My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 10 Difficult Negotiations
"Great! Mr. Zhang is really generous. The cooperation between our two families will surely make us a lot of money in the future!" Seeing that the plan was successful, Lu Yi couldn't help but shouted excitedly.

"Hero Lu..." Zhang Shang was about to speak when he was interrupted enthusiastically by Lu Yi.

"If Mr. Zhang doesn't mind, you can call me Sixiao."

"Okay, then I'll take advantage of my seniority for once. Sixiao, although our two companies have decided to cooperate, the construction of the caravan, the capital investment, and most importantly, the shares still need to be discussed in detail." Zhang Shang remained a shrewd businessman and immediately wanted to start with the shares to get more benefits.

"Brothers should settle accounts clearly. Mr. Zhang is absolutely right. Although my brother and I risk our lives to travel back and forth, Zhang has paid 100 million yuan, so we can still get the lion's share and 90% of the profit." Lu Yi immediately understood Zhang Shang's thoughts, so he pretended to be magnanimous and said.

"One hundred million?" Zhang Shang and Zhang Xun were so shocked that their eyes almost popped out of their heads.

"Sixiao thinks too highly of my Zhang family. Even if I sell my entire Zhang family, I still can't raise that much money!"

"Oh? It's Lu Yi who is being wasteful. Since you don't have 100 million, then 10 million will be fine. In this way, Zhang can enjoy 50% of the shares!" Lu Yi chuckled in his heart and continued as if he was considering Zhang.

"We don't even have 10 million coins! Let alone the Zhang family, I'm afraid the annual tax collection in Mayi can't even reach 10 million coins. Sixiao, are you kidding me?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Shang covered his aching chest and glared at Lu Yi, but he didn't expect that he had fallen into the trap secretly set by the latter.

"If you don't have 10 million, then you have to pay a million, right?" Lu Yi frowned and looked unhappy. "It will cost a million to recruit helpers, purchase goods and food, and pay taxes for customs clearance. Without a million, it is impossible to form a caravan that can go out of the border. Naturally, this deal can't be done!"

"Hehe... Even though the Zhang family has fallen on hard times, the clan can still scrape together a million dollars. Sixiao can rest assured about that." Upon hearing this, Zhang Shang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and put his heart back in his stomach.

"Although a million dollars is not much, we can still start a business. This is the only way for now!" Lu Yi showed disappointment on his face, and then said: "However, in this way, Zhang's share can only be reduced to 10%!"

"What! My Zhang Group paid a million dollars but Sixiao only gave us a 10% stake?" Zhang Shang's face changed drastically when he heard this and he almost jumped up from his seat. Zhang Xun behind him also had a look of disbelief on his face.

Even Lu Yi's second brother Lu Bu, who was standing behind him, was shocked and admired his elder brother's shamelessness from the bottom of his heart.

"Hey, Mr. Zhang, calm down and please listen to me." Lu Yi was afraid that he would excite this money-loving businessman to the point of having a heart attack, so he persuaded him to sit down with kind words and continued to deceive him.

"It's not that Lu Yi is too greedy, but when traveling outside the border for business, not only does one have to rely on the weather, if one is unlucky and encounters bad weather, the entire caravan may disappear into thin air. In addition, there are also greedy tax collectors who exploit one. If one is unlucky, they will frame him as a spy and execute him, implicating the entire clan."

"Besides, this vast grassland outside the Great Wall is the territory of foreign races. Not only is the road ahead dangerous, but there are also many horse bandits along the way. If you are not careful, you will die and your team will be wiped out. The risk is very high!"

"Although Zhang paid a million, even if the caravan was completely wiped out, it would only be a matter of minor injuries. As long as Mayi is not lost for one or two generations, it will recover."

"But my brothers and I have to hang our heads on our belts. If we are not careful, we will die without a burial place and can only become lonely ghosts in the frontier, never to be reborn. We only have 90% of the population, which is already a huge setback!"

"No! No!" Zhang Shang refused to give in despite Lu Yi's exaggerated words. He waved his hands and said, "This million dollars is also the accumulation of hundreds of years of business. It is not blown by the wind. In this transaction, Zhang's family must take at least 50%!"

As soon as Zhang Shang said this, the atmosphere in the inner hall suddenly became solemn. Not only did Lu Yi narrow his eyes slightly, but even Lu Bu standing behind him also showed an unhappy look on his face.

Faced with the obvious hostility shown by the two men, Zhang Xun's face turned pale, and his empty right hand subconsciously reached for the sword at his waist.

"Fifty percent is too much. Even if Lu Yi can agree to it, my brothers who are willing to risk their lives on swords will never agree to it. But since Mr. Zhang has asked for it, Lu Yi cannot be ungrateful. Then I will give him another ten percent. Zhang can own twenty percent of the caravan's shares." After a long time, Lu Yi was the first to give in.

Ninety percent is too much, far beyond his psychological expectations. In fact, fifty percent is already his psychological bottom line.

He now has no shortage of trustworthy military forces, but what he lacks is funds and talents with business experience, the latter two of which can be fully satisfied by Zhang.

If he separated from Zhang Jue and worked on his own, it would be a waste of time. Who knows how long it would take for him to grow his business to a million-dollar scale. It was already early spring of 179 AD. In another five years, the Yellow Turban Rebellion led by Zhang Jue would spread to the entire country, sounding the final death knell for the Eastern Han Dynasty.

By that time, if Lu Yi had an elite force of his own, it would help him achieve considerable military merit, and perhaps he would be able to obtain a piece of territory that was completely his own through his operations.

Possessing weapons and territory means that he, like Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, the father and son of the Sun family and others, has the qualifications and capital to compete for the world!
Having finally arrived in this exciting era, Lu Yi's ambition is far more than just wasting his life in a caravan.

But, having said that, Zhang Shang's asking for 50% of the shares revealed his true colors in front of Lu Yi, which means that his bottom line is definitely not to own 50% of the shares in the caravan. Lu Yi might be able to fight for another 10% or 20% on this basis. After all, no one would dislike having too much money, right?

"No, no, no, fifty percent is too much. Lu Yi can only give Zhang 21 percent at most..."

……

After a tough tug-of-war, the shares of the joint caravan to be formed by Lu Yi and Zhang were finally decided.

Zhang invested one million yuan, and ten managers with business experience followed the team to hold 30% of the shares.

Lu Yi, with the reputation of being the greatest hero in Bingzhou and the actual leader and executor of the caravan, as well as the bravery of his second brother Lu Bu and the contributions of Gao Shun, Hou Cheng, Hao Meng and others, alone accounted for 70% of the shares.

Although it cannot be said that everyone is happy, it is a distribution ratio that both parties can accept.

Lu Yi wanted to rely on Zhang's money and experience to quickly accumulate his first pot of gold.

Zhang wanted to use the military strength of Lu Yi and others to reopen the situation among the Hu people outside the Great Wall and reproduce the glory of his ancestors.

(End of this chapter)