Chapter 270

Zu An was stunned by her words. "You're going to a brothel too?"

Chu Chuyan glared at him, annoyed. "Of course I'm not going. I need you to invite someone."

"Invite whom?" Zu An asked, curious.

"Young Master Wang, Wang Yuanlong," Chu Chuyan replied, her expression serious.

Zu An looked at her with a strange expression. "You and this Young Master Wang aren't secretly involved, are you? I heard the Chu and Wang families have always been on good terms. Is this some kind of childhood sweethearts scenario? Oh, my life is so difficult..."

Damn it, if I had known, I wouldn't have saved that Wang fellow at the Immortal's Abode last time. I should've just let Chen Xuan beat him to death.

Chu Chuyan, both embarrassed and angry, grabbed his ear. "Stop whining! What could possibly be between him and me? What kind of nonsense do you think about all day?"

Rage points from Chu Chuyan +123!

Zu An's expression brightened. "Then why do you need to meet him, especially in a place like the Immortal's Abode?"

"It's not for me to meet him; it's for you to meet him," Chu Chuyan corrected.

Zu An blinked, indicating he hadn't quite understood what was going on.

Chu Chuyan then explained, "Today, Sang Hong called a meeting with my father and several other prominent families in Brightmoon City, including the Zheng, Yuan, and Wang families. He mentioned that the imperial court is currently deploying troops against the northern barbarians, and military funds are running low. Therefore, wealthy merchants from various regions are needed to enthusiastically donate and contribute to the nation."

Zu An nodded. Chu Chuyan had mentioned the donations to him before.

"Since a donation was made just last year, even the most prominent families can't withstand such frequent levies, so they were all reluctant," Chu Chuyan continued. "My father used the widespread illicit salt trade, which makes official salt unsellable, as an excuse to say he couldn't produce the funds for now."

Zu An couldn't help but laugh. "I never expected father-in-law, who usually seems so honest, to be so cunning."

"Is that how you compliment someone?" Chu Chuyan rolled her eyes at him. "Unfortunately, Sang Hong, that old fox, had already anticipated our excuse. So he said he would instruct Sang Qian to follow my father's orders and fully suppress the illicit salt trade."

Zu An sighed. "This must be the exchange of interests you mentioned before: the Chu family makes a donation, and the Sang family reciprocates by helping to solve the illicit salt problem."

Chu Chuyan nodded. "My father reasoned that the widespread illicit salt problem truly impacts the Chu family's business. And Sang Qian controls the River Defense Anti-Smuggling Camp; with his cooperation, dismantling those illicit salt gangs will be much easier than before. If we can use this opportunity to completely eliminate the illicit salt, then a reasonable donation would be worthwhile. So, he agreed to donate 100,000 taels first, and then contribute the remaining amount after the illicit salt gangs are completely eradicated and official salt sales increase revenue."

"That sounds good," Zu An secretly nodded. Chu Zhongtian was truly worthy of being the head of the family; although usually upright, he possessed the necessary shrewdness.

"It would have been fine," Chu Chuyan sighed. "But the Wang family suffered heavy losses recently when their merchant-military agricultural settlement on the border was plundered by barbarians. A large amount of their liquid capital was used for recovery there, so they are currently short on funds. They proposed that their donation for this time be waived."

Zu An had heard her mention before that in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the transportation, sale, and circulation of salt required official salt permits.

And obtaining an official salt permit wasn't simply a matter of paying money.

Instead, you needed to transport a certain amount of grain to areas of urgent border warfare to qualify for purchasing a corresponding quota of salt permits.

Many salt merchants found it inconvenient to transport grain to the border themselves every time, which is how businesses like the Wang family emerged.

Their main responsibility was to deliver grain to the border in exchange for salt permits, which they then sold to other salt merchants.

However, transporting grain from inland to the border was a long journey with immeasurable losses along the way, making the overall cost too high. Therefore, these merchants chose to organize people to reclaim fertile land on the border, plant and harvest crops locally, and then deliver the grain to the nearest border posts.

This method of agricultural settlement was known as a "merchant-military agricultural settlement."

"Plundered by barbarians?" Zu An mused. "That's truly unfortunate."

"Indeed, the Wang family was severely weakened this time; they couldn't even afford such an important donation," Chu Chuyan sighed. "Sang Hong outwardly said nothing and even offered a few words of comfort. But then he turned around and granted the Chu family the Wang family's salt distribution rights in a neighboring prefecture, claiming it was to reward families who enthusiastically contributed to the nation."

"Salt distribution rights?" Zu An paused.

After Chu Chuyan's explanation, he generally understood:

According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, purchasing and transporting salt required salt permits. However, selling it required not only a salt permit but also officially approved and granted salt distribution rights.

Salt distribution rights were equivalent to sales qualifications for a specific area. Only a family possessing the distribution rights for that region could legally sell salt there.

Selling salt in an area where one did not possess the distribution rights was illegal. Not only would the goods be seized as illicit salt, but the family involved in the sale would also face severe penalties.

