Chapter 212 Getting Rich
Soon, a few hooligans slowly approached Gong Tianwu, but when they got within seven or eight meters, the leader suddenly opened his eyes wide in fear.

Then, as if he had seen a ghost, he immediately turned around and left without looking back! The remaining few were stunned for a moment, and then had the same reaction.

Gong Tianwu understood immediately that these local tyrants who had been making a living in Sansheng City for a long time and were involved in the gray industrial chain must be the first to be caught!
Know who you can mess with and who you dare not touch at all.

They don’t need to know their specific identities at all. As long as they can determine that he is an important figure in the Marquis’ Mansion, they will definitely run away immediately.

After realizing this, Gong Tianwu’s heart suddenly moved, and he went to meet the scoundrel who turned around and left:

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, stop right there.”

This rascal felt a little guilty, but seeing that Gong Tianwu was just a young boy, he stood up bravely and said:
“What do you want, young master?”

Gong Tianwu said:

“You know I came from the Marquis’s Mansion, right?”

The rascal smiled bitterly and nodded.

Gong Tianwu took out three copper coins and gave them to him:
“Take me to find someone, so that we can use you for good.”

With the help of the local thugs, Gong Tianwu found his third uncle in just five minutes.

At this time, he was talking to a Hu man, holding an abacus in his hand and muttering something. The Hu man frowned, obviously puzzled by Cui Ziyang’s explanation.

Gong Tianwu walked closer and heard Cui Ziyang trying to explain the price and transaction details in a half-baked nonsense mixed with gestures.

Although the Hu man didn’t quite understand what he said, he nodded in the end. After thinking for a while, he took a sheepskin from the side and gave it to him as a reward.

After finishing this order, Cui Ziyang wiped his sweat, picked up the water bag next to him and gulped down a few gulps, then his eyes widened:
“Seventh brother, why are you here?”

“Third uncle, I came to see you.”

Gong Tianwu walked over and glanced at the surrounding Hu people and their livestock: “How is business?”

“Not bad. We have already concluded two deals today.”

Cui Ziyang patted the sheepskin in his hand and smiled somewhat complacently:

“You came just in time. Take this lamb skin back to your mother and ask her to sew a jacket for you.”

Gong Tianwu said:

“This is not the place to talk, uncle. I have something very important to discuss with you.”

Cui Ziyang saw that Gong Tianwu was speaking seriously and said:
“Okay, let’s go over there and talk.”

Arriving at a secluded place, Gong Tianwu said to Cui Ziyang without further ado:

“There’s going to be a war.”

Cui Ziyang said in astonishment:

“what?”

Gong Tianwu said seriously:
“Father will soon lead the army to fight against the Naiman tribe.”

“This news is only known by a few people now, so the prices of food, horse feed, weapons and everything related to the war will soon rise.”

“At the same time, once the expedition against the Naimans is successful, the prices of gold, silver, livestock and other goods that may have been looted will inevitably fall.”

After hearing what Gong Tianwu said, Cui Ziyang’s eyes suddenly lit up. It was obvious that he, who possessed the B-type talent of “making money in a good way”, had understood the implied meaning.

Then Cui Ziyang gritted his teeth, his face flushed a little, and said:
“Is your information reliable?”

Gong Tianwu was surprised and said:

“Of course it’s reliable. Wait, Third Uncle, why are you making such a gnashing expression?”

Cui Ziyang smiled bitterly and said:

“This is a good opportunity, but I don’t have enough capital here, so I can only think of asking Wang Mazi for some money.”

Gong Tianwu laughed and said:

“Yanwang loan? No need to bother, I have brought the capital.”

After saying that, Gong Tianwu took out his purse and handed it over.

When Cui Ziyang opened it, his eyes widened. He probably had never handled such a large sum of money in his life. His hands were shaking.

“This, this Seventh Brother. You.”

Gong Tianwu said very straightforwardly:

“I’m leaving now. You should hurry up and get it done. This news could spread at any time.”

***
A few days later, Gong Tianwu was sitting in the yard teasing two lively puppies.

Although they are only ten days old, they are already jumping around and running around, reaching the level of ordinary puppies at one month or even more.

What’s even more exaggerated is that their teeth have grown out at this time, and they have begun to try hard to chew bones, and have shown a strong sense of territory.

