Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1829 - 1822: Financial Crisis

Chapter 1829: Chapter 1822: Financial Crisis

"You, too gentle, you will suffer a great loss."

Leaving Yang gently gazed at him.

"When did I ever give you the illusion of gentleness?"

"For example, when it’s just the two of us."

"That’s because I can’t resist your actions, so I have no choice but to give in."

"Who would have thought that the eldest son of the Yichuan Clan would succumb to me, it’s truly an honor." Leaving Yang said with a satisfied smile.

"Don’t forget, Huayu Xuan has a younger brother, and that brother is no easy opponent."

Yichuan Fei tried to change the subject.

"Hehe, Young Lord, are you really confused or just pretending to be," Leaving Yang held his face with her hand, smiling as she squinted, "Everyone knows that Huayu Ting and Huayu Xuan, the two brothers, are outwardly affectionate but secretly have nothing in common."

"Someone like Huayu Xuan, who would even threaten and use his own brother, so I’m curious, how you partnered with him back then, or was it that he shamelessly clung to you?"

"He wasn’t like that before." Yichuan Fei answered indifferently.

He stopped Leaving Yang from further mischief, grabbed her wrist tightly and asked, "Have you all done what I arranged for you?"

"Sheyan has already escorted Madam out of Yin State, rest assured Young Lord," Leaving Yang said with a satisfied expression, and obsessively, "So now, you only have me by your side."

"How are Xing Hu and the others?"

"They have all returned home, and provisions have been sent to them, they should be getting married any day now."

"In the end, he still didn’t choose the Yichuan surname..."

Yichuan Fei seemed very relieved.

"If possible, I also don’t wish for you to have the Yichuan surname, after all, this surname is too heavy..."

"What are you talking about," Yichuan Fei’s expression changed, sharply reprimanding, "If I don’t support father, then who will?"

"But your health..."

Leaving Yang looked afraid, but still expressed her concern.

"My health is not an issue..."

Yichuan Fei had just finished speaking when he couldn’t help but cough violently.

"Young Lord, put down the document and rest for a while..." Leaving Yang urged with a sob in her voice.

At this moment, a servant came rushing, knelt down in front of the two, and said excitedly, "Young Mansion, news from the front has arrived."

"Let me see." Upon hearing the news, Yichuan Fei immediately perked up, and reached out excitedly.

The servant presented the document, Yichuan Fei read through it and revealed a satisfied smile: "Both the eastern and western armies have achieved victories, it seems that the two major issues of the Imperial Court can be resolved soon. The thing I worried most about didn’t happen after all, Jiuyun Shuang and Gaofeng Yang are indeed renowned generals."

"Since the front line battles have been settled, shouldn’t we stop sending reserve troops to the two states?" Leaving Yang tentatively asked.

"You’d better not interfere with court affairs!" Yichuan Fei glared at her, saying bluntly. f r\eeNovelFire.c(o)(m)

"I’m just worried about you, I’ve been feeling uneasy lately. With the threat from the Wu Family looming, why can you still act so calm?" Leaving Yang said with some agitation.

"The threat from the Wu Family is not yet imminent, so..."

"They have found the Princess, what if they come to force the throne?" Leaving Yang loudly questioned.

"I have my own measures."

"What are your measures?"

"Leaving Yang," Yichuan Fei reprimanded sharply, "you are merely a Shadow Guard, if you try to meddle in court affairs again, don’t blame me for being ruthless."

Hearing his reprimand, Leaving Yang looked at him with grievance, and finally said sorrowfully, "You always do this, since childhood, when you can’t win an argument, you suppress with status. If you truly have the heart, then give me a death sentence!"

With that, she conjured a sharp dagger in her palm, grasping the blade, she handed the handle to Yichuan Fei.

"Nonsense!"

Yichuan Fei, rarely this angry, suddenly waved the dagger out of her hand coldly, saying, "Get out, I don’t want to see you for the next few days."

Upon hearing his words, Leaving Yang left tearfully in anger, she was originally going to tell Yichuan Fei some good news, but evidently, their conflict disrupted her plans.

