Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

Chapter 298 The Stock Exchange of the Tang Dynasty?! Li Zhi's slightly teasing voice finally brought Wu Zetian back from her reverie.

She snapped out of her daze and noticed the damned guy in front of her, whose smile, unusually, now carried a hint of embarrassment.

I took a deep breath and briefly calmed myself down.

She stretched out a small, fair hand.

"five......"

"Isn't five percent a bit too much for you?"

Li Zhi's words made Wu Zetian's almond-shaped eyes freeze for a moment, and then widen suddenly.

"Li Zhi! What kind of pipe dream are you having?! My abilities are only worth five percent?! I mean fifty percent!"

Li Zhi, however, remained calm.

His fingers, as if they were a royal elder brother holding a meeting with the officials of Taiyuan Prefecture, tapped the table in front of him.

This caused more than a dozen golden beans to fall to the ground with a clatter.

He remained expressionless, not even glancing at the gold beans that might roll off somewhere.

Speak calmly.

"I have a full thirteen thousand taels of gold here! Wu Zetian, do you think your so-called abilities are worth this price? The salaries of officials in Bingzhou are more than two to three times that of those in Chang'an, but even so... how much does the Duke of Ying receive in a year, including bonuses and rewards?"

Li Zhi leaned forward slightly, his voice carrying a hint of aggression that Wu Zetian had never experienced before.

"Your father is now in charge of the entire Royal Bank's operations, and he also needs to coordinate with the Tang Construction Bank and the Tang Commercial Bank on some matters... Wu Zetian, don't you think your asking price is unreasonable?"

Wu Zetian's mouth was agape, her pretty face filled with resentment and dissatisfaction.

“I have been preparing for a long time. I have conducted a detailed investigation of the chambers of commerce registered with the Commerce Department of Taiyuan Prefecture. They are now vigorously expanding their industrial layout in the Western Regions and Zhenbei Road. As long as industries are developed in those places, they will definitely be profitable businesses.”

“They need money. My chamber of commerce can let those who have money but don’t want to run a business know which chambers of commerce can provide financing and which have better prospects. I…”

"Ha!" Li Zhi's short chuckle instantly silenced Wu Zetian's various arguments.

"If that's the case, then the title of Prince Li Zhi, the Ninth Prince of the Tang Dynasty, is worth at least another 13,000 taels of gold! Do you think those people you're talking about who want to invest in the Chamber of Commerce are more willing to believe you, the Second Miss of the Duke of Ying's Mansion, or me, the Prince of Jin!"

When Li Zhi said the last two words, "Prince of Jin," he emphasized them.

"Why should those wealthy people exchange their hard-earned money for blank pieces of paper stamped with the so-called representative seals of the Chamber of Commerce? Tang law has not yet made any effective provisions in this regard."

"If those chambers of commerce that listed their shares for sale with you go back on their word and say that there is no such thing, or that the blank papers in the hands of those rich people are fake."

"what would you do?"

"Take the servants from the Duke of Ying's mansion and go to argue with them?"

Li Zhi's words hit Wu Zetian's sore spots. Wu Zetian is a very talented young girl, as her own brother, the emperor, has said, and Li Zhi has personally witnessed her extraordinary talent.

But... Li Zhi is the younger brother of the current Crown Prince!

He knows what the First Official Academy teaches!

He can even do things that the Imperial Academy didn't teach!

He acknowledged that Wu Zetian's "Share Trading Association" had great potential, but he was also almost instinctively able to find loopholes in it that Wu Zetian had not noticed.

Looking at Wu Zetian, who appeared listless and as if she had suffered a great blow.

Li Zhi held up three fingers.

"In that case, Wu Zetian, I can only give you three percent of the share!"

He wore a mocking expression, twirling the rattan whip in his hand, creating circles of flourishes.

Wu Zetian remained silent, staring intently at him. Her eyes, gradually filled with tears, caused Li Zhi to slowly turn his head to the side.