Yesterday morning, Cui Xiaoyi discovered that there was a big rat that had been bitten to death at the door. Two puppies were wagging their tails and standing beside it to show their treasure, with the same bright smile as Mr. Chai.

It was even more exaggerated at noon today. A puppy ran over to Gong Tianwu holding a sparrow in its mouth. It had a smiling face and its little tail was wagging like a fan. And the sparrow was not dead yet!
Suddenly, the courtyard door was pushed open, and my third uncle Cui Ziyang rushed in, followed by a dark-skinned man who was obviously taller and stronger.

This is Gong Tianwu’s second uncle, Cui Zicheng. Because he is a simple and honest person, he farms in his hometown thirty miles outside the city. When he is free, he goes into the mountains to hunt and collect herbs to supplement the family income.

Cui Ziyang usually pays attention to his own image, and he insists on being clean and generous, but now he has a messy stubble, his eyes are red, and his dark circles are very obvious.

At first glance, it seemed that he had not slept last night, his hair was a little messy, there were some grass scraps on his clothes, and he had a dirty bag on his shoulders.

Of course, Cui Zicheng is not much better.

“Seventh brother!” Cui Ziyang couldn’t help but shout as he entered the door, his voice was hoarse but full of excitement.

Gong Tianwu raised his head and was stunned when he saw the two of them.
“Third uncle, second uncle, what happened to you? Didn’t you sleep all night?”

At this time, Cui Xiaoyi also came out after hearing the sound, and immediately said in surprise:

“Ah, what did you two do?”

Cui Zicheng didn’t say anything, and directly stuffed the bag on his shoulder into Gong Tianwu’s hand. Gong Tianwu opened it and saw that there were 36 silver treasures and six strings of copper coins, shining silver, and the copper coins were neatly strung.

Gong Tianwu raised his eyebrows, looked up at the two of them, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly:
“It seems that the information has been used?”

Cui Ziyang laughed loudly and patted Gong Tianwu on the shoulder. The fatigue on his face disappeared, replaced by full of pride:

“It’s useful! It’s useful! Brother Qi, this news is really timely!”

Then he lowered his voice and said:
“After you left, I thought I couldn’t do it alone, and my second brother happened to come to the city to sell mountain products, so I asked him to help.”

“I went to an acquaintance and bought 3,000 arrows and more than 10 dan of grain. I persuaded him to reduce the price by 15% (a 15% discount). As a result, the market price soon increased by 30%!”

Gongtian Wuqi said:
“Why would it increase so much? Even if the army started preparing for war and purchasing supplies, and then the news leaked out, the maximum profit would be 15% right?”

Cui Ziyang saw the teapot on the table at this time, picked it up and shook it, then he didn’t care that it was cold tea, he just slurped it into the spout of the teapot, then he exhaled and whispered:
“I asked your second uncle to go to a few taverns, and then pretended to be drunk and spread some rumors, saying that the Naiman tribe on the grassland was coming to kill us.”

Gong Tianwu was stunned for a moment, then immediately praised:
“Wonderful!”

The pubs that Cui Zicheng likes to go to are always filled with all kinds of people from the lower class, and information among these people spreads very quickly.

If some people were still skeptical about Cui Zicheng’s lies before, then once the army started purchasing supplies, it almost confirmed the rumor.

Then Cui Ziyang said with great joy:

“We have already shipped out about 60% of the goods this morning. I think the remaining 40% is not yet at the top and is worth a gamble, so I came here to ask your opinion.”

Gong Tianwu laughed and counted out thirty silver treasures before handing them to Cui Xiaoyi:

“Mom, you can keep this money first.”

Then Gong Tianwu divided the remaining silver treasures and copper coins into three parts, kept one for himself, and gave the other two to his second and third uncles.

“Let’s divide the money we earn first, and then sell the remaining goods.”

Cui Ziyang was shocked and quickly refused:
“It can’t be done, it can’t be done!”

“Seventh brother, you put up the capital, you found the way, and you still call us uncles. Do you want others to stab me in the back?”

Cui Zicheng also blushed and said:
“Seventh brother, this won’t do. Can your uncle charge you for helping me? If you really want to, just treat me and the third brother to a drink.”

Cui Xiaoyi was also a little stunned, but at this time he also persuaded:
“Wow, this is your uncle. If you give him money, isn’t that a slap in their face?”

