"I don't know why the tyrant Lu Bu invited us here?"
"Don't even think about it, it must be about money and food."
"Hey, the taxes were paid years ago, and the landlord's family doesn't have any food left."
"The affairs of the Zhou family are still fresh in my mind. When the time comes, everyone will donate more or less. Don't anger the tyrant Lu Bu, otherwise it may be difficult to end it."
At Chen Gong's call, a total of more than twenty large families came. These people were doing various businesses in Xiapi City. They accumulated a lot of wealth in their families and even hid many servants in private.
By concealing the household registration of these people from the court, they can pay a lot less tax, so why not do it.
The big man was sucked blood by the parasites, coupled with the emperor's incompetence, he collapsed to the ground!
The emergence of the Yellow Turban Army was only a catalytic effect, accelerating the process of the Han Dynasty's demise.
Moreover, behind the Yellow Turban Army were the shadows of aristocratic families and wealthy families. They launched peasant uprisings, redistributed interests, and sought more benefits from the court.
Princes with prominent family backgrounds like Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao were the biggest direct beneficiaries.
However, the situation of self-made princes like Lu Bu and Liu Bei is like a hellish start compared to those princes with family backgrounds!
More than two dozen wealthy families heard that Lu Bu asked them to come here. Although the wealthy families were unwilling, the head of the family came over anyway.
After all, the big family members have also seen what happened to the Zhou family, so it would not be a wise choice to anger Lu Bu.
If Lu Bu asked them for money and food, they would be interested and fool him.
According to past experience, Lu Bu is quite easy to fool compared to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei is a smiling tiger. Although he looks easy to get along with, in fact, there are a lot of bad things behind his back.
When Liu Bei was in power in Xuzhou, he never worried about money and food. After all, Liu Bei and wealthy businessmen like Mi Zhu helped him greatly. Not only did they send money and food, they also sent troops and horses. This kind of injustice was the only one in the world!
Lu Bu was also very envious of this. If there was an enemy who helped him like this, he wouldn't have to struggle so hard in Xuzhou.
"Everyone, I've been waiting for a long time."
Lu Bu, dressed in casual clothes and expressionless, came to the front of the dignitaries. He was not polite and sat directly on the main seat.
As soon as Lu Bu sat down, the big family members felt the pressure on their faces, and they didn't dare to breathe.
Lu Bu's aura was so powerful that even if he didn't use his true energy, it still made the wealthy people feel extremely uncomfortable, as if they were on pins and needles!
"I wonder why Marquis Wen invited us here?"
The head of the Zhao family asked.
The Zhao family is the richest owner in Xiapi City, with businesses in all walks of life, and numerous shops and properties under their name. Therefore, they were promoted by a group of big families to be the leader and talk directly to Lu Bu.
To be honest, the Zhao family doesn't want to take over this hot potato, but there is no other way. The Zhao family is indeed strong, so the Zhao family has no choice but to be the leader.
"As you all know, there is a shortage of money and food in Xiapi City, and the soldiers also need rewards for repelling Cao's thieves."
"But I can't come up with that much money and food, so I can only rely on everyone to contribute and chip in."
Lu Bu got straight to the point and said casually.
Lu Bu didn't look like he was begging for help at all. The sight of this made the Zhao family leader's blood pressure rise sharply.
The other big households were also very unhappy with Lu Bu's attitude. He acted like he was begging for help. Lu Bu was not groveling at all, which made the big households very embarrassed.
Of course, even if Lu Bu showed a begging attitude, the big business owners would find various excuses to shirk it, and it would be quite difficult to get money and food out of their pockets.
"Since Marquis Wen has spoken, the Zhao family is naturally willing to lend a helping hand. I will donate a hundred taels of silver to relieve Marquis Wen's worries."
The head of the Zhao family said with a soft smile.
Nowadays, one tael of silver can be exchanged for one stone of grain. In other words, the Zhao family leader donated a hundred stones of grain.
According to the calculation of the Han Dynasty, one stone of grain weighed about sixty kilograms, which was enough for an ordinary person to live frugally for two or three months!
Calculated, Patriarch Zhao donated food that would feed hundreds of people for two or three months. Patriarch Zhao already felt that he was generous enough.
After saying these words, Patriarch Zhao's heart was bleeding, but in order not to anger Lu Bu, Patriarch Zhao could only endure it.
Although other large households were angry at Lu Bu's arrogant attitude, they did not dare to talk nonsense, and they all donated some like the head of the Zhao family.
The donation included money and food, and even the owner of a brothel was willing to offer five brothel girls to Lu Bu to offset the donation.
The owner of the brothel was named Liu. Seeing the slight change in Lu Bu's expression, he thought it was because Lu Bu didn't like this method. He was about to change his mind when he heard Lu Bu said calmly: "Five is too few, at least ten, otherwise the gang under my command will Single soldiers are not enough."
Now it's the Liu family's turn to be entangled. After all, the women in the brothel are all money trees, and every time you give one away, you are equivalent to cutting down one of the money trees.
"Is it difficult?"
Lu Bu said in a deep voice with no expression on his face.
With just one look, the head of the Liu family broke out in cold sweat and said quickly: "It's not difficult, it's not difficult."
It can be said that the head of the Liu family was completely shocked by Lu Bu and had no other ideas in his mind.
Lu Bu sneered when he heard the numbers that all the big players were willing to donate. It was really too little. These big players were digging around, not willing to pay for any real materials, trying to fool themselves.
Do you really think he, Lu Bu, is so easy to fool?
Lu Bu stood up directly and said indifferently: "Since everyone is unwilling to show sincerity, I will find you again in three days. I hope that you can show sincerity by then and don't let me down."
After saying that, Lu Bu left, having nothing to say to these ignorant people.
It can be said that these big businessmen will not shed tears until they see the coffin. If they still can't show their sincerity after three days, don't blame Lu Bu for being rude!
Regarding today's situation, Lu Bu also expected it. If we continue to talk, all we get in exchange is all kinds of excuses from the big family, crying for poverty!
Instead of doing this, it is better to wait for three days before talking again. Lu Bu will give these big players time to think, hoping that these big players will not be ignorant of praise.
"Master Zhao, what does this mean?"
The head of the Chen family, who sells oil, asked.
"I didn't expect that Lu Bu had such a big appetite that he wouldn't accept our donation."
The head of the Zhao family sighed. It was not in line with his expectations. He thought he could easily fool Lu Bu, but now it seems that it is a bit difficult.
Lu Bu didn't know what was going on. He suddenly became difficult to fool, which was really nerve-wracking.
"The tyrant Lu Bu is too ignorant. He gave him a little charity with good intentions, but he still doesn't appreciate it and wants more? There is no way!"
"I want to see what will happen to me if I don't donate to this tyrant Lu Bu?"
The head of the Xu family, who sells rice, said in anger.
Obviously dissatisfied with Lu Bu's performance, he planned to have a complete showdown in three days, just to see what Lu Bu would do to him.
"Be careful!"
The head of the Zhao family pointed at the Lu Mansion and made a silent gesture. After all, they were still in the Lu Mansion. If Lu Bu responded with a counterattack, wouldn't the entire army be wiped out?
A group of big business owners went back to their respective houses with many worries on their minds. Everyone had their own hidden agenda and were basically unwilling to donate more to Lu Bu. For a time, there was an undercurrent in Xiapi City, which was not as peaceful as it seemed on the surface.
