Interstellar Energy Tycoon - Chapter 289

c289 Cooperation, Wanbaolou

Li Lefan’s behavior of proactively sending large amounts of financial gifts is indeed a bit like a licking dog.

The intention to please is too obvious.

Then he looked at a rather young and handsome guy.

Empress Wu Qingqiu couldn’t help but guess that this young man might be trying to please her because he wanted to become her husband, and he wanted to pursue her in this way.

To be honest, in her eyes, this kind of pursuit seems very old-fashioned, boring, too obvious in purpose, and a bit simple and crude.

but……

It is indeed the most effective way.

Wu Qingqiu admitted that she was indeed a little bit impressed by this rich young businessman and had a slight affection for him. Although it was not a lot, compared to those ordinary young talents, she was fond of Li Lefan. The sensitivity is obviously higher, considering the value of the property worth more than tens of millions.

Li Lefan naturally doesn’t know much about Empress Wu Qingqiu’s inner thoughts. If he knew, he would probably be depressed to the point of vomiting blood and find it difficult to accept that he had become a licking dog in the eyes of the other party. He would definitely explain it and did not want this misunderstanding to continue. After all, The purpose of his generous gift was really to seek cooperation.

After receiving all the thousands of boxes of gifts.

The next step is to talk about cooperation.

Empress Wu Qingqiu acted quite gentle and generous, and proactively asked: “If you have any requests, please speak up quickly. If you can do it, I will definitely agree. If you can’t agree, it’s useless for me to nod. This Daji Empire does not belong to me alone. Although I speak of the Heavenly Constitution, I cannot decide everything with just one word.”

“Your Majesty, our request will definitely not make you feel embarrassed.”

Li Lefan said: “First of all, we want to buy a hundred acres of land in a prosperous place in the capital to build a large commercial hall to facilitate our business. Of course, we can pay for this land, no matter how high it is. We can all pay the price, but I wonder if His Majesty can agree and make a decision?”

He made the first request.

“Can.”

Empress Wu Qingqiu thought for a while, nodded and said: “I have several mansions under my name, which are located in the capital. Among them, there is a mansion in the east of the city with an area of ​​about 100 acres. It should be able to meet your needs.”

“Okay, Your Majesty, we will pay an additional five million taels of silver to purchase this land so that Your Majesty will not suffer a loss.”

Li Lefan said immediately.

Wu Qingqiu was shocked. The land price in Beijing, the central city of the Daji Empire, was indeed very high, but it was not as high as 50,000 taels of silver per acre. After all, the purchasing power of silver was very strong, even if it was The price of land in the core area of ​​​​the capital is between one thousand and five thousand taels per mu. The price of tens of thousands per mu is not at all, at least doubled. This is a very cost-effective deal, which even makes her a little embarrassed. He said: “Five million taels is too high. Otherwise, it would be three million. There is no need to pay so much.”

“It’s settled on five million taels. Your Majesty, we are not short of money and are willing to buy your Majesty’s land at a high premium. In the future, if the land in the capital appreciates or our business is successful, your Majesty, you will not feel that you are at a loss. It couldn’t be better.” Li Lefan said politely.

“Okay, if you are willing to pay a high premium, I have nothing to say.”

Wu Qingqiu nodded. These businessmen were stupid and had a lot of money. In order to please themselves, they actually went to this extent. However, she was a superior empress. It was impossible for her to have the slightest affection for a businessman. No matter how much she tried to please him, There is no possibility for both sides.

“Your Majesty, the second condition is that no matter what business our business does, we are only willing to pay one-tenth of the tax to Your Majesty. In other words, if we earn 100 taels, we can take out 10 taels and send them to Your Majesty. The tax rate is one-tenth of the internal funds. We will not pay more than that. In addition, we will not accept extortion from other forces. If anyone gives us additional authorization, please allow us to refuse, if we are threatened with violence. , we can also defend and counterattack without any punishment.”

Li Lefan said the second one.

“The tax rate is one-tenth. How can I get one-tenth of the money you earn?”

