Chapter 900: Bribery Chapter 900: Bribery Editor: Atlas Studios “And you think my people will betray me?” Pedro sneered.

“To help those yellow monkeys?” Andre lowered his eyes and said calmly, “But those yellow monkeys defeated you.” While Pedro’s expression turned ugly, Andre calmly picked up his teacup and drank his tea.

This was a gift from a Great Qi merchant, said to be a rare quality Biluochun tea from this year.

“No matter what, we’re all in it together,” Pedro said.

“Andre, if you still want to continue doing business with the Han people, you have to help me.” “How do you want me to help?” “Rescue my people—458 of them.

Every one of our warriors is precious.

It hasn’t been easy for everyone to survive the arduous voyage.

I can’t let them die here.” “That’s impossible,” Andre said.

“In the past, I could maybe do something, but not now.” “I’ll pay for the expenses.” Pedro looked at his expression and said, “Three times!” Andre hesitated.

As a businessman, he only valued benefits.

Although he was afraid of death, the benefits Pedro offered were worth taking a risk for.

“I have to sound things out first.

Whether I’ll agree or not is another matter.” Seeing that Pedro’s expression was not good, Andre explained, “Magistrate Yu, who worked with us previously, has been arrested.

Now, Magistrate Fan is in charge of the government office in Great Qi, and Prince Rong is aggressive towards us, unlike those in charge in the past.

Also, Prince Rong was the one who led the troops to attack you this time.” Pedro didn’t say anything else again.

He stood up and bowed to Andre before turning around and striding away.

He had to leave before dark for it was too dangerous to stay in Guangzhou for the night.

As soon as Pedro left, Andre sat in the room and thought for a long time.

In the end, he took out a small bag from his room and poured out more than ten red and blue gems.

After choosing the two largest ones, he put them away.

The Han people liked such gems very much.

He believed that Magistrate Fan, who wanted to interfere in the sea trade, would also like them.

However, this actually wasn’t expensive at all—one small bag of such gems could be exchanged for with a bolt of good silk.

Reason being, other than decoration, he really could not think of any other use for this thing.

Many countries he had been to had such gems, but Great Qi was the only country that had silk.

What Pedro and Andre did not know was that immediately after Pedro had just left, Qi Haoran received the news.

Fei Bai whispered, “Master, that pirate leader hasn’t left the city yet.

Why don’t we…” Qi Haoran raised his hand and said, “Since we’re staying here, there’s no hurry to kill him.

These Westerners had only been dealing with sea merchants passing by in the past few years, and not citizens of Great Qi.

The ones who went ashore to burn, kill, and plunder are the Japanese.

Let’s keep them for now and wait until we finish dealing with the Japanese.

Perhaps they might be useful.” “Then are we still going to keep an eye on the Westerners in that house?” “Keep an eye on them.

See what they’re going to do.” As they kept an eye on the Westerner, that Westerner came to the Fan Residence, surprising those soldiers.

At this moment, not only was the Duke living there, but Prince Rong and the Princess Consort were also living there.

Could it be that the Westerner had discovered that he was being watched and came to look for Prince Rong directly?

But Prince Rong was not in the residence at the moment.

However, Andre was here to look for Fan Zijin, to give him a gift.

When Mu Yangling came to look for him, she happened to see Andre leaving.

When she entered the reception pavilion, she saw Fan Zijin spinning two gems in his hand.

When he saw her, he casually handed the gems to her.

“I’ll use them to make jewelry for you.” The two gemstones were very big and bright.

They could be considered top-notch, but they were not particularly rare.

But then again, why did he give her gemstones for no reason?

“Where did you get this?” “That Westerner bribed me just now.” Fan Zijin revealed a mocking expression.

“He really thinks we’ve never seen good stuff before.

To think he expects me to let those people go with just two gems.

Is Great Qi that poor?” “Why would he want to intercede for the pirates?” “It’s not considered intercession.” Fan Zijin said, “He’s a businessman.

