Chapter 1046: Chapter 258: Ni Wenjun’s Generous Gift
“It’s like this, Jiu Si, the new dynasty has just been established, the treasury is empty, and there isn’t enough grain. Both Zhao Pusheng and I are competing for this grain, yet the allocation of this grain is under the control of that Emperor Xu.”
“I, Brother, have a quick temper and don’t get along with that Xu, which leads to him allocating very little grain to Brother. I lost my temper and argued with him, unexpectedly, that Xu would report me.”
“He went to Old Peng to report me for insubordination and disrespect towards him as the Emperor. He claims he can’t continue ruling and wants to abdicate to me.”
“Of course, Old Peng refused to comply, and after some appeasement, he came up with an idea: they won’t distribute the grain this time, we need to recruit soldiers and expand the army, so we’ll have to figure out ways to gather grain ourselves, and ultimately how many soldiers we can recruit, all depends on us.”
“Unexpectedly, Zhao Pusheng early on colluded with Ming Yuzhen from Shu, and Ming Yuzhen supported him with 200,000 stones of grain.”
“Brother, I truly have no other choice, so I’ve come to see if my brothers can think of something for me, lend me some grain, so that Brother won’t lose face.”
Ni Wenjun was somewhat embarrassed, after all, as the older brother, asking the younger brother for help always had a few bits of embarrassment.
Chen Jie listened to these words and looked at Ni Wenjun, saying: “Brother, what are you saying, it’s just some grain, right? Your younger brother will lend you.”
Ni Wenjun looked at Chen Jie and asked: “Really?”
Chen Jie said: “What’s our relationship? A bit of grain is nothing, how much does Brother want?”
Ni Wenjun replied: “Not much, just 200,000 stones will be enough.”
Chen Jie said: “That won’t do, let’s make it 400,000 stones. We need to outdo them and ensure Brother doesn’t lose face.”
Upon hearing this, Ni Wenjun was overjoyed and said: “Haha, really Jiu Si, 400,000 stones?”
Chen Jie replied: “What need is there between Brother and me for saying more, what is mine is also Brother’s.”
Ni Wenjun listened to this and looked at Chen Jie, saying: “Brother, with your words, there’s nothing else for Brother to say, Brother is also yours.”
Chen Jie looked at Ni Wenjun and asked: “Brother Ni, do you need this grain all at once or what?”
Ni Wenjun replied: “I haven’t recruited soldiers yet, taking it all at once wouldn’t have anywhere to store, fortunately, my defense area is very close to you, so when I need grain, my brother can transport it over.”
Upon hearing these words, Chen Jie had a foundation in his heart, if he had to allocate 400,000 stones of grain all at once, Chen Jie feared he would need to make arrangements.
However, if given a month or two, Chen Jie wouldn’t even need to dip into his own reserve of 2 million stones of grain, only needing Shen Wansan’s Suzhou trade fleet to transport grain over.
Thinking of this, Chen Jie looked at Ni Wenjun and asked: “Brother, what defense area are you referring to just now?”
Ni Wenjun replied: “Oh, it’s Qianjiang Prefecture and Tianmen Prefecture next to your Huangzhou Prefecture. These two are Brother’s defense areas.”
Chen Jie listened to this, pondered slightly, and asked: “Brother, what thoughts do you have regarding sources of soldiers?”
Ni Wenjun frowned and replied: “I don’t know, will try to gather them.”
Chen Jie further asked: “Brother, what thoughts do you have regarding overlapping provision for soldiers and grain in the future?”
Ni Wenjun frowned and replied: “This, Brother hasn’t thought about either.”
“How do you maintain local stability?”
Ni Wenjun shook his head, clueless.
“How to develop commerce?”
Ni Wenjun was equally baffled, all this stuff, who could know, the city was conquered, he truly couldn’t manage this.
Seeing Ni Wenjun like this, Chen Jie contemplated for a moment and said: “Brother, how come you’re not prepared for anything, if this is the case, these two prefectures might be hard to govern.”
Ni Wenjun frowned and said: “Well, Brother is from humble beginnings, hasn’t learned about these things, I’m skilled in fighting, but these?”
Ni Wenjun wore a troubled face but suddenly looked at Chen Jie and said: “Brother, aren’t we good brothers?”
Chen Jie responded: “Brother, what do you mean, of course we’re good brothers.”
Ni Wenjun said: “If we’re good brothers it’s easier, you’re good at governing, I see your Huangzhou Prefecture managed orderly, this way, my Qianjiang Prefecture, and Tianmen Prefecture, will all be yours, you help Brother.”
Chen Jie listened to these words, frowned, and said: “Brother, isn’t this inappropriate.”
“What’s inappropriate, you and I are brothers, as just said, what’s mine is also yours. Hence, these two prefectures are yours, Brother won’t interfere with internal affairs, won’t govern, only focus on military, as long as every month you provide Brother with a batch of grain as military pay, it’ll suffice, the rest don’t worry, Brother will handle it.”
Upon hearing Ni Wenjun’s words, Chen Jie sank into contemplation, this deal could be made.
Although Ni Wenjun is his elder brother, but money matters between brothers are clear, Brother is not good at governing, yet he is, and to suddenly gain control of two prefectures means a worthwhile deal.
Equivalent to doubling his strength out of thin air.
And frankly, managing Ni Wenjun’s logistics, Ni Wenjun focuses on warfare, practically means Ni Wenjun is his Great General, doesn’t it?
Thus, he’d possess the land of three prefectures, with Brother Ni at the forefront, he could secretly develop.
This indeed suited his maxim of ‘hoard grain, build high walls, delay claiming kingship’ perfectly!
With this thought, Chen Jie looked at Ni Wenjun and said: “Brother Ni, I can help you, no doubt between us brothers, but my identity needs to remain confidential, after all, I still have to mind the court.”
Ni Wenjun listened to this and said: “Rest assured, Brother, your identity, Old Peng has ordered, unless you voluntarily reveal it, otherwise, none of us are allowed to expose your identity.”