Chapter 781.3: Don't Even Think About It

Li Minghui stared at his face for a while, then suddenly burst out laughing. “Haha! Kid, you’ve got backbone! To tell you the truth, that Laxi of your army suits my temperament better too. I’m just as sick of those bastards who spend all day nagging in my ear, as if Chalas had been chanted to death by their prayers...”

At that point, he held his glass and stared blankly for a long while. Then he suddenly sighed again and shook his head softly. “But sometimes I also think... you really can’t do without those people.”

“You’re right. Our leader understands that too. Those people aren’t suited for fighting, but there are some things we simply can’t do without them, which is why he has kept them in the army all this time... Your glass is empty. Allow me to toast you again.” Velu respectfully picked up the bottle and moved to refill Li Minghui’s glass.

However, Li Minghui reached out and pushed his hand away. “Courtesy goes both ways.”

Seeing Velu’s surprised expression, Li Minghui smiled, poured them both a glass, casually drank his, then continued, “You’re a lot more likable than Nihark, so I’ll give you an extra hint. The Xilande Empire doesn’t just intend to sell us cement and steel. They also plan to import some naval advisers from us. Also, I get the feeling they’re quite interested in naval equipment too.”

Velu’s expression grew slightly grave. It wasn’t the Xilande Empire’s navy that concerned him. Those ships couldn’t sail up the Tasan River anyway. At most, they could cruise around near Mammoth City.

They had already leased a stretch of coastal land to the believers from Silvermoon Bay, and many of the people there had interests tied to the New Alliance. Even if the Xilande Empire wanted to bombard the harbor, it would have to think carefully about the consequences. In the end, victory would still have to be decided on land. What truly worried him was something else.

“They’re already that wealthy?” He couldn’t help but ask.

Li Minghui laughed. “I doubt it. They’re just slapping their face until it swells so they can pretend they’re fat. The money they’re giving us isn’t exactly a hot commodity either. We have to put in some effort just to unload it. You’re a soldier, and so am I, so I’ll speak plainly. The banks in the New Alliance offered us Silver for every Xilande currency at a ratio of 1:100. The advantage is that they can absorb the entire amount at once. The disadvantage is that the price is outrageously low! We also contacted the banks in Port Gallon. Those are basically run by New Alliance people and the factions they’ve fostered. Their offer was a little better than the banks back in the New Alliance, but they were only willing to go as high as 1:80, and they only want 5,000,000,000. After all, they only recently helped Baiyue Strait Development Company absorb a batch of Xilande currency, so they’re temporarily saturated.”

In fact, it wasn’t just the Baiyue Strait Development Company they had helped. They had also helped some of the old local nobles convert Xilande currency into Gallons.

Li Minghui had learned all of it through his secretaries.

There were plenty of merchants traveling between Port Gallon and the Baiyue Strait through French Fry Harbor. Sit down at the bar in any harbor tavern, or simply ask the staff working there, and they could learn quite a bit.

Velu’s pupils flickered slightly. He keenly sensed the opportunity the soldier-turned-president was revealing to him and he asked, “How much do you have left?”

Li Minghui smiled at the perceptive young man and continued, “We’ve already resold 4,000,000,000 to private banks in the New Alliance, and another 4,000,000,000 in Port Gallon. After subtracting what we spent buying construction materials, we had a billion left. But just now, Nihark handed us another 10,000,000,000. So at the moment, we have 11,000,000,000 Xilande currency on hand.”

Velu revealed a troubled look. “That’s too much... 1,000,000,000 would be manageable, but 10,000,000,000 is a little difficult for us too. We also need Silver for reconstruction.”

The Mammoth State government did have a reserve of Silver. The labor-dispatch companies were also settled in Silver, generating a monthly profit of 10,000,000 Silver.

Velu understood exactly what President Li Minghui meant. He wanted to pay part of the labor costs in Xilande currency, which would effectively allow the Southern Sea New Alliance to dump part of its holdings. In exchange, Mammoth State could get a favorable exchange rate.

As long as it was better than the 1:100 offered by the New Alliance’s private banks, there was room to negotiate.

Although the neighboring states had imposed an embargo on Mammoth State, Xilande currency could still be unloaded through Port Gallon. As long as the Empire continued to exist, Xilande currency would retain value.

At the very least, it was far more solid than the Southern Sea New Alliance’s old credits.

If that was difficult to understand, one could simply think of Xilande currency as “soybean vouchers,” “cotton vouchers,” “sugar vouchers,” or “mining scrip.”

The Mammoth State authorities did not have to worry about ending up with a pile of worthless paper they couldn’t spend. They might even earn a little from the spread.

The only problem was that the primary-sector resources Xilande currency could buy were not what Mammoth State needed. They did not have powerful military backing and therefore had no time to begin developing light industry from something as basic as shirt production. They didn’t even have time to speculate in bulk commodities.