He probably accepted money from the pirates to come and negotiate for their release.

He’s just testing the waters with these two gemstones.” “You promised him?” Otherwise, why would he accept his gems so readily?

Fan Zijin sneered.

“Of course not.

Do you think I’m so easy to deal with?

Those are people who tried to kill me.

How can I let them go just like that?

But then again, by locking those people up, we are wasting grains.

It’s not a bad idea to let them redeem those captives with money.” Just as Mu Yangling was about to object, Fan Zijin raised his hand and said, “No, don’t shout at me.

This money is for the fishermen to settle down and pay for the shipbuilding fees.

No matter what you say, I won’t change my mind.

Therefore, you should save your energy.

Besides, I’m not Haoran.

I won’t listen to you.” Mu Yang puffed up her cheeks in anger and glared at him.

Fan Zijin changed the topic and asked, “Why are you looking for me?” “I’m here to borrow money from you.” Mu Yangling didn’t beat around the bush and told him directly.

Fan Zijin revealed a pained expression and said, “Did you speak with Haoran or something?

He’d just borrowed 20,000 taels from me and now you’re here?” Mu Yangling was stunned.

“Haoran borrowed 20,000 taels from you?

What does he want so much money for?” Fan Zijin’s eyes darted to the side.

Seeing Mu Yangling glare at him without moving, Fan Zijin coughed lightly and betrayed his brother.

“I seem to have heard him mention that the navy doesn’t even have enough money to prepare a weapon for each person.” “Isn’t the Imperial Court responsible for paying for this?” After all, they had just recovered the treasury silver of the previous dynasty.

“The money from the Imperial Court will take a certain amount of time to arrive.

Anywhere from a month to four months.” “But ultimately the Imperial Court will be the one paying for it, right?” “Of course.” Fan Zijin immediately said, “His Majesty certainly won’t let Haoran suffer a loss.” Relieved, Mu Yangling waved her hand and said, “So be it then.

In any case, the treasury will pay you back eventually.” Fan Zijin was stunned.

Wouldn’t that mean that he would have to fork out money to buy weapons for the navy?

It was impossible for the Emperor to make Haoran suffer a loss, but the Ministry of Revenue would not fork out money so easily.

Most importantly, no matter how much money there was, it was not enough for Haoran to invest in the army.

If the money came from him, wouldn’t he be the one to suffer in the end?

Just as Fan Zijin was about to argue with Mu Yangling, she blinked her big innocent eyes and said, “Zijin, Haoran and I came in a hurry this time and didn’t bring much money with us.

Do you think you can lend me a sum of money to settle down first?

I’ll return it to you when Zhu Liang and the others arrive.” “Settle down?” Mu Yangling nodded and rambled on.

“I’ve gone to see the official residence assigned to us by the Imperial Court.

If the navy government office is in such a terrible state, how good do you think the residence behind the government office can be?

My two brats are mischievous and will easily tear down the flimsy walls.

Therefore, we’re thinking of buying a new house.

Haoran said that we can just look for a place nearby.

Our two families are used to being neighbors, so it’s best if we stay together.

Therefore, I asked Fei Bai to ask the two adjacent houses.

Coincidentally, Ministry Councillor Qian, who lives next door, is willing to sell his house to us.

But the money…” Mu Yangling smiled at him ingratiatingly.

“We’re a little short.” The fawning smile on Qi Haoran’s face when he borrowed money from him yesterday appeared in Fan Zijin’s mind, and gradually overlapped with Mu Yangling’s smile.

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes, even though he muttered, “I won’t have money in the future.” However, he still took out 10,000 taels of silver for Mu Yangling.

Mu Yangling quickly waved her hand and said, “3,000 taels is enough.” “Take it.

Won’t you have to replace the furniture in the house?

Don’t let Haoran and the children suffer.

I can still afford this bit of money.” The corners of Mu Yangling’s lips twitched as she thought to herself, ‘Then why did you make such a pained expression?’

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