The Republic of China: A Letter of Appointment Creates the Most Powerful Warlord

"Don't worry, don't worry. Look at you, you're anxious again." Zhang Ye, cigarette dangling from his lips, patted his shoulder cheerfully and said softly, "My business is a long-term one. I have to do it step by step."

"It just so happens that you have some connections in Donglu Province, so we can definitely work together."

"Okay, okay, okay, whatever cooperation you suggest is fine. As long as I can make money, I can do anything."

At this moment, Fu Yongyi was already blinded by money, and his eyes were full of fiery light when he looked at Zhang Ye.

After all these years of military service, he only earned about 200,000 or 300,000 yuan, which he earned bit by bit at the risk of his life.

Now that he has a stable way to make money, let alone tens of thousands of dollars a month, he would be very happy even if he could make ten thousand yuan a month.

"Look, my business is very simple. It's legal and compliant, and I have a proper license." Zhang Ye brought the newspaper business he had been researching for a long time to the table and began to make plans: "I want to open a newspaper in Donglu Province. So far, the teacher has helped me with the licensing issue."

"I'm looking for you, brother, to save myself the trouble and effort. After all, I'm in Jingshan and there are some things I can't go over to handle. So, I want to ask you to look after me and help me handle some relationships on the ground."

"Hey, that's a good thing." As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Yongyi agreed without hesitation, patting his chest and assuring: "Brother, you're right to come to me for this matter. I'm not bragging to you, but in Donglu, I have comrades everywhere. I can talk to any garrison in any county."

By this time, Fu Yongyi was almost sober. To be on the safe side, he took a cautious approach and warned in a low voice.

"But there's one thing I can do. My abilities are limited. I can handle ground-level matters, but if it involves relationships with higher-ups, I'm powerless."

"Hahaha, you're worrying too much, bro." Zhang Ye laughed heartily upon hearing this and immediately gave him a reassurance: "Don't worry about the higher-ups. The teacher has already made arrangements for me. He also has connections at the Donglu Provincial Government Affairs Office, so there will be absolutely no problem."

"I'm looking for you simply to deal with the situation on the ground. If there are any ignorant thugs, or local rich and petty officials who hinder the distribution of our newspaper..."

"Then what are you still talking about? Anyone who dares to stand in my way of making money will be arrested and executed!"

Without waiting for Zhang Ye to finish his words, Fu Yongyi slammed the table and said in a very firm tone.

"Don't worry, brother. Leave this kind of small matter to me from now on. I will definitely handle it for you clearly. The newspaper business will be booming and you will make a fortune every day!"

"Okay, since you said that, I won't say anything. It's all in the wine."

Zhang Ye picked up the cup in front of him and drank it all in one gulp, acting quite generously.

Seeing that the matter had been settled, Fu Yongyi stared at him for a long time, then smiled embarrassedly.

"Hehehe, brother, I can handle the matter, but this is the profit..."

"I understand. How could I not understand this?" Zhang Ye wiped the oil stains from the corner of his mouth, leaned forward and introduced in a low voice.

"Brother, let me give you a number. The entire population of Donglu Province is over 30 million. Based on a 5% literacy rate, that's nearly 2 million people."

"Of these two million people, I only need a 20 percent purchase rate, which would mean 400,000 newspapers a day."

"A newspaper costs two cents. Four hundred thousand copies makes eight thousand dollars. Eight thousand a day makes two hundred and forty thousand dollars a month."

When he heard 240,000 a month, Fu Yongyi's eyes turned red. He picked up the wine glass and took a gulp, then urged impatiently.

"Go on, go on."

"I'm not a stingy person, and this business doesn't belong to me alone, so I can't give you too much of the share."

Zhang Ye looked into his eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then made a decision.

"How about this, I'll give you a share of the dividend every month. It depends on how much you earn, or how little you earn. It'll be calculated based on the sales. The cost will be yours, so just don't think it's too little."

"Not less, not less, not at all!" Upon hearing this, Fu Yongyi quickly waved his hands with a satisfied look on his face. He opened his mouth so happily that you could even see his back teeth.

"Brother, you're really generous. You're getting 20,000 yuan in dividends a month, and you're doing legitimate business without any risk. To be honest, I feel like this money is burning my fingers."

"Well, that's not the way to say it. We can all make money together." Zhang Ye acted very casually, lit another cigarette, and joked, "We two brothers are like brothers who got to know each other through fighting. If you hadn't come today, I really wouldn't have found such a satisfactory partner."

"Hahaha, you're absolutely right. I didn't expect to have such a great time chatting with you guys, a bunch of academics."

Although Fu Yongyi is not smart, he is definitely not stupid.

The reason why he was willing to be Zhang Ye's "dog-beating stick" was that he wanted to make money. He could get 10,000 or 20,000 yuan every month, which was really tempting.

But the most important thing is that he is unwilling to be a group leader at such a young age, so he wants to take advantage of his relationship with Zhang Ye to slowly get along with others and see if he can find an opportunity to get close to Huang Weize in the future.

If this line can be connected, let alone whether there will be any dividends or not, he would be willing to pay Zhang Ye 20,000 yuan every month.

Nowadays, no business is better than being an official. As long as you can get promoted, money is just a passing cloud and can be easily obtained without any effort.

Even if you don't want it, someone will deliver it to your house day and night.

That afternoon, the drunk Fu Yongyi was completely different from when he first came. He no longer had an angry look on his face. Instead, he hugged Zhang Ye's neck and called him "brother" affectionately.

Faced with this scene, Zhang Ye had no idea what to do. He could only trick and coax him into getting into the car. He only breathed a sigh of relief after watching him leave.

"Oh, it's really tiring to deal with these rough guys."

Zhang Ye wiped the sweat from his forehead, shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"Sir, you didn't need to spend that money. General Huang promised to greet his friends over there. Why are you still looking for him?"

Lu Shan handed over a wet towel and muttered slightly dissatisfiedly.

Twenty thousand dollars a month, it would be better to distribute that money to the common people than to these soldiers.

"You don't understand." Zhang Ye explained while wiping the sweat off his face with a cool, wet towel.

"The teacher's friend was only responsible for passing on the message to the lower levels, so that your newspaper could open smoothly and operate, which was considered to have obtained official permission and recognition."

"Fu Yongyi's role is to guard our business and protect it from being attacked or harassed by the locals."

"Only if we have these two things at the same time can our business last long."

"Besides, we're not doing this for the money, so it doesn't matter if we share all the profits."