But just then, Velu suddenly thought of something and urgently asked, “Can you get the Xilande Empire’s discounted prices on cement and steel?”

Li Minghui nodded in approval. “Yes. And it’s cement and steel produced for them by the Army. The quality is impeccable, yet the price is absurdly cheap. But to be frank, these things take up too much space when there’s too much of them. We can’t possibly absorb all their inventory in the short term, unless we decide to build a 14th artificial island.”

“We need steel and cement!” Velu stared at him with shining eyes. “We can pay you in Silver. You pay the Empire’s factories in Xilande currency. Then whatever cement and steel you don’t need can be reloaded at Port Gallon and shipped to us.”

It wasn’t only currency that could be transferred. The preferential terms attached to the loan agreement could be transferred as well.

The Southern Sea New Alliance did not need to contribute anything. It merely had to pass the Empire’s 50% discount coupon on to Mammoth State’s government, which also needed reconstruction materials. Even if it made no profit on the difference, that did not matter.

A government agency was not a profit-making institution in the first place and had no need to worry about earning money. As long as it could quickly convert useless currency into Silver that could be used to pay Southern Sea New Alliance employees, that alone would already count as an impressive political achievement.

Looking at how quickly the young man adapted, Li Minghui’s eyes filled with even more approval.

This kid was sharp.

Looks like there were a few capable people in Laxi’s ranks.

“That makes things easy. Our banks can provide you with infrastructure materials at 50% of the market price. That’s actually the same discount the Xilande Empire gave us. You’ve suffered a disaster, and I would honestly feel bad making a profit off the difference... Of course, this agreement depends on the Empire not canceling the preferential terms it gave us. The Council certainly won’t agree to me using the property of survivors from the southern seas to subsidize some place they can’t even find on a map. I hope your side can understand that.”

“Thank you so much!” Delight appeared on Velu’s face. He immediately stood, raised his glass respectfully with both hands before he continued, “Thank you for your generosity toward the survivors of Mammoth State... Please allow me to toast you!”

Watching Velu drain his glass in one gulp, Li Minghui smiled and waved a hand, saying, “No need to be so formal,” before raising his own glass and emptying it as well.

For him, this round of drinking was far more enjoyable than the previous one.

At the same time, Nihark had just gotten out of the car in the harbor district. Drunk out of his mind, he said goodbye to the secretary who had escorted him all the way there, then returned to the ship with the help of his attendants.

As he crossed the deck, a cool breeze brushed across the back of his neck, making him shiver involuntarily. He immediately looked around warily.

Only calm waves surrounded him. No one was staring at him, and there certainly weren’t any New Alliance troops lying in ambush, waiting to make a move.

Realizing he had been overly paranoid, Nihark’s old face reddened with embarrassment. Even so, he still muttered a curse under his breath. “That damned New Alliance...”

Meanwhile, the secretary who had seen Nihark off returned to the North Island Grand Hotel. By coincidence, he encountered the president downstairs just as Li Minghui was seeing off the envoy from the Mammoth State authorities.

After his secretary returned, Li Minghui got into the car. While instructing him to drive back to the presidential residence, he also briefly explained the agreement he had just reached with the Mammoth State government. “... Draft the contract as soon as possible. For the details, discuss it with my staff and see if there’s anything that needs to be added.”

The secretary nodded seriously, though a trace of hesitation remained on his face. “Signing this kind of contract with the Mammoth State authorities... Wouldn’t that be somewhat unfair to the Xilande Empire?”

“Fair?” As though he had heard something hilarious, Li Minghui gave a humorless snort. “That bastard Siwen talks a lot of shit, but there was one thing he said that was absolutely right. The New Alliance is good in every way except that it’s too merciful. Treating people with civility is a good thing, but treating animals with civility too... that’s just wasteful.”

“Even in Ideal City, money isn’t omnipotent. Yet some slave owners have only enjoyed a few good days and already think having money means he can do whatever he wants... Heh.”

Watching the nighttime scenery streak past outside the car window, he continued unhurriedly, “Didn’t they say they weren’t short of money? Then let them pay to learn their lesson.”

To be fair, Nihark really should be grateful that he had been negotiating with Li Minghui rather than Chalas, who had already been burned to ashes by the people of the southern seas. If that bastard had won the civil war, he probably would have poured the wine directly over Nihark’s head and humiliated him on the spot.

Then he would have used naval guns to blast the Xilande Empire’s ports to pieces, set fires all the way back to Nihark’s home in the Heavenly City, and discussed face-to-face just how not short of money the Xilande Empire really was.

Li Minghui curled his lip and put the affairs of the loan aside.

...

At that very moment, Mammoth State, which had only just suffered a devastating flood, was once again engulfed in raging flames...

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