"If you need mercy, I can lend you this money in my personal capacity, without interest."

"As for the so-called share, just pretend I never said anything."

Li Zhi spoke so calmly, as if lending out ten thousand taels of gold for no reason, as if it were nothing at all.

If others heard this, they would be overjoyed.

To Wu Zetian, however, it sounded incredibly grating.

"I don't need your pity! What I want to do, I will definitely succeed!"

Li Zhi smiled faintly and extended one finger.

“Very good! Wu Zhao, as your investor, seeing your boldness, I can increase your share from three percent to four percent!”

Wu Zetian's pretty face flushed red, both from embarrassment and anger.

But for some reason, noticing Li Zhi's bright, smiling eyes at that moment, I felt a moment of satisfaction.

Li Zhi sat back in his chair with an air of nonchalance, his legs crossed.

He looked at the other person with a half-smile.

"So, Ms. Wu, what advantages do you think you still have that I, as an investor, have overlooked?"

That night, Samurai returned home in a carriage, looking exhausted.

Faintly, they could hear familiar shouts coming from the direction of their second daughter's courtyard.

"Wu Zhao! Do you know how much you need to invest to accomplish what you're trying to do? You could say that even one percent of the shares you mentioned are worth a fortune!"

"That's because I'm capable! You don't actually think that what you just saw was all the information I had about those merchant guilds, do you? My father is the president of the Royal Bank! Wu Shiyue!"

"My father is the emperor of the Tang Dynasty!"

"What about the Emperor? When those business guilds operate, don't they first look at the Royal Bank's policy trends? They need at least a 10% stake! I'd rather find someone else to cooperate with than take that!"

"Heh, I'd rather find someone else to cooperate with than have me~~~ Oh, you haven't even asked around, who in the entire Taiyuan Prefecture would dare to take on this deal that's testing the limits of Tang law?! Would the Wang family of Taiyuan dare? Would the Zheng family of Xingyang dare?!"

"Let me tell you, it's only 10% of the shares. If you want more, fine! Pay up! We'll distribute the shares according to your investment!"

Samurai Go: "..."

He listened, trembling, to his second daughter's threats of losing her head.

His old face had become thinner and paler.

When Madam Yang, who had come to greet him back to the mansion, saw that her husband was quite frightened, she quickly stepped forward to support him, whispered a few words of comfort, and then pulled him directly towards the study.

"Who...who is Zhao'er arguing with? Is it His Highness Prince Jin?! She..."

Wu Shiyue almost instinctively began to think in his mind which servants or maids in the mansion might be members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Madam Yang, on the other hand, was a calm and composed person.

"Hush, sir, you must be tired after a long day. I didn't hear a word you said today. But I do think that His Highness Prince Jin and Zhao'er get along quite well."

Wu Shiyue puffed out his beard and glared, "No matter how well they get along, His Highness Prince Jin is still a prince of the Tang Dynasty! He's a prince! Besides, His Highness the Crown Prince is his own brother, born of the same mother!"

"That girl should at least have some sense of propriety!"

He was about to stand up and go to Wu Zetian's courtyard to teach her a lesson.

Madam Yang, who was standing nearby, quickly pulled him back.

"Oh, my lord, don't you think that the Crown Prince chose Zhao'er to serve by Prince Jin's side precisely because of her personality? And I think Prince Jin is secretly delighted..."

"Hey ya~ Ee er ya~ Hey ya~ Ee er ya~"

"When you see injustice, roar out! When it's time to act, act decisively! Bravely roam the land!"

"Hey, hey, hey ya hey hey!"

Early in the morning.

Li Chengqian, who was having breakfast in the inner palace of Yangcheng Palace, heard his ninth brother singing with pride and joy from afar.

As if he had won a great victory, Li Zhi strode in from outside with an air of indifference.

He was also carrying a thick stack of documents.

"You rascal, what good news have you gotten yourself into? I heard last night that you're staying at the Duke of Ying's mansion..."

