilliant strategy you used against Zhao Fuqu?"

After closing the memorial, Ye Mingsheng, while praising Gu Sansi, couldn't help but feel curious: how did he get the arrogant Youyan to make such a big concession?

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Gu Sansi couldn't help but said with some pride:

"My Lord, I only used a small trick this time! Although Youyan has obtained the technology of the Po Lu gun, their steelmaking technology is not as good as ours, and they lack a large number of skilled workers, so the Po Lu gun they produce is not as good as ours!

"After Zhao Fuqu sent Liang Kai here this time, Liang Kai not only asked us to sell them firearms technology at a low price, but also asked us to raise 200,000 shi of grain and 2,000 guns to give to them. He said that as long as their Governor Zhao captured Yunbing, he would return double the money..."

"They asked for an exorbitant price, so of course I just paid them back and waited. During this time, I contacted Cao Changping, the governor of Qi and Lu, and Gao Zongchang, the commander of Yujingdu, and sold them firearms technology. These two companies were also very interested in our firearms technology."

"Then I secretly leaked this information to Liang Kai. After Liang Kai learned the news, he immediately found me and asked me not to sell the firearms technology to others."

After hearing this, Ye Mingsheng understood why Youyan made such a big concession. Cao Changping's Qi and Lu and Gao Zongchang's Ji and Yu both bordered Zhao Fuqu's Youyan. Among these two families, Gao Zongchang's strength in Ji and Yu was no worse than Zhao Fuqu. Although Cao Changping's strength was relatively weaker, he also had 30,000 to 50,000 troops under his command!

Therefore, no matter whether it was Cao Changping or Gao Zongchang, if they were stabbed from behind when Zhao Fuqu sent troops to capture Yunbing, Zhao Fuqu would be in great trouble. Therefore, in order to be on the safe side and to protect the safety of the rear, Youyan certainly did not want Cao Changping and Gao Zongchang to obtain their firearms technology in Liaoyang.

“After knowing that Gao Zongchang and Cao Changping sent people to Dongning, Liang Kai’s attitude improved a lot. He even planned to imitate the story of Ban Chao in the Han Dynasty who led 36 warriors to attack the Xiongnu camp and kill Gao Zongchang and Cao Changping’s envoys in Dongning to cut off our army’s retreat for this transaction. However, as soon as they planned, they were uncovered by Director Huo…”

"Since their conspiracy failed, they had no choice but to negotiate with our army honestly. In order to prevent our army from selling its technology to Gao Zongchang and Cao Changping, Liang Kai was forced to accept our army's conditions after consulting Zhao Fuqu."

"In addition to the arms trade, Hu Jian also brought some surprises to our army this time. In order to establish a good relationship with him, I sold him the last batch of live deer antlers and mink skins on credit. After Hu Jian got the goods, he sold them in Youyan for a lot of silver. He has already sent 30,000 taels of silver to the silver vault, and is planning to place an order for about 50,000 taels of goods from our army again!"

"Very good! Sansi, you have done a great job this time! What reward do you want?"

Upon hearing that in addition to the arms business worth 190,000 taels of silver, another business worth 70,000 taels of silver was about to be concluded, Ye Mingsheng nodded with satisfaction.

Because Ye Mingsheng has always insisted on the policy of living in harmony with the people, he is unwilling to be like other feudal lords who, as soon as they were short of silver and food, would exploit and plunder ordinary people, collect taxes ten years or even decades in advance, and force the people to sell their children.

In addition, Liaoyang was originally a strong competitor for the most impoverished province among the many provinces of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, since it became an independent army, financial issues have become Ye Mingsheng's biggest headache...
Sometimes when Ye Mingsheng couldn't sleep at night, he was thinking about where to get money to ease the financial pressure. Since he didn't want to squeeze the internal volume, he could only start with trade and get money from outside. Now Gu Sansi's income of 270,000 taels of silver was undoubtedly a good start for the commercial trade in Liaoyang in the new era!
Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Gu Sansi said modestly:

"The fact that we were able to achieve some results this time is entirely due to your trust in me and the support of my colleagues. My contribution here is minimal!"

Seeing Gu Sansi being so modest, Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and said:
"Think carefully, everyone has seen your contribution. As the governor of Liaoyang, I should be fair in rewarding and punishing people. Don't be so modest!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Sansi bowed and said sincerely:

“Thank you for your kindness, sir. I am now in a high position, living in a large mansion, with carriages to drive me around, and I have plenty of gold and silver… If I really want something, it must be that I want to continue to devote myself to the development of Liaoyang and your great cause!”

"After this trade, I will start to clean up the land. I don't have enough manpower, so please allow me to select some talents from the Liaoyang government to assist me in my work!"

(End of this chapter)