It was similar to cigarettes in his previous life; cross-regional sales were generally not permitted.

Understanding this, Zu An immediately realized, "Sang Hong's move is ruthless. The Wang family is an ally of the Chu family, and his action not only severely harmed the Wang family but also successfully sowed discord between the two families."

At this point, he couldn't help but admire Sang Hong. From beginning to end, Sang Hong hadn't expended a single soldier or even had to give anything up. He had used the Wang family's own assets to put both the Wang and Chu families in a difficult position.

Crucially, all of this was in line with the Great Zhou laws. It was true that the Wang family was unable to make a donation first, and the imperial court had seized the opportunity to reclaim some of their distribution rights to reward those who enthusiastically contributed funds. Even if the matter were brought to the capital, no one could find a single fault.

The Wang family could only swallow this bitter pill, with nowhere to vent their frustration except towards the Chu family, who were, after all, the ultimate beneficiaries.

"Of course we know this is his scheme to sow discord," Chu Chuyan said, her eyes filled with worry. "But knowing it is one thing; it's difficult for people to remain completely rational. Because of this incident, many in the Wang family have criticized the Chu family, believing we intentionally plotted to seize their distribution rights."

"There are always some fools in any family," Zu An remarked. "And Sang Hong must have secretly sent people to fan the flames. So, you want me to meet Wang Yuanlong to explain the misunderstanding?"

"Not just that," Chu Chuyan replied. "Families like ours, the Wang family, and the Zheng family are 'general merchants.' Retailers from various regions come to our distribution points to wholesale salt, often needing to pay a deposit a year in advance. After receiving these deposits, the general merchants use the money for various turnovers, as this money would eventually be theirs the following year, so using it early isn't usually an issue."

"But the problem this time is that the Wang family's distribution rights were given to us by the authorities. This means they must refund the deposits to those retailers." Chu Chuyan's eyes showed deep concern. "Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a problem, but the Wang family's finances are already stretched thin due to the plunder of their merchant-military settlement. If they have to produce these deposits, their capital chain might break, and the vast Wang family could potentially collapse."

Zu An was startled. "This Sang Hong is truly ruthless. He doesn't act lightly, but when he does, it's to destroy someone!"

"Indeed, but our Chu family naturally can't stand by and do nothing," Chu Chuyan said. "So, I want you to host a banquet for Wang Yuanlong at the Immortal's Abode and privately hand over those deposits to them, which they can then return to the retailers. This is a good opportunity to resolve the resentment they feel."

Zu An's eyes lit up. "Brilliant! This move, using their own strength against them, not only solves the Wang family's immediate crisis but also cleverly thwarts Sang Hong's plan to sow discord between the two families. I wonder which ingenious person in the mansion came up with this idea."

"It's nothing particularly ingenious; it's just an instinctive response after seeing so much deception in the business world over the years," Chu Chuyan said nonchalantly, though a hint of pride was evident in her eyebrows, clearly indicating that she was the one who devised the plan.

Zu An couldn't help but smile. She was usually so cool and aloof, but he hadn't expected to see such a girlish side of her.

"But why go through me for this transfer? And why choose a place like the Immortal's Abode?"

Chu Chuyan explained, "Mainly, it's to keep up appearances. After all, we've told the imperial court that we're struggling financially due to the rampant illicit salt trade and can't afford a donation. If we then turn around and provide such a large sum to the Wang family, it wouldn't look good for either the imperial court or the Chu family's reputation, and it would give political rivals an opportunity to attack us."

"Secondly, the Wang family is, after all, a prominent household in Brightmoon City. If it became known that they couldn't even produce this amount of money, it would easily damage their reputation and cause them to lose face. We might inadvertently fail to achieve our goal of goodwill and instead create animosity."

Zu An couldn't help but exclaim, "Wife, you're truly meticulous, you thought of everything!"

At the same time, he secretly grumbled to himself, *No wonder she always smells it when I have even a hint of another woman's perfume on me. It seems I need to be extra, extra careful next time.*

Upon receiving his compliment, Chu Chuyan's face showed a faint smile. "As for the third reason, I heard you helped Wang Yuanlong at the Immortal's Abode a few days ago. With that connection, Wang Yuanlong will also be willing to give you face, which will prevent any unnecessary misunderstandings."

"More importantly, no one would expect us to entrust such an important task to you."

Hearing that last sentence, Zu An immediately became displeased. "Is that a compliment or an insult?"

Chu Chuyan's mood had clearly brightened, and she smiled charmingly, truly illuminating the room. "Don't you know what image you project in everyone's eyes?"

Zu An was speechless.

This woman's tongue seemed to have gotten sharper since they started spending more time together.

"Are we done with serious matters? If so, it's time for today's healing session," Zu An said, looking glum.

Chu Chuyan's face flushed slightly, and after a long moment, she softly hummed in affirmation.

Zu An, looking like a domineering CEO, gazed coolly at her. "Undress!"