Gong Tianwu thought for a moment and said:
“Then, Mom, you can go to the market and buy half a pig and three sheep. Have my second uncle take them back to my grandparents. This will be my way of showing my filial piety.”

When Cui Xiaoyi heard this, she immediately agreed with a smile on her face. She was very happy that her son was filial and willing to spend money to help his mother’s family.

Then Gong Tianwu thought about it and pushed a few silver treasures to his third uncle.

“My two uncles helped me yesterday, that was a favor, but I still have some goods to sell, so it will definitely take another two days. I can’t let you starve, right?”

“Uncle San, please keep this money. It will cover your expenses for the next few days.”

This time, my third uncle and my second uncle looked at each other and agreed readily.

Cui Xiaoyi then cooked a large pot of noodles, added sesame oil, and poached four eggs so that the two younger brothers could eat and drink their fill.

The weather was getting hot, and the two were very tired. After eating, they wiped their mouths, dragged out a cool mat, put it on the floor of the main room, fell asleep, and soon they were snoring loudly.

Gong Tianwu hesitated for a moment and said to Cui Xiaoyi:

“Mom, my third uncle usually works as a middleman for the Hu people. I heard him say that it’s quite hard and he wants to save money to open a store. This time we happened to be lucky enough to make some money, why don’t we give it to help him?”

When Cui Xiaoyi heard this, of course he agreed without hesitation, and thought it was just his brother’s idea. However, he never expected that it was all planned by Gong Tianwu from beginning to end.

“Yeah.”

Gong Tianwu then continued:
“Didn’t Third Uncle say that 40% of the goods were still unsold? After these goods are sold, I plan to use the money to open a warehouse, and Third Uncle will be the head shopkeeper in the warehouse.”

“Now that the store has just opened, there is not much to do, so let Third Uncle take care of it first. When there is more work in the future, Second Uncle can come and help. It is better than digging for food in the dirt.”

Of course Cui Xiaoyi had nothing to say after hearing this. She thought what her son said was quite good and of course she would not object.

This was also part of Gong Tianwu’s plan, he would hide behind the scenes and leave the limelight to others.

***
Ten days later,

Cui’s warehouse opened in an inconspicuous place in the city.

Gong Tianwu usually doesn’t care about anything and will only take action when he thinks there is a big business opportunity. As for the rest of the time, he leaves it to his third uncle.

Anyway, he has a great talent for making money, and he also has the official backing of the Marquis’ Mansion, so he won’t lose money.

What was surprising was that, although a large amount of military supplies had already been purchased, the Marquis’ Mansion had remained on hold, causing the prices of food and weapons on the market to fall rapidly again.

Everyone just thought that the previous military deployment was a rumor spread by someone.

Another half a month passed like this, and suddenly, Qin Hai, a general under the Marquis, returned in triumph with an army.

The army had about three thousand men, but they brought back more than four thousand prisoners and countless cattle, horses and sheep.

Even Gong Tianwu realized at this time that the Marquis was using the strategy of “repairing the plank road in the open and marching through Chencang in secret”.

He divided his Shengjie Army into small teams (five to ten people) and mixed them into the caravans entering and leaving the city every day. He would transport them out of the city in small groups, and then gather them at an agreed location for long-distance raids.

The Naiman people must have spies in the city, and the spies would have passed on the news of the military expedition as soon as possible. The other side must have been on high alert for the first few days.

But the army was slow to arrive, and it was impossible to gather a large army on the grassland for a long time. The spy must give an explanation, so he could only report back that someone was spreading rumors.

So the Naiman tribe must have become slack, and at this time the army led by Qin Hai suddenly appeared and launched a night attack with an overwhelming force, which must have led to a great victory.

However, the Naiman tribe was composed of more than a hundred tribes, large and small, and also had many vassal tribes. They must have suffered a great loss after being attacked like this, but they could not even be said to have suffered serious damage.

Of course, for other ordinary people, this wave will definitely not bring any business opportunities or dividends. After all, the Marquis also has the Fan family, a military merchant family with whom he has cooperated for many years.

However, my third uncle Cui Ziyang had worked as a manager in the Marquis’ Mansion for a year before and had some connections of his own. In addition, he now had the capital provided by his nephew, so he also found business opportunities in it.

After all, the spoils of war are actually divided into two parts. One part is the public spoils obtained by the entire army, and the other part is the private spoils obtained by the soldiers.

(End of this chapter)