Li Chengqian used a spoon to stir the white tofu pudding and bright red chili oil together.

Upon Li Zhi's return, without Li Chengqian's instruction, Wang De skillfully brought the Ninth Prince a basket of steaming hot xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and a bowl of mutton offal noodles with plenty of chili oil.

The fragrant aroma filled the air, making Li Zhi's already smug face beam with even greater joy.

He placed the document in front of his elder brother, as if seeking credit.

"Hehe, Your Majesty, I've done a great service this time!"

Li Chengqian put down his spoon.

He picked up the top document and began to read it.

"Hengyuntong Stock Exchange Establishment Plan"...

A serious look flashed deep in Li Chengqian's eyes as he opened the book and began to read.

Just as the Embroidered Uniform Guard's investigation during this period, and his own speculations, suggested.

Wu Zetian, the first female emperor in history, truly possessed insights and courage that surpassed those of people of her time in the Tang Dynasty, which had undergone tremendous changes.

It was as if there really was such a thing as destiny in the world.

Equity trading houses...aren't these just stock exchanges in later generations?

Moreover, looking at Wu Zetian's vision for the future business of this trading house, he realized without a doubt that this was a Tang Dynasty version of a stock exchange.

It not only assists chambers of commerce with listing aspirations by preparing for IPO financing, establishing document review and market pre-launch promotion services, but also focuses on the subsequent secondary trading market after listing.

Li Chengqian became more and more serious as he looked at it.

If Li Chengqian weren't certain the other person wasn't a time traveler, he would have seriously wondered if some soul from the future had taken up residence in this "future Wu Zetian."

"Brother, what do you think?" Li Zhi waited expectantly for his elder brother's reply.

Li Chengqian smiled.

"This is not a simple transaction. There are issues with information lag, establishing the credit of equity notes, the need for specialized newspapers, and the availability of professional talent is a significant problem..."

Li Chengqian gently shook his head, sighed, and closed the document.

“It can be done, but… Zhinu, if you really want to do it, you have to be prepared to let this business be passed down for decades, or even hundreds of years!”

Li Chengqian's expression was solemn, and even his eyes conveyed a sense of sternness and command.

However, seeing his elder brother's reaction, Li Zhi's face was full of excited smiles.

Nod heavily.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely do my best!"

After breakfast, Prince Li Zhi of Jin excitedly ran outside the palace again.

Nowadays, almost all the princes of the Tang Dynasty seem to have been influenced by their elder brother, the current crown prince, and they all act decisively and efficiently.

Having decided to do it, and having obtained the emperor's consent.

Li Zhi had already planned out the initial preparations in his mind, just as his elder brother had said.

To establish such a large business, or even to start a new industry, the right personnel are essential.

Newspapers, accounts, laws, finance, even geography and some traveling merchants are now of great use to Li Zhi.

The office building of the Taiyuan Prefecture branch of the "Datang Xinbao" newspaper.

An antique-style building, complete with long banners bearing various slogans, stood in front of it.

Wu Zetian was being pushed by Li Zhi, her small face showing a rare hint of nervousness.

"President Wu, are you sure you can handle this? A girl shouldn't say no!"

Wu Zetian frowned, clutching a stack of employment contracts, her voice trembling at that moment.

"...Li Zhi, we can poach people, but why are we coming to their door to poach them directly? Won't we get kicked out?"

Li Zhi snorted coldly: "Does anyone dare to hit me?"

Wu Zetian glared at her: "Of course you wouldn't dare let anyone hit you, but what about me?!"

"It's alright. My elder brother once said, 'A beating can't bring down those who truly believe in their dreams.' Wu Zetian, I have high hopes for you!"

Li Zhi, with a mischievous expression, caught Wu Zetian off guard.

With a sudden burst of strength, he pushed the other person directly inside.

Looking at the figure waving a small fist at him through the glass, Li Zhi smiled mischievously.

"She's the second young lady of the Duke of Ying's mansion, she shouldn't have to be beaten up a couple of times..."