Yichuan Fei paid no mind to her departure, but stood there murmuring, "Father is negotiating with the leaders of various Sects, the good news from the front line should increase father’s leverage."

Back to the Advance Team.

Although due to the unrest in the city, most members of the Advance Team seldom ventured out, but this didn’t mean they did nothing. It must be known, this team had exceptional skills for making things happen.

Baiyue and Tangmo were staying in the living room, inside it was a mess, with various papers and pens scattered around, almost making it difficult to find a place to step.

About to enter the palace, Luo’er passed by the living room, shaking his head helplessly and said, "Look at tidying this place up, don’t make it so messy."

"You can come right in, don’t mind the papers on the ground." Tangmo replied.

"Luo’er," seeing Luo’er about to enter the palace, Baiyue proactively ran over with an expectant expression and said, "Can I ask you for something?"

"What is it?"

"After you enter the palace, can you entrust Emperor Wu to get us some official documents from the Wen Family Imperial Court, preferably on fiscal revenue and expenditure? With Emperor Wu’s abilities, getting these documents shouldn’t be difficult, right?"

"It shouldn’t be difficult, but why do you need them?" Luo’er thought for a moment and asked.

After all, being not a constitutional monarchy, the Dongsheng Empire’s Emperor Wu, as the actual ruler, is still entitled to review various of the Wen Family Imperial Court’s documents.

"We are researching the fiscal status of the Dongsheng Empire, and plan to write a few papers when we return." Baiyue explained.

"In this situation, you still think about writing papers?" Luo’er asked puzzledly.

"We’re not unable to go back, and the financial situation of the Dongsheng Empire really attracts our attention."

"Oh, then tell me more about it."

"I researched the Wen Family Imperial Court’s spending and income over recent years and conducted an approximate estimation. Guess what, the Wen Family Imperial Court has been in a state of fiscal spending exceeding income since over a decade ago, to be exact, in deficit." Baiyue explained excitedly.

"Fiscal deficit, over a decade?"

Luo’er could not believe his ears.

"Yes, yes, very strange right? Although we don’t know the exact figures, the Wen Family Imperial Court has been running at a loss for over a decade, and surprisingly hasn’t collapsed or gone bankrupt, clearly, someone is helping the Wen Family Imperial Court through difficult times."

"Who could it be?"

"According to our research, it’s very likely merchants, and... Sects."

"Sects?"

"Yes, you should have heard, right? A few days ago, the Sect Masters of major Sects throughout Kyushu came to Shengjing, rumored to be at the invitation of the Wen Family Imperial Court."

"What does the Wen Family Imperial Court invite the Sect Masters to the capital for?"

"I guess, it’s to discuss tax rates..."

"Tax rates?"

"Yes," Baiyue nodded, "Based on our hypothesis, the Wen Family Imperial Court’s deficits over these years were likely solved through loans, and the creditors were probably the merchant class."

"The Wen Family Imperial Court borrowed a lot of money from merchants, so they’d support merchants. We must have noted, the Dongsheng Empire is unwilling to expand territories in West Outer Heaven, nor wishes the aristocratic families to touch West Outer Heaven. Besides high management costs, the biggest reason is likely fear of offending the merchant class."

"Now that you mention it, I seem to have an impression."

Luo’er acknowledged with understanding.

"Of course, you’d be impressed," Baiyue continued, "Don’t forget, once the Wu Family aristocracy occupies West Outer Heaven, they would directly monopolize the magic crystal mines, preventing merchants from profiting through importing magic crystals, thus they are more eager than the Demon Clan to see West Outer Heaven return to the way it was."

"Yes, we indeed mentioned merchants as allies of the Wen Family Imperial Court. To counter the Wu Family forces, the Wen Family Imperial Court must unite with the merchant group."

"Exactly, once they decide to unite with the merchant group, they must forgo imposing heavy taxes on commercial activities and find themselves forced to borrow from merchants to secure budget expenditures. So, I suspect the Wen Family Imperial Court invited the major Sect Masters to the capital because they may be in over their heads and hope to levy more taxes from these Sects to ensure deficit coverage."

"But, I suspect, even with the Sects, it might not solve the problem going forward." Bayi added.