The Glory After Rebirth [重生之尊荣]

Chapter 460- 462

Chapter 460: Negotiations with the Luohai Kingdom

In his last life, Ling Zhaowu, unconcerned about those silver ingots, had left the mansion after the residents killed Wang Xiangxin, paying no special attention to the person heading the group of Jiangzhou residents who'd intruded into Zhu You's abode.

Though somewhat disappointed, Ling Zhang knew the recruitment of talents would take time. Currently, the first priority was to further stabilize the domestic situation and help the people restore their lives. As the imperial court had given people hope, those who had political aspirations would sooner or later recommend themselves one way or another.

When they had finished talking about those silver ingots found in Zhu You's dwelling, Ling Zhang filled Ling Zhaowu in on what he'd seen and heard in Pingtao City, and showed him the couple of ideas he'd listed.

"Maritime trade is indeed quite lucrative and has huge market potential," commented Ling Zhaowu after reading the note, "but it's impossible to achieve success in maritime trade without the support of a powerful prop, and it's inadvisable to rush into it when you're not a hundred percent ready. You need to take baby steps. Rest assured, I'll help you with everything you want to do."

This would indeed take time. Ling Zhang knew that he was experiencing a carry-over of thrill caused by what he'd seen and heard in Pingtao City. He was so excited that he was only too anxious to immediately make arrangements for a commercial fleet to be built. However, from the vantage point of the present, neither he nor the Ling family was fully prepared to start a business of that scale. It was premature to talk about this matter at this point in time.

"You may well say that, Father. I got a bit carried away," said Ling Zhang calmly after subduing that urge inside him.

Ling Zhaowu smiled. This was one of the reasons why he was proud of Ling Zhang – Ling Zhang was willing to heed others' advice and always introspected about his problems when he needed to. Maybe because Ling Zhang had been through a rebirth, he seemed to seldom feel the kind of impulsions that most youngsters on occasions felt and found rather difficult to repress. Before Ling Zhang became the empress, this had struck Ling Zhaowu as faintly regrettable, but after Ling Zhang became the empress, Ling Zhaowu felt lucky that this was the case.

Next the father and son discussed the matter of opening stores. Now that they had plans to establish a chamber of commerce in Shengzhou to gain a foothold there, Ling Zhaowu had made quite some preparations. The necessity of keeping Ling Zhang's and the Ling family's involvement in this matter secret had made the task more difficult. Fortunately, Ling Zhaowu was very experienced in this regard. He made full use of those businesses and stewards that Ji Yin had gifted Ling Zhang with, and prepared to recruit his former subordinates. By "former subordinates", Ling Zhaowu was actually referring to the group of men that he had licked into shape in his last incarnation, all of whom had been absolutely loyal to him. Ling Zhaowu knew each and every one of them like the back of his hand, and was also fully aware of the situation they were presently in. What would take some doing was to recruit them again and have them swear allegiance to him for a second time.

After coming to know about his father's plans, Ling Zhang naturally brought up the matter that he'd been meaning to get to the bottom of. "Father, what did you do for a living in your last incarnation exactly?"

"I was in business. Haven't I told you already? I was a merchant. In my last life, the situation in the three countries was quite chaotic, and for a business to thrive, its owner needed to have enough helpers, which was why I had a group of men under my command," replied Ling Zhaowu.

Ling Zhang looked at him disbelievingly. "Was it really as simple as that?"

Ling Zhaowu answered, "It was. I had no interest in any other things. Still, although I was uninterested in any other things, there were still a lot of people who tried to rope me in to become an official in the imperial court and work for them, but I turned down them all."