Wu Qingqiu was a little confused again. There was actually no commercial tax within the Daji Empire. The main force of paying taxes was the vast number of farmers. It was related to the output of the land. There were actually commercial taxes, but they were all attributed to various local counties. The imperial court does not receive any business tax. After all, within the Daji Empire, those who are able to do business have powerful and powerful people as their backers, and most of the profits they make go into the pockets of the powerful. Even the royal family will open some The imperial shop can obtain extra income, but due to fierce competition and serious corruption, there is not much profit to be gained. The ministers in the court do not want the emperor to know the huge benefits of doing business, so they always advise not to fight with the people. Li’s opposition was so fierce that Wu Qingqiu knew almost nothing about business, and no one else would teach her.

When she heard that Li Lefan was willing to take the initiative to pay the business tax, she waved her hands and said: “Forget it, it’s not easy for you to do some business. If you can’t make a few dollars, I won’t share your profits. How much you can make is up to you. No matter how much you take, you won’t suffer too big a loss.”

“Your Majesty, when our ‘Azure Merchant Store’ opens, the goods sold there will absorb at least one billion taels of silver-level consumption every year and bring in hundreds of millions of taels of profit. Your Majesty, you will be able to get tens of millions of taels. , Your Majesty, do you really not need it? If not, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your generous move.”

Li Lefan cupped his hands and said.

“What? The annual profits are tens of millions of taels, how is that possible?”

Empress Wu Qingqiu took a deep breath and felt unbelievable. She shook her head and said, “Don’t talk nonsense. No matter how good your business is, it is only a profit of tens of thousands or tens of thousands of taels a year. Hundreds of millions of taels, what are you doing?” What a joke, do you really think I don’t understand anything?”

“Your Majesty, how we do business is a commercial secret, but there is still a chance of making hundreds of millions of taels. I just want to confirm that your Majesty, you really don’t want the tens of millions of dividends every year. If that’s the case, If so, I would like to express my gratitude to Your Majesty.”

“No, I didn’t say no. Since it’s you who are begging me to accept the business tax, how can I refuse? The annual 10% dividend is settled. I will give orders to ensure your safety and you will not be harmed. How about letting you do business safely and without any worries from any force?”

Wu Qingqiu quickly added, retracting her previous words. Although she didn’t believe in her heart that these businessmen could make so much money through business, but what if they really did it? Even if they didn’t earn hundreds of millions taels, only tens of millions, it was still an incredible amount, which could greatly improve their financial situation. She couldn’t get it, so how could she say no.

“Okay, we will definitely send one-tenth of the dividend to His Majesty’s internal funds.”

Li Lefan nodded and said: “In addition, our last request is that the commercial stores we build and the various types of goods sold may cause considerable repercussions and bring about many changes. Some may cause some local turbulence, but regardless of I hope His Majesty will remain calm and support us in continuing to sell whatever changes it brings. However, we also guarantee that it will never harm the interests of the Daji Empire and will only bring huge benefits. Moreover, we will also specify which products will be sold. We can make a detailed function introduction in front of His Majesty, and only with your approval will we start selling in large quantities to the outside world. How about this?”

“There’s no need for an introduction. You can sell whatever you want, as long as it’s not weapons and armor. You businessmen are right under my nose. I’m sure you won’t cause any trouble that’s hard to clean up.”

Wu Qingqiu said lightly.

Yes, her ability to control the Epoch Empire is very weak. Most of the states and counties are in the hands of those aristocratic families, but she can still firmly control the Gyeonggi Empire. There is also a person who is responsible for intelligence collection. Institutions, and now that she has money, she can do more and have greater control over the empire. These outside businessmen will not bring much threat or influence to her, and she has enough of confidence.

but……

If these businessmen cause some trouble, she has a way to respond in time and minimize the negative effects. Anyway, she is now full of confidence and ready to do something big.

“In that case, thank you Your Majesty.”

Li Lefan smiled and cupped his hands again.

…

smoothly.

After successfully defeating the Empress Wu Qingqiu.

The next day, I got the yard covering an area of ​​100 acres, paid the silver, and completed the handover procedures.

Then, the rumble of renovation work began.

Li Lefan and the others used hundreds of engineering mechas, excavators and thousands of robots to first demolish all the buildings, then level the land, excavate the foundations, and then carry out infrastructure construction to build a huge commercial building. There are seven floors above ground and three floors below, which is ten stories high. The building has parking facilities for transport spaceships, and a parking lot is planned underground. The internal area of ​​the building is nearly one million square meters, creating a giant shopping mall with dozens of places. Tens of thousands of goods are available, allowing customers to purchase whatever they want, at extremely affordable prices.

Just the first day of construction of this mall caused great panic and exclamation in the capital.

Especially the engineering mechas and large excavators that are more than ten meters high, these behemoths, as well as their extremely high efficiency in work, have attracted countless people to watch, and even scared many timid people to the point of pissing, and even more unsatisfactory. The few soldiers in the Beijing camp were shocked and frightened when they saw the amazing destructive power of the engineering mecha, and they also saw its potential.

The armored beast.

They named this the Iron-clad Behemoth.

Then someone immediately reported this matter to the Empress Wu Qingqiu, and all the civil and military officials in the imperial court quickly learned about it. Some even went to the construction site to watch. They were shocked and at the same time felt great fear, fearing that these The giant iron-clad beasts are wreaking havoc in the capital without any control, otherwise the Epoch Empire will be in danger and everyone will be doomed.

However, Li Lefan also sent a lot of people to explain on his own initiative, saying that the construction machinery did not pose any threat and was only used for construction and would not actively cause damage. No one needed to worry, which dissuaded some people. concerns, and then seeing the foundations and walls built one after another quickly, it caused countless exclamations and at the same time eliminated the fear and worries of many people, because these scary steel monsters were indeed taken. They are here for work, and they will not suddenly go on a killing spree or cause crazy destruction.

But the next day in the Daji Empire’s court, this matter still triggered a very big discussion. The officials spoke fiercely and had mixed opinions, but most of them demanded that those merchants be expelled and those scary steel monsters should not be allowed. , acting wantonly in the capital.

“Your Majesty, those monsters are too scary. We don’t know when they will break out and hurt people. Once chaos breaks out, we are no match for those monsters. We’d better drive them out.”

“Not only must we drive away, but it is best to kill all those foreign merchants. We cannot allow them to continue to bewitch Your Majesty. If they continue to tolerate and support traitors, those foreign merchants will definitely destroy our Daji Empire.” You can’t help but be on guard.”

“That’s right, kill those foreign merchants and seize all those armored monsters. They must not be used anymore. Otherwise, the people in the capital will be uneasy, and the entire empire will be uneasy, which will inevitably bring disaster!”

I heard the voices of the ministers shouting and killing.

Empress Wu Qingqiu had to say: “Ministers, those businessmen have assured me that those movements are just normal construction activities and will not cause any damage. Moreover, they have not done any damage at all. How can they be afraid because of worry?” , just make a move of exclusion? If you overreact and offend those foreign businessmen, wouldn’t it bring more disaster, so we still have to deal with it carefully. ”

However, her words were not particularly impressive to the civil and military officials, and the shouts of beating and killing were still quite intense.

Even Wu Qingqiu, under the persuasion of the ministers, wavered slightly and considered whether to suspend cooperation to avoid irreparable consequences. After all, those armored monsters were too scary, even ordinary ones. No martial arts master can cause damage to her, as if she is invincible. What if those monsters suddenly break into the palace and take away her throne? What should she do?

Suspicion?

Empress Wu Qingqiu couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious.

It’s just that she hasn’t made up her mind yet and plans to wait and see again, because if she takes decisive action and angers those foreign businessmen, it may not bring good results, so she must take it slowly.

So we discussed it for three days.

Those construction machines have finished leveling the land, laid the foundation, and officially started construction. They are incredibly efficient. Just a few dozen of them can be equivalent to tens of thousands of laborers. The infrastructure work is completed quickly and well. , there are new changes every day, which has caused great anxiety among many manual workers. After all, once there are too many armored monsters, will they still have a way to survive? Do they still need them to work?

Therefore, the ordinary lower-class people in the capital, who were just curious at first, are now really worried.

The officials in the court and the empress Wu Qingqiu were also a little relieved. In addition, Li Lefan took the initiative to take out five million taels of silver, saying it was a “scare fee” to appease the people of the capital. The officials who received the money It’s natural for us not to make those extreme remarks anymore and to be cautious and observant.